Grand Princess Hawaii 10/26 - 11/10/2013 Review

[cruises r us]

Did you have a Hawaiian couple on board teaching the uke and hula dance? Can you tell me some about what they did? Thanks, and I'm glad you are on the mend!

 

We were also on the same cruise. They had Kimo and Lokelina. They sang and played ukelele. They had ukelele classes; hula classes; lei making classes. They seemed quite popular.

[IdahoCruises]

Thank You! I think I could be very happy there! Perhaps you are aft cabin lovers, but I wonder about the constant noise from the wake. Was this a problem?

 

There was constant noise, but we were high enough that it lulled us to sleep. In the ports, it was great to go out on the balcony - very quiet and spacious.

[IdahoCruises]

Princess has had the reputation for having very uncomfortable and extremely firm beds. I've read that gradually they are being replaced and with the suites being the first to be replaced.

 

You said that ALL of the beds on the Grand have now been replaced with comfort-top bedding. Our last cruise on the Grand (Hawaii 4/13) still had horrid beds. We are booked, once again for the same cruise on the 25th of this month. May I have your confirmation that ALL of the beds have been replaced and may I ask where you received this information? It is somewhat important to us because we plan to lug extra padding for our bed. I would love to not have to bring it along.

 

They have all been replaced, according to our room steward. Each time they have docked in SF, they have been doing at least one floor at a time. Hope that helps....thanks.

[IdahoCruises]

Are you aware that you can post your photos here as I did.? All you have to do is a copy and past into the CC box.

 

Any discussion as to what will happen while the Grand is in Dry-Dock?

 

Tom:)

 

 

I tried to copy and paste, but the paste function did not work when creating the review on CC.

 

As for dry dock, they will be at least scraping the hull, and possibly be doing some more rust control. Have also heard rumor they will be putting the blue mats back on the balconies.

 

Thanks

[IdahoCruises]

Did they have any Hawaiin entertainment or activities like they used to on the Golden? Also' date=' we usually cruise late September or October. How was the weather and seas?

 

Thanks.[/quote']

 

Kimo and Lokelina were on board and created the cultural experience similar to sailings out of LA. They also played in the Piazza each day and were very good.

 

Weather our of SF was cold for the first couple of days and then turned warm until be were about half way to Ensenada. We still had warm days, but cool nights at that point.

 

Seas were relatively calm through the whole cruise with a couple of rough areas here and there. Here is a current pic from the web cam and the seas shown here are similar to what we experienced.

 

http://webcam.princess.com/webcam/grand_bridge.jpg?1384356710246

[madjohn]

The Grand will be in Dry-Dock from December 10 - 20, 10 days. I'm confused as to why they are doing the dry-dock in Canada as San Francisco has the facilities to handle such a ship plus the loss of time going to and from Canada.

 

I've tried to find what they plan to do in Dry-Dock but could never get much of an answer from anyone.

 

Tom:)

 

 

I Think the answer is fairly simple. Its $$$$.

[TM]

So sorry to hear of your fall but glad to hear how well you were treated by the medical staff.

 

We have done this trip twice, last year out of San Francisco, also sailing in a suite and several years ago round trip out of LA. For us the mix of sea days and ports days are great, we both love the sea days that total feeling of its okay if I don't do anything today. I agree about never having enough time in some of the ports, and if I ever have to see that port again in Mexico, it will be too soon!!

 

Thanks for your input and hope that you are feeling 100 percent yourself again very soon.

[IdahoCruises]

So sorry to hear of your fall but glad to hear how well you were treated by the medical staff.

 

We have done this trip twice, last year out of San Francisco, also sailing in a suite and several years ago round trip out of LA. For us the mix of sea days and ports days are great, we both love the sea days that total feeling of its okay if I don't do anything today. I agree about never having enough time in some of the ports, and if I ever have to see that port again in Mexico, it will be too soon!!

 

Thanks for your input and hope that you are feeling 100 percent yourself again very soon.

 

Thanks - about 75% right now - still sore.

 

I guess trying to do the curb shuffle hula was not a great idea - LOL!

 

We do love the sea days and the relaxing that comes with it - which is just what we needed.

 

We met some really great people and gathered with them each day (about 20 of them) and miss our time with them already.

[Grammyluvs]

Keep checking back to see if you’ve had a chance to scan the daily patters. Hope you are continuing to heal and are getting back to normal.

[calsnoozie]

Thank you for posting your review/summary of your trip. Glad you are healing and getting better.

 

We are boarding the Grand on 11/25, starting to get very excited. Looking forward to the sea days and maybe ukulele lessons??

 

Thank you again for the review.

 

Sue from Fairfield, CA

[IdahoCruises]

Keep checking back to see if you’ve had a chance to scan the daily patters. Hope you are continuing to heal and are getting back to normal.

 

Slowly back to normal (which means I have to work - LOL)

 

Been trying to post the Patters and cannot get them to cut and paste on CC. I scan the page and press copy once I get the image, but the paste function will not work in the posting box on CC for some reason.

