Grand Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

the cabin and dining experience was superb... the only disappointment was all the milk served and available throughout the cruise was served at room temperature... not chilled what soever... and when requested cold... I was told it was unavailable... our cabin attendant Robkhob, Watcharin was there with anything and everything to make our cruise more than memorable... we have put a deposit on our next year's cruise to the Mexican Riviera... and plan on requesting the Grand Princess...

regards.... Charles Tom Jr.

I sailed on the August 19-29 Grand Princess from San Francisco.  This was for our 25th wedding anniversary.  This was suppose to be a relaxing time and it turned out to be stressful and painful.  I am requesting additional compensation for my experiences on the ship which are inexcusable.   1.  Fell in the Sabatini dining room, because there was no sign that said "watch your step" or hand rail..  My fall caused hardship on me for the rest of the cruise because I experience back pain, neck pain and bruising. 2.  Remodeling done in cabin next door during the cruise.  This caused extremely loud noise throughout the day and carpet glue smell  made me sick to my stomach. 3.  Door fell off between D301 and D303 and no warning of maintenance on balcony trying to fix door while I was in my nightgown.  4.  Spending time in the Wheeler House for a drink and had to experience the painters outside painting and had to smell harsh paint fumes, which once again made me sick.     When I called the purser's office to complain I was told thank you for brining this to our attention.  No sorry or let me see if we can do something for your experiences.  After I pushed the issues, they then offered dinner in one of the specialty dinning areas.  Really???  I told them that was not good enough for the pain that I was experiencing. They then asked if I  wanted to see the doctor on board.  I said besides getting painkiller and a mask and earplugs for the construction, there wasn't a thing I could do but rest and heal.  I asked to speak with the General Manager of the ship and I was refused and transferred to the manger of customer relations where she offered me $100 on board credit and I refused once again.  I  again asked to speak to the General Manager and was transferred to the Customer Relations Director who said there was nothing she could do for me.  That is when I started crying and said the rest of my trip had been ruined because of the fall and that this treatment was unacceptable.  She offered me $150 on board credit and told me that was their final offer.  They told me that they learned from my experiences and that they made sure they checked on my stories to make sure I was telling the truth and found out I DONT LIE...   Why do I as a customer have to experience ship maintenance during my sailing, I DID NOT PAY FOR THAT... In addition, I walked by the restaurant and there was a BIG sign where I fell "watch your step". So they would not have another customer fall like I did. 

This was our first cruise and not knowing what to expect it was all Good. The Glaciers were very cool. Going up from SF. the water was choppy but asking people who haved cruise before it was nothing a little back and forth for only 1 day.

See answers below. Although considerable rain and fog, the weather cooperated when it mattered at the Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier Bay, and while on the White Pass railway. For once, I felt most of the excursions worth the time and money.

I love so much of the cruise. Every thing was wonderful, the staff so nice and I enjoyed every day either at see or at port.

The only things I would say need improvement are:

I felt the main shopping guy to be shady.   At a princess store on shore  we were looking for at a ring for my husband.  The first guy at the gave a bid, then the manager gave the next which was lower. Then the princess cruise guy came out of nowhere to tell us how much he trusted the salesman and that he even bought a ring. He showed us what he was wearing it it was almost exact to the one we were looking at. Wow, what a coincidence!!

   I then noticed He was never wearing that ring on any videos he was on nor when I'd see him around the boat. I asked him where his ring was and he gave me a pretty shifty response.  It was clear he had only slipped it on that day to try to make a sale. That is the only time I felt icky about the princess business.  Don't play games on your customers. We are smart enough to see through it.

I was very happy with the service in the restaurants and the Wheelhouse. We had any time dining and they really did a good job taking care of us. Fany at the door did a good job. The cabin Steward was just okay nothing special. The food was a -c. They over cooked the omelets' every time not only mine but others. I had the cheese omelet that had not taste of cheese. My friend and I had the veal at dinner and it was tuff as nails. We sent them back and they insisted on trying another. My second one was tuff as well so I had spaghetti which was good. Was looking forward to some fried chicken, it had paprika on it and it ruined the taste. The deserts and pizza on 14 were great.  One other thing that bugged us was the fact they allowed people in the dining room with sweats and un appropriate attire. I am not a stick in the mud but did make an effort to meet your standard.  Buy the way the tour of the Galley was really neat.

Enjoyed the all of the waiters and servers 10+

Did not like being around the Casino area due to the cigarette smoke.

Food was great

Entertainment was very good

Hats off the the following waiters and servers:

Crooners Lounge

Emil

Fatima

Sheena

Michelangelo Restaurant

James and His Waiter (H.....)

