Is Grand Princess to Hawaii January 4 sailing?

[Coral]

I heard they are closing cruising 3 days before sailing per CDC (I think).

 

I also heard 1800 passengers for the sailing today on the Grand.

[RSS from SF]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

I also heard 1800 passengers for the sailing today on the Grand.

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I'm on Grand now and  I went to Guest Services desk a couple of hours ago for the latest update; final count is 1481 pax boarded. 

 

(I wonder how many pax couldn't make it due to weather, canceled flights, missed connections, etc.?)

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Edited December 31, 2021 by RSS from SF

[Mike07]

7 hours ago, Coral said:

I heard they are closing cruising 3 days before sailing per CDC (I think).

 

 

 

The CDC could have a rule, but Homeland Security requires passenger manifests to be provided 72 hours before the cruise sails.  That's what makes last-minute firesales of tickets pre-COVID tricky.

 

Airlines do not have the requirement.  I don't know how late a ticket can be sold to a customer, but you can do same day sales of airplane tickets.

[Coral]

4 hours ago, RSS from SF said:

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I'm on Grand now and  I went to Guest Services desk a couple of hours ago for the latest update; final count is 1481 pax boarded. 

 

(I wonder how many pax couldn't make it due to weather, canceled flights, missed connections, etc.?)

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Have a great cruise.

 

Not surprised. My flight from Denver home cancelled and then my re-routed flight from Chicago home was cancelled 3x.

 

Jayson and Mark are great waiters in aft 6 dining room. Desmond great bartender in One5.

 

Great ship, great service - I hope you have a fabulous time!

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

The CDC could have a rule, but Homeland Security requires passenger manifests to be provided 72 hours before the cruise sails.  That's what makes last-minute firesales of tickets pre-COVID tricky.

 

Airlines do not have the requirement.  I don't know how late a ticket can be sold to a customer, but you can do same day sales of airplane tickets.

I knew pre-covid that people could book a day before. I had heard manifests were submitted a few hours before sailing. I found it weird that someone 2 days early couldn't book the same ship they were on (due to some rule).

 

I don't know if everything changed since COVID.

 

They said CDC but it could be Homeland Security. I just remember manifests used to be sent in the day of..... I guess I haven't kept track.

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Have a great cruise.

 

Not surprised. My flight from Denver home cancelled and then my re-routed flight from Chicago home was cancelled 3x.

 

Jayson and Mark are great waiters in aft 6 dining room. Desmond great bartender in One5.

 

Great ship, great service - I hope you have a fabulous time!

 

Coral … I couldn’t tell you that we were going to be on this cruise on the Grand as I wanted to surprise Amel and believes he reads this forum!  Well, mission accomplished.  We both got a little teary eyed when we first saw each other.  We sat down in our normal table at Vines but he was working over at the IC.  He noticed us after a few minutes … and we had the best reunion!  
I agree, this is a great ship, mostly because of their amazing staff.  We are having the time of our lives.  
We did hear from our PVP (she’s onboard as well) they are not planning on cancelling the Hawaii cruise after we all disembark.  I know situations can change at the drop of a hat but, everything seems to be kept on track for now.  Everything is very clean and masking for us is very doable.  It sure beats not cruising.  
We had such a great group made of our PVP’s guests yesterday … we converged upon Vines and took over half their tables.  This cruise is just wonderful!  It doesn’t seem too crowded either.  They were gearing up for a couple thousand guests but, that seems to have been cut down a bit.  I know of a few people that tested positive so couldn’t make it and then, as you say, the flights were a nightmare.  I know trip down from the Bay Area was very bumpy and then a delay in deplaning.  The weather was nasty but, living in California for decades, I try to never complain about the rain.  
 

Anyway, just having a great time onboard!  Thanks for your updates last week!  

 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Coral … I couldn’t tell you that we were going to be on this cruise on the Grand as I wanted to surprise Amel and believes he reads this forum!  Well, mission accomplished.  We both got a little teary eyed when we first saw each other.  We sat down in our normal table at Vines but he was working over at the IC.  He noticed us after a few minutes … and we had the best reunion!  

 

I am so happy for you!

 

I literally showed Amel your post and he got teary eyed looking at it and went on about the two of you! He did say something about he is often written about on CC.

