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2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise #257132
06/02/2021 06:31 PM
06/02/2021 06:31 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,116
missouri
Cathyg Offline OP
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Cathyg  Offline OP
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Posts: 1,116
missouri
Regent cancelled our Asian cruise for our 50th anniversary so we booked this one as a replacement. We celebrated our 25th anniversary in Hawaii....and our 40th...so why not spend our 50th there as well?

We have never been to San Francisco....and the cruise begins there. SO fingers crossed this one will transpire in April 2022.


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Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #257191
06/03/2021 12:49 PM
06/03/2021 12:49 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,486
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Central Florida!
Best wishes. Things should be fine by then, one would hope!


Carol Hill
Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #257549
06/07/2021 07:44 PM
06/07/2021 07:44 PM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,288
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PelicanPirate Offline
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Unless it has changed San Francisco is the most interesting jewel of North America to us. Great sights and sounds and vibrant people from the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Knob Hill, Fishermans Wharf

Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #258188
06/14/2021 02:33 PM
06/14/2021 02:33 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,116
missouri
Cathyg Offline OP
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Cathyg  Offline OP
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missouri
We have never been to SF...and are going a few days early so we can explore the area. I am pretty excited!!!


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Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #258252
06/15/2021 06:41 AM
06/15/2021 06:41 AM
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,146
Louisiana
o2bnsxm Offline
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o2bnsxm  Offline
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Originally Posted by Cathyg
We have never been to SF...and are going a few days early so we can explore the area. I am pretty excited!!!


If you can arrange for a cable car (trolly?) ride, it's a great way to see the city, and relatively inexpensive.

Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #265820
10/14/2021 09:00 PM
10/14/2021 09:00 PM
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 480
Northern California
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thesimpsons Offline
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thesimpsons  Offline
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Northern California
My wife and I live 40 miles east of San Francisco. If you have any questions let us know. We were annual visitors to Club O.

Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #280299
04/15/2022 09:28 AM
04/15/2022 09:28 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,116
missouri
Cathyg Offline OP
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Cathyg  Offline OP
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Posts: 1,116
missouri
We got back from this trip Monday evening.

2022 Princess Ruby Hawaiian Cruise Mar 23-April 11

We booked this trip May 26, 2021, for $11,366. We booked our air with American with points and upgraded to First class.

We began our journey by spending the night at the Airport Hilton room 833 which including long term parking and catch the bus to the airport for our 7 am flight to Phoenix to San Francisco. We had club sandwiches at the bar.

We got up at four and checked in at the airport. The flight was uneventful to Phoenix and to San Francisco. We took a taxi to the Hilton in the financial district…room 2412…. which we booked on points. We walked across the street to China town and had a late lunch at R&G lounge.
I had forgotten a few things, so we searched all afternoon for a Walgreens. I do not know how many miles we walked but we were worn out. We retired early since it had been a long day.

On Friday, we woke up really early. The time change is difficult. We grabbed a breakfast sandwich at the hotel since the restaurant is closed. We took a taxi to Fisherman’s Warf to go on a tour we booked with Dylan tours online. We visited Muir woods, and the golden gate bridge. We saw Mrs. Doubtfire’s house. We had lunch in Sausalito at Venice on the waterfront. We took our online covid tests which we ordered from Princess and are both negative.

Saturday March 26, we took a taxi to Fisherman’s Warf to have lunch at Franciscan crab restaurant. It was truly the best crab we have ever eaten.

Sunday March 27, we took a taxi to pier twenty-seven to board the ship. It took about an hour to get checked in. We are in room D202. Our room is fine, but the ship is a bit tired. We had dinner at da Vinci…. but we had to leave before the entrée arrived because we had to meet with the wedding coordinator. It is raining and the seas are very rough. We were told that over one hundred people on the previous cruise got covid. I cleaned our room as best I could with the products, I brought with me. Time changed tonight. We are hanging out at crooner’s bar and our favorite waiter is Amit.

Monday March 28. We had breakfast at da Vinci. We walked around the ship trying to get our bearings. We had lunch at slice. The pizza was very good however I paid for it dearly and we skipped dinner.

Tuesday March 29. We had breakfast at da Vinci. We had lunch at da Vinci and while eating…the doctor came and removed a lady from the table next to us. Her roommate had tested positive...she knew it...but still came to the dining room to have lunch. They were taking her to test her. This is crazy.
Today is formal day. We had our pictures taken and had dinner at Sabatini’s for an upcharge of $25 apiece.…which was WONDERFUL and worth every penny.

Wednesday March 30 Time changed again. We had dinner at Botticelli’s.

Thursday March 31 we finally had a warm day and sat by the pool. We went to the Grapevine wine Tasting at Botticelli’s at 3:00 for $12 apiece. We had dinner at da Vinci.

Friday April 1, we arrived in Honolulu Hawaii. We booked a day at the Polynesian Cultural center…$250 each. It poured down rain most of the day. Unfortunately, the boat parade has not yet resumed due to covid. It was my favorite part of PCC. We had dinner there at the Gateway buffet…which was supposed to be a luau. It was the same food just no show. We did attend the Ha Breath of life show which was the best Polynesian show we have ever seen. We got back to the ship about 10:30 pm.

Saturday April 2, we docked in Maui. We booked the deluxe whale watching on the Trilogy. We saw about ten whales. We had dinner at Da Vinci.

