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Thank you for this information!  It saved us from wasting our time.

I was just in the Cruise Personalizer and it worked fine for our cruise on Tuesday. Maybe you need to clear out your cache/cookies on your browser and restart? Otherwise perhaps there is a problem with your account and they need to fix it on Princess' end. Call them and as a last resort, ask them to email you a PDF of your documents.

My wife left some money on the casino account by accident and several months later a check for the amount appeared in our mailbox. She didn't even realize she forgot to cash out.

You might also look into a Contour ROAM camera. Handy little HD quality waterproof cameras that do multiple things for a good price. Accessories are reasonable and you can get all sorts of mounts. They don't have a built in screen, but the plus model can be controlled with a smartphone.

It also has still photo capability and you can set it to take photos at a specific interval to build a time lapse video. (Again, plus version allows adjusting settings, etc.... but the regular requires connecting to a computer to adjust settings)

We never use our debit card unless we are making a transaction at a local store and use our PIN on their pad. We keep the card in our possession at all times and don't give the number out to anyone.

Debit cards are a direct draw from your bank account and takes directly from your money. If the number is stolen or someone gets their hands into your account, they can take your money and it'll take a lot of steps to get it resolved and you will not have cash funds to live on until it is fixed.

Using a credit card is a buffer between the two, where you are protected and you can also float the charges for the one month billing cycle and also gain points or cash back.

No reason for us to be paying Princess OBC with our money ahead of time, why let them hold onto our money? We keep it in our own bank, not theirs. Pay the balance at the end of the cruise on our credit card, pay off the credit card when the bill is due several weeks later.

If there is unused OBC that can not be given back as cash, then go to the casino and take out the money there... put your card in a machine, draw from your account and cash out.

We enjoyed our cruise on the Grand in 2013. Even back then people were saying negative things about it. The food was good, the service was excellent and we had a great cruise.

There are always people who want to dwell and focus on the negative. Were there a few areas that we noticed problems? Sure! We did see a few areas where they had leaks, we just walked by them. Who cares? Rust? Yeah, it's a ship that is at sea in salty conditions 365 days a year! Walk by it and ignore it. But the positives outweigh the negatives. They were always working on different areas, even varnishing the handrails and painting. But 24 hours a day/7 days a week use by passengers can wear things down quickly.

We've been to Cabo and PV twice. We'd recommend taking the water taxi to Medano Beach, but include a tour first.. around the arch and lover's beach. Think we paid around $10 round trip for four of us, plus $1 each additional at pier where water taxi is docked. The restaurants provide seating, shade and service on the sand! Enjoy! Our water taxi arrived back to pick us up exactly on time too! Great service each time!

We also took a parasailing trip from a pier-side vendor.. we were the only ones on the boat and it was way cheaper than the ship excursion cost! Shop around or just offer a price before agreeing.. they'll follow you around like little puppies as they shout out lower and lower prices.

And if you just want good food, check out Gordo LeLe's.. it's a bit off the beaten path and is a hole in the wall place, but very good food!

For PV, we took the ship excursions both times.. One was the Marigalante Pirates tour.. good food, good drink, great show and fun times! The second visit to PV we took a tequila factory tour.

Have fun!!

As with other posters, never seen punch to add to our vodka. But we do request lemonade from the Horizon Court buffet waiters and they will bring us a glass or two to use as a mixer. It's nothing like the lemonade dispensed 24 hours a day on Carnival, but does make a good mixer with vodka!

You can also take a flask on-board with you, empty of course.. and we leave the cap open for x-ray in our carry on. And maybe a small funnel to fill it! ;) That way you can pour your vodka and mix your drinks wherever you are.

Enjoy your cruise!

Great review so far! Thank you for sharing. Perfect on the level of detail.. not too much, not too little!!

Looking forward to following along as you continue your review.

We went on a tequila tour in PV and it was fun.. several hours long and they picked us up at the ship. Took us to three different "tequila factories" ... taught a lot about how it's made. Then basically upsold us on their "factory direct" tequila. Watch out tho, as with almost anything bought in Mexico, they took advantage of the fact that we were on a tour and sold us some very bad flavored tequila. The samples were great!! But the sealed bottles we brought home tasted like dirt.. maybe crack one open and test it before leaving the factory?

If you want a good selection of Mexican tequila, and you happen to be in Cabo, check out a shop called Tequila Town. It's a bit of a distance from the tender dock, but it's worth the walk.

We've found the best deals from the vendors at the pier and always have a great time and they are professional and go above and beyond. No reason to pay in advance or pay the cruise ship.. lots of options and nice vendors to choose from when you get off the tender in town. They have incentive.. if they make you happy, you'll book something else from them or give them a bigger tip!

