Dani24
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Posts posted by Dani24
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Our second day we enjoyed breakfast in Crown Grill. There were only a few other tables occupied, so it was a nice, quiet and relaxed experience. We were able to easily make a few simple off-menu selections. Our wait staff was also the same excellent group from Sabatini's the night before.
We dropped my daughter off at the kid's club after. She's in the 3-7 group. The room is not that large, and I saw something written on the sign in sheet saying "30 max". There are 108 kids onboard in her age group though! And another 178 in the 8-12 range. They did not give us a pager this time, saying they were prioritizing those for the 3-5 year olds, and suggesting we just come check on her periodically. We did take her back there in the afternoon, and that time they gave us a pager (though I did ask). My daughter LOVES the kid's club. She says the staff is very nice. The activities have been fun. She comes back with crafts each time. Yesterday she got an adorable stuffed humpback whale too! And she made a cute beaded whale bracelet.
Meanwhile, my husband and I checked out the Tess Julianna lecture. I found it a bit underwhelming. A little too chit chatty, and not enough depth of the information. Although, I have been reading Michener's Alaska, so maybe its made me too familiar.
We collected our daughter, and headed up to the One5 Lounge for a Cruise Critic meet and greet. Our roll call was pretty quiet, and only two groups showed up (or at least that we connected with). But the place was full of people because, by chance, they were doing the Escape Room sign ups at 11:30 there.
The Escape Room is $5/pp. They recommend kids 12+. But it sounds like they let kids younger (but you have to sign a waiver). They had several slots available the morning of Ketchikan, and on a sea day (the one after Ketchikan). 8 people per slot. There were maybe 10ish slots? It was a zoo signing up though. Everyone just sort of pushed and crowded up to the front. Lots of people were booking groups of 6 or 8. We were just doing my husband and I, so we squeezed in with a family of 6.
We did the Pub Lunch with another family we met. They were able to set up a table for 9 for us. There's no kids menu. The two kids present weren't interested in the food, but they brought a plate of fries for them. Food was good, though not amazing. I don't think I'd bother with that menu again.
We got some pizza from Slices after. It's okay... Not as good as we remember the deck pizza from 9 years ago (our last Princess cruise). I also tried the Cali avocado toast. Also pretty underwhelming. The avocado was like a runny paste. Maybe I'm too spoiled from being a Californian and having easy access to avocados. 🙂
Dropped my daughter off at the kids club again (she loves it, and was begging to go!) Meanwhile, my husband napped and I wandered the ship, taking pictures and learning the layout. Discovered that the golf course is closed for repairs. No word on when it'll be back up.
The shopping program on board is offering a new charm bracelet thing. If you show up at a bunch of designated times you get a cruise related charm. There's also a voucher for a bracelet to attach them too. Technically you're supposed to go to an initial shopping lecture to get the list/voucher for the bracelet. I missed it, but was able to sweet talk a list/voucher from a sales staff member. The lines for these can get crowded/long. It's very popular. I'm collecting them for my daughter though as a fun (and free!) souvenir. The quality of the bracelet and charms are very nice.
My husband was still snoozing, so I attended afternoon tea, joining a table of others. Service was great. The pastries were yummy (especially the v scone!) But the sandwiches were just okay. Not as good as I remember.
Dinner in Club Class tonight. For some reason we got seated at the very inside border, next to non Club Class tables. It was fine... But we felt a bit "shoved aside" by the location (service was still excellent). There were tons of tables available closer to the windows. Maybe because we have a kid? She's very well behaved... But maybe they were trying to avoid disrupting/annoying other guests if her behavior wasn't good? Or maybe I'm projecting. We'll see where they sit us tonight, and maybe ask for something closer to the window next time.
The Club Class specials were Shrimp American with Lobster Sauce. Very tasty and light! There was also a penne with tomato sauce and shrimp. Also really good. The tomato sauce was rich and nicely spiced.
We caught the comedian, Andrew Kennedy. He was funny (though nothing mind blowing). He mostly talked about race, and his experiences being half Columbian, half English.
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4 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:
Are they selling the wine packages on board?
Only the Gold package (7 bottles for $217, 10 bottles for $290, and 12 bottles for $336). Good for bottles valued up to $45.
They no longer offer the Silver. They're going to be introducing a new wine package if some sort, most likely with tiers, but the waiter was not sure when they would be introducing that though. He said they have not given a date.
