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.
- - - - - -
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.
- - - - - -
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.
- - - - - -
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.
- - - - - -
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.
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 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.
- - - - - -
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.
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.
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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment