Grand Princess newbie.

[beaniele]

Our first Princess cruise. Going on Grand Princess in B750. I just wondered about the ship and cabin from anyone who has sailed on this ship before. Like, dislike etc.

 

This is a bigger cruise ship for us but with free grats., obc, and sailing out of San Francisco to Alaska we could not pass it up as we live in the Bay Area.

 

Thanks for any information in advance.

 

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[tcdcruiser]

Great ship. Great crew. Sailed on her many time including last month and again next February. FYI. The balcony cabins of Caribe deck are much larger than Baja and Aloha. If price is similar you might consider a change.

[4cats4me]

Concur with above post, go for the Caribe deck if you can. We LOVE the Grand. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the newer ships like Regal and Royal, but the crew was fantastic last October. Everyone seemed genuinely happy working on that ship.

The ship leaks a little here and there, and there was a bucket outside our door and buckets in one of the lounges on a previous trip, but it added character to our cruises. [emoji23]

The food in the MDR was some of the best we’ve ever experienced in two dozen cruises

It is the oldest ship in the fleet, 1998, but it is still a goody!

[beaniele]

Concur with above post, go for the Caribe deck if you can. We LOVE the Grand. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the newer ships like Regal and Royal, but the crew was fantastic last October. Everyone seemed genuinely happy working on that ship.

The ship leaks a little here and there, and there was a bucket outside our door and buckets in one of the lounges on a previous trip, but it added character to our cruises. [emoji23]

The food in the MDR was some of the best we’ve ever experienced in two dozen cruises

It is the oldest ship in the fleet, 1998, but it is still a goody!

We are in the Owners suite. Should we change if possible to Carine deck?

 

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[beaniele]

We are in the Owners suite. Should we change if possible to Carine deck?

 

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Also on line said had refurbished in 2016?

 

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[need2cruisesoon]

Also on line said had refurbished in 2016?

 

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You seem concerned with the condition of the Grand.

 

Refurbished really means "lightly spritzed" with new bedding.

 

If you are worried then there are newer and better ships that sail Alaska.

[easyboy]

We are in the Owners suite. Should we change if possible to Carine deck?

 

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In case you haven't seen the video:

[Keith1010]

easyboy, thanks for sharing the link to the video.

Keith

[Micahs Grandad]

Doing our first one on Grand in Jan should be a great experience

[JF - retired RRT]

We are in the Owners suite. Should we change if possible to Carine deck?

UH, NO.

The posters who suggested a move didn't realize you were in a suite. The Caribe deck balconies are bigger than Aloha or Baha, but don't compare to being in a suite.

[skynight]

We are in the Owners suite. Should we change if possible to Carine deck?

 

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No stay where you are. The previous posters probably never looked at the deck plans, and are just talking in general about balcony category cabins. Being in a full suite you will receive additional advantages. The web page is shown below. I will highlight what I feel are the best advantages:

-Mimosa breakfast in Sabatini's. This is a special breakfast for full suite passengers only served each morning.

-Free specialty dining on boarding day. I prefer the Crown Grill, but Sabatini's is also available. Call the DINE Line once on board for a reservation.

-Free mini bar set up. You can trade the items provided for other items by calling room service, alcohol for alcohol or non- alcohol, non-alcohol for non alcohol, or the entire set up for two coffee cards or a bottle of wine.

-Club Class Dining

-Ability to order room service from the full menu

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

[beaniele]

No stay where you are. The previous posters probably never looked at the deck plans, and are just talking in general about balcony category cabins. Being in a full suite you will receive additional advantages. The web page is shown below. I will highlight what I feel are the best advantages:

-Mimosa breakfast in Sabatini's. This is a special breakfast for full suite passengers only served each morning.

-Free specialty dining on boarding day. I prefer the Crown Grill, but Sabatini's is also available. Call the DINE Line once on board for a reservation.

