Tag Archives: A-1 Express

5 things I learned on my Princess Cruise

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Between the time we docked in San Pedro and our arrival back in Portland, we reflected on our cruise experience. We learned a lot about sailing with Princess Cruises, but five things stand out in my mind

1. The process of embarking and disembarking shouldn’t be a mystery.

We thought we needed to hurry to the ship, which turned out to be untrue. The embarkation process is similar to boarding an airplane. Those who sailed with the cruise line previously and had elite status boarded first. Had we known we had more time, we could have toured the USS Iowa that is docked in close proximity.
Disembarking may have been less of a mystery had we watched the infomercial, but seriously, who wants to spend the last day of their cruise watching television? We looked all over our cabin for information about disembarking, but couldn’t find anything. We looked on our bill, but could find no information there either. We decided to follow the crowd, which was a good move. A crew member asked us for our disembarkment location, which we didn’t have, but he was able to direct us to the proper location. Once there, we saw that people were in groups. Since we didn’t know which group to join we asked another crew member. She was quite surprised that our bill didn’t have the information, so she just put us in the group that was disembarking next. YEA!
It was a pretty simple process, and had we known how fast it was going to be, we would have called our transportation service, A-1 Express so they could be waiting outside the terminal. Our driver Eric arrived as quickly as possible and made his way to LAX to drop us off for our flight home. He was masterful at navigating the LA morning rush hour.

2. Photographers are everywhere.

We were glad we had been warned about the photographers taking pictures on the ship. These photographers seemed to be everywhere; when you boarded the ship, when you left the ship, while you were dining.  I’m not against having my picture taken, but they don’t ask you. They made it seem like this is what everyone does. We courteously walked around the “opportunity” or did not make eye contact. The crew was very nice about using our camera to take our photo when we asked.

3. The food is plentiful, but not extraordinary.

The food was good, but didn’t live up to the hype. It was fun to be adventurous and try new things without worrying about the price. I would definitely order the chilled soups, again! The desserts looked amazing, but we learned to avoid cakes. I love cake, but every time that was our dessert choice, it was stale. Pizza is good, but even the pizza at Alfredo’s (which everyone raves about) wasn’t overly special. Everything we ate in the dining rooms was good to great, but not superior to most restaurants.

4. Take the buffet home.

This isn’t something I learned during this cruise, but ALWAYS take advantage of “portable” food (especially if you’ve already paid for it, or it’s free!). During lunch at the buffet on our last full day, I noticed sandwiches wrapped in plastic. I grabbed a couple and took them back to our room and put in them in our refrigerator. We also grabbed some extra cookies and muffins. This little stash came in handy for our flight home the following day.

5. Cruising is a good vacation option.

Did we enjoy it? Yes. Did we love it? No. Do we want to take another one? Yes, but only if it is the best way to visit a specific destination, such as Alaska or the Caribbean. We’re already saving for our next cruise, but we figure we won’t set sail again for another five years or so.

If you’re considering a cruise, do your research. Compare the different cruise lines and cruises on sites such as Vacations To Go. Read message boards (cruisecritics.com).  Consider taking a short cruise, like we did, so you can get your feet wet, so to speak, and see if cruising is for you without spending a lot of money.

Bon Voyage!

“It’s about the journey, not the destination.” I beg to differ!

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Our alarm went off at 3:50 a.m. Ugh! The husband got up, took a shower and began to get things ready to head to the airport. I finally crawled out of bed begrudgingly 40 minutes later. I hate early flights. … Continue reading →

The road to relaxation is paved with stress

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When we decided to take a cruise, we prepared for the new adventure by educating ourselves through lots of internet research. We gleaned everything we could from the cruise line’s website and travel message boards. However, even with all that information, I still didn’t feel knowledgeable as the date for the cruise approached. I had some anxiety mixed with a little trepidation. I don’t like surprises, which is code for, “I like to be in control.” Yep, I admit to being a little bit of a control-freak.

You can’t control what you don’t know, so I decided to have a facial. One has nothing to do with the other, but somehow I felt more confident after visiting my favorite esthetician, Leslie at Cosmetic Laser Advantage. Her lasers are amazing. Although the visit did nothing to add to my knowledge about cruising, it did help me to control my slightly sagging middle-aged face. If you can afford to have your hair cut and colored in a salon, or get a professional manicure and pedicure, you can afford laser treatments, and it’s worth it. Speaking of manicures and pedicures, I had those done, as well. At least I was prepared for the cruise physically, if not mentally.

I’d left one important detail undone. The day before the cruise, I still hadn’t booked transportation from LAX to the cruise terminal. There are multiple shuttle services, but the horror stories regarding shuttles are almost as bad as those regarding taxi service. I called numerous car service companies, but found it difficult to get details about the charges. If I couldn’t get a straight answer, I crossed that company off my list. If I had to press one, two or three to reach a person, I crossed that company off my list. I called A-1 Express and no one answered the phone. You’d think that wasn’t a good sign, but my phone call to the next company on the list was interrupted with A-1 trying to return my call (even though I hadn’t left a message).

I answered and spoke to Elaine, the owner of A-1 Express. She told me she’d been on 17 cruises and was very helpful with answering every question about the transportation charge between the airport and cruise terminal. She also provided valuable information about cruise embarkation and disembarkation. This lady wanted my business, and she got it!

The afternoon before our trip, I laid out clothes, shoes, jewelry, accessories and doubted every choice. I packed, unpacked and repacked. I packed the husband’s bag hoping he’d have extra room for my things that wouldn’t fit in my carry-on. No such luck. There was no way I could take my workout clothes/shoes. I figured I’d just watch what I ate and my scales would never know the difference (yeah, that didn’t work as well as I’d hoped!).

The husband and I finished every item on our vacation to-do-list that was possible to complete that evening, and setting the alarm clock for an ungodly hour, headed to bed. Surprisingly I slept fairly well, which was good. I needed that rest to get though the hurry up and wait and unsettling uncertainty of the travel day ahead.

(Next: From PDX to LAX to cruise ship terminal – whew!)