Grand Princess Overview - Cruise to Alaska May 20, 2013

We cruised on the Grand Princess May 20 through May 30, 2013 from San Francisco. Rough weather/seas during the first 2 days so we missed Juneau. Captain woke us up at 7 am (announcement heard in all areas and cabins of the ship) to let us know the rough seas would continue for a while. Hal and I both use acupressure bands (his were bio-bands and I used queasy bands). They also recommended green apples. You can ask for the apples at the buffet or your cabin, but it was much quicker through the buffet. If they are not out, they will get them for you. This was the first time either of us have been seasick. It wasn't awful for us, just not great.

Weather overall was nice, some drizzle in Victoria. Skagway wore no jackets. Ketchikan and Victoria we wore wind breakers. In Glacier Bay we bundled and I mean bundled. It was cold outside to say the least but we ended up being nice and warm.

We were in Cabin E725 Mini-Suite - here's my video of the cabin

We loved the Grand and our cruise. Would definitely sail on her again without hesitation. Crew & Service were top notch.

Minor concerns: Sofa in the mini-suite was extremely low to the ground (we were shocked when we sat on it the first time). I have arthritis in my hips and knees so having it lower than normal (my opinion) cause a minor issue for me. Would I book this cabin again ... absolutely.

The other issue was the food. We haven't cruised in 4 years so I am sure things have changed over the years. They had numerous choices at each meal, but overall we felt the food was OK/average not fantastic. We ate in the dining room (anytime dining), the buffet, International Cafe, and room service. We aren't picky eaters, so were a bit disappointed in the food. HOWEVER we never starved and the staff were more than happy to bring other selections if we wanted.

Best food on the ship during our cruise: Pasta Fagioli soup (oh my gosh, fantastic) and the tempura veggies served as a main course one night - both of these I could of eaten every night. The tempura veggies were crisp and flavorful. Breads/rolls were wonderful and fresh. Lobster was wonderfully tender and flavorful. Hubby loved the souffles ... my favorite desserts were the chocolate chip cookies and one night the Love Boat Dream. Salmon is offered every night and was great. Room service makes the best roast beef sandwiches -- roast beef is not available every day at the buffet at lunch and it is my favorite cold cut. Sheppard's pie on the buffet was great.

Worst foods: Other than the sandwiches, I stopped eating roast beef/beef as a main course. It was tough. Hard to cut. Mahi Mahi (which I normally love) I turned back in as it was so dry. Lamb barley soup was actually just lamb broth with tiny, tiny amount and size of lamb & barley. One night they served a trio of chicken, lamb and veal. The chicken on the stick (grilled) was really good. The lamb and veal I couldn't eat. Lamb was strong in flavor and the veal ... not sure what it was about it but I sure didn't like it.

We enjoyed the shows, the venues etc. Was there some worn spots, some rust ... probably but we sure didn't go looking for them and they didn't stand out. We wore tennis shoes (rubber souls) out on the balcony and no issues with being slippery. Lots of mist on the floor tho so we were careful.

Never felt overwhelmed with staff trying to sell, sell, sell. Prices on the ship were reasonable. We got great reversible jackets for $45 each that were fleece on one side, rain repellant on the other with a hidden hood that was vinyl lined. We wore them out on deck and in Glacier Bay. Felt pricing was the same as back home and fair.

Pub Lunch was offered 3 days (sea days) and was good. Enjoyed the fish & chips. Hubby loved the bread pudding.

One day one of the elevators by the spa had problems with staying on deck 10. No other issues with elevators or electrical that we were aware of. Other than the day we boarded and the last day we rarely had to wait for an elevator.

No problems with toilets flushing during the cruise in cabin or in public areas.

