A Grand Vacation Review (Jan. 17-24, 2015)

[dshefter]

First off, this was my 11th cruise overall and second with Princess. My wife and I took a partial Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess in 2010. This was her 10th cruise and my 11-year-old daughter’s fourth cruise (first on Princess). We decided on a Mexican Riviera cruise because it offered us a chance to see some of my wife’s family in Orange County and my father in San Diego after the seven-day cruise.

 

 

We also managed to get four of my wife’s friends to join us, two of whom had never been on a cruise before. Her other two female friends had only cruised once before and one had only been on a three-night excursion to Ensenada and Catalina Island. Those two booked a week before our scheduled departure.

 

 

After sailing on RCL, Norwegian and Carnival, I would definitely say Princess has the best food. Some might disagree, but I have not had a bad meal aboard a Princess ship.

 

 

Because we live in New Jersey and given the uncertainty with weather, plus the 4 p.m. PT departure, we decided to fly in the day before. Good thing we did as our scheduled non-stop flight from Newark to LAX on United had to make an unexpected landing in Chicago for an ill passenger, delaying our arrival in Southern California by four hours. Nevertheless, we made it to Orange County in time to enjoy dinner with my wife’s two aunts and cousin. We also had breakfast the next morning with my wife’s nephew and niece, and ex-sister-in-law, and her nephew’s girlfriend.

 

 

We rented a car through Enterprise because it’s the only rental company with an office near the San Pedro pier. The location is about 5 blocks from the port and Enterprise offers a free shuttle. Keep in mind you will pay a $40 one-way rental fee if picking up the car in LAX or John Wayne Airport in Orange County. But it was still cheaper than taking a taxi or using a Super Shuttle and we were able to stop at the supermarket and pick up some items for the cruise such as candy bars, Gatorade, suntan lotion, etc.

 

 

 

After dropping off the car and getting the shuttle, we arrive at the port around noon. Even though Princess emailed us that our embarkation time was 1:30 p.m., we were able to get on the ship a little early. Check-in was extremely smooth. The whole process took about 45 minutes. My only complaint is that they wait to take your pictures for the cards until right before you get on the ship. I think Princess could save time by having the pictures shot at check-in. Still, our stickers were on our cards for our drink packages. I purchased the all-you-can-drink package ($49 per day plus 15% tip) and we got our daughter the mocktail/soda card ($8 per day plus the 15% tip).

 

 

Once on the ship, we went to our mini-suite stateroom on the Dolphin Deck (D728) and the room was already made. Our luggage arrived about two hours later. The room was spacious and it was by far the biggest bathroom I’d ever had on a ship. Mini-suites have a bathtub/shower, which was nice for my daughter. The balcony was the same size as other balconies. Also keep in mind that if you are on the Dolphin Deck, your balcony is not covered and folks from the above decks can see you. This didn’t bother me. In the future, though, I think I would stick with a balcony or inside stateroom. Our stateroom had ample room for all of our belongings and even though I brought extra hangars from home – something I normally do for long trips – the closet had plenty that we really didn’t need our extra hangars.

 

 

The ship itself was very nice. I had read a lot of negative comments on Cruise Critic prior to our cruise about how the Grand was starting to show her age. I’m not one to take a magnifying glass to inspect every nook and cranny. But if you get on the Grand expecting lots of bells and whistles such as waterslides, rock-climbing walls, virtual skydiving, etc., then you will be disappointed. This isn’t such a vessel. But the public rooms are very nice.

 

 

 

I particularly loved the Snookers Cigar Bar, an area I spent a lot of time at during our seven-day cruise. I met two great staffers in bartender Thulani from South Africa and server Zoran from Serbia. Thulani was leaving the Grand on Feb. 2 for a two-month break and was scheduled to join the Island Princess later this year. Zoran is hoping to become a sommelier, so he was likely to be leaving Princess in mid-February when his contract is up. He told me his goal is to join a more upscale line such as Celebrity or Seaborn, both of which employ sommeliers.

 

 

Snookers is the best cigar bar I have encountered at sea because it was an actual bar. There were also plenty of TVs tuned to ESPN or ESPN2 (international feeds) so you could enjoy your favorite game while having a stogie/cocktail. Snookers is also the only place aboard the Grand Princess where cigar/pipe smoking is permitted. Princess no longer allows passengers to smoke on their balconies. Cigarette smoking is permitted on certain nights in the casino and other designated outdoor areas. I did see one passenger smoking a cigar on Deck 15 (Sun Deck) aft.

