Britinsac

Glad to see your post. We just booked the same cabin on the Grand for a 2016 Alaska cruise. I'll be interested hear what you think. We had also seen some reviews about noise from the lounge but thought the positives outweighed the negatives. Enjoy your trip!

You will love the position. The suite is very private, the balcony large, and not windy. We did indeed hear noise from the 9am Zumba in the Vista Lounge and some evenings we could hear the music between 8.30 and 11pm. We just checked the entertainment schedule and were out most of the noisy times. I would definitely book this room again because the noise was a minor thing and did not happen everyday. The wake is noisy but I found it soothing and we loved listening to it and watching it as we sailed. The steward was awesome. Bed was comfortable and the jacuzzi tub got a lot of use! We had a great cruise on the Grand. I could not fault it.

Thanks so much Denise! I appreciate hearing that, and solving the mystery. I was surprised to hear you say the wind was very little on that balcony, I'd expect it to be pretty bad since it was an aft cabin. But we have never had an aft cabin, so I cannot speak from experience.

 

So, I am not planning on booking one of the Emerald deck cabins.

 

Doug

we just got off the Grand and we were in E732 the suite on Port aft corner. We loved the position. The wake is noisy but we liked that. The balcony was huge and sheltered, we had shade going down to Mexico and sun coming back. As others have said there is indeed noise on this side because the cabins are directly above the stage in the Vista Lounge. Most mornings they had Zumba start at 9am which was fine because we were headed out to breakfast anyway. Some evenings we could hear the music and singing very clearly, but it was always over by 11- 11.30 ish. Did not spoil our vacation, but some people may not like it. I would book the aft again, nice and private balconies.Oh and for those that don't know the aft of the ship is rockier than midship cabins... be prepared for some swaying - I liked it but it is much more noticeable. I am still feeling it now 2 days later!

We got out of SFO after a 40 minute delay. As for it being better to have waited it out on the ship; not sure. After the Horizon Court shut down, there was little to do but sit around the waiting areas and watch the clock tick.

 

To their credit, Princess kept passengers apprised of the situation and their efforts to get people off as efficiently and safely as possible.

 

All that said, I think Mrs. Winks and I will opt for earlier disembarkation options in the future. Not worth the added stress....

We opted for an 8am Walk Off and we were off by 8.20. We were on the Bay Bridge by 8.55. Listening to your tale I am so glad we got off when we did!

Indeed, it was the terrific storm this morning that caused the delay in disembarkation. Winds were strong and rain coming across sideways.

 

Tedferg, your plan for your missus and luggage is perfect for Pier 27. If you need any specific details, come on over to our Roll Call.

We got off the Grand yesterday in the midst of the storm. We chose to drag our luggage off early. Although we got absolutely drenched walking to the parking lot I think the worst thing was the darn elevators which are a nightmare even when there are not 500 people with suitcases trying to use them. We just dragged our cases up the stairs to save hours of waiting. We disembarked at 8.20 and we were on the Bay Bridge by 8.55 - home in Roseville by 10.45. A bit damp for the experience but we had an awesome time.

EEK! Sorry you had a bad time!

 

I will say this, a lot of European accents do come across brusque (at best) and is unintentional.

 

Not on Princy but on HAL we were in port (Tahiti) and one of the crew asked me to take their picture with their camera (which was one of the ship's cameras and had more options than I have snide comments about people). It was simply laid about (but expensive) and I was ON the options.

 

Since she was the ship's photographer I was all "you want X Y & Z" the way they are when trying to get our picture and to be sure I got what she wanted in the pic as how many times would she get to Tahiti and I didn't want to not have something she wanted in the pic with them, she withered me w a look that could've frozen the Sun solid and said, "Just take the picture, you know how to do it."

 

I complied (with a little less of my soul intact!), she thanked me, took the camera and went on their way.

 

Getting back to the Westerdam we ran into them again, she asked if we had a good time, reviewed the fun they had that day and again thanked me for taking the pic for her.

 

But for rest of the cruise, sorry it wasn't all you hoped!

