Grand Princess / San Fran to Alaska

[knotgillty]

First time Princess Cruisers. Sailed on the Grand with my wife 8/29/16 to 9/8/16 to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. I'll do this report in segments as I have a lot of pics.

 

Highlights include Bon Voyage Experience (early boarding), Ultimate Balcony Dinner in Skagway, Glacier Bay, the AIBP (we came out waaaay ahead), and tons of other fun.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation

 

We live 100 miles from San Francisco. My daughters (18 & 14) got the Bon Voyage Experience which allowed us to board by 11:15am.

 

 

First thing we did was go to the Lido deck and get a drink. We were the only ones up there and strolled around before any crowds formed. Next up was lunch in the dining room. After lunch we grabbed more drinks and went up to the room. On the right is Alcatraz and the Golden Gate is in the back left corner.

 

 

The girls left before 3pm and drove the car back home. Without the daughters around, the darling wife and I enjoyed our alone time together in the room. I guess we got lost in each others company. As a matter of fact, at one point I looked up and we were in the middle of San Francisco Bay heading towards the Golden Gate. Holy crap!!! We didn't even realize the ship had left the dock. I guess the old saying is true, 'if the cruise ship is a rocking, don't bother knocking'. Anyhow, we had a great laugh about that and promptly got our butts out onto our balcony. I've been under the Golden more times than I can count as I'm an avid fisherman. But for my wifes sake, I'm glad that we didn't miss it entirely.

 

 

 

Westward side of the Golden Gate, leaving the city and heading out to sea.

 

 

 

Once out to sea, we promptly got our drink on. My drink of choice is a Vodka Tonic. The best Vodka on board was Stoli Elit. The Elit + tonic was $9.95 and was covered under the AIBP. At the end of this report I'll share my drink totals, as I kept a running count of my consumption. After a few drinks, we went to the dining room for dinner. We had Anytime dining and never had to wait more than 15 minutes (about half the nights we got right in without any wait). Didn't take any pics of our dinners, other than the Balcony Dinner.

 

After dinner we played in the casino (blackjack & 3 card poker). Eventually, day 1 came to an end and it was time for bed.

 

Stay tuned, more to come...

Edited September 22, 2016 by knotgillty

[knotgillty]

Day 1 continued

 

After dinner we went to the casino. I believe we played in the casino on 5 of the 10 nights. I was 100% tables, the wife was 90% tables, 10% slots. There was even a craps table and the very back of the 1st photo (can't see it very well). Saw an older lady hit an $8,000 jackpot on video poker. We didn't have that kind of luck, but our losses were minimal for the trip.

 

 

 

Did I mention this was a cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Here is the Anniversary flower arrangement, which was delivered to our room on day 1. It lasted the entire cruise and everything bloomed out by day 10.

 

 

We found this in our room. Who said there isn't a TV guide on Princess cruises?

 

 

To be continued...

Edited September 22, 2016 by knotgillty

[mamaw58]

Great review so far!

 

 

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[XBGuy]

Outstanding pictures, KG. I'm looking forward to more of your reports.

[jennybenny]

Looking forward to hearing more! Thanks for the review and all the photos!! I love love love sailing in and out of SF. So awesome right there with the Golden Gate Bridge!!

[shredie]

I got on when you got off. :D

[knotgillty]

Outstanding pictures, KG. I'm looking forward to more of your reports.

Thanks. I took all the pics in this trip report with my cell phone. Wait until we get to Glacier Bay. Mighty impressed with my little phone. The crew said it was the clearest day of the entire season the day we went to Glacier Bay. As a matter of fact, the captain said we were the first cruise all season to go all the way to John Hopkins Glacier. Most ships only get about 3 miles from John Hopkins as it's always clogged with ice or visibility is too poor to approach. The wind, tides, ice, & weather all lined up for a spectacular close up view. I'll post those pics this weekend.

 

Looking forward to hearing more! Thanks for the review and all the photos!! I love love love sailing in and out of SF. So awesome right there with the Golden Gate Bridge!!

