Grand Princess Drydock March 2019

[TRauppius]

Actually, the Salty Dog conversion is a very significant replacement for the old Trident Grill. It offers upgraded burgers and dogs, including the acclaimed, but modest extra charge, Ernesto Burger. There are also tacos, loaded fries, and a grilled chicken sandwich. The Salty Dog is gradually replacing Trident Grill throughout the fleet which began with the Caribbean Princess some time ago.

 

Check out the attached menu.

Salty-Dog-Grill-Menu.pdf

[c-boy]

I don't do burgers but; that grilled chicken sandwich looks goooood.

[oskidunker]

There are no longer pictures on the wall. Tv is now where picture used to be. Old place where tv empty. They need to do something with that space. 

 

 O elite bar set up yet probably due to last minute upgrade. Room steward not great so far. Have to ask twice for everyvthing

[oskidunker]

The pictures that were on the walls were damaged by contractors. New pictures will be installed soon 

 

the enertainment has not been goid. First two nights no production shows. Just 1 man 30 minute shows. Third night there was a production show which was goid but seen it before. Last night the ssme old 5 year old British invasion show. Passed,

 

hsd the Curtis Stone fish stew with Sea Bass. Very good. Cane with great garlic toast. Fresh clams and mussels. Get it. 

 

Had a tour yesterday and the bus had an accident anf flat yire. Ship waited for us one hour. 

 

Friends booked liz Taylor house tour that did not go there. Giide said road too steep and house being torn down soon   I would avoid this tour 

 

 

[Ep010835]

Any word on post dry-dock Internet speeds?

 

Pre-drydock speeds were abysmal. 

[Gimer]

oskidunker, have you tried the Salty Dawg burgers yet, up on Deck 14?   I'm curious about the Burger/Beer for $8.00?

[Phamer55]

I’m curious about the Ernesto burger too, and the free ones as well. 

[Gimer]

I'll be on Grand this Saturday and I'll check it out and report.  

[candide333]

20 minutes ago, Gimer said:

I'll be on Grand this Saturday and I'll check it out and report.  

Can you post what the unlimited internet price is for Platinums and Elites if you sign up the first day!  I have heard $45 as well as $49.99, both of which are cheaper  than the prepaid $59.99 offer. 

[Gimer]

I sure will check this out also.  

[RMMariner]

On the Grand, heading back to San Francisco now. Nice cruise.

 

Went to the Voice of the Ocean. Usually don't go to the shows like that, but it was really good.

 

Major upgrades at the ice cream stand and Trident Grill. Other areas look much better too.

 

Food has been much better than last cruise. Even the lemonade is better.

 

Mexico was fantastic. I had never been before. People were so friendly, and of course the weather has been amazing.

 

Our room steward had been very good.

 

Couple of leaks around the ship, but hey nothing is perfect.

[Gimer]

RMMariner, how were the Princess Production Shows?  This Cast of Singers and Dancers boarded prior to Grand's Dry Dock.  Are the Princess Theater seats comfortable, after being re-upholstered?   Thanks.....

[RMMariner]

The seats were quite comfortable.

 

I personally never went to the Princess shows. Our daughter loves the shows so I will tag along if we bring her on the cruise with us. Otherwise I am not really much interested, which is why I was so surprised that I enjoyed Voice of the Ocean. Having met three of the finalists certainly made it more interesting. I talked to people that said the productions ranged from good to okay.

 

I was surprised at how long some of the shows have run. The British Invasion was running on our first ever cruise in 2015 I believe.

 

 

[oskidunker]

The cruise to Mexico was great. Most of the food was good in the dining room with a few exceptions.The NY steak on the last night was so tough I could not cut it. Asked for another and it was ok. They are cutting them so thin, it must be really hard to grill.Two others at my table sent it back and got the meat balls, which was a dissapointment to them for last night food.

 

I had two burgers, one in the grill and one in the dining room. Both very poor quality meat. Tasted like rubber although in the dining room it was cooked medium rare. WOuld have tried the Ernesto Burger but do not eat Pork Belly so Cant comment on that.

 

Pizza on the deck was very good as was Alfredos. The Meat Ball squares were really good but the Stromboli was not very good.The soft serve Ice cream was terrible as was the ice cream in the dining room with the exception of the Baked Alaska. Very dissapointing. They evidently dont put any vanilla in the vanilla ice cream. 

 

Horizon court was miostly dissapointiung and not very good food. For breakfast I usually go a muffin because they were the best. One morning only they had chocolate croissants. The Plain croissants from room service were excellent and much better than prior cruises. Problem was they kept bring breakfast 45 minutes prior to the earliest time requested.No strawberries anywhere.

 

The Curtis Stone fish stew in the main dining room was very good with fresh sea bass, clams and mussels. Get it.

