Princess 9-8--9-18-2016 Round trip San Francisco / Alaska . We are platinum loyalty level close to elite and this was an anniversary-birthday trip. This was my 5 cruise on Grand Princess since 2013.
It is my observation that Princess is definitely going down hill in the maintenance of their older ships and needs to dry dock them more often and do more extensive maintenance and repairs including replacement of furniture and carpets. My guess is that Princess can get away with not maintaining Grand Princess because so many of us hate flying and will book cruises out of San Francisco to avoid flying even on an older ship in need of upgrades & maintence.
On Princess, there is a constant push to lower prices then get the profit back by automatically adding daily gratuities and tips and forcing customers to pay for premium coffees and soft drinks and push the photos. We had suite on Grand Princess to celebrate a birthday and anniversary . The layout was great but when we looked around the suite the counter by the bar had a large crack that had been sloppily repaired, the carpets and furniture were very worn the caulking around the patio door was disintegrating causing the wind to whistle through, and the towels were worn and scratchy & threadbare with threads hanging off the towels with the railings on the balcony needing varnish . These were the conditions in a premium suite where one would expect soft towels not worn ones.
We had suite on Grand Princess to celebrate a birthday and anniversary . The layout was great with the fire place but when we looked around the suite the counter by the bar had a large crack that had been sloppily repaired, the carpets and furniture were very worn the caulking around the patio door was disintegrating causing the wind to whistle through, and the towels were worn and scratchy & threadbare with threads hanging off the towels with the railings on the balcony needing varnish . These were the conditions in a premium suite where one would expect soft towels not worn ones.
We had never gone on a Hovercraft and it was an outstanding experience. Walking on the glacial moraine of Taku glacier was awe inspiring and I strongly recommend this excursion . This is the only port that a Hovercraft excursion is offered.
Excellent port for boarding ships with the new cruise building/area. I wish more ships would have cruises originating or ending here. The employees do a great job.
My favorite port to walk around or take an excursion. It is a long walk into town. Best prices for souvenirs.