boone2

Thank you for this thread. We are toying with the idea of a river cruise next year so it will be very interesting to follow along. Safe fight!

I worked on Hal for a few years and at every orientation meeting for new crew it was emphatically stated that crew should not fraternize with guests and under no circumstances should go to their cabins even if invited

Im sorry. There’s no way I could cruise without my NZ Sauvignon Blanc. It’s my only drink of choice Can’t imagine being on a NZ cruise and them not having it onboard. We did a transpacific in 2022 to NZ and never had any problems getting it but I guess they must have stocked up in the US

We sailed the Grand Vancouver to Auckland last October. The ship was in very good condition. We had previously sailed on her many moons ago during her first year of operation. We enjoyed the cruise but 2 ports were cut making too many sea days together for our liking. Wasn’t keen on the buffet. Found to very “Samey” for our liking after Royal class buffets but we only used it for a quick breakfast and a light lunch. Other than that we really enjoyed the ship

We flew ANZ from Auckland to Vancouver last year after our transpacific, in premium economy. Best flight I ever had. I never sleep on flights but I was so comfortable I slept for at least 8 hours The service was fantastic. Can’t recommend it highly enough

Great review and amazing photos

We sailed on the grand from Vancouver to Auckland last October. I had sailed on her previously when she was brand new I thought she looked great. I have sailed on HAL many times but only as crew so I don’t know the passenger experience so much, I prefer the Princess offerings

Loving the posts. Originally from the UK and lived on Anglesey 45 years ago. Worked in holy head and Conway. You’re right about holyhead. There was nothing much about it then and doesn’t seem to have changed although the Red dragon wasn’t there then😀

My kids do t even go over the border for a day trip without insurance as I’ve drummed the horror stories I saw on the ships to them

As a former nurse on cruise ships I was beyond belief at the number of people who chose to travel without insurance. Thank you for your reminder to people and good to know the medical centre is still performing well

On the grand in October the laundromat was free as we’re the soap and dryer sheets. Very surprised. Although we qualified for free laundry I prefer to have more control over how my is washed. Hubby sent his out though

Really enjoying your blog. I love the variety of things you do in each port and your efforts to find out as much as you can about each place you visit

Love to read of the interesting things you do ashore getting immersed in the cultures. Thank you

Totally agree. And much more pristine. As I said before. I just don’t get Alaska. Maybe I’m jaded by working too many cruise ship contracts there.

Really enjoying your blog. We did the exact same itinerary a few years ago on the Star. One of our favourite cruises. Especially the Patrick watts tour on the Falklands. One of my life highlights. We did Machu Piccu as a separate trip a 3 months previously. Worked out much cheaper than a ships tour and spent a week in the sacred valley acclimatizing. I also loved the Chilean glaciers way more than Alaska Thank you for taking the time to post

Nice to see you made it in to Pago Pago. That port was cancelled on our transpacific in October which was a shame if only to break up the sea days. Really enjoying your commentary Thank you for doing so Terry

Exactly. And as a former ship board nurse I have seen this in the past.

What happens if you have a medical emergency and have to be disembarked to a country requiring a passport and then have to travel home from that country. Can’t understand anyone leaving their home country without one. My (now adult) kids had passports from the age of 9 weeks. (Photo looked a bit different at age 5years) and the both have passports of 2 countries as the are dual citizens

Why would people call the news when they won’t take responsibility to obtain what they need for travelling. On our recent transpacific the IT officer was inundated with guests who didn’t know they needed an electronic visa for NZ or Australia. And couldn’t get them until we got to Fiji He said they were blaming Princess for not telling them. It’s says right on the website that you are responsible for your own travel documents

We did the grand transpacific in October. We had booked an obstructed view as the price of a balcony was 7000 more at booking time Halfway through the first week we enquired if we could upgrade to a standard balcony.. We went to look at the cabin first and it was in the exact area we always book when we book a balcony. The price was 600$ - for the two of us for 3 weeks. Glad we waited till we were on board

As a former member of the medical team( nurse) on board thank you for a very succinct description of the procedure. As you say there is no rhyme or reason to the number of medevacs. On a 49 day of the Amazon we had one disembark across the Amazon by boat. That was a very healthy cruise with no night time call outs. The following week in the Caribbean we had emergency calls every night and at least 3 disembarks in a 7 night cruise.

We just completed the transpacific on the Grand Princess. I thought the internet was great. Sometimes hard to download pics but I could stream. The one place we had no wifi was Astoria believe it or not. Even in the middle of the ocean no problems

On the Grand last month all laundry machines and powder were free. I was amazed. Even though we had elite benefit of free laundry I prefer a lot of my items to be washed on a delicate cycle so went to use the machines. Now finding one free was another story. It was a 28 day cruise Terry

We took the first flight to BCN on transat this year in April (really wish they flew in winter as that’s when we normally go to Spain) we had to change in Montreal. It was a bit of a nuisance but not too bad really. Way better than connecting in Frankfurt which we did the previous October on AC. This February we are opting to go to gatwick, on transat stay overnight there and fly next day to Spain Terry

better than they did on the grand for Canadian thanksgiving last month. In fact the patter offered up “Happy Canada Day”. Bit of an insult. Canada day is 1st July. Guess it’s not as important as US thanksgiving Terry