Grand Embarkation in SFO

[Ep010835]

Somehow haven't yet been on the Grand. Can someone advise me where initial embarkation in San Francisco onto the ship puts you when you first arrive on the ship?

I'm guessing it's in the vicinity of the Da Vinci dining room. 

[idahospud]

Nope, not in San Francisco. You head in on deck 7. 

[Gimer]

Pier 27 Gangway entry is on Deck 7 Port Side.  Passengers staterooms located Forward to Mid-Ship enter at this area between the Princess Theater/Back Doors of the Crown Grill and directed to Forward Elevators.  Passengers with Staterooms located in the Mid-Ship to Aft areas are directed to the Mid-Ship entry located between the The Shop/Side of the Explorers Lounge and directed to the Mid-Ship Elevators.  Your photos will be taken and Cruise Card scanned at these entries points.  If Staterooms are not ready, you will be directed to the Horizon Court Buffet, Prego Pizzeria and the Trident Grill, all on Deck 14 for lunch.  Some will go to the Main Dining Room for lunch (closes at 1:30pm) and others will go to the International Cafe or Alfredo's Pizzeria, for those 5 custom made, thinned crusted pizza.   YUM !

[idahospud]

1 hour ago, Gimer said:

Pier 27 Gangway entry is on Deck 7 Port Side.  Passengers staterooms located Forward to Mid-Ship enter at this area between the Princess Theater/Back Doors of the Crown Grill and directed to Forward Elevators.  Passengers with Staterooms located in the Mid-Ship to Aft areas are directed to the Mid-Ship entry located between the The Shop/Side of the Explorers Lounge and directed to the Mid-Ship Elevators.  Your photos will be taken and Cruise Card scanned at these entries points.  If Staterooms are not ready, you will be directed to the Horizon Court Buffet, Prego Pizzeria and the Trident Grill, all on Deck 14 for lunch.  Some will go to the Main Dining Room for lunch (closes at 1:30pm) and others will go to the International Cafe or Alfredo's Pizzeria, for those 5 custom made, thinned crusted pizza.   YUM !

Spot on. One correction, though. Now that dinner times have changed they have also changed lunch hours. Dining room lunch is now 11:30-1:00. 

[Gimer]

They did change the dining times, so I stand corrected. Thanks..   FYI, the Horizon Court gets very busy and seating is sparse, so we generally will eat in the Alfredo's.  We order our pizzas and the I'll go the mens rooms to wash up and on my return, I'll stop at the International Cafe for two different salads and by the time I'm back, our pizzas are being delivered.  That's how we start our Cruise.   

[Ep010835]

Thanks, all! 

I'm cursed with the desire (dare I say need?) to have a mental picture of the road ahead before arriving. 

Crystal clear now.  😀

[Bdarlin]

Ok to add to this question.  We depart Jan 17th. Of course mom I want to board as early as possible ha!  I don’t care about room not being ready!

 

Other lines have been very strict with boarding times.  Especially Disney every time we have taken the twins.

 

What time is a good time to start?

 

what is a good time?  I’m thinking 11:00

 

Connie

[idahospud]

50 minutes ago, Bdarlin said:

Ok to add to this question.  We depart Jan 17th. Of course mom I want to board as early as possible ha!  I don’t care about room not being ready!

 

Other lines have been very strict with boarding times.  Especially Disney every time we have taken the twins.

 

What time is a good time to start?

 

what is a good time?  I’m thinking 11:00

 

Connie

The Grand has been starting boarding at 11:00 so you should be good. Here's what I wrote on my blog on our embarkation day on the Grand last month...

We grabbed the hotel shuttle at 9:30 am and were back at the airport by 9:50.
Checked in with the Princess reps and were on a bus by 10:30.
Arrived at the port long before 11:30 and were able to check in right away and board the ship with very few lines anywhere.
At 11:35 I was sitting having my special drink made by my special bartender.

 

So yep, 11:00 won't be all that early. Enjoy your cruise!

[Bdarlin]

Thank you so much!!!  Guess I’m getting excited ha!

[Almighty188]

We will be on the Grand for the February 21, 2019 Mexico Riviera sailing from SFO and I know you guys mentioned that boarding starts at 11:00 but when looking at the Travel Summary, it says:

PROGRESSIVE CRUISE CHECK-IN INFORMATION
To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check in schedule. Please arrive at your time check in time listed below. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check in will be available to guests with a Priority Boarding Pass within the allocated check in times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to the start of cruise check in as your cabin will not be ready. Once onboard, enjoy a meal at Horizon Court which remains open throughout the day to serve you.
1:00 PM - Baja & Lido Deck - Cabins on these decks begin with B & L 1:30 PM - Emerald & Dolphin Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with E & D 2:00 PM - Caribe & Plaza Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with C & P 2:30 PM - Aloha & Fiesta Deck - Cabins on these decks begin with A & F

 

Right now, we are in the Baja Deck balcony cabin, is the check-in time actually 1:00PM or can we actually check-in earlier at 11:00AM so we don't lose the MDR option for lunch?  We live in San Francisco so the pier is only 15 minutes on the train away.
 

Thanks!

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Almighty188

[Almighty188]

Forgot to ask but will the time of the ship adjust to the local time zones since I noticed for the Mexico Riviera, it does go to places that are anywhere from 1 to 2 hours faster than SFO time where one boards the cruise.  Does that mean the dining times and times at other ports will adjust to the local time that the ship is physically?  Thanks.

 

[c-boy]

EpO ya gonna do a live from ?

[Ep010835]

41 minutes ago, c-boy said:

EpO ya gonna do a live from ?

 

Never done one. Not sure my writing skills are up to the task.  🙃

[idahospud]

4 hours ago, Almighty188 said:

Forgot to ask but will the time of the ship adjust to the local time zones since I noticed for the Mexico Riviera, it does go to places that are anywhere from 1 to 2 hours faster than SFO time where one boards the cruise.  Does that mean the dining times and times at other ports will adjust to the local time that the ship is physically?  Thanks.

 

Here are all the time forwards and time backs.

[Almighty188]

Thanks idahospud.  Do the clocks in the cabin actually get adjusted automatically?  So they do adjust the clock after most of the things for dining are closed and people are asleep similar to when people adjust for Daylight Savings and Standard Time except in this case, it's done in one timezone to the next and really we are dealing with 3 timezones.  From your experience, what time are the cabins actually ready since I remember with my last and only cruise I took with Carnival 7 years ago in Galveston that went to Cozumel and back, it seems like the people are in the rooms for many hours as boarding was at noon and they just leave the luggage outside the door during the evening without knocking on the door so anyone who sees it can just take your bags.  

[idahospud]

29 minutes ago, Almighty188 said:

Thanks idahospud.  Do the clocks in the cabin actually get adjusted automatically?  So they do adjust the clock after most of the things for dining are closed and people are asleep similar to when people adjust for Daylight Savings and Standard Time except in this case, it's done in one timezone to the next and really we are dealing with 3 timezones.  From your experience, what time are the cabins actually ready since I remember with my last and only cruise I took with Carnival 7 years ago in Galveston that went to Cozumel and back, it seems like the people are in the rooms for many hours as boarding was at noon and they just leave the luggage outside the door during the evening without knocking on the door so anyone who sees it can just take your bags.  

There aren't any clocks in the cabins. There are only a few analog clocks near some of the elevators and near the pools, so you'll want adjust the time on your watch or phone if you want to be on the right time.  They change time in the middle of the night so it doesn't affect activities. 

 

I don't know if rooms were ready upon boarding on the Grand because we headed to see a friend before going to our cabin. Maybe someone who went straight to their cabin can help on that one. Usually we can go to the cabin after boarding on all Princess ships, but some ships now have cabins ready at 1:00. But like I said, I'm not sure on the Grand. 

 

Luggage will be placed in front of your cabin door as it is delivered. However, many times the cabin stewards will put them in the closet for you when it arrives. We've done dozens and dozens (and dozens) of cruises on Princess and never had a problem with our luggage being stolen or anything removed from it.

 

I have most of the Patters (the activity papers) and photos of the ship and ports. If you email me at cruisingandcrafting at gmail dot com I can send you a link to all of those things, if you think they would be helpful. 

