Royal Princess in Ensenada

Hello from a cloudy, windy, and chilly day in Ensenada. 

I wound up leaving E on the ship and went out by myself for a little bit. We have a favorite taco place ashore, but it was too cold to walk too far so I was back to the ship pretty darn soon. I was really looking forward to some great conversation with our crew member buddy from the Grand, but since they couldn't make the port I think I'm feeling a bit mopey.

Plus I knew I was going to have to give the Medallion update many of you have been asking for. I've not said much because I've been hoping things would improve. This was my 13th Medallion cruise over the last year and a half and some of the same issues keep popping up for me. Clearly 13 is not a lucky number for me.

Like most of the Medallion cruises I've been on, it doesn't want me to get into the cabin. Others can walk towards their doors and it clicks and unlocks, but not for me. I have to stand there and stand there and stand there while it keeps telling me it's verifying me. I'm eventually able to get in, but not without some delay.

Access being verified...being verified...being verified...being verified...

Not sure why, but starting last night it became even harder to get into the cabin. Now it won't even attempt to verify me. No matter how long I stand there, I have to take my Medallion out and place it onto the sensor and hold it there and then move it around and around and around. It must really be mad at me now. Believe me, the feeling is mutual.

Approach for entry?
Uh, I can't get much closer than this.

What can the OceanFront folks do for you? Tell you the battery might be dying and reprint you a new one. No thanks, not again. I'm hoping it's just a cabin sensor issue. I'll find out tomorrow as we change cabins again.

I wish it was the only sensor issue I'm having, but nope. While I was able to go on and off the ship in Ensenada today with no issue, at Muster Drill there most definitely was an issue. The gal scanning Medallions had to scan mine and rescan and rescan and rescan again. She finally decided to manually enter my cabin number but thankfully at that same moment I popped up.

And the new MedallionClass app? I still can't get the shipmates section to find E. Quits every single time I try. It happened in October and it's still happening now. I've updated both the app and the phone, restarted, deleted and reinstalled. If I want to find E I go to the elevator bank and use one of the portals there. But I can't get too excited about that, either. The location finder isn't really in real time. It'll show me where he was five minutes ago, but not necessarily where he is currently. But a good thing with the app is the first drink is free. At least that's what the cruise director keeps telling us. But for me? Nope, not on my app. Grr.

Speaking of drink orders... around the ship you'll find the crew asking for your cabin number instead of using your Medallion and their devices to place the order. Some crew members do attempt to scan the Medallions but some don't even waste their time and just ask for cabin numbers right up front. 

I am so over it.

Actually, I'm over a few things right now so I think it will be best if I stop blogging this trip. There are too many of those everything isn't perfect in the cruise world things impacting my life of joy. (Some days it's hard work to be honest, yet positive, ya know?) So it's probably best I just stop. A new cruise starts tomorrow, and another one five days later. If anything positive and pleasant and joyful worth reporting comes up in those two cruises, I'll be back to let you know. 

See you sooner or later. Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. You know where to find me!

Royal Princess Sea Day

Yet another beautiful day, albeit one with some marine layer clouds floating around.

Unfortunately we thought our plan of spending the day basking in the sunshine on our balcony wasn't going pan out like we'd thought. Today was balcony maintenance so we wouldn't have access for a chunk of the day. We were instructed to keep our curtains drawn and our doors locked, and the dividers between all the balconies were opened. 

When someone tells you the Royal Class ships
have narrow balconies you can believe them. 

So we spent extra time on the Horizon Court Terrace. You know we loved this quiet outside spot in Alaska and we love it here off the coast of California. Fresh air, ocean views, and very few other people.

But step through the doors and you'll be confronted with this kind of crowd.

These two pictures were taken at the same time today. Huge difference, right? If you're looking for peace and quiet, head outside instead. (But shh...don't tell anyone else about it.)

We also wandered the halls looking at the 49ers decors. E liked this one the best. Being a big time sports guy, I think he probably wishes we had a door looking like this one.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the balcony was washed down and the dividers put back in place by 10:30 am. Woo hoo. Sunshine on my shoulders, here I come! But brr, was it cold. Since I couldn't shirk responsibilities like I did yesterday (which, by the way, felt so darn awesome) I stayed in the warmer cabin and spent a chunk of the day on the computer. I have my next Cruising with Confidence class coming up on March 2 and needed to get moving on revamping it. 

Only four spots left! Class is full. Waiting list is available.

Tomorrow we're off to Ensenada, Mexico. We were supposed to be in port with the Grand Princess and treat one of our dearest crew member friends to some food and drink and have some great conversation. But the Grand had to turn around and go back to Honolulu to disembark a sick passenger so they are now heading straight to San Francisco instead of making the way to Ensenada. We're so totally bummed.

We may instead take a walk down to the fish market and grabs some tacos at one of the places nearby. Or we might not. One thing to rule out is the balcony. We got yet another notice telling us tomorrow the balcony will again be unavailable because of another round of maintenance. Two balcony maintenance days in a four day cruise? Seems weird to me.

Flexibility might just have to be my middle name.