Review - Grand 3/15/14 California Coastal

[sfpd3000]

Kind of long….so it's broken up into sections

 

Embarkation

We arrived at the cruise terminal (Pier 35) at around 11:15am. (Don’t forget to turn left immediately after entering the building to fill out the medical forms.) Check-in was a breeze and after clearing security, we went upstairs to the waiting room at 11:30am. We were happy to be in boarding group 1. A little before noon, we saw that the elite passengers were boarding. A few minutes later, group 1 was called. We headed to our inside cabins on the Caribe deck 10. We dropped off our carry-ons and quickly checked out our cabins. Hoping to avoid the crowds at Horizon Court, we headed to Da Vinci Dining Room where we enjoyed a delicious stress-free lunch. After lunch, we decided to take a tour of the ship and then rest in our staterooms. After the muster drill, we went up on deck for sailaway. After sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge, we headed back to our staterooms to get ready for dinner.

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Dining

Dinner

We had traditional early dining in Botticelli. Our waiter, Janko Corkovic from Serbia, was the same waiter that we had when we had lunch earlier that day. Our assistant waiter was Eleanora Serdiuk from Ukraine. They had good rapport and worked well together. Their station consisted of our table for four, a table of 8, and a table of 6. All 18 of us showed up every night, so they had a very busy week. They were outstanding. We found out on the last night of dinner service that they were husband and wife. I am a very picky eater, but the food prepared by the kitchen, led by Executive Chef Jeremy Snowden, was delicious. We did not try any of the specialty dining rooms.

 

Horizon Court

Both port side and starboard side were open during peak hours. This is where we ate breakfast and lunch. Breakfasts were the usual fare. I tried the omelette every other day. These were made to order and were very good. Other than that, it was the same old breakfast stuff everyday. For the most part, the waiters were very good about serving coffee, milk, and orange juice as soon as we sat down. The lunch menu was varied with a meat carving station. Corned beef was on the menu on St Patrick’s Day. I believe there was an Italian theme one day and a Mexican theme on our last sea day. We also came here around 10:30 pm each night for a late night snack. It was here that we met Derd Gladic (from Serbia, I think). After learning our preferences on the first night, he would bring hot tea for my parents and cold water for me and my brother as soon as we walked in.

 

Trident Grill and Pizzeria

Burgers made to order. Usually a line but it moves pretty fast. They also had hot dogs and a chicken sandwich that is to die for. The chicken took a little longer to cook but it’s worth the wait. All served with French fries. I also saw people just ordering a plate of French fries. We tried the pizza once at Prego, but it wasn’t to our liking. There was hardly ever a line here.

 

Alfredo’s Pizzeria

This is a sit-down restaurant with pizza made to order. We loved the pizza here. The vegetarian has generous toppings and though I’ve never had pizza topped with avocado, it was delicious. Our other pizza of choice was pepperoni with mushrooms and olives. They don’t allow you to take the pizza out but you can bring stuff in from the International Café across the way.

 

International Café

I found the IC to have the same things everyday (the same type of paninis and sandwiches). I only tried the chicken panini once. I would have liked to see a more variety of things, but my mom seemed to like it. They come around with milk and chocolate chip cookies in the Piazza at 3:30pm everyday.

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Ports of Call – We did not book any excursions as we were just going to walk around town on our own and just take in the sites.

 

San Diego

They offer a free bus ride to the shops at Seaport Village. The bus seats around a 100 people and goes back and forth every 15 minutes. Otherwise it’s about a 15 minute walk there. We opted to walk there and shop around and caught the bus back. Rough waters sailing out of San Diego.

 

Ensenada

There is also a bus service to the shopping district (I forget how much). But it is also a short walk from the pier (10 minutes although the sign says only 5 minutes – maybe we walk slow?) If you walk, make sure you turn LEFT as soon as you get to the main street from the pier. Not much of anything if you turn right. We strolled through the little shops (pretty much the same stuff in every store) and went back on board.

 

Long Beach

We dock right next to the Queen Mary. We all had to clear US Customs here (after arriving from a foreign port). There was a MAJOR delay as US Customs screwed up somehow. Don’t know if they were late or what (there is a separate thread here somewhere regarding what happened) but a lot of people missed their scheduled early excursions. From the Horizon Court, we could see the long line leading from the gangway to the cruise terminal. Since we had nothing planned, we took our time eating breakfast. Even then, we still had to stand in line at the terminal to clear Customs. Once we cleared, we could see a long line of people waiting to get back on the ship (every passenger had to clear Customs before they allowed anyone back on the ship). We took a free PASSPORT bus downtown for some shopping. Stopped by Walmart at 6th St and Pine and bought some items for our waitstaff. There is free Wi-Fi here from the McDonalds inside the store. Caught the PASSPORT bus back to the ship. Princess gave every passenger a free drink coupon for the delay even though it was no fault of Princess.