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1 hour ago, 4cats4me said:
Regarding discounts of internet packages on embarkation day, on the MedallionNet ships (Royal, Regal, Caribbean and a couple others) you get 25% on embarkation day IF you are platinum or elite. I don’t believe the Grand has gone to MedallionNet yet, so perhaps the reason for no additional discount on embarkation day
Ugh. People weren't clear about that. I specifically asked about the Grand too. Oh well... Live and learn! Next cruise we'll be Platinum as well.
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1 hour ago, andio2of5 said:
I might add that the Grand’s internet on Alaska cruises is slow....very slow ☹️
We're still off the coast of California (approaching the border to Oregon), and the v speed has been decent so far. I realize that may get worse the further north we go though.
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10 hours ago, Dani24 said:
We had dinner at Sabatinis tonight, with the newish menu (pics to come). It was excellent! We're accustomed to fine dining, and this did not disappoint. We were also treated to whales spouting and breaching, and seals popping their heads up just off the ship as we dined. Unfortunately I did not grab the head waiter's name (he wasn't particularly social). I'm also blanking on the name of our waiter, but it started with an F. I need to go find out because he was superb and I want to submit a comment card for him. He's actually getting off in Juneau to fly home to see his family, so hopefully the comment card will still be impactful.
🙂
Francis was our waiter from Sabatini's. Our staff from there last night is the staff in the Crown Grill suite breakfast this morning.
He is leaving in two days though. Going home for a bit, then transferring to the Sky Princess.
Royston is one of the other waiter's we had last night/this morning. And Robert was/is the Head Waiter.
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On 7/22/2019 at 5:21 PM, cruiseesusee said:
Who is the current steward for the Windows Suites? Is it still Raymond? If yes, can you ask him if he will be onboard Christmas Week 2019?
Dede Teddy Trisnady is our steward for the Window Suites. He seems absolutely wonderful so far!
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3 hours ago, SLO Dancers said:
Do they have Zumba on board?
Yep! I see a session on the Patter for tomorrow morning!
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6 hours ago, stoneharborlady said:
Hey voljeep, We havent seen any pics of food TODAY. They are my favorite, and I for one, would like to see some! Will ask Dani to post one of the butter for you, I promise.
Oh, I've got food pics! No butter pics... But that can be arranged!
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6 hours ago, stoneharborlady said:
Hey voljeep, We havent seen any pics of food TODAY. They are my favorite, and I for one, would like to see some! Will ask Dani to post one of the butter for you, I promise.
Oh, I've got food pics! No butter pics... But that can be arranged!
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5 hours ago, EmilyColwell said:
I did not see the thread mentioned but i'd love info on the thermal suite!
There is no thermal suite on the Grand, unfortunately.
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Lunch in Club Class was delicious. No special menu item today, but Giovanni said he'd be making special pastas for lunch and dinner starting tomorrow.
Our room was ready just before 1 pm, and our luggage arrived pretty quickly so we spent some time unpacking. Even though we have the smallest Window Suite (which is still amazing!) there's TONS of storage. I'm certain I over-packed (for both my daughter and I), and there's 3 of us in here, but we actually have storage room to spare! For once we might actually keep this place organized (though ask me in a few days...)
The room is great, though showing its age. They did NOT replace the couch in the Window Suites, and it's looking pretty haggard. One of the window shades is broken, but my husband "fixed" it enough to get it to stay up. I can already see that the ship is tired, but honestly very serviceable and lovely. Nothing to ruin a vacation over!
Also the steward (Dede) said they don't have the suite bag anymore. Instead we got a sleep kit in a white bag (eye mask, ear plugs, lavender linen spray, shower puff, shower scent bomb, shower cap, lip balm). There's also a sewing kit, lint brush and shoe sponge, a silver bowl of bath salts, tubes of shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, q-tips and cotton balls in a silver jar, slippers, and two waffle robes lined with Terry cloth. I also just noticed our steward put a collection of goodies in the bathroom for us: Emery board, two more lip balms (different from the sleep kit), linen mist (also different from sleep kit), and shower cap. A beautiful orchid plant, big bowl of fresh fruit, two glasses of champagne, and canapes and two chocolate covered strawberries rounded out the amenities I've seen in here so far.
The Golden Gate bridge was partially obscured by fog when we sailed. We were all the way forward on deck 15, I think, (just under the Sanctuary) and it was cold and very windy (almost knocked me down a couple times). But I think I got some great pics! And sailing under the bridge is always a treat! (This is our 3rd cruise that passed under her)
We had dinner at Sabatinis tonight, with the newish menu (pics to come). It was excellent! We're accustomed to fine dining, and this did not disappoint. We were also treated to whales spouting and breaching, and seals popping their heads up just off the ship as we dined. Unfortunately I did not grab the head waiter's name (he wasn't particularly social). I'm also blanking on the name of our waiter, but it started with an F. I need to go find out because he was superb and I want to submit a comment card for him. He's actually getting off in Juneau to fly home to see his family, so hopefully the comment card will still be impactful.
