Crown Princess Wine Country Coastal Cruise

Wine Country Coastal Cruise--Crown Princess, Day 1 (April 25, 2015)

I am not into wine, but this itinerary sounded interesting as my friends invited us to join them on this week-long cruise from San Pedro to Vancouver. With the embarking port being so close to home and the chance to visit family members in Seattle, I booked this last minute cruise as a Mother and Son vacation leaving DH at home for two weeks.

We arrived at the World Cruise Terminal in San Pedro a little later than usual and the terminal was already jammed with excited cruisers. After dropping off our luggage by the curbside, we walked into the terminal and filled out the health forms, then headed upstairs to check-in. Princess had a good system set up, with certain decks checking-in on either side of the counters. It took just a few minutes to go through the process, then we went through security and to the waiting area where we were given the group number 7 for boarding. A wait longer than I would like but we finally boarded on to this beautiful ship. One thing that helped in making this wait a little less 'painful' was the spacious and airy waiting area with plenty of seats. It was actually kind of fun just people-watching.

After dropping off our carry-ons in our cabin, we looked for the main dining room for a quiet embarkation lunch. As usual, most people were up on the top deck at the buffet which we like to avoid especially on the first day of a cruise. We were seated quickly at a table for four in the Da Vinci Dining Room on deck 6. This dining room had a classic cruise ship feel to it, nice!

Here is the lunch menu on the first day:

Avocado and Bay Shrimp

ChC had the bacon cheese burger which was very good.

I had the beef tenderloin which was excellent!

My dessert--sherry trifle, quite interesting!

Muster drill was scheduled for 3:30, so we went down to the Crown Grill and waited with many others not realizing that they had changed the time to an hour later. Nobody came to tell us as we waited and wasted an hour just sitting there wondering what was going on. Later on we found out that there was a group transfer that was late checking in and they decided that the whole ship better wait instead of having another make-up drill for them. 

The drill was easy. We had to bring the vests but not putting them on until we were instructed to do so. We were lucky to be in the Crown Grill and had comfortable seats. Those outside the Crown Grill had to stand the whole time. Not sure if they had the same station as we did.

After the drill, it was almost time for the sail-away so up to the top deck we went.

Part of San Pedro near the port.

Did not notice that beautiful fountain before.

Deck 16

Vincent Thomas Bridge

I finally found a cozy spot on deck 16 Aft, right outside of Adagio, a seat in the shade and watched as the ship finally sailed out of the port.

It was very different watching the ship backing up as it maneuvered out of the harbor.

Bye, L.A.!

Originally, we signed up for Anytime dining but after learning the problematic handling of tables on the Crown, we were able to change to Traditional Dining at the Botecelli for late seating at 8:00. 

Fish civiche 

This piece of beef (prime rib) was the only disappointment I had throughout this cruise. For some reason, this piece of meat was tasteless and rubbery. Not sure if it was reheated or had been sitting there for too long. As a beef lover, I was having problem to even finish half of this.

Our Cabin (E621):

We booked last minute and planned to just be in an inside cabin. Finally decided on an obstructed oceanview for about $25pp more. There were not a lot to choose from by then and we felt lucky that this cabin was still available. At least we still have a 'view' from our window versus some that were totally obstructed either by a wall or the full sight of the life boats. 

Compared to the cabins we had on our last two cruises--the Grand suite on Carnival and the mini-suite on NCL Jade, this cabin was kind of tight but it worked fine for the two of us.

Our room steward did a good job keeping the cabin nice and neat. No towel animals at turn-down but chocolates were placed nightly. We had to request for bath robes, ice, etc. and done when asked. There is a form to fill out for in-room fruit basket. We are easy to please so we had no complaint.

Our first stop will be Catalina Island the next morning.