Grand Princess 2011 eastbound ta may5-21 FLL to Southampton reviewD-529 minisuiteGrand: Not quite ready for primetime after refit; staff needs some customer service trainingGeneralWe are diamond on RCI and Celebrity but this was our first Princess Cruise. We also must be tolerant of the fact the GP had just completed a multi million refit (the most expensive in Princess history according to the Captain). Princess had told the passengers not to arrive before 2. By the time we arrived at 2, the line extended the entire length of the terminal and had started doubling back. And yet, no movement for another forty minutes. To compound problems, a torrential downpour commenced during the wait time. Finally, the doors opened and within 30 minutes we were on the ship. The ship was delayed and was set to sail at 7pm, then at 11pm, then in the afternoon the Captain indicated perhaps 8am. Actually sailing time was 730am Friday (830 after the Captain had moved the clocks up an hour while we were still on the dock). No one knew or could tell us the sailing time. Give the crew the accurate information so passengers can be told the same story.Given the extensive remodeling that had occurred, tolerance must be given. However, many parts of the ship were either off limits or opened half way through the cruise. Rolls of carpet lay strewn over several decks, yet to be distributed. A four foot high pile of mulch and plant holders were still to be placed. In the aft, several new clubs (including the much ballyhooed one-five club) were not opened (and not planned to be opened before this trip's end). Either not be so extensive or give more time to the refit. Stories were rampant about TVs not working or remotes not present nor cabins ready. Unexcusable. And numerous elevators were not working upon embarkation nor the first sea day causing major disruptions and dissatisfaction among the 2500 passengers, many finding themselves stranded for unacceptable times while waiting for the lifts. The swimming pools and whirlpools were not open until the second sea day with no apparent reason for being closed. Meanwhile the passengers slowly fumed. Heard several new Princess cruisers say if this was conducive to Princess, this would be their last cruise. A veteran retorted this is not reflected of Princess. Will the real princess stand up and be counted?Food:Desert menu never varied. First cruise ship where this occurred. Food fine but not exceptional. Found that the choices were limited while the helpings were too large for one person or in some cases too skimpy. Just like goldilocks, either too much or too little. I did find the seafood to be consistently somewhat underdone. We were told by more than one elite Princess passenger that the quality has slipped over the last few years, noticeably, probably due to cost cutting measures. I too found the food not up to par of previous cruises.Entertainment: Positive: the three ring circus approach: having multiple events at the same time. Comedians good, especially Steve Bruner. My only comment is that almost all the acts were British and often their accents were hard to understand for Americans. Singers and dancers were quite good and did 4 different shows. Variety suffered. When the same entertainer did several shows, that meant fewer options were available. We also liked the local talent that gave a show for each of the ports we visited. Great idea!!PositivesOf all our cruising experience, we never had a helicopter escort out of port. But on our exit, one hovered around us for thirty minutes until we were clearly out to sea. An eery but delightful experience (discovered later it was taking pictures of the new Grand for PR; still an interesting experience).I liked the MUTS (Movie Under the Stars) although I did not take as much advantage of it as I would have (the movies offered did not appeal to me and probably not much to the age group as was shown by lack of attendance shown). It was very pleasant to be able to enjoy the jazuzzi while watching a movie, though. Yes they showed first run movies but not many our demographic would have preferred. With twenty knot winds, at night the upper decks were hardly inhabitable thus also cutting into attendance.The ports. This was the main reason we took this particular cruise and cruise line. We are regular RCI/Celebrity and would have taken this cruise from them if it had been offered (The Jewel did this several years ago but had not repeated since). We saw Cobh, Dublin, Glasgow (Edinburgh), Holyhead (Wales), Falmouth (Cornwall), LeHavre (Paris). An excellent way to get a preview of the British Isles.Negatives$85 million was the refit (or so we were told). However, looking out our balcony we could see rust and rust and more rust on the exterior of the ship. In addition, both exterior privacy doors were busted (rusted and broke while we were on the ship). The ship's carpenter came and fixed it (that is, if you called placing wood blocks fixing the problem)(we were not impressed). Examining the balcony floor one could see ten years worth of wear and tear; obviously this was not a priority in the refit. Note the balcony furniture looked like it was 10 years old as well. They did not spend the money on the individual cabins but the public areas.With half the elevators not working and the rest filled to capacity, waits are long and when elevators do