Skeptical About Grand Princess

[Lucky TGO]

Don't be skeptical. I sailed on the Grand Princess and I would and did recommend it to some of my family. Have a great cruise.

Tony

[KruzPrincess]

I'll probably be the only naysayer here. I sailed on the Grand to Hawaii in December 2014. I love Princess and this is my cruise line of choice, but I was very disappointed in the Grand and I would not recommend it to my friends. I had fun on the cruise due to the people I sailed with and I thought the staff was great. Food was good. The condition of the ship when I was on it was very disappointing. If you're used to a Celebrity Solstice class ship, you will not find that on the Grand. I prefer Princess over Celebrity, but the Grand is just not similar. Of course, it's been a year and a half since I've been on the ship...maybe it's better. It's very unlikely that I'll try it again to find out.

[4cats4me]

I'll probably be the only naysayer here. I sailed on the Grand to Hawaii in December 2014. I love Princess and this is my cruise line of choice, but I was very disappointed in the Grand and I would not recommend it to my friends. I had fun on the cruise due to the people I sailed with and I thought the staff was great. Food was good. The condition of the ship when I was on it was very disappointing. If you're used to a Celebrity Solstice class ship, you will not find that on the Grand. I prefer Princess over Celebrity, but the Grand is just not similar. Of course, it's been a year and a half since I've been on the ship...maybe it's better. It's very unlikely that I'll try it again to find out.

 

 

 

This is my feeling, too, even though we are booked to go on the Grand again in October, and every cruise is a good cruise basically, but if the OP is accustomed to ... especially the Solstice class ships, I honestly believe they would feel let down. My friend just was on the Grand three weeks ago, her first Princess cruise, after having traveled on four other lines, and she had a nice time but said that the ship could really use a sprucing up, but she still had a very nice time.

[4cats4me]

You KNOW insides are beneath me! :eek: LMAO

 

 

 

Perhaps the Crystal board would be more to your liking [emoji87]

[pris993]

Hi All,

 

I'm sailing with my husband in 2017 to Alaska to celebrate the big 5-0. We are booked in the Grand Suite 301 on the Grand Princess. The reviews are only fair and I'm wondering if we will be disappointed. We usually sail Celebrity but they didn't have a 10 day itinerary to Alaska. My questions are, have you sailed the Grand Princess and would you recommend it to a friend? There are 2 dry docks scheduled between now and our voyage? Does anyone know what these refurbishments entail? Thanks in advance!

Christina

 

We are elite on Princess and Celebrity...we book mini suites so can't comment on suite cabins between the two lines. Had a royal suite on X years ago on the Century...loved the older X ships.

 

I can tell you even though the Grand is older, first went into service in l998... we actually took the first cruise on the ship from Istanbul to Barcelona. I don't seem much different in the ship now compared to 1998, it is in good shape. We have been on the ship 2 times in the last few years...did a 7 day California coastal and a 10 Mexican cruise... last year at New Years. We enjoyed it so much we are booked again this year for New Years.

 

Even though we are elite on Princess and X, we prefer Princess over X. Not a fan of the newer X ships, we tried 3 of them.

 

Feel Princess food and service in MDR is better than X. When we are on X, we skip the MDR, prefer the buffet. On Princess we enjoy the MDR and love the Crown Grill, steak house... and pay extra for it.

 

Entertainment on board Princess is more Las Vegas style. more consistent than what we find on X.

 

If you really like X you may not like Princess... it does not have the "modern" feel you find on the newer X ships. We have cruised on the Equinox, Eclipse and Silhouette and still would prefer the Grand over these ships. We prefer the more traditional cruise experience Princess provides.

 

Leaving and returning to San Francisco is a treat, but I am partial as I am a native.

[ggprincess2004]

If you sail in suites on Celebrity, you should be aware that the perks are different on Princess. We sailed the Reflection in a suite in December, we sail Princess in suites fairly often.

 

Princess does not have butlers, and it does have a dedicated dining room for lunch and dinner.

 

Celebrity wins for butlers, and we loved the luncheon and dinner fare in the decidated dining room. BUT, we still prefer Princess.

