Oct 4th Grand Princess to Cabo

[montgomeryfamily]

Thanks AF-1.  I appreciate your checking out the stateroom.

[AF-1]

I am sorry for not getting back to everyone about the end of our trip.   I will finish up to let cruisers know what to expect for cruising out of Port Of Los Angeles and the Grand Princess

1.  My wife and I did like our window suite.  It is so close to everything which was great. One negative for the suite was;  because of the size of suite there are two air conditioning packs in the ceiling.  Only one worked our entire trip.  Our cabin attendant said he would notify maint.  The never fixed it.  I reported it also to the front desk and still it did not get fixed.  With one air pack running it was tough to keep the room totally cool.  

2. Room Service swapped out the mini bar for us so that was nice

3. Having club class dining a few steps away and having the Princess theater a few steps in the other direction was great too

4. Did we miss the balcony;  not really.  We enjoyed looking out the big picture windows and the water rushing by;  and we enjoyed the quietness of the cabin.

5. The communications from the bridge was flat out bad.  We found out we would be docking in Cabo at 1:30 pm verses noon by attending the late theater show the night before docking in Cabo.  The cruise director at the end of the show talked about docking in Cabo and what time we were getting in.  Never heard anything from the bridge;  nor did we hear any official word from the bridge that we could not disembark in LA until 9am.  We found that out at 7:30pm the night before we docked.  We had a private tour booked in Cabo and we lost it.  The tour operator said sorry but we have another tour behind yours and since you will be two hours late getting to us;  oh well.  You won't be charged.  So we got off the ship walked around the marina stopped in for a drink and some chips/salsa then headed back to the ship. The night before our arrival in LA, we found out we would miss our Delta Flight out of Long Beach; so  we used crew chat for help with rebooking.  A gentleman front guest services named Shaq found us using the medallion app.  We were eating dinner and he came in and said we are sorry you won't make your flight tomorrow and we would like to help with booking you on a  later flight.  If there is any cost difference we will pay for that.  This was great customer service; not only did he track me down with his app;  he stayed with me until Delta had re-confirmed our new flight out of Los Angeles.   The first group of passengers were allowed to disembark at 9:15.  The reason for the delay getting off the ship was; 25% of the crew was being transferred to Enchanted Princess in Florida and had to clear immigrations and bussed to LA to catch their flight.  If the Bridge Captain would have mentioned this midway thru our cruise  I could have rebooked my flight with no hassles.  It was a great cruise and we had lots of fun.  The staff were excellent and so was the food.  Grand Princess was in good shape;  no issues there. Embarkation went smooth;  took less than 15 min to board;  Once we did disembark the ship it took ten minutes to clear customs and into our taxi to LAX.  Cheers everyone.  If you have any questions let me know

[cr8tiv1]

@AF-1  Glad you enjoyed the Window Suite.  Was suite breakfast on disembarkation day in Crown Grill or Club Class?  Usually not served on the last day.  But with fewer passengers...just wondering.

[Australia08]

7 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I am sorry for not getting back to everyone about the end of our trip.   I will finish up to let cruisers know what to expect for cruising out of Port Of Los Angeles and the Grand Princess

1.  My wife and I did like our window suite.  It is so close to everything which was great. One negative for the suite was;  because of the size of suite there are two air conditioning packs in the ceiling.  Only one worked our entire trip.  Our cabin attendant said he would notify maint.  The never fixed it.  I reported it also to the front desk and still it did not get fixed.  With one air pack running it was tough to keep the room totally cool.  

2. Room Service swapped out the mini bar for us so that was nice

3. Having club class dining a few steps away and having the Princess theater a few steps in the other direction was great too

4. Did we miss the balcony;  not really.  We enjoyed looking out the big picture windows and the water rushing by;  and we enjoyed the quietness of the cabin.

5. The communications from the bridge was flat out bad.  We found out we would be docking in Cabo at 1:30 pm verses noon by attending the late theater show the night before docking in Cabo.  The cruise director at the end of the show talked about docking in Cabo and what time we were getting in.  Never heard anything from the bridge;  nor did we hear any official word from the bridge that we could not disembark in LA until 9am.  We found that out at 7:30pm the night before we docked.  We had a private tour booked in Cabo and we lost it.  The tour operator said sorry but we have another tour behind yours and since you will be two hours late getting to us;  oh well.  You won't be charged.  So we got off the ship walked around the marina stopped in for a drink and some chips/salsa then headed back to the ship. The night before our arrival in LA, we found out we would miss our Delta Flight out of Long Beach; so  we used crew chat for help with rebooking.  A gentleman front guest services named Shaq found us using the medallion app.  We were eating dinner and he came in and said we are sorry you won't make your flight tomorrow and we would like to help with booking you on a  later flight.  If there is any cost difference we will pay for that.  This was great customer service; not only did he track me down with his app;  he stayed with me until Delta had re-confirmed our new flight out of Los Angeles.   The first group of passengers were allowed to disembark at 9:15.  The reason for the delay getting off the ship was; 25% of the crew was being transferred to Enchanted Princess in Florida and had to clear immigrations and bussed to LA to catch their flight.  If the Bridge Captain would have mentioned this midway thru our cruise  I could have rebooked my flight with no hassles.  It was a great cruise and we had lots of fun.  The staff were excellent and so was the food.  Grand Princess was in good shape;  no issues there. Embarkation went smooth;  took less than 15 min to board;  Once we did disembark the ship it took ten minutes to clear customs and into our taxi to LAX.  Cheers everyone.  If you have any questions let me know

