Grand Princess Review
3.5 / 5.0
coopco
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s
Rating by category
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Additional details
Sail Date: Apr 2018
Cabin: Balcony
We had a wonderful time on our Grand Princess cruise. This was a round trip 7-day California Coastal out of San Francisco. We enjoyed meeting the many Brits on the ship and had a great time with our table mates at evening dinner. I have seen posts of the Grand being in sore need of a refurb and I will admit I noticed things I haven’t noticed on other cruise ships but in no way did that impair our ability to come back new after our super enjoyable vacation.
Here are some tips and highlights:
PARKING: You call in advance and pre-pay. The parking lot is about a 10-minute walk away. It does get a little congested at the terminal lot, but they do an excellent job keeping the traffic moving. I wouldn’t arrive too early since we debarked late because we were driving, and people were arriving for the next cruise (around 10 a.m.) It was kind of a zoo. I’d arrive around 11 if you must arrive early and have a choice. If you are the keeper of the passports and need to wait for your vehicle driver to park the car and walk back to the terminal, dress warmly. We were in the Union Square area in the morning and what I was wearing was fine but it’s quite a bit chillier by the terminal and you will have to wait outside unless you hand your significant other their passport before s/he takes off for parking.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Cabin BC
We booked this cabin because it's right next to the Grand Suite and thought we'd have the same cabin steward, which we did. He was excellent. I was worried it would be noisy but it wasn't noisy at all. It's so conveniently located to bars and the Horizon Buffet. And the balcony is slightly bigger because it's angled. The one downside is there is a pull down chair in the shower and a bar on the shower wall and if you know Princess showers, they are about as small as you can get. But I never once hit either the chair or bar so after a while, you don't even notice them.There is no reason to not book this cabin!
Port Reviews
San Francisco
Since we live in Sacramento, we Pricelined at hotel in the Union Square area. We really enjoyed our dinner at John's Grill and breakfast at Pinecrest Diner. Traffic and parking was zoo. My husband says he's not coming back if he's driving. I think we'll take Bart next time. Outside of that, I highly recommend SF but take mass transit.
We also did the tour of Anchor Steam brewery. We enjoyed that and parking is not a problem on the weekend. It is $25 per person but honestly, I think it's more to discourage no shows than because the tour is worth $25. They do give you beer samples and the tour guide was excellent.
Santa Barbara
Took the Trolley and enjoyed it. See the review above for a description.
Los Angeles
You will have to take Uber to get around. The Queen Mary is right next door. You can get on for free and walk around if you show your cruise card. Tours are $10. Make sure to show your cruise card at the ticket counter and they will send you upstairs for cruise pricing.
San Diego
Check Groupon for any specials from Seaport Village. See review above for more information.
Ensenada
Been there, done that. We didn't even leave the terminal area. We shopped at the terminal shops because we had to get a birthday present for our assistant waitress. We got her a little princess tiara so she could be the the birthday princess that evening.
5 Helpful Votes
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