I have food allergies and the head waiter was fantastic with working with me with meals each night for the next night. Up in the buffet if I had a question, they would go get the chef. So issues at all for me on this cruise. I did hear a couple of concerns tho for those who need gluten free. I was told by staff that the gluten free cheesecake they just cut off the crusts ... so I know there can be cross contamination for those who are super sensitive. We also met a person who needed gluten free and said the buffet was hard as the staff handling the breads really did know what was gluten free, what was not. Each day she was given a different answer. She was not super sensitive to the gluten like many, so did OK. She preferred eating at the buffet over the dining room. I think she would of been better in the dining room with personal attention like they did for me with allergies.

I have a number of videos posted of our cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/user/KreatesKards?feature=watch

Also I will be posting a detail review on my cruising blog ... just haven't had time to start writing it yet.

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/

Meet and greet was fun and held in the One5 Lounge area on Deck 15. Warren (Cruise Director) attended and spoke. The Captain was busy with the rough seas, so we certainly understood him not being there.

Definitely would choose the Grand again. We didn't feel that it felt old and tired. It was fun to be on and we met many wonderful people too.

Boarding: We boarded at 11:30 am as our friends had signed up for the Bon Voyage Experience and our reservations were linked so we could board early. Only ship in port. Lots of people at the pier early, but no one was allowed in the terminal except for the BVE groups as of 11 am. We were amazed at how many people gave the porter their luggage to take on the ship, but never tipped. We gave the porter our 3 bags and gave him a tip. You should of seen the smile on his face and the big thank you.

Disembarkation: Easiest we have ever gone through. We had almost the last group off the ship. Waited in one of the dining rooms. Had coffee, tea, water with lots of places to sit while we waited. They called our number/color around 10:30 am and we walked out of the dining room, over to check out (they scan your card, but you can keep it), walked out the ramp on deck 5 and into the terminal. Found out luggage immediately (it paid off to have decorated it before hand):

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/05/07/making-your-luggage-unique-in-the-sea-of-luggage-at-airports-and-cruise-ship-terminals/

NOTE: There are restrooms by the luggage area in the terminal.

Once we had our luggage, we walked out of the terminal right over to the taxi area. Got a taxi immediately and were at our hotel just a few minutes later.

Custom forms were filled out two days in advance for Victoria and for San Francisco. First time ever we have done it so soon and the first time ever that we didn't hand them to the security person as we got off the ship. NOTE: If you are a US citizen and DO NOT have a passport, you have to go to a special immigration screening the last morning on the ship. The person ahead of us as we were leaving was detained as he had not cleared immigration - they knew immediately when his card was scanned at the exit.

Hope this helps with any concerns about the ship. This was our 3rd time on Princess and our 11th cruise overall. All of our Princess cruises have been to Alaska.

More details will be on my cruising blog very soon with LOTS of photos:

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/ We took about 1200 photos this cruise, so lots to share.

Sorry if this rambled ... was trying to think of key points to share.

Happy to hear your positive report on the Grand. We are booked for late September.. we cruised on the Grand when it was new in l998 out of Istanbul... will be fun to check her out again. Recent reviews have not been as positive... so we have been wondering whether we would enjoy our California cruise on her again. Sound like we will.

They don't have a BVE on our cruise, big disappointment for us. We always book BVEs when we cruise out of San Francisco. I will comment on this when we cruise and do our critique. I had alreadys asked someone only to find it is not available, very strange.

Happy to hear your positive report on the Grand. We are booked for late September.. we cruised on the Grand when it was new in l998 out of Istanbul... will be fun to check her out again. Recent reviews have not been as positive... so we have been wondering whether we would enjoy our California cruise on her again. Sound like we will.

 

They don't have a BVE on our cruise, big disappointment for us. We always book BVEs when we cruise out of San Francisco. I will comment on this when we cruise and do our critique. I had alreadys asked someone only to find it is not available, very strange.

https://book.princess.com/BookingSystem/jsp/home/ship_visit/BonVoyageExperience.jsp

The link is to the list of all the BVE's offered.

We really enjoyed the ship and the cruise. Nothing that would stop us from cruising on the Grand or Princess again. Have a wonderful time on your cruise.