come they usually are filled fullest. So you have little choice but to climb stairs. Except that if you are midships, no passenger stairs exist. So you have to walk aft or forward, up several flights of stairs, and haul to your stateroom which always is midship. This makes for many disgruntled and tired passengers. (it even became part of the ship's comedian's routine and got a rousing round of applause); midships has only elevator banks and no stairs. Many passengers (not just I) were unhappy at this obvious design flaw.Another example is internet. A note in the Princess Patter said those who signed up for the internet by 10pm would receive 40 free minutes. But a sign in the internet cafe said internet would not be available until the next day. I finally got connected and was told I had "0" minutes (I know that) but no where was I able to connect and sign up to one of the expensive packages that was so clearly marked on the left side. No one was at the internet cafe. Finally on the following day, the ship got its act together and I was able to log in by afternoon. Of course, it was too slow and too expensive but what else was new? Every ship I have been on has charged too much for too slow of Internet. Cruising industry fix this problem!! I could not send messages on AOL and I discovered all others had the same problem; the ship's internet was at fault. Instead of fixing the problem, they provided a complicated workaround. The director of the internet center was evasive, rude, and unhelpful. Once again, this does not help with PR or in creating loyalty for passengers to return. I had better luck accessing the internet while in the open seas rather than in port (why? I have no idea and the internet director just kept repeating his mantra "Internet Down, Lots of interference." Fix it Princess, you had have your passengers up in arms!!We had a minisuite with a balcony. This balcony was open air with no overhead divider. The good part was the feeling of my openness. However, all the other balconies above you could easily look down and see you, thus eliminating privacy. And when it rained, the rain stayed on the balcony for days, no run off, thus ruining part of the fun of a balcony. We made very little use of the balcony, much less than any other cruise we have been on. Not once did we have breakfast outside as is our custom. The brisk winds and cool temperatures were the main culprits.Ordered room service breakfast. Only continental. Usually able to get some bacon, cereal, etc. Here only partial. Not understand why.Lots of new people on board. It showed in service quality lapses. The front desk was not knowledgeable nor especially helpful in response to questions they should have been able to answer immediately. Too many trainees. More training away from the ship and less on the ship; the passengers tire of being the trainers during their vacation. It showed by the lack of awareness of the ship and its features when asked. DW loves the Kentucky Derby and wanted to watch it from ship. Most of the crew did not know what it was; those that did could not give a straight answer on whether it could be viewed from the ship. Many of the staff appeared to be sleepwalking through their jobs, no interest, no passion, just counting the time until their contract was over. It showed in their performance or lack of it. Ship announcements could not be heard in the rooms. How stupid. It is 5 pm as I write this. Our room has yet to be cleaned. Not very happy. I am surmising that he is intentionally doing our cabin last as we took the auto tips off the first day of the cruise. We like to pay directly. At this rate he will not receive what we had initially intended for him. Mid cruise we checked and discovered the auto tips were still on our bill. DW not happy and made certain administration was aware of the fact.Cruise Critic meet and mingle was a disappointment. Not that Cruise Director Martin was not great; not that the house was not full but in Princess' lack of participation. At previous gatherings at other cruises and cruise lines, they had free hors d'oeuvres and drinks and gifts available for us. Here nothing. For the hundreds of people who were present and very active in pushing this cruise, it was not just an embarrassment but a slap in the face. Maybe next time.The Horizon court, the ship's buffet, was a disappointment as well. Other ships we have been on have had major deli section while here only ham and two types of cheese were offered. The salad bar did not compare (DW said the lettuce looked brown and unappetizing). The desert section was huge but could not make up for the lack of options available on the main spread. Drinks were limited. For breakfast your choices were orange or tomato. No Passion Juice nor Guava nor Grape. Asked for Grape Juice and Canadian Bacon as special dietary considerations. I suppose they had never heard of these items as they said it was not possible to do so. Other ships have all drinks easily available while on the Grand, you had to ask an attendant for them. Floor plan can be confusing. To get to the Princess theatre, the main large theatre, requires many steps up or down no matter if you are trying to access it from level six or seven. This is not an easy matter for many of its many aged passengers (average age 66). Poor planning on the designer's part I must admit. And then