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Day by Day Cruise Review: Grand Princess Alaska/Glacier Bay May 20, 2013


MilliesMom
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This is a work in progress and will take me a few days to complete. I am posting the review to my cruising blog first then will come back and post the link here.

 

First here is the overview I posted here on CruiseCritic this weekend:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1855605

We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and would sail on the Grand again without hesitation.

 

We cruised on the Grand Princess May 20 through May 30, 2013 from San Francisco. Rough weather/seas during the first 2 days so we missed Juneau. Captain woke us up at 7 am (announcement heard in all areas and cabins of the ship) to let us know the rough seas would continue for a while. Hal and I both use acupressure bands (his were bio-bands and I used queasy bands). They also recommended green apples. You can ask for the apples at the buffet or your cabin, but it was much quicker through the buffet. If they are not out, they will get them for you. This was the first time either of us have been seasick. It wasn't awful for us, just not great.

 

Weather overall was nice, some drizzle in Victoria. Skagway wore no jackets. Ketchikan and Victoria we wore wind breakers. In Glacier Bay we bundled and I mean bundled. It was cold outside to say the least but we ended up being nice and warm.

 

We were in Cabin E725 Mini-Suite - here's my video of the cabin

 

We loved the Grand and our cruise. Would definitely sail on her again without hesitation. Crew & Service were top notch.

 

Minor concerns: Sofa in the mini-suite was extremely low to the ground (we were shocked when we sat on it the first time). I have arthritis in my hips and knees so having it lower than normal (my opinion) cause a minor issue for me. Would I book this cabin again ... absolutely.

 

The other issue was the food. We haven't cruised in 4 years so I am sure things have changed over the years. They had numerous choices at each meal, but overall we felt the food was OK/average not fantastic. We ate in the dining room (anytime dining), the buffet, International Cafe, and room service. We aren't picky eaters, so were a bit disappointed in the food. HOWEVER we never starved and the staff were more than happy to bring other selections if we wanted.

 

Best food on the ship during our cruise: Pasta Fagioli soup (oh my gosh, fantastic) and the tempura veggies served as a main course one night - both of these I could of eaten every night. The tempura veggies were crisp and flavorful. Breads/rolls were wonderful and fresh. Lobster was wonderfully tender and flavorful. Hubby loved the souffles ... my favorite desserts were the chocolate chip cookies and one night the Love Boat Dream. Salmon is offered every night and was great. Room service makes the best roast beef sandwiches -- roast beef is not available every day at the buffet at lunch and it is my favorite cold cut. Sheppard's pie on the buffet was great.

 

Worst foods: Other than the sandwiches, I stopped eating roast beef/beef as a main course. It was tough. Hard to cut. Mahi Mahi (which I normally love) I turned back in as it was so dry. Lamb barley soup was actually just lamb broth with tiny, tiny amount and size of lamb & barley. One night they served a trio of chicken, lamb and veal. The chicken on the stick (grilled) was really good. The lamb and veal I couldn't eat. Lamb was strong in flavor and the veal ... not sure what it was about it but I sure didn't like it.

 

We enjoyed the shows, the venues etc. Was there some worn spots, some rust ... probably but we sure didn't go looking for them and they didn't stand out. We wore tennis shoes (rubber souls) out on the balcony and no issues with being slippery. Lots of mist on the floor tho so we were careful.

 

Never felt overwhelmed with staff trying to sell, sell, sell. Prices on the ship were reasonable. We got great reversible jackets for $45 each that were fleece on one side, rain repellant on the other with a hidden hood that was vinyl lined. We wore them out on deck and in Glacier Bay. Felt pricing was the same as back home and fair.

 

Pub Lunch was offered 3 days (sea days) and was good. Enjoyed the fish & chips. Hubby loved the bread pudding.

 

One day one of the elevators by the spa had problems with staying on deck 10. No other issues with elevators or electrical that we were aware of. Other than the day we boarded and the last day we rarely had to wait for an elevator.

 

No problems with toilets flushing during the cruise in cabin or in public areas.

 

I have food allergies and the head waiter was fantastic with working with me with meals each night for the next night. Up in the buffet if I had a question, they would go get the chef. So issues at all for me on this cruise. I did hear a couple of concerns tho for those who need gluten free. I was told by staff that the gluten free cheesecake they just cut off the crusts ... so I know there can be cross contamination for those who are super sensitive. We also met a person who needed gluten free and said the buffet was hard as the staff handling the breads really did know what was gluten free, what was not. Each day she was given a different answer. She was not super sensitive to the gluten like many, so did OK. She preferred eating at the buffet over the dining room. I think she would of been better in the dining room with personal attention like they did for me with allergies.

