This would be our first cruise of the year, and the first time my partner and I would be sailing from a port outside the New York Metropolitan area. We chose to take a cruise (on the Emerald Princess above) from Los Angeles, so that we'd have a chance to see my aging uncle before starting off on the cruise. Given that one should fly in to a city at least one day before a cruise, we figured that we'd have a day in Los Angeles to both see my uncle and to do some light sightseeing before embarking on the cruise.
We chose to book the Princess Premier fare, as we didn't want to think about what we were spending on drinks, nor did we want to pay extra for crew gratuities during the cruise. We wanted a "One and Done" price for our trip, and we got that for the portions provided by Princess with one exception. (And that was a set of pictures taken at the portrait studio, in my attempt to burn off non-refundable cruise credits.) My partner and I wanted price simplicity, and we got it.
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But I digress....
Both of us have TSA Pre-Check privileges (I get mine through Global Entry), and we breezed through check-in and the security checkpoint, leaving us almost 2 hours to kill before our flight. Although airport food is overpriced, we chose this flight so that we could have a bite to eat before getting on the plane, and be able to have dinner when we arrived in LA. Everything went according to plan until we arrived in LA.
LAX is a large airport with all the confusion that can take place at an airport its size. Once we found our baggage, we didn't know where to find a shuttle that would take us to our airport area hotel. We had purchased airport transfers, but we didn't see anyone near the luggage carousel. So I figured that almost all airport area hotels have shuttle buses, and started to look for them. Although, the signage wasn't especially clear, we found the shuttle bus area, and made it to the hotel.
Hotel check-in was easy, but getting from the front desk to our room required a long walk. I figure that we got as much exercise walking around the hotel as we normally do on a cruise ship - and that's a lot of walking. Once I got to the room, I decided to complete my registration in the hotel's loyalty program to get free wi-fi. (I was told that I'd get it for free, now that I was in their system. This wasn't the case.) But their computer system wouldn't let me do this. So, it was another long walk to the front desk for help - something that they tried to provide, but couldn't. They referred me to the loyalty program's help number, something I didn't bother to use as I was too tired to care anymore.
After a little bit of rest, my partner and I decided to go to the hotel's restaurant to get a bite to eat. It's too bad that we didn't know the area and weren't in the mood to take a cab, as what normally would have been a reasonable dinner cost us $120. Sadly, hotel restaurants all over the world seem to indulge in this type of highway robbery, as they cater to a clientele that doesn't want to venture far afield.
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The next day, Friday, I noticed that I had misplaced my Princess Medallion. So I called the staff at the local Princess help desk, and they said this would not be a problem. (I wasn't told that I'd be given a one-time-use cruise card to get on the ship, and then get a new medallion from guest services.) And then we started our daily activities.
Since we weren't renting a car to get around LA, we decided to go looking for where the Metro station was near the airport. We needed the Metro's TAP card to get around, and I didn't trust that the bus system would process payment by phone, as my phone doesn't have NFC. (Don't mind the details here. I can be a technology geek at times, and I prefer to use tried and true technology when I need for it to work.) So we went to the Hotel's concierge to get information. But it was misinformation we got. We were directed to a station 4 long blocks away. One problem. LA is a car centered city, and even the poorest of people drive here. The concierge didn't know that the station wouldn't open for another year.
Once we found out that we wasted a half hour walking through a desolated area, we decided to get an Uber to take us to the Motion Picture Academy Museum and the Petersen Automotive Museum. We were lucky to find an Uber driver waiting for an airport hail who helped me set up the app. However, as much as we wanted to use this person's services when we hit the "Summon Driver" button, the signal didn't reach his phone in time to respond to the summons - someone else had responded in less than a second! So he drove off while we waited for the new driver to come.
The new driver came, and we had an interesting conversation about Armenia (his former home) while on the way to the museums. On the way, he drove past what might be the highest price gas in the continental 48 states, save Gorda, CA (see photo above). I was glad that we got a ride with this Uber driver, as it confirmed my faith in America's ability to absorb immigrants of all nationalities.
Our first stop was the Academy Museum. I was underwhelmed by this museum, as New York's Museum of the Moving Image gives the visitor a better appreciation for the art of cinema. However, I was impressed by its exhibit covering the depiction of Blacks in cinema and the achievements of Blacks in American cinema. It covered the racism in D.W.Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation", as well as the history of Black cinema.
Next, it was across the street to the Petersen Automotive Museum. This museum focuses on the art of the automobile, and contains both production models of many cars, as well as concept cars produced by auto manufacturers. I can not do this museum justice with my words, save that it helped me gave a greater appreciation of the art of automobile design.
Once we were done with this museum, it was off to the heart of Beverly Hills for dinner. (My uncle was not up to having visitors.) We found an excellent and affordable Indian restaurant while walking around town. Once done, it was time to go back to our hotel for one last evening.