We Brits get called out for being stern or sarcastic all the time... I object... I am not stern at all.

Sorry to hear you and your mom encountered so many problems on the Grand. I was just on the ship in November with my family. I did a mini-review for my Island roll call group:

 

"Well I made it home from my Grand Princess California Coastal cruise. We had pretty good weather for November, just a little cool and bumpy on the last sea day home.

 

We had 375 Elite passengers on this cruise, but I was able to make the cut-off for the MTP party. Our captain, Roger Bilton, was very nice and personable. He told us that he prefers the luncheons, but that it just wasn't possible due to the high number of port days.

 

I also wanted to say that the Past Passenger Party was much nicer than the one we had on the Emerald last month. One could either take a drink from the tray, or special order a drink. Additionally, both hot and cold appetizers were served. They also had the little glass jars, with the spicy cracker mix, on the tables.

 

The reason that I am mentioning this is because of Shogun's comment that after cruising on the Emerald last month, he had booked a cruise with another cruise line. It's not that the Emerald was bad, but she just seemed to have more cut backs than the Grand did.

 

Our group of seven had an excellent time on the Grand. For an older ship, I thought she was still in pretty good shape. Our cruise director was David Cole, so we had a good selection of on-board activities. I also enjoyed the One Five club. The last time I had sailed on the Grand, she still had the Skywalker's, lol. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I did like the ship and I would sail on her again."

 

I had such a good time that my DH and I will be back on her next week.

 

Additionally, we had no problem with our toilet or air conditioning, so our cabin is on Deck 12 aft, near where I was booked in November.

 

I understand there is a different captain now. Maybe that has something to do with it? Anyway, still looking forward to a good cruise and thank you for your review.

 

 

__________________

We are looking forward to it too! I am a bit worried about the size of the waves this week in SF Harbor though - could be a tad rocky on the way down!

Thanks for sharing your experience. It sounded wonderful.

 

We spent 22 days on the Grand in Oct/Nov. The crew was simply marvelous. We can't wait to board again on February 3 for a Mexican Riviera cruise. We just booked it yesterday!!

 

Cheers, Denise

So nice to hear this review of the staff...we leave on Saturday 9th Jan on the Mexican Riviera cruise. Cannot wait!

Happy New Year!

I didn't hate it but wasn't impressed. My medium rare steak or beef dish was served "well done" and when I pointed it out to the waiter, he didn't seem to care. No offer to go get another one. We had 3 in our room and getting 3 sets of towels was impossible. Getting a salad dressing not on the menu was not possible. The appetizers at the buffet were bizarre - I think there was a cracker, cucumber, tomato and slice of cheese stacked together with a tooth pick. Plus, everything was so much more - I had cruised Princess in December and then the Millennium in February - transfers were more expensive (yes, I did transfers back then), the same can of Coke, same drinks, the same tours, etc.... Instead of feeling nickel and dimed, I felt dollared to death.

 

Though I have to say their brochures were gorgeous.

 

It has been a long while and maybe I will give them another chance. Though, all main stream lines have declined so it will be interesting. I have heard the Solstice class is definitely in a class of it's own. My goal is to try some more river cruises and maybe try some more higher end lines. I would rather cruise less but have a better experience. And I see more land trips in my future.

We sailed on the Celebrity Silhouette January 2015 and we absolutely loved it. The English Breakfast (being Brits) was something we made a beeline for everyday, skipping lunch because we were so full of the fabulous bacon and mushrooms and other goodies. We did not tire of the buffet because there was so much choice. The main dining room was large but we had anytime seating and we always were seated within 5 minutes. There were many dressed in Tux and evening wear for formal nights, which was really nice. We traveled Concierge Class and the embarkation was a breeze, we were through and eating lunch in 40 minutes. Our balcony cabin was roomy, there were three of us and we had three soft robes and sets of towels, towel animals several times, turn down service too. The afternoon canapes were a bit silly, couple of olives and a bit of cheese or salami most of the time. The ship was just beautiful, elegant, immaculately maintained and sparkling clean. We could not fault the service. My suitcase wheel was broken off when it arrived in my cabin and they replaced the case with a better new one!

