Live from the Grand Princess, Dec 20-30th, Christmas cruise

[Coral]

I was chilled to the bone today. Just could not stay warm. After coming back from being out in San Francisco - we had pizza at Alfredos. I then went to Wheelhouse bar (one of my favorite lounges on this ship) and curled up in a couch and read my kindle until some work men come in to do repairs somewhere there. I then retreated up to One 5. It was empty and I found a different couch to curl up in and read. I later enjoyed Elite time up there with some appetizers and drinks. The appetizers were the same as last night which was fine.

 

At one point I went to the Passenger Services desk for something and mentioned I needed to cancel reservations in the dining room as we were going to do Crown Grill. I wanted to make sure I just cancelled tonight and not every night. We then made the reservations for Crown Grill and the app gave me only a few choices for times. Well - it was weird - the entire time we were there, there was only one other table with two (and we new them!). They were celebrating a birthday. They said 29 🙂 . Not sure why the app was so restrictive - we could easily have walked in and been seated. There were plenty of servers working and every request was quickly responded to.

 

Crown Grill was pretty good. I had the Ribeye, mashed potatoes, French fries and asparagus. The asparagus I had in the dining room has not been very good the past two nights and this did taste better. I also had a Salted Carmel cheesecake creme brûlée dessert of some sort. Service was amazing.

 

Tomorrow is Most Traveled luncheon in Crown Grill and a sea day.

 

Sorry my reports on the trip probably sound boring - I just needed this trip to relax and this trip is allowing me to do so. I do have tours in Ensenada and then both days in Cabo. Not sure what I am doing in San Diego.

 

We did get a letter today about doing Immigration in San Diego (we have a choice of times) as we will do that there as opposed to LAX. This should make getting off the ship in LAX quicker.

 

It is weird as it has been quite awhile since I have been on the Grand. I was looking at "Leaves" thinking that this is where the Wedding Chapel used to be a long time ago (I think) and when in Crown Grill - remembering it used to be Painted Desert - a Santa Fe/Tex Mex restaurant. I remember they used to have lunch on sea days. And there was a weird design flaw that when the Princess theatre let out - people used to walk through the restaurant. They have since remodeled and that doesn't happen anymore. And obviously Painted Desert is now Crown Grill. Being on this ship brings back so many memories. I was thinking the shore excursion desk was probably on Deck 5 back in the day. I need to find some old layouts of the ship to figure out if I right or remembering wrong.

 

Food pictures of today of pizza and Crown Grill:

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Coral

[Coral]

38 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I am enjoying your reports, especially since we actually had flights and a pre-cruise hotel from this one, thinking we would jump on at the last minute. I wondered how many passengers would be on board…think I’ll keep it to myself how few there are. At least five times a day my DH is saying he wishes he was on the ship right now. 

Sorry we missed having you! When I was booking - I saw huge areas blocked off when looking at cabins and then other areas seemed wide open with just a few cabins filled. My gut was that the ship was wide open and would have low numbers - especially when there wasn't an active roll call (there had been one for the Hawaii trip that was cancelled). I didn't expect it to be this low though.

 

I really wonder why Princess didn't upgrade everyone from inside and outside cabins to balcony cabins (or higher). I have spoken to several who did book inside or outside cabins and they are sailing in them. I am just a few cabins down from Club Class cabins on Deck 9 and there are very few cabins with people down the hall  from me.

 

There are less Christmasy type activities compared to my other 2 Christmas cruises. I haven't seen snow in the atrium - I probably should look tomorrow to see if there is that snow box that snow comes out of in the atrium. Probably due to COVID - there doesn't appear to be Christmas caroling. Maybe the activities will pick up in the next few days. I am not complaining - I really am enjoying having this cruise ship to myself. I will probably never sail another ship with this few passengers again.

[Hulagirl]

Glad you are having such a good time.  I knew you would when we talked about you booking the trip.  How nice with the ship so empty.  LOL, no you probably won't sail again with so few passengers.  That has to be quite nice.

