15 Day Hawaii Grand vs Star

[fishywood]

2 hours ago, mreasier said:

At one of our Meet & Greets, the Captain told us that when they totally renovated the Piazza in 2012, they added so much marble that it made the ship too heavy.  They had to remove the steel Skywalkers compensate.

 

You do know the Captain was joking there?

 

And unless there are an unreasonably large number of Platinum and Elite members the Elite Lounge on Grand is most often held in The One5. 

 

To go back to the OP's question: if all things were equal I would take Grand over Star. But the one time I sailed from San Francisco I vowed never to do so again. Disembarkation day especially was the worst clusterflop I have ever experienced. The Princess airport transfer just barely got us to SFO on time for our 1:30 flight. And this was disembarking a 1200 passenger ship.

Edited April 25, 2019 by fishywood

[jondfk]

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

2 questions:

(1) is Alfredos a full dinner like the Royal or just pizza 

(2) where is elite happy hour & what happened to SKYWALKERS 

 

As stated, Alfredo's is just pizza.  The trick is to stop by the international cafe (same deck opposite side) for a bit of soup or salad to bring in.

 

On our sailing, elite happy hour was in the One5 Club but I've heard Vista is sometimes used if there are many Elites aboard.  One5 is much more out of the way and preferred IMHO.

[jasbo49]

I would add that I found the Grand Princess to have one of the friendliest crews we have sailed with. Two cruises,  both excellent. 

 

Jum

[FritzG]

We've done both, twice on the Grand, and twice on the Star.  We're booked on the March 13th Star this time.  We were on a b2b on the Grand right after the dry dock, and we had a great time; we like the ship a lot.  However for us the lack of Skywalkers is a big deal.  We love going up there to watch the sunsets, and it's a great place to read or relax during the day.  We've sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge three times so that's not a consideration for us.  We would sail on either ship again, but we like the Star better.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

The only advantages I see to sailing on the Grand are the opportunity to spend some time in SF and sailing under the Golden Gate. The potential weather in SF is a negative.

 

To me, the fact that you will be onboard for 15 days tips the favor to the Star. The chance to spend 2-3 days pre-cruise in SF (which you actually could do in  any case) doesn't outweigh the 15 days on the ship. LA's better weather is a point in its favor too. That impacts not just your pre-cruise days, but the first and last days of the cruise as well.

[trish99]

We just returned from the Grand Hawaii cruise.   This was our first Princess cruise (cruised multiple times with other lines) so I don't have any other Princess ships to compare it to, but here are my thoughts.

 

Yes, it just came back from drydock, but she is still old and it shows.  Rusty areas on the balcony, leaks every day in different areas, peeling ceiling tiles in the dining rooms from apparent leaks, old fixtures in the stateroom.  We had no hot water in our stateroom shower for 2 days. 

 

That being said, with the exception of a blase guest services desk and a poorly handled issue with a shore excursion, the service on this ship was amazing.  Embarkation was a breeze, onboarding and having lunch in less than an hour from curbside to dining room.  Our luggage was waiting outside our stateroom by 1:00.

 

All this to say,  while it did have a lot of positives, I probably wouldn't do this ship again.

[Thrak]

7 hours ago, mreasier said:

At one of our Meet & Greets, the Captain told us that when they totally renovated the Piazza in 2012, they added so much marble that it made the ship too heavy.  They had to remove the steel Skywalkers compensate.

 

5 hours ago, fishywood said:

 

You do know the Captain was joking there?

 

The structural integrity of the steel Skywalker's was compromised and it was removed for that reason. It had nothing to do with a remodel of the piazza.

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

The star 1000 percent


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cruiserkenn]

I have done both, and I liked them both.  I agree that Golden Gate and Alfredo's are pluses for the Grand.  The Grand has Hawaiian ambassavors, too.. Brian and Rowena were great on the Grand.

 

Tiki Dave is just fantastic on the Star.

 

Go on one of the ships, for sure.

 

Aloha🙂🛳🐬🐋🐳🐟⛴🌅🌝

[coopco]

15 hours ago, STREETKING said:

 

Yea, I was looking forward to that and visiting Alcatraz!

Better book well in advance for Alcatraz. We went years ago when you could buy tickets for the same day and last time we tried that, they laughed at us. I think you book three months in advance but I could be totally off on that timing. Enjoy -- well worth visiting.

[mreasier]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

 

The structural integrity of the steel Skywalker's was compromised and it was removed for that reason. It had nothing to do with a remodel of the piazza.

I have heard both "stories".  I chose to believe the best Princess captain we have had.  The weight issue makes more sense to me than the structural integrity issue.