Finding a vacation that my husband and I enjoy as much as our two boys (ages 12 and 16) can be a challenge.  This cruise was the perfect solution.  Everyone had a blast!  We enjoyed every port and all the time on the boat, which had plenty of activities to keep us all busy.  The food was amazing, the entertainment (especially the comedians) was outstanding, and the service was top notch.  A great family vacation all the way around!

We loved the 10-day option to Alaska out of San Francisco.  There were more days at sea than going out of Seattle. 

Our favorite part was the excursion we took in Skagway, with a professional photographer.  He drove us up a dirt road where there were no other people. We saw glaciers and all sorts of beautiful sights.  And he taught us how to use our cameras in different situations. 

Great trip.  Highly recommend!   

The service provided on Princess is second to none.  The staff bent over backwards to ensure our comfort and that all of our needs were met.  We also enjoyed the ports-of-call and thoroughly enjoyed each one.  While this most recent cruise lived up to most of the expectations that I had following my previous Alaska Cruise (Sun Princess, 1998), the food did not entirely meet expectation.  Most evenings the entre ordered was acceptable but not outstanding as I had remembered from my Sun Princess experience, and two evenings we were a bit disappointed (rib-eye steak, salmon).  The rib-eye was tough, the salmon very over--cooked and dry.  On the evenings when the biil-of-fare did not interest us, we enjoyed pizza at Alfredo's on the Plaza deck, and we found the pizzas there to be excellent.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay on the Grand Princess, and my greatest "complaint" is that the ten days passed by much too quickly.  We look forward to planning another Princess Cruise in the not-too-distant future.

We paid top $ to see Tracy Arm Fjord and got Endicott Arm instead. No big deal! The glacier was too far away. Grand Princess should compensate for the missed item as advertised. There was no apologies and conveniently grossed over the omission. Very disappointing.

Everything was great especially the food on board. Our reason for booking this cruise was to see the advertised Tracy Arm Fjord first hand for ourselves, but the Captain decided to not to go there - a great disappointment for all of us.

First time on Princess. It was a pleasant surprise all around. Embarkation was easier than any other cruiseline. The food, entertainment, service, was first class. 

Wish there were more activities on sea days. The guest naturalist was so enjoyable in her five talks. Would definitely consider sailing on Princess again.

The beauty of Alaska and Glacier Bay cannot be understated.  When that is combined with the comfort and amenities of a quality cruise ship and experiences on shore excursions, it leads to a perfect vacation.

Tina was a great help when booking my Alaskan cruise. Any question I had she answered with no problems and guided me through everything. I will definitely be using you guys again to book my cruises and hopefully I am able to request Tina again. Thanks ! 

Pros: Very good service, the minute you sit down a waiter is present, Good food in dinning rooms.

Cons:  Mini Suites in very poor condition, unable to sit on couch as it is too low ! Extra space is great, but needs remodel !!! 

Tips:  Junueau -- take cab to glacier, approx $30 each way for up to 7 persons -- ask Driver to stop by at Town Dump; LOTS of Eagles up close !! 

After 5 - 6 cruises on 4 different lines, we are ready to call Princess "best yet!" 

Loved the refined, rich looks of the Grand Princess. Believe the food experience to be the highest in quality we have experienced in our cruise experiences. Having a naturalist on board who could speak English and excite an audience while educating us was a great touch.

Sailing out of San Francisco was rewarding and special and the 10 days was just right for the cost. 

Alaska exceeded our expectation in every way possible. We WILL find a way to cruise back to see what we were unable to on this trip. For side trips, we consider the train ride a "must." Too, get on a glacier if you can - if not, just keep your eyes and ears peeled while in their neighborhood.

Glad we were allowed into the Tlingit's world. The native Alaskan story is something to take home and share.

very good experience with grand princess cruise , everything was very good,

activities , staff , cabin , food , i will recomend this cruise to my family and friends,

congratulations.

The good: What wonderful people starting with my travel agent Gemini to the staff on board the ship all professional and courteous and my fellow travelers all having a great time.   I could not have been happier with these very fine people. The on board entertainment was the high point of the trip. David Williams at the piano bar was outstanding as well as two shows that really Wowed the audience.  thank you all

The bad: The couch that had the fold out bed had no mattress to speak of. I mean really how could you expect that anyone could get a decent nights sleep on that pathetically thin mattress.  .  Not to mention when it was folded out you could barely get past as the room was so small..

