Grand Princess Review

Saying Goodbye to Skywalkers on the Grand

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Grand Princess
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DrJohn
10+ Cruises • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Mar 2011

We booked this cruise in January after we learned that the 14 day Caribbean Collection itinerary was going to be discontinued after this season and we wanted to do the Grand one last time before they took off Skywalkers. We had some concerns about cruising before a major drydock - we were on the Golden on its last cruise before drydock and that was not a pleasant experience - but we figured that we would just lower our expectations and be prepared for construction activity onboard. Unfortunately Skywalkers was closed for our cruise as well as deck 15 aft and the aft outside stairs. This was our 9th cruise on the Grand, our 48th cruise on Princess and 74th cruise overall. EmbarkationWe had been staying at a timeshare north of Ft Lauderdale so drove down in the morning and parked at Air & Sea Parking (our usual place). A short van ride to the terminal, quickly through TSA and registration and we were onboard. Did lunch in the dining room - the usual salmon selection is great. Then we set out to get our Treasure Hunt cards stamped, might be a little hokey but fun to see if we might win something in the draw - we have won in the past but not this time. For some reason they had the drawing at 12:15 pm the first sea day instead of at sailaway as usual. Perhaps as a result sailaway was not well attended and neither was the actual drawing as people were all over the ship enjoying the sun and food.ItineraryWe did the 14 day Caribbean Collection cruise on the Grand last Valentine's Day (our anniversary) and really enjoy the 14 days around the Caribbean without having to return to Ft Lauderdale or San Juan after 7 or 10 days. Too bad they are discontinuing this itinerary - it could easily have become an annual event for us. We've been to all the ports before except Santo Domingo so we wandered around town or terminal at all other ports and the only tour we did was Santo Domingo - a basic ship tour of Colonial Santo Domingo. It was a good bit of walking, some good historical sites, and a fun lunch.The Ship and CabinWe booked an obstructed guarantee for this cruise and were assigned E626 a few weeks later. It was the most obstructed cabin we have ever had - looked out right in the middle of a big orange tender. And of course when the upgrade fairy does not smile upon you, invariably you meet someone who has received a really great upgrade for the cruise and this time was no exception - they were upgraded at the dock from an obstructed (would have been just a few cabins down the hall from us) to a midship Aloha balcony. And of course that discussion became one about upgrades in general and who gets them and why and added some information to my ongoing research on the topic. Now my research is not scientific but anecdotal and so far it seems the more cruises you have on Princess the less likely you are to get a "really good" upgrade. (Maybe because Princess marketing wants to impress the new folks and let them think they might always get upgrades?) There also seems to be some impact based on what travel agent you use. Interesting enough - the folks with the really good upgrade on this cruise had booked directly with Princess with no travel agent involved so that might be a factor if you are interested in trying to get an upgrade. As for us we have given up on the upgrade fairy - no more guarantee category bookings for us - we'll pick the cabin we want and stick with it.We prefer the Grand class ships over the Crown class - they seem more spacious and less crowded. The changes they will make to the Grand during this drydock sound great, hopefully the result will be as good as the hype! (we booked six more cruises on her for next year so we'll see then.)We had expected to experience some construction activity and we did. It was much more controlled than we had experienced on the Golden as the contractors were not all over the ship and construction noise was minimal. Well - minimal except for the morning after the deck party which was one of the most active deck parties we have attended and one where we consumed a few long island ice teas. While we had hoped to sleep in that morning it was apparently the time they had scheduled some construction/maintenance work directly outside our cabin so sleep was out of the question. We decided to pass on long island ice teas at the next deck party we go to. Also seems the big orange lifeboat outside our window needed some exercise as on at least three days around 8:30 am it was moved in and out of its storage position. If you have never experienced a lifeboat just outside your window moving in and out consider yourself very lucky - it generates a lot of noise!Internet service was inconsistent - my laptop kept telling me to contact my network administrator as there were server problems - but both the Internet guy and the pursuer's staff just kept saying that too many people were trying to use the Internet so it didn't work.The FoodFood in the Grand dining rooms was generally pretty good, but twice I had to send back my dinner selection because it wasn't prepared properly. In both cases the waiter should have seen the problem. That was an unusual experience for us on Princess. The other dining room problem we had was in the Michelangelo dining room (anytime dining) where the head waiter in charge of seating invariably wanted to seat us (requested table for 2) at what seemed to be the smallest table in the worst location available - rather than a more spacious table in a better location. And since we went at 8 pm there were a lot of empty tables to choose from. After experiencing this a few times - voicing our displeasure and ending up being seated at an ok table rather than the first one - we went to DaVinci instead and had pretty good tables for the rest of the cruise. And we also had great head waiters in DaVinci! That is a nice thing about anytime dining - flexibility.Food at the buffet was good but nothing really special. But you can always count on delicious Princess pizza as well as the Trident Grill's great burgers and hot dogs.Service in the dining room and the buffet was good to excellent - and we even caught up with some waiters we had sailed with before (it is always a pleasure when we recognize each other). The EntertainmentEntertainment was pretty good - usual Princess production shows and the usual assortment of comedians and ventriloquists and singers and magicians and hypnotists. Two acts we would recommend are Kevin Hughes (comedian) and Joel Leder (comedy ventriloquist). We saw the new production show British Invasion - obvious that a lot of money was spent on costumes and sets. DisembarkationHad the usual speedy disembarkation except the long line going through customs - Princess really has the process streamlined.HighlightsAs usual, the prime highlight was meeting new friends and getting reacquainted with both passengers and staff we have sailed with before. I started each morning with new friends at the "lobby coffee club" and each evening with new friends at the Elite Lounge - great memories and good fun. Also we really enjoyed the most traveled passenger luncheon sitting at the Captain's table (we were second place most traveled).Last ThoughtsHopefully we have not seen the last of the Princess 14 day Caribbean Collection itinerary - it is (or was) a great one.

Cabin Review

Cabin F

very obstructed cabin, in the middle of big orange lifeboat. Close to aft elevators and stairs so a very long walk to anything forward. Shower did not drain well -- cabin steward could not fix.

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