Grand Hawaii Dec 19th Christmas and New years cruise live review

Day O on the Grand to Hawaii. I am going to try and do a live from. It was easy getting in board and our room is all in packed. Lunch was good and services was even better. Safety briefing done. We are setting sail just a little late but supposed to dock in Hilo on time. We'll hope I help some. But just know I will post good and any bad if there is any.

A thankyou from us as well as we will be sailing 17/2/15 and my sisterinlaw on 2/2/15. We have sailed many times with Princess but never with so many sea days. Looking forward to your reviews.

Arlene

A thankyou from us as well as we will be sailing 17/2/15 and my sisterinlaw on 2/2/15. We have sailed many times with Princess but never with so many sea days. Looking forward to your reviews.

 

Arlene

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http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2030043&page=10

Hello from Hilo.

I’ve hung back wondering if the OP wanted to post but in his absence, here’s a quick update. The weather has been frustrating - partly cloudy to totally overcast with pouring rain all the way from LA with only brief, tantalising periods of sunshine. You have to want to come to Hawaii specifically to do this cruise (nothing wrong with wanting to come to Hawaii, of course) - if you want a winter cruise to beaches and sunshine, the Caribbean is a much better bet. I know this, having done this cruise before and the Caribbean many times, but you always hope you’ll get lucky with the weather!

However, there continues to be a very full schedule of offerings in the Patter. There are many opportunities to watch movies - I felt stubborn yesterday afternoon and sat out in the drizzle getting rather chilled watching 'Frozen' on MUTS, but mostly I’ve kept to indoor entertainment. The comedian, Carl Banks, is quite amusing but I didn’t last the whole show, there’s only so many times I can hear the shower curtain/small bathroom jokes. The pianist/singer/entertainer, Derek Floyd, I enjoyed - his jokes are clever and he plays and sings well. In the Piazza we have had Danny D - a juggler who drops his balls a bit but is still worth seeing, and Chris Ricketts on guitar playing oldies but goldies, who’s OK but sounds like he’s strangling a cat at times. And, of course, Elua pop up here and there frequently. There hasn’t been a production show for a while but that will be remedied tonight with a vengeance with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (a Beatles tribute) in the theatre, and ‘Motor City’ in the Vista Lounge - it’s a bit odd to have no production shows for days then two at once but that’s the way it seems to be.

The ship appears to be in perfectly good condition - nothing much has changed since I was last on her a year ago except that they have re-carpeted the forward stairs in a rather unfortunate shade of mid-brown, at least it won’t show the dirt. And the air conditioning (at least in my cabin) is working better than I’ve ever known it.

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka!

Hello from Hilo.

I’ve hung back wondering if the OP wanted to post but in his absence, here’s a quick update. The weather has been frustrating - partly cloudy to totally overcast with pouring rain all the way from LA with only brief, tantalising periods of sunshine. You have to want to come to Hawaii specifically to do this cruise (nothing wrong with wanting to come to Hawaii, of course) - if you want a winter cruise to beaches and sunshine, the Caribbean is a much better bet. I know this, having done this cruise before and the Caribbean many times, but you always hope you’ll get lucky with the weather!

However, there continues to be a very full schedule of offerings in the Patter. There are many opportunities to watch movies - I felt stubborn yesterday afternoon and sat out in the drizzle getting rather chilled watching 'Frozen' on MUTS, but mostly I’ve kept to indoor entertainment. The comedian, Carl Banks, is quite amusing but I didn’t last the whole show, there’s only so many times I can hear the shower curtain/small bathroom jokes. The pianist/singer/entertainer, Derek Floyd, I enjoyed - his jokes are clever and he plays and sings well. In the Piazza we have had Danny D - a juggler who drops his balls a bit but is still worth seeing, and Chris Ricketts on guitar playing oldies but goldies, who’s OK but sounds like he’s strangling a cat at times. And, of course, Elua pop up here and there frequently. There hasn’t been a production show for a while but that will be remedied tonight with a vengeance with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (a Beatles tribute) in the theatre, and ‘Motor City’ in the Vista Lounge - it’s a bit odd to have no production shows for days then two at once but that’s the way it seems to be.

The ship appears to be in perfectly good condition - nothing much has changed since I was last on her a year ago except that they have re-carpeted the forward stairs in a rather unfortunate shade of mid-brown, at least it won’t show the dirt. And the air conditioning (at least in my cabin) is working better than I’ve ever known it.

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka!

Thanks for the update on this thread.

I too appreciate the update as we'll be taking this cruise mid February.

