Yosef42

I generally agree with the comments here, but wanted to put my two cents in. I went on my first trip on the Grand this summer, and from reading some of the reviews you'd think she was an ancient rustbucket two weeks away from sinking due to all the leaks. I don't want to deny anyone's personal experience (after all, bad things occasionally happen even in the best places), but I didn't see anything like that at all.

The Grand I was on was a well-maintained ship much like the handful of others I've been on in the past (I don't have the cruising history of some on this board, but I'm working on it!), and with a staff who are well above average in hospitality. I would sail on her again without hesitation.

There are so many fires it's hard to keep track, but as far as I can tell none are near Muir Woods, currently. The winery portion will depend on which specific wineries are on the agenda.

More important than what's open, I think, will be the traffic. There are so many road closures right now that you can't be sure of getting anywhere in a reasonable amount of time. However, depending on how late in October you're going, that may not be a problem by the time you get here. Heck, it could be cleared up in the next day or two, for all I know. It depends on where the fires go.

My inclination would be to talk to your tour provider. I'm sure these are questions they're getting from everyone. The specifics of their refund policy will probably be of interest, as well. Good luck!

We went on the same trip (Grand out of SF) this past July/August. We enjoyed all the things we did, but if forced to pick a favorite it'd be the helicopter ride to Mendenhall glacier with dog sledding. Largely because it's the most out-of-the-ordinary, plus we're big dog people.

Most better than expected would be the White Pass & Yukon railway in Skagway. Our sailing actually stopped in Haines, requiring a ferry to get to Skagway, and I think that was a benefit because our car of the train wasn't completely full. The best part, for us, was standing between the cars where you get a better view and pictures without reflections, and because the car wasn't full we got to do that without having to share as much.

We also did a floatplane tour to Misty Fjords from Ketchikan (Carlin Air), and a tour of Butchart Gardens near Victoria (personal friend's car), and thoroughly enjoyed those, too. As you can tell, we fully loaded our days, on the assumption that something would get rained out, but we got extremely lucky and had good weather our whole trip.

And it's not an excursion, but our day in Glacier Bay was definitely a highlight of the trip. But take my advice and put on sunscreen; you'll be out on deck a lot that day.

I only know the answer to your last question: soft-serve is definitely without additional charge.

BTW, you do know that the walk you plan--from the BART Embarcadero Station to the cruise terminal is a little over a mile, dragging your luggage through city streets? You may want to consider a taxi for this segment--it's a fairly cheap fare...

That's true, but also I believe it's one long sidewalk, without having to cross any streets, if I recall correctly. Driveways, yes, but there's usually enough pedestrian traffic that cars have a care.

Last time I checked, the cost for cruise passengers (less than their regular rate, so you need to tell them it's for a cruise) is $18/day. There are a couple of lots that are a couple of blocks away, and they're both managed by impark. They're at 80 and 55 Francisco Street.

For a 10-day cruise, I found it was actually cheaper to rent one-way. The nearest rental agencies are in the Fisherman's Wharf area, so the walk is a bit longer (about a mile), but you could take the E/F streetcar if that's too much walking.

I don't remember the details (sorry, regular coffee and I parted ways a number of years back), but there were several different liquor/coffee combinations available on deck. And they were more than happy to spike some hot chocolate for me, instead of coffee.

As I recall, they were served in the regular plastic coffee mugs that they have in the buffet.

Plus, there's a chance of rain that time of year. (If we're lucky.)

That said, there are lots of options besides sunbathing.

Maybe it comes up over and over because there are those who do not know the answer. It must be awesome to know everything and only have answers;)

As I learned from "The Joy of Cooking," there are two kinds of knowledge: knowing information and knowing how to find information.

Thanks for asking. I was looking for an app to download last night. Although I'm glad I didn't ask. I'd hate to be reticule for asking a simple question. After all I'm one of those, that don't understand tech.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

It seems to me that the complaints are mainly about the things out in the world that leave people with the lingering impression that there is an app to download. There's no inherent reason that there wouldn't be one: other cruise lines have them, and Princess used to. The only way you would know is if however you first heard about "princess@sea" was clear.

As for your small handbag, I can't help you.;)

I liked DOS. 3.1 was great. 5.0 was good. 6.02 was another very fine version. (4 was poop.) The only reason I ever gave in and installed Windows was the advent of Netscape and the graphical Internet. Until then it was all text in Unix.

Come back to the geek side! Linux does all that graphical stuff just fine.

Many people simply don't understand tech. They don't know the difference between the intranet page and an app. If it's "on their phone" then they consider it a app. Heck, they don't know the difference between intranet and Internet. (I remember back in 2006 when then Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens "definitively" explained that the Internet was "a series of tubes". Sigh...

 

(Rant redacted.):rolleyes:

In fairness to the Senator, he did correctly say that the Internet is not a truck.

