Live feed from the Grand Princess 9/25 and 9/30 cruises

[fabby50]

If you like beer, we did the brewery tour last time we were in Ensenada.  It was a fledgling endeavor at that time, but interesting to take the drive and see how they are developing the industry in that area.  We will probably take it again the next trip to see how they are progressing.  The brewery that was out of town proper was attached to a pizza place and very rustic but the guys were so enthusiastic.  The  one down by the docks was more managed and industrial.  Both had pretty good beer.

[HBCcruiser]

12 hours ago, gmcwalker said:

Additionally, our scheduled arrival to Los Angeles on Thursday, September 30 will now be at 10:00 AM, rather than 6:15 AM.

I wonder if this is going to be the norm for all Grand sailings? This may impact boarding times too. Bummer. 

[Cruise Raider]

39 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

I wonder if this is going to be the norm for all Grand sailings? This may impact boarding times too. Bummer. 

 

I'm sure the terminal will be a complete nightmare for those embarking on the 9/30 sailing .. not meaning to sound negative but, we've been in that situation before and it was chaos... it was on the Grand, as a matter of fact.  The only good thing about these early sailings is that they aren't at full capacity so the crowds won't be as big.  

I wonder if they will allow people to stay in their rooms past 8 AM.  We're on a B2B so it's not as big of a concern for us. 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, fabby50 said:

I have been following the Panorama threads since they were the first ship out of Long Beach.  They did the same thing with her, slowed her down and came in later.  It doesn't seem to be quite as late as they predict (except for the 1st cruise), but seems they are taking caution so those that are flying don't miss a flight (change your flight to later).  I've seen people book 11 am flights, assuming they can get off by 8.  I've only done that once and we've done lots of cruises out of LA and Long Beach on every line that ports at the two.

 

I wonder if this has something to do with the speed limitations or if the Grand is just getting up there in the years. 

 

[fabby50]

16 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I'm sure the terminal will be a complete nightmare for those embarking on the 9/30 sailing .. not meaning to sound negative but, we've been in that situation before and it was chaos... it was on the Grand, as a matter of fact.  The only good thing about these early sailings is that they aren't at full capacity so the crowds won't be as big.  

I wonder if they will allow people to stay in their rooms past 8 AM.  We're on a B2B so it's not as big of a concern for us. 

Last time we had that situation, we went over and took a tour of the Iowa.  If you were a cruise passenger, it was free.  Not sure if its open for touring right now, but it was a good option instead of standing by the ship hyperventilating at the staff.

Edited September 24, 2021 by fabby50
change ship name :)

[Cruise Raider]

Just now, fabby50 said:

Last time we had that situation, we went over and took a tour of the Midway.  If you were a cruise passenger, it was free.  Not sure if its open for touring right now, but it was a good option instead of standing by the ship hyperventilating at the staff.

 

Oh, do you mean the Queen Mary?  The Midway is in San Diego.  

We've done the free tour of the Queen Mary before and it was fantastic.  Yes .. complementary for cruiseship passengers.  Great way to spend our day in Long Beach.  

[fabby50]

1 minute ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Oh, do you mean the Queen Mary?  The Midway is in San Diego.  

We've done the free tour of the Queen Mary before and it was fantastic.  Yes .. complementary for cruiseship passengers.  Great way to spend our day in Long Beach.  

Sorry, meant the Iowa, getting all those darn California ports jumbled 🙂

We were at Long Beach a couple of weeks ago to take the helicopter over to Catalina.  I walked over to the Queen Mary and couldn't really figure out if she was open, getting ready to open or exactly what was going on.  I know they filed bankruptcy, but they've done that before.  There were cars in the parking lot and signs up saying free tours for cruise passengers, but I saw no one walking around on her decks.

[dskenn]

5 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Oh, do you mean the Queen Mary?  The Midway is in San Diego.  

We've done the free tour of the Queen Mary before and it was fantastic.  Yes .. complementary for cruiseship passengers.  Great way to spend our day in Long Beach.  

