good news and bad news live from grand princess

[cactusrose]

I don't think long during the flu attacks in Mexico they ships didn't even disembark and they called it a service call or some such. Used to be that way from Hawaii too.

I have to say (although this is an unpopular stance) we love Ensenada. There is a store there that has things from all over Mexico and is run by a wonderful lady. It has unusual things. We like Hussong's too as well as places along the main drag we had insane Guacamole at one restaurant and the bartender made the Margaritas from fresh limes to order.

 

Do you recall the name of the store?

 

For years we wouldn't even get off the ship in Ensenada but last year we did several B2B getaway cruises where we got off an found things outside of the normal tourist things and found that Ensenada did have a lot to offer.

[Cuizer2]

I must say, I changed Ports for our upcoming March cruise, so as to take different ship, instead of Grand. Hoping to have a better outcome.

 

Been on other ships with issues.... So if it can be avoided by taking a newer ship, or whatever? Thats what I would prefer to do from the onset.

 

The Grand Princess has been pre-disastered. Once its fixed, it would be ship of choice. The Carnival Splendor was only two years old when it was crippled by a fire off the Mexican coast.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Cuizer2

[cr8tiv1]

I think if I'd been on the ship, and we missed three Hawaiian ports but kept Ensenada, they'd lose points on the evaluation. But w/ the lawyers having too much free time writing PVSAs, they couldn't omit Ensenada. I still think they should have reallocated the port charges, skipped Ensenada and given you back Kauai.

 

 

The staff would be happy I'm not on the cruise, I'd probably give the food and housekeeping top marks, and the officers poor marks for the itinerary change.

 

PVSA had enough busy lawyers to recently raise the fee for non-compliance, sometime after 2000.

 

Also, it's called a Hawaiian Island Cruise, not a Hawaii and Mexico cruise. They altered the cruise to remove 3/4 of the Hawaiian Islands. But they keep Ensenada Mexico. Also, Ensenada really isn't a far distant port they say must fulfill their rules. But I heard they wrote an exception into the PVSA for Ensenada and Vancouver.

 

NCL found a way to make a Hawaiian cruise w/o forcing the passengers to pay a foreign port fee. Why not Princess? Because they don't want to hire all US citizens and get the ship built here.

 

With all due respects to you, I am not attacking your posts, just trying to give a little bit of light to your information.

 

NCL was able to do the Hawaii cruise (thus avoiding the PVSA) as you noted. Because of an almost ALL American Crew, they do have to charge more. Because it is a very port intensive cruise, there is very little "cruising" activities onboard. NCL is pretty much a floating hotel that gets you from one island to the next. Princess has many, many, many more activities for their passengers. Plus, in my opinion, the staff is much better on Princess. Yes, I have cruised on NCL and I am a local person.

 

Technically, the "lawyers" didn't write the PVSA. It is an act of Congress. Yes, there have been movements to amend this act, but in the wrong way. I respect Senator Inouye, but did not like that fact that he tried to "benefit" NCL by making the competition harder to sail to Hawaii. His wife was connected to NCL.

 

I don't understand why you would rate Princess lower because they altered their itinerary due to mechanical failure? They needed to get back to the West Coast in a timely manner. They needed to go to Ensenada somewhere in this loop (Someone else mentioned that they may be able to circumvent the PVSA because of the mechanical failure). This was a decision by the corporate office, not the Captain.

 

I am convinced that the crew and staff is doing everything they possibly can do to make the remainder of this cruise a good one. Dave Cole is the Cruise Director on this ship and, from personal experience...again, I am willing to stick my neck out and say that he and is staff are probably working overtime to make sure each sea day is filled with activities. He is phenomenal.

Edited December 4, 2015 by cr8tiv1

[cactusrose]

Victoria is very popular this time of year with people heading to Hawaii to get AWAY from the COLD. I'll bet ice fishing, igloo making and snowball wars would be very popular shore excursions.

 

Okay people, we are going to Hawaii. Don't forget to pack a parka, thermal underwear and snowshoes.

 

I'm still laughing:D

[julie3fan]

Sounds good now my mouth is watering. Where is Smash Burger?

 

I've seen them in Las Vegas and Phoenix. Haven't looked anywhere else.

[Cruise Raider]

I am one of the passengers that disembarked in Honolulu and opted to fly back to sfo. I don't really have anything to complain about other than the disappointment of not getting to see the other islands. For me, it was more of a personal preference as we had already experienced quite a few sea days on our way there and experienced most of the onboard food and entertainment. I can understand other people complaining if they are currently working and it took quite some time to acquire the paid time off at work only to find out the 15 night cruise they signed up for only visited Honolulu.

 

I think Princess did an excellent job with keeping the passengers happy. I enjoyed my stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki and had no issues with the booked flight out of Hawaii.

 

Here are a couple of poor quality photos (my apologies) of the view from the balcony of the hotel room just after sunset and after sunset with the grand princess departing in the background.

 

Hi Princess Blue...