 

 We tried The crown Grill and Sabatinis. I thought Sabatinis was very inovative and the food was good. Had the pasta appetizers and the veal scallopini.Crown Grill was a disappointment. Only enjoyed the balck and blue soup. Filet Mignon though cooked perfercetly seemd to be the worst quality I have ever eaten. No marbling and very dry.Did not like the lobster cake. Bread was the same stale tasting rolls we got every night in the main dining room. Not sure what was wrong the the bread on this cruise but nobody liked it. Not light and crunchy buy hard to pull apart and hard to eat.

 

The eggs benedict we had several times for lunch was the best I have ever had and that includes on shore restaurant. A Pleasant surprise given experience on prior cruises.Pastas were nothing special except for the Aribata and the Ricotta Raviolis on formal night which were excellent.

 

Service was excellent in the dining room and we tipped extra. Brought a case of wince and paid the corkage in advance on all but 2 bottles which we drank at the end and they did not waive the corkage fee.

 

Room Steward was very good and got me the barrel chair I needed, although it is obvious the remodel colors dont go with the blue chair.

 

One issue I had was with Bingo. Now they are offering I pads for $59.00 you get 30 games. SO the person who buys the paper tickets never won. If you are going to play, get the iPad.Last day they sold out ipads three hours before the last game so we did not play, although people were lined up wasting their mone on paper tickets.No fun anymore. The numbers come up on the i pads before they are announced. You just sit there. No fun. Won't play anymore.

 

One tour our bus hit and taxi and blew a tire. We were 2 hours late and an hour past sailing time. The ship waited and credited us with 75% of the tour price. Very nice gesture.

 

We had fixed late dining which we really liked. Not full and the shows were no problem finding a seat.

 

Ship looks great.

[boltnut55]

Just got of the Grand and then home.  I was thinking of y'all when I got on (all the notes I'm going to take, photos, etc.), but that didn't get far😂  First of all, I'm not that detailed, so I don't remember what everything looked like in July 2018 when we went to Alaska, so folks will need to correct me if I got stuff wrong:

• Medallion was "Coming Soon", so with no mail box, they either put paper curled on the door handle, placed on the bed, or slid underneath the door
• Shower head looks new to me, but maybe that's me (good temperature, strong output of water)
• TV is LG and as pictured from an earlier post
• I think carpet all around is new; chairs and carpet in theatre are new; chairs in Horizon buffet is new
• My husband said the ship has a new paint job (see?!  I don't even notice the entire ship!)
• I ate at Salty almost every day  😁 I had a hot dog or 2 every day for a while and then tapered off at the end.  The chicken sandwich looked really good when it was being prepared, but I didn't order, so I don't know how it tasted.  On occasion, they had service issues (my SIL waited about 20 minutes for her food, but there was no line).  The day after, they used the buzzer system, where you ordered from someone who gave you a buzzer, and you pick up your food when your buzzer went off.  All the hotdogs are on the rolling thingy (like at 7/11), and the fries are already made, so I don't know what the hold up was.  I heard one customer tell the worker that he preferred where he'd walk up and get his food (I agree).
• The gym equipment looks new to me.  Last time the treadmills had fans, but these didn't.  The mats and some of the weights look new (compared to last July anyway).

That's all I got for now.

 

[caribill]

10 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Room Steward was very good and got me the barrel chair I needed, although it is obvious the remodel colors dont go with the blue chair.

 

So that's the reason the barrel chairs are being removed.

 

They clash with the new decor and Princess does not want to purchase new ones that are color coordinated.

[travelin.sisters]

just got back yesterday....the Grand was shiny in many places, not so shiny in others...still lots of contractors on board for our sailing...didn't take many pictures because I was having such allergies from day 2 on from all the new carpet & glue, finishing of sealing tiles around the pool, varnishing, painting, new upholstery (so very many toxic fumes)...I am finally able to breathe freely but still coughing & very congested!

the good...

• repainted outside looks nice 
• the lounges that they did & new chairs where they did them look good & are comfortable, poolside restaurants look good
• more menu items at the pizzaria by the pool 

the in between…

• Princess theater is totally redone (carpet, upholstery sound system) I could only go to one show because it hurt to breathe in there but the one (folkloric group that came on in port) was very good...
• new screens for ocean medallion are in & look impressive, but no mail holder or place for your name...so 'mail' oges in door handle or under door or on bed
• new flat screen TVs but still not on demand 
• Salty Dog Grill by pool area...was very slow the one sea day I was there...they take your order & then give you a pager to come get it when it is done (I left my sister in the dining room to get her a burger &was gone about 45 minutes!)…on a port day I went &  they were faster...sister said the grilled chicken sandwich was very good, fires were ok, I liked the chicken street tacos, burger was not great but liked the bacon jam.

the not good...