10-4, loud and clear. Love SF Bay and all it has to offer. As an avid fisherman, I've spent well over a thousand hours in those waters targeting halibut, stripers, sturgeon, shark, salmon, and rock fish. I love going under the bridge at the crack of dawn with limits of big fish on my mind, and then returning with the sun setting behind the bridge. I have like 60+ pics to still post in this report. I'll do a little bit each day. Stay tuned.

 

I got on when you got off. :D

LOL

 

 

 

 

.

Edited September 22, 2016 by knotgillty

[knotgillty]

Prior to our cruise, I had heard that the first two sea days were the roughest part of the trip. I barely even noticed that we were on a ship on the ocean. Seas were calm by my standards.

 

Woke up on morning two and decided to see what this thing called 'International Cafe' is all about. Went down and ordered a large mocha frapaccino, while the wife got a coffee. We also grabbed a few donuts, a croissant, and an egg McMuffin. Everything was on point. I believe this pic was one section of the afternoon offerings. Didn't get pics of the breakfast offerings.

 

 

We went back to the room and finished our coffee on the balcony and watched the sea float by. We soon decided we neeeded to walk the ship, figure out where everything was, and get our bearings. Here's a few pics of the ship taken throughout the trip.

 

THEATRE

 

BUFFET

 

BRIDGE

 

BOW

 

UPPER DECK

Edited September 22, 2016 by knotgillty

[knotgillty]

There are a few pools on the Grand. The only one I saw used was in the atrium next to the buffet. Saw people in the outdoor jacuzzi's most days as these were a more popular choice. The MUTS outdoor movie screen didn't get much love. I assume it was because of the outdoor wind/temps.

 

Rear pool - adult only

 

Mid ship pool with MUTS from 3 different angles

 

 

 

Pool at the Sanctuary

 

The pool in the atrium. Our most frequented bar is in the background. Just happened to be the closest to our room and the temps were comfortable under the dome. By the way, our room was A422 mid ship deck 12.

 

More to come tomorrow including Juneau, Tracy's Crab Shack, and more

Edited September 22, 2016 by knotgillty

[Rkoz1122]

Wonderful pictures and great commentary! We are booked on the Grand - San Fran to Hawaii in Jan 2018, so we are anxious to hear more about the ship and your trip.

 

 

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[jsiegel]

Thanks for your review and pictures. I'll be on the Grand in exactly one month. I've never been on her before so your pictures and commentary are very useful.

 

The printed TV guide used to list what was on and the time on each channel. Especially useful for the movie channels so you could plan your cabin rest periods for a favorite movie.

 

Jackie

[knotgillty]

The printed TV guide used to list what was on and the time on each channel. Especially useful for the movie channels so you could plan your cabin rest periods for a favorite movie.

Jackie

The TV movie times are now in the daily Patter. These are the ones shown on the big MUTS screen one day, and on stateroom TV's the next. Also, the Love Boat tv show has one episode each day. Each episode is repeated all day on a continuous loop. It's my go to channel for an afternoon nap.

 

Also, Channel 43 is good to leave on at night when you sleep. Especially if you keep the curtains closed. There is no sound on this channel at night and the screen is dark. As the sun comes up in the morning, the TV gets brighter from the bridge webcam. It's also the channel to get ship board alerts, which can't be heard in many rooms during the day.

Edited September 22, 2016 by knotgillty

[shredie]

[quote=jsiegel;51131222

 

The printed TV guide used to list what was on and the time on each channel. Especially useful for the movie channels so you could plan your cabin rest periods for a favorite movie.

 

Jackie

 

Just off the Grand on 9/18 and we did have the printed TV guide in the cabin.

[knotgillty]

I have restarted this trip report as there were some problems with the photo hosting website I was using for the pictures. The new trip report can be found here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51136956#post51136956

 

Thanks.

[jsiegel]

 

Also, Channel 43 is good to leave on at night when you sleep. Especially if you keep the curtains closed. There is no sound on this channel at night and the screen is dark. As the sun comes up in the morning, the TV gets brighter from the bridge webcam. It's also the channel to get ship board alerts, which can't be heard in many rooms during the day.

 

Thanks for the channel 43 suggestion. I'll be in an inside cabin for the first time in years and years so was concerned about waking with the sun. What a great idea to wake with the bridge cam.