The Iowa is right next berth 93  in San Pedro

Edited September 24, 2021 by dskenn

[Cruise Raider]

2 minutes ago, dskenn said:

The Iowa is right next berth 93  in San Pedro

 

Oh yes ... perfect option!!  We were delayed in Seattle once and just headed down to Pikes Market.  It's always wonderful when there is a nearby option to explore.  Sure beats waiting around in the terminal to board.  

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, fabby50 said:

Sorry, meant the Iowa, getting all those darn California ports jumbled 🙂

We were at Long Beach a couple of weeks ago to take the helicopter over to Catalina.  I walked over to the Queen Mary and couldn't really figure out if she was open, getting ready to open or exactly what was going on.  I know they filed bankruptcy, but they've done that before.  There were cars in the parking lot and signs up saying free tours for cruise passengers, but I saw no one walking around on her decks.

 

Oh, what a shame.  It is a grand old ship!  

There weren't many people touring it the day when we went, either.  They may just open it when a cruiseship is in port there in Long Beach.

[gmcwalker]

47 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I wonder if this has something to do with the speed limitations or if the Grand is just getting up there in the years. 

 

There are two possible explanations. First of all the Port of Los Angeles is backed up with ships waiting to come in and times for all ships have to be slotted just like taking off and landing at an airport. Plus there is a limited amount of Harbor Pilots and Tugboats.

Secondly the ship will be going out at less than 50% capacity and that has cut into revenue. Slowing down will cut fuel usage and partially mitigate the loss of revenue. 

It could quite probably be a combination of both. 

The bright side is that we are cruising again!

[HBCcruiser]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

I wonder if they will allow people to stay in their rooms past 8 AM.

We sailed on the Royal Adventure of the Seas in July and they had everyone wait in their cabins until their group was called to disembark (COVID Protocols). That was so nice! We had a later time so got to stay onboard until 10AM! 

[milogurd]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I wonder if this has something to do with the speed limitations or if the Grand is just getting up there in the years. 

 

A few years ago on a Mexican Rivera cruise, they slowed down the ship due to whale migrations.

[dskenn]

I am not sailing on this sailing.  But will be following closely as I sail 10/9 for b2b.

 

I just wanted to say, for those of you who are not taking a tour in San Diego ,  When you get off ship and walk past USS Midway about another 1/4  block turn right there is some bronze statues of Bob Hope and other things relating  WWII.  It is a lovey little walk.  Keep walking toward the  water, and you will see it.

[fabby50]

1 hour ago, dskenn said:

I am not sailing on this sailing.  But will be following closely as I sail 10/9 for b2b.

 

I just wanted to say, for those of you who are not taking a tour in San Diego ,  When you get off ship and walk past USS Midway about another 1/4  block turn right there is some bronze statues of Bob Hope and other things relating  WWII.  It is a lovey little walk.  Keep walking toward the  water, and you will see it.

Our cruise doesn't go to San Diego, we're going to Cabo 🙂  Sounds like a great thing to do next time we are in SD however.

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, milogurd said:

A few years ago on a Mexican Rivera cruise, they slowed down the ship due to whale migrations.

They did have the same thing happen all up and down the west coast … started about 5 years ago, if I’m remembering that correctly.  

[SwimCarrie]

18 hours ago, gmcwalker said:

Looks like we hit a bump in the road before we even have left. This came via email From Princess an few hours ago. Hang on folks it's going to an interesting time!

 

MPORTANT NOTICES ITINERARY CHANGE Please be advised that due to an operational speed reduction, Grand Princess will now arrive in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 3:00 PM on Monday, September 27, 2021, rather than 12:00 noon as previously scheduled. Additionally, our scheduled arrival to Los Angeles on Thursday, September 30 will now be at 10:00 AM, rather than 6:15 AM. We want to assure you that this speed reduction in no way affects the safe operation of the ship, which is our highest priority. As a result of this change, our disembarkation flight guideline in Los Angeles for guests with independent air arrangements has changed. The earliest flight departure time is now 4:15 PM. Guests with Princess EZair flights that depart before 4:15 PM will have their flights changed and will receive their updated flight information soon. Guests will receive updated shore excursion information onboard. Please note that the itinerary that displays below does not yet reflect this change. Thank you for your attention to this notification.

