Will the Grand be "freshened up" when in dry dock?

[Cruise Raider]

We are just off the Grand yesterday and had a great sail.

 

However, in my opinion the Grand needs more than a dry dock, it needs $40-50 million dollars in refurbishment.

 

Lets start with the Lido deck, rip everything out and start from scratch. The whole deck looks old and the Horizon Court is long in the tooth needing better flow and improved design. Calypso and Reef need to go, the Trident Grill and Prego need a new look as well.

 

Next step, redo the Atrium and yes it fine in in 1998 but now it is dated and cramped with little reason to hang there for any amount of time.

 

Terrace Pool is OK but needs a modern feel along with a posh bar and grill to get you to want to spend time at this Adult Area venue.

 

I'm sure others will chime in with other ideas.

Having a ship berthed in SF is great and applaud Princess for doing this but I have to have a reason to sail her again not just because she is the only game in town.

 

 

I responded to you on another thread regarding the Grand. We've been on her twice in the past year and tend to agree with you. Believe it or not, I noticed several improvements on our cruise this past August vs the one prior to that in December. However, she could still use a lot of money going towards a major retrofit and overall maintenance. I am not fond at all of the design of the Grand. That shouldn't influence anyone that much, though ... it is a personal dislike. But, the lack of a central staircase causes unbelievable crowds on deck 7 by the photo booth area. I found myself missing Skywalkers more than I thought I would. The pool areas and public bathrooms needed a major overhaul. Our cabin on the Caribe deck was in need of a lot of TLC but surprisingly, our cabin on the Emerald deck was actually in pretty good condition. The location of the guest services deck in proximity to the casino guaranteed a smokey wait in line. The people in the window suites were oftentimes complaining about the smoke as well ... maybe the ones that were closer to Michael's Club. I walked down that hallway and didn't notice it much at all.

On our December cruise, none of the hot tubs were functioning but found one that was working on our August cruise. I didn't check the others in August, though ... found one and it worked so stopped there. In December, I checked every one of them ... none were in working order and it went on for several days until I gave up even looking for one.

The crew was phenomenal on both cruises on the Grand, though. They always made you feel like long lost family members!!

 

I just sailed on the Explorer of the Seas which is merely two years newer than the Grand (source is cruise deck plans site). Whoa ... what a difference in maintenance that I noticed. In over 50 cruises, it was the prettiest and most meticulously maintained ship I have sailed on!

I still had a lot of fun on the Grand and have even one more cruise booked on her, more so due to convenience (because she is the only game in town .. to quote you) than a love of that ship, though.

[need2cruisesoon]

I responded to you on another thread regarding the Grand. We've been on her twice in the past year and tend to agree with you.

 

 

I just sailed on the Explorer of the Seas which is merely two years newer than the Grand (source is cruise deck plans site). Whoa ... what a difference in maintenance that I noticed. In over 50 cruises, it was the prettiest and most meticulously maintained ship I have sailed on!

I still had a lot of fun on the Grand and have even one more cruise booked on her, more so due to convenience (because she is the only game in town .. to quote you) than a love of that ship, though.

 

CR thanks for responding.

 

Couple notes from my cruise, one of hot tubs back of ship were not working so another passenger and myself complained and asked what the deal was. Supposedly it needed a new pump which was later fixed. You would think a ship of that size with 6-8 hot tubs would carry that many replacement pumps right?

 

Also, Terrace Pool looked like this for the first 2 days:

 

 

We asked again the status of opening the pool and the crew member responded that the PH was off. Really a PH problem that takes 2 days to fix, so finally the next day the pool was open after our persistence.

 

Half of Al Fresco's bar was closed off because of a leaky roof, maintenance worked on the issue but was still an inconvenience as exiting from the Horizon Court was closed on one side.

See the yellow tape to cordoned off that area, look above and you'll see missing ceiling tiles as well.

Our room C536, next to some king of large fan or AC unit. Could barely sleep the first couple nights.

 

As you stated log jams deck 7 by photo gallery. I was amazed at the sheer number of people purchasing photos on this trip, Princess has to be making a fortune$$

[mreasier]

Next step, redo the Atrium and yes it fine in in 1998 but now it is dated and cramped with little reason to hang there for any amount of time.

The Atrium was totally renovated in 2012. This is when they added Alfredo's, the IC, and Vines. One of the reasons they had to remove Skywalkers was all the marble they put in during this renovation made the ship too heavy.

[cardosina]

I heard from a F&B director that Grand was getting an 'new concept'

Sabatini's.

Just returned from a 15 day SF-Hawaii on the Grand, and was told that Sabatini's was being removed and will now be......? no more Sabatini's.

[GUT2407]

I keep reading where the Grand is showing her age. When she goes into dry dock in December, is it likely that these issues will be addressed? Frayed carpets, shower breakage, etc. etc. We're sailing on her at the end of February next year and looking forward to a spiffed up ship. :) I've cruised on her sister ships, the Star (when she was only 3 months old) and the Golden.