Thanks for the honest review - great to read. I love the Grand and figure any minor cosmetic flaw adds to her charm. Who's the current Captain and Hotel General Manager right now, if you don't mind?

Thank you so much for posting such a nice overview of your experience. It is

helpful. Nice that both positive and negative were posted. Good to know about the jacket/windbreakers.

Leaving on this cruise June29, hope are seas are little more on the calm side!

Thanks for the honest review - great to read. I love the Grand and figure any minor cosmetic flaw adds to her charm. Who's the current Captain and Hotel General Manager right now, if you don't mind?

Glad you enjoyed the review.

Captain: Anthony Herriott

Hotel General Manager: Leonardo Pavan

Cruise Director: Warren Smith

Thank you so much for posting such a nice overview of your experience. It is

helpful. Nice that both positive and negative were posted. Good to know about the jacket/windbreakers.

Leaving on this cruise June29, hope are seas are little more on the calm side!

The weather can be so unpredictable. We've bundled before in Juneau and light weight jackets in Ketchikan. ALWAYS have found that in Tracy Arm, Misty Fjord, Endicott Arm, and Glacier Bay that being bundled up was needed. The cruise before us had calm seas, but rain in the ports.

One thing I forgot to mention in my review is that I was cold a great deal on the ship. I had a sweatshirt jacket (jacket style not the typical hoodie/outdoor type) that I wore 99% of the time around the ship. My husband even wore his sweatshirt jacket a few times too. The last few years I am cold often because of meds, but my husband is normally always warm. Once I put my jacket on, I was fine. So I recommend taking a sweater, shawl etc.

Hotel General Manager is now Andreas Pitsch

Cruise Director is Martyn Moss

Hotel General Manager is now Andreas Pitsch

 

Cruise Director is Martyn Moss

They changed this week? We just got off the Grand on the 30th and the names I posted were the ones during our cruise 5/20 through 5/30.

Enjoyed your report.

Keith

Thanks for the review

mary...thank you for a wonderful full review of the cruise. i'm not worried about taking the grand in september now at all. i do have one question. how was the mattress in your mini-suite? on my last cruise on the emerald princess the mattress was the new pillow top and very comfortable. hope the grand has the new mattress.

i'm so happy you had a good experienc except for the first two days and missing juneau. you write very well and answered all my questions.

where do you live in phoenix? i live up at carefree highway and highway 17.

cheers

Thanks so much for such a positive report. My husband and I are sailing on the Grand out of San Francisco on June 19, to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. This will be our 5th cruise, but first on Princess; first trip to Alaska. This ship/itinerary was highly recommended by our TA and we got a great price. We will also be in a mini suite.

I tend to try and read everything I can when trying something new, and I did so for this trip. Like Pris993, I was getting worried after reading the negative reviews for the Grand, wondering if we'd made a mistake booking her.

What a refreshing report from you - thank you!!! We both LOVE adventure and both TRULY believe that a trip is what you make it. I am excited again to be leaving in 16 days !!

~~Tracey

Keith & Paul, I'm so glad you enjoyed my short review. I really need to get working on the day by day report of the cruise. Had to get back to reality first with my home based businesses, and should be able to start on it hopefully by tomorrow. It will post to my cruising blog along with many, many photos.

David, don't worry about the bed in the mini-suite. Ours was very comfortable. I did fax a egg crate request to Princess the week before the cruise and it was on the bed when we arrived. I will add in the directions on how to do that below. We live in Chandler. Love it here even with the heat.

Tracey, Happy Anniversary. I don't feel you made a mistake booking this cruise at all. Princess was our first cruise and all the cruises we have taken to Alaska (3 in all). We have cruised on NCL (1 time only so far), Royal Caribbean, Carnival. When I book a cruise, I must admit I am not brand loyal. I look at itinerary, pricing, dates available and cabins available. You are going to have an amazing time.

