So back to the night before the cruise; we met up with fourto five other couples who were staying at the same hotel and had dinner together. One couple flew in from Vancouver, BC and wanted to meet us for breakfast as they came in at 12:30 am!! The other couples were much older than us and one had done this cruise 10 times!!! It was kind of fun hearing their stories and learning about the ship and the cruise. They were all four to five star Princess cruisers. The meal and service wasn’t so good. The Crown Plaza has lots of issues and was being taken over by a new company. I hope the new company makes a lot of positive upgrades and changes.
That night we picked up our room and made the final repacking of our last suitcase. We got out our boarding passes and luggage tags and were prepared for the transition.
We met another couple from Minnesota that knew nothing about Cruise Critic. They were about our age and we were a pretty good match. We agreed to meet for breakfast as that along with free shuttle to the pier was part of our cruise package.
The next morning we were up early and went down for a light breakfast of oatmeal and fruit. We caught the 10:30 shuttle to the pier which took about 5 minutes. Because we are Platinum level we got right into the counter and were placed in the Platinum gathering area which had complimentary coffee, juice and pastries. Our escort was a feisty, cute older lady decked out with her holiday regalia and good humor. She visited quite a bit with me. She was retired but did this withOrincess for a little extra cash. She had the neatest hair color with her face rimmed with her beautiful white hair and then the rest a shade of red!! I loved it. I had on my Christmas Santa sweater and my little light up necklace whic she loved. She told me to turn it on as she said it was time to celebrate and she thought it looked classy :). Anyway we watched her handle all the crabby folks and those trying to get into our holding area. You could tell that she could easily write a book on all she has dealt with in the job.
By noon we were onboard and into our room which surprised us. This cruise we opted for an inside room as the windows and outside rooms were twice as much. It’s a little challenging to go to an inside room from a balcony but the room was clean, big enough for us and had a very comfortable looking bed! Ha ha.
We went to the Lido for lunch which was light. We thought it was interesting that when we boarded they took our photos with iPhones!! After lunch we toured the ship and realized how much bigger it was from the NCL Star we had come off of. The ship was very clean and recently updated. W like the layout of the Princess ships. The food was good and the ship was beautifully decorated for the holidays. The Muster drill was held in dining rooms rather than outside and happened quickly and efficiently. After that we found a superb quartet dressed in old fashioned clothes of a bygone era singing accapelo in the Atrium. We sat for over an hour listening to them and just taking in the holiday spirit. When we were there I knew we had made the right decision to be on this holiday cruise. They just filled the whole area with cheer and good will. We saw a few of our new acquaintances there taking in the music too.
Our Cruise Critic group planned a Sail Away get together in the back of the ship which has a nice seating arrangement on multiple levels with a cute bar. There weren’t a lot of us but maybe 15 showed up and as we sailed out of San Pedro past the barges and cargo container ships a cool breeze prompted folks to put on their jackets. The sun was set by the time we got out of the harbor. We didn’t last long outside. We made our way back to the room to see if our suitcases were there so we could unpack. They weren’t there so we decided we would head to dinner and then on to a comedian in the large theater. The comedian was a hit! We laughed hard and often. I was glad we opted for entertainment over unpacking. When we got to our room at 8:45 our steward had put our three suitcases in the room. We were so pooped we dug our just the pjs and toothbrushes. It was off to bed and on to four sea days!!
Our cabin had the cute holiday decoration on our entry. Not all had them so maybe they put them on the Platinum and higher levels.
On the very back of the ship.
We have the big screen TV for movies under the stars and football games
Another of the huge sundecks for taking in the sun and warm breezes
The LA bridge where we embark and all the container ships unload in the harbor. They say between San Pedro and Long Beach this stretch is the largest unloading dock in the world.
A poor snapshot of the quartet that sang for us before we took off. They are all local singers and what a treat!
A new friend we met from New Zealand who is part of Cruise Critic; Paul and Shelley Munro. She is an accomplished author who writes romance novels!
The captain who put on the funny headband as he was calling out the winning ticket and the librarian Nikol who helped organize the get together.
I was the official deliverer of the prizes !
Just some shots of the folks who were part of the meet and greet party posing for a photo !
Some of the ships officers who came to the meet and greet the next morning in the Skywalker Lounge on deck 18!! We had over 100 people show up! The gifts I purchased along with a few from Princess and another passenger were a big hit! Folks said it was the best meet and greet they have had in years.
I took a photo of the bar staff who served drinks at the meet and greet!
So what have we done for four sea days?? I have joined the Uke group onboard and really enjoyed it. There are about 80 in the group. They passed out 63 for folks to use and the rest of the group brought their own. Although I own at least three I didn’t bring one onboard. I’ve learned some good things by attending and I also joined a little group that meets on their own around three. One of the men is a fellow I met two summers ago at Juniper Ridge in Showlow, AZ when we stayed for a month with our camper!!! What are the chances I would see him on this cruise with his Uke!! I joined the book club they have onboard. They gave us brand new books of “ The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah about a family moving to Alaska in 1975. It’s an excellent read and the author is a NW native. We have have kept up our exercise routine of walking, stretching and lifting some weights for at least an hour each day. We have taken in the talks by the naturalist onboard about whales and whaling and the Hawaiin Islands. We never take the elevators so I’ve gotten in almost 10,000 steps each day and about 20 flights of stairs. The entertainment may be the best we have ever seen! We had a funny comedian, a trumpet player and a vocal impersonator. Last night was a magician and we opted to have dinner with two other couples in the dining room.
The movie channel in our room has had excellent movies and we’ve taken in s few of those. The musicians in the Atrium and the bars have also been topnotch and as we pass by we find ourselves lingering and maybe even taking a table and just soaking up the melodies.
We have been reading in the decks of which there are many and of course I peruse all the shops each day for a bargain. So far I don’t need a thing. There are over 600 kids onboard but I have to say the programs they have for them keep them and families very involved. They have something everyday to keep them busy. So our See Days also involve just taking in the sea and looking for whales and dolphins. So far we have just seen dolphins and flying fish. I’m hoping when we get to Maui we will see whales. The seas so far have been good and the temperatures in the high 60’s. Tomorrow will be Honolulu and we are going to try and snorkel. We are there from 7-10. It will be a day on our own to explore, get internet, snorkel, maybe pick up a few things at WalMart and hang loose 🤙!!
