Live from the Grand Princess

[4cats4me]

Having a wonderful time. Will write more upon our return. Dining room food is excellent. Staff is great. Everyone so friendly. Weather is excrutiatingly hot and humid this time.

Butter in dining room has to be requested on this ship.

Buffet food not so great

Entertainment is good

Love our Caribe balcony and had forgotten how big they are!

 

 

 

 

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[helenb]

Can you let us know what the Always Available items are on the MDR menus? Specifically, I'm wondering if thej Curtis Stone items are on the menu, or if they are the traditional Princess items.

[shredie]

Have fun. Love that ship.

[Cruise Raider]

We sailed on the Grand in both December and again just last August. I agree, the staff is outstanding. Glad to hear you are having a good time.

[Ed342]

I would like to know, if you can, tell me what the onboard rates are for using the Internet. Thanks.

[4cats4me]

I would like to know, if you can, tell me what the onboard rates are for using the Internet. Thanks.

 

 

 

I don't know, since we got free internet. Sorry

 

 

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[4cats4me]

Can you let us know what the Always Available items are on the MDR menus? Specifically, I'm wondering if thej Curtis Stone items are on the menu, or if they are the traditional Princess items.

 

 

 

There was one Curtis sttne item offered each night on the menu, at least the 6/10 nights that we ate in the MDR.

The always available menu had shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad.

Chicken breast (very tender and good), a hamburger and salmon (so-so)

I had heard many mention Curtis Stone menu, so I thought the whole menu would be his offerings, and not just one entree per evening.

Someone we dined with had the pork belly Curtis Stone and said it was very good

 

We loved everything we ordered every night. Usually I only like one or two meals out of 6. We loved the Szechuan shrimp, the filet mignon/shrimp dish. 4 or 5 of us had the filet mignon and all of of us were happy with the medium rare preparation

The fish dishes were really good, especially the tilapia with orange hollandaise sauce.

The best ice cream that I tried was nectarine flavor, served with a rhubarb Napoleon

The best sorbet was Limoncello, and I am NOT a fan of the liqueur, but the sorbet was something else [emoji2]

Norman Love desserts were all pretty good, too

 

We loved the spaghetti Carbonara and most pasta dishes

 

Sadly, our service in Crown Grill was lacking. Took way too long, the steak really didn't taste as good as if usually does. Not horrible but just nothing to write home about. Waiter didn't bring us the three salts for the filet. It just wasn't the usual Crown Grill experience that we are accustomed to. We canceled our second reservation there and opted for the MDR instead, where the food was much better. Even the desserts in the Crown Grill looked pathetic compared to what we'd gotten back in April and the previous March on the Regal

 

 

 

 

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Edited October 17, 2016 by 4cats4me

[gcvt]

Having a wonderful time. Will write more upon our return. Dining room food is excellent. Staff is great. Everyone so friendly. Weather is excrutiatingly hot and humid this time.

Butter in dining room has to be requested on this ship.

Buffet food not so great

Entertainment is good

Love our Caribe balcony and had forgotten how big they are!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I remember checking when you posted this and it was 95° that day :eek:

 

Last time we did that itinerary, we took the little Princess towels they give you on the dock, 'ran' to a bar on the marina, ordered a bucket of iced beers, put the towels in the bucket, and enjoyed a few Pacificos with icey towels on our necks :)

 

And yes, Caribe balconies are the way to go. Yay.

Edited October 17, 2016 by gcvt

[helenb]

There was one Curtis sttne item offered each night on the menu, at least the 6/10 nights that we ate in the MDR.

The always available menu had shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad.

Chicken breast (very tender and good), a hamburger and salmon (so-so)

I had heard many mention Curtis Stone menu, so I thought the whole menu would be his offerings, and not just one entree per evening.

Someone we dined with had the pork belly Curtis Stone and said it was very good

 

We loved everything we ordered every night. Usually I only like one or two meals out of 6. We loved the Szechuan shrimp, the filet mignon/shrimp dish. 4 or 5 of us had the filet mignon and all of of us were happy with the medium rare preparation

The fish dishes were really good, especially the tilapia with orange hollandaise sauce.

The best ice cream that I tried was nectarine flavor, served with a rhubarb Napoleon

The best sorbet was Limoncello, and I am NOT a fan of the liqueur, but the sorbet was something else [emoji2]

Norman Love desserts were all pretty good, too

 

We loved the spaghetti Carbonara and most pasta dishes

 

Sadly, our service in Crown Grill was lacking. Took way too long, the steak really didn't taste as good as if usually does. Not horrible but just nothing to write home about. Waiter didn't bring us the three salts for the filet. It just wasn't the usual Crown Grill experience that we are accustomed to. We canceled our second reservation there and opted for the MDR instead, where the food was much better. Even the desserts in the Crown Grill looked pathetic compared to what we'd gotten back in April and the previous March on the Regal

 

Thank you for your detailed response. It is much appreciated.