 

Also, because she's one of the oldest in the fleet, does that make her any less sea worthy? I mean, no worries about rust underneath, etc.? Does she handle the rougher waters fairly well?

 

In a nut shell yep she'll be tarted up a bit. Now how much is another question. And yep she'll handle as well as the others you mention.

Edited November 29, 2016 by GUT2407

[Lucky TGO]

I think I was on the Ruby or Sun Princess one year when they changed the carpet in the Horizon Court in one night. If I could only get my contractors to work that fast.

Tony

[Sacto Rick]

We're looking forward to boarding the Grand after the dry dock and curious to see what improvements have been made. I know the new beds will be there, and that's good. I hope they get new love seats in the Explorer Lounge.The ones they have, you sink down too low, you can't see the stage and it's difficult to get up out of them.

Though I wish SF could get one of the newer ships, we've sailed twice on the Grand and have had two great cruises!

 

#3 coming soon.:)

[Grandmitz]

Just talked to my travel agent and she aid that the Grand has under gone a complete remodeling and it is amazing. Can't wait to see it in July. We went on it 4 times last year and loved it and the crew. There is all new redone restaurants plus more. Exciting!!!

[Colo Cruiser]

Just talked to my travel agent and she aid that the Grand has under gone a complete remodeling and it is amazing. Can't wait to see it in July. We went on it 4 times last year and loved it and the crew. There is all new redone restaurants plus more. Exciting!!!

 

 

 

Really? A complete remodel?

[fishywood]

Just talked to my travel agent and she aid that the Grand has under gone a complete remodeling and it is amazing.

 

As has already been reported at length, the major changes in Grand Princess were the rebranding of the kids and teens club to the new Discovery at Sea program, and the replacement of Sundaes Ice Cream Bar with the new Coffee and Cones and its new menu of upcharge items. Other than some recarpeting and reupholstering of chairs there was not much more of significance done in public areas. And nothing at all in staterooms other than the new bedding.

 

It sounds like your travel agent confused the Grand Princess refresh with the much more extensive one just finished on Caribbean Princess. Either that or they went to the same school of hyperbole as life insurance or used car salesmen do.

[iceleven]

Just got off the Grand on Saturday and there are some changes but nothing that would WOW anyone. New carpeting in some public spaces, Sabatini's has been "remodeled" but what I saw of it did not impress me. The new menu had not yet been implemented. I believe it will begin on the first cruise to Alaska. All the other restaurants are the same. The Lido has new chairs that do brighten up the space a bit. I believe they are similar to the ones at the Lido on the Royal.

 

The Wheelhouse bar still has the low-sitting, sagging furniture, nothing new in that room and the hallway just outside of the Wheelhouse seemed to have reupholstered furniture but still the same undersized chairs and couches. They are, in my own honest opinion, a total waste as they are tiny and uncomfortable. They look like furniture made for a child's room.

 

We cruise the Grand twice a year and we didn't recognize any of the crew from the previous cruises. Their services were fine but I couldn't see the usual upbeat and cheerfulness from our previous experiences.

 

The food definitely showed a dip in quality. I'm not one to complain about a meal because I sometimes realize my expectations are set too high but twice I had to have a dish taken away. These dishes should never have come out of the kitchen. They were on the verge of having gone bad. Twice this happened and I simply gave up on ordering any fish or seafood and that is generally my first choice. Just horrible.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to make this about myself. They are only my experiences from a two week cruise to Hawaii on the recently refurbished Grand Princess. I certainly hope others had a much better experience as I understand not everyone's experiences will be the same.

[hawkeyetlse]

You can read some details and watch the promotional video Princess released after the refurbishment on this page.

[Linsifer]

We were on the Grand Princess for 10 days recently and I agree that while she looked nice, they were some areas that needed improvement.

 

Explorer's Lounge: Most of the seats were too low and saggy and hard to see the stage. We always tried to find firmer arm chairs in the back on the bar side.

 

NO central staircase was VERY annoying. That, in itself would give me second thoughts about sailing on the Grand again. Elevators soooo slow, but unfortunately, no stairs close by as an option. We were midship, so walking all the way down to a staircase was often not convenient.

 

The outside flooring on the Lido deck around the pool was peeling and unsightly.

 

Other chairs and couches around the ship looked and felt tired.

 

The food definitely wasn't as good or plentiful as my last Princess cruise in 2007 and prior sailings. My TA told me the recession changed that. Oh, I still managed to gain a few pounds. But, I noticed there were no more crab legs in the MDR and other dishes that I'm accustomed to from past cruises. Same with the buffets. I actually ended up eating more sweets from The International Cafe in the Piazza. And I don't usually have a big sweet tooth. No more late night treks to the buffet for large shrimp or other savory dishes.

 

But, overall, it was still a good cruise!

[floridalover5623]

Just talked to my travel agent and she aid that the Grand has under gone a complete remodeling and it is amazing. Can't wait to see it in July. We went on it 4 times last year and loved it and the crew. There is all new redone restaurants plus more. Exciting!!!

Don't get to excited.

It still needs lots more work.