Alaska Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #3 (08/14/25)

The clocks moved back an hour last night, and we still got up late for breakfast.  It's just as well, as neither of us were in the mood to do anything but relax.  Outside, we can see nothing but the Pacific Ocean, and it's nice to know that we'll have a nice continuous view of the inside passage when our ship leaves Skagway tomorrow.

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We got up late, and decided that our first meal would be lunch in the main dining room.  I wanted something simple to eat, as I knew I'd be having GI Tract issues later in the day.  So, I had some lentil soup followed by a gussied up hamburger.  Both were yummy.  But this would not be the focus of our day.

Sometime towards mid afternoon, we entered the Inside Passage, and had calm waters to sail on our way to Skagway.  From our balcony, we saw some snow covered mountains, while others nearby saw whales. Both of us broke out our binoculars to get a better view of things.  Even though the tops of the mountains were often covered with clouds, we enjoyed the view.  This is one cruise which I would always recommend a balcony cabin.

All too soon, dinner time came, and we had to stop enjoying the views from our balcony cabin.  So we trekked downstairs to the restaurant where I ordered the Crab Buccatini, the Seafood Antipasto, and the Tandori Chicken for dinner.  There was nothing that wasn't top notch. While having our appetizers a couple from the Denver area was seated at our shared table. I recommended the pasta, and the woman opposite me loved my suggestion.  The four of us had a nice conversation, even though the noise level in the restaurant made it hard to hear each other.  To finish the meal, I had the Apple Strudel, while RQS had the Cheesecake.  We could have kept talking for a while, but RQS had to go up to the room, and I wanted to go and capture the last minutes of our first Alaskan sunset. 

 What a nice way to close out a day, isn't it?

 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #2 (08/13/25)

Breakfast for two....

There were more plates and trays of food to start our day.  But the day had come late due to Room Service personnel oversleeping.  (Or, that's the excuse the man gave.)

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We were awakened by someone calling from New York, trying to get RQS to accept a dental appointment for cleaning only, as her dentist would not be there.  As usual, the person was acting with a pre-set agenda and wasn't listening to RQS. RQS wanted to see the dentist as part of her regularly scheduled appointment. But RQS made herself clear and got the appointment she wanted.  As for me, I could have used an hour or two more sleep.

When were finally moving, we had to wait more time than should have been necessary for breakfast, as Room Service was running late.  By the time we finished breakfast, it was lunch time - a meal we decided to skip in favor of afternoon tea later in the afternoon.

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Afternoon Tea....

Around 3 pm, we went down to the dining room for afternoon tea.  There was not enough room in the area outside the restaurant to hold all of the people waiting to get in for tea.  At 3 pm sharp, the restaurant opened to let everyone in.  RQS and I were seated at a table for 2, a table off the beaten track of wait staff flow. This wasn't the problem that made tea unpleasant.  Instead, it was the loudness of our area.  We had to shout to hear each other speak.  Unlike tea on our Norwegian Fjord cruise, the small finger sandwiches had almost no flavor.  Was it us?  Or was it the ship's environment that caused us to give a "thumbs down" on tea?  Who knows?  But I won't be in any hurry to go back there again for afternoon tea.

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Dinner....

We got dressed in our nicest clothes for formal night, and left early for dinner.  This would give us some time to get formal pictures taken of us before we went to dinner.  After walking around for a few minutes, we found a place where we wanted our pictures taken - and did so.  Then, it was off to dinner.

Arriving at the restaurant a few minutes early, we asked if we could be seated at a table where our favorite waiter was working.  They hemmed and hawed a little, and seated us at another shared table.  Then Marco showed up, and greeted us warmly.  We love his touch in serving us at our table.  (Now, I understand why my uncle was once upset at not having his favorite waiter serve my dad when he visited him in the Hamptons one year.)  Across from us was a couple from Turkey who could barely speak English.  Shortly after we ordered, two ladies were seated next to us, and we had a great, non serious chat with them.  I suggested the Orange Duck, and she was glad I suggested it. Our dishes came.  First was the crab cake, then the ravioli, followed by the duck.  Yum!  The orange sauce was not as pronounced as I'd make it, but it was good. Finally, dessert was served, and I had the creme brulee.

