We chose a Princess Cruise to “Hawaii” to enjoy time away after being “stuck at home” because of the pandemic. We have been aboard the Grand Princess two or three times before so we were very familiar with the ship and the amenities. The only differences we saw from previous voyages were associated with the use of the Medallion App which still has “software bugs” and doesn’t work as fast as one would expect for a high-speed internet service. Be aware that the benefits enjoyed by Elite Members of Princess Cruise Lines continue to see benefits reduced or charged. The four ports-of-call in Hawaii and the islands themselves are not back to pre-pandemic conditions with many tourist sites closed, out-of-business or under-staffed. We rented cars on each of the islands and had a lot of difficulty getting taxis to take us to the car rental agency as they do not pick up or drop customers off at the cruise terminals because there is a lack of personnel. The islands are as beautiful as expected and the weather was perfect while on the islands. The days “At-Sea” both ways were mostly cold and cloudy and the Promenade Deck 7 was usually closed to passengers’ use. The crew of the Grand Princess was friendly and provided excellent service to its passengers. Overall we had a wonderful time and would recommend the cruise line and ship to fellow travelers.
Our cabin was located on Baja Deck, mid-ship, fine for the cruise but the closet, storage shelves and safe were tiny. The bathroom configuration was better than we expected but there is little to no storage area for toiletries. The beds were extremely soft, felt lumpy and uncomfortable. Initially, the cabin’s A/C system was “stuck” on “Heat” and it took engineering over 24 hours to get it repaired. Our cabin steward was excellent and continued to follow-up with engineering on the A/C system.