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Saturday came, and it was time to make it to the ship. This is when our first set of travel hiccups occurred. When the boarding call came for the transfer to the pier, RQS and I got separated from each other. Luckily, there was not far to go before we found each other. But it was a comical miscommunication we could chuckle about before we got to the pier. The bus took 30-45 minutes to make it to the Los Angeles (San Pedro) cruise terminal, and I enjoyed pointing things out to my partner along the way there.
Then, the "fun" began....
Arriving at the pier, I proceeded to the check-in desk, where a temporary cruise card (in place of my misplaced Princess medallion) would be issued to me so I could board the ship. It took about 30 minutes for this card to be issued. Then, it was off to board the ship.
Once on board, I proceeded to Guest Services, where a new medallion would be issued. (Why this couldn't have been done in advance so I could pick it up at the pier, I'll never know.) After a short wait in sweltering temperatures, I got some help. And it was another 15 minutes before I had a working medallion. Finally, it was off to our cabin, when we found out that my partner's medallion didn't work. So we went back to Guest Services for another 15 minutes before this problem was resolved.
By this time, we were exhausted, and relaxed during the ship's sail-away before going to dinner, then going to bed.
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Our first full day on the ship would be spent at sea. Gala nights on Princess' cruises tend to be a bit more formal than on NCL. Although many people dressed as "Business Casual", more people dressed in nice suits and fancy dresses. I was very glad that my partner and I were prepared to enjoy looking our best when we would be photographed later in the day.
My partner and I decided to relax during the day, and we took the time to explore the ship. We decided to have lunch in the main dining room, and share a table with other cruisers. We shared our table with a couple of ladies who were celebrating their 40th anniversary of graduating college, and wished we could meet them again later on in the cruise. (Word to the wise: If one wants to chat with a diverse sampling of people, choose shared table dining.) When we finished lunch, we went to get a specialty dessert from the ice cream / pizza shop. Although these desserts have a list price of $12, one can get them for free as part of the Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages. We were underwhelmed, as the presentation did not look anywhere as appetizing as that on the menu, and the dessert did not taste as good as what we expected from the menu's description.
Once we were done with our desserts, it was time to go rest before getting dressed for the evening. We had scheduled the first of our two specialty dinners at the Crown Grill (Princess's Steakhouse), and we wanted to look our best when we posed for the photographers.
Before we entered the restaurant, we posed for our photos. This would be where we would stumble into a problem with the technology used by Princess. On our prior NCL cruises, the photographer would ask us which room we were in, and then all pictures associated with the photo session would be associated with the cruisers in the room. Princess uses a different technology, with no human backup. From what I can tell, Princess either uses facial recognition to associate a person's pictures with one's room number, or the proximity of one's medallion to the photographer. There is no automatic provision for a fall back when a person's photo can not be associated with the cruiser's cabin. This is what happened with my cruise partner, as all of her solo photos were lost in the ether.
On our ship, Princess offers two specialty restaurants of interest to me: Crown Grill and Sabattini's. (We weren't interested in the Salty Dog gastropub, or any other of the specialty venues.) The Crown Grill is a steakhouse similar to NCL's Cagney's, while Sabattini's is comparable to NCL's La Cucina. Given that good or excellent Italian restaurants are "a dime a dozen" in the NYC area, we decided to go to the Crown Grill for our two specialty dinners. Arriving at the restaurant, it took a while before we were greeted. Then, it took a while for us to get seated. I feel that this restaurant was understaffed, and could have used a few more staff members. Once our service started, we both considered it to be top notch. Would I consider the food as good as that in NCL's steakhouse restaurant? No. But the service is much better once started.
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Monday came, and the ship docked in San Francisco. The last time I was on a Princess ship in this city, I was embarking on an Alaska cruise. This time, we were at the new cruise terminal, and what a pleasure! Compared with the old terminal, this terminal was light and airy.
As usual, I digress....
My partner and I decided to go on a shore excursion to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. This is an island of serenity in a big city, a place that I always try to visit when in San Francisco. And my partner fell in love with this city when she explored the tea garden for the first time. This was something we don't have in New York city, and a special place worth visiting on every visit.
After our return to the ship for lunch, we loaded our phones with San Francisco's Muni app, bought a 1-day unlimited pass for $5.00 and took off for Fisherman's Wharf to see the Musee Mechanique. The Musee is a working museum of coin operated machines, many of which are over 75 years old. The above picture is of Laffing Sal, a feature of a former San Francisco amusement park, Playland by the Beach. When one puts $0.50 in the box, Sal will start laughing in an uncontrolled manner.
Nearby is a beautiful old Wurlitzer automated band. There is a machine like this at the Santa Monica pier. but this one is my favorite. Although I could go on and on about the machines in this place, one has to visit it to appreciate it.
