New to Princess! Advise appreciated! Here's what I have:

[MishelleMcc]

We have booked the Princess Grand 12/3/2019 sailing!  I have been reading a lot of your posts and was sold on the Itinerary and love of the ship!!  The Refresh is just another bonus!  I struggled with the decision between the Balcony and Mini Suite (this will be the first time without a sofa) but decided that ultimately, we wouldn't be spending a lot of time in our cabin.  We've sailed HAL and Costa (Costa still allows smoking on balconies - sadly we are still smokers) But I've been sailing since the late '80's.  ...RCCL... Norwegian

 

We booked A742 (BE).  We chose this cabin because it was close to the aft exit with only a couple of stair ways to the smoking area outside The One5 Lounge.  Can anyone help confirm that?  I've looked at copious pictures and think it would work, but would love feedback and suggestions!  We can always select a different Cabin!  Also, we will have a semi aft view which we loved on our last cruise 2 years ago...  Late at night during a torrential storm, listening to my music, I sat late at night on our balcony and it was an amazing experience!

 

Question about drink packages:  We've considered them before on other cruises and determined that they were not economical but on Costa - a 10 day cruise - they were very reasonable!  They included specialty coffee since every bar has an espresso machine.  Also, I would order virgin banana coladas in the morning so as to get bananas!  How Does Princess drink packages fare? 

 

For me, planning and anticipating a cruise is part of the Vacation vibe...  I will be researching and reading about this Hawaiian cruise for the next  9 months!  Any and ALL advise and input is greatly appreciated!

 

What else should we be thinking about?

[AF-1]

Are you asking about the soda and more package or the premier beverage package?  You are doing the 15 day trip to Hawaii out of SFO.  You can book your excursions in your cruise personalizer; or you can use a third party website to book shore excursions.  The first few days at sea are normally a little chilly; as you get closer to the Hawaiian Islands, the weather warms up.  For that many sea days, think about bringing a kindle for reading, or playing games, there will be plenty to do on board.  Hawaii is a great state with lots to see on the different islands.  Have fun

Edited March 24, 2019 by AF-1

[AF-1]

This is current Princess pricing for beverages and sodas

 

 

 

https://book.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer/onboard/viewservicelisting.page?service=beverages&items=0535,0532,0540,0481,0482,0496,0497,0498,0499,0480

Edited March 24, 2019 by AF-1

[Joy_K]

7 hours ago, MishelleMcc said:

We booked A742 (BE).  We chose this cabin because it was close to the aft exit with only a couple of stair ways to the smoking area outside The One5 Lounge.  Can anyone help confirm that?  I've looked at copious pictures and think it would work, but would love feedback and suggestions! 

You picked a great location as a smoker.  The area outside of the One5Lounge is on of the nicer smoking areas on any of Princess' ships.  You are right, out the back door and up 2 flights of stairs to get there.  

[skynight]

The Premier Beverage Package costs $70.79/day. It can not be shared. It takes around 6 to 7 alcoholic beverages/day to break even. Coffee, fountain sodas, and some other beverages are included.

If you are only interested in non-alcoholic beverages then you might go for the soda and more package. It includes fountain sodas, juices, hot chocolate and mocktails. I'm not certain if it includes the fresh banana smoothie/mocktail you describe.

You can get full details here:

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/gifts-and-services/culinary-delights-wine/

 

Believe you are correct regarding the smoking area on deck 15 outside of the OneFive Lounge. There is also smoking on deck 15 port side by the Breezes Bar, small area aft outside of the Vista Lounge, starboard side on the promenade deck, some slot sections of the casino, table games are smoke free (casino is normally smoke free some evenings), snookers bar which is the only location for cigar and pipe smoking.

[MishelleMcc]

Wow!  Thank you AF-1, Joy and Skynight for all of the input! 

 

Yes, I was asking about the Adult beverage package  (Hee hee!)  Glad the specialty coffees are included!  I really do believe that having the package is going to work for us!

 

Thank you for for the input regarding our cabin location too!  I was pretty sure that it would work but am confident now that we made a great choice!

 

Now... On to the excursions!!!!  Yippee!!!!!

[Vic The Parrot]

Here's my 2 cents. If you love chocolate, try the Love Boat Dream that's on offer in the MDR .  

 

It's a heavenly dessert.  😍

[OCruisers]

On Princess ecigs can be fumed in your cabin (not balcony) which great for those who fume.  

[KevintheIrishDJ]

If you buy 100 shares of stock, you get tax free OBC every time you sail.  THe amount varies by the length of the cruise.

[Potstech]

3 hours ago, OCruisers said:

On Princess ecigs can be fumed in your cabin (not balcony) which great for those who fume.  

No matter how you call it smoking is NOT allowed in the cabin or on a balcony.

[jwattle]

6 hours ago, MishelleMcc said:

Wow!  Thank you AF-1, Joy and Skynight for all of the input! 

