Review of the Grand Princess, 23-30 May

[honeymoon06]

I have just returned from a one week cruise on the Grand Princess. I had read several bad reviews about the Grand before we left and so I really wanted to let you know how fabulous we thought the ship was.

The cruise sailed from Southampton and we stopped at Vigo, Lisbon, La Rochelle and Brest.

My husband and I have cruised twice before. The first time (our honeymoon) was on the Coral Princess through the Panama Canal. We then cruised on the Emerald Princess last year in the Caribbean. We absolutely loved both of these cruises and the Caribbean itself.

We could not afford the Caribbean this year and we chose the Grand purely because it was sailing from Southampton (a 2 hour drive for us). I was really looking forward to the cruise but at the same time I couldn’t help but feel it wouldn’t be as nice as our previous cruises. I was worried the food may not be as good. And because we love the Emerald Princess, I was worried we would find the Grand too old and run down. But I couldn’t have been more wrong!!! This was our favourite cruise!

Yes, when we stepped into the Atrium of the Grand we weren’t blown away (like we were on the Emerald). It is an older ship and it isn’t as ‘wow’ as the new ships. BUT within a few hours of being onboard the Grand, none of that mattered! It is still a gorgeous ship. And the food and service were the best we had encountered! Everywhere we went on the ship, we were so impressed. The food in the dining room was fantastic every night as were the waiters. We had the best steak I’ve ever tasted at the Painted Desert Steak House (I thoroughly recommend this!). We don’t often eat within the Horizon Court but on the two occasions that we did ,the food was very good. And the staff were continually keeping it tidy and clean. The Burger Grill and Pizza place were also very good! Best burger I’ve had in a long time…….

As we don’t have children, we liked to use the adult pool at the back of the ship and the spa pool. These were both in great condition and looked identical to the pools on the Emerald. We loved the pool at the back as this was heated. It was like swimming in a bath!

Entertainment was quite good, although I’ve never found the entertainment on the cruise ships to be that great. We saw a very funny comedian, Bernie Flint, and he is well worth going to see. The Illusionist onboard was also very impressive. We enjoyed listening to Opus in the Explorers Lounge. A very good band. And we also had great fun in the Skywalkers nightclub. We found on our previous two cruises that the nightclub was often empty. But almost every night on the Grand, the nightclub was full of all ages up on the dance floor.

We loved to watch MUTS on our last two cruises. And that was the only downside for us on this cruise, as they didn’t play any films that we wanted to watch. But that was simply personal choice.

Our cabin was an inside on the Baja deck. We were very pleased with it. Almost identical to the inside cabin we had on the Emerald. The cabin on the Emerald was in slightly better condition because it was brand new but no major differences. In fact, I’m almost sure the bathroom was bigger on the Grand which is always nice. The only downside to our cabin was the door. It was very stiff and needed a good push to get it open.

Boarding and disembarking at Southampton was brilliant. When we arrived at Southampton, our car was taken away for us and we had to queue to check in for no more than 10 minutes. In fact we were on the ship within 20 minutes of leaving our car! Disembarking was just as efficient. We finished our breakfast in the dining room at 8.30. And we were in the car on our way home by 9.15!! We loved not having to fly this time. It was so convenient.

The ports……………We visited Santiago when the ship stopped at Vigo. We did not enjoy this day. It poured down with rain!! I wasn’t as impressed with Santiago as I had expected to be, but I suppose the rain wouldn’t have helped this. We got back to the ship feeling wet and cold, and then found out it was 75F back in London! We couldn’t believe it. The next day we stopped in Lisbon and this was a great day. Lisbon is such an interesting city. Well worth a visit! The weather was lovely as well. La Rochelle in France was my favourite port. A very pretty town to walk around. Brest (in my personal opinion) was awful! I have no idea why Princess stop there. It’s basically an industrial city. Very ugly! I wouldn’t bother getting off the ship if we stopped here again. We only booked one excursion which was the Santiago trip. We explored Lisbon ourselves and took a tram ride which was excellent. We explored La Rochelle and Brest by foot.