 

I have a number of videos posted of our cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/user/KreatesKards?feature=watch

 

Also I will be posting a detail review on my cruising blog ... just haven't had time to start writing it yet.

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/

 

Meet and greet was fun and held in the One5 Lounge area on Deck 15. Warren (Cruise Director) attended and spoke. The Captain was busy with the rough seas, so we certainly understood him not being there.

 

Definitely would choose the Grand again. We didn't feel that it felt old and tired. It was fun to be on and we met many wonderful people too.

 

Boarding: We boarded at 11:30 am as our friends had signed up for the Bon Voyage Experience and our reservations were linked so we could board early. Only ship in port. Lots of people at the pier early, but no one was allowed in the terminal except for the BVE groups as of 11 am. We were amazed at how many people gave the porter their luggage to take on the ship, but never tipped. We gave the porter our 3 bags and gave him a tip. You should of seen the smile on his face and the big thank you.

 

Disembarkation: Easiest we have ever gone through. We had almost the last group off the ship. Waited in one of the dining rooms. Had coffee, tea, water with lots of places to sit while we waited. They called our number/color around 10:30 am and we walked out of the dining room, over to check out (they scan your card, but you can keep it), walked out the ramp on deck 5 and into the terminal. Found out luggage immediately (it paid off to have decorated it before hand):

 

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/201...hip-terminals/

 

NOTE: There are restrooms by the luggage area in the terminal.

Once we had our luggage, we walked out of the terminal right over to the taxi area. Got a taxi immediately and were at our hotel just a few minutes later.

 

Custom forms were filled out two days in advance for Victoria and for San Francisco. First time ever we have done it so soon and the first time ever that we didn't hand them to the security person as we got off the ship. NOTE: If you are a US citizen and DO NOT have a passport, you have to go to a special immigration screening the last morning on the ship. The person ahead of us as we were leaving was detained as he had not cleared immigration - they knew immediately when his card was scanned at the exit.

 

Hope this helps with any concerns about the ship. This was our 3rd time on Princess and our 11th cruise overall. All of our Princess cruises have been to Alaska.

 

More details will be on my cruising blog very soon with LOTS of photos:

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/ We took about 1200 photos this cruise, so lots to share.

 

Sorry if this rambled ... was trying to think of key points to share.

 

Additional note: I was cold on the ship most of the time. I wore my sweatshirt jacket 98% of the time. Hubby is never cold and he often wore his sweatshirt jacket. It didn't make or break the trip for us. We were fine wearing the jackets. No different than if we put a sweater on at home. It was the first cruise tho that we've both been cold.

Some of our friends took screen shots of the webcams and bridgecams while we were cruising:

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/06/03/bridgecam-and-portcam-photos-of-our-cruise-part-1/

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/06/03/bridgecam-and-portcam-photos-of-our-cruise-part-2/

 

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GrandSF4.jpg

We are on our way .....

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Cruise Review – Precruise – Phoenix to San Francisco – May 19, 2013 – Sunday

 

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(pointed top building is the Transamerica Tower – view from the hotel)

After almost 18 months of planning, a complete change of date/ship/itinerary, and a couple panic moments of “will we need to cancel”; we are finally on our way. This is our first vacation in 4 years. Oh my gosh, it seems impossible that we are finally on our way. This is our 3rd trip to Alaska and our 11th cruise.

 

The Execucar driver http://www.execucar.com/ is right on time. Since it is Sunday and only 7:30 am, there is no traffic to worry about. Our driver was great, and wanted to hear all about the cruise.

 

When we get to the airport, there is a bit of a line to check-in (we hadn’t printed our boarding passes prior to arriving – no line in that section). When we get up to the kiosk, we are offered an upgrade to FIRST CLASS for what we felt was a reasonable fee. We took it!!! US Airways has priority line for First Class to get through security. As we started in, I said to Hal that it didn’t look like a wait for anyone that morning. Well, we rounded the corner and I was so wrong. We were the next to be screened, but coach class was snaked down and around to get through. The upgrade was so wonderful. We played games on the iPad/iPhones and the time passed quickly. We were in the first group to board and about 30 minutes later were on our way.

Flight was smooth and uneventful. We saw lots of snow in the mountains as we flew on our way to San Francisco. Beautiful weather in Phoenix and in San Francisco so no jackets needed. We arrived 1 3/4 hours later and head to the baggage claim area where our Execucar driver was to meet us. When we got there, there was no one to meet us. I had paid for the meet & greet service, so felt he was just a bit late. We went to wait for our luggage. I’m so glad I had painted it to make it stand out.

http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/05/07/making-your-luggage-unique-in-the-sea-of-luggage-at-airports-and-cruise-ship-terminals/

It made it so much easier to quickly spot. I even had a couple of people stop me at the airports and the hotel to tell me how much they liked it.

