Review - Grand Princess 09/06/12 Mediterranean.

[wobblybob74]

Well, we’ve been back from our two week Western Mediterranean cruise on the Grand Princess (our second cruise aboard the Grand) for two weeks now. I haven’t had time to sit down and write a review as yet, but Sue is at work and there is nothing else to occupy my time (for a change!) so, here we go!

Embarkation:

We arrived at the Mayflower Terminal at around 1220, having only travelled five miles from our overnight hotel, the Best Western Chilworth Manor which, by the way, was superb and comes highly recommended. Being on Baja Deck, our assigned check-in time under the new staggered boarding policy was 1330. However, the terminal was very quiet and there was no sign at all of the staggered boarding being adhered to. We were ushered straight to a check-in desk and were on in our cabin by 1300. We were just about to head down to the Piazza for a coffee when our luggage arrived. I cannot fault the embarkation process, it was so much better and quicker than our first cruise two years ago.

The Ship:

The Grand Princess, as I’m sure you all know, underwent a massive (but not total) refit last year and is all the better for it. The removal of Skywalker’s is a shame as it was a lovely, quiet place to go and read a good book on a sea day. The new nightclub, OneFive (for some reason, I couldn’t stop referring to it as Ten Forward!) is a nice place to be, but never seemed to be busy of an evening.

The Piazza is a vast improvement. Last time we were onboard, the Atrium was just something you passed through on the way from A to B. Now it is somewhere you stop and linger, and a lot of events were staged there. The International Café is a great place to stop for a coffee (I purchased a coffee card as I enjoy an espresso after my dinner – it also gave us unlimited fresh-brewed coffee and unlimited tea) and a pastry.

The overall condition of the Grand is very good indeed. Whilst we were onboard, there was a seemingly continuous programme of maintenance, mainly to the deck handrails. Also, there was always someone painting various areas and on disembarkation there were several people painting the hull. The public areas are in good condition, although some of the seating is a bit tired. It did puzzle me that, while some areas such as the Piazza have been totally transformed, areas such as Explorers Lounge don’t seem to have been touched at all.

Entertainment:

Our cruise director was Peter Tredgett and, overall, he did a good job. Perhaps a little too obsequious for my liking but quite likeable. He was very visible, and was happy to stop for a chat. The production shows were to Princess’s usual high standards and the visiting artists that we saw were pretty good too. The pick was a young ventriloquist called Gareth Oliver who was astoundingly clever. At one point he has three voices on the go, as well as his own. Amazing.

The ship’s band, The Speakers, were superb. All of them were masters of their respective instruments and the music they played was varied. Sometimes, you can pretty much guess the set-list of a ship band once you’ve been on a week but even on the last night they were playing stuff that they hadn’t previously played.

Food:

On the whole, I thought that the food on this cruise was head and shoulders above our last cruise. There was only one thing throughout the whole cruise that I didn’t enjoy and that was the Scotch Egg served in the Crown Grill during one of the pub lunches.

We ate in the MDR for evening meal nearly every night and were on Anytime Dining. Mostly we were happy to share a table with others (and our holiday was all the better for it) but occasionally we wanted to dine alone. This was not a problem, and the longest we had to wait was about fifteen minutes.

As I alluded to above, the International Café in the Piazza is a lovely place to stop for a panini or a pastry and the Cheese, Egg and Bacon Muffins served at breakfast time are fabulous! Also, the tiramisus are a thing of wonder.

We ate in the Crown Grill on one of the three formal nights and it was well worth the money. I indulged myself with a Porterhouse steak that was nearly the size of my face! It was beautiful, though I could barely move after I finished the whole dinner.

Horizon Court is another of the areas that have been dramatically improved. The layout is much better now that the desert stations have been relocated and the whole buffet area flows much more easily. The seating has also been vastly improved with all the fixed banquettes having been removed. The tables are now set with cutlery and glasses, meaning that it looks a bit more classy than the ‘1990s motorway service area’ theme of old.

Burgers and pizza are available poolside at the Trident Grill until around 2200 and are excellent.

Ports of Call:

We only booked three shore excursions, and they were of the ‘On Your Own’ variety. All were excellent, and I’ll try to deal with each port in a logical way.

Cadiz (Seville)

This was one of our excursions so I can only comment on Seville, as we didn’t spend any time in Cadiz. We were dropped off slightly out of the centre of Seville, but our guide escorted us to the meeting point in the centre. She got maps for us all and then set us free into the wild! We had a wander around the cathedral and the headed for the Royal Alcazar. This is a fabulous place and is well worth a visit. There were official guides outside offering guided tours in English for 5 Euros per person and, to be honest, I wish we’d done that. After spending around two hours there we wandered along to a bar for some liquid refreshment and then just ambled around until it was time to head for our meeting point.

Alghero, Sardinia

A charming little town, reached by tender from the ship. There’s not a huge amount to do, but it is very pleasant to wander around the streets and then spend an hour or so at a café sipping a beer or two whilst watching the world go by.

Rome

We were dropped off very close the St Peter’s Basilica and got straight onto one of the City Sightseeing tour buses. Last time we were there we visited St Peter’s and the Vatican so this time we wanted to see the other sights. We stayed on the tour bus until it got to the Coliseum (about an hour and a half) then got off. We did intend to go in to the Coliseum but the queues were horrendous and we didn’t really fancy spending most of our time queuing in the heat. We walked from the Coliseum past the Forum (again, we didn’t go in as you can see most of what’s on offer from the street) and on to the Trevi Fountain which was absolutely packed, but very beautiful. From there we walked to the Pantheon which was awe-inspiring. We then walked back to St Peters and had time for a surprisingly reasonably priced ice cream before it was time to get back on the coach.