I cannot praise the Grand Princess enough. It is a wonderful ship! And although the Emerald is beautiful, the Grand is definitely now our favourite! In fact, we are planning a two week cruise on the Grand next summer. The food was fantastic and the staff onboard the Grand could not do enough for us! We were so pleased.

Anyone who will be cruising on the Grand should have no worries at all. You will not be disappointed! A great ship!

[robanddiane]

Really pleased you enjoyed the Grand. We are onboard in August. We never take too much notice of bad reviews as we find a lot of people only write reviews if they have a complaint and a lot of the positive things get missed.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We cruised on the Grand when she was new and again three years ago. We loved her both times and would not hesitate to sail on her again. I believe some posters on this board get too concerned with a ship once it is more than three years old. I read a post last week on this board where the OP was concerned about booking the Crown Princess as she was now three years old. All of these ships are kept in good condition and it is the overall cruise experience, the staff, the food and the itinerary that determines if you will enjoy a cruise.

[Divvy]

I am really glad you posted this , as we are sailing at the end of June and were worried that it wouldn't be as good as the Sea Princess . You have put our mind at rest . Thank you.

[liverpool08]

Probably the best post ive ever read on these cruise boards! So many fantastic things to say!

 

Were sailing the grand in July 18th, so you can imagine how good it is to read a post like this, when you hear some bad reviews of the grand.

 

I thourougly cant wait to sail the grand and after sailing on the sea princess round the med last year, a bigger ship is really exciting.

 

Once again, a fantastic post from what sounds like a great person!

 

Thanks !!!;)

[TomCruises]

Probably the best post ive ever read on these cruise boards! So many fantastic things to say!

 

Were sailing the grand in July 18th, so you can imagine how good it is to read a post like this, when you hear some bad reviews of the grand.

 

I thourougly cant wait to sail the grand and after sailing on the sea princess round the med last year, a bigger ship is really exciting.

 

Once again, a fantastic post from what sounds like a great person!

 

Thanks !!!;)

 

This is why your so sensitive about the age of the Grand. Nothing wrong with a" teenager" (as you quoted in your other post), some just like them younger. Most of the ships out there now are maybe 5 years old. 11 years is quite a bit older. Have fun on your cruise.:p

[lodge172]

We were also on this cruise, the service and food were fantastic. We had a great time.

[azbirdmom]

We were on this cruise too and agree with your assessment of the ports. Our favorites were LaRochelle (an unexpected gem of a port, and the welcome band was such a nice touch) and Lisbon (where we did the Sintra and Cascais tour in the morning and took the ship shuttle downtown in the afternoon). We could have skipped Vigo, but maybe it was the weather. And we also did Brest on our own which was a good thing as it went downhill quickly after the castle! Princess only does this cruise once a year and I peeked at next year's schedule - they are dropping Brest, so others must have agreed.

 

We are American but LOVED all of the British acts. Berni Flint was not only a funny comedian, but a terrific vocalist and guitarist. We're actually thinking of getting one of his CDs. The illusionist and other acts were wonderful too.

 

We agree that the Grand was a great ship and the service was on a par if not better than any of the ships we've been on. We were in a mini suite mid ship and it wasn't showing its age at all. In fact, we were surprised by the flat screen TV's!

 

It was a great trip and well worth the long airplane ride.

[idcruisers]

Thank you to everyone who has posted their reviews on this sight. We too are on the July 18 sailing and very much appreicate some news on the Grand since she has been in Europe. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could answer a few questions.

 

Have they implemented the new menus on the Grand?

 

Are the menus similar to those on US Princess cruises or have they been modified for more British tastes?

 

Can you remember what movies are on MUTS?

 

Did they have the cold seafood buffet on the first night?