 

Back to the no-show Execucar driver … we have used this service for years and NEVER had an issue in Phoenix or Long Beach. After waiting over an hour, we finally called Execucar and explained the problem. Hal was told that they didn’t have any drivers, yes they realized we had a reservation. Finally said that if we would go out to the median to Super Shuttle (owned by same company) they would send a van for us. Well, that took another half hour of waiting before someone came. Really frustrating and so relieved we had flown in the day before the cruise so no deadline to meet. I was prepared for bad traffic because it was the Bay To Breakers race that day http://www.baytobreakers.com/ and it brings thousands of people into the area. The race was over at noon, but many stay in the area. We made it from the airport to the hotel in about 30 minutes.

 

Best Western – Tuscann Inn: http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/CA/San-Francisco-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-PLUS-Tuscan-Inn-at-Fisherman-s-Wharf/Hotel-Overview.do?propertyCode=05554&group=false&srcPage=SelectHotel&isMapOpen=false&selectedHotels=

The hotel is in the perfect location. There is a Safeway and Walgreens directly across the street. CosPlus World Market is a couple of doors down from them (not more than 1/2 a block if that). Two blocks down and 1 more block over to Pier 39 http://www.pier39.com/. Two blocks from Boudin Bakery http://www.boudinbakery.com/ . About six blocks from the cruise pier, but don’t think I would want to walk it with luggage. From hotel to the pier on Mason, there are a number of restaurants like Subway and Hot Spud … also a 7-11 store. This area is all flat, so no hills to climb to the waterfront.

 

We had a one bedroom corner room. It was really nice. Tuscann Inn was the only hotel I could find that had a sofa in the room. As many of you know, I have insomnia pretty bad, so having a sofa to curl up on in the middle of the night is important. Also liked the cancellation policy of this hotel. We could cancel up to 24 hours in advance with no penalty. I booked through their website (link above) and twice found lower rates (AAA rates) so was able to rebook then cancel the original one with no penalty. Our room was on the 3rd floor and we had a view down to the waterfront.

 

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This was our living room. Large TV to the left. Photo taken from the bedroom. Door is the divider door between bedroom and living room. Both the sofa and the chair are comfy.

 

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Bedroom and door to bathroom. We had two sets of shuttered windows. Lots of light. Air-conditioner/heater in living room and one in bedroom. This was the most comfy bed ever!!! I would love to have it at home. It is extremely high off the ground, but it was worth the climb up into bed. (I’m only 5″1″). Room also has a combination safe (about the same size as those on the ship).

 

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Hotel supplied hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, lotion and bar soap. Funny … toilet paper was at an odd angle on the wall, so we put a roll down by the bathtub for easy reach. Hotel staff was wonderful … knowledgeable, smiling, and willing to help. We hadn’t eaten since 6 am and it was now 3 pm. We ate the restaurant in the hotel called Cafe Pescatore http://www.cafepescatore.com/ We shared a pizza. It was good, but not a meal I would say you couldn’t miss. Breakfast there is really good. Then we headed to Pier 39. We walked and walked and walked. The waterfront there is gorgeous and some really “unique characters/street performers” too. Enjoyed the shops at Pier 39 and it was fun to see the hundreds of noisy sea lions. On our way back, we stopped at Subway and got a sandwich to share. Ate it back in the hotel room while we watched some TV. Getting more and more excited that tomorrow we board the ship. Still seems surreal – a real vacation FINALLY!!!!

 

 

We did sleep very well at the hotel. My only complaint was that the shutters don’t close fully AND the street lights are extremely bright. As a result, the room was flooded with light all night long. We solved the problem on our return visit by purchasing eye/sleep shades on the ship. They were about $8 each and so worth it. We only needed them for the hotel not the cruise. Would I recommend the hotel … absolutely!!!

 

 

San Francisco now has a law that they charge 10 cents if you want a grocery bag. Applies at places like Safeway, 7-11 and Walgreens. We didn’t make any other purchases so don’t know about the rest.

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This is as far as I got with the review today. I will add to it as the rest is completed.

 

If you post a question, and I miss it ... please re-ask as often I don't see it if I'm posting the same time as you are writing.

 

Hope you enjoy my review.

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http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/06/03/cruise-review-day-1-grand-princess-san-francisco-may-20-2013-monday-part-1/

 

Part 1 --- May 20, 2013 --- We're going on a cruise!!!