 

Food does look quite good.  Pizza makes me hungry.  Too bad it was so cold today.  We are going to have horribly cold temps for here next week.  West Coast is going to either be cold here or another river of rain heading to California.  

Have a nice lunch tomorrow.  Glad you are able to go.

Crown Grill looks good.  Steak doesn't look bad at all. 

 

Talk soon.

[shellbeachjim]

Here’s another big thumbs up for Amel. We were on the December 5th cruise and he was our source for our nightly Kir Royales. He would see us come into Vines and he immediately went over to Good Spirits to fetch our Kirs. He told us we were the first people to order them from him in five years, and he made our perfectly. 

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

 

I really wonder why Princess didn't upgrade everyone from inside and outside cabins to balcony cabins (or higher).

 

My guess: If Princess did this, why would anyone book a balcony or higher cabin while ships' occupancy remains so low?

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

Sorry my reports on the trip probably sound boring - I just needed this trip to relax and this trip is allowing me to do so.

 

Not boring at all.

 

Please keep them coming.

[Coral]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

My guess: If Princess did this, why would anyone book a balcony or higher cabin while ships' occupancy remains so low?

I was just thinking that once people have a balcony - it is often difficult to go back. I am ok in any category but I have to say after the COVID cruises and reports, if I am going to be stuck in my cabin, I do want a balcony. Though - the quarantine and isolation cabins do have balconies. So if someone does get COVID - they do get moved to a balcony cabin as of right now.

[Cruise Raider]

14 hours ago, Coral said:

I just showed him your post. He started laughing!

 

Amel said that he loves you both, he is sorry he missed you two today and that you need to book the GRAND Princess ASAP. He misses both of you! He said something about you only leave Vines for lunch and dinner! LOL!

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much ... he is such a sweetheart!  And he's right about our visits to Vines.  We actually never got off the ship when we were in port.  

[victory2020]

Is Katarina (blonde from Eastern Europe) still the server in Alfredo's? I'm sailing again on the 30th. See you there! I see balconies & mini suites are sold out so it's going to be a lot fuller than it has been recently.

[Cruise Raider]

7 hours ago, shellbeachjim said:

Here’s another big thumbs up for Amel. We were on the December 5th cruise and he was our source for our nightly Kir Royales. He would see us come into Vines and he immediately went over to Good Spirits to fetch our Kirs. He told us we were the first people to order them from him in five years, and he made our perfectly. 

 

Well, I'm just going to order a Kir Royal from Amel when we see him again.  I will raise a glass to toast you for the wonderful idea. 

[JF - retired RRT]

On 12/21/2021 at 7:52 PM, Coral said:

I did go to the casino for the first time in my life on a ship as it is smoke free. I gambled all of $10 and it went way too quick and I realized this was not for me. I am envious of everyone who gets casino offers and have come to the conclusion that I never will.

 

You never know! We use OBC to gamble (use a little on almost every cruise), rarely more than $25. Sometimes we even end up with more than we started with.

We got a casino offer a couple of years ago. It wasn't much...a % off the fare. Booked 5 cruises.😉

[kiwimum]

Is there any word/rumors on the upcoming cruise to Hawaii on January 4?  
Thanks.

[Coral]

34 minutes ago, kiwimum said:

Is there any word/rumors on the upcoming cruise to Hawaii on January 4?  
Thanks.

They say it is a go! They said everyone including crew must be tested 2x during the cruise.

[kiwimum]

Just now, Coral said:

They say it is a go! They said everyone including crew must be tested 2x during the cruise.

Thanks, the big issue is Hawaii has not made an announcement on opening their ports to cruise ships.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, victory2020 said:

Is Katarina (blonde from Eastern Europe) still the server in Alfredo's? I'm sailing again on the 30th. See you there! I see balconies & mini suites are sold out so it's going to be a lot fuller than it has been recently.