 

 

Another plus in Princess’ corner is the all-you-can-drink package only needs to be purchased by one person in a stateroom. On Carnival, everyone 21 and over in a stateroom has to buy the package. That would not have worked for us. There is no way my wife and I could drink that much. With this package, we could occasionally share a drink. She also received a few free cocktails in the casino based on her play. We more than paid for the $394 we paid for the package. Feel free to email me at dshefter@usga.org for more questions on the drink packages. You also get 40% off any bottle of wine that is $100 or less, but we didn’t buy any wine bottles.

 

 

The first night, we decided to treat our friends to the Crown Grill, one of two specialty restaurants on the Grand. It is $25 per person and more than worth it. We also brought a bottle of champagne to the Crown Grill and were not charged a cork fee. Each adult is allowed to bring one bottle of wine/champagne aboard and if opened in the dining room, Princess says it will charge a $15 cork fee. We were not charged. I had lamb chops, while my wife had the filet. Others in our group ordered the surf and turf (lobster and filet). Our two friends who had never cruised before fell in love with cruising on that first night. They couldn’t believe the quality of the meal and the deserts.

 

 

Every meal we had was delicious. We at the final six nights in the regular dining rooms (Da Vinci and Michelangelo) and even though we had different waiters, the service was phenomenal. We chose anytime dining and never had an issue getting a table for seven. The first few nights, I called the Dine Line in the morning and got a table at 7:30. The last few nights, we just showed up at either 5:30 or 7:30 and got seated within minutes. We never had the long waits as others described in previous reviews.

For breakfast, we dined in the Horizon Court (the buffet on Deck 14 aft) and DaVinci Dining Room. I liked the regular dining room for breakfast because I could get a bagel and smoked salmon. They also had different selections of eggs and omelettes. Again, no issues with service.

 

 

The seven-day cruise had two formal nights and it was nice to see Princess enforcing the dress code. On our last two Carnival cruises, I saw passengers wearing hats, t-shirts and shorts into the main dining rooms. Carnival never enforced its stated dress code, which is a pet-peeve of mine. On the Grand Princess, one passenger in front of us was wearing a golf shirt and slacks on the second formal night and was politely told by the hostess that he could not be in the dining room with that attire. Good for Princess. Now you don’t need to wear a tux or suit on formal night. Princess will allow a long-sleeved dress shirt.

 

 

I have a tux that I purchased years ago for my brother’s wedding so the only time I get to use it is on cruises. I wore it the first formal night and just a jacket and tie for the second. We enjoyed lobster tail and prawns the second formal night. Princess had a special 50-year anniversary menu for the first formal night.

 

 

We had tremendous service the entire cruise. The staff aboard the Grand Princess could not be friendlier. On the first day, I lost my iPod somewhere aboard the ship. When I called down to Guest Services the next morning, they had my iPod. Someone had turned it in. My wife also lost a small purse that fell under the table in the dining room. The purse was turned in and Guest Services left a voice mail the purse was found. The receptionist was extremely pleasant and took care of us within a few minutes.

 

 

On the first sea day (Sunday, Jan. 18), we had our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet in the One5 Lounge on Deck 15 aft. It was a little disappointing that only a handful of people showed. Princess did have a few of its staffers present for the meeting, including the Hotel Director and the director of Customer Relations. They answered our questions and it was great getting to see them in an informal setting.

 

 

The pools on Princess are fresh water, but they are definitely not heated. But I will take fresh water over saltwater any day. There is also an indoor pool under an atrium for those inclement weather days. There is also a small adult pool on Deck 14 aft as well as another adult pool near the Sanctuary for adults only. We did not pay to use the Sanctuary.

 

 

We never had an issue getting a chair, either. There are plenty on Decks 14 and 15.

 

 

As for the shows, we attended several throughout the cruise. I enjoyed Joseph Tran, the magician, Jim Barber, a ventriloquist, and the Motor City dance show. My wife and daughter also saw the British Invasion dance show. They were excellent and what is great about the shows is they last only 30 minutes. So often we caught the show prior to dinner. Joseph Tran had my daughter and wife up on stage as volunteers for the first of his two shows. Shows occur in the Princess Theatre (Deck 5 forward) and Vista Lounge (Deck 7 aft).

