Cruise #20 – Sea Of Cortez

10 Day Mexican Riviera / Sea Of Cortez on Royal Princess. Stateroom Lido 234. Round Trip from San Pedro / Port of Los Angeles.

Although we have done this itinerary before, this had four “firsts”.
1. Our first cruise with Ocean Medallion. (Cruise #18 had Medallion Net internet.)
2. Our first cruise on a Royal Class ship.
3. An overnight in Cabo San Lucas
4. Visit to Manzanillo

As expected, our medallions arrived about 3 weeks before the cruise in a really elegant looking box. We just went with the included lanyard. I downloaded the Medallion App and completed the pre-embarkation steps.

We arrived at the Port of Los Angeles and got a close parking spot. Curb to boarding was maybe 20 minutes, tops. Princess does post a list of preferred boarding times but we always show up early. For a 4:00 PM sailing, we’ll try to arrive by 10:30 AM. Princess “suggests” 1:30 PM. That’s where you will find the lines. The Stateroom was ready at 11:00 so we dropped off our carry on.

Off to the Horizon Court and Bistro. Heard a lot about it and was excited to see it. But first… Sea View! You know, that arched platform with plexiglass flooring that seems to freak alotta people out? Had to try it out. Never missed the opportunity to walk over it during the entire time.

Really impressed with the Horizon Bistro and Court. So much more open than the other Princess ships with less crowding.

One of our chief complaints with Princess recently is that there weren’t enough staff to turn over the tables quickly or provide drink service. Not this time. We really never had a problem finding a table, even on sea days. There seemed to be a lot more choices and variety than we were used to on prior cruises.

Before Muster drill, we went to the Princess Theater for an overview of Ocean Medallion. Glad we went. Our Cruise Director, Matt O (O’Brien) told us that while they were still testing things out, if you ordered a drink through the smartphone app, the first drink was free! Yes, FREE! We both jumped on that.

Another nice option was “always on internet”. We experienced this on Cruise #19 on Carnival. As Platinum Level, we get 250 free minutes each but you have to constantly log in and out. For a discounted amount, we could upgrade to always on. $120.00 for up to 4 devices (we had 3) and it was very fast. So convenient.

Really liked having Ocean Medallion. No more fumbling around for a key card to unlock the stateroom door. Need to see where Suzi is? Just go to the portal by an elevator, click Ship Mates, tap your medallion, and there she was.

The one thing we really noticed was how long the Royal is. When you are on Deck 7 and look down the corridor on the Starboard side, it appears to be endless. As for the overall layout, very similar to other Princess ships. Piazza on 5 and Atrium on 6 and 7.

The casino was nice but packed with machine banks at weird angles that made it difficult to move around. It was also the warmest of all the venues. Warm as in uncomfortably warm.

My only real complaint is… There is no outside grand promenade where you can walk around the entire perimeter of the ship. I really missed that. There are four separate outdoor areas on Deck 7 Midship and Aft but it’s not the same. When I think cruising, I see people walking along the promenade. I really hope that Princess rethinks this in the future.

Another design issue I thought would get to me was the size of the standard balcony. I saw a lot of reviews knocking it, but I really didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Noticeably smaller? Yes. Irritatingly smaller? No.

As always, we got a stateroom on the Lido Deck, L234. It was not considered an obstructed view room, however, there is quite an overhang from Deck 17.

Really liked the stateroom. And…. Two electrical outlets!!!!!!! Also two in the bathroom! Seemed the layout made it a bit more cramped than Grand Class ships but it was fine.

Like I said earlier, the ship is LONG. The Port of Los Angeles is one of the largest ports in the world but not large enough for a Royal Class ship to turn around in. The Primary Cruise Terminal requires a bit of maneuvering to get in and out of. Doable for a Grand Class Ship but not possible for Royal. So, they use the Terminal directly on the main channel in front of the USS Iowa. They head in when docking, then go out tail first. Kinda weird looking.

Now, I’m not sure whether the Royal has much better stabilization that Grand Class, or if the sea was just unusually calm, but this was the smoothest of all 20 cruises. (Fourth with this similar itinerary.)

Day two was our first full day was at sea. Very relaxing. On day three, we pulled into Cabo San Lucas around 1:00 PM. HOT and HUMID! We, and most others, did not get off the ship. There was also a Disney Ship anchored, so probably just as well.

On day four, we knew we had until 5:30 for last tender, so we took our time, got on a tender and sweated our way to the marina. No Cabo Wabo, no walk to the Paradiso Mall, just a short walk around the marina and through the shops. Especially those with A/C.

Day five was Loreto. It’s our favorite port on this itinerary just because it’s so quaint. Not a lot to do but stroll up and down the pedestrian street. The city hasn’t lost it’s charm.

Day six was another sea day and another time to order drinks using the Ocean Medallion App. So cool.

Day seven was Puerto Vallarta. We’ve done all of the excursions we’re interested in so we decided to pretend to be part of the crew and went to Wal-Mart… Yes, Wal-Mart. Still really hot and humid so didn’t mind not spending a lot of time outside.

The highlight of the entire trip happened as we left Puerto Vallarta. Suzi and I sat out on our balcony and watched a thunderstorm developing on the other side of Banderas Bay. We sat out for at least two and half hours… Next thing we knew, it was way past our traditional seating meal time. Worth every minute.

Day eight was Manzanillo. Had never been so booked the City Tour and Shopping. It’s very hard to describe Manzanillo. It’s very tropical looking. Mountains on three sides… But economically, very depressed. Now there was a hurricane that came through 15 days prior so hard to tell if a lot of windows got blown out from houses or whether the houses just don’t have windows.

The first stop was to downtown. Lots of shops, so we had 20 minutes to get a good sense of the area. Lot’s of kids that seemed very happy… They probably don’t know any better.

We took a drive into the more affluent areas where all of the 5 star resorts are before heading back into town and stopping by a restaurant on the beach for a drink before returning to the ship.

Days nine and ten were sea days. Perfect. We prefer itineraries where the last day is a sea day. Two is even better. We eat breakfast, then head to the cabin and pack. Get it over and done with and enjoy the day.

Now, more about the ship. Entertainment was really good! This itinerary had two sets of singers and dancers. We happened to catch the very last performance of the show, Encore, by this particular cast. Matt O introduced all cast members by name and said that, except for one of the male singers, this cast had all met 9 months prior to begin rehearsals and have been performing together for the past 7 months. It was a moving tribute… Literally.

Our favorite entertainer was AJ Jamal. We haven’t laughed as loud or as often since catching a Steve Moris Show. If AJ is performing on your cruise, GO!!!! No cussing (which we’re not opposed to when appropriate) just funny!

Another hilarious show was a takeoff on Dancing With The Stars. They got 3 male and 3 female passengers and paired them up with 6 crew members. Engineers, to waitstaff and even the gal that dishes out the soft serve ice cream. It was so much fun!

On the very last evening, they introduced the new cast at a performance of the latest Stephen Schwartz production, The Secret Silk. As always, the Production Crew and sets are absolutely phenomenal.

So of course we had to meet with Carol, the Future Cruise Director, and decided we should go ahead and book a little 4 day Catalina / Ensenada cruise in December, 2019. This will be our first time in a froward-facing stateroom, Lido 103. Can’t wait.

You see, we are getting close to Elite Status. If everything pans out for 2020, we’ll hit Elite in the middle of a cruise. As you know, it doesn’t count until you’ve completed the cruise. This way, we’ll start that cruise on Elite. Makes perfect sense. Right?

Princess – On Board Credits

We all love OBC’s. Here are a few ways we maximize money we have to spend on board. This may not work for you, but it fits us just fine.

Princess Visa. Since our vacation of choice is a cruise and our cruise line of choice is Princess and we don’t rely of air mileage to get to the port, we use the Princess Visa exclusively. We just do our normal monthly spending and use the card. We never spend more than we can fully pay off, so never carry a balance or pay interest. We get double points for Princess purchases and single points otherwise. $100.00 in OBC uses 10,000 points. $500.00 OBC, however, is only 40,000 points. Of course you can redeem for a variety of products or services, but we go for the OBC. Another plus is… OBC’s from redeemed points is fully refundable, so anything left over comes back to us by check.

CCL Shareholder Benefits. Purchasing the required 100 minimum shares of Carnival Corporation stock just to get the shareholders benefit is NOT a good reason to buy stock. It would take you 112 1 – 6 day cruises or 55 7 – 13 day cruises or 23 14 days or longer cruises to recoup your investment. If you are like me and like to make a long term investment in companies I am a consumer of, it’s worth looking into. I look at it as an extra dividend every time I step on board.

Future Cruise Deposit. Leave a deposit, normally $100.00 per person, and get OBC based on cruise length and cabin type.

Use a Travel Agent. I must admit, that I am completely capable of handling all of my own arrangements and did so until just last year. After following my friend. Sheri, at CruiseTipsTv, I tried it out. The agent Sheri uses is about 3 miles away, so I made an appointment with CTA Travel. Although they do charge a minimal service fee, Karen always gets us enough of an extra OBC to cover the fee. a TA will also keep track of any fare changes, handle special requests and sends us personalized guides of where we are going.

Bottom line, we usually get on the ship with at least $700.00 in “free” money. Takes care of tips, excursions and extras.

Every time I pull out my Princess Visa, I’ll say “Cruise Points!!!!”

Cruise #7 – Caribbean, South and Central America 2011

The Three Musketeers were back at it. This was a 12 Day Caribbean / South and Central America on Jewel Of The Seas. Round trip Ft. Lauderdale in March, 2011.

Although Suzi, Jerry and I had shared a Stateroom before, this time we booked a Mini Suite, #1084.

We chose this itinerary as it gave us 12 days to unwind and… put us in Florida so we could spend three full days with family after the cruise.

Since we were taking a Red Eye on JetBlue that would arrive at 5:00 AM on the day of embarkation, we actually booked a hotel room at the Comfort Inn as they offered complimentary shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, then to Port Everglades. They also had a complimentary breakfast. This would give us at least 2 or 3 hours of rest, a light breakfast and transportation to the ship.

We arrived, collected our bags and called the hotel as instructed. No answer. Gave it a few minutes and tried again. Still no answer. We finally hailed a cab and they drove us to the hotel. It turns out, the area had a power outage which knocked out their phone system. They apologized and reimbursed us for the cab, so all was good.

After a couple hours of well-needed sleep, we grabbed a light breakfast, got ourselves refreshed and off to the shuttle. The hotel shuttle was on a run but a shuttle service was there to pickup other passengers, so we tagged along. It wasn’t complimentary but would take us from the ship to the car rental center at the airport upon arrival back.

Since we had been on Jewel before, we were right at home. The Mini Suite was amazing, although we had never been in a mini suite before so had nothing to compare it to. Full size tub, plenty of space for the three of us to move around and a walk-in closet.

As normal, we went to the Dining Room to see where our table was. I recognized one of the waiters from the previous cruise so asked if Oxana was on this cruise. She was!!!! He made sure she would work our table. She recognized Suzi immediately. (me, not so much but I’m used to that…)

The first port was supposed to be Orangestad, Aruba. However, there was a medical emergency that was serious but not life-threatening, so we were redirected to Labadee, Haiti. Another RCL Ship on it’s way back to Port Everglades would meet us there so we could transfer the patient. Here is a shot of the pier as we arrived:

The change didn’t affect our itinerary too much. Instead of arriving to Aruba at 7:00 AM, it got us there at around 3:00 PM. Since we were supposed to set sail at 5:00 PM, they decided to let the ship stay overnight. Nice for us, the the crew was ecstatic as they rarely, if ever, get a chance to party in Aruba.

We did not take an excursion in Aruba. The three of us opted to venture on our own and wander downtown and along the shore.

Even though we left Aruba a day later, the next day was a sea day so we were able to makeup the time and arrive in Cartagena, Columbia at our scheduled time.

We didn’t really know what to think about Cartagena, mostly because of Pable Escobar and ruthless drug cartels. We didn’t book an excursion but when we got out to the transportation area of the port, we teamed up with another couple and hired a van. He took us on a pretty comprehensive tour. We got a good view of the new city, drove past the fortress and had some free time at the shopping area by the coast before venturing into the old city.

Normally, the officials close the streets on port days and make the old town pedestrian only. Our driver ended up talking to a policewoman at one of the entry points, offered her little “monetary supplement” (OK BRIBE!) and she turned her head while we drove in. We weren’t the only tourist vehicle, so didn’t stand out but probably saw much more of the city than most on foot.

We got a kick when our driver drove us past Pablo Escobar’s old house that was now a market.

The next day was Colon, Panama. We booked a tour of the Canal Zone, including Gatun Lake and also Gatun Locks. It was extremely interesting to have our first experience with the Panama Canal from land.

The next port was Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. Again, no excursion booked so we decided to find one on our own. The first prospective guide gave us a good price but when we saw his vehicle, a really beat up, rusted sub-compact with springs sticking up from the seat, we reneged. The second guy had a nice SUV, so we went for it. We decided to go to the Dole banana plantation, so we headed out of town. He said he needed gas and needed a $10.00 advance for gas… Hmmmm.

Well, we did give him the money and ended up with a great tour. He knew all the people at the plantation and got us in for free.

Our guide offered to take us to the rain forest but we decided to head back to the port and wander around town. We ran across this art gallery. I decided to have a little Photoshop fun:

After a relaxing day at sea our next, and last, port was George Town, Grand Cayman. No excursions, just walked around town by way of the rum cake store, of course.

Last day was a sea day. We really like itineraries that end with a sea day. We don’t feel rushed to have to pack our suitcases after spending the day in port. We usually pack everything but our carry-on after breakfast on the last day and enjoy the ship while everyone else is packing…

Disembarkation was a snap. Had to wait a bit for a shuttle to the airport so we could get the the rental car center. From there, had a nice relaxing time with family.