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Great way to see the islands on the Grand Princess: a detailed review. by SarahTronnes

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Hawaii

We had a great time on this cruise even with the unusual circumstances.

 

We are a young married couple in our late 20's/early 30's and had never been to Hawaii. We chose this cruise because we wanted to see multiple islands on a budget. We loved leaving straight out of San Francisco since we live in the East Bay and it was just a quick Uber ride to the port. It was a unique way to see the city from the water! 

 

The first 4 days at sea were very rocky but I think in general we had some strange weather. This was my husband's very first cruise and he did fine but if you don't have sea legs you may want to bring a lot of dramamine patches. We spent those first few days exploring the ship's many bars, playing in the casino, enjoying live music, watching newly released movies, and just relaxing in the lounges with a coffee and a good book.  We wish the weather would have been better for those first days because the pools were beautiful. We got one good sunny day out of those first 4 sea days but we had plenty to do on the boat otherwise.

 

The food was surprisingly good. We knew not to expect the Bay Area gourmet quality that we've come to be spoiled with but considering this is food for the masses we were impressed. The food was overall fresh, flavorful, and was diverse. I remember the cafeteria quality of the buffets on Carnival cruise lines and was not looking forward to the Princess version however I found this was one of my favorite places to eat! The Horizon Buffet had a huge selection of fresh greens, salad toppings, and paninis which I really enjoyed. They also had a lot of hearty warm foods like roasted potatoes, rice and vegetables, and soups/stews. Of course there were some junk food favorites we couldn't resist like chicken fingers, mac and cheese, and french fries! All were good quality in my opinion. Other places for quick bites were the two pizza bars and the trident grill. For dinner we mostly ate in our dining room. We chose the fixed time with the same servers, Diana and Nichola, who were fantastic. The food in the dining room was good, not necessarily excellent. Again, we are extremely spoiled in San Francisco with our restaurants so we didn't hold the Princess dining room to these standards. Some meals did surprise us though! We tried two of the specialty restaurants: The Crab Shack and Sabatini's. Both were a cover charge ($29/person) and you could order whatever you like. The crab shack was nothing to write home about. The seafood was definitely frozen (which is probably the only way to keep it on the boat) and the atmosphere was a bit silly. They closed off part of the Horizon Buffet seating and dressed it up as a seafood restaurant. The Italian restaurant, Sabatini's, was worth it for us! The atmosphere was quiet and romantic. The food was good and the service was excellent. We enjoyed it so much that we stayed until we finished an entire bottle of wine!  

 

Speaking of wine, I recommend for most people who are not heavy drinkers to stay clear of the beverage package. My husband and I drink moderately on vacation but we worked out for the package to be worth it you would have to each drink at least 5 drinks a day to get your money's worth. And those drinks have to be under $10 which means no bottles of wine or high shelf liquor and they charge you for the days you're on shore. The wine selections were good for those of you who are from Napa/Sonoma they had a lot of choices from California wine country. Their beer selection on the other hand was lacking. Not many craft beers, mostly bud light and dos equis. I do recommend the coffee card. Their drip coffee is not very good so we liked to get americanos in the morning down at the International cafe. The card is $30 for 15 coffee drinks and you can get more expensive drinks like lattes and dessert coffees. That comes out to about $2 a drink, well worth it!

 

Some reviewers complained the ship is showing her age. I have to say I disagree. The ship looks very well kept for her age and Princess had spent a lot of time updating the public areas to keep them looking modern. The ship is over 18 years old and has been sailing almost non-stop on the salty seas since she was built. There is going to be a bit of rust in places, get over it, she's still a beauty! 

Our room was great! We chose a balcony room and were upgraded to a premium balcony though this website. If your on a tight budget an interior or port hole window room will do just fine (even for 15 days) but its certainly a luxury to walk out onto the balcony to look at the ocean. The bed was comfortable, I prefer soft beds and this was somewhere in between. We requested our twin beds be converted to a queen and I barely noticed that it was two separate beds. I think they put a thick mattress topper on so you don't feel the seam. The bathroom was plenty big and they had a desk and vanity mirror in the room where I could do my makeup and hair while my husband used the bathroom. The shower was always hot, no waiting for the water to come to temperature. We also felt there was plenty of space for all of our stuff: clothing/toiletries/make-up.

When we finally made it to Hilo, Hawaii we had less than perfect weather but we chose a bike ride excursion in Volcano National Park. The rain was actually kind of nice on our bike ride and we were still able to see the park sites with ease. 

In Honolulu, the weather didn't hold up either for some of the outdoor activities we had planned so we rented a car and were able to see Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Aquarium, Diamond Head Crater, and drive through the beautiful neighborhoods. We had until 11pm in that port and the rain let up that night so we spent a great evening having drinks and dinner on the beach in Waikiki at Dukes. I highly recommend this place!

In Nawiliwili, Kauai we received better weather. We were able to go on a tubing tour of the manmade pineapple plantation water trenches. So much fun! After the tour we had time to lay out on Kalapaki Beach and grab a drink. My husband found a great little music shop that sold ukuleles, we purchased one and played the rest of the time on the ship.

