Grand Princess Coastal 3/26/16 (long and 2 parts)

General Comments

The California Coastal cruise we took on March 26 out of San Francisco was only my second cruise. Last year we did a cruise out of San Pedro on the Crown. Overall, I liked the Crown a tad better.

We live near San Francisco so it was fairly easy, SF traffic not withstanding, to get to Pier 27. We arrived about 11 and were on the ship a little after 12.

We went under the Golden Gate Bridge an hour or so before sunset. It was great to be able to see the bridge from a different view.

Because the cruise departed out of San Francisco the majority of the passengers were from that area.

We actually had two cruise directors. The first cruise director - Kelvin - left the ship when his contract was over about three days before the end of the cruise. The second one - Dan - took over from him. It was funny because he had been on the Crown previously. Just about every time he mentioned the ship's name when he went on stage at the end of a production on his first day as cruise director he said "Crown Princess" instead of "Grand Princess."

The cruise left the day before Easter and, as a result, there were a lot of kids on-board for spring break. The kids were actually quite well behaved for the most part. The same, unfortunately, can't be said for quite a few of the adults. There were a lot of rude passengers. A certain group of people thought nothing of cutting into lines, running into others and not excusing themselves, using emergency exits to disembark, etc. Again, these were not kids. They weren't even college students. They were mature (i.e. in their 40s and older) and should have known better.

There were lots of Easter eggs scattered around the ship for the first couple of days.

The Grand Princess, as indicated in other postings, really is showing its age. As an example, the carpeting was pulling away from the wall on the dividers in the Princess Theatre. Also, the covering for the shower in our room was broken (the shower itself did work).

Disembarkation was really efficient. Our group was suppose to disembark at 9:40. We actually disembarked about 15 minutes early. Customs was a breeze. We were out of the terminal and waiting for our ride at 9:41 for a total disembarkation time of about 16 minutes. Expecting worse I told our ride to pick us up between 10:45 and 11:00 so we had to wait over an hour for him.

Stateroom

Our cabin was Baja 202, a balcony stateroom. I was spoiled on my first cruise because we were upgraded to a mini-suite so the lack room and a very small shower was a shock. But no biggie - the room was comfortable enough. However, I wouldn't recommend this cabin because it is at the very front of the ship. Most of the trip had rough seas and high winds. As a result, there was a lot of motion that could be felt and especially so being so far forward. It also is not private. Though the cabin above us couldn't see us, over half of the balcony was in clear sight of the bridge as seen below.

Entertainment

We saw three production numbers by the Princess Singers and Dancers. They were:

• Wanna Dance
  
• British Invasion
  
• Stardust Memories
  

All three were fantastic. The cast has a high level of energy.

Other entertainment include a magician (Jeff Peterson)and his dog Indy. A couple of days after his performance he set up a photo op with Indy. Unlike other pictures on the ship his were free for the taking - just go to Facebook and download it.

A comedian named Phil did two shows. He had the crowd breaking up.

Several passengers performed numbers from The Sound of Music. I didn't get to see this but my wife said they were great.

The last entertainment we saw was the crew talent show. They did pretty good. The on-board HR manager did Wonderful World by Nat King Cole. If you closed your eyes you would swear it was Cole himself doing the song. Balloons were given to the passengers as they entered the theatre. All had a great time tossing the balloons to each other.

Games

The usual trivia games were played. I especially enjoyed the TV theme songs trivia.

There was also a yes/no game. The cruise director would ask questions to the contestant. The contestant could answer with anything as long as the words "yes" or "no" were not used. It was fun! I was hoping I was one of the contestants called but, alas, I wasn't.

In the Piazza there was a shark game. The object was to fly the remote controlled shark to his food. It looked easy but really wasn't.

Food

We were both disappointed in the buffet breakfast. It wasn't up to the quality of the buffet we had on the Crown. Lunch and supper was better but not much.

We did have breakfast in the main dining room one morning. The food was much better.

Our main dining room supper was in the Michelangelo. The food was much better quality. The service, while good, was a tad slow.