 

Yes, I was asking about the Adult beverage package  (Hee hee!)  Glad the specialty coffees are included!  I really do believe that having the package is going to work for us!

 

Thank you for for the input regarding our cabin location too!  I was pretty sure that it would work but am confident now that we made a great choice!

 

Now... On to the excursions!!!!  Yippee!!!!!

In the mornings, popping down to the International Cafe for a pastry and latte, then next door to the International bar to have Keith put some Bailey's Irish Cream in my latte was a fun use of the beverage package! :) 

We loved the Grand. The Hawaiian Ambassadors and the guest lecturers added to the already amazing bunch of things to do.

[caribill]

11 hours ago, Potstech said:

No matter how you call it smoking is NOT allowed in the cabin or on a balcony.

 

From the Passage Contract:

 

The use of electronic cigarettes, personal vaporizers, or electronic nicotine delivery systems is allowed within the confines of the Guest's stateroom (balcony not included) and within designated smoking areas only.

[MishelleMcc]

We are so Excited! 

 

VictheParrot: I L-O-V-E Chocolate!!!!  I googled "Love Boat Dream"  Mmmmmm! It's now on my list of "Must dos"  ...btw, we already have Godiva chocolate liqueur in our "collection" at home! 😁

 

KevintheIrishDJ:  We won't be able to buy shares at this time (have considered this before) but thank you for the reminder!  We did sign up for a Princess CC and intend to use that to process the payment and redeem the rewards for onboard credit!  btw, I am half Scottish so I am sure we are cousins!  Ha 😉

 

Jwattle:  That is a creative way to use your "Adult" beverage package! We got "creative" with our last cruise/beverage package too!  I think the bartenders and servers enjoy helping us be creative!  😎  When we were researching this itinerary, I had read good things about the Hawaiian Ambassadors & the guest lecturers and intend to immerse ourselves in the culture before arriving in the islands...  I was in Honolulu 42 years ago so time to refresh and learn new!!

 

Caribill:  You are correct about "fuming" in the cabin being acceptable.  I know most folks wouldn't think so but my DD does it in her home and car and there are NO lingering odors.  It's water vapor! 😊  probably the only reason it's banned on balconies is because non smokers may not know the difference and become alarmed.  🙄

 

Thank you EVERYONE!!!! 

 

 

[Piperpals]

This is a good location for your cabin.  On Grand class ships we usually book aft on this deck as it is easy access to the rear pool and buffet.  We were on the Grand over Christmas for the 15 day Hawaii from San Francisco, booked a cabin in this area as usual but accepted an upgrade to cabin that was lower down and more central.  Turned out not a great choice as the Grand does not have a central passenger staircase going up passed deck 7 (don't use elevators much) so to access top decks had to walk to the back to go up anyway. The deck plan is misleading as it shows a staircase but this as actually only crew access and not passengers.

 

Otherwise really like this ship and the Hawaii itinerary and happy to answer any questions.

Helen

[MishelleMcc]

Helen:  WOW!  Good to Know!  We are feeling really lucky with our cabin choice!  Thank your for offer with helping with questions!  I go have a couple quick questions:  I've read that the storage is tight in these balcony staterooms.  I always unpack everything and shove the cases under the bed.  Does that work on the Grand?  Also, this being a 15 day cruise, we plan on utilizing the laundry facilities.  We've never done that on a ship before.  Do you have any experience with that?

 

Again, thank you for all your help!

[Piperpals]

11 minutes ago, MishelleMcc said:

Helen:  WOW!  Good to Know!  We are feeling really lucky with our cabin choice!  Thank your for offer with helping with questions!  I go have a couple quick questions:  I've read that the storage is tight in these balcony staterooms.  I always unpack everything and shove the cases under the bed.  Does that work on the Grand?  Also, this being a 15 day cruise, we plan on utilizing the laundry facilities.  We've never done that on a ship before.  Do you have any experience with that?

 

Again, thank you for all your help!

The closet area on the Grand is smaller than other similar ships due to how they configured the area with the bathroom. We did manage to get all our clothes hung up including formal wear by doubling some up.  The cupboard area with the shelves next to the closet were slightly wider I seem to remember and there are lots of drawers in the night stands and desk for storage. We fit both suitcases under the bed no problem and used for storing some stuff we may not need, coats etc. You can find some good cabin tours on U-Tube.

 

We do use the laundry rooms. I think they had two washers and two dryers in each plus some ironing stations.  You have to use your cruise card to buy tokens from machine on the wall, I think it was about $3.00 each for washer and dryer. There are dispensing machines also for soap or you can take your own, I take a few pods with me. Have experienced a few times where I brought laundry down to room but machine for tokens wouldn't scan my card so had to take laundry back again until could get card to work,so now I get the tokens before I need them to make sure card works.  Machines are on timers each about 45 minutes I think.  They do get busy on certain days such as first sea day after port days so you need to time it a bit.

Cheers