Really torn. Ruby or Grand?

[Cruise-Crazzy]

I would pick the Grand because it sails out of San Francisco. I love San Francisco It is a fantastic city and sailaway. Must stay a least a couple of days before your cruise.

[Coral]

We are cruising to Hawaii in April out of SFO on the Grand and want to spend a couple of days precruise.

/

 

I love SFO.

[Tatka]

Atrium is mouth more beautiful on Ruby, but Grand has a covered pool.

[gamajr]

We were on the Grand in September. We spent a night in a city hotel before the cruise. I forget which one, but it was your typical big city hotel. Nice, and in a good location, but nothing special.

 

We stayed another two nights after the cruise and really lucked out with our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Zephyr. It's a smaller, boutique hotel right by Pier 39. Despite a false start when they couldn't find our booking and we then had to wait for our room ( we were early), it was fantastic.

 

I'm not keen on walking but everything was a short walk. We paid for the water view room and our view was incredible, a stone's throw from Alcatraz. We didn't know, but it was fleet week, so on the day we arrived we were treated to a 4 hour rehearsal for the air show, the next day we had the air show. There were tourists everywhere downstairs, but I could see it all from my window. It really made the end of our trip very special.

 

The hotel entrance is at the back of the block (facing away from the water), making it a 2-3 minute walk to the waterfront and many wonderful restaurants. It was a little longer to walk to the bottom of the cable car route, but it was still under 10 minutes at a slow stroll.

 

The hotel is 'quirky' in its decor as it tries to be trendy, so it may not suit everyone, but the view alone really did make it a special end to our trip.

 

When we left the Grand, which was lovely by the way, we didn't realise just how close our hotel was. A very short trip for our taxi driver so we made sure to tip him a little extra as the traffic by the port was a little nuts.

 

I can't remember the price of the hotel, maybe $329, but we had 3 adults in a decent sized room and smaller, cheaper rooms were available. So yes, we paid more, but it was worth it.

[CruiseAdict218]

But the Regal feels less crowded than the Grand due to the layout.

 

The Grand. Less crowded. Only Princess ship I've sailed twice. The smaller the better. I won't even consider the Royal or Regal.

 

 

I felt the Golden (Sister to the Grand) felt the least crowded than the Caribbean or Regal.

[Cruise Raider]

We just got off the Grand on Sunday. We totally enjoyed our cruise but I have to tell you reading through these posts reminds me of the little things I noticed. We loved sailing on the Grand and the crew is fantastic but I do remember drops of water from the ceiling hitting my head. And I have never noticed before a ship being in such obvious need of a refurb. Don't get me wrong - the crew does an excellent job of keeping her in shape but I noticed small things that's I don't normally notice (e.g. really worn carpet).

 

We find Los Angeles easier for parking (right at the terminal vs. going through city traffic in SF and parking 10 minutes walk away). But you can't beat San Francisco as far as an amazing city to visit with SOOOO much to do! It's not that you can't do much in LA but it's all spread out so you must have a car and you must deal with traffic. You can take mass transit or walk in SF.

 

I'd say if you want more hassle free, go Ruby. If you really want to visit SF, go Grand. You can't go wrong either way. We have never sailed on Ruby so I'm just going by the cities and terminals.

 

P.S. Did MUTS for the first time on this cruise. Bundled up with a pull over sweater, a vest, a cape, a knit scarf, a blanket over my head, and two blankets on my legs. I'm bringing a ski mask and thermal underwear next cruise! Hope yours is warmer.

 

P.P.S. The closet on the Grand was the smallest of any cruise we have been on.

 

We were on this same cruise but had a little different opinion than you. We thought they did a great job replacing all the carpet throughout the ship with the exception of just a few places where the older carpet had remained. We didn't notice any leaks on this sailing, but can imagine what you say is true. We sailed on the Grand several times before and while it is my least favorite Princess ship (the layout and maintenance of the ship itself ... definitely not the staff / crew), we thought there were definitely improvements since the last time we sailed on her, which was in Aug 2016. We still did notice some rust and unvarnished wooden railings around the ship. The furniture in the public lounges were still awful but we thought the improvements to the furnishings to the Horizon Court was fabulous. In our cabin, the couch needed to be replaced and the grout in the shower needed to be completely redone but the new beds and pillows were heavenly!