And in fairness to the confused of the world, it seems that the companies making the UIs are working hard to conflate different things. For example, the icon to start a program (or "app," as the kids insist on calling them) looks much like the one for a bookmarked web page, and much like the one for the document I created. And computers now "help" me by simultaneously searching my hard drive, my cloud storage, Google, Amazon, and who knows where else, so I don't have to worry my pretty little head about where things are.

Grand only does round-trip cruises, so if you want to do a land portion in Alaska (Denali, etc.), you'll have to start in Vancouver or Seattle. Or, I suppose, fly from SF to Fairbanks after the cruise.

You have to be out of your cabin fairly early anyway, so what's the point in hanging around in a crowded lounge?

Traffic permitting (depends largely on day of the week), it's well under an hour from the pier to the airport. Even if you're relatively late off the ship, you should have no problem with a 1:00 flight. They try to have everyone off by 10-something, as I recall.

I don't know that the princess transfer is that expensive compared to a cab/uber; check out the prices. None of them are difficult, though. There will be cabs lined up at the pier.

Thanks so much. You have made me feel better about the decision. My kids want Disney of course but the price difference is huge.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You're welcome. I can't speak directly to the kids' programs, but there definitely were kids on board who seemed to be entertained. It's probably not comparable to Disney, but as you say, price (plus having to fly).

If you do any significant activities in port (and I recommend doing so), you'll be spending quite a bit, so any savings in cruise fare will tend to show in what you can budget for shore.

Promenade Deck 7 on the Port side, she backs into the dock. You board mid ship. You can go inside or on the Promenade, fore or aft to get where you are going.

Good point. That means you board on the port side, if that makes a difference. And at least when we boarded, there tends to be a lot of milling about right inside of where you step onboard, but you are absolutely allowed to walk along the promenade and avoid the crowd.

Thanks so much. Did you like the cruise? Any recommendations?

 

We can drive to SF easily so I was thinking we would not have to fly (I do not like flying. Lol)

 

But I am open to other options. That just seemed easier too.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Did I like the cruise? Absolutely! Mind you, we hit the weather lottery and did not get rained on in any of the ports. You can't expect that with Alaska.

I'm not sure even where to start with recommendations. We really enjoyed the excursions we took, but your best choices will depend on what you and your family like to do. Lots of information on options in the Alaska board.

I will say, I agree with the (far from unanimous) consensus that it's worth taking one of the trips that includes Glacier Bay. It's a much longer time than other glacier viewing (e.g., Tracy Arm) and you get park rangers.

I also live within driving distance of SF, and agree regarding not flying. I do recommend driving early in the day, as the traffic on the Embarcadero can get shockingly bad (like, light turns green and you don't move an inch bad).

Based on my experience, the complaints about Grand are overstated. Granted, no ship is perfect and every sailing is different, but we didn't experience any of the problems that I've seen complained about here. More importantly, I think, a cruise to Alaska is more about the ports than the ship anyway.

As others have said, I think Grand Princess is the only ship that does RT Alaska from SF. There are several people on the board (me included) who have done this itinerary recently. If you have any other questions about it, feel free to ask.

Now now children, aren't we somewhat deviating from the original posters subject matter?

I don't know; I'm sure there's a toxic dosage of offal, and I'm sure some commenters will think that dosage is "any."

We boarded on the Promenade deck, too, but at other stops, I think the boarding deck is somewhat dependent on the tides. The gangway in SF is much longer (and built into the building), so perhaps it has enough maneuverability to allow for that?

Warfarin is the brand name for the chemical Coumarin - the main ingredient in rat poison.

The rats do far better eating the green leafy stuff.

Sola dosis facit venenum

It's disgusting.

Better now?

Yes, thank you. That was precisely what I had hoped to hear.

Ho-ley cow!

Talk about violating Wheaton's Law--

Please, don't be a dick! Knock off this childish badinage.

There are some on this thread who are having an adult discussion.

While I'm always open to the possibility that I'm mistaken, I don't believe I've exceeded the bounds of civil discussion in this instance. Nevertheless, if I have accidentally offended anyone, I offer an apology.

Yep, you're correct.

It is disguising.:D

Your smiley face indicates that you believe your comment to be clever or amusing. It is neither.

Then they shouldn't read my posts if it's that upsetting. There is an opt out for that. ;p

I post what I feel & it an opinion just like all the others have.

Your response is a non-sequitur. You didn't ask about other people's feelings, you asked how they could come to take your statements to have a certain meaning.

So far in this thread, you have questioned the financial wherewithal of people who eat certain foods, presented yourself as the apex predator with others eating your discards, called others' preferences "disgusting," denied the validity of others' understanding of your statements, and now outright stated that you will continue to do so regardless of its effect on others. I fear you are in violation of Wheaton's Law, particularly with respect to the latter.