Yes she is! She is a sweetheart!

 

I ate in the Alfredo’s when I first got on the ship. She is great! I have seen her everyday and we talk. She is from coastal Ukraine.

[Coral]

1 minute ago, kiwimum said:

Thanks, the big issue is Hawaii has not made an announcement on opening their ports to cruise ships.

They are going on the assumption the ship is going.

[Astro Flyer]

Coral…glad that you’ve returned to sea like I did on Majestic in October. After the very disappointing CFB season by the Cornhuskers & Trojans it’s good to have some fun at sea.

[Coral]

I asked the Passenger Services desk if there is going to be snow in the atrium during this cruise. She looked at me like a deer in the headlights. I take that as no. I couldn't see the snow black box I have seen on other trips. There is a snowman building contest in the aft dining room at 9:45 - I may go to that.

 

Here are some menus from today and the Patter. While I have to say that service is exceptional on this trip, the menus have something to be desired. I really have never not found anything that I wanted to eat on a Princess menu before. I think the lunch menus (which I haven't seen yet for today - seem better than the dinner menus). By no means am I going hungry. As one that can rarely be seen in the buffet - I may be going there for dinner. Though I would miss my wait staff. I guess there is always great things on the children's menu. International Cafe does not disappoint!

 

 

[Coral]

3 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Coral…glad that you’ve returned to sea like I did on Majestic in October. After the very disappointing CFB season by the Cornhuskers & Trojans it’s good to have some fun at sea.

Yes - I am trying to forget that this season happened. Our Volleyball team almost pulled off a National Championship. Almost!

[Coral]

Patters, Menus and breakfast from International Cafe:

 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

You never know! We use OBC to gamble (use a little on almost every cruise), rarely more than $25. Sometimes we even end up with more than we started with.

We got a casino offer a couple of years ago. It wasn't much...a % off the fare. Booked 5 cruises.😉

When we are on a ship together - you can assist me! I didn't have much OBC on this trip and it went to tours.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Thank you so much ... he is such a sweetheart!  And he's right about our visits to Vines.  We actually never got off the ship when we were in port.  

I can see why he is a CC favorite! When I asked for him (he was putting something away and I couldn't see his name tag) - he said "that is me - am I in trouble"? I then said "yes". When I showed him your post - he just smiled and started laughing. He seems so genuine!

[Coral]

10 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Coral…glad that you’ve returned to sea like I did on Majestic in October. After the very disappointing CFB season by the Cornhuskers & Trojans it’s good to have some fun at sea.

It does feel weird to get my sea legs back! I definitely picked a great ship as everyone is so friendly and service amazing. My friend I was traveling with was on Majestic in November. He keeps looking at the Grand atrium and says "It looks so small"......

[Astro Flyer]

35 minutes ago, kiwimum said:

Thanks, the big issue is Hawaii has not made an announcement on opening their ports to cruise ships.

Last month the HDOT spokesperson stated:

 

Cunningham revealed the state would need to expand its Safe Travels program to accommodate the arriving cruise passengers, but no local port agreements had been signed.

 

Since flying back to Maui a couple of weeks ago their Safe Travels website has added a new cruise option. For anyone with Hawaiian cruises you might want to go to their site & attempt to add cruise information. Not that it would guarantee a cruise would sail but it is expanding their Safe Travels site for cruises which was a step towards resuming Hawaii cruises. I still haven’t read or heard on any local news sources any further discussion nor details about resuming cruises to Hawaii.

 

https://travel.hawaii.gov/#/

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[Astro Flyer]

9 minutes ago, Coral said:

It does feel weird to get my sea legs back! I definitely picked a great ship as everyone is so friendly and service amazing. My friend I was traveling with was on Majestic in November. He keeps looking at the Grand atrium and says "It looks so small"......

Theresa…your friend’s reaction was the very same as mine after sailing on Royal-class ships & returning to other classes of Princess ships…”the atrium looks so small” ☺️