 

Were there very many Americans, that would be us, on board or just mainly British?

 

Was it cool, windy, rough, sailing out of Southampton and through the Bay of Biscay?

 

Did they have free soft serve at Scoops?

 

Honeymoon06 - What cabin were you in on Baja? We are also in an inside on Baja and would love to know if there was any noise, smells anything like that.

 

How does customs / immigrantion work upon arrival back in Southampton?

 

Well that is a ton of questions - Sorry for the length of the post. This is such a major trip for us that I have a major need to know on all the details. Thanks again for all the answers. This thread has increased my excitement a hundred percent!!

[honeymoon06]

Thank you to everyone for your kind comments about my review.

 

I know how worrying it can be when you only see bad reviews. And whilst everyone is perfectly entitled to their own opinion, I wanted to let you know how great we found the Grand.

 

idcruisers, some answers to your questions:

 

I'm afraid i'm not sure what the new menus are so i can't answer the first one.

 

I loved the US menus on our past two cruises. And although i am British, i'm not a big fan of typical British food. So i was worried that the food wouldn't be as good. It was exactly the same as our US Cruises! Brilliant! I had Shrimp several times. Great steaks! They had the beef wellington, lobster, red snapper, great pork etc. They did do some regional dishes but there were always the usual favourites on the menu. One night that was different was when we were in France. They had snails and frog legs on the menu!! My husband loved the snails but i wasn't brave enough. Every night you can always get the shrimp cocktail and beef filet medallions (plus some other dishes that i have forgotten). The desserts were lovely..........the cheesecake, souffle etc.

 

We had lunchtime in the restaurant on a couple of occasions and this was great too. I had hamburger and fries on one day and a lovely roast beef sandwich on the other. They were doing British lunches in the steak house restaurant on one day (no charge). So if you wanted to have British food, you could get cottage pie, cheese ploughmans etc on this day.

 

I can't be 100% about the seafood buffet but i don't remember seeing anything about this. So they may have missed this off on our cruise. That is not to say they won't have it on a longer cruise like yours.

 

The MUTS shown were Get Smart, Australia, Yes Man, Baby Mama, Mamma Mia (shown during the day) and the football was shown one evening.

 

There were obviously a lot of British onboard. But also a lot of Americans. Quite a few people from Japan too. Because it was half term school holidays i was expecting alot of children. There were quite a few but they were so well behaved. The Adult pool rule was never broken.

 

I was really nervous about sailing the Bay of Biscay! I had been a bit sea sick in the Caribbean so I thought this would be much worse. But it was absolutely fine! The waters were so calm. Much calmer than our Caribbean cruise. I experienced no sea sicknesss at all. However, this does really vary because my parents cruised the Bay of Biscay last summer and it was very rough. So i think it's alot to do with luck. Take some ginger root pills with you. They work so well for me! I'm sure you will be fine. We had a lovely, calm and sunny sailaway out of Southampton.

 

I saw them serving free icecream in the afternoons in Horizon Court. I'm afraid i don't know if there was free ice cream at Scoops but only because i didn't look out for it.

 

We were in cabin B516 midship. We had no noise or smell problems at all. It was very quiet. I had an inside cabin at the back of baja on the Emerald Princess and we had no problems in this location either.

 

Customs/immigrations - I was so surprised (and a little concerned) at how relaxed customs/immigration was when we disembarked. We simply got off the ship and took our cases. No xray machines, no passport checking at all! I couldn't believe they didn't check our passports. Maybe they could tell we were British and it may be different if you are from another country. But i didn't see anyone being stopped. We were out in our car so quickly which was nice. Baggage collection was very organised and we found our cases with no problems.

 

If you have any other questions then please ask. I will answer whatever i can.

 

You are so so lucky having this cruise coming up! I can't wait to get back onboard in a year's time!

