good news and bad news live from grand princess

[west coast cruiser]

good morning from the Grand….

 

a few additional observations on our B 2 B…currently cruising southeast off the baja….speed is 21-22 mph so whatever needed to be fixed got fixed….been a bumpy ride since we departed SF….to cold to be outside for my thinned out florida blood but its getting better….we have seen a few passengers who were on board for our hawaii portion. we have a new captain, this one from Scotland…...the crew remains one of the best ever….

 

Thanks VERY much to the posters who took their time to share thoughts and tips on Cabo and other places to stop…i will try them all…

 

like others have said , no towel animals on this cruise or our last 10 cruises at least…but as hard as these stewards work i lose no sleep over that, they probably would if they had to do them….. my baby granddaughter would surely disagree with me but personally i like that princess cuts their costs wherever the are able ,so i can afford to keep cruising more….we are paying about the same ..or less sometimes…than we were 5 years ago….there aint no free ride. (except when your ship has a small fire and breaks down off hilo hawaii!!)

 

one of the interesting things about doing a back 2 back is watching the passenger demographics and personalities change from the last cruise to this one. i dunno if its the 15 day cruise vs. this 10 dayer or hawaii vs. Mexico or what…but there sure is a different group of folks on board going to Mexico…. the passengers at the lunch buffet on this one so far could challenge the patience and good will of the Pope.

 

 

if i was king of the world i would limit every passenger to taking no more than 2000 photos of themselves PER DAY , on a 10 day cruise. on this cruise that restriction would upset a whole lot of passengers. ….although i own a canon DLSR and a really, really awesome GoPro…i personally don't see the need to take that many photos of myself or my wife in front of every staircase and wall painting….heck i saw one passenger taking a selfie next to one of those yellow plastic caution signs indicating "wet floor- slippery"..

Thanks for all of your posts. I hope you keep them coming. We will be boarding the Grand on the 30th.

[west coast cruiser]

I have been on over 20 cruises on Princess. Don't remember ever having towel animals. I have seen them on other lines, but not on Princess.

[west coast cruiser]

Thanks for the update. I agree about the towel animals. Have seen maybe 2 in the last 15-20 years and that was when the kids were 12 or so.

Stewart does enough. ;)

I agree.

[kerrydee]

I have been on over 20 cruises on Princess. Don't remember ever having towel animals. I have seen them on other lines, but not on Princess.

 

i have always had towel animals on all princess cruises. all i had to do was ask nicely. i love towel animals. never the first day but every other night from there on. then i save them all week and have a ZOO at the end.

[Loonbeam]

Princess does not train their stewards on towel animals (at least as standard). Stewards who come from other lines may know them and use that skill to differentiate themselves. Some who do also make a nice little bit of extra $$$ making them for those who don't know how or teaching them to make a few (we met one steward who did a contract on Carnival just to learn how)

 

If your steward doesn't know how and doesn't have a connection, it may not be possible, but never hurts to let them know its a priority. If you think they are getting them from another stewards, remember to adjust end of cruise tips accordingly.

[moki'smommy]

Off CP last week. Our dinner mates had animals each night. We never did. Not a big deal to us, just reporting.

[tvaud]

BAD news first…...about 0530 the captain came on and advised the was a small fire on deck 4 near the engine room…we were losing propulsion and had limited lighting…well that certainly wakes you up!

 

20 minutes later he advised fire was out but we have limited propulsion and limping onwards to Hilo Hawaii, our first port since leaving SF…

 

 

 

GOOD news… we are about 6 miles fro Hilo…

 

there isn't enough power for brewing coffee and limited lighting in horizon court ….which was a zoo with limited lighting and people acting as if they were rushing to avoid a food shortage…some folks really amaze me….

