Coastal Cruise Pt 2

Well sail away day has finally arrived and everyone bright and cheerful. At least as cheerful as two teens can been waking at 7 AM on a Saturday. Our Princess cruise departs out of San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles) which is about an hour and on half drive from home WHEN THERE ARE NO TRAFFIC ISSUES! So we are planning for a drive of two hours. Just a few toiletries to finish the packing, a filling breakfast to last until we are on board for lunch and then loading the rolling duffle bags into the car and run through our final check list and away we go.

Sure enough, the wonderful L.A. traffic made the trip slightly over 2 hours but was dropping the bags curbside at about 1:15. The porter whisked the bags away so I sent my wife and kids to the entry door while I took the car to the parking lot. Locked, alarmed and soon met the family at the terminal entrance, showed our boarding passes, filled out the health questionnaire and made a bee line for the check in counters. With a quick line we were at the counter in 10 minutes. With all the papers in order we had our room keys/ID cards and directed to the boarding line.

Our cabin was ready for us so a quick drop in to leave our carry on items and then head to deck 15 for lunch! At each of the entry points to the Horizon Buffet a crew member was stationed to remind guests to take a squirt of hand sanitizer before entering. Better safe than sorry. So much to choose from I did two passes before I figured out what I wanted. A couple slices of pork roast, some steak fries, and some fried chicken and I was ready to hit the relaxation zone. Well just until the emergency drill. The emergency drill went rather fast for the first time in recent memory. Life jackets tried on and secured then just as quickly off again and back to the cabin to drop them off before sail away.

On the Crown Princess, at the very front of deck 8 is an open air deck right over the bow of the ship. From the open air promenade on deck 7, just go all the way forward to a stairway and take that up one level. Great spot for sail aways without a lot of crowd. The horn blasted, the lines were cast, and the ship slowly began to ease away from the pier. We backed out into the main channel and shifted into forward gear as the ship made here way toward the breakwater. Visitors to the USS Iowa waved and patrons to several pier side restaurants waved as we glided past the tourist area. Soon we passed the breakwater several small sailboats and hit the open sea. Beautiful evening for a cruise sail away.

The Crown Princess is a beautiful ship with rich woods and brass decor giving a very elegant European feel to her. The Piazza is the heart of the ship with the international cafe, Vines, Crooner's bar, and several shops. This is one of the best places to grab a seat to watch the other passengers. The international cafe serves complimentary bakery items that are very good starting with donuts and other breakfast baked goods to mid day and evening extraordinary deserts. If you visit in the morning, try the apricot beignet! Before dinner, stop by vines for a glass or two of wine in a comfortable venue that reminds you of a classic vineyard wine tasting room.

Three dining rooms open for dinner each night on the Crown Princess, Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. They serve the same menu each night with elegant decor and excellent table service. Our wait staff were very attentive and promptly delivered each course. Every course tasted fantastic leaving the taste buds eager for the next dish. We pushed back from the table very satisfied and full, so full that a walk around the deck was in order. If the main dining rooms are not your style, the Horizon Court buffet serves many of the same dishes served in the main dining room but in buffet style. Try a little bit of everything.

We missed the welcome aboard show because we chose to eat dinner somewhat late and the theater was full by the time we arrived. That is not such a big deal with a variety of other entertainment choices to keep us amused. Each lounge had something going on from karaoke to a duo covering the most popular hits from the 70's and 80's to the casino with flat screens showing the latest sports. There was so many things to do we could not come close to doing it all.

Without an alarm clock I was looking forward to sleeping in the next morning, a sea day. Stupid body clock! Yes still waking up at 5:00 AM. Oh well, while the rest of my family were sound asleep, I sneaked out to the to deck to get fresh sea air and to get a brief walk in and then drop in to the Horizon Court to grab some breakfast. In the buffet I found nearly all the traditional breakfast items to choose form. THICK french toast, pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, cereal, plenty of fresh fruit and then some. You definitely will not go hungry on the Crown Princess. The seating on sea days does fill up rather quickly though so later risers may be challenged to find a table. I found the best bet is all the way to the rear near the Cafe Caribe,

Sea days are my favorite which gives you the cruiser the choice to do as little or as much as you want to. My wife likes to find a quiet spot to catch up on the latest novels, both kids take off to hang with the other teens, and I enjoy watching the sea and tempting fate at the casino. There are also plenty of culinary art fruit carving demonstrations, or SPA demonstrations, or trivia contests, or deck games and more. I have already won one bottle of champagne for winning a ring-the-bottle competition.

This sea day I hit the sack early, around 10:00 PM so that I could get up early to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge just before 6:00 AM. Entering San Francisco Bay is a unique way to visit the bay city. You can make out the two tall golden pillars from the distance and they slowly get larger and larger as the ship approaches. As we are near the bridge you can hear the hum of traffic going over it. The bridge makes the ship seem quite small and in a blink we have passed under the Golden Gate and are entering beautiful San Francisco. A little farther ahead the Bay Bridge glows in her brilliance. Just to the right side of the ship we pass the Precidio and Ghiradelli Square then the Fish Market and Pier 39. The ship makes an about face and slowly eases into the pier rear first. Welcome to San Francisco.