The ugly:   The arrival to the glaciers was never mentioned on the news platter.  Consequently only one person out of the nine of us traveling got to see the glacier as he was up early and happened to looking out when the ship passed the glacier. Why the high point of the trip which is featured in all the brochures  was not announced is incomprehensible. The feature article was about sea sickness and not a word about the glaciers.  The port cities however were featured in BOLD letters and featured informative articles about each city.  We came to see the glaciers and we were sorely disappointed when we found out at dinner that we had missed the glaciers .

Departing :  My mom is elderly and needs access to a bathroom in a timely manner. Making her wait two hours was problematic.  I think seniors and or people with disabilities should be given priority.

Also for some reason the worst DJ on the planet was hired on this trip who only seemed to think the YMCA was the only dance worthy tune.

My 2nd cruise, wife's 1st.  I'd give it a 3.7, she a 4.7 

Nearly fine-dining in the dining room, better than average food in the buffet, with some of it very good.  Fresh fruit always, plenty of fish, vegetarian options always.  Lots of comfort food, dessert always available and often quite good, I kept looking for their dynamite flourless chocolate cake to reappear, it never did. Pizza, and a grill always available, plus a sit down pizzeria that crept into the good range.  

The ships musicians are very good, the sextet, the violin trio, and the jazz combo were strong, pretty good piano lounge singer.  I thought the Blue Jade lead singer was a miss but others liked her. I caught every one of their last sets after she went to rest her foot.  Wendi sang in her place and had a superior jazz voice and could be strong with some development.  The most fun was Steve's sextet, and when some of the ships musicians sat in with Blue Jade.  The comedy and pianist leads were strong in the Princess Theater, the 'magician' pretty weak.  TinTin, Sam and the rest of entertainment hosting were outstanding.  Very warm and welcoming, They made you feel at home, with just enough 'Let's put on a show!' mixed in with the versatility, energy and professionalism to make everybody want to play along.  

In general, knowing just how hard and long all of the crew works, and how many rules they have to follow, I was amazed by the energy, enthusiasm, friendliness, and forbearance when dealing with rude passengers they were.  It was an incredibly smooth experience.

Now to the negatives.  The Captain made a conscientious decision not to go up the Tracy Arm for our "Scenic Cruise" day, substituting a scenic, but very short side trip up to a small glacier.  Anyone who slept in (9 AM) would have missed it.  That scenic cruise was the day I was most looking forward to and one of the biggest factors in upgrading to a balcony room.  That there was not a better contingency plan than that for those of us who were waiting for thrilling Alaskan scenery is criminal.  

The stop at 'Icy Strait' was pretty disappointing as well.  A zipline and a poorly staged cultural show, plus disappointing food and a 30 minute museum were pretty much it.  A small uncomfortable beach, a nothing nature trail through second growth, and a shoreline that might be nice to walk, but is closed to guests.  Those I talked to who booked excursions were pretty lukewarm about it too.

Food - If you want your beef done the way you like it, order it done more than you like.  Medium gets you a pretty good medium-rare.  Medium rare is cool in the middle.

The ice cream was not worth eating.  Their Limoncello Sorbet was absolutely divine.  Every other dish of ice cream I ordered was uneaten (and I love anything cold and frozen.)  Pineapple sorbet, rhubarb ice cream, rum raisin - not a one of them had any distinguishable flavor to them- and I tried to find some subtle flavor.  I saw a LOT of uneaten ice cream in the dining hall.

Finally- I was sold the wrong excursion on board.  I had picked the Mendenhall Lake kayak excursion from the Princess web site, but did not book until I decided it probably wouldn't downpour on me.  The tall blonde woman who helped me either didn't know her product, or lied to me.  She sold me a "Mendenhall View" kayak excursion.  I repeatedly asked her if it was the one where you kayak'd to the base of the glacier.  She told me there was only one kind of trip.  When she gave me the price, I told her it sounded too low, that it was $40 more when I looked at pre-booking it.  She asked if that was the Princess site and I told her it was.  It just didn't feel right and I asked her several times if she was sure.  She just kept repeating that there was only one trip and that it said 'Glacier View'.  I ended up paddling around in an estuary at the edge of some mud flats with a friendly and game, but amateurish outfitter, with my 'glacier view' from a couple miles away.  Plus, despite being asked three times if my wife was going along and my answering with a story about how she can't get in and out of a canoe, let alone a kayak, she sold me two tickets.  I didn't figure that out til the day of the outing.  Thankfully the refund for the second ticket was seamlessly and automatically credited back to my account with no effort on my part, even though it was partly my fault for not seeing the second ticket wasn't a return ticket or receipt as I thought, but had my wife's name on it.  Thank you.

I would definitely cruise Princess again, just not on this itinerary.