Service

Service throughout the shipment was excellent. The crew went out of their way to assist the passengers. There was one bad thing, however. My wife had fallen down in front of our stateroom. A crew member leading a tour walked by and didn't even try to help. She sat on the floor until I came by a few minutes later.

My reviews of the ports follows in the next posting.

Ports

Santa Barbara

A tender was used to get to Santa Barbara. As mentioned previously the waters were rough. On the tender back to the ship we hit another tender that was already at the ship (but not at the pontoon).

We walked to the shopping distance and took a shuttle back - it was a little further than we expected. My wife was looking for a place to get postcards. She found a place that had the usual touristy stuff. We also stopped by the shopping center in downtown. It was rather high end (i.e. overly expensive shops.

We saw a man creating a great sand sculpture at the beach.

The Sterns Wharf has a facility of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History that contains an hands-on tidal pool display and tanks with jelly fish in them. It was very interesting.

Long Beach

Not much for me to say here because we didn't do any touristy stuff. We met my mom, her boyfriend, and my brother for lunch. We had a very enjoyable time.

San Diego

Don't try walking to Old Town! It was a lot further than we thought it was. After walking about 1.5 miles we turned back. We spent some time at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Very interesting. Visitors are allowed to go on several ships. This include:

• Star of India - the world's oldest active sailing ship
  
• B-39 - Soviet era diesel-electric submarine
  
• Berkeley - an 1898 San Francisco Bay ferry boat
  
• HMS Surprise - a recreation of British frigate
  
• USS Dolphin - the world's deepest diving submarine
  

Not to be missed in San Diego is the Bob Hope Memorial and the Unconditional Surrender Statue. The latter is a 40 foot statue of the iconic end-of-WW2 picture of the sailor kissing a woman in Times Square.

The aircraft carrier Midway is also located near the cruise dock. We didn't go on this. What neither one of us liked was the way the carrier had been turned into a fast food joint. On both the aft end and one of the aircraft elevators were dining areas. This is not the proper respect this ship deserves.

Ensenada

We only went as far as the Cruiseport Village. We were in Ensenada last year. Quite frankly, there's no reason to go to downtown. We did see several seals near the ship's pier. Unfortunately, while the ship was docking one of the dock workers scared them off. Only one or two returned during the day. (Last year the seals stayed near the ship all day long.)

One thing I forgot to mention: I had purchased online the stuffed animal for my wife. I was hoping it would be on the bed waiting for us so I could give her a surprise. Unfortunately, all they did was leave a voucher in the room to pick it up in the gift shop. Kind of kills the surprise!:mad:

Great review so far. We went on the crown last November and this June we will be on the Grand to Alaska. We were assigned the Caribe deck both times. It's too bad it is showing age. We went on the NCL Star and that ship had carpeting lifting up where my husband fell. We will need to keep an eye out for the carpet on this ship. No more falls.

Sorry your wife fell. That was pretty rude to ignore her.

Excellent review.

Very well written and organized.

Keith

Thanks for such a thorough review! My husband and I are going on the coastal cruise in three weeks. This is our 10th wedding anniversary trip, and will be our second time on the Grand. Our cabin is an interior room all the way forward. It was good to know about the motion issue. Hooray for Meclazine!

Everyone I've talked to seems to agree that Ensenada is not the most happening place :p I've never been there myself, but I get the impression that I should just stay and enjoy the ship that day! Maybe we'll go on a quick jaunt to the shopping area. Other parts of Mexico have much more appeal.

I'm sorry to hear that your wife fell. Is she all right now?

~Kate

Enjoying your review!

I'm so glad you mentioned that the pre-ordered stuffed animal (I assume the Princess bear?) wasn't in your stateroom when you arrived, and had to be claimed with a voucher at the gift shop. I just ordered that for my daughter and also thought it would be in our cabin when we board. Maybe they are making us claim it in the gift shop so that we buy more stuff, haha. I still would prefer that it be in the cabin to surprise her though, like you. I also ordered the case of bottled water, so now I'm wondering if that also will have to be claimed somewhere else on the ship. I hope not - would rather not have to haul that back to our cabin.