 

Decided to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant … Cafe Pescatore http://www.cafepescatore.com/ . It was really good. We paid $12 per person for eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, and toast plus a small piece of fruit. Coffee was $2.50 a cup HOWEVER if you are a guest at the hotel, they have steaming hot coffee in to go cups in the lobby. We noticed a number of people in the restaurant had picked up their coffee from the lobby and brought it into the restaurant. No one said a thing, it seemed OK to do. So Hal went and got a cup for himself. I don’t drink coffee, so water was fine with me.

 

We did a final check of our room making sure we had all of our documents too. This was a big day. Not only were we going to board the Grand Princess, but I finally was going to meet my friend, Patty Bennett, and her family (Eric and Jason) in person. Patty and I have known each other for years because we are both Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators and she is my upline (manager) for Miche purses. We have talked on the phone, e-mailed, and even snail-mailed each other for years. Now we were going to meet face to face. It was so exciting. Patty and her family signed up for the Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) offered by Princess. http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/03/20/princess-bon-voyage-experience/ It is a great way to be on a Princess ship for a few hours. They were given a tour of the ship, a special lunch, a free 8x 10 boarding photo, and could stay on the ship until 3 pm. Because we had linked their reservations to ours, we also were allowed to board early, do the ship’s tour (we opted out to drop off luggage in our cabin), enjoy the luncheon with them, and then spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around the ship until they had to leave at 3 pm. It was a wonderful experience.

 

Our boarding passes said 2:30 pm and their passes said 2 pm. Princess needs to fix the BVE times for the boarding passes. If they had boarded at 2, they would of only had 1 hour on the ship plus missed the tour and the luncheon. I called Princess the week before and reconfirmed that we all would be allowed in the terminal around 11 am (not before) and should be able to board the ship by 11:30 for the BVE.

 

The cab ride from the Tuscann Inn to the pier was $10 with tip. We did run into a bit of traffic. We left the hotel at 10:30 am and the doorman was able to immediately flag us a cab. No waiting at all. The cars and people at the pier was unbelievable. We told the cab driver to drop us off at any open spot and we could walk with our luggage. The Princess Rep on the street said we should of stayed in the cab and the cab driver could of dropped us off at the door area. I’m sorry, but we were excited and anxious to meet our friends PLUS it was bumper to bumper traffic at the pier and the meter was running. Plus I am certain we moved faster on foot than the cab did in traffic that morning. We were the only ship in port too.

 

We saw Jason immediately and then Patty & Eric. Lots of hugs all around. Then to find a porter for our luggage. I was surprised at the people that didn’t give a tip to the porter, but I also know it is a personal choice. When we tipped the porter he was thrilled and immediately thanked us. Now we just had our carry-on to worry about. I walked over to the main entrance. They confirmed we (again because of BVE) would be allowed in the building at 11 am not before. A few minutes later they told us to come in. Patty and her family went to one section to check in and we went to another. Hal and I had to fill out a Health Form stating that we were not nor had we been sick. There was a bit of confusion with us being passengers instead of just BVE with the person we were dealing with, but another agent came over and got it all straightened out quickly. It wasn’t a big deal, and the person just hadn’t dealt with this situation before. Then we all met in one corner of the terminal. There was a bridal group waiting to board. They let the bride on within minutes. A short while later, the groom came in. Not sure when they escorted him and the guests etc on the ship. It was probably before us. So much happiness was in that building that morning. The excitement of a wedding and the excitement of all of us getting on the ship. (Side note … wedding was going on around lunch time in the ship’s chapel and the One5 Club was used for the private reception. Beautiful couple.)

 

We boarded the ship around 11:30 am. We would of boarded earlier but a group of 10 was late in arriving, and they had just come in. We did have to go through the scanner system before boarding. Bottled water in the bags trigger some alarm, but it was allowed through. Also took boarding photos of the five of us. (NOTE: If you are a passenger, these are the only boarding photos you will get. The photo dept printed enough for each of us to have a free copy which is a perk of the BVE). Our sign and sail card was scanned before we entered the ship and a photo was taken for the scanner. We boarded on deck 4 and went up the stairs to deck 5. Thank you Eric & Jason for helping with our bags. At Deck 5 the ship’s tour was offered. It would take about 30 minutes and then everyone would meet in the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch. Patty and her family went on the tour, and we went to find our cabin. We were told that we may NOT be able to leave our things in the cabin this early. When we went down to our Cabin E725 (Emerald Deck Mini-Suite), we saw our Cabin Steward, Arnold, right away. He had no problem with us leaving our things, and took just a few minutes to go over the safety and health policies with us. Safety was to remind us about the muster drill plus show us where the life jackets were and our location for the drill. The health policy was basically if we got sick, that we would notify the medical staff.

