Great Ports, Beautiful Scenery, BUT not a great ship

Item: Grand Princess
Rating: 3
Author: McValerie

Grand Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

McValerie

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 45

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

10 Night Alaska Inside Passage With Tracy Arm Fjord (San Francisco Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 28, 2017

Ship: Grand Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: C710

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

My husband and I absolutely loved the views and scenery from our balcony. The ports of call were great selections and overall we loved where we were BUT we did not love how we got there. The Grand Princess is very poorly designed. The dining room held 1200 to 1300 hundred people people and only had 2 elevators to get people to it. And there were no restrooms on that level. So if you needed to go during dinner you had to wait for an elevator then walk 1/3 length of ship and then back 1/3 and back down elevator. All in all a 15 min or more delay. The atrium in the ship cut through decks 5, 6 & 7. So those of us with a walker have to continually wait for an elevator to ride up or down 1 floor. Very inconvenient. The theatre for the pre or after dinner show held approx 750 people and there were between 2000 and 2500 people looking to sit. There were only 8 seats for the companions of wheelchair persons. This is absolutely rediculous! Due to the nature of these inconveniences we will never cruise with the Princess line again.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

There was nothing wrong with the food but there was nothing memorable about it either. Just run of the mill food.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Very limited activities and those were rather childish. Egg drop, paper airplane challenge, etc.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

We only were lucky enough to get a seat at 1 show and that was because we came 45 min early. It was only okay singing and dancing.

Children's Programs

N/A

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Our room steward and waiter at dinner were outstanding.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Extremely poor design and lots of rust and grimy areas.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The room was a good size and had a very large balcony (6 x 10). There was plenty of closet space and lots of cubbies and drawers. The only problem was that you had to step down approx. 4 inches out of the bathroom and when the floor was wet it created a hazard.

Ports of call

San Francisco, California

3 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

1 out of 5

The entire dock area was nothing but jewelry stores. Turns out , we learned later, Princess owns 4 of the chains that were everywhere.

Thumbs Up 4

Juneau, Alaska

1 out of 5

Again, everywhere jewelry stores and the most expensive of all excursions. We skipped the ship trip to the Mendenhall glacier at $295.00 and found one from the visitor center for $25.00 per person. Shame on Princess for such a ripoff.

Thumbs Up 5

Skagway, Alaska

3 out of 5

This was a true quality port. Completely restored 19th century store fronts and boardwalks. Beautiful mountain scenery.

Thumbs Up 8

Victoria, British Columbia

3 out of 5

Our itinerary only allowed for a 5 1/2 hour stop. But we managed to get to the Butchart Gardens for a 2 1/2 hour visit and it was amazing.

Thumbs Up 6

6 Comments

romantikcruiser 7 years ago

To be fair only the two outside aft elevators reach the Botticelli dining room...and for the Botticelli dining room there are no bathrooms outside the dining room on deck six...there are two bathrooms on the port side of deck seven at the top of the stairs...one does not have to walk to the end of the wheelhouse to find a ladies room...and anywhere you go...if you cannot use the stairs you must wait for an elevator to go up and down 1 floor...my blushing bride has mobility issues and whether on a ship or just going to dinner...if there is more than one floor we factor in elevator waits in our decisions...the days of my carrying her over thresholds are far behind me...for the evenings they run two shows to allow first and second seating to have a chance to see them...considering nearly half the passengers are dining...and a large number have no interest in seeing a show...I cannot imagine that out of the2590 passengers...assuming the ship is booked to capacity...that all but 90 chose to attend one performance of a two performance show and skip dinner and music in the crooners, explorers and wheelhouse bars...it is true that you need to arrive early to get prime seats...but there are entrances to the Princess theater on decks 6 & 7 and the last rows of each deck are reserved for those who have mobility issues...So those with mobility issues you can enjoy the cruising experience...nothing will be perfect...but you will not experience the voyage of tears...unless you count looking at the scale when you get home

Thumbs Up 4

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itsjfp 7 years ago

It's kinda sad when people have to make up stories about thing's just because they didn't bother to research before their trip... They have bathrooms near every entrance to every dinning room and none of the dinning rooms fit that many people in them except maybe the buffet both sides combined.... As far as the after dinner shows they ship layout tells you exactly how many people can be seated so again you didn't do any research or planning before you went on your trip...

Thumbs Up 1

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lab341 7 years ago

Yup, bathroom right outside the dining room. Why I ALWAYS load the ship map on my â no matter where I am on board having a scooter I can find an elevator and you know there's always a bathroom hiding by those lol.

Thumbs Up 3

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picalo 7 years ago

sorry to hear that. very frustrating issues.

Thumbs Up 0

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celiaclady 7 years ago

and how will it be different on another cruise line

Thumbs Up 1

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celiaclady 7 years ago

just looked at the ships layout and there were bathrooms right out side of the main dining room

Thumbs Up 3

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