Our water taxi experience from a dock-side vendor was awesome! They took us on quick tour around the tip and then dropped us off at the beach and came back right on time to pick us up! And the parasailing experience was once in a lifetime! We were the only ones on the boat and it was a professional rig, took pictures with our camera, and put us up way higher than the others around us. Amazing view!

They usually have a $1 dock charge to get to their water taxis or parasailing boats. So keep that in mind. Think it's what they have to pay the person at the gate.

We decided to book the Grand out of LA because it has Alfredo's pizza. We wanted that extra dining option and enjoyed it several times on our Alaskan cruise. Another factor we looked into was the taxes/port charges and parking SF vs LA. It was cheaper taxes in LA and parking and dropoff should be easier compared to SF.

We weighed the pros and cons of the Grand and Star for an upcoming cruise to Hawaii. We decided on the Grand because of Alfredo's. The extra dining option was a perk. We enjoyed Alfredo's several times on our cruise to Alaska on the Grand, so wouldn't want to be without it. Also the Grand was sailing out of LA.. Star out of SF... parking and luggage drop off at SF was a pain, so LA hopefully will be easier. And taxes out of SF are a tad bit higher as well.

If you like the outdoors and some adventure, we'd recommend the Grizzly Falls Ziplining Expedition from Alaska Excursions! Just be sure to use bug spray, it is in the forest!

My parents and bro/sis-in-law all took the train tour and were not impressed.

If true, sorry to read about everything that happened to you. Hopefully you can at least find some good memories of your last vacation with your wife instead of dwelling on the negative.

On another note, being only your second post here and you stating that Cruise Critic prompted you to submit a review, I'm skeptical. Besides, you can't blame Princess Cruises for your wife's passing or her catching a virus. Did the whole ship come down with the Ebola Virus or something? Did they inject her with a virus? No. It happens, life happens. The way passengers behave and if they are rude, isn't the cruise line's fault. It's society. I wouldn't expect Princess Cruises to respond any other way other than saying sorry.

Now to read through the dozens of sympathy messages that this post will receive by those so willing to blindly believe.

Why skeptical? Too many fake people out there lying and trying to garner sympathy on-line and they ruin it for the real true honest ones that actually have things like this happen. Even some of my family members have created their own stories to garner sympathy, one of them had leukemia and then prostate cancer for years with no proof, no hospital receipts, no hospital stay, nothing.. and some miracle and expensive milk shakes saved him only after draining his mother of all her finances.

So sorry if I come off harsh, but skeptical is now my first response. And sometimes others in society should open their eyes as well.

Again, if it really happened, my deepest condolences go out to you.

We use Motorola brand walkie talkies or "2-way radios" as they are now called.

Our rechargeable ones no longer hold a charge and we started shopping around for a new set. Be careful not to buy the generic 22 channel type, you'll want the security code/channel feature or you could be stuck with several others on the same channel.

After seeing the prices for new walkie talkies to replace the rechargeable ones we have, I discovered that by removing the rechargeable battery pack you can actually place regular AA batteries into ours. That's something I'm not sure many realize.

Just used them on the Grand Princess this past week. Nobody on our channel, just us. Had some issues if we were across the ship with many decks between. But going to the atrium usually gave us a signal from bow to stern.

Nobody complained or gave dirty looks when we used them. In fact many asked how they worked and wanted to get some of their own. Although we try to be discrete and keep the volume down when talking on them.

Thanks everyone for the shampoo/soap info! And thanks Mary for the pics!

A question from one of our family members sailing on the Grand with us next week... does Princess provide shampoo, conditioner or body wash in the shower like they do on Carnival?

I read that the new Royal Princess has this, but have never seen it in shower pics from the Grand or heard about it on CC.

Thank you for the great review! Very entertaining. Find your sense of humor refreshing!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed review and for providing the photos and the wealth of information! Great job!! Your review ended too soon (probably like your vacation), we want more!! ;)

Wow, stunning photos! And you're right about the Dr. Seuss iceberg! LOL

Thanks again for the detailed review, enjoying every bit of it!

Those photos are awesome! The IC foods look so good they are making me hungry! And I think I gained weight just looking at them.

Thank you for the detailed review, looking forward to more! We're on the Grand in 15 days!! This helps us in our planning.

Was wondering if this app would work on board....have you tried it?

The iPhone only can communicate if the phone is connected to the carrier's network, and thus you'll be charged. It's not capable of being a walkie talkie on it's own, doesn't transmit that way. The App requires a cell signal/internet. So use at your own financial risk onboard.