First the bad. This being the first cruise post dry dock, Grand arrived San Francisco many hours late. Boarding was delayed, but word went out so late that most arrived at the pier on time with a long wait ahead of them.

Without doubt the delayed boarding / disinformation / misinformation at the pier was the worst part of our cruise. Finally got aboard about 2:30 and made a beeline for the Sanctuary for our full cruise booking (wasn't necessary to rush, there was space available every day). Then back to our obstructed view Emerald deck cabin to settle in, luggage delivery was late ours arrived well after 11:00pm. Grand finally sailed at midnight about 8 hours late. The lost time had no effect on port calls.

All of this makes this sound like a very negative review, which it isn't. We had a great time from the first morning onwards. We heard complaints from some about water leaks and other common Grand complaints . . . But we experienced no such problems. We saw a leak or two in the common areas, but these were quickly fixed - always within a couple of hours. The captain informed that 1000 feet of new piping was installed in dry dock, but allowed there remains more to do. We understood that many (but not all) of the missing balcony mats were replaced in dry dock. Read more