And then we took the historic trolley from Fisherman's Wharf to the Castro district. "The Castro" is the headquarters of San Francisco's LGBT community, and a great place for people to visit. The Castro movie theater is a great place to watch movies, and should be visited on a multi night stay in this city.
All too soon, it was time to go to dinner and return to the ship. So, we boarded the trolley, and took it back to the pier. Don't confuse trolleys with Cable Cars. Trolleys are propelled by electric motors getting power from wires above the street, while cable cars are propelled by gripping cabled running below the street.
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Tuesday came, and it would be our last day in San Francisco. Today's goal would be lunch at the Swan Oyster Depot. So, we had a light breakfast at the buffet, and off the ship we went. We again loaded up the Muni app with another 1-day pass, and took the bus to the depot. Unfortunately, the president was in town, and this fouled up traffic along the route the bus would normally take. Our bus was diverted several blocks out of the way to avoid the "hot zone", and we made it to the depot around 12:30 pm.
The Swan Oyster Depot is a small restaurant that can seat only 18 people at a time on its bar stools. So, there is always a line in front of the place, as it serves some of the freshest seafood in town. If it isn't on ice in the window, it is not available for its customers. If what you see is what you get, then you are sure to have a great meal. But one will have to wait for it. We stood on line for 45 minutes before we got seated, and couldn't wait to chow down when we got our seats.
My partner had the mixed Clam and Oyster platter, while I had Clam Chowder and some Smoked Salmon (the server's recommendation, as they didn't have the cracked crab I wanted), with an Anchor Steam Beer to wash things down. (I didn't know it at the time, but this would be the last time I'd be able to enjoy this local brew, as the brewery would close the following month.) The chowder alone was worth the effort to get here, and our main courses were as close to perfection as you could get. All too soon, it was time to go back to the ship. So we got back on the bus and returned to the ship to relax for the evening.
In the evening, we ate in the main dining room. It was Italian night, and the head waiter made sure that we had extra dishes to sample. Yum! He was going above and beyond to make sure that we enjoyed our meal. And we did!
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Wednesday was the second and last sea day on the cruise. As usual, we got up late and lunch was the first meal of the day. We had made an appointment with the portrait studio to have photographs taken of the two of us. Just before dinner, we dressed in our Sunday best and walked to the back of the ship and looked for the special elevator that would take us up to the 19th floor of the ship. (There is only one elevator that goes to this floor, and there is a separate call button to summon this elevator.) Once we got there, we went to the 19th floor and walked through a narrow corridor to reach the studio.
At our appointed time, we entered the studio and found the photographer busy with another couple. Stepping outside, we found some people playing cornhole in a strong breeze. We decided to kill 10 minutes playing miniature golf, then return to the studio. After 10 minutes had passed, we returned to the studio and the photographer got busy for a half hour taking monochrome photos of us. No mention of the cost of these portrait photos was made at this time. That would be sprung on us the day before disembarkation with the skill and subtlety of a slick used car salesman. But more on that later.
We then went downstairs to our second specialty dinner, and had the same problem that we had the first night we were there - it took them a while to start the dining process due to a lack of staff, but once begun, things were as smooth as silk. Dinner was flawless. It's just too bad that it felt that our wait was being caused by a shortage of staff, as I'd have otherwise ranked this meal as a 10 out of 10.
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Friday came, and the ship arrived in San Diego. If we were on our own, we might have explored the San Diego Maritime Museum (a short walk from the cruise terminal), then taken Light Rail to Old Town San Diego (the original San Diego settlement site). However, we had a chauffeur for the day - my partner's cousin. And she drove us to the Old Town San Diego state park and historic site for our first stop.
Old Town San Diego is both a restaurant district and a state park. The state park has both original and reconstructed buildings which give the tourist an idea of what life was like for the city's original settlers. We were lucky to have latched on to a tour being given by one of the park's tour guides, and we had the benefit of someone who made the site's history come to life. If we had more time, I would like to have spent more of it in this park. Instead, we took a convoluted route to our next stop, Balboa Park.
Balboa Park is San Diego's answer to New York City's Central Park, but on steroids. It has the city's famous zoo and many of its museums all in one place. We had lunch in one of its restaurants, and then went to see the Spanish Village Arts Center, where my partner picked up some of the artisan's work. A little later, we walked over to the zoo's entrance, where we relaxed while the zoo's band entertained us. All too soon, it was tie to get back to the ship. So we bid my partner's cousin goodbye, and got back on the ship for the cruise's mandated stop in Mexico.
We decided to dine at a shared table, and this was a rare mistake in doing so. We joined two other couples, and one of them was extremely picky. This couple were classic "Karens", By the time they were finished with their dinners, they rushed away to see the late theater performance. Unfortunately, their actions cause our remaining tablemates to miss that performance, as the Karens delayed service for the four of us remaining at the table. Luckily, we had nowhere to go, so we went to the lounge and caught up with another couple from the cruise and finished the evening in good spirits and glasses of good spirits in us.