Here's what I had found about requesting the egg crate topper for the bed:

Stevensan posted: Following is an effective format. I usually wait till about 4-6 weeks prior to sailaay date. Too early, it may get lost in the "system". Had 100% compliance so far (knock on wood).

You could wait till boarding, but they may have run out. Your steward has enough to do on sailaway fay without making up your bed twice.

Name-

Booking Number-

Voyage Number & Cruise ship-

Sail Date -

Cabin Number -

Phone Number -

Web Address - I gave them my e-mail address

To: Princess Cruises

ATTN: Special Services

Fax: 661 284 4885

Please request cabin steward place a mattress topper and a top sheet on queen arrangement bed.

Thanks so much for your review. And the link to the BVEs is great. Very helpful.

pris - Perhaps there is not a BVE listed for the Grand later on in September because of the America's Cup races maybe going on during that time. We sailed from SF last year during Fleet Week, and the Embarcadaro area was packed with people. Just a guess on my part. We are doing the BVE the end of this month on Grand.

mary... did you find you needed the egg crate? do you remember is the mattress was the pillowtop type? i don't want to order an eggcrate if it's not necessary. thank you for answering all the questions.

cheers

david

The weather can be so unpredictable. We've bundled before in Juneau and light weight jackets in Ketchikan. ALWAYS have found that in Tracy Arm, Misty Fjord, Endicott Arm, and Glacier Bay that being bundled up was needed. The cruise before us had calm seas, but rain in the ports.

 

One thing I forgot to mention in my review is that I was cold a great deal on the ship. I had a sweatshirt jacket (jacket style not the typical hoodie/outdoor type) that I wore 99% of the time around the ship. My husband even wore his sweatshirt jacket a few times too. The last few years I am cold often because of meds, but my husband is normally always warm. Once I put my jacket on, I was fine. So I recommend taking a sweater, shawl etc.

Thanks so much for the reminder about INDOOR ship temperatures. We find this to be true even on tropical cruises! We cruised to Hawaii/Tahiti this spring, and I bought two of those sweatshirt jackets to wear inside on the ship! My DH also wore a light weight jacket many times onboard.

Couple of questions:

HOW ROUGH were the seas? Was it difficult to walk without holding on? Did things fall off counters?

Were movies shown in the Princess theater or only on MUTS and in the cabins?

mary... did you find you needed the egg crate? do you remember is the mattress was the pillowtop type? i don't want to order an eggcrate if it's not necessary. thank you for answering all the questions.

 

cheers

david

Honestly, I didn't check the bed other than for comfort. We have a super comfortable Intelli Bed (Gel top mattress) at home. We slept with no issues on the bed in our cabin. The egg crate topper was on the bed when we arrived as I had pre-ordered it. You could always order it then if not needed have the room steward remove it.

Thanks so much for the reminder about INDOOR ship temperatures. We find this to be true even on tropical cruises! We cruised to Hawaii/Tahiti this spring, and I bought two of those sweatshirt jackets to wear inside on the ship! My DH also wore a light weight jacket many times onboard.

 

Couple of questions:

 

HOW ROUGH were the seas? Was it difficult to walk without holding on? Did things fall off counters?

 

Were movies shown in the Princess theater or only on MUTS and in the cabins?

The seas were 15 to 20 foot swells. We did hold on to the railings many times to walk down the hallways and stopped taking the stairs during the swells. Nothing fell off the shelves that I am aware of. Didn't hear anyone mentioning things falling either. Also didn't hear anyone talking about injuries just upset stomachs.

I took this video (1 of 3) the first sea day which was the worst for the rough seas.

Movies were shown in the cabins, Vista Lounge and MUTS. Each one was a completely different movie. For example ... movies shown on MUTS were not shown in the cabin or Vista Lounge. It was too cold for me to be at MUTS, so I was a bit disappointed that some of those movies were not available in the cabin. Saw some great Love Boat reruns tho ... LOL.