[Ep010835]

10 hours ago, Almighty188 said:

We will be on the Grand for the February 21, 2019 Mexico Riviera sailing from SFO and I know you guys mentioned that boarding starts at 11:00 but when looking at the Travel Summary, it says:

PROGRESSIVE CRUISE CHECK-IN INFORMATION
To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check in schedule. Please arrive at your time check in time listed below. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check in will be available to guests with a Priority Boarding Pass within the allocated check in times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to the start of cruise check in as your cabin will not be ready. Once onboard, enjoy a meal at Horizon Court which remains open throughout the day to serve you.
1:00 PM - Baja & Lido Deck - Cabins on these decks begin with B & L 1:30 PM - Emerald & Dolphin Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with E & D 2:00 PM - Caribe & Plaza Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with C & P 2:30 PM - Aloha & Fiesta Deck - Cabins on these decks begin with A & F

 

Right now, we are in the Baja Deck balcony cabin, is the check-in time actually 1:00PM or can we actually check-in earlier at 11:00AM so we don't lose the MDR option for lunch?  We live in San Francisco so the pier is only 15 minutes on the train away.
 

Thanks!

 

 

 Check in whenever you like. The suggested times are just that, suggestions.

 

Much like the suggested dress for casual and formal nights in the MDR. 

[Ep010835]

50 minutes ago, Almighty188 said:

Do the clocks in the cabin actually get adjusted automatically?  

 

 My go-to is always the time displayed on the cabin telephone and on the television. I’m not smart enough to keep up with it all of the forwards and backwards time settings. So each morning I glance at the clock and /or television and make sure it matches the time on my phone. 

[Almighty188]

2 hours ago, idahospud said:

There aren't any clocks in the cabins. There are only a few analog clocks near some of the elevators and near the pools, so you'll want adjust the time on your watch or phone if you want to be on the right time.  They change time in the middle of the night so it doesn't affect activities. 

 

I don't know if rooms were ready upon boarding on the Grand because we headed to see a friend before going to our cabin. Maybe someone who went straight to their cabin can help on that one. Usually we can go to the cabin after boarding on all Princess ships, but some ships now have cabins ready at 1:00. But like I said, I'm not sure on the Grand. 

 

Luggage will be placed in front of your cabin door as it is delivered. However, many times the cabin stewards will put them in the closet for you when it arrives. We've done dozens and dozens (and dozens) of cruises on Princess and never had a problem with our luggage being stolen or anything removed from it.

 

I have most of the Patters (the activity papers) and photos of the ship and ports. If you email me at cruisingandcrafting at gmail dot com I can send you a link to all of those things, if you think they would be helpful. 

I kept thinking there was some sort of alarm clock in the room like a hotel usually has in the room but it seems the telephone is supposed to have a clock, I just didn't know if those auto adjust or not.  I'll just be wearing my Citizen Worldtimer Navihawk watch which allows switching between two timezones so I can have a home timezone as LAX and then the current city's timezone.  I select the current city by just pushing a button a few times and then I squeeze two buttons and it will adjust the hour/minutes for both the digital and the analog hands to the time (current or home), I squeeze the two buttons again and it will go to the other time zone so it's not hard.  I can't change the minutes because the watch sets the time by atomic clock if available or if not, it will just use whatever was on the watch already but it's faster than adjusting other watches and then I will just have to remember the ships time by the -/+ minutes.  I read some ships do not even change the timezone to the port of call or some do it during the daytime but nighttime is good.  

 

I think if depends on what you have in the luggage since most of the things I have are electronics, camera gear and even my notebook computer so I can use the Premium Internet Package I have when I want to before going to bed and early morning before breakfast is open which will all be in my backpack so those are something I wouldn't want to give the porters to take care of.  So as long as I can get into the cabin to put it inside, that's all that matters as I don't really need to be inside the room to use it.  I rarely travel with lots of clothes anyways since it's whatever will fit a carry-on bag and a personal item (my backpack) as the other stuff I have are all inside my Scottevest to get past TSA easier as I usually have nothing on myself besides the clothes as right before security, my belt and watch goes inside the Scottevest and then I send the entire Scottevest through the security scanner with the shoes.  In Galveston for the Carnival Triumph, they did require taking off shoes as part of the security procedure, not sure if it's the same for boarding the Princess Grand in SFO.  

 

I just emailed you and just wanted to say thanks in advance as I am sure they will be helpful one way or another.  