 

Santa Barbara – Tender service

After breakfast we headed to Michelangelo Dining Room to get our tender tickets to go ashore. We did not have to wait long as our group number was called in less than 10 minutes. When you get off the tender, go to the information booth and pick out some free maps. There are a whole bunch of friendly people to help get you where you need to go. Buses here are 50 cents (25 cents for seniors) and they take you right downtown. They can get pretty crowded though as every bus we saw was packed. We opted to walk up State St and take in the shops. We saw many crew members go to the 99 cents store on the 400-block of State St to buy junk food and toiletries. Free Wi-Fi from the Starbucks at Cota and State Streets.

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Stateroom

We had two side-by-side inside cabins on the Caribe deck (we were upgraded from deck 8). Our cabins were ready when we boarded. I did not see our cabin steward (Ernesto) the entire week. The only reason I know his name is by the name plate that was placed on our table.

 

Entertainment

Production Show – Singers and Dancers were great. We had three production shows – Welcome Aboard Show, Do You Wanna Dance, and British Invasion. The other nights we had comedians Doug Funk and Glenn Hirsch. Smaller acts included ventriloquist Don Bryan in the Vista Lounge, David Aiken – the Checkerboard Guy, and Adagio Act with Alexander and Evgenija in the Piazza. All very good.

 

Wake Show – Do watch the Wake Show in the morning on your television. It is hosted by the cruise director and is informative. Plus as an incentive to watch, correctly answer the daily trivia question and your name is placed in a daily drawing to win a certificate for a drink of the day.

[sfpd3000]

Angelo Balbiani (Maitre d’Hotel) In the cruises that I’ve been on, I have never seen the maître d’ so often. Mr Balbiani was everywhere throughout the day and always in his customary spot in the dining room with a “Good Evening” as we entered.

 

Ship

Did not notice the wear and tear of the Grand Princess. I’m sure there were some things but I did not go looking for it. As mentioned in other threads, there are no stairs to go to the upper decks midship. If you don’t want to get caught in the “stairs that go nowhere” use the forward or aft stairs or take the elevators.

 

Disembarkation

Princess lets you choose the time that you want to disembark as opposed to your time being assigned to you. We chose to disembark at 9:30am and that is exactly what Princess gave us. After breakfast in Horizon Court, we headed to Crooners to wait for our assigned color and number to be called. They were only about 10 minutes behind schedule and we were off the ship by 9:45am. Our luggage was waiting in the holding area and we walked out onto Embarcadero.

This was one of the best cruises that we’ve been on and I would not hesitate to do it again.

[louanne93]

Angelo Balbiani (Maitre d’Hotel) In the cruises that I’ve been on, I have never seen the maître d’ so often. Mr Balbiani was everywhere throughout the day and always in his customary spot in the dining room with a “Good Evening” as we entered.

 

Ship

Did not notice the wear and tear of the Grand Princess. I’m sure there were some things but I did not go looking for it. As mentioned in other threads, there are no stairs to go to the upper decks midship. If you don’t want to get caught in the “stairs that go nowhere” use the forward or aft stairs or take the elevators.

 

Disembarkation

Princess lets you choose the time that you want to disembark as opposed to your time being assigned to you. We chose to disembark at 9:30am and that is exactly what Princess gave us. After breakfast in Horizon Court, we headed to Crooners to wait for our assigned color and number to be called. They were only about 10 minutes behind schedule and we were off the ship by 9:45am. Our luggage was waiting in the holding area and we walked out onto Embarcadero.

This was one of the best cruises that we’ve been on and I would not hesitate to do it again.

 

So glad to hear it! We are leaving on the Grand in about 7 hours (just can't sleep!) There were some negative reviews on the princess board, so I am glad to hear you had a great time.

[Rockymountainsparky]

Sounds like it was a great cruise. Thanks.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info..

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review.

MD Angelo is the Consummate Host for sure.

[gcvt]

Thanks for the review! Glad to hear the ship is in good shape. Can't wait to climb aboard in seven days!