Just a reminder to those of you that like to show up early at the pier. Especially those that like to be there at 9:45 or so. You will not be allowed in the terminal until after 11:00am at the earliest.

Those doing BVE and those with them that are traveling and having BVE guests can go to the front of the line and identify yourselves to the agents at the door and they will let you in about 10:45 or so. Other than that, no one gets inside till the ship has cleared all incoming passengers.

There are sometimes exceptions to this, but not often. So if it is bad weather in San Francisco, do yourselves a favor and come later to the pier and save yourself the frustration and anger of having to wait in a long line.

Another hint. PLEASE PLEASE read the first paragraph of your boarding pass. There have been several incidences lately of passengers who have been denied boarding because they did not have proper documentation.

If you get denied you do not get a refund even from insurance so it can be costly.

Just a reminder to those of you that like to show up early at the pier. Especially those that like to be there at 9:45 or so. You will not be allowed in the terminal until after 11:00am at the earliest.

 

Those doing BVE and those with them that are traveling and having BVE guests can go to the front of the line and identify yourselves to the agents at the door and they will let you in about 10:45 or so. Other than that, no one gets inside till the ship has cleared all incoming passengers.

 

There are sometimes exceptions to this, but not often. So if it is bad weather in San Francisco, do yourselves a favor and come later to the pier and save yourself the frustration and anger of having to wait in a long line.

 

Another hint. PLEASE PLEASE read the first paragraph of your boarding pass. There have been several incidences lately of passengers who have been denied boarding because they did not have proper documentation.

If you get denied you do not get a refund even from insurance so it can be costly.

Hey Ed - thanks for checking me in!!

I'm going to start a separate post as I'm on grand princess now, but I just wanted to follow up on what Mary posted - they must have heard complaints about the ship temperature because it's HOT this trip! Especially the gym and spa areas but throughout the ship people are commenting on how warm it is...

Hey Ed - thanks for checking me in!!

 

I'm going to start a separate post as I'm on grand princess now, but I just wanted to follow up on what Mary posted - they must have heard complaints about the ship temperature because it's HOT this trip! Especially the gym and spa areas but throughout the ship people are commenting on how warm it is...

Oh my gosh, what a drastic change from just a few days ago. Hope they can correct it to a temperature that will work for most. I expected to be colder than I was on our last cruise because of the meds I take. (Heck, I pack a blanket so that I could curl up if needed. AND I use the blanket every night). What I never expected was for Hal to be cold on the ship.

Have a wonderful time.

(Heck, I pack a blanket so that I could curl up if needed. AND I use the blanket every night). What I never expected was for Hal to be cold on the ship.

LOL! Me Too! And I'm sure I'lll never be watching MUTS on an Alaskan cruise!

Your rough water video was neat! Looked really pretty, not stormy. Thanks for your sea condition comments.

Mary - Aaerobear recommended checking 1st paragraph of boarding pass, which I did. We have boarding passes, passports and Calif driver's licenses. Do we need vaccinations records for Alaska ? :eek: :eek:

Thanks, Tracey

PS ~ copied your request for eggcrate, will fax that this week !! Thanks !

Mary - Aaerobear recommended checking 1st paragraph of boarding pass, which I did. We have boarding passes, passports and Calif driver's licenses. Do we need vaccinations records for Alaska ? :eek: :eek:

 

Thanks, Tracey

 

PS ~ copied your request for eggcrate, will fax that this week !! Thanks !

Tracey, you are going to be fine. We had AZ driver's license (always take in case we want to rent a car and often easier at the airport), boarding passes and our passports. At the pier they will check your passport and the boarding pass along with a credit card to register. We used the same credit card for both of us and that wasn't a problem.

No need to bring any type of vaccination records for Alaska or for Victoria. Remember when you get off the ship in Victoria to take your passport with you too just in case.

I have started my day by day review:

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/

It will post to my blog first, then to cruisecritic:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1855605