 

 

 

the cruise has been typical princess quality and we are satisfied ….as others have said , the Grand is showing her age but is well maintained with an OUTSTANDING crew…

 

 

 

did i mention i could use a cup of coffee? its now 0640

 

 

We always bring our traveling French press and a pound...or more...of ground coffee with us. All we need is hot water, and we have our favorite brew, any time. :)

[MTJSR]

Our room steward Jerry on the Golden was really into towel animals. A cocktail server on deck loved to make paper towel flowers too.

 

 

 

 

[MTJSR]

 

[Go-Bucks!]

That is a normal speed.

 

 

Many cruises I've been on went 20-22 kts as normal speed. The Grand went 14-18.5 after the fire, which was decent, but not what we had been going before. All is well and we had a fantastic cruise!

[Therese S.]

tml1230....a few additional observations on our B 2 B…currently cruising southeast off the baja….speed is 21-22 mph so whatever needed to be fixed got fixed….been a bumpy ride since we departed SF….to cold to be outside for my thinned out florida blood but its getting better….we have seen a few passengers who were on board for our hawaii portion. we have a new captain, this one from Scotland…...the crew remains one of the best ever….

Thanks for the update on the Grand Princess speed. We board in January and was a little concerned about her speed and making it to Hawaii. Glad to her she's moving along at a nice speed. Have a wonderful cruise. Hope the Mexican ports are nice and warm for you.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Therese S.

[Pierlesscruisers]

Our room steward Jerry on the Golden was really into towel animals. A cocktail server on deck loved to make paper towel flowers too.

 

Wow! Yes, he certainly is talented. So is the cocktail servers. I've never understood how people can "see" their creations in inanimate objects like that!

 

Thanks for the great photos!

 

Tom

[twindaddy]

Thanks for the updates everyone, I did not think I would get so much gruff about liking towel animals.

 

I tip my steward very well. On the Royal and Carnival, when I asked to have the mini bar emptied, I got a very friendly no problem. My steward on the sapphire also complained about splitting the beds. He just sucked, and we are easy to please.

 

I will mention the animals are highly desired by my girls. If we get them, great, if not no big deal.

 

Sorry for the thread hijack. Please keep the updates coming.

Edited December 13, 2015 by twindaddy

[aimee0715]

According to the pursers desk 380 passengers departed the ship in Honolulu. No suites are available, I asked.

 

My husband asked about a possible upgrade as well. They took our name and cabin number and said we weren't the first ones to ask but they wouldn't have time to look into it until they finished making flight arrangements. The next day they said that corporate had not authorized any upgrades.

 

I know that one of the penthouse suites was vacated because our table mates who had a PH suite opted to fly home.

 

Personally, I would not have wanted to pack all my stuff and move to another room but I could have sucked it up and done it for a suite :D

[aimee0715]

Thanks for the updates everyone, I did not think I would get so much gruff about liking towel animals.

 

I tip my steward very well. On the Royal and Carnival, when I asked to have the mini bar emptied, I got a very friendly no problem. My steward on the sapphire also complained about splitting the beds. He just sucked, and we are easy to please.

 

I will mention the animals are highly desired by my girls. If we get them, great, if not no big deal.

 

Sorry for the thread hijack. Please keep the updates coming.

 

I absolutely love towel animals. It's one reason why Carnival edges out Princess for me (that and water slides:D). I do not have any children and never get towel animals on Princess. We usually travel with friends who bring their son and they have gotten towel animals on Princess but not nightly like we do on Carnival. On this cruise, they had a demonstration of towel animals in the piazza on one of our sea days. There were some of the best towel animals that I have seen, including a hippo and a brontosaurus. There was a little girl at the demonstration. I heard her dad tell someone about the towel animals that they had so far on the cruise. They also gave her one of the animals they made at the demonstration.

[chengkp75]

The PVSA in 2015 makes makes as much sense as a "regulation" that all businesses that serve food and/or beverages must maintain a Hitchin' Post and Water Trough for their customers who arrive on horseback!

 

Seriously, it's 7:30PM+ here on the west coast and the bridge cam shows you're still in the sunshine portside in Honolulu.