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When we finished dinner, we decided to do almost a week's worth of laundry.  One of the nice things about a Princess cruise ship is that most (if not all) have self-service laundry.  Two problems: the token dispenser didn't work, and the soap dispensing machine was empty (or, we thought it was).  So each of us had to make our way to Guest Services for help... multiple times.

All in all, this was a good sea day.... 

 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #1 (08/12/25)

 

Our day started late, as we were catching up on some long needed sleep.  My back was causing me grief, making it hard for me to get my back into an erect position without pain.  Luckily, a hot shower helped my muscles relax, and I was able to get showered and dressed without incident.  Once I was up and moving, I was able to take a nice picture of the fog that enveloped our ship.  At this point of our journey, having a balcony cabin doesn't mean that much.  But it will mean a lot once we get into Alaska's inside passage.

After we were dressed, we got a call from room service asking us when we would like our deluxe balcony breakfast for two.  It was a little early for us to think of it, but we said we wanted it tomorrow, as we would still be at sea, on our way to Alaska. We made it to the buffet for a late breakfast, and we both enjoyed sitting by the window and letting the waves roll by.  About 30 minutes later,  RQS went to a presentation while I went back into the cabin to edit my blogs. Around lunch time, we went back to the buffet for another bite to eat and to kill some time. 

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On select cruises, Princess  Cruises has a naturalist giving enrichment talks about places that the ship will visit on the cruise.  This is the case with its Alaska cruises, and it's something all cruise lines doing Alaska itineraries should do.  Shortly after lunch, we went to one of these presentations on Glaciers, and enjoyed the presentation. 

Returning to the room after the presentation, we spotted some pineapples on a couple of doors on the way to our cabin.  It's nice to know that there are still some people who have a certain spark of youth in them (whether or not they need a blue pill to ignite that spark.)  With that being said, this was the first time I have seen pineapples affixed to cabin doors on a Princess Cruise.  

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Around 7:00 pm, we went to Sabbatini's (an Italian specialty restaurant on the ship) for dinner.  Without specialty dinner packages, this meal would cost us each $55.  Since we paid the Princess Premier fare, we got 2 specialty meals as part of our fare. Although I knew I couldn't finish everything, I had soup, an appetizer (fried shrimp and calamari), a pasta course (spaghetti and a tasty meatball), a main course (veal osso bucco), and a dessert (zabaglione).   Yum!  At the table next to us was a nice couple from Texas with whom we started a conversation and closed down the place.  At first, we were talking of our cruise history, and then it got to more serious topics while keeping things both civil and pleasant.  We were all dancing around cultural/political identity, and made sure to talk about issues and not parties.  In the end, it was a great conversation worth staying for, even though we missed out on the evening entertainment we planned to enjoy.

Who says you can't get serious and be pleasant? 

 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Embarkation Day (08/11/25)

Embarkation day.  It's one of the 2, 3 or 4 most stressful days of a cruise vacation, the others being Disembarkation day, and the days one flies to a cruise port or returns home from a cruise port.  Today, RQS boarded the Ruby Princess for our cruise through Alaska's Inside Passage.  And, as expected, we encountered a long line to drop our bags off with the porters and another long line to make it onto the ship.

 

Nob Hill is a ritzy neighborhood in San Francisco/ When one stays at a hotel on  Nob Hill, one has limited choices for breakfast, as there are no easily affordable places where one can find a bite to eat, or find snacks to munch on.  To sate one's hunger, one could choose the hotel's restaurant and pay through the nose for a nice breakfast.  Or, one could take the cable car to a district where affordable dining is possible.  Or, one could use a service such as GrubHub or DoorDash to have breakfast delivered to the hotel.  We chose the latter and saved ourselves some effort and maybe a few dollars in the process.  Mickey D's is usually predictable, but today it was terrible - we both got spicy (read: HOT) breakfast sandwiches by accident.  At least, this would calm any hunger pangs we might have until we were on the ship.

