LIVE from the Grand Princess: RT LA to Hawaii 4/4/22 - 4/19/22

[shellbeachjim]

4 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Mom and I had our final sea day lunch in Club Class. 

 

 

 

You missed a bet, the farfalle was wonderful! 😋

[HBCcruiser]

We had dinner in Sabatini’s again. Their food is so good. The special desert for Easter was a vanilla cream chocolate egg on top of chocolate mousse. ❤️

[HBCcruiser]

British Invasion Night.

[HBCcruiser]

 

[HBCcruiser]

Last Day! Patter Day 15; Ensenada;

 

[HBCcruiser]

All packed up so I can enjoy our final day. I’m ready to get home and see my DD and DH 🥰 but never ready to go back to work! 😱😆

[CruzinNoony]

Thanks for taking us along.  I love the Hawaii cruise.

 

[HBCcruiser]

We went downtown for a bit now back onboard chillaxing in the sun. Our last hurrah!!

[HBCcruiser]

[cr8tiv1]

By your posts, it seems as though you +1, your mom, and brother +1 had a good time.  Amazing how fast 15 days goes by.  Looking forward to being on another cruise with you someday.  

 

Hope you will not be returning with any extra "baggage".  

 

Malama Pono

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

We enjoyed our final dinner in the main dining room. All of the food was good! 

 

 

 

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

This morning were were at breakfast at 7:30 out of our cabin at 8:30 and off of the ship by 9. Customs was a quick scan and out. I’m back home now relaxing. Back to work tomorrow. 
 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by HBCcruiser

[azbirdmom]

18 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

This morning were were at breakfast at 7:30 out of our cabin at 8:30 and off of the ship by 9. Customs was a quick scan and out. I’m back home now relaxing. Back to work tomorrow. 
 

 

 

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us!  Enjoy your last day of vacation and don't think too much about that "W" word!

[latebloomer56]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:33 PM, HBCcruiser said:

This morning were were at breakfast at 7:30 out of our cabin at 8:30 and off of the ship by 9. Customs was a quick scan and out. I’m back home now relaxing. Back to work tomorrow. 
 

 

Thanks again for taking use along. Happy you had a good time fair weather and are home with your memories.

[HBCcruiser]

45 minutes ago, latebloomer56 said:

Thanks again for taking use along. Happy you had a good time fair weather and are home with your memories.

Thank you. All is well and we are all home or back at work. I hope those of you cruising on the Grand have a wonderful cruise. I will miss her in LA.

 

Much has changed regarding cruising since the COVID shutdown. It was hard for my mom to navigate all the new requirements, especially the App.  I also think some of the shortages (food and wines) are due to current inflationary and supply chain issues.

My guess is that prices will continue to rise but I have no crystal ball.

 

We enjoyed our time onboard. The staff were wonderful, and I thought the food and entertainment was quite good overall. They did not have some of my favorite cabernet selections onboard, but I brought on my private stash so did not suffer at all! My next Princess cruise won't be until November '22 when we will be in the Sky Suite on the new Discovery. I am looking forward to that! Until then...

 

Happy Cruising! 

[shellbeachjim]

3 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

They did not have some of my favorite cabernet selections onboard, but I brought on my private stash so did not suffer at all!

There was no Zin by the glass. The only California Cab by the glass was the Rodney Strong and was not available. We survived - usually with the Ancient Peaks Renegade. Our private stash was all bubbly - we were celebrating birthdays and anniversaries with our travel companions, so it seemed appropriate to bring a few bottles along.

 

Thanks for doing the "Live from..." for the cruise!

Edited April 20, 2022 by shellbeachjim

[alibabacruisers]

Thanks you for the trip report!

[GoHuskies!]

20 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Thank you. All is well and we are all home or back at work. I hope those of you cruising on the Grand have a wonderful cruise. I will miss her in LA.

 

Much has changed regarding cruising since the COVID shutdown. It was hard for my mom to navigate all the new requirements, especially the App.  I also think some of the shortages (food and wines) are due to current inflationary and supply chain issues.

My guess is that prices will continue to rise but I have no crystal ball.

 

We enjoyed our time onboard. The staff were wonderful, and I thought the food and entertainment was quite good overall. They did not have some of my favorite cabernet selections onboard, but I brought on my private stash so did not suffer at all! My next Princess cruise won't be until November '22 when we will be in the Sky Suite on the new Discovery. I am looking forward to that! Until then...

 

Happy Cruising! 

Thank you so much for your blog of your cruise, and for the Princess Patters!  We are Princess fans and our next cruise is scheduled for October 4--assuming it doesn't get cancelled.  Our Christmas 2021 cruise was cancelled, of course, so we are really anxious to get back on board.  Your account was uplifting and really whets the appetite (in more ways than one!).  We drive to LA from the Tucson area and will be parking in the cruise lot after hotel in San Pedro--we like to get to our car ASAP after disembarking and be on our way!  Thanks again.