How much was your cab from the ship to LAX?  Was it a true cab or an Uber?

[CruzinNoony]

On 10/6/2021 at 6:28 PM, KreinKrunker said:

AF-1

Ms Krunker, an avid reader, was wondering if the library is open?  Thanks.

Just got off the Grand and yes, the library is open.  They have an excellent inventory with newly purchased books.  

[AF-1]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:46 PM, Australia08 said:

How much was your cab from the ship to LAX?  Was it a true cab or an Uber?

The taxi from port to LAX was around $45. USD

[kfarris]

what night was formal night on the grand to Cabo?  night 4??

[kfarris]

did they serve lobster on formal night as usual?

[WmFCoyote]

No Lobster on formal night. 

[AF-1]

Formal night  was day 2

[victory2020]

On 10/14/2021 at 11:18 AM, AF-1 said:

I am sorry for not getting back to everyone about the end of our trip.   I will finish up to let cruisers know what to expect for cruising out of Port Of Los Angeles and the Grand Princess

1.  My wife and I did like our window suite.  It is so close to everything which was great. One negative for the suite was;  because of the size of suite there are two air conditioning packs in the ceiling.  Only one worked our entire trip.  Our cabin attendant said he would notify maint.  The never fixed it.  I reported it also to the front desk and still it did not get fixed.  With one air pack running it was tough to keep the room totally cool.  

2. Room Service swapped out the mini bar for us so that was nice

3. Having club class dining a few steps away and having the Princess theater a few steps in the other direction was great too

4. Did we miss the balcony;  not really.  We enjoyed looking out the big picture windows and the water rushing by;  and we enjoyed the quietness of the cabin.

5. The communications from the bridge was flat out bad.  We found out we would be docking in Cabo at 1:30 pm verses noon by attending the late theater show the night before docking in Cabo.  The cruise director at the end of the show talked about docking in Cabo and what time we were getting in.  Never heard anything from the bridge;  nor did we hear any official word from the bridge that we could not disembark in LA until 9am.  We found that out at 7:30pm the night before we docked.  We had a private tour booked in Cabo and we lost it.  The tour operator said sorry but we have another tour behind yours and since you will be two hours late getting to us;  oh well.  You won't be charged.  So we got off the ship walked around the marina stopped in for a drink and some chips/salsa then headed back to the ship. The night before our arrival in LA, we found out we would miss our Delta Flight out of Long Beach; so  we used crew chat for help with rebooking.  A gentleman front guest services named Shaq found us using the medallion app.  We were eating dinner and he came in and said we are sorry you won't make your flight tomorrow and we would like to help with booking you on a  later flight.  If there is any cost difference we will pay for that.  This was great customer service; not only did he track me down with his app;  he stayed with me until Delta had re-confirmed our new flight out of Los Angeles.   The first group of passengers were allowed to disembark at 9:15.  The reason for the delay getting off the ship was; 25% of the crew was being transferred to Enchanted Princess in Florida and had to clear immigrations and bussed to LA to catch their flight.  If the Bridge Captain would have mentioned this midway thru our cruise  I could have rebooked my flight with no hassles.  It was a great cruise and we had lots of fun.  The staff were excellent and so was the food.  Grand Princess was in good shape;  no issues there. Embarkation went smooth;  took less than 15 min to board;  Once we did disembark the ship it took ten minutes to clear customs and into our taxi to LAX.  Cheers everyone.  If you have any questions let me know

Do you know if the main dining room is open on embarkation day? Also, I see you are from Ohio - do you know anything about the city of Jackson?

[AF-1]

On 10/21/2021 at 6:30 PM, victory2020 said:

Do you know if the main dining room is open on embarkation day? Also, I see you are from Ohio - do you know anything about the city of Jackson?

Hello,  just now read this post.  Davinci Dining room is open for embarkation day. I live near Cincinnati and Jackson is about three hours east of me

[HBCcruiser]

On 10/14/2021 at 11:18 AM, AF-1 said:

If you have any questions let me know

Sorry to post months later but I was wondering if the window suite was ever noisy? Did you ever hear footsteps above? I am looking into booking a window suite for a Panama cruise and would love your opinion about the WS. The price is really great! I do not think I would miss the balcony either - We can book the Sanctuary on sea days like you did. 

