Grand Princess Question

[stive1]

I am looking at booking the Grand for a 14 day in March of 2010 for our 30th anniversary. We are big fans of Princess as we have been on 7 or 8 cruises with Princess on the CB, Star, Crown and Ruby. My question is how will the Grand compare to these ships. I know the layout is very similar which we like but how is the ship holding up? I know it is older than the others....when was it's last dry dock or when is one scheduled. We are really excited about the 14 day cruise since it has 6 stops at ports we have not been too but I want to make sure that we won't be disappointed in the condition of the ship. Thanks for your help.

[RickEk]

I am looking at booking the Grand for a 14 day in March of 2010 for our 30th anniversary. We are big fans of Princess as we have been on 7 or 8 cruises with Princess on the CB, Star, Crown and Ruby. My question is how will the Grand compare to these ships. I know the layout is very similar which we like but how is the ship holding up? I know it is older than the others....when was it's last dry dock or when is one scheduled. We are really excited about the 14 day cruise since it has 6 stops at ports we have not been too but I want to make sure that we won't be disappointed in the condition of the ship. Thanks for your help.

 

Check out the "Live from" threads that are running right now from the Grand. The ship just came out of wetdock, so it's been gussied up a bit... new carpets etc. The live threads discuss this and more...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=899163

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=898295

[caliber35]

I am looking at booking the Grand for a 14 day in March of 2010 for our 30th anniversary. We are big fans of Princess as we have been on 7 or 8 cruises with Princess on the CB, Star, Crown and Ruby. My question is how will the Grand compare to these ships. I know the layout is very similar which we like but how is the ship holding up? I know it is older than the others....when was it's last dry dock or when is one scheduled. We are really excited about the 14 day cruise since it has 6 stops at ports we have not been too but I want to make sure that we won't be disappointed in the condition of the ship. Thanks for your help.

 

I am recently off the 12/19/08 sailing of the Grand. While it was an enjoyable cruise due to the itenerary, I would offer the following cautions. The recent work done in 'Wet-Dock' was almost entirely cosmetic, consisting of new carpeting, tile and adding of the Sanctuary on the top deck forward. The cabins are still in decent shape and mine had the new LCD TV's, but not all do. The beds are still about the worst I have encountered on any recent cruise. An eggcrate topper helped, but do not expect to find comfort in your bed. During our cruise, the bow thrusters were inoperable over half the time, causing us to tender at several ports and miss one port of call. The filtering system did not work in the main pool, causing it to be closed over half the time, and then filled with sea water instead of fresh. None of the hottubs worked properly the entire cruise. There were multiple failures of the AC and plumbing system; more than I have encountered on any other ship. The water system was heavily clorinated, making drinking of the house water unpleasant, but not unsafe. The coffee is as bad as ever, so bring your own instant or plan on buying your coffee at the lobby bar. The OJ served tasted like watered down Sunny Delight. On the other hand, the service and cusine were both as good as ever and the Matre'D Guisepe is a delight! Overall, I enjoyed my cruise despite the above and delighted in visiting many lovely Caribbean Islands, some for the very first time. Would I sail with Princess again? Yes, but not on the Grand until she undergoes an extensive rennovation.

[Griller]

We were on Grand for 21 days just prior to the cosmetic repairs and had hoped they would fix more problems, like the hot tubs, the drips from the ceilings in various parts of the ship,the uncomfortable beds etc.

We had no thruster problem we were aware of.The ship is getting old.

 

We concur that the food and service was excellent, and we had a good cruise and would go again on Grand if the price and itinerary was attractive.

 

But I tihnk we will try Ruby next and see the difference 10 years can make to design and comfort and facilities. Its a little more per day but probably worth it.

[stive1]

Thanks for the feedback. From other post that I have read it does look like there is somewhat of a pattern to the information. It sounds like the food and service are good and the ship while 10 years old is in pretty good shape to the eye. The problem areas that are a concern are the water issues that are mentioned, the pool and hot tub issues and the beds. We are pretty easy to please overall as we really enjoy just being on a ship and sitting on our balcony so we don't need alot of "things" going on to make us happy. I guess our decison will boil down to taking a chance on some of these things being a problem or looking at a 10 day on the Ruby or possibly doing a b2b on the CB out of San Juan.....but we sure hate to give up the extra 4 days of a cruise where it is nice and warm vs. cold back in Ohio. Thanks for all of your help