-Free mini bar set up. You can trade the items provided for other items by calling room service, alcohol for alcohol or non- alcohol, non-alcohol for non alcohol, or the entire set up for two coffee cards or a bottle of wine.

-Club Class Dining

-Ability to order room service from the full menu

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

Thank you for the information.

 

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[beaniele]

Here's a review I did on the Grand Princess when we sailed her a few years ago. This might answer some of your questions.

Very interesting. Thank you.

 

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[skynight]

Are you aware of the carry on beverage policy?

1 x 750ml bottle of wine per adult may be carried on without charge. This is for use in your cabin, but some pour the glass and carry the glass around with them. Additional bottles can be carried on and are subject to a $15/bot corkage fee. These bottles are marked and can be used anywhere on the ship.

No limit on carry on or checked non-alcoholic beverages.

You can not bring on board beer or spirits of any kind.

[rocklinmom]

We did the San Francisco Alaska cruise on Grand last year. It was great and so was the ship. You can't go wrong with a suite! You will like all of the perks that come with that.

[easyboy]

easyboy, thanks for sharing the link to the video.

Keith

 

 

 

You’re welcome Keith!

 

 

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[XBGuy]

We were on the San Francisco-Alaska Grand Princess cruise in September.

 

We love the Alfredo's pizzeria. Not many of the Princess ships have this venue. This is a no-cover-charge sitdown restaurant on Deck 5 off the central piazza. It has a very limited menu--pizzas only--but it is just a nice casual vibe. If you get a window seat, it is fun to look at the sea just outside. I think most people visit during lunch or for a mid-afternoon snack. So, it is not, particularly, busy during the dinner hours.

 

We also made multiple visits to the Crown Grill specialty restaurant. Here is where the experience changes from cruise to cruise. I have found that my experience in the specialty restaurants is very dependent on the staffing--specifically, the headwaiter. The headwaiter in the Crown Grill on the Grand Princess in September was excellent. He understood that hospitality was his number one priority. He made sure that his staff had that same priority. There was a vibe in the room where the diners felt like they were honored guests, not customers. I like that.

 

We also had a couple meals in Sabatini's. It seemed like the headwaiter, there, was confused about his priorities and responsibilities. The food is good, although, it is very easy to come out of there feeling overstuffed. The experience was not horrible. It just wasn't special.

 

Our one experience in the Crab Shack was pretty poor. The headwaiter had an imperious attitude about her responsibilities to the diner. The staff was very slow, and it was never really clear to us who our primary server was.

 

Evrything will be different on your cruise. I can, pretty much, assure you that there will be different personnel on your cruise.

 

And Alaska is AWESOME.

[4cats4me]

We are in the Owners suite. Should we change if possible to Carine deck?

 

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No. We didn’t realize you were booked in one of the suites. HECK NO!

I will say though, we’ve had full suites before on Princess and Caribe deck regular cabins and minis, and we actually prefer the Caribe cabins out of all of them ....

the suites in the back have a lot of motion.

[4cats4me]

UH, NO.

 

The posters who suggested a move didn't realize you were in a suite. The Caribe deck balconies are bigger than Aloha or Baha, but don't compare to being in a suite.

 

 

We enjoyed the Caribe cabin and the full suites equally, actually.

[MarkSeattle]

Just got off the Grand last week. In laws were a few doors down from you and we were up a deck.

 

There were some water leaks and buckets around. One from the WiFi repeater a few doors down from us.

 

The food was a little sub-par, but I imagine this can change week to week.

 

Since carry on wine was mentioned the check in SF was optional, and they didn’t even have tables set up to check purchases at the ports, but it was a coastal cruise. My last Alaska they didn’t check either.

[smixsell]

I'm going on the Grand next month. Do they have flat screen TV's and "On Demand" movies?

 

Thanks!

[MarkSeattle]

I'm going on the Grand next month. Do they have flat screen TV's and "On Demand" movies?

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

No on demand, but they are flat screen TVs.