A couple of things of note. I had asked the other day about whether to pre-order the internet. Many people (here and on another forum) said they've found it was cheaper on embarkation day. It WASN'T. There was no special, even after asking the Internet Manager. Pre-cruise is the lowest you'll get.
Also, when my husband loaded up the app he clicked on a package thinking it would give him more info on it, and it purchased it with ZERO confirmation! Plus it looks like you get "300 MB of superior experience" with Surf (500 MB with Premium). I checked with the Internet Manager and he confirmed that after that point you get throttled (though you still have a connection, so it's technically "unlimited").
We're also having a weird problem wherein my husband's name wasn't on the Club Class list, or the DINE line's list when we called to reserve Sabatini's tonight. We were still able to go, but were told to speak to Guest Services who so far have not resolved the issue (because on their end things look fine).
The interior of the ship is pretty crowded/lively. And I have only scratched the surface of it!
I did stop by the library/Leaves and there were a bunch of books (I didn't browse heavily, but seemed a pretty random assortment). The tea drawers are still there, and some still have loose tea in them. Most have just a little left. There's a hot water tap, but no attendant, no cups and no way to scoop or steep the tea. My guess is it got abandoned and that tea has been sitting in there ever since, and nobody bothered to clean it out.
I have lots of pics to augment the above. But I'll have to add those later! Can't use too much of that 300 MB of "superior experience!" 🙂
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I'm hoping to touch on aspects that I had been curious about, but couldn't find much (if any) info on. I also love taking pictures of everything, and will share a gallery at some point for those that want more!
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We boarded the Grand this morning in San Francisco. We arrived at the port about 10am. Still tons of people coming off the ship and waiting for transportation. A porter collected our bags pretty quickly. They didn't allow anyone to enter until 10:30 am. At that point we headed up and through security and checked in. There was no lines, very few people. We couldn't board the ship until 11 am. We are in a suite, so we had an escort show us on board, and took our hand luggage for us. The escorts weren't ready until right before 11. One other family (unescorted) boarded before us. 🙂
Once onboard we enjoyed a light snack from International Cafe. At 11:30 the MDR opened. We're currently in Club Class having lunch. Giovanni is the head waiter.
I expect to update this thread throughout the cruise, when I'm able. I have a list of questions from my earlier thread, and I'll do my best to get answers to each!
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We're on board! We were one of the very first onboard. Definitely in the top 10. 🙂
We're enjoying lunch in Club Class right now. Giovanni is here! I let him know he has a "fan club" online. He was very impressed.
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1 minute ago, steelers36 said:
Hope someone from a recent cruise who booked a package that way and has the info at hand. GL. It won't be worse than Personalizer pricing. Do you have OBC to spend?
We will have a good chunk of OBC available once we board. Though it's already earmarked for other stuff, so we'd likely be paying extra for internet.
If you book in advance and the price is better the first day, will they adjust the price, or let you cancel and re-buy?
Do they advertise the embarkation price in the Patter? Someone posted those from our same ship/itinerary two months ago. I could check that if it might list the price.
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1 hour ago, steelers36 said:
If it is for the same length voyage, your quoted price seems more like the Premium package ($140 less 25%)??? If the OP's prices are correct, the middle package is being offered at $100 without any Circle status. Anyway, I am quite sure the OP will find a good price on board "Day 1".
My prices were pulled from the Personalized this evening. It looks like they may still have it open for booking. I'd love if someone could confirm the embarkation day price so I know whether to jump on this or just wait.
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1 hour ago, steelers36 said:
You can get the SURF package and will have access to email and other websites such as news, weather. Streaming video may not work, depending where you are. You can check on banking, etc if needed. Phone apps like WhatsApp do not work under SURF. I mean for video calling. You can send text messages.
I upgraded from Surf to Premium for the final three days of a cruise earlier this year on Majestic. The upcharge keeps going down as the cruise progresses. I ended up paying an extra 3x $5 to upgrade for final days (all at sea).
Suite guests pay same for internet as anyone else. I gather you are not yet eligible for the 25% discount in lieu of free minutes. However, you will get the best deal booking your package on embarkation day. No need to book now in Personalizer. In fact, it may be too late since you mentioned 3 days to sailing.