Maui was our favorite port although this is where a few problems arose. This was the only port that we required a tender. The port side Maui security forgot that our ship was coming in that day and didn't have enough staff to accept our disembarkation tenders so we were delayed several hours to get into port until they retrieved enough security personnel. There was not much the Princess crew could do but once we were OK'd to go on shore they sped the process along quickly. The captain also delayed our embarkation by one hour to try and make up for the time we had lost. Because of the delay we missed our excursion to the Kaanapali Beach, which Princess refunded us. Instead we took an Uber to the beach and rented a cabana at the Westin which ended up being cheaper than our excursion anyways! Unfortunately the wind kicked up after about an hour and we had to run to the bar and wait out the rain but still had a great time! Apparently this was an exceptionally wet week in Hawaii, terrible luck but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Here comes the interesting part of our itinerary. After 1 day at sea, back towards Mexico, we received damage to one of the tender platforms overnight. The door was forced open and damage occurred in the hull of the ship. We spent about half of the day halted in the ocean while the door was secured and the damage accessed waiting to here from the captain on the state of our itinerary. Although we were safe and the tender platform was "not part of the watertight integrity of the ship" the decision was made to return back to Honolulu and fly all the passengers home. I'm assuming a transpacific trip was not worth risking an already damaged vessel. Honestly since we had less than great weather in Hawaii we were happy to come back and have another chance to enjoy the islands! Princess did an amazing job organizing thousands of passengers' flights home and accommodating us during this unusual situation. They went above and beyond paying for all flights and baggage fees, offering a 50% refund on our cruise, AND an addition 50% off any future cruise booked through them! We felt safe and secure the entire time and they acted professionally and with great hospitality! We will definitely travel with Princess again.

 

 

 

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Hawaii cruise by Cruiser55012845

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Hawaii

Would recommend this cruise ship.Excellent staff, and excellent

Service Great Hawaii Vacation all islands.Extra special service

From our dining staff. Elmer Cruz,waiter and Ruston Gingabo,

Assistant waiter. Renato Pagvid Baluyot,cabin stewart .

Would like to cruise with them again 

 

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fun vacation by Cruiser84676769

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Hawaii

would recommand this cruise to friends and family.  ship needed some repairs, and the pools and hot tubs need repair.  The adult only pool was to hard to get to.

 

 

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Hawaiian Cruise by majgulick

Sail date: / Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Hawaii

Grand Princess is worn and needs updating.  Better/faster internet at a more reasonable cost should be provided, with technology today, it is expected.

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cruise to Hawaii by katarinamartin

Sail date: / Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Hawaii

I would recommend it to others.  the dining room was run very efficiently. some of the entertainment was good. a very funny comedian originally from Ireland. Dan, the cruise director, was very good at his job.  the team of father/daughter who did the ukulele and hula classes and also entertained in the piazza was very good. the food was generally of good quality and tasty. the weather at sea was cooler than I had expected, but, of course, there is nothing you can do about that.  the stop in Ensenada could have been a little longer.

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sunshine and pleasant by krizekcj

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Coastal - West Coast

If you are young or middle age this cruise is not for you. Few kids on board.  The ship is in need of an overhaul. Worn carpet and furniture, no interactive t.v.  on the positive side this cruise appeals to the 50s-70,s crowd.  Good food,great fellow passengers and activities on board and on shore good for this demographic.

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California Coastla by sk8rsmom22

Sail date: / Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Coastal - West Coast

This was a wonderful get away.  Being from California we had been to all the cities that the ship docked at.  We found something new to do in each port.  We discovered Glass blowing in Santa Barbara.  The Queen Mary is in the same location that we docked in Long Beach.  The Scavenger Hunt in San Diego was educational and fun.  On the way back to SF there were whales.  It was fun to stand on our balcony and see the spouts.

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Princess Service was Grand by gonzo57392900

Sail date: / Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Coastal - West Coast

The Grand is starting to show her age and going into dry dock in December should help . A big positive was the EXCELLENT service provided by Amador and Micheal at table 175 . Great selections on the evening meal . a large weakness were the evening shows . The dog act has to go along with Steve Morsi and his outlandish gay jokes!

One item I and others questioned ,was the SRO for the British Invasion show . Filled to capacity-one reason being that there was only one show-BUT how does  Princess lines allow folks to come in after the show starts and even let passengers stand by the railings? Seemed quite dangerous!!

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Need to book on newer ships in the future by AVirginiian

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Mexico

I guess I am getting spoiled.  The cruise was good, the itinerary was good, the service/food/entertainment was good and  the ship was fine, but being spoiled I missed all the bells and whistles offered on newer ships.  Specifically on demand TV and billing information in my stateroom.  This ship had the typical entertainment venues (singers/dancers, comedy etc), but lack the specialty items such as cirque shows, blue man group, Broadway plays (i.e. Chicago).    Please do not misunderstand me, we enjoyed ourselves on the trip, but being a seasoned cruiser with more than 30 trips, we are accustom to the special  features offered on newer ships. 