 

[Almighty188]

2 hours ago, Ep010835 said:

 

 Check in whenever you like. The suggested times are just that, suggestions.

 

Much like the suggested dress for casual and formal nights in the MDR. 

Didn't realize those were suggested times.  When is the earliest one can even check-in since I thought the ship just returned from the previous Mexican Riviera at 7:00AM earlier that day.  

Speaking about suggested dress for formal nights, how strict are they in enforcing that since my 88 year old mom will be there too and I am trying to make it as hassle free as possible for her at the MDR for formal nights.  

 

[Almighty188]

2 hours ago, Ep010835 said:

 

 My go-to is always the time displayed on the cabin telephone and on the television. I’m not smart enough to keep up with it all of the forwards and backwards time settings. So each morning I glance at the clock and /or television and make sure it matches the time on my phone. 

 

Thanks for the pointers for seeing the time without leaving the cabin.  Am I correct that the cabin telephone updates the clock whenever the ship time is updated? 

[idahospud]

8 minutes ago, Almighty188 said:

I kept thinking there was some sort of alarm clock in the room like a hotel usually has in the room but it seems the telephone is supposed to have a clock, I just didn't know if those auto adjust or not.  I'll just be wearing my Citizen Worldtimer Navihawk watch which allows switching between two timezones so I can have a home timezone as LAX and then the current city's timezone.  I select the current city by just pushing a button a few times and then I squeeze two buttons and it will adjust the hour/minutes for both the digital and the analog hands to the time (current or home), I squeeze the two buttons again and it will go to the other time zone so it's not hard.  I can't change the minutes because the watch sets the time by atomic clock if available or if not, it will just use whatever was on the watch already but it's faster than adjusting other watches and then I will just have to remember the ships time by the -/+ minutes.  I read some ships do not even change the timezone to the port of call or some do it during the daytime but nighttime is good.  

 

I think if depends on what you have in the luggage since most of the things I have are electronics, camera gear and even my notebook computer so I can use the Premium Internet Package I have when I want to before going to bed and early morning before breakfast is open which will all be in my backpack so those are something I wouldn't want to give the porters to take care of.  So as long as I can get into the cabin to put it inside, that's all that matters as I don't really need to be inside the room to use it.  I rarely travel with lots of clothes anyways since it's whatever will fit a carry-on bag and a personal item (my backpack) as the other stuff I have are all inside my Scottevest to get past TSA easier as I usually have nothing on myself besides the clothes as right before security, my belt and watch goes inside the Scottevest and then I send the entire Scottevest through the security scanner with the shoes.  In Galveston for the Carnival Triumph, they did require taking off shoes as part of the security procedure, not sure if it's the same for boarding the Princess Grand in SFO.  

 

I just emailed you and just wanted to say thanks in advance as I am sure they will be helpful one way or another.  


 

I just emailed you back.

 

I wouldn't be handing over my electronics to a porter, either. Even if rooms aren't ready you can usually drop off your carryons. Occasionally a ship will have the corridors blocked off but the Grand didn't do that last month. 

 

You don't have to take off your shoes as part of the screening process. Just make sure everything is out of your pockets. 

[Almighty188]

1 hour ago, anzore said:

It is very simple, your phone always adjust for the time you are in, if its set up ...The ship always makes announcements for  time changes the night before...You will be fine.

Good points and thanks.  As for the announcements, wouldn't you miss it if you were in some noisy area on the ship when the announcement is announced? 

 

[idahospud]

7 minutes ago, Almighty188 said:

Didn't realize those were suggested times.  When is the earliest one can even check-in since I thought the ship just returned from the previous Mexican Riviera at 7:00AM earlier that day.  

Speaking about suggested dress for formal nights, how strict are they in enforcing that since my 88 year old mom will be there too and I am trying to make it as hassle free as possible for her at the MDR for formal nights.  

 

Boarding started at 11:00 in December. You can check in earlier but won't be able to get onboard until 11.

[idahospud]

Just now, Almighty188 said:

Good points and thanks.  As for the announcements, wouldn't you miss it if you were in some noisy area on the ship when the announcement is announced? 

 

It's listed in the Patter the night before and you also will get a little reminder card on your bed (along with your evening chocolate).