Grand Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I have been crushing with princess few times.  Grand was my least favorite .....To begin with the mattress for my son was terrible.  They said they knew about this and will get him a new mattress the next day.  I do not think it was fair for him to even sleep 1 day on a very sinking mattress.  MY parents and son and me were traveling together, and they put us in 2 opposite sides of ship,odd and even.  Also in my parents room they had bunk bed that open from the side walls, and my parents could not have the beds together since there was no room for them to walk on the side, and they bumped there heads.  I asked to separate the beds, and after 64 years of sleeping together they had to sleep apart.......My parents have been traveling with you many ,many times.....That was very disappointing.

Very good service while on ship.  Very disappointed that the captain decided not to enter the Tracy Arm Fjord.  He was concerned about ice flows but the ship that came in after us went in and had no problems at all.  That was one of the things I really wanted to see.  Not happy that I was not informed that I could take my own wine on board and just pay a $15 corkage fee.

Begin this by saying we 3 ladies are age 64 with total right hemiparesis, 87 and 89  year olds with partical hemiparesis, I use scooter and they use a walker for ambulation. our cruise was completely messed up.   Only thing right was wheelchair assist to and from car. 

My mom and myself was together in a handicapped room with balcony

We started our reservation with 4 people, one had to cancel due to death of a child. At that time one of the agent associates moved the odd person in with us in our room, this seemed to cause the shuffle problem, putting us on lower flower at other end of ship "WITH A BUNK BED"  that drops from ceiling.

What is 3 handicapped women going to do with that?

As soon as we entered the room I called the booking agent and the pursers desk. The agent called and talked to my sister in law who was also on the cruise and spoke with her saying she would find out something and call next day. We never heard a word from her until I called her again AFTER getting back to Seattle.

I booked a handicapped room and got a cabin with a balcony and " A BUNK BED" Walkers would not go into the room much less fit between the wall and bed. They were stored on the balcony during the cruise. This also limited on and off at the ports.

The first night I slept on the balcony, next day the pursers desk sent a man to measure room for a cot, he said we could move out bed table and slide a cot in.HA." no way " This would have given us wall to wall bed with no way to get in.

My brother and his wife were on a second honeymoon, they allowed a cot to be put in their room so I stayed with them the duration of the trip. (James and Karen Ardis) This made it tolerable but ruined his honeymoon.

This was our trip of a life time that we saved for several years. Absolutely worst cruise ever. My 5th but their 1st. All first timer Alaska Cruise for sure.

Princess Cruise just happened to fall in the middle of a big mess.

Our Agent offered a $200.00 return to us but we refused it. The whole thing could have been avoided

if we had gotten what we asked for. A handicapped with balcony. The only thing that we will settle for is another  complementary cruise.

All this was told to the agent, as well as I will be putting it on Social Media the first part of September if agreement can't be reached. Again, I think the Princess was caught in the middle, the said their hands were tied due to being 200  persons OVERBOOKED. Now what kind of Crap is that ???

I can't speak for by brother and his wife but they also deserve something....... Thanks, I will be waiting to hear from your company.     Martha Goldman 601 794-5429 or cell 

601 441 2432

I

cheapened too much-charge for ice cream!! ship boarding and exit poor; too long lines, only mediocre buffet food, especially desserts. however, god staff, very helpful

ship old too

It started with the Cruise specialist John G.  Just wonderful-- helped book and even called before we left to make sure we were ready and wish us good travels.

The Grand Princess was clean, staff were friendly the food options were wonderful.  The ease of booking shore excursions were great!  The sailing activities were good as well, and if you have kids lots for them also.  The only thing i would recommend is make sure you know how and what is being charged to your card-- like gratuity and soda is not included only water tea and lemonade so take the week off from soda or you will pay dearly for it and its watered down!  There are many pools and hot tubs but the hot tubs are colder than a bath I would take so a little disapointing on that.