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Our next and last port on this cruise before returning to Los Angeles was Ensenada, Mexico. My partner and I were both very tired, having averaged over 4 miles of walking each day we were in port. So today, we decided to take a rest and stay on the ship.
While in port, my partner noticed that the Princess photographers (not the portrait studio, which is a separate operation) had not posted my partner's pictures for us to download. We figured that we could get this fixed later on, when the ship is back in international waters. This was a big mistake, for reasons I'll get to later on.
As the ship left Ensenada, we made our way to the portrait studio, where we were greeted by the photographer who took our monochrome "glamour shots". He proceeded to show us a set of 45 photos he had taken, and had us choose the ones we liked best over several passes through the 45 poses. And then he tried to baffle us with numbers on a spreadsheet representing "fictional" volume pricing for the pictures. There was no way that we were going to spend $1,200 for 8 photos. I had $150 left in cruise credits, and I wanted to get the best value I could for these credits. Eventually, he went down in price to $300 for a set of 3 photos, the first of me alone, the second of my partner, and the third of the two of us together. And that's where we bit - we could justify $300 for these 3 pictures. We inked the deal, and were told that it might take 6-10 weeks for the photos to be delivered. (It took less than 4, but I digress.) So then, it was down to the main photography area.
By the time we arrived at the main photography area, all the photos were scattered in random slots. There is no way that we could find our 3 free photos each in this mess, nor were we willing to stand on line for 45 minutes to get help. As upset as my partner was, it was not worth our time to get this resolved. Instead, it would take "nastygrams" to Princess after the cruise to get help. So we went off to our last meal in the main dining room.
Normally, I would have been very happy with the service and food in the main dining room. This last visit was a rare exception, but not a fault of any of the restaurant staff. We had been seated, enjoying some wine when the lights went out suddenly. Instead of a quiet last meal, the cruise director started playing loud and disruptive music for the "Baked Alaska" parade. This annoyed me to no end. My mood was ruined by this celebratory indulgence of the cruise director, and it took me a while to recover my relaxed mood. Thankfully, the head waiter made sure that all our needs were taken care of, and that extra beverages, main courses and desserts were delivered to our table - we again felt pampered and relaxed. It was a nice way to finish off the cruise.
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Saturday came, and we returned to Los Angeles. Facial recognition is now being used at this cruise terminal, so we were able to disembark, find our luggage, and get to the airport transfer bus in less than 15 minutes. (I can still remember the time it took over 45 minutes to make it through both New York and Brooklyn cruise terminals a little over a decade ago.) As soon as the bus was filled with people and luggage, it proceeded to the airport - a 30-45 minute ride away. We were glad that someone else was doing the driving on these busy roads.
When we made it to our airline's terminal area, we checked our bags and proceeded to the TSA security checkpoint. I had made sure to put all my liquids in my checked luggage. But my partner made a mistake, and had to toss an expensive bottle away at the checkpoint. And then, we made the long walk to our gate, where we would spend the next 3 1/2 hours.
Delta's gate area in Los Angeles is largely devoid of food options, though they are adding some in the next month or two. So we had to make another long walk to buy some over priced food to eat before getting on our flight. We also bought some food to eat on the flight, as there was no significant food or snack service on our flight to LA. This would be a fortunate move on our part, as our plane boarded at 1:45 pm for a 2:20 pm takeoff, and was held 90 minutes for a New York initiated ground stop for all incoming flights to JFK.
Unlike other passengers on our plane who exited the plane while at the gate, we stayed seated and ate what we had brought on board. Eventually, our plane's passengers got back on board the plane, and we took off for New York. Several hours later, we could see why there had been a ground stop. Weather conditions at JFK were inhospitable for planes to land. (Flights over the next couple of days would be cancelled because of the New York City weather, so we considered ourselves lucky to have gotten to New York at all.)
Getting from our gate at the end of Terminal 4 to the luggage area involves a long walk, where moving walkways gave us a much needed break. The weather had disrupted enough flight plans, that the airline was bringing pizza to people scheduled to take "Red Eye" flights to Europe, as all of the food vendors had already shut down for the evening. After a mile of movement inside the terminal, we found the one open food outlet in the secured area - a McDonald's. But we didn't stop. We wanted to find our luggage, summon an Uber, and get home.
It took a while for our bags to make it to the luggage carousel. When we found them, we went outside to summon our Uber. And that's when New York weather slapped us in our faces. It was 80° outside with 95% humidity. If we could have taken off all our clothing, we would still be uncomfortable. (We'd have been arrested too.) And then we had to wait 15 minutes for our Uber to arrive.
Finally, we made it home after being in transit all day. It was a great trip, and one I hope we can do again.