[sherman931]

Thanks for your review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite your trepidations. Unfortunately there are many who use this forum to express their personal displeasure. I know nothing is perfect every time, but I always make the best of a bad situtation. I do not let anything ruin my cruises. If I have a bad experience I deal with it and move on as dewelling on it only leads to bitterness. I was in the navy nine years, so I know what a really bad cruise is and Princess will never beat some of those. :D

[happy cruzer]

Home port cruising is great. You get start out in a good mood vs. how you feel after air travel!!

 

We loved the Grand too when we could home cruise out of Galveston. I can't beleive I only sailed on her once then. Darn.

[Stevesan]

Thank you to everyone for your kind comments about my review.

 

Customs/immigrations - I was so surprised (and a little concerned) at how relaxed customs/immigration was when we disembarked. We simply got off the ship and took our cases. No xray machines, no passport checking at all! I couldn't believe they didn't check our passports. Maybe they could tell we were British and it may be different if you are from another country. But i didn't see anyone being stopped. We were out in our car so quickly which was nice. Baggage collection was very organised and we found our cases with no problems.

 

If you have any other questions then please ask. I will answer whatever i can.

 

 

I've been on a couple cruises when passports were kept at the front desk. That allowed us to walk off because immmigration agents screened them before being returned to us.

Maybe that was the case?

[hightownCO]

Thanks for your review! We will be on the Grand in November and were last on her April 08. While there were a few things I liked better on the modified Grand class, the Grand itself was just fine and the crew at that time was very nice, helpful and friendly. We had the best waiters - Archie (Phillapines) and Naroong (Viet Nam) - that we've ever had!

 

honeymoon06, was wondering what the mattress were like. That's been my one complaint on all Princess cruises. Still the thin pad-like, hard, lumpy matress?

[idcruisers]

Honeymoon06,

 

Thanks so very much for your response!!! You gave the best answers to my questions, everything I wanted to know. I am so very excited to go and also to visit London. If everyone onboad is as nice as you it will be the best cruise we have ever had.

 

thanks again,

 

Ilise

[mia mom]

Honeymoon06

Just wondering if you know of the laundromat hours on the Grand. I think we'll need to do laundry twice for a 14 day cruise. Hope it's 24 hours. Thx. A

[melog]

What a wonderful review! We are going on the Gradnd Saturday 13th June. We are getting very excited although reading some reviews we did think that she might be showing her age! It is great to read such positive comments - can't wait until next saturday!!!:)

[firefly4423]

thanks for sharing that with us!

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and thanks for posting your review.:)

[idcruisers]

Honeymoon06,

 

One more question if possible. How formal were the formal nights? Mostly floor length gowns & tuxes or shorter dresses and suits? I am trying to decide which dress to pack and this information could be the deciding factor.

 

Thanks again.

[azbirdmom]

Honeymoon06

Just wondering if you know of the laundromat hours on the Grand. I think we'll need to do laundry twice for a 14 day cruise. Hope it's 24 hours. Thx. A

 

I believe it was open until 10 PM. We used it during a port day and it was empty.

[azbirdmom]

One more question if possible. How formal were the formal nights? Mostly floor length gowns & tuxes or shorter dresses and suits? I am trying to decide which dress to pack and this information could be the deciding factor.

 

It wasn't very formal. I would say that the ladies were mainly in cocktail dresses or nice pants and blouses, and most men were in suits or jackets and trousers. There were some in floor length gowns and some men in tuxedos, but not many. Some of the children were in flip flops in the main dining room, but others were adorable in little suits or tuxes.

[AJs Grandpa]

Honeymoon and azbirdmom: We're booked on next year's version of this cruise, so we really appreciate the reviews.

 

Azbirdmom--Any helpful hits re your travel to and from the UK? Did you go a day or two early and/or leave a day or two after leaving the ship? Which airport did you use? How did you get to and from the port? Hotel recommendations, etc.

 

Thanks.

