Jump to content

Just back from Alaska - Grand Princess


rebeltech8
 Share

Recommended Posts

We just got home from our Alaska cruise on the Grand Princess. Alaska is was beautiful and we saw plenty of wildlife... Bears, whales, eagles, seals. So glad we went.

Our only complaint was the food. This was our fifth Princess cruise, and there was a notable difference since our last cruise about three years ago. For example, one night we ate in the dining room when they served rib eye. Now I know that a rib eye is best when it is well marbled, but my steak was half well marbled and the other half a slab of fat with no lean at all. I called it to the server's attention, and he agreed that it should not have been served.

In the buffet, it seemed that most everything was served just kind of luke warm. We are easily pleased when we are on a cruise, but we were a bit let down regarding the food.

Otherwise, we had a great time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We sailed on the Grand in October and the food was excellent, which surprised us a lot, since the food quality had been declining for many years around 2010-2014. When we sailed on the Grand in 2011 the food was so disappointing. But we were pleased with the beef dishes in October, not so much in preceding cruises though. Sorry to hear the beef quality isn't what it should be.

Glad you had a good time otherwise. [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

Others have posted that, in general, food in the dining rooms and the buffet is not as good as it used to be.

I have a theory that the taste and quality of the food on Princess will return to it's previous high standard once the contract with Curtis Stone has run its course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taking this cruise in 2 wks. Did you tender in any of the ports?

thanks

 

Hi Rhea58... We docked and were able to walk off the ship at all the ports. No tendering at all.

 

One advantage of this is that we got to see quite a few Bald Eagles. Before leaving port, in Ketchikan, look down the edge of the docks towards town where the fishing boats are docked. Some of these boats are back from their fishing trips and off loading their catch. If you look through your binoculars towards the communication tower, you will see several Eagles flying around looking for a meal. We saw a half dozen or more soaring around that area. It was fun to watch.

 

Have a great time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about the overall condition of the ship? I understand it was in dry dock in December. We are going July 17th

 

The beds were comfortable... probably the best we ever slept on during a cruise. Between running around all day at ports, it didn't take much to fall asleep.

 

They were working during port days removing old caulk and rust from around the windows around the pool area. To do so, they were using a hydraulic tool of some sort that made a racket. We griped about it amongst ourselves, but it never rose to the level of making a call. Although our next door neighbor called and had an officer come to his room to hear the noise that was being made. We looked at it as a necessary evil. You going to put up with a bit of noise for an hour or so after getting back on board after a port day, or are you going to worry about all the rust and corrosion? We chose to put up with it, and not let it ruin our trip.

 

That's all about we noticed. Like I said earlier, we are easy to please. A bad day cruising is miles ahead of a good day at work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not a fan of any buffet, cruises included. I find the cruises have lukewarm food in the buffets, but I wonder if part of that is the walk back to find a table :)

Sorry to hear the food was not up to your standards, but glad to hear you did enjoy the cruise. We will be going on the Grand later this year, been going annually since she came to San Francisco.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be going on the Grand later this year, been going annually since she came to San Francisco.

 

One highlight of the trip was sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. This photo is coming back into the bay on the last day first thing in the morning.

ggbridge.jpg.3766e86a9dd274f5ea7b73103cb7c956.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doesn't sound like you are easy to please, just order another meal and be happy. If you let small things like that bother you, you will never be happy.

You are on vacation, chill!!! :cool:

 

Maybe a bad day? Hope you otherwise enjoyed your cruise. Sounds like you did?

Eat less red meat, you'll live longer.:cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One highlight of the trip was sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. This photo is coming back into the bay on the last day first thing in the morning.

 

 

 

That is a beautiful photo!

Thanks for sharing!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doesn't sound like you are easy to please, just order another meal and be happy. If you let small things like that bother you, you will never be happy.

You are on vacation, chill!!! :cool:

 

Doesn't sound like you have a filter for your comments, allowing ignorant statements to flow freely.

 

I was on Grand Princess 5/28 - 6/7, and agree with the OP about the food 2014 - 2017.

 

During this three year time period, I have sailed close to two dozen cruises, and I have noticed cost-cuts infect MDR menus in Carnival Corporation's greed for greater shareholder value.

 

As concrete evidence, the Surf & Turf description includes "large prawns" while 21/25 shrimp are served. "Large Prawns" would be U9.

 

As a related aside.... the Italian specialty restaurant (I don't even want to call it Sabatini's because of the completely different menu) now features a pasta with beef cheeks. Remember that the original plan was to replace Sabatini's with SHARE. With the conversion halted, what to do about the huge provisioning commitments for beef cheeks featured in Stone's Beef Cheek Pie main entree? Just slop it in a pasta dish on the new Italian restaurant menu!

 

Yet the evening I ate in the Italian restaurant, I am certain beef short ribs were used rather than beek cheek, given the stringy consistency of the meat, rather than the tender almost gelatinous texture of beef cheeks. Why? I'm guessing they still have quite a bit of short ribs on hand that was used in a pasta on the Sabatini's menu.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there a long walk from the ship to the port in Vancouver. Princess is selling a $9.95 shuttle pass there.

 

Glad to help Rhea58.

 

Since we left from San Francisco, we didn't stop in Vancouver. I have never been there so I can't comment.

 

However, you mentioned earlier that you were taking this same cruise, so perhaps you meant Victoria B.C. When we stopped in Victoria, we chose to go to Butchart Gardens and caught a bus right there at the port. Thinking about our bus ride out of the port area, I don't remember there being very much within walking distance from the port and since the ship is there only a few hours (7am-2pm), 10 bucks seems like a bargain.

 

Butchart Gardens was beautiful and we took tons of photos and videos. Even though it rained nearly the entire day at the Gardens, we powered through and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I would recommend this tour if you have not been there before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was also on this cruise and agree about the food. One example..In the dining room for lunch they offered an Italian panini. It arrived on a hamburger buns. There were a few tasty items, but they were in the minority. Did try Sabatinis, and it was delish.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was also on this cruise and agree about the food. One example..In the dining room for lunch they offered an Italian panini. It arrived on a hamburger buns. There were a few tasty items, but they were in the minority. Did try Sabatinis, and it was delish.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hamburger buns? Really? Were they at least grilled?

 

Hoping this cruise was an anomaly for some reason. And I hope you, too, still enjoyed the non-food aspects of the trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks for the reply Rebeltech8.

Is there a long walk from the ship to the port in Vancouver. Princess is selling a

$9.95 shuttle pass there.

thanks

It takes 15-20 minutes to walk to the inner harbor area of Victoria from the pier. Another fun option is a shorter walk to the fisherman's wharf area, look around at the floating houses, and take the water taxi to the downtown area. If Buchart Gardens is not in the budget, Beacon Hill park is a lovely close walk, and offers nice views if you go to the top of the hill.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...