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/