[azbirdmom]

Azbirdmom--Any helpful hits re your travel to and from the UK? Did you go a day or two early and/or leave a day or two after leaving the ship? Which airport did you use? How did you get to and from the port? Hotel recommendations, etc.

 

Hi Grandpa. We booked United into Heathrow and used miles to upgrade to business class which allowed us to experience their new lay-flat seats and use the Star Alliance lounges. We did get there a day early and would have loved to leave even earlier, but we wanted to conserve vacation time for adventures later this year.

 

Before I planned our transfers and made hotel reservations, I read posts on this board as well as checking a couple of other websites (http://www.londontoolkit.com and http://www.tripadvisor.com) and asked friends who have or still do live in the UK for advice.

 

We chose to spend the night in central London to allow us to see the sights much easier (such as Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Parliament / Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, theatres, shopping, etc., all of which are within walking distance or an easy tube ride). We stayed at the Park Plaza Victoria which was right across the street from Victoria Station. We booked an Executive room which included some upgraded amenities and allowed access to the Executive lounge with full breakfast and complementary wine, beer, soda, and snacks during happy hour. The hotel was very comfortable, the location great, and the service was stellar. They also allowed us to check in at 8 AM which allowed us to sleep a couple of hours and take a shower before exploring London. I booked via the hotel website, and was able to get quite a good deal on it.

 

There were a lot of ways to get from Heathrow to the hotel, the most economical being the "tube" and National Express bus. Taxis and train are significantly more expensive but definitely more direct, but it depends upon how adventurous you think you'll be after a long flight and how much luggage you have. With our hotel location, we would have had to change trains once, and with it being rush hour, we opted for National Express bus which cost 5 pounds each. You simply walk to the central bus station at Heathrow and can buy your tickets there. Coaches depart frequently (every 15 - 25 minutes or so during peak periods). We arrived at the Victoria coach station, a couple of blocks away from our hotel. We opted to use one of the porters who put our luggage on a cart and walked us to our hotel. You can also grab a taxi for the short ride if you don't want to walk - and it still winds up being less expensive than a taxi from Heathrow.

 

On Saturday we took a taxi to Waterloo station for a train ride to Southampton (prebooked via http://www.thetrainline.com ). It was fast and easy, although it would have been cheaper to take National Express bus to Southampton. It was a bank holiday weekend though, and the weather was incredible, so the road to Southampton had a severe traffic jam and we were lucky to opt for the train as I understand others traveling via the roads arrived at the port after the ship had departed. The train dropped us at the port, and it was a cheap taxi ride to the ship. Princess has transfers from Victoria too that are a bit more expensive.

 

When we returned, we did want to fly out right away, but Princess advised not to book any flights before 2 PM and United didn't have any flights that would get us back to Phoenix after that time. So we booked a Heathrow area hotel (Renaissance, which was OK - booked from the Marriott website - friends also recommended the Radisson Edwardian which was right across the street and Jury's which is at a tube stop, allowing easy access to London) and prebooked the Princess transfer to Heathrow, thinking we'd take either a taxi or bus to the hotel. While on ship, we learned that there were transfers that include a tour of either Windsor Castle or Stonehenge, so we switched our transfer to the Stonehenge tour. These weren't available on line, so we were a little surprised. The bus wasn't full at all - only 11 passengers on a large coach - so they dropped us right at our hotel. They also drove by Windsor Castle, Ascot, and Runnymede, so we got to learn a little more history. We told the guide that it wasn't promoted on ship, and that it wasn't on the Princess website. You had to look at the tour form to find it but we're glad we did as it was a nice little tour.

 

Hopefully this was helpful. This worked for us, but of course there are a lot of options and it is a matter of personal preference.

[AJs Grandpa]

Hi Grandpa. We booked United into Heathrow and used miles to upgrade to business class which allowed us to experience their new lay-flat seats and use the Star Alliance lounges. We did get there a day early and would have loved to leave even earlier, but we wanted to conserve vacation time for adventures later this year.