PS - The Premium package has no restrictions on internet access or apps. It works like the Minutes Plans in that nothing is restricted. Of course, you can run out of minutes if you do a lot online. Social is quite limited (IDK it all, but it's intended for Facebooking and such... no email).
We'll be Platinum on our next cruise, so no free minutes for this one. 😞
Can you buy individual days? We really only need it for sea days. We'll have cell service in port. He should only need to check a couple of times a day. Or is it more cost efficient to get it for the whole cruise? We'd probably need 4, maybe 5 days if we did it daily.
How does the Surf package work for things like uploading photos, or downloading audiobooks or Kindle books? If we have internet, I may want to make use of those features if possible. But not sure it's worth paying for the Premium for.
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Help me understand the internet packages (especially on the Grand Princess - interested in how the performance is with the new wiring too). We’ve never bothered to purchase internet before, but my husband now needs to be able to check in on something daily in his email (gmail).
We’re on a 10 day cruise to Alaska, leaving in 3 days! So we need to get this figured out fast. There are three packages available in our Personalizer. The Premium package for $140, the Surf package for $100, or the Social package for $70. The site does not expand upon exactly WHAT sites are included in the second two. Does gmail apply to all of them? What else is allowed in the Social or Surf packages?
Also, are these packages for only one device? Or can you switch devices, but only be logged in on one device at a time?
Lastly, I had read some things suggesting that sometimes the price is actually better on embarkation day than in the Personalizer (although I gathered that maybe that was only for Platinum/Elite guests who could apply their free minutes against the packages?) We are in a suite this cruise, and I know they no longer come with any free internet, but does that ever affect the price of the internet on the ships?
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On 7/19/2019 at 10:08 AM, Thrak said:
I can't imagine little kids being able to eat more than a small portion of a dinner in Crown Grill. Both my wife and I can barely manage it even if we get the filet - which is their smallest cut of meat. A long dinner with kids who will get bored and who won't be able to eat more than a token amount seems like a bad idea to me.
Totally depends on the kid! My stick-thin 7 year old daughter can pack away as much food as my husband and I in one sitting. Then still want dessert! (Though some days she just pecks at her food.) I know lots of kids with some serious "hollow legs". 🙂
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Oh, and if by chance your family members have a Princess coupon book in their cabin when they board, check it for a coupon for “2 for 1” pricing at the specialty restaurants on embarkation day.
Part of the reason they offer those coupons and the free suite dining is because most people don’t book specialty dining on the first night otherwise. I would be hard pressed to imagine you’d have any trouble getting a reservation for your whole group that first night.
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5 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:
I think they meant possibly like for priority stuff if people question them they can show them that they're elite. In all honesty I keep my Medallion inside my little clutch bag that I carry around with me. I never actually wear it on me. All passengers majority of time just think I'm crew and I asked him why do they think that ?They proceed to tell me, because you don't have a medallion, so you must work for the line. Silly people, but I do enjoy their entertainment and play along. I tell them I have a very important job onboard and that I'm not allowed to discuss. (I call it, playing passenger).
Passengers shouldn’t be confronting each other about those things anyway. If someone has a concern that they’re not getting the level of service they should be, they need to discuss that with the staff, who can then explain the differing amenity levels by status, or take corrective action if necessary. There’s really no reason anyone needs to display their status to anyone other than staff.
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We’ll be taking my 7 year old to the specialty restaurants when we sail next week. I have no concerns about her handling it. She has gone to nicer restaurants with us before, and always does well. I usually bring her a book or puzzle activity booklet to work on just in case she feels a bit bored/restless.
I’m happy to report back on how young-kid friendly the specialty restaurants are after we return from our cruise.
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I'm really bummed to hear about all of your troubles in your original cabin. I hope they compensate you fairly and that you're able to get comfortable somewhere (even if it's not in your original room) and enjoy the next week ahead of you.
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We're boarding her as you get off. Keep her in good shape for us!
I had posted the other thread about gathering info from the Grand. Looks like you have some of it covered. Did my husband secretly pay you to force me to actually relax on vacation? 😄
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What do you want to know about the Grand Princess?
in Princess Cruises
Posted
I cannot find any plugs near either side of the bed in our Window Suite. Except that both bedside lamps (and the one next to the sofa) have a USB outlet in the base.
There is only the Gold bottle package available on board at this time. 7 bottles for $217; 10 bottles for $290; 12 bottles for $336. Good for bottles up to $45.