•  beds were not comfortable
•  A/C was still inconsistent
•  the air quality on board (have they never heard of air filters?)
• the stabilizers did not seem to be working properly...seas were relatively calm but the ship had a lot of side to side roll
•  still were leaks around ship

overall, it kind of felt like they spent most of their effort on stuff that will pay off someday (i.e. Medallion) rather than things like beds tha would have made a better trip now...still had a good trip but glad my next cruise is on another ship.

[Sea Hag]

On 3/26/2019 at 12:25 PM, oskidunker said:

hsd the Curtis Stone fish stew with Sea Bass. Very good. Cane with great garlic toast. Fresh clams and mussels. Get it.

 

 

I'm glad your experience with this fish stew was better than ours. Ours was horrible. Fish was cooked into dust, and there was next to no broth. This was one of the very few dishes we've ever returned for something else.

[oskidunker]

The same dish can vary by ship or time.The ice cream was very bad on the GRAND, worse at cones. I would gladly pay for the Hagen Daz that was there years ago.I guess people really dont care as everyone was eating the free stuff.

[idahospud]

I'm onboard and blogging live from but can't share the link here, but here are a few photos of things mentioned...

 

Medallion screens not yet operational and no mailboxes:

 

Slice menu:

 

Salty Dog Grill Menu:

 

Bar menu for open deck bars:

[Ep010835]

14 hours ago, caribill said:

 

So that's the reason the barrel chairs are being removed.

 

They clash with the new decor and Princess does not want to purchase new ones that are color coordinated.

 

By golly, I think you are on to something!

[Linsifer]

6 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

just got back yesterday....the Grand was shiny in many places, not so shiny in others...still lots of contractors on board for our sailing...didn't take many pictures because I was having such allergies from day 2 on from all the new carpet & glue, finishing of sealing tiles around the pool, varnishing, painting, new upholstery (so very many toxic fumes)...I am finally able to breathe freely but still coughing & very congested!

the good...

• repainted outside looks nice 
• the lounges that they did & new chairs where they did them look good & are comfortable, poolside restaurants look good
• more menu items at the pizzaria by the pool 

the in between…

• Princess theater is totally redone (carpet, upholstery sound system) I could only go to one show because it hurt to breathe in there but the one (folkloric group that came on in port) was very good...
• new screens for ocean medallion are in & look impressive, but no mail holder or place for your name...so 'mail' oges in door handle or under door or on bed
• new flat screen TVs but still not on demand 
• Salty Dog Grill by pool area...was very slow the one sea day I was there...they take your order & then give you a pager to come get it when it is done (I left my sister in the dining room to get her a burger &was gone about 45 minutes!)…on a port day I went &  they were faster...sister said the grilled chicken sandwich was very good, fires were ok, I liked the chicken street tacos, burger was not great but liked the bacon jam.

the not good...

•  beds were not comfortable
•  A/C was still inconsistent
•  the air quality on board (have they never heard of air filters?)
• the stabilizers did not seem to be working properly...seas were relatively calm but the ship had a lot of side to side roll
•  still were leaks around ship

overall, it kind of felt like they spent most of their effort on stuff that will pay off someday (i.e. Medallion) rather than things like beds tha would have made a better trip now...still had a good trip but glad my next cruise is on another ship.

They just put in all new beds in 2017.  We were on the Grand in March ‘17 and the beds felt nice, although not as wonderful as our own bed at home.  We’ll be on her in three weeks for 15 nights to Hawaii, so I hope the bed will be up to par.  I actually did better on the old beds with a egg crate topper. 

[Beave8920]

Just of the Grand as well and here's my 2cents:

 

I agree with most of the comments by Linsifer and Oskidunker.......with a couple of exceptions.  Ship looked to be in great shape.  

 

We were in L223 -

 

Wall hanging tv's were great! More shelf space for stuff.

My bed was outstanding - pillows still the best

Had to turn down (or up) the A/c on several occasions due to being too cold!

Salty Dawg: Food was pretty good - didn't have a HD, but burger was was good and tacos were outstanding, as were the extra crispy fries!

I ate the ice cream on many occasions just to be a good sport, but it could have been creamier.

I wasn't a fan of the new menu's, but I didn't go hungry either.  Just wish they would offer more choices.

 

And although Linsifer was right about the constant chemical/paint odor, it didn't bother me.....but if you were allergic to it, I can see how it could really effect you - pretty strong sometimes.

 

And I did get a barrel chair upon request!

 

I'm sure the differences on the a/c and beds can be subjective due to your location on the ship.  

 

Was a great all around cruise.

[masterty]

 

[Beave8920]

1 hour ago, masterty said:

 

Thanks Masterty for posting this video - I was going to buy the DVD when we were on the ship but didn't, so it was nice to see the work they did and even better that I got to enjoy and appreciate what they did!  I thought the ship was in great shape - now I know why!

Edited April 1, 2019 by Beave8920