Cruise Fanatic

Having to do laundry while traveling can be a chore....lol.

I have been taking cruises since 1980. In the beginning I would use the ships Laundromat.

I then decided, that I would budget and have my laundry done by the ship. The key word here is "Vacation". I will admit that last few cruises my partner and myself were able to get a suite, and the laundry was included. But even if the laundry is not included in my passage ticket, We just consider laundry a budgeted expense, after all we are on vacation.

We will be on the Grand Princess Nov 9, 2014.

Does Princess carry non alcoholic beer and if so, what brands?

I understand the one bottle of wine (750ml) that each passenger may bring on board.

I enjoy a glass of "spumante" while enjoying the balcony. Since I hate to open a standard bottle of wine I buy the "splits" 187ml. Now my question.

Will I be allowed to bring 4 "splits" aboard as my one bottle of wine? 187x4 = 748

Have booked MR cruise for Nov 9th. I am somewhat handicapped in that I have to use a cane/walker. Since you can't use the lifts during lifeboat drill, I do have trouble going up/down stairs. Does Princess have a procedure for handicapped persons that may have trouble getting to their lifeboat stations?

What deck does one board on the Grand Princess (San Pedro)

The reason I ask is I am a dialysis patient (PD) and I will be bringing my dialysis machine

with me. my machine cannot be checked I carry it on a foldable card and I am somewhat handicapped (use a cane).

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From the waiting lounge is there a elevator? to the gangway?

On my last cruise,(another cruise line) they allowed my partner and myself to board where the crew boards and we took the lift to our assigned cabin deck.

My partner and myself are booked on the Grand for a MR cruise in Nov. We booked a Vista Suite. What are the hours for breakfast? Are they the same for days in port as well as at sea days?

Perhaps the OP will give their reasoning, since they asked initially. They seemed to not like paper receipts from how I read it.

 

OP cited the prior HAL card program where they gave a $100 value for $90. Last year it was $95 for $100 value when I sailed on HAL but that offer is no longer in place ($100 gets you $100 now!)

 

Also, HAL has already been offering a Beverage program for a similar price per day to what Princess is testing but with a 15 drink limit (including soda) and a $7 cutoff (Princess has $10 cutoff and doesn't place limits).

Thanks for the response to my question. Yes I do have a thing about all of those paper receipts checking them against my statement...lol. On my last HAL cruise I just found it so much easier to use the beverage card on my statement it said beverage card for what ever amount.

Now as to the Beverage Package that Princess is offering. 58.00 pp per day (and both passengers in cabin have to buy) is a lot of money. I can't imagine that the average person would drink that much in coffee/soda/mixed drinks in a day...but then I could be wrong.

taking into consideration that if you had the package for the week 700+ dollars...WOW that is a lot of money. My partner and I will be taking a cruise to Hawaii in the fall of 2014.

If we bought that package that would be over $1400!!.

I still feel that a separate beverage card would be a better deal..but then again that imo.

again thanks for all of the input to my question.

I notice that Princess offers a Soda Card and a Coffee Card. I am surprised that they don't offer a Beverage Card like they offer on HAL. On our last two cruises on HAL, we took advantage of the Beverage Card. It cost us 90.00 but you were able to buy 100 dollars. They also offered one for $50.00 you paid $40.00 or $45.00 but the card was good for $50.00

I found it so much nicer in that I didn't have to keep track of all of those drink receipts. You order your beverage ...give them your beverage card and they return it along with your receipt showing amount used and amount left on the card. Maybe one day they will wise up and offer a beverage card.

My partner and myself just book the Dec 4 2014 Hawaii Cruise RT Los Angeles.

I have been reading the various reviews of the Grand, and the one common thread is that the ship is showing her age and needs to be sent to drydock and spruced up a bit.

Is this in fact true and if so, does anyone know if she is scheduled to go into drydock in the near future.

I did read some where that she was in drydock in 2011 and if this is true I find it hard to believe that she has fallen into disrepair in two years. I do realize that in reading reviews one has to "read between the lines" but as I said before all the review seem to mention the rust, stained carpets etc.