Just Back from Grand

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

My DW and I just got back from a 12 day Med cruise on the Grand. We spent three additional days in Barcelona and two in London following the cruise. We also did three days in Venice prior to the cruise.

 

We enjoyed every minute of the cruise. As you can see from my signature, we haven't cruised in six years and decided to get back in the game. We are glad we did. My DW and I did the Grand in 1999 when it was fairly new. We were a little apprehensive as to her condition now that she is eight years old. I'll tell you right up front that the Grand is still grand. Another note about the ship; we had a mini suite on the Dolphin deck. During the time we were on the ship, they were installing sprinklers on the balconies on this deck. I couldn't tell if they had installed them on other decks yet, but it appears they were working their way up.

 

I need to clarify that my DW and I are not food or coffee snobs. I heard many complaints prior to leaving about the quality of food and coffee on board. Even though we are from Seattle, I had no problem with the coffee. It's not Starbucks, but then again I did not plan on it being at that level of quality. We felt the food was very good. We understand that any cruise ship that is cooking for a couple thousand passengers will not have five-star cuisine. However, we found the food more than acceptable. We especially enjoyed any time dining.

 

We were only dissappointed in one port. We found Athens to be dirty and over rated. However, we were pleasantly surprised with Istanbul.

 

We were so happy with the entire cruise, that while aboard, we booked two more cruises.

[kftw]

Thank you for your post. It is great to hear the Grand is still grand. Now to continue waiting for our turn on her.

[Colo Cruiser]

Ditto on the review of your Grand Princess cruise, we have sailed her 5 times and it is great to hear that she is still being maintained at such a high level. :)

[LILynn]

Thanks for the great review on the Grand. I will be on the 9/1 sailing and I can't wait.

 

Any words of advice on what you did on the ports? Did you take any of the ship excursions or do private tours?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Lynn

[sunprincess]

Thanks so much for your post cruise thoughts.

Leaving in 5 more days for the Grand ;)

[spongerob]

Thanks for your comments. I think it shows that Princess does a great job taking care of their ships and that newer is not necessarily better.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We did do several of the excursions that princess offered. Our two favorites were in Kusadasi where we did the combined tour of Ephesus, the home of Mary and Saint John's church. With only a half day in Ephesus, I would recommend this tour if you want to see these things. The other tour we really enjoyed was the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. We are glad we did this, but be prepared for a long bus ride on very narrow roads. However, it is beautiful.

 

A couple of more points regarding the cruise. Embarkation was a breeze and we did not find any problems with debarkation. However, we did not have a plane to catch and could just wait around on the ship until our time to leave.

[Ashlea13vb]

Thanks for the info, Poulsbo! So, the Amalfi Coast tour you did was through Princess? Did you find that you were able to see the Amalfi views out of the bus? Glad to hear you enjoyed it - I'm thinking about that tour for our Naples stop in August.

 

Were there any Princess excursions you were disappointed with, or ones that you would not recommend?

 

Thanks for your insight!

[CruiseAholic]

Was also on the same cruise, although we only stayed 1 night in Barcelona. It was a great cruise and yes, the Grand is still in great ship, this was my 6th or 7th cruise on her (my 38th Princess).

 

I love Athens, such great sights to see (been there several times before), but yes, like many big cities, it can be dirty. I went out on the tour that went to Corinth which was fabulous.

 

The most disappointing port for me was Marsailles. We took the tour to Avignon and Marsaille and Avignon was a disappointment, in that the papal palace is basically bare. Would have just as much enjoyed a 1/2 during closer to the ship.

[Dena]

We also did three days in Venice prior to the cruise.

 

quote]

 

Where did you stay in Venice? What was it like sailing from Venice; we've been there a few time and I imagine sailing into or out of that port must be beautiful.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We stayed at the Hotel Manin in Venice. My only recommendation for a Venice hotel is to be sure it is on the water. We arrived late at night and were able to take a water taxi from the airport to the hotel. If had not been on the water, it would have been very difficult to try to find the hotel and navigate the streets with our luggage.

 

We were not disappointed with any of our excursions. We did not do an excursion in Marseille since there was not anything we really wanted to see and we needed that day to just relax.

 

We were able to see the Amalfi coast very well from the bus. Be sure to sit on the right side of the bus (left as you enter) since the tour busses are only allowed to travel the highway going southbound. Our driver was excellent. I don't know how he could put the bus into the spaces he did. The tour did stop for a short time in Amalfi where you could walk around and get a feel for these cute little towns along the coast.

[JanMD]

Mariselle- you can walk from the ship to downtown and when we were there it was market day and we had a blast. It was so nice to walk and be with the French people and go into the stores- yes we had done research before we left. There were stores that are cheper to get it in France than in the states- and that is what we did. That is a very nice town to sit and have a glass of wine and just watch people.

[balanceok]

We spent three additional days in Barcelona .

 

Can you tell me about the hotel in Barcelona? We'll be staying there 3 days prior to our cruise in November and would appreciate any guidance on selecting a hotel.

 

Thanks.