PurpleRose23

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess a few years ago in a window suite close to the cigar lounge and never smelled any smoke.  I would assume it would be the same on the Grand as it has same layout.  

Looking forward to hearing about your trip. We are on the Diamond for the first time next July 2020. Our roll call is DEAD so I am excited to watch your posts.  Safe journey to you guys!!!

Awesome!!! An upgrade on a trip to Alaska is golden.   You will definitely enjoy it. 

On 8/11/2019 at 5:05 AM, Haboob said:

Balconies are external to the ship's fire compartmentalization, so that's not an issue when figuring out if the balcony divider will have a pass-through.

 

I think this is true. I say this because of a video I saw from someone aboard the Diamond Princess  (see link below)

https://youtu.be/Sb-NteRNAvo?t=10m3s

We are doing the same thing as OP but next year in July. Our hotel is not far from Haneda airport. We plan on going back to the airport and catching a limousine bus.   The limousine bus will take us to the pier. Below is a link to the schedule of the bus we are looking to take. 

http://hnd-bus.com/airport/h-yamashita/

Hope this helps.  Have a great trip!!!

Thanks to the OP for this review!!!    We are taking an 8 day cruise on the Diamond this time next year (during the Olympics).    The review gives something for us to think about as we plan our trip.   I think our family will definitely stand out so, learning some customs and phrases would be a good idea.   It will be interesting to see if our teenage kids will participate in the teens club.   Great review!  

Most of the Regular Princess Balcony cabins don't have couches (or even room for a couch). You might consider a covered balcony mini suite. Lots more room, 2 TV's, and a much bigger bathroom. The extra cost for the mini would probably be comparable to the Disney room.

I second that recommendation to look at mini suite. A mini suite on Princess is the closest setup that you would see on a Disney Ship. If you can get a covered one, then even better.

As others have said, it depends on the ship and what inventory they have. From our two cruises on Princess (Star and Golden), the cameras and accessories were different. My husband is a Nikon DSLR user. He said he only remembers kits (camera with one or two lenses). Good luck in shopping. Hopefully you can find something that you can use your OBC with.

Congrats!!!! Still waiting for my first. Looks like it won't happen on my Christmas cruise. Great to know it still happens.

Looks like website was fixed during the Saturday night updates. :)

Hey Princess site is a dream compared to trying to navigate RCL or Celebrity.

I can say it is seriously lacking to DCL though. That is one thing I wish Princess would improve on

 

On DCL when new itineraries are announced first dibs go to higher level Castaway Cay level cruisers. ( I get to book a day before silver cruisers who get to book a day before newbies).

 

I do not believe Princess does anything like this. My understanding is that they open their itineraries to everyone at the same time. They do offer lower rates if you have sailed with them before but do not stagger when you can book like DCL does.

Keep checking for rooms to open up. Since you are so far out on this cruise, there is bound to be a cancellation or two. I would take the balcony but not give up hope for the mini-suite :)

Our cabin steward came by and brought an extension cord for my husband's CPAP machine after my husband left his at home. Was VERY happy!!!

I have booked a mini suite on the dolphin deck and I'm trying to figure out what the pullout is like. I have seen people post their couch turned into a traditional pullout while others posted a couch that looks like more of a single bed in the same shape as the couch, if that makes sense? Does anyone know what the mini suites have? First time with princess and in a mini so I'm not totally sure what to expect! Thanks in advance

We were wondering the same thing. We have our first mini booked in December. I searched here on cruise critic and found this picture in another thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=37324328&postcount=11

I don't have a robe in room section :(

In the Cruise Personalizer, click on Guest Check-in. On the page that follows is section called ONBOARD PREFERENCES. You can add Robe in Cabin there. :)

 

Our cabin was E 728,mini suite , port side w/ extended balcony. Now, let me say the Grand is still a grand ship. She is showing her age ( aren't we all) and if you really search for faults you will find them. The only two glaring things I saw was the couch in the mini suite looked to be circa 2000. The upholstery was frayed and stained and she sagged like a old mare. My DH who never notices anything commented on the couch first thing. Second, the balcony furniture was a mishmash collection of where old Princess deck chairs must go to die. But they got the job done as we used the balcony day and night spotting whales and other wildlife. I saw no leaks or buckets.

Thanks for the review. We are on E729 (starboard side) on the Grand in December. Did you happen to notice if there is a camera on the balcony? I saw some youtube videos from the Golden E729/E728 where there is a security camera on the balcony pointing aft. Just wondered if this is the case on the Grand.

Thanks for the review. Makes me feel a LOT better on our upcoming cruise on the Grand. :)

Don't know if the issue is that Princess hasn't sent out an email or if the email was lost (maybe in SPAM or some other reason).

If it is the latter, you should be able to log on to the Cruise Personalizer and click on the button "Boarding Pass & Docs". That button is right above the ship icon for Onboard Reservations. After clicking on "Boarding Pass & Docs" button, you come to a new screen. The last section on this screen (toward the bottom) is "Pre-Cruise Emails". If Princess sent out anything, the email should be in this section for you to review.

Yes....the Calypso Reef & Pool are covered

Oh my.....I want to do this on our next cruise. Looks fabulous!!! Thanks for sharing.

It is worth it for us because we are a family of 4. The extra space is appreciated. If it was just my DH and I, it would be a toss. Probably would still go for a mini so we have separate seating area.

Lunch starts at Noon in the DR.

Yes the lunch in the MDR is only between 12 - 1:30 pm. The buffet is open anytime. I would allow 1-1/2 hrs for lunch. We didn't get on board until almost 12 noon.

 

Good luck!

 

Tom:)

Thank you both. Will give it a go. Primary purpose for us is to do a Future Cruise Deposit so lunch is not too important. REALLY nice shots by the way!

Ann-Marie :)

Thanks for posting. We are going on BVE 7/21 aboard the Golden in SF. Do you know if we can immediately have lunch? Have to pick up my kids back in Oakland by 2:15 and was wondering. Hoping to get someone to pick them up so we don't have to rush.

 

I don't normally book a guarantee cabin, preferring to book an aft interior room. I have the TA mark our booking "Meta Upgrade Only". Then I don't have to worry about being moved to a different inside room, only a full category upgrade.

 

We have an upcoming holiday cruise on the Grand Princess where we booked E729 (the aft mini-suite with bigger balcony). We marked the booking "Meta Upgrade Only". Our thought is if we don't get an upgrade, we are happy with the cabin we booked. If we somehow got a suite that can support all 4 in our family, we would be HAPPY. I think we have a better shot at winning the lottery than that happening.