[mjvgh]

Can you tell me how the formal nights were on the Grand Princess. (or anyone else that has sailed on the Grand). Was there anything special offered in the dining rooms or on board other than photographs? Did one of the evenings include meeting the Captain? Photo ops with the Captain? Sailing next February on the Grand to Hawaii and looking forward to it.

[SheriffJoe]

Dana, this ain't live! LOL:eek:

[4cats4me]

Dana, this ain't live! LOL:eek:

 

 

 

It was when I started the thread LOL

 

Cliff notes version:

New beds coming in December. Good thing, because I hadcto come home to get valuable sleep that I couldn't get for 1 0 nights. No joke LOL. The hugest middle hump of any bed One hip was way higher than the other

 

Dining room excellent this time. We had anytime but ended up with a dedicated table with the greatest waiters of all time in Da Vinci. And the nicest maitre d, Michael! Waiters Elmer and Rustom, you rocked!

Loved having a reserved 4-top for the two of us at 7:30 when Da Vinci opened to us anytimers after clearing it of the overflow traditional diners.

Ironically. All those years we made reservations and were only given the choice of 6:20 or 8:15, we didn't bother to worry about that on this cruise

Showed up to AT on deck 5 on night two around 6:00 and were met with a looong line, which moved rapidly. Those of us who wished to share were taken in immediately. We sat at a 10-top, five couples. Very nice people.

Next night crown Grill. Service not so great. We canceled future reservation.

 

Buffet one night... Never could we just find an open table on this trip. It was as if people camped out all day every day, even on port days

So weird HC woefully small. Can't wait to get back on the Regal

That HC needs to be gutted and redesigned to have better flow

Food bad on day one, improved thereafter. Stir fry really good!

Klunker ward for Hc goes to the pasta on day 10 which had a curry sauce??. It was a twist on Italian that I had never seen [emoji33]

Chicken moist.

Breakfast offerings the same as usual

 

MDR. Food all good

Favorite sorbet as Limoncello, and I don't even like Limoncello

Nectarine ice cream so good

Tilapia good. Salmon just okay.

Veggies all prepared nice and crisp

Potatoes boiled

Pastas exceptional, as usual.

Pizza all good at both locations.

Hamburger wasn't as good as I recall at the Trident Grill

Husband loved the hot dog

Cocktails all good. Favorite is key lime pie martini

 

We enjoyed the elite lounge function a few nights and were able to order any drink we wanted for $5 we didn't have to stick to the one drink that was listed

Gotta love the people who were chowing down up there as they moved along in line chomping on carrot sticks, ET, one guy picked up a slide of bell pepper with his finger instead of the tongs and put it back. Ewwww. Noticed this occur 3 times at the Elite lounge

 

 

Toilet wouldn't flush one day. Called passenger services and they sent someone immediately to assess the situation and it was fixed within 1.5 hours. We forgot our code for the safe and someone came within 20 minutes to assist.

We had a small dripping water leak outside our cabin. But steward noticed it ASAP and called maintenance. They were working on it one day.

We noticed s few leaky areas and got dripped on a couple times

In 2014 that ship leaked too.

 

Missed the interactive TV in our stateroom

Loved our huge Caribe balcony. Ours was much larger than the mini suites balconies. Much preferred a covered balcony

 

Nice weather for sailaway

 

Horrible weather for our return

 

 

Shows were fun. We didn't partake of most onboard activities

We did three ship's excursions since they were basically paid for by princess

 

We love PV and had a great day in Mazatlan at hotel playa,

But they can keep Manzanillo

It was so industrial. We thought it would be more like Zihuatanejo

Did a substandard Princess excursion to Tesoro. $89 (free thank Goodness)

Only 3 hours of free time and they wanted us to spend time at some stupid orientation and wait in a looong lime to get our all inclusive wristbands, but that should have been given to us on the bus, hence, half hour wasted time in line.

Then we were informed by our "guide" that the Restaurant opens for lunch at 1:30, but we had to depart at 2:00 ... People were ticked off. Then the Restaurant did us a favor by opening at 1:00. Gee, thanks,

$89 pp all inclusive

It was a cute little hotel. But it was teeming with babies and toddlers and it didn't feel like a very adult experience at all, kids sitting up on the bar stools in the pool. Lame-o swim up bar, so small

 

On the other hand. We very much enjoyed the Yelapa tour by Vallarta Adventures. The crew on the catamaran are the best we've ever encountered. Those guys are great we have gone with them three times now and are never disappointed.

