HAL Cruiser Returns from First Princess Cruise on GP

[Stevesan]

Just returned from Grand Princess seven-day W. Carib out of Galveston. Our first Princess cruise was outstanding. By far the best food and service of any ship we've sailed.

 

We had late traditional dining. Dining staff was personable and super efficient. Our waiter, Stefan, was particularly attentive to our eleven-year-old grandson, without displaying a hint of adult attitude condescension. Stefan took orders at rapid-fire speed, not once delivering the wrong item. We were in and out of Botticelli in an hour or less every night.

The headwaiter, Francesco, was first rate. One night, he prepared a special Amuse Bouche pasta dish creation employing his own sauce recipe. It was supposed to be a sampler plate, but was so good people were demanding full bowls as the entree.

Antonio, the Maitre'd, was professional and went the extra mile for us from day one. Although traveling as a family, we were on two separate booking numbers. Our TA requested the same table for us, but instead were assigned different tables. Antonio reseated our group the first night and we kept that table the remainder of the cruise. This was not a simple task. Both the cruise and traditional dining were sold out well in advance to sailing. In addition to reseating us and making our two groups happy, Antonio obviously had to rearrange seating for two other groups, keeping them happy as well. He managed it smoothly and with a smile.

Best of the dining experience was the food. Excellent preparation: order medium rare - you get medium rare. Sauces were full flavored, and hot dishes always served hot. The desserts contained deep flavors, indicative of quality ingredients.

 

The only problem was finding our way around the ship. It’s HUGE.

 

Our next two cruises are already booked with Holland America. We love HAL, but we’ll miss the food and service GP provided. To insure we’ll return to Princess I left an open booking deposit with GP’s cruise consultant.

 

I’ll run up a full review (ok, who’s the wise guy who said this looks like one?) in a week or so. For those considering booking with Princess, my advise is go for it!

[localady]

Thanks for the review Stevesan!!:) Glad you enjoyed your cruise! I have been hesitant to consider a Ship of that size. Did you find the amount of people on board to be a hindrance?? :cool:

[gizmo]

Thanks for your review. Glad you enjoyed Princess.

[SHayesShip]

Stevesan,

Thanks for the mini-review. I have been on several Princess ships including the Grand and on several HAL ships. I enjoy them both for different reasons.

BTW my favorite Princess ships are The Diamond and Coral Princess.

 

Have the Volendam and Oosterdam booked for 05 and the Coral booked for 06.

 

Steve Hayes

[arzz]

Thankyou for the review -- glad you were able to get traditional dining! When we went we were on any time dining and though the food and service were great the large number of people and the large ship and lack of the anchor of friends made through traditional dining made the experience much less than what I would have liked -- I also did not like the lines everywhere

 

I will gladly sacrifice a little on the food (as HAL's food is superb anyway) for the smaller venue and friendly staff.

 

Looking forward to your complete review

[SPI_Rick]

Stevesan, I'm glad you enjoyed your Princess experience. I too have become a Princess convert.....though I do think that HAL does a better job with the balcony furniture.

 

But I wouldn't hesitate to book either HAL or Princess in the future.

[gaylenhazel]

Stevesan - Isn't the Grand Prinecess well... grand? We also loved it. I'm looking forward to your review.

[Ziggy7]

Stevesan,

 

Thanks for the review, we are excited as we are going on our first Princess cruise in May. We love HAL but like to try different lines. After this our next cruise will be back on HAL :)