 

 

Was this specifically for the first sailing and not the second? I booked my air through Princess... they'd better give me a direct flight or I need more Ativan! 🤣

[007colocruz]

3 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

They did have the same thing happen all up and down the west coast … started about 5 years ago, if I’m remembering that correctly.  

Yes, happened with us in October 2019

[SwimCarrie]

On 9/17/2021 at 12:43 PM, Cruise Raider said:

I was on the Majestic 7/25/21sailing and HaveDogWillTravel started a very helpful post about the first sailing out of the US for Princess in over 16 months.  

So, not quite a live feed yet but thought I would start a similar post for those that have questions about the initial sailings on the Grand Princess out of Los Angeles.  

My iPad is a bit wonky when posting to CC but will try to answer any questions you all may have about these sailings.  We, along with many others are doing a B2B (back to back) cruise starting on 9/25 and we will be continuing on until we disembark on 10/4.  I see a couple of others on our roll call stated they would jump in with answers to the questions you may have or even just post about their experiences.  

 

Precruise MC (Medallion Class) app experience:

Our MC app experience has been a little rocky for this sailing.  I'm not sure if it was related to doing a B2B so my Princess Cruise Vacation Planner tried unlinking them for me but, that didn't work.  She made several attempts but realized that the same thing was happening to others from our roll call.  We also encountered some further issues with the app, like not taking my credit card for both me and my DH that was keeping us from getting all our green check marks to hold.  I called the Navigator help line and they did fix this lickety split.  Of note, there were items we didn't have to enter back into the app after having just recently sailed on the Majestic.  That was nice!!  

The timeline for getting in that green lane status was slow but we finally got most everything situated on the MC app.  Still missing is anything listed in JourneyView.  I realize that for most shows and events, we probably won't need any reservations but I did want to book my spa appointments and such around things that I wanted to do or see onboard.  BTW, these can be scheduled on the personalizer ahead of time and it's really the way to go.  When we used the spa onboard the Majestic, it was hard getting a listing of their port day specials.  I realize that these don't come out of your OBC but, I'm sure we will find a way to spend that during the cruise.  Also, I noticed that the 10% elite status discount wasn't applied to those services onboard unless you asked for at the desk.  We didn't bother doing so with the photos or spa services but we did ask for it with an expensive tour we had booked.  I thought the discount would be automatic but, as of July, it wasn't.  

About 28 days prior to our sailing, we were able to reserve our dining times in the DMW (Dine My Way) link.  They had dining rooms to choose from and every time slot with 20 minute intervals were available.  About 4 or 5 days ago, those reservations for the first leg of our sailing, our dining reservations just disappeared.  No harm as we were able to reset them,  just not in the Michelangelo....so, the DaVinci it is!   Because this cruise appears to have a very limited capacity, we are curious as to whether or not this dining room will just not be used or it may be that they are using it only for those that want a more traditional style dining experience, even though that term no longer exists.  I found it interesting that Princess took into account if you wanted a shared or private table as that is now asked when you set up your dining reservations in the app.  They've obviously listened to those that want to meet new people when cruising.  

We were also able to reserve and pay for our special dining for the Crown Grill in the app.  Whatever credit card you have posted for your sailing is automatically charged.  Again, if you want to use your OBC to book the specialty dining, you will have to wait until you are onboard.  That hasn't changed.  

On day 11 before our cruise, we were finally able to choose our arrival time.  One day later, that disappeared.  I went back into the app and noticed that they had an earlier boarding time within Group A (it changed from noon to 11:30 AM) so, I choose that and got right back into the A group.  

Like I said, the only thing missing on the app now is the ability to see what shows and events are happening.  Life is all good, though!  