 

Before I planned our transfers and made hotel reservations, I read posts on this board as well as checking a couple of other websites (http://www.londontoolkit.com and http://www.tripadvisor.com) and asked friends who have or still do live in the UK for advice.

 

We chose to spend the night in central London to allow us to see the sights much easier (such as Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Parliament / Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, theatres, shopping, etc., all of which are within walking distance or an easy tube ride). We stayed at the Park Plaza Victoria which was right across the street from Victoria Station. We booked an Executive room which included some upgraded amenities and allowed access to the Executive lounge with full breakfast and complementary wine, beer, soda, and snacks during happy hour. The hotel was very comfortable, the location great, and the service was stellar. They also allowed us to check in at 8 AM which allowed us to sleep a couple of hours and take a shower before exploring London. I booked via the hotel website, and was able to get quite a good deal on it.

 

There were a lot of ways to get from Heathrow to the hotel, the most economical being the "tube" and National Express bus. Taxis and train are significantly more expensive but definitely more direct, but it depends upon how adventurous you think you'll be after a long flight and how much luggage you have. With our hotel location, we would have had to change trains once, and with it being rush hour, we opted for National Express bus which cost 5 pounds each. You simply walk to the central bus station at Heathrow and can buy your tickets there. Coaches depart frequently (every 15 - 25 minutes or so during peak periods). We arrived at the Victoria coach station, a couple of blocks away from our hotel. We opted to use one of the porters who put our luggage on a cart and walked us to our hotel. You can also grab a taxi for the short ride if you don't want to walk - and it still winds up being less expensive than a taxi from Heathrow.

 

On Saturday we took a taxi to Waterloo station for a train ride to Southampton (prebooked via http://www.thetrainline.com ). It was fast and easy, although it would have been cheaper to take National Express bus to Southampton. It was a bank holiday weekend though, and the weather was incredible, so the road to Southampton had a severe traffic jam and we were lucky to opt for the train as I understand others traveling via the roads arrived at the port after the ship had departed. The train dropped us at the port, and it was a cheap taxi ride to the ship. Princess has transfers from Victoria too that are a bit more expensive.

 

When we returned, we did want to fly out right away, but Princess advised not to book any flights before 2 PM and United didn't have any flights that would get us back to Phoenix after that time. So we booked a Heathrow area hotel (Renaissance, which was OK - booked from the Marriott website - friends also recommended the Radisson Edwardian which was right across the street and Jury's which is at a tube stop, allowing easy access to London) and prebooked the Princess transfer to Heathrow, thinking we'd take either a taxi or bus to the hotel. While on ship, we learned that there were transfers that include a tour of either Windsor Castle or Stonehenge, so we switched our transfer to the Stonehenge tour. These weren't available on line, so we were a little surprised. The bus wasn't full at all - only 11 passengers on a large coach - so they dropped us right at our hotel. They also drove by Windsor Castle, Ascot, and Runnymede, so we got to learn a little more history. We told the guide that it wasn't promoted on ship, and that it wasn't on the Princess website. You had to look at the tour form to find it but we're glad we did as it was a nice little tour.

 

Hopefully this was helpful. This worked for us, but of course there are a lot of options and it is a matter of personal preference.

 

 

Thanks so much for a prompt and thorough reply. As the designated "Concierge" for our small group, I am preparing options, and your experience and liks are very helpful.

 

Your situation sounds similar to ours--DW and I and our traveling companions are all still in the workforce, so we are trying to balance our time away to "do it all" while we have health and money. Like you are aiming to use miles to upgrade for the long trip across the pond. We know we'll get there at least a day early, but are still considering, how many, if any days we add to that before and after. We can't book flights for a few weeks; the availability of upgradable fares will play a big role in that decision.

 

Enjoy your "future adventures!" Thanks again.