Around 11 am, the bellman picked up our bags, and we went to the lobby to wait for our cab to come. After loading our bags into the back of the taxi, we were off to the cruise terminal.  It took us a while to drop our bags off with the porters, and then to snake through the line to get on the ship.  Yet, we were in our cabin by 12:45 pm, and in the restaurant for lunch by 1 pm.  Although there were two disjointed lines for luggage drop and for boarding the ship,it felt much easier to board the ship here than in some ports I've cruised from.  Hopefully, this will be a sign that we'll have a pleasant cruise.

 

After a little bit of unpacking and resting, we went on the balcony to watch the view as we crossed under the Golden Gate Bridge.  And then, it was off to the lounge to have a drink or two. Given that I didn't want to hang out in the lounge and keep drinking, I suggested that we look at the buffet and see how appetizing it looks. So, we went to the Lido Deck, and sat down and had some tea.  

 

While killing time before dinner, I noticed some islands to the side of our ship.  We weren't sure of what islands these were until I remembered that the Farallon Islands were somewhere off the California coast, West of San Francisco.  Looking at the islands in the distance and photos taken by others, I figured that the Farallon Islands were what we were seeing in the hazy distance.  Although I can say that I've seen these islands, I can guarantee that I'll never visit them.

Around 7 pm, we went to one of the main dining rooms for dinner where were served by a talented and experienced waiter named Marco.  It was a pleasure to have him serve us, as he kept us entertained from appetizers to dessert.  Dinner ended, and it was time to go back to the room to rest.  It was a long day, and we wanted to be fresh for the morning's activities. 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - San Francisco - Pre Cruise Day 2 (08/10/25)

 

Today was spent mostly with things other than sightseeing, yet we got a better flavor of San Francisco than had we visited the usual tourist sites.  Both of us wanted to buy sweatshirts, so that if we needed an extra layer to keep us warm in Alaska, that we'd have one.

Since it was a Sunday, neither of us wanted to get to Target too early.  So I suggested that we use mass transit to reach San Francisco's Ferry Building at the end of Market Street.  This where I expected we could get a reasonably priced bite to eat for Breakfast - and I was right.  We had some stuffed croissants before trekking over to Target.  RQS found the perfect sweatshirt to wear, while I found an acceptable one - but one size too small to use, except in case of an emergency.

Once done with Target, we stopped into Mel's Drive In (across the street) where we had milkshakes.  (I also had some clam chowder, as I knew how good it was.)  These were classic thick shakes that were served with the metal container in which the shake was prepared.  Yum!  Pleasure straight from the 1950's!  From there, it was off to Japantown, so that RQS could visit a specialty stationery store.  I didn't bother going inside.  Instead, I waited nearby until she was ready to leave.  And it was back to the hotel to rest for a while before going to dinner in Chinatown. 

The bellman at the hotel recommended a place called Z&Y for some tasty Szechwan food.  Boy was he right - this place served authentic Szechwan food, spicy hot!  I ordered the Seafood hot pot, while RQS ordered the Mongolian Beef hot pot.  Both were yummy, but both of us preferred the beef as it was easier to eat and was less spicy.  If either of us had known how large the portions were, we'd have only ordered the beef - it was large enough to feed 2 people.

We left the restaurant as it was starting to get busy.  I summoned a Waymo driverless car to bring us back to the hotel.  RQS was a little hesitant at first, but she became more comfortable when she saw how smooth a ride it delivered, as it drove more calmly than most humans would drive.  Would I summon one again?  Yes.  But only in San Francisco.

Alaska Cruise 2025 - San Francisco - Pre Cruise Day 1 (08/09/25)

 

Today's focus was a visit to the DeYoung museum to see an exhibition of Paul McCartney photographs taken during the Beatles' touring years.  One would never think of Macca as an accomplished photographer, but many of his pictures stand the test of time.  (Note: His brother, Mike, is an accomplished photographer. So, a visual talent must also be in the family bloodline.)

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The day started out with us waiting at the California/Mason cable car stop for a car which never came.  Who knows why this happened, but we made the mistake of not walking down hill to California/Powell to where we'd get the cable car to Union Square where we planned to have breakfast.  So, we waited a bit and I realized that SF Muni's directions had us walk to the next stop on the line (all downhill) where we'd be able to save time and get to where we wanted quickly.