  The ports were great and the excursions and Tracy Arm wow just beautiful and the Skagway train holy cow it just doesnt get any more beautiful.  Whales and dolphin sightings every night!

the cruise started out bad due to mess up in room reservation.  we were booked for and checked in with Princess under room numbers C315 and C317. Our party (one who didn't speak any English) ended up apart….

The ship was very nice and the itenerary was great, however we were a little disappointed in the food quality.  We had selected "anytime dinning" and ate most of our meals at the buffet on the lido deck (deck 14).  We ate one lunch in the main dinning room which was very good, but our only dinner in the same dinning room was very average.

The entertainment was very good as well as other ship-board activities.  We extended our stay in Seattle three extra days to see the city.  Pike's Market and the Space Neddle were very enjoyabe and I would also recommend the Duck Boat tours.

This ship was old. We were lucky and did not get a room that was leaking. Everyday I would see fans set out and the smell of water in the carpets. Not sure who was the unlucky ones that got those rooms.

The dinning in the main dinning room and the Horizon dinning room were great. We did try the specialty dinner steak house and it was not good for us. The other couple with us said there food was great. My wife's steak was burned to a crisp.

It felt like they were trying to sell you something everywhere you went. 

Not a lot to do on the boat. We have taken several cruises with Royal Carribean and they seemed to have a tremendous amount more things to keep you busy.

The magician show was amazing. One of the best I have seen.

The boarding and un-boarding process was very effiecient.

Seveal of the works struggled to undersand English. You had to repeat several times.

The cruise started with the typical muster station drill in a mid deck lounge with a not so typical bucket on the floor to catch dripping water from the ceiling. We would feel wet carpet and see drippy pipes frequently during the voyage.

We went to soak our travel weary bodies in a hot tub only to find the jets didn't work. None of them did. Anywhere on the ship. Anytime during the cruise. Others asked attendants to see about fixing them and they would agree, disappear and never show up again. 

The pools were ok. Towels for the indoor pool were incoveniently placed on the second deck, as well as the dirty towel bin. Why?my son went in the evening whereupon he found no towels. He asked an attendant and again the guy disappear on the premise of getting some and never reappeared. 

Entertainment was a bit weak. Only the final show, British invasion, and one of the Jazz bands was any good I thought.  In fact, the lounge band lead singer was do lazy I heard more from the patrons than him.

Our room and room attendant were probably the best part of our trip. He was very personable and was attentive to the room.

The casino was apparently the ship smoking pit. A small and not lively room with none of the typical gambling airs, we decided not to go in it more than we needed to. Even I know a casino shouldn't have windows!

Food was ok. For some reason, our waiter was the least friendly of any cruise we've ever done. Just really didn't try or warm up. I sensed he gave the same treatment to other tables. On our penultimate dinner, we were told the final dinner was cancelled, and we were to make arrangements elsewhere on the ship!  That was unbelievable. We had a real hassle getting into the other dining rooms that final night.

Describe themselves as consummate hosts? I hardly think so.

This was first cruise for me and I was happy with ship,with staff and service.All people on the ship were friendly - have had a very good time and experiance.

A cruise to Alaska should be included in every bucket list as a life time experience. The Grand Princess is an older ship as we have had the opportunity to cruise on the Royal Caribbean ships that the Princess doesn't compare in appearance or accommodations. But the staff was just as attentive and as caring. The Princess won't be my first choice going forward but it is not excluded. We had a wonderful time and we were cared for!!!

The average passenger is a lot older than Caribbean cruises. We had an awesome steward, but we were surprised at the small size and options at the bar. Additional eating options were plentiful and tasty. The cruise entertainment team was great! Overall, it was a good experience.