The weather on that sailing was a little chillier than expected but we went to MUTS one night with just a sweatshirt and one blanket each and warm enough ... might just be more tolerant to the cooler temps or maybe just sat in a seat that didn't catch the wind. I did miss that they didn't come around with hot chocolate and popcorn as they had the last time we attended a nighttime movie at MUTS. The two times we sailed out of LA to Hawaii were both a little warmer than our one sailing out of SF to Hawaii. The waters out of SF and back tend to be a little choppier but this latest sailing out of SF was all smooth as good be. Maybe the captain utilized the stabilizers a little better than our previous sailings.

 

Anyhow, as mentioned, we've sailed several times on the Grand and although we've not sailed on the Ruby, we've sailed on her sister ships several times before and sailed from both LA and San Francisco to Hawaii and back. Here's the pros and cons of each with the winner for each aspect:

 

- Indoor pool area: The Grand (not on the Ruby); the weather is on the cool side until you get close to Hawaii so this is essential for us. Maybe not for others

 

- Window Suites: The Grand (no on the Ruby); we tried a suite for the first time ever on this latest trip and wow ... we are spoiled now. Pricing can be less than the Club Class mini-suites but you still get Club Class dining and all the other full suite benefits, as well. The only thing is they are so popular, they are booked out way ahead of time.

 

- Ship design: The Ruby (except for the lack of indoor pool); the Grand has smaller closets and storage space and for a 15 night cruise, that might be very noticeable. The Grand is also missing its center staircase (yes, you will see it in the schematics but it doesn't exist for passenger use). This creates a bottle neck in front of the Explorer's Lounge / Photo display area as well as long wait times for the central elevators. Skywalkers has been removed from the Grand and they've carved out a section on deck 15 for the One5 Club. To me, this doesn't hold a candle to Skywalkers. The Grand also has two little seating sections outside on the upper deck in the aft of the ship that is nice but the non-smoking side isn't always clearly identified so smokers tend to use both sides. Lastly, the Grand is quite a bit older (by 10 years) and in ship's years, that is a lot.

 

- Embarkation / Debarkation Ports: The Grand sailing in and out of SF is a clear winner!! In LA, or should I say, San Pedro, you don't have the wonderful public transportation options that get you from the airport to very close to the pier (1 mile ... all flat with sidewalks). But, indeed, the hotels in SF are quite expensive. Please don't make the mistake of staying out by the airport in Oakland to save money. You won't do yourself any justice by doing that and it is not in a great part of town. Splurge for staying in the City (SF). But, you have many options of nearby hotels (not sure why someone mentioned there were no hotels close by pier 27??). Oh, and Pier 27 definitely has their act together and you are hardly ever competing against passengers from other ships as there is usually (not always) no other ships in port at the same time and when their is, they usually will be relegated to use Pier 35 (a much older and non-efficient cruiseship terminal just down the street). On our cruise last we disembarked from last weekend, it took us less than 20 minutes from the time we were dropped off at the pier until we were in our room unpacking our luggage. Disembarkation was even faster and there was virtually no waiting time or lines during this process. I would say it was the best we've experienced in our many sailings across all different cruise lines.

In SF, there are so many things to do, all within walking distance of the Pier. It is literally right in the downtown area with so many public transport options. Check out Groupon, TravelZoo or Living Social for discounts for many attractions, restaurants, services, etc in the City if you plan on staying for awhile.

 

Lounges / Theaters: The Grand; because the Grand holds less passengers, you can usually find a seat in the theater or lounge for their scheduled events / shows whereas this becomes difficult when approx 230 more passenger cabins are involved, as on the Ruby. We experienced being skunked out of getting a seat at the more popular shows on the Crown and Emerald many times, but not so on the Grand.

 

I think you'd end up having a great time on either, just would depend on your budget as well as what specifics are important than you.

[rockdoctor]

Easy decision. Ruby still has Skyalkers. Grand doesn’t. Love breakfast in Skwalkers, if if I do have to carry it there.

[shepp]

I've sailed on the Grand a fair amount lately, since it's ported 20 minutes from my house. Maybe I'm oblivious, or just less fussy, but I honestly don't notice all the supposed tattiness on the Grand. I do miss Skywalkers, though.

 

One thing to keep in mind here is that once you're in San Francisco, a decent public transportation system (or the plethora of Ubers) will get you anywhere you want to go relatively quickly and inexpensively. If you're planning to do much sightseeing in LA you're gonna need a car, and that makes the SoCal hotel savings less significant. (OK, most first-time visitors to the City are content with tourist central at the Wharf, but if you're, say, more into going to museums than buying refrigerator magnets you might want to venture further afield.)

 

Also, assuming the fog cooperates, sailing out under the Golden Gate Bridge sure beats gliding past the cranes in San Pedro.

Edited May 13, 2018 by shepp