If you have the means, you need to do this cruise. It's so beautiful and completely relaxing. Hawaii is BEAUTIFUL as well!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was great. Very crowded, but very simple. The long line moved very fast, and from arriving at the terminal to being on board the ship was around 20 minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Food was fantastic. We ate mostly in the DaVinci Dining Room and the Buffet. Both had great food, and the service was top notch.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Personally, I enjoy sitting around watching the waves and other people, so I don't need a ton of activities. However, it was virtually impossible to be bored. From dancing lessons (fun to watch) to trivia (I killed it on 80's night), there was always something to do. Matt, the Cruise Director was amazing. Dude was hilarious and his entire staff was fantastic as well. Always greeting with a smile and a nice word. My favorite spot on the ship was the aft sky deck. I would sit there for hours, listening to music and just watching the waves go by. It was very windy most sea days, so it wasn't very crowded out there at all. The Neptune pool and hot tubs were nice as well. Heated and open about 95% of the time. Movies under the stars was so cool! It was my first cruise with a screen, and I LOVED it! They showed movies for every taste, generation, and genre. I'm a video guy and was super impressed with the screen quality. The sound boomed as well. Some concert videos they played had some crackling and distortion in it, but that was obviously those particular recordings because most things sounded great. Watching Guardians of the Galaxy 2, with that soundtrack on that screen rivaled any movie theater.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The shows were great. Production quality was top notch, and you could tell every detail was covered.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service and staff were FANTASTIC! From bartenders (smoothie drinker) to waiters and even our cabin steward was so good. Never a frown, always a smile. Always willing to help in any way possible. Service was AMAZING!
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The Grand Princess is an older lady. You can see her wear and tear and she shows her age, but shows it well. It's part of her character. Princess has done a great job in keeping her in tip-top shape. There were issues, but nothing you wouldn't have on a land-based hotel. Most areas were clean and well kept. They were constantly painting and varnishing the wood rails and cabinets. She's old but beautiful and she still has a lot of class!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
It's a typical inside cabin. Very clean, a little cramped for 2 6'2" guys, but not bad either. There was plenty of room for us and our stuff.
Rented a car and drove up to Mauna Kea. Could only get to the visitor center (8,000 feet) because of icy roads up higher. But still, an AMAZING island, even though it rained. But that's ok! It IS Hawaii after all!
Rented a car on Oahu. We did Pearl Harbour and USS Arizona Tour. An incredible place. Every American should visit this memorial. After that, we went up to the north shore and hung out on the Bonsai Pipeline beach, went to Kuala Park "Jurassic Park" then watched the sunset on sunset beach. Truly AMAZING!!
Rented a car here as well, and ran up to Waimea Canyon. Beautiful place! Then headed down to Poipu Beach to do some snorkeling. Beautiful water and lots of fish to see!
By far my favorite island. We visited the Nakalele Blowhole. Freaking sweet! Then we headed down to Black Rock Beach and swam a while. The water was too rough to snorkel... Maui is a BEAUTIFUL island!
Disembarkation was a breeze. Princess obviously has done a lot of research and trial and error in this one. I was on the Carnival Elation in March 2017, and it was a disaster. Waited for 2 hours standing in a crowded hallway. This cruise, we left our room at 9:15 (latest we could stay in there) and headed to our assigned station, waited for like 10 min, and was off the ship and on the bus to the airport in 15 min. Very easy process...
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