 

The suite breakfast in Sabatini's is so far superior to the offerings in the suite dining room on the Reflection. Gosh, that was the most disappointing thing on our Celebrity cruise. We love to sail in Princess suites just for the Sabatini's breakfasts. That being said, I also loved having latte (and unrequested croissant) delivered each morning by our butler. I also enjoyed the doorbell, not a doorbell on Princess.

 

But, you will have a mini-bar setup and you can switch things out to suit your preferences. You can order off the dining room menus for luncheon and dinner en suite. Just ask your cabin steward to routinely provide those menus if you wish. You can order afternoon tea to be served en suite. Or you can enjoy it in one of the mid-ship dining rooms.

 

If you are going for an Alaskan experience, I don't think you can beat Princess. They have destination experts (naturalists) on board, and do some wonderful enrichment programming. You are hopefully on an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay, they will bring the park rangers on board that day.

 

The Grand was the first build of the Grand class ships. She is an older lady, but we love her. She offers everything that we want on a cruise ship, and we have found the service to be outstanding. I think that if you do board with preconceived notions, and accept that some things will be very similar to Celebrity and some things will be different, go with the flow, you will very much enjoy the ship and the cruise.

[SheriffJoe]

Perhaps the Crystal board would be more to your liking [emoji87]

 

You may be right! :cool:

[Georgia_Peaches]

I really appreciate the insights and opinions. Still not sure what we will end up doing. Hard to beat X for their suite perks but the price comparison looks like this:

10 Days on most expensive suite on Grand Princess: $10,050 with $400 OBC

vs.

7 Days on Celebrity in Sky Suite (entry Level) with all the suite perks including Premium Drink Package for $9500.

 

Again, thank you all for giving me things to consider.

Cheers!

Christina

[Cruise Raider]

We are elite on both Celebrity and Princess with most of our cruises on Princess (20+), as one of their home ports is in San Francisco. We sailed on the Grand back in December and were very disappointed in the ship itself, however, the itinerary, service and food were superb. My sister in law wants to sail to Alaska out of San Francisco for her 50th and she has picked the Grand. I would not be going on that ship again if it weren't so important to her to sail out of SF.

We have previously sailed to Alaska several times and far prefer Celebrity to Princess for this itinerary....again, not because of anything other than the ships they provide us. We've sailed on the S-class ships as well as the M-class ships up that way and prefer either over the Grand Princess. I wrote a review on our experience on the Grand that might give you some perspective as to why I say this.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=521295

 

While everyone has different experiences when it comes to cruising, this is what we noticed and I am sure others will disagree with me. However, the Grand is probably my least favorite ship I have sailed on in nearly 50 cruises. I must reiterate though, the service onboard was phenomenal and that can go a long way in the overall enjoyment of the cruise.

[Coral]

I really appreciate the insights and opinions. Still not sure what we will end up doing. Hard to beat X for their suite perks but the price comparison looks like this:

10 Days on most expensive suite on Grand Princess: $10,050 with $400 OBC

vs.

7 Days on Celebrity in Sky Suite (entry Level) with all the suite perks including Premium Drink Package for $9500.

 

Again, thank you all for giving me things to consider.

Cheers!

Christina

 

If I want to go to Alaska - I would not fly to SFO to get there. You are only gaining sea days. I would rather spend that time in Alaska.

[Go-Bucks!]

I'll probably be the only naysayer here. I sailed on the Grand to Hawaii in December 2014. I love Princess and this is my cruise line of choice, but I was very disappointed in the Grand and I would not recommend it to my friends. I had fun on the cruise due to the people I sailed with and I thought the staff was great. Food was good. The condition of the ship when I was on it was very disappointing. If you're used to a Celebrity Solstice class ship, you will not find that on the Grand. I prefer Princess over Celebrity, but the Grand is just not similar. Of course, it's been a year and a half since I've been on the ship...maybe it's better. It's very unlikely that I'll try it again to find out.