Just a question about the ship if you don't mind. I am booked on the 12/10 sailing (if it actually is sailing on 12/10). How are the pillows onboard. I have seen it greatly vary amongst different Princess ships. One time on the Caribbean Princess, they gave us pillows that were like slates of rock. I asked for something softer .. maybe feather ... OMG ... my room steward looked at me like I was nuts. I don't like that far from the pier and although I am traveling light (again, if we are a go) but might be worth it to take a pillow if they are horrible. It sounds like such a minor thing after what you've all been through ... but your response would be most appreciated!!

[princess_blue]

Hi Princess Blue...

Just a question about the ship if you don't mind. I am booked on the 12/10 sailing (if it actually is sailing on 12/10). How are the pillows onboard. I have seen it greatly vary amongst different Princess ships. One time on the Caribbean Princess, they gave us pillows that were like slates of rock. I asked for something softer .. maybe feather ... OMG ... my room steward looked at me like I was nuts. I don't like that far from the pier and although I am traveling light (again, if we are a go) but might be worth it to take a pillow if they are horrible. It sounds like such a minor thing after what you've all been through ... but your response would be most appreciated!!

 

Hi, I stayed on the Emerald deck in an oceanview room. I am not much of a pillow expert, but I would say the pillows were on the soft side. I had a twin bed configuration so each bed had two pillows. Sometimes I would sleep without the pillows and use them to prop up my knees to ease pressure off my bad back, but I would say the pillows weren't very supportive. As for the bed, I can definitely say it is bit on the soft side or perhaps "moderate to heavily used". Hope that helps. Thanks

[SteelMagnolia9]

And all of this is done to "protect" the "vibrant" business being done by U.S. flagged carriers providing passenger service between U.S. ports on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts!!! (Total number of such carriers? My guess is ZERO!)

 

American Cruise Lines (U.S. flagged) has small coastal vessels that have itineraries on the Atlantic coast. They also have itineraries to Alaska, San Juan Islands as well as U.S. river cruises. I was on their Snake & Columbia Rivers cruise in October and heard that they are going to have cruises around the Hawaiian islands and possibly along the California coast sometime in the future.

[websailor]

Another reason Ensenada is the port of choice is that it is closer to Honolulu.

 

From Honolulu to Ensenda and then to San Francisco is 3,220 miles. From Honolulu to Vancouver BC and then to San Francisco is 3,677 miles.

 

At the rate the cruise ships burn oil, that extra 457 miles is quite a bit of extra cost.

[Cuizer2]

Another reason Ensenada is the port of choice is that it is closer to Honolulu.

 

From Honolulu to Ensenda and then to San Francisco is 3,220 miles. From Honolulu to Vancouver BC and then to San Francisco is 3,677 miles.

 

At the rate the cruise ships burn oil, that extra 457 miles is quite a bit of extra cost.

 

And at 20 knots would require an additional 20 hours, or basically one extra day.

[kennicott]

And all of this is done to "protect" the "vibrant" business being done by U.S. flagged carriers providing passenger service between U.S. ports on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts!!! (Total number of such carriers? My guess is ZERO!)

 

I understand your anguish, maybe not agree with it but understand. Believe you are a little off topic here though, but, what is your point? No American flagged carriers to book a cruise on in the world? The Jones Act and the PVSA should be completely extinguished?

 

Little education here: The global cruise industry had around 22.8 million passengers in 2013. The largest concentration of passengers came from the US (13.5 million) followed by Continental Europe (about 4 million), including Germany's 1.69 million), but not including the UK (1.79 million.) Also, that does not include the 300,000 guests who took a coastal voyage aboard the Norwegian Coastal Voyages ships.

 

Truth is, when 60% to 70% of world cruise line guests are from the USA they are not voyaging much on "American Flagged" carriers if at all. The only cruise ship I know that just squeaks into that category is the "Pride of America", truth be it was mostly built in Europe itself.

 

Where the Hawaii to the North American Continent cruise ships port hasn't much to do with this predicament does it? Really, what you don't want are your over 14 million fellow USA cruisers to be riding on foreign bottom or flagged ships, correct? So why not just tell them so? Get rid of any feeble attempts to subsidize American labor and shipyards.

 

In the meantime, while you are at it, also educate your American brothers/sisters here that they should not be investing in these foreign bottom vessels at all, which are owned by global conglomerates controlled mostly by US shareholders.

[snoodqueen]

Victoria is very popular this time of year with people heading to Hawaii to get AWAY from the COLD. I'll bet ice fishing, igloo making and snowball wars would be very popular shore excursions.

 

Okay people, we are going to Hawaii. Don't forget to pack a parka, thermal underwear and snowshoes.

 

 

Victoria rarely gets snow and has similar weather to Seattle so definitely no ice fishing, igloo making or snowball wars. Leaving from here at any time of the year is great.

[Kentchikan]

Do you recall the name of the store?