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Grand Princess cruise by Rgsd47

Sail date: / Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Mexico

We had a wonderful time on the 10 day Mexican Cruise out of SF. One of the best part of the cruise was that we didn't need to fly to catch the cruise ship. The Grand Priness is one of their older ships however it was very nice and well maintained. There was a vast amount of activities on board which was nice because there was 3 sea days before we hit the first port. 

I feel that Princess offers a mid level cruise experience. The food,service, and entertainment was good but not exceptional. I feel most people would enjoy this cruise.

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Great trip on the Grand Princess by Southlandsam

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Mexico

Our 10-day cruise to Mexico aboard the Grand Princess was fantastic. We have been on this itinerary several times with several cruise lines, but this was the best experience. The Ship is mid-size so that it's not too big or too small. Plenty of activities when we wanted to do something; plenty of chairs if we didn't. The best of the trip was the service. After cruising about 15 times, this was by far the best service. Even in the buffet area (which had great food all day long), you never needed to lift a finger, the staff would come to you asking if you needed anything. The only negatives were that the ship is a little on the older side (1998) and is starting to show its age. The bed in the stateroom was not comfortable. But that is not a reason to think twice about taking a cruise on this ship. 

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Mexico 10 Day Cruise 2016 by karenthestarr

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Mexico

The music groups that played dancing music were great.  They played very danceable music and a lot of dancers enjoyed themselves.  The DJ music was not very good.  The DJ seemed to want to play music that he liked for himself and didn't play what the passengers wanted to or could dance to.  You need a DJ who plays the to the crowd, not to his ego-dominant self.

Everything else was great, except the dinners in the dining room were overpowering. The food was delicious, but there were too many sauces and the food was too ambitious, too rich.  Great cooks do not need to cover up everything with a rich sauce.  This did not seem to be food that is preferred in fine restaurants in the U.S. - too culturally different.  Would have preferred a few choices of traditional dishes. Not much to choose from that was not overly rich and "saucy". How about a steak without a rich overpowering sauce? Or maybe shrimp with the traditional garlic and butter instead of a strange flavored sauce?  The dining room food was just a bit too "strange" this cruise. The food in the Horizon Lounge always gave good and varied choices.  The desserts were all good, especially in the dining room.  Entertainment on stage was good and the lecture series was great.

 

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Wonderful cruise! by svetp2003

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Coastal - West Coast

It was our 1st cruise - and I'm happy to say - it was just wonderful!

We had diversity of food at buffet and in our dining room - delicious:-)

Excellent  service - our stateroom steward was very nice guy and all staff were very professional and useful.

We had different entertainment at any moment at somewhere at ship - and we can participate in anything - all were beyond all our expectations!

We bought some jewelry - very beautiful and good price :-)

We recommend this cruise to everyone!Happy

 

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Pacific Coastal cruising by Schwarzdms

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Coastal - West Coast

The cruise line was awesome!!  Our first time on Princess and we had a great time on the ship.  Lots of fun things to do, Dan the Cruise Director was GREAT!  Lots of good food choices and our service was outstanding.  The excursions on this cruise were below average.

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the san franciso sail away by ghc1537

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Coastal - West Coast

  excellent service     this is the time of year to do this one    less people    less children   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Main dining was poor at best by carlchurchfield

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Alaska - Inside Passage

The fish, calamari and sea bass were awful. The New York steak on the last night needed major improvements. I was surprised because the room service and the salad on the buffet were very good. The pizza was very good and made fresh. 

Overall the cruise was fun the entertainment was well done and very fun

 

 

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Grand Princess Alaska Cruise review by Cruiser25527825

Sail date: / Traveled as: Large Group
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Alaska - Inside Passage

Positive:

 

Excellent service from housekeeping and waiters at Botticelli restaurant and at Da Vinci.

 

Negative:

 

Bad Zumba instructor. It seems she is not ready for the job. Sometime, the exercise was shorter than 45 min. Other time, she wanted to cancel the class due to low wave but we demanded for the class so she had to listen to the group.

 

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What a sight! by pekes317

Sail date: / Traveled as: Family (older children)
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Alaska - Inside Passage

I would definitely recommend this cruise.  You couldn't find a better group of staff and crew to made your cruise a dream come true.

My personal favorite was Glacier Bay and how close we could get to it.  It was like everything stood still - it was serene, amazing and peaceful. 

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alaska review by glennyb260

Sail date: / Traveled as: Couple
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Alaska - Inside Passage

Great food and service. Not so good stateroom attendant. Found  info on port arrivals and departures absent..Alaska is beautiful, ports of call not so interesting 

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Choose your cabin wisely by sheridesimone

Sail date: / Traveled as: Family (older children)
Ship: Grand Princess / Destination: Alaska - Inside Passage

We chose a cabin with a window for our cruise. My sister had never been to Alaska and I wanted to give her the best I could afford. Our cabin was so tiny, only one of us could walk around at a time. Luckily we were not in the cabin very often. We were too busy! 

 

I highly recommend the Galley tour! The EFFY jewelry store is very high priced, but have beautiful items.

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