 

[TravlingGato]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:22 PM, 1emerald1 said:

I like that you got bar menus.  I just got off the Discovery and not a bar menu in sight, and when I asked for one, I was told to download a scanner app!

This comment reflects the abject but distinctive decline in Princess' customer service and welfare and dining quality that we have noticed in recent years with 25+ cruises with the line.  Princess' focus now seems to be on glitzy advertising. Once on board, take the customers for all they can be suckered into spending. 

 

[HBCcruiser]

On 4/12/2022 at 7:39 PM, floridababa said:

On the Regal the food was pretty mediocre. They use to ha e great food. Makes me think of trying other lines

We will be sailing 2 NCL ships in July. Sailing the Sky in the OS and the Breakaway in a 2 bd Haven suite. I’ll be doing Live reviews and will compare the food for certain! IMWTK! 

[AF-1]

On 4/5/2022 at 2:33 PM, waltd said:

If anyone on this cruise is in cabin F305, Window Suite, I would love to hear your experiences.    This is the cabin we had on the previous cruise. Both thermostats were down, broken. We were told on the last day of our cruise there was nothing they could do.  Too late. It seems like this has been going on for a while and they will not fix it till the dry dock in a about a month.   It did cause us issues as we both came down with a head cold and sore throat.    We still did enjoy the cruise and they eventually offered us some compensation.  

They didn't work on my Oct 2021 cruise.  One tried to keep room cool; but the other one was totally broke

[AF-1]

HBCcruiser,  thank you for your great review.  I like how you show and tell everything about what was happening around the ship.  Your food pics were awesome.  Very clear.  All the best and we look forward to your other live reviews. Cheers

[HBCcruiser]

2 hours ago, AF-1 said:

HBCcruiser,  thank you for your great review.  I like how you show and tell everything about what was happening around the ship.  Your food pics were awesome.  Very clear.  All the best and we look forward to your other live reviews. Cheers

Thanks! I tried to keep it interesting but on sea days it’s tough because things get rather redundant 🤣. I also try to be as honest as possible. Food and wine are very subjective. Everyone has different tastes. 
Happy Cruising!

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:34 PM, HBCcruiser said:

Thank you. All is well and we are all home or back at work. I hope those of you cruising on the Grand have a wonderful cruise. I will miss her in LA.

 

Much has changed regarding cruising since the COVID shutdown. It was hard for my mom to navigate all the new requirements, especially the App.  I also think some of the shortages (food and wines) are due to current inflationary and supply chain issues.

My guess is that prices will continue to rise but I have no crystal ball.

 

We enjoyed our time onboard. The staff were wonderful, and I thought the food and entertainment was quite good overall. They did not have some of my favorite cabernet selections onboard, but I brought on my private stash so did not suffer at all! My next Princess cruise won't be until November '22 when we will be in the Sky Suite on the new Discovery. I am looking forward to that! Until then...

 

Happy Cruising! 

Thank you for the wonderful posts and taking me to Hawaii!  I really enjoyed following along and am looking forward to my first time sailing there in November.  
 

As you know we have similar taste in suites.  🙂While on the Discovery last week I made it a point to check out those humongous balconies as you can see the aft portion entirely from deck 17 public areas.  There is absolutely no privacy. In fact I think anyone up there would draw the eye of people below. The sound of MUTS is overwhelming loud.  I don’t see how you would ever be able to use that deck unless you were totally into whatever was playing. I never saw anyone up there. I passed by several times during the day going to and from the  sanctuary.  I know they were occupied since I saw the steward cleaning the suite every morning.  The balcony facing forward towards the sanctuary is quieter but there are some lovely public loungers and of course the hot tubs nearby that were always being used. While they can’t see the balcony area you can surely hear them all. One day I saw a man on his tippy toes peering over the frosted glass partition. I have no doubt the inside is gorgeous but are there any reviews as to the noise inside the room from MUTS?  
 

Take care and happy sailing!

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Thank you for the wonderful posts and taking me to Hawaii!  I really enjoyed following along and am looking forward to my first time sailing there in November.  
 

As you know we have similar taste in suites.  🙂While on the Discovery last week I made it a point to check out those humongous balconies as you can see the aft portion entirely from deck 17 public areas.  There is absolutely no privacy. In fact I think anyone up there would draw the eye of people below. The sound of MUTS is overwhelming loud.  I don’t see how you would ever be able to use that deck unless you were totally into whatever was playing. I never saw anyone up there. I passed by several times during the day going to and from the  sanctuary.  I know they were occupied since I saw the steward cleaning the suite every morning.  The balcony facing forward towards the sanctuary is quieter but there are some lovely public loungers and of course the hot tubs nearby that were always being used. While they can’t see the balcony area you can surely hear them all. One day I saw a man on his tippy toes peering over the frosted glass partition. I have no doubt the inside is gorgeous but are there any reviews as to the noise inside the room from MUTS?  
 

Take care and happy sailing!

I will let you know. My guess is that they soundproof those suites but who knows. I’m hoping to get a big group of friends to join us on this cruise so we can fully use those outside spaces! Paaahhhtay! 🥂🍾