babydealshunter Posted June 27, 2017 #1 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Hello, I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016. Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFeFan Posted June 27, 2017 #2 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Hello, I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016. Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs? Thanks! Just got off Grand a few hours ago. No mid-ship stairs other than the curved stairways from deck 5 to 6 and 6 to 7 in the Piazza. The original stairs are still there, but go up half way and end at an "Employee Only" door. Inconvenient is the insight I can offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CA Posted June 27, 2017 #3 Share Posted June 27, 2017 The stairs are there but aren't finished for passenger use. Fine if in an emergency but not accessible otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yosef42 Posted June 27, 2017 #4 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amymoore Posted June 27, 2017 #5 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Just off the Grand. My husband has limited mobility. It was a short walk to the stairs. Just past the elevator bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted June 27, 2017 #6 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks. We have sailed the Grand many times since her debut and never thought twice about the lack of stairs until cries for help started appearing on Cruise CRitic after the Royal came out. The Grand is now 19 years old and millions have sailed on her. :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFeFan Posted June 28, 2017 #7 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Just off the Grand. My husband has limited mobility. It was a short walk to the stairs. Just past the elevator bank. These stairs do not go higher than deck 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona-Cruising Posted June 28, 2017 #8 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Hello, I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016. Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs? Thanks! This may help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted June 28, 2017 #9 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Hello, I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016. Obviously they were wrong. Maybe they were confusing the Grand with the Royal which did have the mid-ship stairway converted to passenger use last year. We have cruised on the Grand in a mid-ship cabin and survived. So will you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babydealshunter Posted June 28, 2017 Author #10 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I'm sure it would be fine, but there are available cabins near the front staircase/elevator bank that I may pick just for the convenience of using stairs when we want to Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peety3 Posted June 28, 2017 #11 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks. The problem is that the lack of stairs puts more people into the central elevators. Easy if you're at the top heading down, or at the bottom heading up, but in the middle trying to get anywhere it's a challenge. It essentially "disturbs the equilibrium" of how people move about the ship. Those who are willing to use the stairs end up either waiting for an elevator or trying to dash down/up the halls to find stairs (or a set of less-crowded elevators). Now, throw on some mobility challenges, whether it be walker, scooter, bags 'o stuff, or in my case, multiple cameras with relatively large lenses, etc., there's a lot more congestion for the elevators and/or going up/down the halls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yosef42 Posted June 28, 2017 #12 Share Posted June 28, 2017 The problem is that the lack of stairs puts more people into the central elevators. Easy if you're at the top heading down, or at the bottom heading up, but in the middle trying to get anywhere it's a challenge. It essentially "disturbs the equilibrium" of how people move about the ship. Those who are willing to use the stairs end up either waiting for an elevator or trying to dash down/up the halls to find stairs (or a set of less-crowded elevators). Now, throw on some mobility challenges, whether it be walker, scooter, bags 'o stuff, or in my case, multiple cameras with relatively large lenses, etc., there's a lot more congestion for the elevators and/or going up/down the halls. Sounds like it's about the level of inconvenience I expected. It's unfortunate that they didn't reconfigure the stairs in the last drydock. Perhaps next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Raider Posted June 28, 2017 #13 Share Posted June 28, 2017 The problem is that the lack of stairs puts more people into the central elevators. Easy if you're at the top heading down, or at the bottom heading up, but in the middle trying to get anywhere it's a challenge. It essentially "disturbs the equilibrium" of how people move about the ship. Those who are willing to use the stairs end up either waiting for an elevator or trying to dash down/up the halls to find stairs (or a set of less-crowded elevators). Now, throw on some mobility challenges, whether it be walker, scooter, bags 'o stuff, or in my case, multiple cameras with relatively large lenses, etc., there's a lot more congestion for the elevators and/or going up/down the halls. I agree completely ... I always use the stairs and didn't really feel as though the walk to the aft or forward stairs would be an issue. But think of this ... there is only one side of the ship that is open to walk to the aft stairs. This may be the same for the forward stairs but we were all the way aft so didn't use those much. That area in front of the photos, Wheelhouse Bar, Explorers Lounge was just an accident waiting to happen ... always a huge traffic jam ... which only got worse when they added a photo event or an event in the Vista Lounge created a back up in that main hallway. Add a few strollers, scooters, walkers, people carrying packages or children running through the crowd ... you can see what an awful design flaw this really is. Others may downplay it and I suppose that is their prerogative but I think it is horrible. I think if Princess is going to keep that ship in service, they really should think about opening up the midship stairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cemolly Posted July 8, 2017 #14 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Just got off the Grand today and I found it annoying to not have stairs midship. Obviously not life-altering, but annoying. We were often on decks 5-7 midship and I did not like using the piazza stairs to move between floors as if anything was going on there was a crowd gawking from the steps. After a few days of confused meandering we got much better at getting where we needed to be and avoiding the often-crowded central elevator bank. Our room was deck 9 aft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IECalCruiser Posted July 8, 2017 #15 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Sounds like it's about the level of inconvenience I expected. It's unfortunate that they didn't reconfigure the stairs in the last drydock. Perhaps next time.The Grand has been sailing for 19 years without the passenger accessible mid-ship stairs so don't hold your breath. There are about 1,000 more passengers on the Royal class ship's which probably made a higher demand for the stairs and the Royal class ship's were much newer, only three years old when the stairs were added. It's just one of the features of the first of nine Grand class ship's that make her unique. Another is the significantly smaller closets in balcony class cabins and below. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted July 8, 2017 #16 Share Posted July 8, 2017 The Grand has been sailing for 19 years without the passenger accessible mid-ship stairs so don't hold your breath. There are about 1,000 more passengers on the Royal class ship's which probably made a higher demand for the stairs and the Royal class ship's were much newer, only three years old when the stairs were added. It's just one of the features of the first of nine Grand class ship's that make her unique. Another is the significantly smaller closets in balcony class cabins and below. Didn't they already have stairs there but for crew only use? I didn't think the Grand had ANY stairs above deck 7? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yosef42 Posted July 8, 2017 #17 Share Posted July 8, 2017 The Grand has been sailing for 19 years without the passenger accessible mid-ship stairs so don't hold your breath. There are about 1,000 more passengers on the Royal class ship's which probably made a higher demand for the stairs and the Royal class ship's were much newer, only three years old when the stairs were added. It's just one of the features of the first of nine Grand class ship's that make her unique. Another is the significantly smaller closets in balcony class cabins and below. Sent from my iPad using Forums Oh, there's no breath holding going on. I just thought I read at one point about another grand-class ship where the stairs (which are there, but are crew-only) were reconfigured for passengers. But perhaps I'm mixing it up with a different class. In any case, I'm not too fussed. Forewarned is forearmed and all, so we'll just get in the habit early of going fore or aft for our vertical movement needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peety3 Posted July 8, 2017 #18 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Just got off the Grand today and I found it annoying to not have stairs midship. Obviously not life-altering, but annoying. We were often on decks 5-7 midship and I did not like using the piazza stairs to move between floors as if anything was going on there was a crowd gawking from the steps. After a few days of confused meandering we got much better at getting where we needed to be and avoiding the often-crowded central elevator bank. Our room was deck 9 aft. When someone aft or forward says the missing stairs were an annoyance, that's when you know they're an annoyance. Thanks for sharing your experiences! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srpilo Posted July 8, 2017 #19 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Didn't they already have stairs there but for crew only use? I didn't think the Grand had ANY stairs above deck 7? Yes I've walked them down a few times Years ago they used to open the hidden midship stair well during the muster drill. They're basicly the same size as the other Grand class ships, but with bare unfinished white paint walls designed for employee's Srpilo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted July 8, 2017 #20 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Yes I've walked them down a few times Years ago they used to open the hidden midship stair well during the muster drill. They're basicly the same size as the other Grand class ships, but with bare unfinished white paint walls designed for employee's Srpilo Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IECalCruiser Posted July 9, 2017 #21 Share Posted July 9, 2017 Yes I've walked them down a few times Years ago they used to open the hidden midship stair well during the muster drill. They're basicly the same size as the other Grand class ships, but with bare unfinished white paint walls designed for employee's Srpilo Never meant to imply that there were no midship stairs, only that they were for crew only above the Promenade deck as originally on the Royal and Regal. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srpilo Posted July 9, 2017 #22 Share Posted July 9, 2017 Never meant to imply that there were no midship stairs, only that they were for crew only above the Promenade deck as originally on the Royal and Regal. Sent from my iPad using Forums Yeah I got that.. I was just replying to Keith's post, hence the quote of his post Srpilo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mherr Posted July 10, 2017 #23 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Hello, I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016. Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs? Thanks! A few years ago, we sailed on a sister ship of the Grand, the Star. It had the Skywalkers and a mid-ship set of general-use stairs. Since then, we have sailed on the Grand several times. On the Grand, the Skywalkers was removed. The general-use stairwells are only forward and aft. In mid-ships, the stairwell only provides access to the Piazza deck levels (in addition to the spirally stairs in the Piazza itself). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iamcruzin Posted July 10, 2017 #24 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks. This was my issue with the Royal and Regal. We like to book midship on deck 8 or 9 on the Grand Class ships that have midship stairs so in the morning we can grab coffee and a bite from the IC to bring back to our room or in the evening if we need to use the bathroom it was a quick walk up to our room. Midship comes at a premium price and I don't like the idea of having to do a 360 to get to our room or to the IC by using the stairs. I decided to book the less expensive rooms forward to save money and to cut down on walking in a circle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500adverbs Posted July 29, 2017 #25 Share Posted July 29, 2017 It does seem like it would be sort of annoying to book a midship cabin and have to either use the elevators or do a lot of backtracking. I never thought about the fact that midship cabins are more expensive and in some ways the least convenient, if you don't use the elevators. Still, more steps mean more desserts. My wife and I have been on the Grand twice and the Golden once, with aft cabins twice and forward once. We walk through the photo area a LOT on the Grand, and the art gallery, and even occasionally the casino despite the smoke, but in good weather we prefer the promenade deck. And of course we walk end to end from Horizon Court to Horizon Terrace and take the outside stairs down. We also like to walk a lot more than most. I guess the upshot is that I prefer aft cabins... we like the movement of the ship back there and there are a myriad of direct routes to and from anywhere on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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