Sat., March 29, 2025 - Sat., April 5, 2025 Cruise
Melody and Richard left Las Vegas, NV, on Fri., Mar. 28, 2025 around 9 AM for our drive in our Telsa to Chino Hills, Cali. We stopped in Barstow, Cali. for lunch and to charge our electric car. We arrived at Melody’s daughters place around 3 PM. Friday evening we celebrated Melody’s 80th birthday with decorations and a great meal. Saturday around 11:30 AM we headed for the dock near Long Beach, Cali. We stood outside in a very, very long line with those getting on board our cruise ship. Once the gates opened the line went through quickly. During the check in we were all issued a Medallion. This little piece of plastic the size of a quarter had our names on it and our life history. This was kept around our necks at all times. It got us drinks, ice cream, entrance to the cafes, the theatre, on and off the ship and entering our room. About the only thing we didn’t use it for was going to the restroom.
Our cruise was on the Discovery Princes ship and our destination was called the “Coastal Roundtrip Los Angeles”. Our ship had 3,643 quests and 1,301 crew members. (More about the ship later). We left the harbor around 3 PM. We checked out the buffet for lunch. Then it was off to explore the ship while waiting for our luggage to arrive at our rooms. Once it arrived Melody had everything unpacked and in place in no time.
Saturday night Richard realized he had left his prescription pills at home. So, Sun. morning we spent about 45 mins. with the medical staff on board getting his pills. Really was a pretty easy task.
We seemed to gather in the Ketchikan Dining Room for most of our breakfasts. Here you could sit with other quests and exchange names and whatever. Some of our evening meals were at the Juneau Dining Room again sitting with other quests. Both places you could order off the menu. One night was considered as (Formal Dress night) the rest were (Smart casual) dress. The Piazza was a nice place to sit and have an afternoon (or any time of the day) cocktail and listen to the live music. Some of the live entertainment was just amazing. We went back a number of times to catch our favorite entertainers. Two mornings we had breakfast delivered to our door.
Rain was forecast for our trip. It only rained one morning as we traveled on the bus around San Francisco. It was chilly enough that Melody had to purchase some heavy sweatshirts.
Click on any individal photo to view it.
Our cruise was on the Discovery Princes ship and our destination was called the “Coastal Roundtrip Los Angeles”. Our ship had 3,643 quests and 1,301 crew members. (More about the ship later). We left the harbor around 3 PM. We checked out the buffet for lunch. Then it was off to explore the ship while waiting for our luggage to arrive at our rooms. Once it arrived Melody had everything unpacked and in place in no time.
Saturday night Richard realized he had left his prescription pills at home. So, Sun. morning we spent about 45 mins. with the medical staff on board getting his pills. Really was a pretty easy task.
We seemed to gather in the Ketchikan Dining Room for most of our breakfasts. Here you could sit with other quests and exchange names and whatever. Some of our evening meals were at the Juneau Dining Room again sitting with other quests. Both places you could order off the menu. One night was considered as (Formal Dress night) the rest were (Smart casual) dress. The Piazza was a nice place to sit and have an afternoon (or any time of the day) cocktail and listen to the live music. Some of the live entertainment was just amazing. We went back a number of times to catch our favorite entertainers. Two mornings we had breakfast delivered to our door.
Rain was forecast for our trip. It only rained one morning as we traveled on the bus around San Francisco. It was chilly enough that Melody had to purchase some heavy sweatshirts.
Click on any individal photo to view it.
Sat., Mar. 29, 2025 - Got on the ship at Los Angeles around 2 PM and we departed around 3:30 PM. Melody has our clothes in order before we relax. As we got near our room it unlocked and showed our photo on the pad. No more animals on your bed to greet you at night. Those plastic medallions hung around our necks got us into everything and into our room. We loved listening to the group called Jaame' Band. The tug boats do hang around.
Sun., Mar. 30, 2025 – Today was our day at sea. After breakfast we checked out the schedule for the day and planned our day. We even found time to sit on our balcony and read a book and Richard got in a quick nap. Melody needed some Irish Coffee from O'Malley's Irish Pub. Two workers assembled this tree from champagne glasses. The Jaame' Band in the background was Richard's favorite.
