2 part question-Eastern Med/Princess

[hockeyken]

:confused: Wife and I are looking for a 30th anniv. eastern med cruise for fall 2010. Have been leaning toward Celebrity but some of the Princess itineraries look good...so am willing to be very open minded. ( currently posted 2009 itins.)

 

First question: approx. when will Princess release 2010 fall med itineraries?

( Celebrity date is March 1oth.)

 

Second question: Assuming ships are the same for 2010, what is your opinion/experience with Ruby/Crown/Grand.....especially interested in recent Grand experiences as this is an older ship....I don't expect perfection,just curious.

 

We are both easy going go-with-the-flow people who will have a great time no matter what cruise line/ship we end up on. Many thanks to those who respond.

 

Ken:D

[Times Prince]

Can't answer your first question but for the second - we sailed on the Grand Princess October and then Emerald Princess in December. Both ships are in fine shape and other than some design details one would never know the Grand Princess was an older ship.

 

The design details I talk of are the new International Cafe on the Plaza deck (great for snacks, desserts), and Vines (wine, sushi), also on the Plaza deck. Some of the specialty restaurants appear nicer on the Emerald (Ruby sister ship), as well as the Caribe Cafe.

[paul929207]

Princess announced 2009 itineraries in March and April of 2008.

 

Can't help with the ships. We just do the little one.

[Pia1913]

Ruby and Emerald are same ship. We were on the Ruby in November. Wonderful! Haven't been on the Grand for several years, and if it hasn't been done as yet, the International Cafe will be added before your 2010 cruise. You can't go wrong with any of them, so pick your itinerary and enjoy!

[caribill]

Ruby and Emerald have one more passenger deck and thus about 500 more passengers than the Grand.

 

All three are great ships.

 

Pick the itinerary you want and the date you wish to sail.

 

You will not go wrong on any of these three ships.

[agabbymama]

I did the Grand Princess in the Med Oct '08, and for me found the ship too large with too many people. I thought I was being smart booking our cabin aft by the elevator as the Botticelli dining room is aft also. Only problem was, the aft elevator does not go to all decks. Had lots of walking to mid-ship. If you have no mobility impairments, that may not be a big issue, but for us, it definitely was.

 

The condition of the ship wasn't bad at all, a little rust here and there, but that may be taken care of in the scheduled dry dock. My main concern was the tilting episode she had in the Caribbean, but there was no repeat of that, thank goodness.

 

My personal preference would be for a small ship with less than 2000 passengers. A few ports in the Med are tender ports, and the lines and waiting wouldn't be quite so long. Celebrity M-Class ships are around 90,000 gross tons, whereas the Grand is 110,000 gross tons. We were the largest ship at any of the ports we were in.

 

And finally, our cruise ended in Venice, and we were surprised there were not taxi's nor shuttles. After the trip, I found some info on this website that that seems to be a Princess thing. Others, such as Celebrity and HAL do have shuttles and taxi's, just Princess doesn't.

 

Have fun planning then taking your trip!

[sammiedawg]

We did the Grand last May, Eastern Med. The ship was wonderful, it was before the dry dock and upgrades. Ship in very good shape, a few cracked tiles here and there.

It was less expensive than the newer Emerald. We shopped around and got a very good deal.

Don't waste money on a balcony or suite, the cruises in the med are very port intensive.

We think the Grand at 2600 passengers has plenty of room, plenty of space per passenger. We thought the larger Princess ships at 3000 plus are a little crowded.

Princess has excellent itineraries and they offer a good product.

It was the fastest 12 days of my life. We really enjoyed it

[cdngrl]

i would do the grand again in a heartbeat!

i went this past november (before wetdock) and didn't find it 'aging' at all. the itinerary was amazing, the ship beautiful and the weather perfect.

you are so lucky to be planning this great vacation!

[chipmaster]

:confused: Wife and I are looking for a 30th anniv. eastern med cruise for fall 2010. Have been leaning toward Celebrity but some of the Princess itineraries look good...so am willing to be very open minded. ( currently posted 2009 itins.)

 

First question: approx. when will Princess release 2010 fall med itineraries?

( Celebrity date is March 1oth.)

 

Second question: Assuming ships are the same for 2010, what is your opinion/experience with Ruby/Crown/Grand.....especially interested in recent Grand experiences as this is an older ship....I don't expect perfection,just curious.

 

We are both easy going go-with-the-flow people who will have a great time no matter what cruise line/ship we end up on. Many thanks to those who respond.

 

Ken:D

 

We sailed this past Summer on the Emerald, one of the newer Grand ships. It was sold out, but the only time we felt like it was crowded was wandering around during Formal nights. Most evenings and even on the sea days it felt no more crowded then any other cruise we were own.

 

A European cruise is all about the port, find the ship/line that hits the most ports that you want. You'll find that the time on ship will be minimum, and service is probably the most important thing, less so the condition of the ship.

 

Happy planning

[lovespositano]

If you can cruise in late October or November, you will find great prices on the Grand. I totally agree that the ports are so amazing and you spend so little time in your cabin that you should do an inside cabin. Find yourself a good website TA where you can check the prices every day, watch the prices fall, wait till the last minute to book. About 60 days from sail date you will get a tremendous deal. We have never paid more than $1000/person. Rome to Rome, including the pyramids, is fab (Cairo is hot, and this is the perfect time of the year to do it), as is the Grand Med - Venice to Barcelona is best. We sailed on the Grand May 2008 and it needed some work but I have read many comments that say it has been totally revamped since then.

You will LOVE going to the Med, no matter what you choose!!