We have never traveled Princess before but leave in 17 days on the Grand to Mexican Riviera. We have an aft suite so we are looking forward to the large balcony and sitting room and Sabatini's for breakfast.

I am curious to see how the Grand compares.

Most Princess passengers take formal to mean a dark suit for a man, and a cocktail dress or black pants and a sparkly top for a woman. You will be more formally dressed than most in a tux and a long gown, but there will be other men in tuxes and some women in long gowns. You should wear whatever you are the most comfortable in. Some passengers won't dress formally at all.

I think I will wear a lounge suit but i know my wife will wear long formal. Guess what? Another day closer!

My husband has always worn a tux on formal nights. i have a long, black knit skirt that I wear with different dressy tops. We have never felt out of place.

 

It got lost in all of the recommendations but please remember that you can all have breakfast in Sabatinis because you are in a suite.

It's a wonderful, personal experience and they will make almost anything to please you!

Thank you..my wife is beautiful and looks amazing in formal wear. She will be pleased to dress up!

Looking forward to Sabatini's!

We are elite on Princess and elite on Celebrity, we have cruised the Grand twice, once in l998 when it was new, did a cruise from Istanbul to Barcelona, the second time we did a 7 day California coastal a year or so ago, to check out the ship. We always book mini suite. We did not see any of the complaints others posted when we did a Grand Princess recently. We are booked to go on a New Years cruise and will leave on 12/30 for 10 days to Mexico.

 

Can't address the noise issue, since we have not stayed in the cabin in question.

 

We have cruised Celebrity many times, most recently on the Silhouette in the Mediterranean. The buffet on Celebrity is very good, in terms of food service it is the best. We don't care for the service in the MDR on X, too noisey - crowded and service and quality of food is hit and miss for us on X. Since the buffet is so good we stick with the buffet when on X. By contrast, Princess does a nice 24 hr food service with lots of variety... actually menu changes on Princess - Celebrity the buffet items are the same every day. We also find food and service in the MDR on Princess is more responsive to request to off menu orders, X does not do this well all. We typically have breakfast in our cabin on both Princess and Celebrity. Room service on both is very good.

 

Celebrity is very modern, Princess is a more traditional cruise experience, we prefer Princess to Celebrity but do cruise on both.

 

Hope you enjoy the Grand. If you have more questions would be happy to response if I can.

Thank you so much for all this information, and it helps to know we made a good choice. My wife is a long formal gown kinda girl.. which was perfect on Celebrity, I wore a tux...will we be overdressed and perhaps maybe should go for lounge suit and cocktail dress (her not me)...?

:-) Thanks Janice.

Glad to see your post. We just booked the same cabin on the Grand for a 2016 Alaska cruise. I'll be interested hear what you think. We had also seen some reviews about noise from the lounge but thought the positives outweighed the negatives. Enjoy your trip!

I will keep you posted!

We were on the Star Princess in E732 and really loved our room. Being that it was a cruise to Catalina & Ensenada, it was quite mellow. We had wonderful weather and spent every morning on that huge balcony with our room service breakfast. We usually ended up out their again with our wine before dinner.

 

We encountered two problems with the room. First we asked for extra chairs as there were four of us and only two chairs. We were told that wasn't allowed, so we brought out the desk chair and used the footstool for the other chair. Also, one night the bass coming from the Vista lounge was very loud and our room was vibrating a bit. We put our earplugs in and went to sleep without much problem. Other then that, our room was nice and we would book it again just for the oversized balcony.

Glad you had a great time! Thank you for getting back with me on the room.

I will be happy to sit in a chair.. also I think some days will be cold going down to Mexico and then back again so we probably would not need four. I think if we get some noise from the Vista room we will just tune it out too. I am too long in the tooth to let that spoil my vacation!