 

Hotel Playa Mazatlan excursion was $59 pp and we could have eaten the buffet on our own for $10, but our tour included two cocktails, use of the facilities, but that place was teeming with a couple hundred kids. They all stayed at the kid's pool. Anew busloads of kids arrived right before our big bus arrived. LOL

They all departed at noon

 

We don't usually get off the ship in Cabo

we made it a pool day onboard

 

We loved our Elite minibar and called immediately to substitute

Out all the alcohol for Sky Vodka, and as others have mentioned, you have to go lime by line.

 

We liked how easy it was to get someone on the phone as soon as we boarded, unlike the Regal, where room service didn't pick up for the first day or two. So we were able to swap that mini bar asap and start boozing.

 

Note to self, bring on a bottle of ocean spray cranberry on our next cruise as a mixer or else pay $2 per glass from the bar.

 

Wifi signal was poor in the cabin and good if we went onto the balcony

 

Cabin was freezing, just like in 2014 on the same ship. The freezing was okay for the hot part of the cruise, but 40-50% of the 10 days is cool to cold, so it was a bit problematic.

 

Well, that is all I can recall right now.

 

 

 

 

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Edited October 19, 2016 by 4cats4me

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Lucky TGO]

Thank you for all the information very helpful.

Tony

[4cats4me]

Can you tell me how the formal nights were on the Grand Princess. (or anyone else that has sailed on the Grand). Was there anything special offered in the dining rooms or on board other than photographs? Did one of the evenings include meeting the Captain? Photo ops with the Captain? Sailing next February on the Grand to Hawaii and looking forward to it.

 

 

 

We don't bring formalwear anymore, so we went to crown grill on night one and noticed everyone out and about and everyone was dressed really formal, just like the OLDEN days. It was nice to see so many dressing so beautifully. On the regal hardly anyone dressed formally, as in tuxes and ball gowns. On this cruise I did notice more tuxes and ball gowns. I think because the demographic was a little older the dress code was abided by.

The first formal night was champagne water fall

 

On the second formal night was the captain' party, but we didn't go because my husband didn't bring a suit.

 

As for special things on formal night? I don't really understand the question. It was the same old formal night routine listed in the Patter

The entertainment lineup is always very good on formal nights.

 

I was very impressed by how nicely everyone dressed, (those that we saw passing through between shows, ET cet)

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited October 19, 2016 by 4cats4me

[lwnbwlr]

Thanks for posting. We're taking the Grand on a Hawaiian voyage in March

and was wondering if there are DVD players in the mini-suites. Thanks.

[4cats4me]

Thanks for posting. We're taking the Grand on a Hawaiian voyage in March

 

and was wondering if there are DVD players in the mini-suites. Thanks.

 

 

 

We weren't in a mini, but the only dvd players I've seen in the past were in full suites only

And we've had mini suites many times I never noticed DVD players if they were there, at least

 

 

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Edited October 19, 2016 by 4cats4me

[Woobstr112G]

We weren't in a mini, but the only dvd players I've seen in the past were in full suites only

And we've had mini suites many times I never noticed DVD players if they were there, at least

 

 

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Mini's on Princess do not have DVD players. For those mini's that do not have the on demand TV system, it is very easy to bring a small portable DVD player and hook it up to one of the two televisions in your cabin.....:):):)

 

Bob

[redhatsharon]

Hi Are the Caribe balconies covered?

thanks Sharon

[4cats4me]

Hi Are the Caribe balconies covered?

 

thanks Sharon

 

 

Very large,

Half covered, half not.

 

On the video, when I panned forward you can see overhead and get a better idea of how far the covering extends, and on the video, Below you will see the dolphin deck balconies which are fully exposed

 

 

https://vimeo.com/188219794

 

 

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Edited October 20, 2016 by 4cats4me

[4cats4me]

Sailaway,

Alcatraz

 

Our view while in port

 

 

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[TriumphGuy]

We're on Grand to Hawaii in April 2017, thanks for the review. Can't wait!

[TracieABD]

Thank you so much for the great review. I was on the Grand a couple of years ago, and we had the best waitstaff! Even though the Grand is an older ship, I think it is wonderful. I am glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise!

 

 

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[scuba idcs]

question for those aboard grand now. 12/30 departure. weather and clothes.

 

i imagine sailing out the bay under the gate it was chilly?

jeans, jackets?? what did you wear??

 

on the trip down, when did shorts weather start?

coming back up it's always rougher, i know.

 

thank you!

 

milly

[caribill]

I would like to know, if you can, tell me what the onboard rates are for using the Internet. Thanks.

 

Onboard rates on all Princess ships are the same as listed on the Princess web site for pre-cruise purchase. Only difference is number on bonus minutes.

 

Onboard bonus minutes the first two days on board are 1/2 of the pre-purchase bonus minutes. After two days on board, there are no bonus minutes when you purchase a package.