Hawaii - Finally!!
Grand Princess Cruise Review to Hawaii
Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 13
Helpful Votes: 483
15 Night Hawaiian Islands (Los Angeles Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 19, 2022
Ship: Grand Princess
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: B708
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
There are a lot of sea days on this cruise (10 to be exact) but it's a great way to unwind and there were plenty of activities if you're the type to stay active. On demand movies and TV were good. There was a lot of variety in both, from comedies to action to family to drama. The "Movies Under the Stars" were the same as in your room and they showed the football playoff games in your rooms and on the big screen. The Medallion app lacks a lot to be desired. We were unable to utilize a lot of its features even after numerous stops at their help desk. The Medallion that is worn for cabin entry and drink ordering is great!Embarkation
The night prior to embarkation, we were notified that we would have a Covid test at the port prior to boarding. We dreaded the thought of all of the passengers having to be tested and then go through the embarkation process. We were blown away with the entire process. They had the testing down to an art form and the actual embarkation process was one of the quickest we've ever been through - even with the testing!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We ate in both of the main dining rooms and settled on Botticelli due to the wait staff. Although attractively arranged, the food was good - not great. We ate at the specialty steak restaurant one night and was disappointed in the quality of the steak. The specialty Italian restaurant was closed due to technical issues, so we didn't get a chance to try it out. The breakfast buffet was your standard breakfast fare. I feel that due to Covid, the offerings have been reduced on the buffets, as things are now in single-self serve containers and take up more space. The Salty Dog was nothing special but the pizza on the other side of the bar was surprisingly good. We did eat at the pizzeria on deck 5 and it was good. You can customize your order which was nice as none of their standard offerings particularly appealed to me. The International Cafe was good but finding a seat in order to eat your snack or lite meal was sometimes hard to find.
Onboard Activities
Trivia is played 2 - 4 times/day - which was fun. We played lawn bowling every time it was offered as well as line dance classes. There were also photo scavenger hunts, golfing and ping pong competitions, lei making classes and hula dance lessons. We never got in the pools as it was too cold.
Entertainment
The ship's performers were very good. They did three different shows during the cruise.
It was sad that they had to wear masks as it really took away from the show - not being able to see their entire face. Unfortunately, our dinner reservations normally overlapped a lot of the ship's evening game shows and we only caught the tail end of them, but they looked like they were fun. The other evening entertainers were overall very disappointing. We got up and left during one musical entertainer and should have left during another one. They had both of them appear a second night. The comedian they had was good.
Children's Programs
We did not have any children in our party
Service and Staff
The entire staff was very nice and seemed genuinely glad to see us. We talked with quite a few of them and were surprised at how many had just come on the ship and how many were leaving to go on another one. The room steward did a great job and after our first night, picked up on the way we liked our bed and made it up that way for the rest of the cruise.
Ship Quality
The ship is very easy to navigate through. They have interactive signage throughout the ship to help you get from point A to point B if you weren't sure how to get there.
Cabin / Stateroom
This was an "upgrade" given to us by Princess. We were on the forward starboard side of the deck originally and this cabin is on the aft port side of the deck. It is directly across from the laundry room which I thought might be noisy but it was not. It is 20 feet from the stairs and elevators which I also thought might be noisy, but only experienced one incident. For Hawaii, it was the wrong side of the ship to be on in ports as all you saw was shipping containers. The cabin in size was on the small side but not overly so. They have shower curtains rather than shower doors and the curtains just barely come to the edge of the stepover, so if you're not careful, you'll have a floor full of water if the curtain isn't just right.
Ports of call
San Pedro (Los Angeles), California Did not visit port
Port of embarkation. Nothing there we wanted to see.
Thumbs Up
0
This was our third visit to Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. Our excursion was Pearl Harbor and city sights. Pearl Harbor is a must see for everyone. They've modified the tour due to Covid, but it's still very stirring. We also went through Punch Bowl Cemetary (so sad that we couldn't stop and get out. We stopped at Na'uuanu Pali overlook which was since to see and then stopped at Iolani Palace. That should have been a drive by as getting out to walk up to the gates was a waste of time.
This island is more remote than Honolulu and has a lot more vegetation on it. We went on an excusion to Waimea Canyon, the blow hole and Fern Grotto. Waimea is a much smaller version of the Grand Canyon and the Fern Grotto includes a ride on a flat bottom boat. You see a lot of vegetation and pretty flowers on the way to the Grotto.
Our first stop on the excursion was Rainbow Falls (one of many water falls in Hawaii). Although it was nice - it wasn't as spectacular as I thought it was going to be. Then it was on to Volcano National Park. This is a definite don't miss. It's not everyday you get fairly close to a live volcano and see steam vents from under the earth. We also walked through a lava tube which was a very unique experience.
We rented a car and drove the Hana Highway. It is a rugged drive with over 600 curves and 59 bridges - 46 which are one way. The views are spectacular and there are waterfalls every couple of miles. A stop at Halfway to Hana for lunch and a drive on it to Hana and a stop at a beach for a swim made it a fun day.
Our excursion was the Blow Hole Express. They were late picking us up, had to get another bus that had to unload before we could get on it. Then we traveled over 45 minutes trying to understand our guide who was using a microphone but there were no speakers back where we were so we understood about 50% of what she said. When we got to the Blow Hole, we had to walk through blocks and blocks of sidewalk vendors trying to get you to taste their wares or to buy on of their items for sale. Once we got to the blow hole, it was a MAJOR disappointment. It was barely "spouting" which according to our guide was due to the tides and wind. Then we had to go back through the barrage of vendors to get back to the bus. We got back 45 minutes later than we should have and it was 15 minutes past the "everyone back on board". We looked back at the pictures of the blow hole advertisements and unless you've got a drone, there's no way you can get the views of it from the viewing area. BIG disappointment. And i
Disembarkation
Our disembarkation time was 9:10. We needed to be out of our room by 8:30. When we went down to our appointed lounge to wait, it was so full, people were waiting outside due to the fact that they were running a bit behind in calling out the groups. Once we got called, it was almost non-stop from picking up our luggage to going through customs.