 

 

My wife and I also took part in Trivia, although I wish Princess had more specific categories for trivia. I loved doing Sports Trivia aboard the Carnival Valor last year.

 

 

You can find out the daily activities through the Princess Patter, which was delivered to our stateroom each night by our room steward Grando. We met Grando on the first day of the cruise and he was very pleasant.

My wife and friends also played Bingo, which will cost you $15 for one card or $35 for a card of six. I think Princess is a little skimpy with the prizes. Each day, the games were for $100, $150 and $200 with the big jackpot game always fourth. On the last day, the jackpot was a measly $2000. I have been on cruises that have given away a free cruise for two or $5000. Princess definitely makes a hefty profit from bingo. The last day, I would say at least 100 people were playing and the top prize was $2000? C’mon Princess.

 

 

One area where Princess does get it is with announcements, or lack thereof. On Carvinal, it seems every hour a blast comes over the intercom announcing something. It can get a little annoying. The daily announcements on Princess were minimal. Yes, the cruise director (Mike) did make announcements to those attending shows, but that’s to be expected.

 

 

Our cruise stopped at three ports: Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. My only complaint is the short stay in Cabo, which I believe is the nicest of the three ports. We only were there from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., which doesn’t leave you a ton of shore time. So we decided just to do some shopping. Would have loved to play some golf here, but just not enough time. I would prefer Princess skip Mazatlan and spend an extra day at Cabo.

We booked a zip-line adventure through Princess in Puerto Vallarta. My wife just didn’t feel comfortable doing a tour through an independent operator. Vallarta Adventures is who Princess uses for this tour and we were not disappointed.

 

 

 

If you do plan this excursion, be prepared for a physical workout. We did nine zip-lines and some rappelling. I also climbed a rope wall that felt like I was in boot camp for the Army. Our guides Rafa, Josh, Andonhy, Mau, Rick and Alain were terrific. They explained everything. Just be prepared to pay for photos. They don’t allow you to take cameras, although if you tried to sneak your cellphone, you probably could get away with it. Since my wife’s prepaid VISA didn’t work – the card only allowed for purchases in the U.S. – and I only had a limited amount of cash with me, the guides gave us a tremendous discount for the photos. What was originally $119 became $68. We got a large photo print, plus a USB card that stored all of the other images. Just a fantastic day.

 

 

Our friends took a tequila/cathedral tour and also had a great time.

 

 

In Mazatlan, I booked a Waverunner through Mazatlan Tours. The cost was $59 for a half-hour. We took a taxi ($12 each way from the pier) to the Golden Zone and the El Cid Beach Hotel. Just be prepared at the port for peddlers pushing to give you a tour of El Cid’s timeshares. We told them no and just took a cab to the hotel. After renting the waverunner, we were able to use the hotel’s pool for the rest of the time there (two hours or so).

 

 

Our friends took a city tour that included seeing cliff divers. They raved about the excursion.

 

 

One thing that you will find with Princess is a member of the crew will go on each ship-sponsored excursion. They are there to hear of any complaints or issues with the tour.

 

 

As I said earlier, we just shopped in Cabo San Lucas. This is a tender port, so be prepared to take a 20-minute ride by boat to shore. We bought t-shirts, jewelry and Cuban cigars. If buying Cuban cigars, go to either J&Js or Nu’s. They sell legit Cubans, not the fakes you will see sold on the street or even the Mazatlan hotels. Just be prepared to pay premium prices. A Montecristo No. 2 will sell for $30-plus.

 

 

We had ideal weather for the entire cruises. Temperatures were in the 70s and 80s with blue skies. After leaving Cabo, we were treated to some terrific whale watching. We saw one breaching from the back of the ship. It was fantastic to see this.

 

 

Upon our return to Los Angeles, debarkation was a breeze. We were one of the last groups off the boat, but it only took about 30 minutes. Getting through Customs was about as easy as I have seen. We grabbed the Enterprise shuttle and rented our car.

 

 

All in all, we had a tremendous cruise. We would definitely sail Princess again if the itinerary and price worked out.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.