 

I had the best time on the Grand despite the weather. Service was amazing. I loved Jayson and Mark in aft dining room and Kateryina (sp) in Alfredos (blonde from Ukraine). Please tell her Hi from Theresa. She must work weird hours as I ordered room service at 1 am as I couldn't sleep and she delivered it.

 

So glad you are on the Grand! Enjoy your sailing! Excellent ship!

[Coral]

8 hours ago, RSS from SF said:

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I'm on Grand now and  I went to Guest Services desk a couple of hours ago for the latest update; final count is 1481 pax boarded. 

 

(I wonder how many pax couldn't make it due to weather, canceled flights, missed connections, etc.?)

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Have a great trip!

 

The airports were awful yesterday. I ended up with 4 cancellations and being re-routed. I am surprised I made it home. When I drove by the Delta terminal in LAX, there seemed to be hundreds (thousands?) outside. Someone in our group was flying home with Alaska Air and they had their flight changed to Monday.

 

I never got an accurate count for last week but they were all within 450-480 range.

 

I had excellent service on the Grand. I thought she looked great. She has a dry dock in April or May. I would sail this ship again in a heart beat. I thought Desmond in One5 was amazing!

 

Have a great New Years trip!

 

[RSS from SF]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

Have a great cruise.

 

Not surprised. My flight from Denver home cancelled and then my re-routed flight from Chicago home was cancelled 3x.

 

Jayson and Mark are great waiters in aft 6 dining room. Desmond great bartender in One5.

 

Great ship, great service - I hope you have a fabulous time!

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Thank you, yes we already have been having a fantastic time.  Great ship, gleaming with recent polish and now looking far younger than many other ships half her age.  Best crew in the fleet.

 

Jayson is our awesome waiter from our October-November B2B2B, and we wanted him to be our waiter at Botticelli on this sailing.  No problem:  Jayson was manning Botticelli yesterday afternoon for arriving pax and he quickly had us in a prime table in his section.  Mark is assistant waiter for us for the first time, and from our first dinner last night he was great.  Jayson and Mark are one of the best teams (if not #1) in the MDR for sure.

 

We also know Desmond from the same previous cruise, and we'll certainly be looking for him later this evening at One5.  🙂

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[Astro Flyer]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

My flight from Denver home cancelled and then my re-routed flight from Chicago home was cancelled 3x.

Sorry to learn about your flight issues which living in the heartland has previously resulted in some more difficult routings for you.

[Coral]

7 minutes ago, RSS from SF said:

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Thank you, yes we already have been having a fantastic time.  Great ship, gleaming with recent polish and now looking far younger than many other ships half her age.  Best crew in the fleet.

 

Jayson is our awesome waiter from our October-November B2B2B, and we wanted him to be our waiter at Botticelli on this sailing.  No problem:  Jayson was manning Botticelli yesterday afternoon for arriving pax and he quickly had us in a prime table in his section.  Mark is assistant waiter for us for the first time, and from our first dinner last night he was great.  Jayson and Mark are one of the best teams (if not #1) in the MDR for sure.

 

We also know Desmond from the same previous cruise, and we'll certainly be looking for him later this evening at One5.  🙂

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OMG - we had a different waiter the first night and they were not good.

 

We then switched and found Jayson and Mark. Please tell them "hello and that we miss them  -  from Theresa and Doug". They were excellent! I felt so bad the last night, during dinner, I found out my flight had been cancelled so I had to leave dinner. When I came back, they still took great care of me! He always saved a window table for us.

 

They are truly the best pair I have encountered in the dining room on Princess. And as you know - Desmond is awesome!

 

I completely agree - the ship looked amazing. I was expecting her to look tired but she didn't.

 

I am so envious. I wish I was still on the ship. Just happy you are!

Edited December 31, 2021 by Coral

[Bgwest]

Princess continues to believe 1/4/22 will happen. This just received. 

[Astro Flyer]

23 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Princess continues to believe 1/4/22 will happen. This just received. 

Do you think it’ll sail without Hawaii agreements? Maybe they’d do scenic cruising in Hawaii while hoping to finalize agreements to dock? Or like Viking did with their holiday cruise to change the itinerary to Mexico weeks before sailing?

 

Whatever the outcome hopefully you’ll have an acceptable solution after Princess left everyone of your cruise questioning the cruise only days before sailing.

[Bgwest]

38 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Do you think it’ll sail without Hawaii agreements? Maybe they’d do scenic cruising in Hawaii while hoping to finalize agreements to dock? Or like Viking did with their holiday cruise to change the itinerary to Mexico weeks before sailing?

 

Whatever the outcome hopefully you’ll have an acceptable solution after Princess left everyone of your cruise questioning the cruise only days before sailing.

 

Doesn't matter one hoot what I think. Not my point. My point as stated is that Princess continues to believe this cruise will happen. 

 

Maybe so, maybe no. Scenic cruising is fine with me. 

[AVCruzers]

Really enjoy all your comments about the crew.  We are packing tomorrow and taking our home tests on Sunday for the Jan. 4 cruise.  Certainly looking forward to being on the Grand!  We were on the Majestic earlier this month so wondering about the comparisons.  

[RSS from SF]

1 hour ago, AVCruzers said:

Certainly looking forward to being on the Grand!  We were on the Majestic earlier this month so wondering about the comparisons.  

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Majestic is such a beautiful ship and on our two sailings on her (last month and 2 weeks ago) the crew was wonderful.  We are looking forward to being on Majestic another 25 nights next year.

 

In our opinion, Grand's crew and service is at least one step up from all other Princess ships we have sailed.

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[nocl]

Tiki Dave (an entertainer on this cruise) just said that he will be on the Grand on the 4th.  So clearly he expects the cruise to proceed.

[MishelleMcc]

21 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Do you think it’ll sail without Hawaii agreements? Maybe they’d do scenic cruising in Hawaii while hoping to finalize agreements to dock? Or like Viking did with their holiday cruise to change the itinerary to Mexico weeks before sailing?

 

Whatever the outcome hopefully you’ll have an acceptable solution after Princess left everyone of your cruise questioning the cruise only days before sailing.

Everyone will need to register with Hawaii safe travels, upload your vaccination card and clear a Health "screening" 24 hrs before your first Hawaiian port.  We LOVE the Grand!  Have a safe trip everyone!!  We will be following you all as we sail Ruby Princess to Hawaii on Jan 16th!   Here is a link:  https://travel.hawaii.gov/#/welcome

[chengkp75]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:42 AM, Mike07 said:

The CDC could have a rule, but Homeland Security requires passenger manifests to be provided 72 hours before the cruise sails.  That's what makes last-minute firesales of tickets pre-COVID tricky.

Uh, no.  The manifest is submitted to CBP no later than 60 minutes prior to departure.  This is when they stop boarding process.  They are not submitted three days in advance.

[Coral]

15 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Uh, no.  The manifest is submitted to CBP no later than 60 minutes prior to departure.  This is when they stop boarding process.  They are not submitted three days in advance.

I knew it was done shortly before sailing (for CBP).

 

I wonder why this couple could not stay on - they asked 2 days before when they knew their flight was cancelled and the ship had room. They were told CDC which I had never heard previously. I did notice on our sailing on a Monday, they stopped taking reservations on Saturday. Any insight?

[Coral]

18 hours ago, RSS from SF said:

In our opinion, Grand's crew and service is at least one step up from all other Princess ships we have sailed.

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I completely agree. My service on the Grand recently rivaled my service on Crystal.

[deadzone1003]

Fewer passengers = more public space per passenger, probably.  Royal Caribbean & Carnival had larger outbreaks probably due to higher passenger density (plus lax rules, at least with the Omicron - what they could get away with Delta, they couldn't with Omicron.)

[Desert Cruisers]

17 hours ago, nocl said:

Tiki Dave (an entertainer on this cruise) just said that he will be on the Grand on the 4th.  So clearly he expects the cruise to proceed.

We are on the January 19th sailing.  We expect the ship to sail unless prevented from doing so by the CDC. However, we think that there is a moderate - high likelihood that Tiki Dave will be entertaining closer to Mexican ports than to Hawaii.  

[azbirdmom]

This link displays the Q&A's for cruising to Hawaii.  https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/faqs/

[Bgwest]

38 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

This link displays the Q&A's for cruising to Hawaii.  https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/faqs/

Thank you for your timely and on topic post.