Live From The Grand - 3/5/14 - Mexico, CA and HI

Simply Cruising. Period. That’s it. The theme for these three B2B cruises.

No getting up at o dark thirty on consecutive days in outrageous time zones, dragging ourselves into the Princess Theater, cattle calling on to a bus, seeing ancient piles of rocks, or eastern Feng Shui architecture, or medieval castles. Simply cruising and enjoying a relaxing time, drinking, eating, dancing, sleeping, repeat.

Yes, there are a few new ports on this trip. Loreto and La Paz are new to us. Santa Barbara as a port is new. So is Long Beach. But essentially we have zero, and I mean zero excursions planned. Instead we are going to do at least one chef’s table, a balcony dinner and a couple of times at Crown Grill. We plan to haunt Alfredo’s pizzeria, frequent the elite lounge, run up the bar bill and dance till we drop.

The last three cruises have been pretty hectic. From Asia into a Trans-Pacific, then a trans-Atlantic followed by a UK cruise, then every major site in the Med plus a transatlantic. So there is something to be said to just lay back and relax and watch the world go by outside your balcony door.

So for those of you who want exotic excursion reports, it ain’t gonna happen. We plan to get off on our own, at our own pace, sample the local markets (Wal Mart in PV or Hawaii anyone?) and food, wander around a bit and then get back on the ship. This is going to be a B2B2B starting with a 10 day Mexico, followed by a 7 day CA coastal, followed by a 15 day Hawaii. The 10 day Mexico takes us to Cabo, Loreto, La Paz, Puerto Vallarta. Then we have the 7 day coastal which takes us to Ensenda, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Long Beach. Then we do the 15 day HI cruise to the Big Island, Oahu, Maui and Kauai.

I have marked several restaurants and markets for visit in each port in TripAdvisor – it worked 50/50 in the Med last year – but we may just wing it in some of the ports. Any suggestions, please make them and we’ll see about checking them out. We do have several things on our shopping list. New HI shirts – our existing ones are getting a little frayed. Some Kona coffee for the SIL. Some macadamia nut kisses for us. Some real Mexican vanilla for some friends of ours. Little things, nothing major.

The Grand is one of our favorite ships despite the lack of the central stairway (still don’t understand how the Royal and Regal designers repeated that mistake), primarily because of One5 and Alfredo’s that were added in the upgrade several years ago. The last time we were on her was for our 30th anniversary in 2011 in the Med. Didn’t get a lot of time to enjoy her then, but we will this time. So if anyone plans to go on the Grand later, ask your questions and I’ll try and answer them.

The bottom line is that this may be pretty simple at times. We’ll see the shows, the comedians, harass the cruise staff, harry the bartenders, watch a lot of MUTS, listen to a lot of music, sample a lot of food, but sometimes the it’s the simple things in life that are the most endearing.

So if you’re in for a simple cruise. Let’s do it!

Charles,

Just marking time until we drive to SF and see you again!

Sally

Wow!! Its that time already??

Bon Voyage and enjoy. :)

Loreto is a nice little town to wander around. Enjoy the Grand, the staff in the pizzeria is fantastic. On my recent Hawaii cruise they remembered me from my Mexico trip last fall.

Wow!! Its that time already??

 

Bon Voyage and enjoy. :)

We're Back!

Hide the good stuff!

Charles,

Just marking time until we drive to SF and see you again!

 

Sally

Repacking and resorting in the Hotel room.

Not long now!

We’ve been to SFO a couple of times to catch a ship. It’s a direct flight from COS, but our luck in the last couple of trips has not held. The last time we had to fly through Denver and ended up getting into SFO about 1730. But we always fly a day early in the US, two days or more international, especially in the winter time. This time was no exception as ATC held us in COS for two hours. Several people were catching international UA and Asiana flights and under normal circumstances would probably have made it, but UA is now using Terminal 1 for its RJ’s, and it is a mess. You have to shuttle over to T3 or the International Terminal or even baggage claim, and you can’t walk without going outside security. So a 3 hour connect time in SFO turned into a 15 minute dash for a lot of people. Hope they made it.

Note for next international trip through SFO – fly in the night before!

We on the other hand had plenty of time. We like to stay either downtown or near the airport and actually had reserved the Fisherman’s Wharf Hilton – until Hilton sold it and our HH points reservation went bye-bye. So we switched over to the HGI SFO North. Free shuttle to the hotel, nice hotel, quiet, great breakfast service, comfortable bed – hot shower. What more can you ask? (Hey after staying at Hiltons over 60 nights a year, I am not very picky.)

All of our luggage made it – you never know – even on a non-stop – and now this morning we rearrange from checked to carry-on. We’re planning a taxi at 1100 and then arrive at the port just before noon. We shall see what happens from there…

With any luck, we'll be boarding the "Grand old Lady" today, about noon-thirty.

Seekin' more fun in the sun down in Cabo, La Paz, PV and the Sea of Cortez. Viva Mexico!

We're members of the large, and infamous, "Z" posse from the great central valley of California. [Last I heard there will be several hundred of us aboard this particular cruise.]

Looking forward to that always spectacular departure from SF, passing under the Golden Gate one more time. That view never gets old . . .

Flotsam and Jetsam

Have a wonderful trip. We will be on the 15 day April 13. Can you please let me know if they have a "wine package" gold or silver and what the cost is and how many bottles are involved with each. Also are they offering the drink package of $49 per day.