 

Once we figured things out, we made our way to Sears Fine Food (a San Francisco restaurant that's been there forever) and had breakfast.  Even though breakfast was expensive by NYC diner standards, it was well worth the money - the food was top notch, and filling.  (If you're staying in San Francisco and you're in the Union Square area, Go There!  You won't be disappointed.)  While eating lunch, we noticed that we made a BIG mistake - we ruined the one day we could visit the Swan Oyster Depot.  So, that'll have to be on the docket for our next visit to "Fog City". 

We then walked to Mission street where we caught the bus to Golden Gate Park (and the DeYoung Museum.)  It was crowded due to young folks going to an outdoor music festival.  Both RQS and I got a picture of the group wearing Giraffe shaped hats. And soon, we were walking into the park and into the museum.

Although this exhibition of Macca's photos was in Brooklyn last year, I didn't have the chance to trek into Brooklyn to see it.  When I heard that the San Francisco exhibition was extended to October, I knew this would be a must see while in the city - and neither of us was disappointed.  The pictures told the story of Beatlemania in a way which few writers could put it - in the eyes of a Beatle. Once done with the DeYoung, we walked to the Japanese Tea Garden and took a lot of photos.  (RQS wanted to see what she could do with her camera.) And all too soon, our bodies were showing their age, and we decided to return back to the hotel with a couple of stops in between.

Our original plan was to take the bus back from the DeYoung, then catch another bus to California Street, where we'd take the cable car home.  (We didn't want to walk up any hills.)  We ended up at the end of Van Ness, and walked over to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner at a place called Cioppino's.  I figured that this would be a good place to get seafood for dinner, and I was right.  If I had known that their signature dish was big enough to feed two people, I'd have suggested ordering that for $53. 
 

 Our next stop was the Musee Mechanique, a place where I've made many pleasant memories on my trips to this city.  As expected, I played some of the pinball games there and contributed a few quarters to the local economy.

From there, we returned to our hotel via the Market street historic trolley, and then connected with the California street cable car to bring us back to the hotel.  When I looked at how much we walked today, I was surprised.  We walked 4.6 miles!  Not bad for a whale who travels on land.... 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Leaving for San Francisco (08/08/25)

 

Our day started very early, as we had to be at the airport by 10 AM.  And this is where the problems started.  On the way to the airport, an 18 Wheeler was attempting to make too tight a turn under the EL and blocked traffic for about 10 minutes.  This wasn't the worst part of the day.  When we arrived at the airport, we had problems with our boarding passes for which we needed help. And we encountered a Karen....

At first, the Karen was willing to help a little, but didn't listen to us or pay attention to our needs.  Both of us needed to have our Trusted Traveler Numbers attached to our boarding passes, so that we could use TSA PreCheck.  She got my boarding pass fixed, but RQS had to look up her number from another airline's site.  We asked for help again, but the Karen started redoing my pass and was ignoring RQS. So I started shouting to get attention, but I drew the wrong kind of attention. After things calmed down, the Karen refused to help RQS, or even let her through to the kiosks we were told to go to, as the Karen was taking things out on RQS to get even with me.  (You can guess what will go into a "nastygram" RQS plans to write.)  I ended up going through 1 PreCheck line while RQS got her problem dealt with at the kiosks on the other side of the floor.

Once we were past the TSA checkpoint, I was able to relax.  It took me a while to chill, but we had no further problems at JFK.  We got on the plane with no problems, and had an uneventful flight to San Francisco.  And that's where we were greeted by someone from Princess Cruises, helping us with our luggage and the cab to the Mark Hopkins Hotel in Downtown SF.  Both of us were tired and needed sleep.  But if we slept, we wouldn't be able to find something affordable to eat.

Around 6:30, we took a cab to the Stinking Rose, a restaurant specializing in Garlic dishes.  They moved to a new and better location since I ate there.  So I was glad that the cabbie knew that the place relocated to a spot further down the street.  RQS loved the place, finishing up her ravioli.  As for me, I enjoyed the food, but couldn't eat more than a half portion.  

By the time 8 pm came, it was time to go back to the hotel and finally get some much needed sleep....