Thanks for your Grand and coastal report

Srpilo

Thank-you for the review.

I also ordered the case of bottled water, so now I'm wondering if that also will have to be claimed somewhere else on the ship. I hope not - would rather not have to haul that back to our cabin.

With the water, you get a voucher. Call room service and they will bring it to your room.

Patti

Thank you for your review! We're taking this cruise in two weeks.

Thanks for your report.

Thanks for the review.

Everyone I've talked to seems to agree that Ensenada is not the most happening place :p I've never been there myself, but I get the impression that I should just stay and enjoy the ship that day! Maybe we'll go on a quick jaunt to the shopping area. Other parts of Mexico have much more appeal.

 

I'm sorry to hear that your wife fell. Is she all right now?

 

~Kate

If it's your first time there, I say go ahead and go into town just for the experience. It's something that should be experienced once (but only once!).

My wife is feeling better. Thank you.

Maybe they are making us claim it in the gift shop so that we buy more stuff, haha.

That was my thought also.

I also ordered the case of bottled water, so now I'm wondering if that also will have to be claimed somewhere else on the ship. I hope not - would rather not have to haul that back to our cabin.

I had ordered the sodas and more package and the cup that came with it was in the room.

The refrigerator in our room (a regular balcony) had a couple of bottles of water in it with the disclaimer of "you drink you pay." Hopefully they'll put the water in the room for you.

Hi, we were debating about first nite dinner. Would you happen to have a copy of the dinner menu posted? We are leaving in 2 weeks ( *approx) thanks

Thank you Patti, so it sounds like we will have a voucher in our cabin for the bottled waters and room service will bring it to us. That will be easier. :)

Thank you Patti, so it sounds like we will have a voucher in our cabin for the bottled waters and room service will bring it to us. That will be easier. :)

Welcome. :)

Yes, that is what it was in Feb on the Ruby. We ordered 3 cases for a 15 day cruise. I had them deliver all of it because I didn't want them to run out. Can't buy cases onboard.

You do have to call for it. They won't just bring it.

Patti

I'll call first thing...thanks again!

One thing I forgot to mention: I had purchased online the stuffed animal for my wife. I was hoping it would be on the bed waiting for us so I could give her a surprise. Unfortunately, all they did was leave a voucher in the room to pick it up in the gift shop. Kind of kills the surprise!:mad:

That is kind of lame; what's the advantage then of ordering something like that in advance??

Thanks for such a thorough review! My husband and I are going on the coastal cruise in three weeks. This is our 10th wedding anniversary trip, and will be our second time on the Grand. Our cabin is an interior room all the way forward. It was good to know about the motion issue. Hooray for Meclazine!

 

Everyone I've talked to seems to agree that Ensenada is not the most happening place :p I've never been there myself, but I get the impression that I should just stay and enjoy the ship that day! Maybe we'll go on a quick jaunt to the shopping area. Other parts of Mexico have much more appeal.

 

I'm sorry to hear that your wife fell. Is she all right now?

 

~Kate

Ensenada is what you make of it. Some like to visit the original Hussong's Cantina just so they can say they have been there. It is one of the places that claims to have invented the Margarita. (There are others with the same claim.) It's pretty much a dive bar but it's a place to say "I've been there". Princess also offers a 2 Winery tour in Ensenada. It's something to do and you do get a bottle of wine each at one of the wineries.

If you don't want to do those things you can always just wander as far as the plaza. There is certain to be "stuff" going on there. Don't expect Ensenada to be a great town. We had a room steward from Mexico who said, "Please don't judge us by this town."

Our first time there we didn't stay long and then returned to the ship. The next time we did the winery tour (NOT the bogus one in town - the one that actually visits two wineries). Next time... We may well treat it as a sea day or maybe we will visit Hussong's. There are other places that people go there as well where they like to eat and drink. We haven't been to those so...

I think it's worth going ashore if you have never been there just to be able to say you have done so.

Were you able to see the coastline while cruising ?

Thanks

Thank you for the review. That is disappointing about the bear.

No, the only time you will see the coast is when you get into port. Hope you enjoy.

Bobbie