 

Have also tried uploading them to CC photo gallery, but they are too small to read.

 

Still working on trying to get these done.

 

Thanks!

[IdahoCruises]

Thank you for posting your review/summary of your trip. Glad you are healing and getting better.

 

We are boarding the Grand on 11/25, starting to get very excited. Looking forward to the sea days and maybe ukulele lessons??

 

Thank you again for the review.

 

Sue from Fairfield, CA

 

It is my understanding that Sammi, our CD, will be changing ships just before your cruise when they get back to SF. Be interesting to see who she is replaced with as she was GREAT fun.

 

We also found most of the food on board to be well above average - even Horizon Court. Nothing like gaining a little weight before you take

a spill to exaggerate the damage - LOL!

 

Hope you have a great time and if you can, would love to hear of your experiences HAPPY CRUISING!

[roomba920]

Thanks so much for your review....Were on her Nov 20th and cant wait,:D

 

Oops, I think you mean you'll be on the Star on Nov. 20th.

[trbarton]

Slowly back to normal (which means I have to work - LOL)

 

Been trying to post the Patters and cannot get them to cut and paste on CC. I scan the page and press copy once I get the image, but the paste function will not work in the posting box on CC for some reason.

 

Have also tried uploading them to CC photo gallery, but they are too small to read.

 

Still working on trying to get these done.

 

Thanks!

 

Have you tried copying them to MS Word and then saving them as a PDF file and posting that file on CC?

 

Tom:)

[calsnoozie]

It is my understanding that Sammi, our CD, will be changing ships just before your cruise when they get back to SF. Be interesting to see who she is replaced with as she was GREAT fun.

 

We also found most of the food on board to be well above average - even Horizon Court. Nothing like gaining a little weight before you take

a spill to exaggerate the damage - LOL!

 

Hope you have a great time and if you can, would love to hear of your experiences HAPPY CRUISING!

 

- I just checked the pre-cruise email, Kelvin Joy is the Cruise Director.

 

Thanks again for sharing your experience on the Grand.

 

Sue from Fairfield, CA

[Riba4U]

Hi, glad you are feeling better. An injury is hard, especially on vacation I'm sure. I like your attitude about not letting it ruin your cruise... I was wondering if you can give us a little more detail about your Napali Coast Tour. Was it by boat? I would love to see it and I'm having a hard time finding something for our January Star Princess cruise. Was it through Princess? Thanks for any info :)

[GidgetWidget]

We were also in a suite on the Golden for this cruise. I must say you missed the best perk there is....Breakfast at Sabatini's. The morning crew are the best on the ship. Emil is an amazing singer! This was the highlight of our day!:) We called the Grand 'Ole Rusty' as it is showing its age.
I missed entertainment around the pool so we pretty much read on our balcony for the 15 days. We did the MDR for early sitting and enjoyed our servers there also. We met a wonderful lady from California enjoying her 27th cruise all on her own.

Glad you are doing better. It is never fun to under the weather on a cruise.

[IdahoCruises]

[quote name='Riba4U']Hi, glad you are feeling better. An injury is hard, especially on vacation I'm sure. I like your attitude about not letting it ruin your cruise... I was wondering if you can give us a little more detail about your Napali Coast Tour. Was it by boat? I would love to see it and I'm having a hard time finding something for our January Star Princess cruise. Was it through Princess? Thanks for any info :)[/QUOTE]

Napali Coast tour was thru Princess by air conditioned bus. Several stops at lookouts along the way including a final stop at the Napali Lookout (very windy and rainy there), but great views in the middle of a rainforest.

Was worth the three hour tour.

[IdahoCruises]

[quote name='GidgetWidget']We were also in a suite on the Golden for this cruise. I must say you missed the best perk there is....Breakfast at Sabatini's. The morning crew are the best on the ship. Emil is an amazing singer! This was the highlight of our day!:) We called the Grand 'Ole Rusty' as it is showing its age.
I missed entertainment around the pool so we pretty much read on our balcony for the 15 days. We did the MDR for early sitting and enjoyed our servers there also. We met a wonderful lady from California enjoying her 27th cruise all on her own.

Glad you are doing better. It is never fun to under the weather on a cruise.[/QUOTE]

We did manage Sabatinis for three mornings and you are right, Emil is a great singer (best in the crew talent show if you ask me), and a great personality. Lavinia was usually our server for breakfast and dinner and is a great person and very fun to talk to.

Breakfast and dinners there were both outstanding!

[IdahoCruises]

[quote name='trbarton'][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Black"]Have you tried copying them to MS Word and then saving them as a PDF file and posting that file on CC?

Tom:)
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

Will try that later today...hope it works and thanks for the tech support :)

[weatherman46]

We were also on this cruise in an Ocean View cabin on the Emerald Deck. Like you we enjoyed the cruise and agree that the food was very good in all the restaurants. The buffet in Horizon court was one of the best we have had on a cruise.
During the cruise shower gel and shampoo dispensers where fitted in our shower, so I assume this means Princess are getting rid of the little bottles they provide.