Sunday April 3, we docked in Kauai. We booked the Waimea Canyon, Wailua River and Fern Grotto tour at $170 apiece. We stopped by the canyon, then the spouting Horn, then Opaikaa Falls. We had lunch at Keokis…which was surprisingly very good. Then we did the river cruise to the fern Grotto. We went to the Jewelry store and Steve bought me a ring, necklace, and earrings for our anniversary. We had dinner at DaVinci’s.

Monday April 4, we went to Hilo Hawaii. We booked the Explore Hilo Town Highlights at $80 apiece. We went to Rainbow Falls, Richardson Ocean Park black sand beach where we saw turtles, we went to the Liliuokalani Garden, the King Kamehameha statue, we tasted candy at Big Island candies and stopped at a local farmers market. We had dinner at the Salty dog gastro pub for an upcharge of $16 apiece. It was not worth the price.

Tuesday April 5 …back to sea days. We have always enjoyed sea days on past cruises. We usually sit on our balcony and drink wine and watch for sea life. This cruise, however, has been rough seas, windy, cold, and rainy. It is simply not enjoyable to use the balcony.

Wednesday April 6… We had dinner at Sabatini. This time was not as good as last time. I think because it was much busier and more crowded.

Thursday April 7, Formal day. Today they decorated our room for our anniversary. We had dinner at Botticelli.

April 8 Today is our 50th anniversary. We got ready for our Vow renewal. We booked this online before the cruise for $250. They came and picked us up from the room at 12:15 and took us to deck sixteen behind Sabatini’s at the aft of the ship. There were two baskets of flowers and two candelabras. I had a beautiful rose bouquet and Steve and the captain had boutonnieres. They play music as I walked the red carpet to Steve. The vows were said, the rings exchanged, the congratulations given. We then had champagnes toasts and photos. We had also prebooked a fine wine tasting in Botticelli’s at 3:00 for $60. We then had dinner at the crown grill which was included in the cost of the vow renewal. The captain sent another bottle of prosecco for us to enjoy. Today was a magical day.

April 9 Today we went to Ensenada Mexico. We saw a wonderful show. We also were taken to a shopping area however we did not get off of the bus.

April 10 Today is our last day at sea. The seas were the roughest yet. We packed. We picked up the paperwork for the jewelry. We met with the wedding photographer to review the photos. We purchased the package of ninety-two printed photos, the thumb drive, the video and two 11x14 metal enlargements for $2500.

April 11, we met in Da Vinci for our group to disembark at 8:45. At 9:15 we were still waiting. Our flight was supposed to leave at 12. We finally got off of the ship, picked up our luggage, boarded the bus and arrived at the airport, checked in and had uneventful flights home.

This trip was a replacement for a Regent Asian cruise that has been moved to 2024 because of covid. We have been to Hawaii for our 25th and 40th anniversaries and thought this cruise might be a good way to celebrate our 50th. We have sailed Princess in 2013 to the Mediterranean so we thought we knew what to expect from this cruise. I understand that covid has changed many things in our lives…and unfortunately travel is one of these things. Princess clearly has allowed the ship to “age” during its hiatus. Princess is clearly shorthanded on staff. Princess was not ready to welcome back over 2700 passengers. They ran out of supplies, wait times for service were much too long, staff was frustrated, passengers were angry. Over fifty people got covid and were quarantined on deck twelve. The atmosphere was pensive. The weather was disappointing. I will never again book a cruise with nine sea days; I will never again use Princess. The medallion app, the medallion network, all need reevaluation.

Photos can be viewed at https://www.sandcvacations.com/

Last edited by Cathyg; 04/15/2022 09:30 AM.

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Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #280301
04/15/2022 09:34 AM
04/15/2022 09:34 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,486
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,486
Central Florida!
Wow, sounds like a lot didn't go right. Glad to hear that your actual anniversary was nice.


Carol Hill
Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #280302
04/15/2022 09:45 AM
04/15/2022 09:45 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,116
missouri
Cathyg Offline OP
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Cathyg  Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,116
missouri
We have taken 10 cruises...I would rate this one dead last. I am willing to cut Princess some slack...because of covid....but when do we go back to holding companies accountable? If you don't have enough staff...then obviously you cannot give your customers the service they expect.

We go on a regent cruise the end of May....I am anxious to see if THEY have their act together.

Our anniversary was wonderful....and it was the one thing Princess got right.

Last edited by Cathyg; 04/15/2022 09:51 AM.

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Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #280303
04/15/2022 09:54 AM
04/15/2022 09:54 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,486
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Posts: 82,486
Central Florida!
Certainly hope that the next cruise is much better.


Carol Hill
Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #285374
06/28/2022 02:32 PM
06/28/2022 02:32 PM
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 21
A
Adventure123 Offline
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Posts: 21
Cathy sounds like a terrible experience you had.Hopefully Regent might turnout in your favour.I totally agree with you COVID cannot be an excuse for everything which went wrong.Though the staff shortage is a by product of COVID but definitely these companies should be accountable.

Re: 2022 Princess Hawaiian Island cruise [Re: Cathyg] #286832
07/31/2022 12:50 PM
07/31/2022 12:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 304
California
Sunnykm Offline
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Sunnykm  Offline
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Posts: 304
California
Cathy I am sad that this cruise wasn't up to par. But I always enjoy your trip reports.

Karen


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