No matter where I stay, or where I am going,before I 'book' anything.. I read the reviews. Before booking our cruise on 'The Princess' , I read the reviews on past cruises from Seattle to the inside passage. I read all of the negitive comments plus the positive ones , and to be honest, as far as the negetive comments, I dont know what cruise they were on! I never found what 'the hell' they were complaining about because our cruise with a balcony on the Aloha deck was fantastic! My wife and I had no complaints! There was plenty of entertainment, things to do, and our 'cabin attendent' was always there with fresh towels, cleaning our room at least twice a day, ( hell my wife doesnt do that for me!..) Our 'dinner attendent' couldnt have been nicer! I thank our booking agent , 'Alexis' for putting us with 2 other couples, that became our friends for the week and even off the ship. We had a fantastic time! I would NOT hesitate going on another Princess Cruise!  'Yo-ho!'... 

THE BOAT WAS GREAT GOOOD  FOOD AND SHOWS...  THE SHIPS ROUTE I DID NOT LIKE.  I SHOULD HAVE PICK A BOAT GOING THE INTERPASSAGE.  I WOULD NOT GO JUNE OR EARLY JULY  TOO COLD AND RAIN

DEAR PRINCESS!

THANKS FOR SUCH A GRATE TIME AND FOR A LOT'S OF FUN ON BOARD! 

Everything was just perfect! 

It was my 3rd cruise with Princess, and everysingl time I enjoyed it more and more. 

That's why I prefer to come back to the Princess Cruises and, deffenetely, will make many refferals about my Exlellent expirience with this Co.

Cozy Mini Suite with balcony and a bath tub  

WE'LL BE BACK SOON!  

Overall, we had a great time.  Check in was fairly easy.  I think it could have been more streamlined, but everyone was very helpful in directing you where to go.  Once onboard, I felt things were disorganized and crew members we asked about where to eat were not helpful.  I felt like the Grand Princess was an older ship in need of sprucing up.  We were upgraded from an oceanview room to a balcony room.  I highly recommend a balcony room on this particular voyage because there is so much scenery to view while cruising.  It's also nice for the fresh air.  The balcony room was not as large as expected.  Our last cruise was on Disney and their balcony room is much larger and nicer.

Dining - For the first 2 days, everytime we sat down anywhere, we were asked to buy something.  Soda packages, coffee packages, insulated coffee mug, etc.  It was annoying!  I also think that having to pay extra for soda on any cruise is crazy.  $2 for a can of coke and 15% gratuity automatically included.  Disney has a drink bar set up at all times and you can get what you want, when you want.  The food was okay.  Nice dinners in the dining room, but typical buffet food which got old by the end of the cruise.  Good pizza and burgers out by the pool.  We chose anytime seating which worked great for us.  We only had to wait to be seated the first night.  We did miss having the same wait staff each night, but it was like going to any restaurant.

I had a teenage daughter(17) with me.  We went to the teen lounge the first evening to sign up.  She was not impressed and she didn't go back.  It was dark and small.  The kids were younger and playing board games and video games.  She was very disappointed because she was comparing it to the teen lounge on Disney.  There was no comparison.