Thank you!:)

Hi Charles, Bob and I are getting on the Grand when you get off. We'll be doing the 7 day coastal. Your "live" will keep me busy until we board. When you get on, please let us know who the cruise director and asst. cd are. Have a super time! :D Meredith

Glad to see another cruiser who enjoys dancing do a live report. My wife and I are on the April 13 cruise to Hawaii. We have cruised 10 times with Princess; but have not been on the Grand. I would really enjoy hearing a little about the One5 club (size of dance floor and flooring material). Also, it would be interesting to hear about the bands playing in Explorers and the Wheelhouse. Look forward to your posts and I hope you are having a great time.

We'll be on the Grand to HI on the 22nd. Guess you'll be sailing on that one too, right? Sounds like you'll be ready to relax on those long at-sea days. Look for us. We'll be the ones in hawaiian shirts sipping mai tais:)

Have a great cruise!

We will be on the Grand for the first time. Wondering if they included some of the wonderful offerings we had on the Royal in Alfredo's on the Grand. Such as the incredible ravioli, which they called something else.

Wow!! This is our kind of cruise!!!!! We cruised to Hawaii on the Grand in January and loved every minute of doing nothing. Reading outside of the OneFive was glorious.

We did take a whale watch cruise in Maui but that was it. We came home very relaxed and happy. Living 45 minutes from the port was a big added bonus. We took BART and walked to the ship. :D

Loved your descriptions of other, busier cruises.

Cheers, Denise

We'll be on the first leg - and may do a live review too. But I often think I will and then... suddenly it's the last day of the cruise and I've written nothing.

So I'm glad someone else is doing this!

We will be getting on when you are getting off :) Enjoy your vacation. It sounds amazing!

Sounds like there are a lot of us planning to be aboard the 4/13 Grand 15-day to Hawaii. I would like to know about the Sanctuary, esp from a B2B passenger. Are you planning to book it? What cost is being quoted? What is the availability like?

TIA and have a wonderful time!

We will be on the Grand for the first time. Wondering if they included some of the wonderful offerings we had on the Royal in Alfredo's on the Grand. Such as the incredible ravioli, which they called something else.

We will be on the Grand for the first time. Wondering if they included some of the wonderful offerings we had on the Royal in Alfredo's on the Grand. Such as the incredible ravioli' date=' which they called something else.[/quote']

 

Alfredo's on the Grand in January only had pizza. I sorely missed all the yummy options that were available on the Royal.

 

Cheers, Denise

hope you have a fun mega cruise! There's been cruises we've taken that we didn't do any excursions. I would do some research and find interesting places to see if we feel like seeing them. A couple of cruises ago that we had booked nearly at the last minute, my hubby said let's not do any excursions, so I didn't plan any (we had been at the same ports the time before), but just days before, he wondered out loud if we should do an excursion or two :rolleyes: (and I was rolling my eyes at that). Then fortunately he added, well there probably isn't any openings. Whew.

Thank you for yet another live from! I love those cruises, they are so relaxing! Have a wonderful time!

I'd like to know if the Grand is offering the adult beverage package... Thank you!

was wondering if you could post who the entertainers are on your cruise and what movies were being played. thank you enjoy your cruise wish we were there.

Drove past the SF Pier on my way to Oakland this afternoon, and I saw the Grand parked there for the first time! It's much larger than I expected.

I waved at you. Did you see me?

03/05/2014

Embarkation –

Pretty darn smooth. We got a car at 1100 and was at the terminal by 1130. Just very slight delays and waits in the various lines, but basically we were on board by 1245. By 1330 we were ensconced comfortably in Alfredos enjoying our pizzas, mine the Tarantino and Judy’s the Zen pizza. She ended up liking mine better.

Luggage didn’t arrive until about 1430 and muster was held at 1530. Our first surprise was the cabin. We’ve never had this bathroom configuration before. Walk in the door and to the left is the bathroom door, but as you face the bathroom door you have a small closet on the right and the shelves with the safe on the left. The bathroom is oriented lengthwise with the room, not forward/aft as in most standard balconies we’ve ever been in. We are on Caribe deck, so we have the large ½ covered balcony with the full sized table, not the coaster with legs, and two lounger type chairs with ottoman type footstools. Plenty of room to stretch out.

The Patter contains a preview of the first trip’s entertainment. Gavin has promised all the Oscar movies. Hoping for Gravity. Tonight was movie night with the Hobbitt at MUTS and Thor The Dark World on at Vista. There is a new dance troupe on board, so there was no dancing at the welcome aboard show, but we do have Steve Moris as the headliner. He’s funny, can play the guitar and sing pretty good too.

The Princess shows are Stardust, British Invasion and So You Wanna Dance. We’ve seen them all, but not from this cast, so we will try and see them again at one time or another. Besides Steve Moris we have Bobby Brooks Wilson, Craig Richard, Uber Rossi and Doug Funk. I think Doug Funk is the only one we’ve seen before.

Also scheduled are Country and Western night, Liars Club, That 70’s night, Rock and Roll night, Marriage show, Pop Star and a couple of others. Motor City is in Vista, Zumba, line dance and ballroom classes as well. John Bressler and Bart Rockett as well.

The party band is Retrospect, the Wheelhouse band is the Randy Heddon Quartet. The crooners piano player is Pete Thompson.

So that’s a snapshot of what’s coming up on this cruise.

More later…

Drink package is $50 per person, per day for any drink $10 or less. No unlimited bottles of wine. That's a lot of booze!

CD is Gavin Chandler. Sailed with him before, but a long time ago. Seems like a nice enough fellow. Will investigate the cruise staff more tomorrow.

Dance floor in One5 is WOOD, but small. No skywalkers glass. Unfortunately, the Explorer's lounge dance floor has a 5' stage bumpout that really juts out and takes up a lot of traveling space on the dance floor. Vista is vista and the wheelhouse is the small one aft of Explorer's on Deck 7, not the larger one forward of the Piazza.