 

We met Patty and her family at the DaVinci Dining Room at noon. They enjoyed the tour of the ship. Wonderful choices offered at lunch (wait till you see Patty’s photos – posted with her permission). I had grilled salmon that was delicious. Hal, Patty, and Eric had the beef tenderlion. Jason had a cheese, bacon burger. I think everyone was pleased with lunch and I know for fact that Hal was thrilled with his dessert!!! They offered an orange souffle piping hot from the oven, then poked a hole in the center and added a creme sauce to it all. Wine was offered at no cost (again because of the BVE).

 

After lunch, we walked and walked all over the ship. We took them down to see our cabin too. Around 2 PM we walked down to the photography section. What a nice surprise to see enough copies of the Welcome Aboard photos for each of us to have a copy. 3 PM came too soon. One of the ship’s officers came over and told them that departure for them would be very soon and where they would exit the ship (Deck 5). Hugs all around and time to say goodbye. We hadn’t figured out a way for them to legally stow-away as the ship was sailing completely full.

 

Patty took a number of photos. I’m so excited to share them here with you too.

Edited by MilliesMom
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Grand Princess at the pier.

 

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Lunch time, who's hungry?

 

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Beef tenderloin (this is offered every night in the dining room as one of the standard items)

 

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Avocado and shrimp appetizer. I think all of us could of eaten this every single day. It was wonderful. Did not see it offered except the first day at lunch.

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PattyOranceScouffle.jpg

Orange Souffle …. Hal ate many souffles during the cruise. It was his favorite dessert.

 

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Eric, Patty, and Jason with the Grand Princess in the background. Taken from Pier 39.

 

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The beautiful Grand Princess.

 

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Sailing away from San Francisco

 

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Alcatraz and the Grand Princess. I’m so glad Patty took lots of photos. They are great!!!

I will end Day 1 here, but will tell you more about it in my next blog post. Thanks for reading.

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http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/06/04/cruise-review-day-1-grand-princess-san-francisco-may-20-2013-monday-part-1-continued/

 

Just before Patty and her family left the ship, we stopped by the Pursor’s desk and asked for a pocket size fold-out map of the ship for our two families. It is really great and easy to carry. Credit card size but thicker. We used it often. Remember too there are maps by the elevators and stairs showing you the layout of the ship and where you are. Also the elevators have signs that show the deck you are on and what is on each deck.

 

Because we knew the muster station drill would be in a few minutes, we headed back to our cabin to get our life vests. They ask you NOT to put them on and take them to your designated station. Our muster station was Deck 7 – Vista Lounge. We walked down ahead of time to avoid the crowds. Many had the same idea as us. Vista Lounge was directly below us and we used the AFT staircase to get there. The drill lasted probably 20 to 30 minutes maximum. They scanned our sign-n-sail cards as we entered the lounge. Muster drill is mandatory. I was amazed at the number of people who tried the whistles. YUCK … I wondered who had blown on them before and had they been disinfected since the last cruise. In an emergency, I wouldn’t worry about that but for a drill the thought crossed my mind. We listened for a while to instructions, then were asked to try on the vests and hook them. Then if we needed help to speak up. At no time were we asked to blow the whistles. Then we were released from the drill. Quick and easy. We returned to our cabin and dropped off our vests. Picked up the daily patter from our mailbox outside the cabin. I asked Arnold to leave us two copies each day, otherwise only one is left per cabin.

 

We set sail at 16:10 which is 4:10 PM Pacific time

Noon Position: Alongside in San Francisco

Sky: Clear

Wind: Light Air

Temperature: 25.0C / 77.0F

At the end of the cruise we were given a cruise summary that included the above information and an overview of what was done each day of our cruise. Here’s the description for the 20th:

 

“At 16:10, with all departure checks complete, Grand Princess let of all lines and thrust off the berth. At 16:41 we were under Golden Gate Bridge and at 17:26 Grand Princess disembarked her local pilot and started to navigate on Northerly courses, across the Northeastern portion of the Pacific Ocean, towards Alaska.”

 

We truly enjoyed the extra room in the mini-suite. This is the first time we have had one on Princess. I’m surprised that Princess does not have sofas in the other cabins, only in mini-suites and above. I have major insomnia at times, so having a sofa that I can curl upon during the night if I can’t sleep is a necessity. The other cabins just have a desk chair and another occasional chair and neither are super comfy. The sofa is the only reason we booked a mini-suite, but we got a great deal so I am not complaining. We had a large bathroom, closet, sitting area, and a fully covered balcony.

 

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A quick photo looking into our cabin. I also did a very thorough video of our cabin (E725) on the Grand Princess. If you are reading this via e-mail, the direct link is:

 

After the drill we wandered around the ship, checking out the different venues. We felt the ship was well maintained and the crew was wonderful.

 

 

Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge was a memorable experience. WOW. We had clear skies and lots of wind, but we stayed on deck the whole time. We didn’t want to miss a minute of the experience.

 

 

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Right at the bridge.

 

 

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oing under the bridge. MUTS screen in the middle of the photo. It was showing the live entertainment going on the deck below. They would capture people on the live camera. Some good dancers . Everyone having so much fun.

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On deck, looking up as we go under the bridge. What an amazing feeling.

 

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We are now on the other side. With the sun shining on the bridge the deep, rich colors stand out even more. We are really on our way.

 

It was finally time for dinner. Traditional Early Seating is in the DaVinci and the Botticelli Dining Rooms. Botticelli is always 100% traditional dining at dinner time. DaVinci changes from traditional to anytime from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. The Michelangelo has anytime dining from 5:30 pm to 9 pm. We walked down to the DaVinci only to realize we were too early for anytime dining, so ended up at the Michelangelo Dining Room. We used this dining room each night at dinner. Because I have food allergies, it was much easier to work with one Head Waiter for my orders. Yalchin was the Head Waiter that helped me, and I have a great deal of praise for him. He went over my allergies with me. Then the first night I ordered and he checked with the chef to be sure my order was OK. During dinner he brought me menus for lunch and dinner for the next night. I would review them and then tell him my order for the next night before the end of this meal. At times it is hard to know what you would want the next night, but it worked out fine. I let him know that just the dinner menu preview was needed not the lunch one too. We often ate at the buffet for lunch, rather than the main dining room. I never had one allergy problem during the cruise which was great.

 

 

Dinner tonight … Hal had prime rib, salad, rolls, and a passion fruit souffle. I had baked chicken with sauce, veggies, roll, and a baked potato. Most nights I didn’t do dessert, opting for cookies later in the evening.

 

 

Luggage was delivered to our cabin around 4 PM. Two pieces came at that time, then the final piece after dinner. We knew we would want to unpack after dinner so strolled a bit around then headed back to the cabin. We had plenty of room in our closet to store all of our luggage upright with tons of room for the clothes to hang too. I did go to the dollar store before the cruise and bought plastic coated wire hangars. This type will not rust and we always leave them behind when we get off the ship. On previous cruises, we were told they were given to the laundry to use. It is just nice not to have to pack them to take back home.

 

 

We didn’t do any shows tonight. Listened to music, wandered, and relaxed. Before heading back to the cabin we did go to the International Cafe and picked up some wonderful chocolate chips cookies to take back to the cabin for a snack later. When we got back to the cabin, Arnold had been in and straightened things up. He left us two chocolates and the two copies of the patter for tomorrow. You know I just realized, we never had any towel animals. Honestly don’t know if they are normally done on Princess or not. Not a big deal, especially since I just thought of it and didn’t notice them missing during the cruise. LOL.

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mary...i'm reliving the cruise through your review and loving every word. i've never had a towel animal on princess. with hal, it is standard procedure.

 

thank you and i'll be reading as you get each page published.

 

cheers

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mary...i'm reliving the cruise through your review and loving every word. i've never had a towel animal on princess. with hal, it is standard procedure.

 

thank you and i'll be reading as you get each page published.

 

cheers

 

Thank you. I'm having fun writing it and it is fun to remember things too. I asked Hal about the towel animals and he couldn't remember if they were normal or not on Princess. Yes on Carnival, RCCL.

 

Thank you for the detailed review, looking forward to more! We're on the Grand in 15 days!! This helps us in our planning.

 

You are going to have so much fun. It is an amazing itinerary and a great ship. I know the excitement you are feeling.

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mary...when i mentioned hal above, i didn't mean your husband, i meant holland america line. they always provide towel animals.

 

all your pictures are fabulous!

 

cheers

Edited by NorthPhoenixGuy
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mary...when i mentioned hal above, i didn't mean your husband, i meant holland america line. they always provide towel animals.

 

all your pictures are fabulous!

 

cheers

 

Too funny!

 

YES ... I knew that. :D :) :D What I asked Hal (my hubby) was if he ever remembered towel animals on our cruises to Princess.

