Hazegreyunderway

That’s assuming you can get a hotel room in SF. 

According to an article in the city-journal the city is paying homeless people to live in everything from motel 6’s to the Mark Hopkins. Yes that Mark Hopkins. Free alcohol, ciggys and weed included. 

Gee, why cruise when you can stay in the Hopkins and have a grand ol time!

We’re done with cruising. We have taken 6 cruises, 4 Mexico and 2 Hawaii and been sick 4 out of 6 times. Sometimes a 1-2 day “ bug” or a 3-4 day fever type thing.  Our last cruise on the Grand ( Nov 17-Dec 3 2019), my wife was sick all the way back from Hawaii to SFO....never left the room. Now please do not rush to judgement.

We wash our hands constantly, limit our trips to the Horizon Court ( if we go at all) and do not go to the big shows either. We prefer to find a quiet place, read a book and watch the ocean go by. Maybe it’s just us I’m not sure. We’re in our late 50’s and early 60’s. I always thought we were very proactive in our hand washing. I know it’s impossible to keep a ship totally clean, I was in the Navy for 24 years.

Ships are petri dishes and with thousands of cruisers from all over the world in various stages of health, with varying attitudes on hygiene all confined in a space. We debated this issue a lot on the way back from Hawaii - basically to cruise again or not and we still weren’t sure as we docked in SFO.

Before we disembarked we went to the Horizon Court to get a quick cup of coffee from that area with the hot water dispensers and those stacks of coffee cups. As we approached there was a man actively and forcefully coughing ( UNCOVERED) directly at the stacks of cups. Completely oblivious to his actions.  He nevered even attempted to cover up, unbelievable.  My wife and I just looked at each other, did an about face, grabbed our bags and left the ship. That was the nail in the coffin for us. 

FYI

We still sitting at the pier 27 and it’s almost 7 pm. The general announcement at 4 pm was that the ship was waiting for stragglers. Then at 5 pm it was waiting for a “ medical device”.

No worries, we have the drink package lol

Here you go, hope this helps.

We stayed in L 302 in Feb 2016 for a Mexico cruise. The couch was a fold out bed but we never used it, it was just the two of us. The room itself was wonderful! Plenty of room, a private balcony, it was well worth it.

I’ll see if I can find some pics of the room if you’re interested.

Hi all,

Were taking the Grand to Hawaii in November, and typically we book our own hotel.  DW and I were discussing if Princess had any agreements with hotels for passengers as it might be a better deal through Princess, instead of booking separately.

Thanks

 Hi all,

Our ship will be docking in Ensenada for a 1/2 day and we’re looking for a few hours to kill off the ship.

Can anyone recommend a nice place for food and drinks?

Ugh, that’s what we thought, but it was worth a try!

We will be on the Grand for the Hawaii cruise Nov 18-Dec 3.  When we dock in Ensenada for the 1/2 day, our son wants to drive down from San Diego and see us.  Can we bring him onboard for a few hours? Or is it a no go?

Thanks

We decided to skip bringing an extension cord for our last cruise on the Grand, and opted for asking the room steward for an extension cord.

He brought a 25 ft bright yellow heavy duty construction cord (eye roll).

Just curious, why do they take your passport?

We did a princess shore excursion in Cabo at the Casa Dorada Resort. Beautiful resort. It was around $60p/person and well worth it. Very close to the port area.

Our shore excursion group had a day room for use,  beach loungers with umbrellas, roped off from the beach vendors which was great. I hate it when you get hassled like that. Nice soft sand and clear water.

Included was 2 free drinks p/person, a free lunch Buffett which was great. If you get tired of the beach then you can hang out at the 2 pools. 

Maybe you can call the resort direct and see how it goes.

Money well spent for us.

We’ve done the Mexican Riviera cruises too, including Loreto and Manzanillo (3x).  

For us in Manzanillo there is always a visible big police presence in the port/shopping areas. We felt relatively safe in the port area. Typically we usually  sample the local foods and that was it for us, then back to the ship.  Not much in Manzanillo in my opinion, plus it can be hot as heck too. 

I follow the State Department travel advisories too.  When I see “ Do Not Travel”... I don’t travel. Unfortunately Mexico has a huge cartel war going on and it can get nasty. I’d err on the safe side and stay close to the ship rather than end up on the news as a victim.

Hi all,

We’re taking the Grand to Hawaii this November 18-Dec 3 2019.

We are thinking of doing the Royal Hawaiian Hotel beach excursion ( listed on the princess site) in Honolulu for the day. My beautiful wife and I have been going to Hawaii for over 50 years and just want to relax on the beach, no hassles.  Been there and done that with the touristy stuff. 

Does anyone have any feedback, good or bad on that excursion?  Type of lunch, service and drinks? Beach conditions?

As a reference, we took the Grand last year on a 10 day Mexico cruise.  We took the Cabo beach excursion to Casa Dorada and it was wonderful.

Thanks for the info.

We were on the Grand in November 2018 for a 10 Mexico cruise.

Here are a few pics of the MDR menu. We also had the club class dining and thought it was excellent. 

We’re not platinum or elite, just mere ruby levelers and we were escorted onboard in shackles.....just kidding. 

We cruised on the Grand from SFO last December and had a suite. As soon as we checked in at the kiosk, we had a steward escort us all the way to our suite which we thought was a nice touch.  

Prior to that cruise ( December 2018)  the last time we sailed was 3 years prior in a Grand suite, on the Grand but no escort. 

Maybe It’s the ship adding a nice perk. 

Those are great pictures!  We did the cruise just prior to yours, same ports and had a wonderful time. 

Just curious, what kind of camera did you use? 

We have Sprint.  For $5 we figured it was worth it. It’s not like we’re going to waste time by surfing the net in port, just want to do a quick email check and if we have to make some calls in Mexico and to the U.S. it’s covered. 

Thanks for the helpful replies.

After reading about the hazards of free WiFi and possibly getting hacked, we checked with our cell carrier and for $5 we added Mexico for cell and data usage. 

Ahoy,

We are sailing on the Grand Dec 3 for the Mexico cruise. Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan and Cabo. 

Does anyone know some spots in port that have free WiFi so we can check email?

Thanks in advance. 

Hi all,

We’re doing a princess cruise in Dec 2018 to Cabo, Mazatlan, Manzanilla and PV.

We’re mainly looking at Cabo since they have a nice beach to zip around and it’s close to the tender.

We’re thinking it might be fun to rent a couple of jet skis. I’m kind of leery because of the scam factor though. I’ve tried it in Asia and sometimes it turned into a real scam shakedown for money, claiming damage etc when the jet ski was barely sea worthy.

Does anyone have any tips or recommendations for any of the above mentioned ports?

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Thanks for all the great info!

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You, Mrs. Gosse, like the OP, obviously did not bother scrolling through the post from the link at all. It actually does have current drink menus from Royal Princess in subsequent posts from the first one, which yes - shows the Elite/Suite/Platinum menu and drink.. A simple scroll really does show the drink menus.. Literally Post #2 is listed Various Drink Menus

And yes, a Google search would do it - and lots and behold, brings up the same post as an option.

Go figure

Hey Reed,

I’m not sure if anyone has called you an ******* for how you treat people, but I will. Your arrogance and condescending towards people on this board is sickening.

All that person was doing was asking an innocent question and in your arrogant way you tried to belittle them.

Shame on you.

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I love the Grand and crew, but I’m tired of the west coast being a grave yard for the princess fleet.

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