I look forward to hearing about ports as well,

Thanks jollyjones and OP,

Ruth

Thank you all for lunch dining room questions - now one more, please - can you tell me if the Chef's Table dinner is available on the Grand Princess??? We were lucky to participate in the event on the Star, and was just wondering if it was offered fleet wide.

Have a wonderful New Years celebration!!!! thank you again!!!

On one Christmas/NYE Hawaii cruise they didn't have the schedule breakfast in the dining room on New Year's Day, but a WONDERFUL a brunch at a later time. It was posted that this was to give staff a chance "enjoy the beginning of the New Year."

Can you please post if they have this same New Years Day brunch?

Thanks :)

The weather continued cloudy into Hilo, not too bad in the morning but it came down very thick and heavy and miserable in the afternoon but at least it didn’t rain which, as those of you who are familiar with Hilo know, is unusual. I was booked on a Princess excursion to the summit of Mauna Kea but the rain that had fallen steadily on the ship as we approached the Big Island had been falling as snow on Mauna Kea and the road to the summit was closed because of the snow and ice. We were warned before we got on the bus and were given the option of bailing out for a full refund or going for it in the hope that the road would be open by the time we got there; if not, we would go elsewhere and be given a 50% refund - everyone went for this option. Sadly, the road didn’t open and we went to Akaka Falls instead - very pretty but not very dramatic - but it wasn’t a bad day and I have received my 50% refund. Hilo is a pleasant enough small town to wander around but there isn’t a lot to do, I’d suggest doing some sort of excursion here.

Then, oh then!! At Maui the clouds all blew away and it was warm and sunny with calm seas for tendering, this was what Hawaii was meant to be! It was Christmas Day but money talks and all the shops and restaurants in Lahaina were open as normal so I spent a happy few hours just wandering around town. A good alternative would have been to go a couple of miles north to Whaler Village at Kaanapali Beach (I didn’t because I’ve been there before) - there is a bus that runs hourly for $2 but it’s very popular and often full - a better option, particularly if you can get four people together is a taxi for about $15 otherwise you’ll waste a lot of your day. Apparently, there were fewer tours on offer than normal because some of the tour companies did take the day off.

Honolulu is a long day in port - 7am - 11pm - so there’s lots you can do. Many people go to Pearl Harbour (I haven’t been, it doesn’t attract me, so I have no info. on it) or it’s very easy to get a bus to Waikiki (Google the website TheBus) for $2.50 - Waikiki may not be to everyone’s taste but what it is, it does very well - worth seeing at least once. I happen to have a friend who lives in Honolulu so I actually spent much of my visit helping him truck solar panels home from ReUseHawaii, a place that recycles stuff that would otherwise be thrown away, but that’s another story.

Kaui is the most beautiful of the four islands but there isn’t much in the vicinity of Nawiliwili so you really need to do an excursion. You could rent a car but it’s not a long stop (8am - 5pm) and the rental places are at Lihue airport so you’ll use up a lot of time just getting and returning the car. For drama you can’t beat Waimea Canyon to the west, or for beauty try something up the east coast - there’s Wailua Falls and various other places on offer. There is essentially only one road on Kaui - it goes around the coast - and bad traffic jams can happen if there’s an accident or other obstruction so bear that in mind if you head out independently - since Kaui is the last stop before Ensenada, you really don’t want to miss the boat. A place worth visiting close to Nawiliwili is Grove Park Homestead - you won’t get to see much of the beauty of the island but you will see a really interesting and well preserved sugar plantation museum.

We’re now nearly half way to Ensenada and the weather remains mostly sunny although it’s much cooler - I just watched a concert of Il Divo on MUTS at 5pm and I needed a long sleeved jacket. It’s fine to lie out on a lounger during the day so long as the sun is out although this isn’t a very sunbathing crowd, the deck crew aren’t even bothering to put out any loungers on the aft areas of deck 15, there’s no need (well, except for me, I like to be back there to get away from the daytime MUTS noise but I just drag a lounger back to where I want to be). The two main pools and the main hot tubs are pretty much monopolised by the children and teenagers on board but the aft adults only pool remains a haven of peace and quiet. Again, what were they thinking of with the Royal/Regal?

It was the Captain’s Circle reception last night - short and sweet, Captain Wilson is a good speaker but he doesn’t mess around. There are 2,810 pax in all (a lot of families with upper berth occupancy), 529 Gold, 241 Ruby, 440 Platinum and 260 Elites on board. 3rd most travelled was 104 cruises, 1,071 days. 2nd most travelled was 75 cruises, 1,179 days. Most travelled was 143 cruises, 1,332 days. That makes my 225 days just wilt in the shade ...

PS Chef's Table is available for $95 per person. I'll have to check about the New Year's Day brunch, I guess it'll be in the Patter in due course.