 

True story .... years ago I belonged to a cruise forum. On that forum we used real names not screen names like here. So it was Mary and Hal Director. So I was a pretty active participant on the forum and talked often of Hal. Well, one day someone posted that they were concerned that HAL executives were participating on the boards and they felt ill at ease posting any gripes etc they may have. As the discussion developed, I realized that it might be "us" they were referring to. So I asked point blank and was told yes. Oh my gosh, I explained that Hal was a nickname for Harold and that our last name was Director .... he was not nor had he ever been a HAL Director . I also was not a HAL Director. I think they were seeing our names as Mary, HAL Director (Mary -- Holland America Lines Director) instead of Mary & Hal Director. :eek: Luckily we got it straightened out, but I think there may have been some that were never quite sure.

 

Over the years the last name has caused some good stories especially when we lived by Hollywood and people used their title on their credit cards. We got the royal treatment in one store because the clerk thought Hal was movie director. He was so disappointed to learn it was our name not his title.

 

One time, a friend was going on about how she loved HAL. Someone picked it up as Hal (my hubby). The friend was so embarrassed when the person approached her about it. We just laughed. We knew what had happened.

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http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/06/04/cruise-review-day-2-grand-princess-sea-day-may-21-2013-tuesday/

 

Misc Notes to Start:

We did ask for an egg crate to be put on our bed before we boarded. It was on the bed when we arrived. I did not check to see if we had a pillow top mattress or not, I just know that we were comfortable in our bed.

 

Movies are shown on MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) — yes, even in Alaska, the Vista Lounge, and our cabins throughout the cruise. If shown in one venue, the same movie was NOT shown in another.

 

Because of meds I take, I have the one to get cold the most often. Hal is always hot. I’m very glad that I packed a fleece jacket to wear around the ship AND yes, I even packed my own blanket. I know you are all laughing at the blanket, but I did use it daily in our cabin. I wasn’t sure what type of “extra” blanket I could get from our room steward, and was concerned it would be wool. I needed a blanket to curl up with on the sofa in the middle of the night or to use as an extra blanket on the bed. Even Hal was cold and often wore his sweatshirt jacket when we were out and about on the ship. Passengers that got on as we got off are saying that the ship right now is extremely warm. During Glacier Bay they had a “blanket checkout” on deck 14 to help keep people toasty warm.

 

When we used our balcony, most times we needed some type of sweater or jacket unless we were going to be out for just a short period of time. It can get breezy out there, but I know with the fully covered balcony that we had more protection than most.

 

The dining rooms at breakfast have the absolute BEST raspberry jam!!!!!

 

Not all the public restrooms on the Grand Princess are handicap accessible. I was surprised that some of the shop people didn’t know where the closest handicap accessible restroom was when asked by someone in a scooter. Fortunately they are shown on the pocket map given out at the Purser’s Desk.

 

Handicap Accessible Bathrooms on the Grand Princess Besides in the HA Cabins: (According to pocket map of ship)

 

Deck 15: Aft – by wedding chapel and One5. Mid Ship – by Calypso Reef & Pool.

Deck 7: Aft – by Vista lounge & Photo-Video Gallery. Forward – By Princess Theatre

Deck 5: Mid Ship – by Michelangelo Dining Room.

 

Day 2 Review – Sea Day – May 21st

Northerly course towards Alaska.

Sky: 7/8 Cloud Cover

Wind: North Westerly, Force 8 http://www.weights-and-measures.com/xcomwindspeed.html

Temperature: 11.0C/51.8F

Note about wind force (copied from link above):

 

(Chart did not copy to Cruise Critic properly ... go to link above if you want to see the descriptions).

 

During the night we felt the seas get a bit rougher. At 7 AM the Captain announced via loudspeaker in all spots of the ship including cabins apologizing for the rough seas and to let us know they were going to continue. Swells were 15 to 20 feet. It could impact our arrival in Juneau on Thursday. They were going to try to sail closer to the coast to be in calmer waters, but no guarantee.

 

Hal and I have NEVER been sea sick, altho we have been in rough seas for short periods of time. Every cruise I take sea sick bands, motion sickness meds, and we have never had to use them. Hal wore a Bio-Band on each wrist http://www.biobands.com/ . Just before the cruise I had discovered Queasy Beads http://www.queasybeads.com/ and had a set of the bracelets made and expedited to me. Both Bio-Bands and Queasy Beads work with Acupressure points. In the gift shop on-board they sold Sea-Bands (same idea) for under $10. HOWEVER the gift shop sold out quickly, and if you have a larger wrist they may not fit. Bio-Bands and Queasy Beads will fit the larger wrists.

