Deceiving Crew (Soda Package does not include water!) and Luggage Mishandling

Grand Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska

Majestic1234

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 12

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

7 Night Voyage Of The Glaciers With Glacier Bay Northbound (Vancouver To Anchorage)

Sail date: June 17, 2023

Ship: Grand Princess

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: A216

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 10 months ago

Review summary

I only chose this cruise because I did not have another choice. It's the only cruise line that would go to Denali National Park in Alaska. Sadly to mention, Princess owns two lodge complexes in Alaska Denali National Park and Mt. McKinley (Denali State Park). If you would like to experience the beauty of Denali National Park in Alaska, you'd be better off if you travel to the area on your own. This is what happened to me on the cruise and the land portion of the booked experience. Grand Princess service was horrible in all aspects: Service Packages, Internet, Food Quality, Laundry, and Luggage Handling. Let's start with a soda service package that a crew member assured me that: "It would cover for water" as I would not drink soda and would only drink bottled water. IT WAS NOT TRUE! I started noticing charges for every bottled water I obtained from the bar. Grand Princess refused to reimburse me for the soda package ($104.93), which I never used because I do not drink soda, and also charged $2.50 for every single bottle of water. I drink a lot of water to keep my kidneys healthy, and the soda package did not even include a one time purchase of pineapple juice. Shame on you, Grand Princess! Additionally, the wifi service was super slooooooooooooow! It took over two days to upload a few pics to Google Photos. It was not worthy to buy a wifi package. The food quality was not good either. It was substandard and cold. The bacon was always cold and greasy...the mashed potatoes was the only side dish that was a little warm. Laundry machines were broken. Only 2 out of 5 machines were working. The cruise has an old-fashioned system of tokens. First, you have to buy tokens with the medallion, then use the tokens to do the laundry. Doing laundry was a time-consuming process in a crowded environment. Lastly, a nightmare experience at Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. Grand Princess cruise separate you from your luggage. Yes, you read it. They give you tags to place with your luggage to different hotels for the land portion of the travel (Denali National Park). You just have to trust that they would not lose or misplace your luggage. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to me. Somehow, the crew that handled my luggage did not read my well-printed first and hyphenated last name on the tag and placed my luggage under the second last name portion of my hyphenated last name. After I noticed that my luggage was not in my hotel room, I spoke to the hotel manager who also was distraught by the news. He helped me get my luggage back and said that it was placed for another person that has a similar last name. I wonder why did I need to correct a luggage handling crew (not the manager) as he incorrectly said my last name, by indicating that I have a hyphenated last name? Do they read the luggage tags well? Never again, Grand Princess Cruise!