Mon., Mar. 31, 2025 – We arrived in San Francisco around 8:00 AM. This was a special day and the main reason for this cruise. It was Melody’s 80th birthday. It was great to watch the ship go under the Golden Gate Bridge. Around 9:30 AM we boarded the bus for our tour around San Fran, the Golden Gate Bridge and to catch a ferry for a short ride to Alcatraz. We got a ride up the mountain to the cells. What a great experience to walk around this building that housed the prisoners. From the bus we viewed a number of driverless cars (Waymo) on the busy streets of San Fran.
Tues., Apr. 1, 2025 – Again we caught the bus for our ride around San Fran. It rained a bit while on the bus. While driving we spotted a number of driverless cars. The make is Waymo. They were in and out of traffic in downtown. We heard some on our ship quests scheduled a ride on the driverless car. We stopped in Sausalito for lunch and to walk around. Then off to Fisherman’s Wharf to walk and shop. While Richard sat by the window on deck #5 he heard this very loud crash. Next over the intercom and emergency message for some personnel to report to the door on deck #5. As, Richard looked out the window behind him he could see the ship floating away and the gangplank between the ship and deck broken in two pieces and both in the water. Lucky no one was on the plank. We continued to float to the other near dock. In a few minutes the ship stopped moving. A crane was summoned to pick the gangplanks out of the water and place them. Later the captain told us the strong wind broke the mooring lines. Each line can handle about 12 tons of pressure. Around 500 quests from the ship were stuck on shore. It turned out OK as we were cleared for the evening takeoff. We departed around 10:00 PM.
Wed., Apr. 2, 2025 – At sea all day. So, we just relaxed and walked around. We even found an ice cream store. One morning in the Princess Theater we found the cruise chef and Food & Beverage Dir. putting on a "funny" cooking demonstration. The Cruise Dir. and the cruise Caption sat down for a Q & A session. In the Theater one night we found the Rock Opera performing.
Thurs., Apr. 3, 2025 – We arrived at the San Diego port around 8:00 AM. Today we rode the bus to the San Diego Zoo. Melody and I rode the zoo bus around a couple times looking at all the animals. We also rode the overhead cars looking down over the zoo. We had lunch at the Busy Bee Cafe and Richard even ran across a place selling Margaritas for $25. And it wasn’t that good. The ship departed around 10:00 PM.
Fri., Apr. 4, 2025 – We arrived in Ensenada, Mexico around 8 AM. We decided to stay on the ship. We have stopped here before. The ship departed around 5 PM. On deck #5 you can see the amazing light up chandelier.
Richard & Melody would love to hear some feedback from you.
We can be contacted at:
Melody at [email protected]
Richard at [email protected]
Richard’s website at www.1944becker.com
We can be contacted at:
Melody at [email protected]
Richard at [email protected]
Richard’s website at www.1944becker.com
Some of the Discovery Princess Ships Particulars:
Built in Italy Dec. 2015. Gross tonnage 145,281 ton. Overall length 1,083 ft. Height is 217 ft. Sailing capacity 4,450. Certified crew figure 1,350. Number of decks is 19. Maximum speed 22 knots (25 MPH). Fuel storage is 1.33 million gallons. It uses about 30 – 50 gallons per mile. On average ship can burn up to 250 tons (over 80,000 gallons) of fuel each day. A fuel barge delivers fuel directly to the ship.
Built in Italy Dec. 2015. Gross tonnage 145,281 ton. Overall length 1,083 ft. Height is 217 ft. Sailing capacity 4,450. Certified crew figure 1,350. Number of decks is 19. Maximum speed 22 knots (25 MPH). Fuel storage is 1.33 million gallons. It uses about 30 – 50 gallons per mile. On average ship can burn up to 250 tons (over 80,000 gallons) of fuel each day. A fuel barge delivers fuel directly to the ship.