 

Both of us felt a bit rocky and queasy with all of the movement going on with the ship. We put our bands/bracelets on, ate a few crackers I kept in the cabin and headed out for breakfast. The DaVinci Dining Room, Room Service, and the Buffet are the only areas you can get breakfast. Also you can get things from the International Cafe 24/7. Mostly dessert items there. Nothing greasy for breakfast for us. We ate in the DaVinci Dining Room. Little paper bags hung by trash cans and elevators. These are for seasick people if you can’t get to the bathroom in time. Heard many people were really ill. I think the bands really made a difference for us. We were fine about an hour later and neither of us got sick. A couple of the crew said they had been told to wear the bands, drink ginger-ale, and eat green apples. Hal found green apples for me up at the buffet but one of the head people had to go get them for him. We had requested them on our room request for fresh fruit, but it took 3 days for them to be delivered. I keep two green apples in the fridge and replaced them if needed. The best place again to get them was the buffet. Most of the time, they had to go get them for me but they never complained.

 

 

Mary_0638-1024x768.jpg

 

We sat by the window on Deck 5 in the Bar Piazza. It was one of our favorite areas to sit. You could hear the entertainment (piano player, jazz band, singers, dancers etc) and see some of it too that was being done in the center of the Atrium area. At one point while watching, a huge wave came and completely covered this window. Caught us all off guard. Didn’t scare us, just surprised us.

 

I have a video of the rough seas that morning, taken the same time as the photo above. If you are reading my blog post via e-mail, the direct link is:

 

Walking around the ship often required holding on to hand rails. We stopped taking the stairs too. Not worth the risk. We didn’t hear anyone say anything about injuries. I think most people were being very cautious when out and about. The doors were roped off to get out on the Promenade Deck. On the upper decks, the outer doors were roped off and you had to walk thru the center areas to get from the buffet to the ice to the burgers etc. It was a safety precaution.

 

Our CruiseCritic meet and greet was organized by Carol (havepassportwilltravel). She did a great job, and even had a raffle of gifts. Hal won one of them. It was a couple of Ghirardelli chocolate bars. YUMMM. Other gifts were Jelly Belly jelly beans and Blue Diamond Almonds. Warren was our Cruise Director. He attended the Meet & Greet and talked a while about his experiences.

 

Mary_0648-1024x768.jpg

Warren on the right.

 

 

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Later in the day we saw the most beautiful rainbow from the cabin balcony. I opened the balcony door to get the photo but didn’t venture out. The seas were still a bit rough as you can see. The colors of the rainbow were vibrant. It only lasted a few minutes. I was so glad to have been able to capture it on my camera.

 

Dinner was a surf and turf. Altho I can’t remember exactly what we had. In my notes, I put that the ice cream in the dining rooms wasn’t great. Self-serve is fine up on Deck 14 though. Not great, but fine. Worked for me a couple of times during the cruise.

 

We spent the evening in the cabin watching TV, looking out at the water, and relaxing.

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http://cruising.kreateskards.com/2013/06/04/cruise-review-day-3-grand-princess-sea-day-may-22-2013-wednesday-part-1/

 

Still headed towards Alaska

 

Sky: Overcast with Showers (I don’t remember seeing any rain)

Wind: North Westerly, Force 7

Temperature: 10.0C / 50.0 F

 

Well, we still are rocking, but much better than yesterday.

 

Hal_0312-1024x768.jpg

This photo was taken through the glass door panel. We are still not allowed out on the lower decks.

 

To eat breakfast in the dining room, you have to be there before 9 AM. We were in line, they crowded us all in and immediately closed the doors at 9 AM. No late people allowed. You can get breakfast at the buffet, so not a major problem.

 

Today we tried the a custard donut and a chocolate croissant at the Internation Cafe. Pretty good.

 

Mary_0687-1024x768.jpg

 

This is the custard donut. We have discovered that a lot of the chocolate items use dark chocolate instead of the milk chocolate.

 

Mary_0682-1024x768.jpg

Chocolate croissant is bottom left corner. They make GREAT cheesecakes on Princess.

 

Mary_0683-1024x768.jpg

This was the morning choices. The cases change out throughout the day. There are two large glass cases. One with pastries/desserts, one with salads and sandwiches, a counter height section of cookies (usually 3 kinds), and a section with a big pot of soup along with rolls and crackers.

 

Mary_0686-1024x768.jpg

Another photo showing the ways while sitting at our favorite table at the Bar Piazza.

 

I will post more photos that we took today around the ship. They will be in my next blog post.

Edited by MilliesMom
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Fabulous photos! Thanks so much.

 

 

My husband and I took about 1200 photos this cruise. It's hard deciding which ones to include in my review ... :D I think at the end I will post a number of random images too.

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