Pisa/Florence

This was my favourite shore day. We had an excellent tour guide, Jon, who was an Aussie who had fallen in love with Tuscany and has been living there for the past fifteen years. We were in Pisa by 0830 which meant that the Duomo was not open but it was still very quiet. The Tower is wonderful, and another of my must-sees ticked off my list! We spent about an hour there (which was plenty to be honest) and then moved on to Florence. My Godfathers, it was hot in Florence! 40 degrees C! But what a lovely place. Plenty to see and do and some lovely little cafes and restaurants.

Cannes

Another tender port and another lovely place. Like Alghero, there is not a huge amount to do, but we had a good wander and enjoyed a drool at the huge yachts and the expensive cars. We decided to head back to the ship for around two for a late lunch.

Barcelona

Last time we were there, we went to La Sagrada Famila (an essential visit) but did not go in because of the massive queues. This time, however, I booked tickets in advance online which meant that we by-passed the queues and had plenty of time to gawp at the magnificence and sheer madness of the place. It is walkable from where the port buses drop you off (don’t take the Princess shuttles – they will cost 5 Euros per person each way. Instead look for the blue Port buses to the left as you leave the terminal building. They cost 7 Euros return for two) and will take you about an hour each way. By the time we got back to La Rambla, I was gagging for a beer and ended up paying 12 Euros for a litre which was a bit of a shock!

Gibraltar

We ‘did’ the Rock on our last visit but I fancied exploring the WWII caves and hospital there. On enquiring at the Tourist Information, we discovered that this would cost us £36 for the two of us, and that did not include transport! So we had a wander around the town instead. It is rather civilised to sit in the warm sunshine and quaff a pint of English ale.

Crew:

Almost without exception, all the crew we met were absolutely wonderful. There was one waiter who was a bit grumpy but we had him again a few nights later and he was great – everyone’s entitled to an off day, I guess.

Alcohol:

As with our first cruise on the Grand, we brought alcohol with us. Three bottle of wine (two in our hand luggage, one in our suitcases) and two bottles of spirits – one of gin and one of vodka (in our suitcases). We also brought on two multi-packs of mixers to use on our stateroom. During the cruise, I brought on board two more bottles of wine without a problem. Obviously, this was to be drunk in our stateroom. We also recharged our spirit supplies by bringing more vodka and gin (both purchased very cheaply from Lidl whilst ashore) onboard in water bottles. Our cabin steward plainly knew what we were up to but was perfectly happy to keep us supplied with glasses and ice.

Booze onboard is rather expensive with a pint of Stella (lager) coming in at around $7 and a decent bottle of wine around $27. We purchased the soda package which gave us unlimited coke, diet coke, lemonade, Sprite, soda and tonic water and took our spirits in miniature bottles secreted in Sue’s handbag. Naughty, I know, but we don’t have a money tree growing in our back garden!

Disembarkation:

Faultless. We were supposed to meet in the Princess Theatre at 0930. We wandered up there at 0920 to be met by a crew member who told us that we were fine to disembark there and then. We were off the ship, through baggage recall and customs and in our taxi back to the hotel by 0940.

Conclusion:

A fabulous holiday, well worth the money. If you’re not sure about cruising then I urge you to give it a go. We’ve certainly been bitten by the bug and while it’s not something that we can afford to do every year, we intend to cruise every other year. The Caribbean next time, may be.

If you’ve any questions, please feel free to ask. I don’t get chance to check back here too often, but I will answer you eventually!

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thanks for the review! It is a pity that you did not go on an excursion (private or through Princess) in Cannes. There are many charming villages to be seen about an hour away from Cannes... Also, in Cannes, there are some major hotels on the Croisette where they serve fantastic raspberry martinis or raspberry juices...

[srpilo]

Welcome back and glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise

 

 

 

 

Nice review, thanks

Srpilo

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. It was a pleasure to read.:)

[poe17]

Thanks for the review, we are going on the grand in October, so your review really gets me in the mood, this will be our second cruise :)

[highheel girl]

Thanks for the review.

[Geminisquirrel]

Wobblybob74.

 

We were on the same cruise and you hit the nail on the head with everything you say.

 

The only criticism we have is not with the staff/ship or tours. Its with the amount of passengers who seem to leave their manners at home.

 

When will some people realise that you are going nowhere, you are on holiday and have plenty of time.

 

Tina xx

[Geminisquirrel]

Thanks for the review, we are going on the grand in October, so your review really gets me in the mood, this will be our second cruise :)

 

Are you going on the 5th October for 17 days??

[Floflegs]

We were on this cruise too. It certainly was great. In Cadiz there is a great hogo bus or you can do self guided walking tours by following coloured lines. We went to Nice by train from Cannes.

I agree with Wobblybob about how great the crew were. We had a great table on 1st sitting with the best wait staff ever. Even the Head Waiter was great talking and singing to us every night.

[new2cruising4us]

Excellent review Wobblybob. We're going on the same cruise in 3 days time and this was a very interesting review, some good points!! Thank you. ps can anyone tell me how to get the 'ship' details of our next cruise on here?:)

[Bucky3]

Thanks so much for the great review.