Excursions - In Ketchikan we went to the Totem Bight State Park and the Lumberjack Show.  Definitely enjoyed the Lumberjack Show.  The Park was okay.  We were expecting a lot more totem poles.  It was a walking tour and the guide told interesting stories.  We were just expecting more.  In Juneau we did the whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier tour.  The whale watching tour guides were great.  Upbeat, nice and answered all questions.  We did see whales, porpoises and sea lions.  We were on the water several hours on a gorgeous day.  The whale watching was a little disappointing because you could only see their backs and tails when they came up for air.  I feel like if we had been on a smaller vessel that we may could have gotten closer and seen more of the whales bodies.  We only had about an hour at the glacier.  For us, that was enough time because we didn't want to hike up further to get better views.  For hikers, it wasn't enough time.  The glacier was cool (no pun intended) and the center there was interesting although it closed while we were there.  We used their viewers to spot mountain goats and to get a better view of the glaciers and the kayakers.  This tour did not allow for very much time to shop in Juneau.  We barely had enough time to go to the Red Dog Saloon to get souvenirs.  In Skagway, we did the White Pass train.  Our train was packed full.  About 15 mins into the trip they have engine trouble.  We had to pull over on a side track to let 2 other trains pass (which were not full at all) while we waited for another engine.  It took about 15 minutes to switch engines and then we were on our way.  This is a beautiful scenic trip.  Lots of picture opportunities.  Make sure you do not sit in the first car or last car of the train.  First car going up is right behind the engine.  Coming down, the last car becomes the first car and you are right behind the engine.  Very strong diesel smell which made me headachy and nauseous.  Loved the cute town of Skagway.  Had plenty of time to walk around town, shop and get ice cream.  In Victoria, we were going to go to Buchart Gardens because it was highly recommended to me but my mom was having trouble walking by the end of the cruise so we opted for a city tour.  It was easy to exchange the two excursions.  We went on a double decker bus thru the city.  We were able to get off at the Empress Hotel for about 20 minutes or so and look around the hotel.  Our guide was great.  I thought Victoria was a quaint city with pretty architecture, clean and bustling.  It was a Sat. night so lots of people out walking the streets.  Someone was playing the bagpipes on a street corner down by the water.  I wish we would have had more time in Victoria to explore.  May have to go back there.

In Seattle, we stayed near the airport the night before the cruise and the night after.  Since you get off the boat so early (easy process), we had all day to spend in Seattle.  Our hotel stored our luggage and took us to the rail station since the shuttle was making a trip to the airport.  We rode the light rail from the airport to the University Place stop, walked a couple of blocks and were at Pike's Place Market.  We were starving so we ate at Hard Rock before we went into the market.  It was delish, but I was sorry that we were so full because there were lots of goodies to try at the market.  We did buy some sweets to take back to the hotel.  We saw the first Starbucks, fish throwing, lots of fresh flowers, fruits and veggies.  Lots of people on a beautiful day.  I know we didn't cover it all.  We rode the light rail back to the airport (approx. $2.50pp each way), walked to ground transportation and called our hotel for the shuttle.  Easy and cheap way to get around.

Activities on board - we enjoyed the shows, comedians, crew and passenger talent shows, trivia contests, ping pong tournaments and movies.  At the outdoor movies, they provide blankets.  Get to the shows early to get a seat.  The marriage game show was standing room only.

All in all, it was a great trip.  We were there to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.  They had balloons on their door with a Congratulations certificate and they got a special dessert one night.  Mostly an older crowd but there were a good amount of kids and teens onboard since it was summer.  Definitely a once in a lifetime trip.

The only thing to write home about that was any good was the food

Couldnt see out the window it was so dirty

Never saw 1 eagle or 1 single animal or whale

The hall flooded 5 days walked in and out of our room in a inch of water the shop vacs went a couple times a day and the big fan outside our door to dry carpet all day and night was so noisy as were the workers for 5 days trying to fix the problem

I would not recommend this ship

I had been on other cruises and was excited to be on a Princess cruise but, that feeling did not last long. The employees from start to finish were very unprofessional.  They were rude and many times I felt like I was putting them out.  It was not just me either on different occasions people stormed out making comments about the staff having bad attitudes and personality of trash cans.  If I could have gotten off of the ship and gotten home another way I would have done this.

I was more than a little disapointed that we didn't get to go to Tracy Arm Fjord even though it was one of the main reasons we booked the cruise. The captain gave the excuse of "Operational Issues" which sounded to me like it was too busy. When someone mentions Alaska cruises the first think I think of the seing the majestic glaciers calving off into the water. All we saw were some chunks of ice floatiing by.

Princess offers quality food and clean staterooms with awesome service. One thing I didn't like was that they don't make towel animals for adults...just for staterooms with kids. FYI - grownups like them too. Also, our ship had a few water leaks in the hallways. It was a bit disconcerting. The movies under the stars was fun. Like going to a drive-in movie. The shows were high quality. They give wine and champagne for prizes. An option of Sparkling Cider would be cool for non-drinkers who win contests.