 

 

During my Nov, 2015 Hawaii cruise I had the same experience as you did. Enjoyable time, but ship looked worn. I had a full suite and it had a bathroom ceiling light fixture falling down, sofa was broken down and so uncomfortable that we needed to put pillows on it to sit, black "stuff" came out of the whirlpool jets in the bathtub, and the balcony furniture varnish was peeling so badly that it would cut us. I can't believe they don't keep those cabins looking nice. :rolleyes:

Edited April 24, 2016 by Go-Bucks!

[greenie082756]

OP - I can not comment on the Grand. I have not been on her yet.

 

What we have been on was the Golden 10 day from San Francisco to Tracy Arm Fjord. Even though we had been on her the first time to do a 14 day cruise to Hawaii in 2013 it wasn't necessarily the ship I was concerned about as much as the itinerary.

 

I have to say that cruising Alaska and seeing the natural beauty, my heart and soul was happy. If there was anything wrong with the ship, my mind wasn't really even on it.

 

Whatever and whichever line you decide to go on, enjoy!! It's a beautiful and breathtaking adventure.:)

[4cats4me]

If I want to go to Alaska - I would not fly to SFO to get there. You are only gaining sea days. I would rather spend that time in Alaska.

 

 

 

I agree with you, Coral,

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Alaska is just stunningly beautiful and no cruise to Alaska is a bad cruise. I've done eight cruises to Alaska (2 Norwegian, 2 Celebrity and 4 on Princess). I've done San Fran, Seattle and Vancouver. Obviously Princess was my favorite since I've sailed them the most. I did the Star last June and it was probably my favorite because of College Fjords, but I loved Grand out of San Fran. Loved sailing in and out of that spectacular harbor. Loved the full day in Victoria BC. I don't think any of the cruises are bad cruises.

 

One year we did end of May and saw so many spouting whales (Seattle RT). Was fantastic.

 

Just go- don't worry too much about the ship or the itinerary. It's all good.

[pris993]

I really appreciate the insights and opinions. Still not sure what we will end up doing. Hard to beat X for their suite perks but the price comparison looks like this:

10 Days on most expensive suite on Grand Princess: $10,050 with $400 OBC

vs.

7 Days on Celebrity in Sky Suite (entry Level) with all the suite perks including Premium Drink Package for $9500.

 

Again, thank you all for giving me things to consider.

Cheers!

Christina

 

Have a great cruise no matter which you do!!! Sometimes it just as easy to toss a coin, smile.

 

We have have cruised Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Crystal, Cunard, NCL plus some lines that are no longer around. When ever some one asks which is the best line for the Mediterranean which is a common question.... I them we have done all, it really doesn't matter much, it really is all about the ports. If you have not been to Alaska before - I suspect the same is true here.

[Napagirl]

I just walked off the Grand today - CA Coastal Cruise. Had a wonderful time! I looked hard for the signs of "worn and run down" as I had heard the same as you. Sure, I could find little things if I looked really hard for them - but not one thing would I bother complaining about!

 

We had a balcony room. The only major room for improvement was the bed - HOWEVER - my husband thought it was just fine. He prefers a firm mattress, which this was. I like a softer mattress.

 

The staff is just superb!!! And the activities are a blast. I really thought I was going to spend time lounging at the pool but I couldn't stay away from all the fun.

 

The food on all the cruises I have done are fair, IMO. Gets the job done but nothing to get really excited about. On this cruise we enjoyed Sabatini's the most, and also enjoyed the Crown Grill. Also had a pizza one night at Alfredo's, which is in the included dining.

 

I have never gone on Celebrity, so can't help you there. That's my two cents - I would recommend her to a friend!

[Pam in CA]

When is the Grand scheduled in Dec Pam? I'm sailing on her on Dec 20-30. Will be quite a bit different Mexico trip than last Dec on the Pacific. Sure hard to top that one. :)

December 8-19th in San Francisco. You'll have a "refurbished" ship for your cruise. NOTHING will be like the Pacific last December. Totally unique for a number of reasons. :)

[partybarbie]

During my Nov, 2015 Hawaii cruise I had the same experience as you did. Enjoyable time, but ship looked worn. I had a full suite and it had a bathroom ceiling light fixture falling down, sofa was broken down and so uncomfortable that we needed to put pillows on it to sit, black "stuff" came out of the whirlpool jets in the bathtub, and the balcony furniture varnish was peeling so badly that it would cut us. I can't believe they don't keep those cabins looking nice. :rolleyes:

 

FYI, I watched a news program regarding the whirlpool jets in bathtubs and how unsanitary they can be. To resolve the problem, one needs to fill the tub with hot water, add about 1/2 cup of powered dishwasher soap, then run the jets for 10 minutes. Drain the tub, fill again with hot water only, and run the jets for another 10 minutes. Drain the tub again, and it's clean and ready to use.

 

I'm guessing they use bleach on the ship, but bleach won't work because it doesn't have the granules needed to scour the pipes.

 

Sure it's a pain to have to clean it yourself, but better safe than sorry IMHO.

[JF - retired RRT]

Will sabatini's remain on the Grand though? I thought that Share would be replacing Sabatini's on some or all Princess ships?

IF and when Sabatini's is replaced with Share...the suite breakfast will be available in the Crown Grill.

[blackwd]

We sailed on the Grand in a mini suite June 2013 to Alaska. The first night out of SFO was very rough, I slept but my wife was awake all night. Disappointed in condition of our balcony falling apart and needed to be cleaned. Surprisingly we spent quite a bit of time on the balcony as we left Ketchikan temps in high 60's. I felt the ship lacked the extras found on the Crown or Sapphire, such as no thermal suites. The Grand would not be my first choice.

[easyboy]

FYI, I watched a news program regarding the whirlpool jets in bathtubs and how unsanitary they can be. To resolve the problem, one needs to fill the tub with hot water, add about 1/2 cup of powered dishwasher soap, then run the jets for 10 minutes. Drain the tub, fill again with hot water only, and run the jets for another 10 minutes. Drain the tub again, and it's clean and ready to use.

 

I'm guessing they use bleach on the ship, but bleach won't work because it doesn't have the granules needed to scour the pipes.

 

Sure it's a pain to have to clean it yourself, but better safe than sorry IMHO.

Thanks for this useful info. This applies also to hotel rooms with jetted tubs with faster guest turnovers.

[partybarbie]

Thanks for this useful info. This applies also to hotel rooms with jetted tubs with faster guest turnovers.

 

You're welcome. I do this for my jetted tub at home too.:)

[Papa Yoda]

We got off the Grand March 19, 15 days RT Hawaii, we were in the same suite L301 the "Princess Suite". We loved it! We got a slightly better deal through the casino discount, but hey it was one of those very special occasions.

 

There were a couple hiccups of course, check the cabin review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49610090&postcount=99

 

We asked our CC cruisemates in L302 about the joggers, they heard nothing, so maybe some soundproofing added in dry dock will help.

 

It has a doorbell!

 

We took most of our meals on the balcony - it was sheltered and private.

 

The tub on the balcony needed to be cleaned as it did leave a ring. Looked to me like oil from the air pump. It only left a ring when the air / bubblers were on. The crew did the aforementioned deep cleaning and it got a lot better, but not gone. It is cool that you can get into the hot tub through a separate curved glass door right from the bedroom. Given we spent every afternoon in the tub, we didn't miss the Thermal Suite as much.

[west coast cruiser]

Have a great cruise no matter which you do!!! Sometimes it just as easy to toss a coin, smile.

 

We have have cruised Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Crystal, Cunard, NCL plus some lines that are no longer around. When ever some one asks which is the best line for the Mediterranean which is a common question.... I them we have done all, it really doesn't matter much, it really is all about the ports. If you have not been to Alaska before - I suspect the same is true here.

 

I will probably be booking another cruise on the Grand soon But I really miss Sky walkers. I know they had to remove it, but I so enjoy it on the other ships.

Edited April 28, 2016 by west coast cruiser

[twentyknots]

Sorry I can't respond to your question but I read with great interest the other responses. We are considering the Grand for a trip next April to Hawaii from SF followed by the first trip of the season to Alaska. It would be a 25 day trip in all for us. I have some reservations about the ship, having never sailed on Princess before but with HAL and Celebrity many times with much enjoyment. Some of the comments here make me feel better about the Grand. I hope you do as well.