I've been on the Grand three times, twice when she was new and, once just last month. I went with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I really liked the One Five night club (and I'm a huge fan of Skywalker's, so I didn't think that I would). I liked the ship enough that I'm going back in 29 days too, for my birthday.:D

 

As far as the drink package, it depends upon how much one drinks as to whether or not to buy it. DH buys it for himself, then uses the sticker to buy the wine for dinner. I buy my drinks as I go. My tab runs about $30.00 a day, but I go to the Elite happy or the BOGO to save money. We also have the free one-time mini-bar and bring on our two bottles of wine, so that helps.

I think we will not bother with the drinks package, my son doesn't and my wife and I are real lightweights so don't think it will be worth it. Hopefully there will be some 20 somethings on the ship too for the kids.

She glad you will be sailing with us! In your suite you will have a complimentary mini bar. You can either keep it or trade it for two coffee cards. The coffee cards are used for specialty coffees at the International Cafe and for unlimited brewed coffee. You will also be getting complimentary specialty coffees when you breakfast at Sabatini's. Plus each adult can bring on one bottle of wine without paying corkage fees. With all that, you wouldn't get your money's worth buying the drink package. See you on board!

That's great to know.. I would rather have the coffee cards for sure! We are not big drinkers but we are partial to a good cappaccino :)

My son is concerned about formal night..will he be ok in a formal shirt and tie or will he need a jacket?

Yes it is.. I see the Grand had a fire... my heart sank when I saw that but it seems all is well.

Getting excited now!

I will be in E732 on the Star in just 28 days. We are going on a girls cruise or a Mom's weekend away as the Husbands like to call it. I don't think we get perks for being in a mini-suite, but if any happen to come our way, we will take them! I will update you all on the noise as I have read the same comments. I believe the Grand is the sister ship to the Star. If not, I will update anyways :-)

How was your cruise? I saw you said that you were in a mini suite... on Grand it is a Vista Suite so I am hoping that you go that too!

Thanks so much

Thank you for your reply! I just got round to thinking about our vacation again...all good information

Cheers

Glad to see your post. We just booked the same cabin on the Grand for a 2016 Alaska cruise. I'll be interested hear what you think. We had also seen some reviews about noise from the lounge but thought the positives outweighed the negatives. Enjoy your trip!

Sorry for tardy reply, time got away with me and have not had a moment to get online and think about vacation. But now it's only 29 days to go! I will be sure to report back on our experience.

Cheers for now!

I have been on the Grand twice, but not recently. It is my favorite, but I know it is getting old. However, Princess takes care of maintenance pretty well. Have a great cruise.

 

We are taking one of my adult children and his wife on the Crown in February. I can't wait. We are all spread around the country and are only able to see each other when large scale events are planned. This will be more intimate.

Thanks so much for your reply. The main reason we chose this cruise was that it leaves from San Francisco (we live in Sacramento area) and so we don't have to fly to join it. It will be really nice to just drive to the port and not have to worry about delays and cancelled flights! First family holiday for many years.. My daughter is in New York and coming in for Christmas before we head out on the cruise in early January. Great opportunity for some family time!

You will want to be in the Vista Lounge if you are on the Grand.

Nice cabin location, btw. Have a Great cruise.

Thanks so much I will check out the Vista Lounge for sure.

My wife and two adult kids are cruising with Princess for the first time and we wanted a suite so that we have a big enough balcony for us all to spend time together while at sea.

I have read a lot of reviews about E732 being over the Fusion night club, it seems some people were bothered by noise and others were not. I think our solution will be to spend time in Fusion until 1am and enjoy ourselves instead of worrying about sleeping early!

We have cruised Celebrity on Silhouette which was beautiful and the food was fabulous, especially the breakfast buffet. We had the drinks package each but felt we did not really use it. If we drink two or so cocktails each a day and a couple of coffees and waters would it be worth getting on the Grand? We have no idea of pricing of cocktails, water or coffees. We don't want to scrimp but for four adults its another 2,000 for the beverage package.

I have read a lot of the Grand Princess reviews that mention the ship is getting old and there are leaks and problems with the A/C. Curious to know what the seasoned Elite Princess members think of this ship. One thing is for sure we will have a good time and nothing will get in the way of that! Thanks so much for any advice or info!