[ednmargo]

1 hour ago, HBCcruiser said:

Sorry to post months later but I was wondering if the window suite was ever noisy? Did you ever hear footsteps above? I am looking into booking a window suite for a Panama cruise and would love your opinion about the WS. The price is really great! I do not think I would miss the balcony either - We can book the Sanctuary on sea days like you did. 

No noise, I would book again in a heartbeat.

[AF-1]

On 12/17/2021 at 2:58 PM, HBCcruiser said:

Sorry to post months later but I was wondering if the window suite was ever noisy? Did you ever hear footsteps above? I am looking into booking a window suite for a Panama cruise and would love your opinion about the WS. The price is really great! I do not think I would miss the balcony either - We can book the Sanctuary on sea days like you did. 

No noise.  Loved the location and loved the suite.  You have your own private hallway and are seconds away from dining room/theater/casino/int'l cafe.  would stay in this location again

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 12/17/2021 at 11:58 AM, HBCcruiser said:

Sorry to post months later but I was wondering if the window suite was ever noisy? Did you ever hear footsteps above? I am looking into booking a window suite for a Panama cruise and would love your opinion about the WS. The price is really great! I do not think I would miss the balcony either - We can book the Sanctuary on sea days like you did. 

Hi @HBCcruiser. I’ve stayed in those window suites as well. The large windows are great.  One day I watched a huge pod of dolphins swimming & jumping alongside us for a half hour. The sea is up close and personal. 
I stayed in the first suite inside the door off the piazza and that door slammed all day and night. The noise was horrible. And the smoke from the casino was clearly evident in my room as well. The smoke was not evident further down the hall. 
 

‘Now that there is no more smoking in the casino you won’t need to worry about that.  However I would book a room in the middle to get as far away from that slamming door as I could.   
 

I do like the rooms but I miss the bathrooms the other full suites have. 

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Hi @HBCcruiser. I’ve stayed in those window suites as well. The large windows are great.  One day I watched a huge pod of dolphins swimming & jumping alongside us for a half hour. The sea is up close and personal. 
I stayed in the first suite inside the door off the piazza and that door slammed all day and night. The noise was horrible. And the smoke from the casino was clearly evident in my room as well. The smoke was not evident further down the hall. 
 

‘Now that there is no more smoking in the casino you won’t need to worry about that.  However I would book a room in the middle to get as far away from that slamming door as I could.   
 

I do like the rooms but I miss the bathrooms the other full suites have. 

 

Thanks for the info. We have booked F307 which looks like it is in the middle. On this diagram it appears that there is a door close by but not sure. Any insight on that? The price for this suite was cheaper than a club class mini suite! Also, the 2 pt credit will move me to Elite! How could I refuse?😂 I do not think I’ll miss the balcony. We plan to spend time on excursions anyway. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@HBCcruiserthat suite should have no noise issues. These suites are a great value and the sanctuary is quite convenient to get to as well. I never saw that door opened. In fact I never noticed it. I walked that way many times a day going back and forth to the sanctuary. Perhaps it is access for crew?  

Edited December 19, 2021 by HaveDogWillTravel

[jondfk]

1 hour ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

Thanks for the info. We have booked F307 which looks like it is in the middle. On this diagram it appears that there is a door close by but not sure. Any insight on that? The price for this suite was cheaper than a club class mini suite! Also, the 2 pt credit will move me to Elite! How could I refuse?😂 I do not think I’ll miss the balcony. We plan to spend time on excursions anyway. 

 

 

We've stayed in F307 many times, F309 even more.  The mid companionway door you point out used to be a nice shortcut especially when the midship (F315) end is closed off for boarding / departing (which happens in some ports).  I'm fairly sure though the this door doesn't even exist any longer - it opened outward (relative to the cabins) into the adjacent walkway which could be really problematic for folks walking by on the other side.  If memory serves it had been removed during the 2019 dry dock.  I recall it being gone on our last voyage at the very beginning of COVID (yes, we ended up at Travis).

 

[HBCcruiser]

25 minutes ago, jondfk said:

We've stayed in F307 many times, F309 even more

Which cabin did you prefer? 

[jondfk]

4 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Which cabin did you prefer? 

 

No real difference we changed only based on what was available.  If memory serves, F307 has door left, bed right which puts your head at the aft end which I find mentally pleasing, but in terms of real differences, there are none.  

 

[caribill]

16 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I’ve stayed in those window suites as well. The large windows are great. 

 

Any problem with the outside of the windows getting dirty and hard to see through?

[AF-1]

we stayed in F305 for our Oct 4th cruise.  Don't think F305/7 would be much different.  Great price for a perfect location on the ship