 

Are you still heading for Ensenada or did Princess manage to get a waiver?

 

 

While most cruisers feel that the PVSA applies only to them, it covers a far greater sector of the maritime industry than cruise ships. If removed, it would negate the need for any ferry, water taxi, dinner excursion, casino, sightseeing, whale watching, or charter fishing boat from being registered in the US, and having to meet the more stringent USCG regulations.

 

With the vast majority of ships entering and leaving US ports being foreign, and incidents like the Bright Star hitting the riverfront mall in New Orleans, or the Cosco Busan or Overseas Reymar that both hit the Oakland Bay Bridge, do we want foreign flag ships and boats operating full time in US waters, without meeting USCG regulations?

[chengkp75]

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.

 

No, there is no "exemption" for Ensenada or Vancouver. The only requirement for a "distant foreign port" is for an open jaw cruise. Closed loop cruises only need to call at any foreign port. Cruises that start or end in Vancouver, start or end in a foreign port, so they are not subject to the PVSA.

[chengkp75]

 

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.

 

 

Good luck goes out to the Grand and her pax.

 

Couple things wrong here.

 

First, in order to qualify for either the Jones Act or PVSA trades, the ship must be substantially built in the US. The NCL Hawaiian ships were given exemptions to this requirement of the PVSA by special act of Congress, and this limits the Pride of America from engaging in any other PVSA cruises other than Hawaiian inter-island or proceeding to/from a shipyard in the US.

 

Secondly, while the USCG inspects foreign flag ships as their right under "port state" laws, they are only able to enforce SOLAS regulations, not the more stringent USCG regulations that US ships must face as part of the "flag state" laws.

[chengkp75]

What is your source for this?

 

This is correct. The Norwegian Star used to do the Hawaiian to Fanning Island route, and when she lost one azipod, she couldn't make it to Fanning and back, so she cruised for several months without visiting a foreign port, and was granted a waiver of PVSA until she could get a drydock slot.

[chengkp75]

No, they can't. You and I could since we are both in the US , but Lufthansa, BA, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, etc. cannot. I wish they could since the US legacy airlines are but shadows of their former selves and the competition might stir them to provide a decent product. Perhaps it's a different law or regulation than PVSA, but the foreign airlines can only codeshare with a US carrier, not provide service themselves. And I would bet that the US airlines wouldn't want PVSA changed because that would be the first step down a slippery slope.

 

First off, the PVSA has nothing to do with aviation. That is a separate law. And I see that you know about how the airlines get around their law.

Edited December 15, 2015 by chengkp75

[chengkp75]

Any word on when this ship will be seaworthy again?

 

I'll try to jump on your layman's terms gently. If the ship was not seaworthy, the USCG would not have allowed it to proceed from Honolulu. Even a ship doing 10 knots can be seaworthy. There is a vast difference between seaworthiness and "fully operational".

[chengkp75]

I apologize for being late to the party here, the thread title didn't trigger the "bat signal" that usually leads me to threads about fires, propulsion issues, or even the PVSA. Sorry for repetitive answers to some posters who were absolutely correct in their answers. If anyone has any questions regarding the engineering of what happened, I'd be glad to answer. I believe Princess did a good job of managing the problem, and feel for those whose cruise was impacted by this. This is the kind of thing that can happen at any time, and most likely couldn't have been caught by increased preventative maintenance.

[Colo Cruiser]

BAM!!!! :eek:

[cyae]

Was on that lovely trip to Hawaii, did anyone else have a problem with their skin? My face became really dry and broken out, even my Doctor today said,

he couldn't believe how swollen it was. Do they recycle the water on the ship if anyone knows???

[chengkp75]

Was on that lovely trip to Hawaii, did anyone else have a problem with their skin? My face became really dry and broken out, even my Doctor today said,

he couldn't believe how swollen it was. Do they recycle the water on the ship if anyone knows???

 

No, they do not recycle water.