again even though we were fifteen minutes early for the main show, it was totally filled with more than Standing Room only capacity. The theatre's capacity is easily too small and should have been designed larger. We sat down on the steps but the 'Stair police" came over threatening bodily harm if we did not move (and where we were suppose to move to?) Add some folding chairs or something else to increase capacity. Balcony seats cannot see the entire stage due to the overhang of the lights. Not good planning again.Another poor feature is the walking deck. It was on deck 7, the promenade, not the lido as usual. In addition instead of a straight path one had to climb up twenty steps and down again to complete a cycle. Finally many portions were barely a person's width wide and two people had to move sideways to get through at the same time.Another disappointing feature was the library or the lack of one. Of all the ships we have been on, this was the smallest and most incomplete library I have ever seen. True, tea and pastries were available but the selection was minimal (tea was extra charge--see nickel and diming customers section).We used to love to play the penny slots in the Casino. This time no action from us. We have found that for the last few cruises, penny slots are not what they used to be. Yes they have 1 Cent and 2 Cents clearly marked on the slot machine. However, the cheapest round is usually 9 or 10 lines and 2 credits per play making the actual cost of operating the slot 18 or 20 cents. We find that very deceiving that to play a penny slot costs nearly a quarter per round. Thus our way of showing our displeasure is not to play. From the lack of action around the casino, others likewise did so.Worst disembarkation we have ever seen in Holyhead. First Captain delays the docking and gangplank attachment for the "betterment of the ship" (but no mention of the safety of the passengers. Then only one gangway (both coming and leaving) for 2500 passengers. Lastly, Princess deemed their excursions more important than those on private tours or by themselves and forbid any of those "lesser status" passengers to leave until all those on their excursions had exited. We practically had a mini-riot. And those Princess Staff was rude and hostile. What caused us most concern was their total disregard of us non-excursion passengers as second class citizens, "steerage", to be totally ignored. As a result, we lost an hour of our already paid for excursion and had to cut out some sights. Instead of delaying departure for an hour to make up for it, the Captain was strict on leaving. And upon arrival back, the ship still had only one gangway with the line extending a football field back in length (15-20 minutes). How much loyalty was lost by this blatant disregard? How many cruises were cancelled and future cruises not booked by their total lack of customer service or sensitivity? While in line, I had the chance to read over a few times the Princess Service code (since our line stalled for 45 minutes, I was in the same place for nearly all that time). Either live by it or totally banish it from your ships. 2nd most worst disembarkation: leHavre. Still only one gangplank. But the screw-up here happened within the ship. As typical, various excursions meet in different rooms. It so happened that the Princess Theatre, being the largest room in the ship, was the site for many such groups. However, there was only ONE staff outside checking the tickets and giving cruisers their assigned bus' tag (e.g. Purple Two). Therefore the line started getting longer and longer and by the time we reached it, it had extended from the Theatre to the dining room and had started curling back again. The man ahead of us had a departure time of 10 minutes ago, had been in the line for 20 minutes and still had another 20 minutes remaining. Another riot readied. Luckily, other staff arrived and assisted. We were still 15 minutes late and others much more so. Just another example of very poor planning on Princess part.SummaryIn conclusion, we did not believe the price paid was worth the value received. We paid twice as much as usual for the TA but the value received was not there. Customer service was extremely disappointing and we believe Princess did not treat us (the passengers) with respect on many occasions. The refit was not adequate nor complete and this made the value further eroded. We would not recommend the GP otherwise. If the ship had provided OBC to the passengers or rebated some of the dollars paid as partial compensation for the incompleteness of the ship and the problems encountered, our recommendation might have been different.It appeared to us (and quite a few other passengers) that there was no one taking responsibility; everyone passed the buck and there was no one to ultimately take the final responsibility. No matter how often you ask to talk to management or someone in authority, you never get one who actually has authority to do anything for you. This is not customer service; this is customer scamming. We did book another cruise on the Grand for January 2013. However this was strictly for the itinerary. If we could find another ship in another line with the same itinerary, we would switch in a heartbeat. After this cruise, there is no real loyalty to the Grand or Princess, they have shown us no reason to do so.