 

Testing mandates:

I booked this cruise immediately when I saw it was available through my PVP (or CVP).  I later thought that I may want to book the next sailing, as B2B sailings were then allowed.  At first, we were not able to get the same cabin but the one right next door.  While not optimal, we were happy enough with that.  We had also heard that B2Bs in different cabins weren't going to be allowed so, instead of chancing it, we were able to upgrade to another category in staying in the same room during the BOGO sale.  After that, the testing mandate within 2 days of the initial sailing and testing in between B2Bs was implemented.  

We were able to make an appointment at CVS for the rapid antigen test two days prior to our first leg of the cruise.  We were told that we will have to disembark the ship between sailings and get tested (compliments of Princess) and reboard only after getting a negative result.  We may consider taking home test kits with us just to know if we should pack up our items in between sailings.  We were assured the staff would pack up our belongings but it just seems safer for us to do it instead.  Given this added requirement, I would probably reconsider doing a B2B again while CoVid is still so active.  I did ask my PVP what would be done if we were asymptomatic and tested positive.  She assured us that Princess would take care of the necessary arrangements and costs to get us home as we'd not be able to fly on a commercial flight.  A car rental was mentioned and that sounded reasonable because it would just be from Los Angeles up to the SF Bay Area.  

As for others, I think the monitored home test kits that are now offered via a link on the Princess FAQs site, are a very popular option.  Many have noted their health insurance will reimburse them when submitting a claim.  The tests are $70 for a set of and can be found using this link ... CruiseHealth™ FAQ: Sailings from the United States - Princess Cruises

 

I almost forgot to mention, there seem to be a lot (I mean a lot) of cabins available on these cruises and it doesn't appear anybody is getting any upgrade or upsell offers.  On the Majestic, we had received an upsell offer and we turned it down because we already had the exact cabin we wanted.  Now, when we'd like a larger cabin  ... we'd really love to get one of these offers.  

 

Please feel free to chime in if you are on either of these initial sailings

.... or if you just have some questions that any of us might be able to answer for you.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very curious...any cabin upgrades yet? 😬

[donswife]

8 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

They did have the same thing happen all up and down the west coast … started about 5 years ago, if I’m remembering that correctly.  

Between late departure from Vancouver BC due to a fuel spill and the environmental reduced speed requirement near LA, our arrival on the Royal in Sept 2019 was delayed by about 8 hours, and we had to rebook flights. That experience was the reason we will now only book air through Princess any time we are doing same day travel.

[Cruise Raider]

11 hours ago, SwimCarrie said:

Very curious...any cabin upgrades yet? 😬

 

I see nothing ... however, today, when I log into my app, it longer shows a room number.  The second leg of my sailing is still available and shows the same room without any upgrade.  I was going to print out my travel summary this morning but it is no longer there for this first leg.  

[Cruise Raider]

16 hours ago, SwimCarrie said:

Was this specifically for the first sailing and not the second? I booked my air through Princess... they'd better give me a direct flight or I need more Ativan! 🤣

 

This is specifically for the first leg.  San Diego and Ensenada are just a stone's throw from LA so, I don't see any problem there. 

[dskenn]

Have a safe and fantastic cruise to you all.  I will be anxiously awaiting to read all the great posts.

@Cruise Raiderlet me know if you get an upgrade for either journey.  I am waiting for an upgrade for my second leg on 10/14.

 

Bon Voyage to all

[fabby50]

9 minutes ago, dskenn said:

Have a safe and fantastic cruise to you all.  I will be anxiously awaiting to read all the great posts.

@Cruise Raiderlet me know if you get an upgrade for either journey.  I am waiting for an upgrade for my second leg on 10/14.

 

Bon Voyage to all

Thanks for the well wishes.  Getting ready to hit the road for the drive.  I think what I am looking forward to the most is escaping the SMOKE.  The fires are so bad this year.  I could use a little dose of non-reality!

[dskenn]

29 minutes ago, fabby50 said:

Thanks for the well wishes.  Getting ready to hit the road for the drive.  I think what I am looking forward to the most is escaping the SMOKE.  The fires are so bad this year.  I could use a little dose of non-reality!

I saw a post on the other thread that you have a three hour drive.  If you are driving on the 5, I will wave to you .  I am near Magic Mountian. 😀