 

For years we wouldn't even get off the ship in Ensenada but last year we did several B2B getaway cruises where we got off an found things outside of the normal tourist things and found that Ensenada did have a lot to offer.

 

I do it's Casa Bazaar Ramirez. It's an amazing store with unique items.

[Nancyquilts]

Ahoy, Aboard the Grand...

 

Quick Questions... How's the onboard wifi/internet service??? How is the onboard-only app doing and was it a help during the problems with the cruise?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Typical. The internet staff put a new app on. I like it. It lists your balance, supposed itinerary, and events, showing where they are held on the ship. It is easy to log off if there is an internet connection. If you lose the connection, there is no way to log off.

[Kentchikan]

I've seen them in Las Vegas and Phoenix. Haven't looked anywhere else.

 

Thanks...I wish they were in CA sounds deliciou

[Kentchikan]

I agree,

 

The year before last... and the year before that... Mazatlan was out so Ensenada was a port of call... I knew Ensenada from when I used to have a weekend place in South Rosarito... Nothing is better than brunch at El Rey Sol, a restaurant on the corner across (cross corner) from the Villa Marina Hotel, the only high rise in Ensenada... The restaurant is over 100 years old, has a French influence and the food is INCREDIBLE!!!

 

Thanks Thiom we'll try it nest time we're there.

[Nanaoften]

If you aren't happy with Princess why would you take their cruises? Also we have Smash burger in Minnesota.!

[Go-Bucks!]

That's a little more complicated than how it actually works. You'll get a future cruise credit for 50% of the cruise fare you paid for this voyage. You can apply that to any future cruise you book before whatever the deadline they gave you is (end of 2016?). It doesn't matter how much you pay for the future cruise -- if your credit is $2,000 and you book a cruise for $3,000, you only have to pay the other $1K, plus the port taxes, etc.

 

Future Cruise Credits have to be created in specific amounts, there's really no way to do it as a percentage of a future, unknown fare.

 

This explanation was directly from the Future Cruise Sales gal, but when we went back later to book another cruise she said she had just gotten off the phone with corporate and they corrected her. It is like you explained.

 

So we got this cruise free (luckily in a suite) and had enough money from the refund and 50% credit to completely pay for a 14 day Med cruise in another suite on the Royal. Including the onboard credit we got, our total value was $11,200!

 

What a blessing! :)

[satxdiver]

We have several smash burgers here but I have never been to one. We finally went on a short cruise last year that stopped in Ensenada where we took a wine excursion. It was interesting and we would do it again. Victoria is a lovely city but is very close to Seattle and enjoys the same weather. The problem with Victoria like Seattle and Vancouver is they are very far north and the winter days are quite short at least to those of us who live in the southern part of the USA.

 

I had a friend that went on the Pride of America (NCL) and did not have good things to say about the ship or crew. Princess or any other cruiseline can do the same by flagging a ship in the USA and complying with USA labor standards meaning they would have to pay more to the crew and abide by the many restrictions to hiring non-USA crew just like on land. The result is higher costs to the pax. Where the ship is actually built in of no consequence just like where your car was built. All ships who call on USA ports must meet USA standards which is why the US Coast Guard inspects them on a regular basis.

 

I hope the Grand makes it back to San Francisco without further incident. We like sea days as they are very lazy days making for the ideal vacation. Port intensive cruises are exhausting but luckily we have plenty of time to recover once we get home. :D

 

Good luck goes out to the Grand and her pax.

[pablo222]

Princess or any other cruiseline can do the same by flagging a ship in the USA and complying with USA labor standards

 

This is not true at all. In general, a ship has to be built in the

US to be flagged in the US.

 

The NCL ships took an act of congress to get around this requirement.

 

The gory details are here:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/us/political-savvy-gets-us-flags-on-foreign-ship.html?pagewanted=all

[margob111]

I'm with you....Five Guys is a better burger and definitely has better fries, better than In and Out.

 

Thanks to everyone for the updates and glad you got a great compensation package. I would have stayed on the ship too. I'm on the Grand on the Dec. 30 sailing.

[Kentchikan]

Under the house that Dorothy and Toto used to live in.

 

Holy guacamole there are Smashburgers in California. Must try one.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Kentskie

[SlyOldLady]

Forgive my lack of intelligence but doesn't allowing passengers to fly home violate pvsa?

[west coast cruiser]

Forgive my lack of intelligence but doesn't allowing passengers to fly home violate pvsa?

 

I was wondering the same thing. Do you think Princess paid the fines for all those people?

Probably were able to make some kind of arrangement.

WCC

[Cuizer2]

This explanation was directly from the Future Cruise Sales gal, but when we went back later to book another cruise she said she had just gotten off the phone with corporate and they corrected her. It is like you explained.

 

So we got this cruise free (luckily in a suite) and had enough money from the refund and 50% credit to completely pay for a 14 day Med cruise in another suite on the Royal. Including the onboard credit we got, our total value was $11,200!

 

What a blessing! :)

 

I wonder what is going to happen when the IRS reads your post? :eek: