Undecided- Need advise- Hawaii Nov 2019- Grand PrincessRT SF

[TriumphGuy]

We did this cruise on the Grand in April 2017, for our 40th anniversary. Being from Chicago, cold is relative. It was chilly the first day, mostly from the wind chill. I love the sea days and spend them reading, wandering the ship, doing trivia, etc. The islands were great. We rented a car on Maui and just drove along the coast. At Honolulu we did a Princess excursion to Pearl Harbor, which was a disappointment because it was out to the Memorial and back and no time to visit the museum. We spent a long time waiting for stragglers on the bus. My advice, take the public bus and do your own Pearl Harbor excursion.

At Kauai, we did an airplane flight with Wings Over Kauai, very reasonable, we were the only ones in the plane and the pilot gave a detailed narrated 65 minute tour.

On the Big Island, we did the Hop on Hop Off bus, a great way to see the highlights for very little money.

The trip back was fine until we got to Ensenada, it was chilly and rainy and we didn't even get off the ship. 

On the last sea day, we did the Ultimate Ship's Tour. It was very rough, with 15 foot seas. We were fine until we got to the bridge part of the tour. They were handing out champagne and hors d'ouerves and my poor wife was green from the motion. Up on the bridge it was like a roller coaster ride, Up, up, up, and then down, down, down into the trough. My wife said, "I have to get out of here or I'm going to be sick". It would not do to have her ralphing on the bridge, so we went down to the Promanade deck where the motion was less and she started to feel better. Then, up to our cabin, aft on A deck. She barely made it in the door. 

My advice, if you are prone to motion sickness, take along some Bonine and use it.

Would we do the trip again? Absolutely! Loved the Grand, the staff, and the trip in general. The seasickness was a minor part. (although my wife might disagree with that)

[cruisequeen4ever]

We did this cruise, albeit on a newer Princess ship, when we were 30, and it remains one of my favorite cruises. It’s so relaxing with all the sea days, lots of Hawaiian cultural activities to enjoy, and you get to visit all of the Hawaiian islands in one shot. I have to say that I do love sea days, though. My DH lives for port days and felt there were too many sea days on that cruise. The air will be cooler out of SF, but it was out of LA, too. The first 2 days can be cooler and the last 2 days before the islands are warmer; the return is the same just done in reverse. We still had plenty of time in the sun. We did sail the Grand on a 7 day Alaska cruise and had a wonderful time. It probably helped that we had one of the newly added window suites. We did see buckets collecting water from leaks around the ship, and the sofa cushions in the Explorer Lounge were wayyyyyyyy last their prime, but it didn’t ruin our cruise. I say go for it!!

[Star Travler]

I did this cruise April 2017:  sailing out of San Fran under the bridge was amazing.  1st couple of days out and in from coast are always a bit rough, but nothing drastic.  While older, the Grand was still a great ship.  I love the sea days and found lots of activities to do, never got board.  Agree that the CD and staff can make a real difference.  I have done this trip twice (1 LA, 1 SF), prefer SF and will do this again.

[h20skibum]

I think everyone has covered it quite well on what to expect for the weather.  You will only have a limited amount of time to explore each island, so you will need to research and pick what you want to do.

 

Do note that some Princess excursions sell out early, so you should look at booking those soon if you plan to do them.  I always say the best way to see the islands is to spend a couple weeks there.  I have spent 12 weeks there on six different land based vacations, plus the one cruise we did from San Francisco.

 

if you are interested in what the cruise is like, there is a link to a report I did in my signature.  It also has a video link that one of our fellow cruisers did.

 

Enjoy your planning. 

[500adverbs]

So, @garda, did you go? If so, how was it? 😊

[mcrcruiser]

On 1/18/2019 at 2:24 PM, garda said:

Hi!

 

I will need advise from you experts out there.  I booked a Hawaiin Cruise on the Grand Princess in November 2019.  I am just so undecided whether to go for it or look for another destination.  Need to know if it is cold ( what is cold) out of San Francisco and back to San Francisco in November.  It is an older ship. Will I be bored on sea days .Will there be people my age ( late 50's)?  Once in Hawaii, it will be fantastic but it's getting there that I an not sure of.

 

Need to know all your pros and cons!!

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

A alternative ,we are going on the Relatively new Holland America Koningsdam ( built in 2016 ) from San Diego ,round trip ,Nov 3 2020 .It is a 18 night cruise with 2 days in Honolulu port on Oahu & 2 days in Maui at the Lahania port .Here you can rent a car & do the road to Hana on your own vs a pricy ships tour  because you have 2 days there . 

 

 Holland has excellent music entertainment on this ship & the service & food is excellent as well .We sailed on her in March 2019 into the Southern Caribbean 

Edited January 3, 2020 by mcrcruiser

[Linsifer]

On 1/18/2019 at 3:20 PM, TNTLAMB said:

I love the itinerary and especially the Grand but the Grand is not the best choice for a transoceanic voyage (its flat bottomed) that many sea days, that time of year, you WILL encounter some rough seas and the barf bags will be out.....

We sailed on the Grand to Hawaii out of SF last April—May and we were fortunate to have smooth seas almost the entire voyage over and back. 

[HappyCruiserettu]

On 1/19/2019 at 11:39 AM, RMMariner said:

We have done this cruise twice out of Vancouver. The passengers were certainly an older crowd. Almost no kids, and we felt young being in our late 40s.

 

As some have said already, around about day 3, it almost feels like someone flipped a switch and it warms up.

 

Others have also mentioned how rough the first couple days can be. Our first cruise ever was on the Grand to Hawaii. It was very rough. Many things were cancelled. A lot of people were seasick. I was very seasick too. First time in my life. I guess I could have avoided it by spending $5 on seasick medicine, and not eating fish and chips when I was already sick, but I just had never been seasick before. Now, I am much more careful, and I have never been sick again.

 

It was so bad that I heard 8 groups chose to fly back rather than return on the Grand. Funny part is it was dead calm on the way back.

 

I personally find the cruise too long. The sea days on the way there are fine because you are anticipating Hawaii. Hawaii is amazing, but the sea days back, I could do without. Others will totally disagree with me. 

 

I enjoyed the Grand. It is a little older, but it is still a nice layout, and the crew was great. We are sailing on it in March to Mexico.

 

Hope you have a great time.

 

 

If they flew back to the Mainland from Hawaii, they violated the PVSA law by being transported on a foreign-flagged vessel from  San Francisco to Honolulu.

[RMMariner]

8 hours ago, HappyCruiserettu said:

If they flew back to the Mainland from Hawaii, they violated the PVSA law by being transported on a foreign-flagged vessel from  San Francisco to Honolulu.

You would be right, but we left out of Vancouver. So I don't think that applies.

[grapau27]

On 1/18/2019 at 10:24 PM, garda said:

Hi!

 

I will need advise from you experts out there.  I booked a Hawaiin Cruise on the Grand Princess in November 2019.  I am just so undecided whether to go for it or look for another destination.  Need to know if it is cold ( what is cold) out of San Francisco and back to San Francisco in November.  It is an older ship. Will I be bored on sea days .Will there be people my age ( late 50's)?  Once in Hawaii, it will be fantastic but it's getting there that I an not sure of.

 

Need to know all your pros and cons!!

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

We sailed 11-18-19 from SF on Grand Princess and had a great time.

The average age seemed to be 65 and the night club was very quiet.

I did a short review on cruise critic.

Feel free to ask questions.

Graham.

[HappyCruiserettu]

On 1/19/2019 at 11:51 AM, oskidunker said:

 Only 4 ports. My wife does not like that many sea days. Cold for half the trip. They used to go to 5 islands, which would make a big difference. 

 

I don't know of any such trips that went/go to five islands. I think you will find that they may have made five stops. Some stop at Hilo and Kona on the Big Island (Hawaii). Or some could stop at Kahalui and Lahaina on Maui. Either way, only four islands.

[HappyCruiserettu]

15 hours ago, RMMariner said:

You would be right, but we left out of Vancouver. So I don't think that applies.

Oh, my mistake. I saw you were talking the Grand, and since we are sailing on the Grand from SF in three weeks, I just made that connection. On reading over your post, you were clear about Vancouver right at the start. In this case, the PVSA would not be an issue because Vancouver to Honolulu is allowed.

[2old4this]

On 1/18/2019 at 2:24 PM, garda said:

Hi!

 

I will need advise from you experts out there.  I booked a Hawaiin Cruise on the Grand Princess in November 2019.  I am just so undecided whether to go for it or look for another destination.  Need to know if it is cold ( what is cold) out of San Francisco and back to San Francisco in November.  It is an older ship. Will I be bored on sea days .Will there be people my age ( late 50's)?  Once in Hawaii, it will be fantastic but it's getting there that I an not sure of.

 

Need to know all your pros and cons!!

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Whoa, there Garda, so many concerns.  No way to worry yourself all the way to boarding.  I have posted my travelogue for that exact trip.  Read it and get back with me here.  I can answer so much more than I have written in the travelogue.  Jack

 

1a_HAWAII WITH KIDS.pdf

[2old4this]

On 1/18/2019 at 2:24 PM, garda said:

Hi!

 

I will need advise from you experts out there.  I booked a Hawaiin Cruise on the Grand Princess in November 2019.  I am just so undecided whether to go for it or look for another destination.  Need to know if it is cold ( what is cold) out of San Francisco and back to San Francisco in November.  It is an older ship. Will I be bored on sea days .Will there be people my age ( late 50's)?  Once in Hawaii, it will be fantastic but it's getting there that I an not sure of.

 

Need to know all your pros and cons!!

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

See my travelogue on the exact same trip done in 2019 

 

1a_HAWAII WITH KIDS.pdf

[jondfk]

Well, I'll add my voice here though the opinions expressed already run full range.  

 

We've done this trip several times including 4x on Grand.  Since I'm not in the habit of repeating bad experiences, our repeated experience probably tells you much.  We did this cruise on Grand last winter (February) and are booked to do it again on Grand on February 21st.  Grand is the oldest of her class, there are some negatives to this, but positives too:

 

+ The first of her class, she holds many hundreds less pax than the latter versions (Ruby / Crown / Emerald).  She's less crowded everywhere, theaters, lounges and dining rooms.  

+ She has Alfredo's, a great alternative dining spot that some but not all in her class have.

+ She has 7 window suites, one of only 3 ships in her class with this cabin category.  Those of us who like these cabins LOVE them.

 

- She lost her Skywalkers a few years ago.  As some have noted Grand was constructed of all steel and her original Skywalkers caused the ship to ride bow high in the water, which was mainly a fuel efficiency problem.  Removing that several tons of steel has her ride more as designed.  The One5 lounge was added to compensate and it's a nice room, but doesn't have the fabulous views Skywalkers had.

- There's not doubt she's getting up there in years - not nearly as glitzy as newer builds.

 

As to weather, we're Sanctuary devotee's and haven't missed a single day either direction on any of our sailings.  Yes, rain has chased us in some days.  Yes, we wear everything we brought the first couple / last couple days, but we get out there and enjoy the fresh air.  Most folks though stay in the first couple / last couple.  Princess knows this and loads up the Hawaiiana activities and lectures on these days.  Typically a couple of movies are also shown in either the Princess theater or Vista lounge.

 

Grand is one of our favorite ships and we will be genuinely sad to see her leave San Francisco.