The Grand Hawaiian Adventure. A trip report with Patters, Menus, Elvis, and ...

Have been enjoying your trip report and pictures very much. Not wanting to go back 15 pages, did you mention what cabin number you were in? Some of your photos look down on others balconies so curious which balconies these are.

Have been enjoying your trip report and pictures very much. Not wanting to go back 15 pages, did you mention what cabin number you were in? Some of your photos look down on others balconies so curious which balconies these are.

We were in Caribe 714 (deck 10). Balconies on this deck are larger. Baja deck above us is about half the size, and it provides shade over the rear half of the balcony. The outer half of our balcony is uncovered, so those above us could look down on that part of our balcony.

The balconies on Dolphin deck below us are completely uncovered, so there is no privacy there.

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Thank you for taking the time to write one of the most interesting and informative reviews I've read on CC.

Your pictures were beautiful as well.

In October, we doing the 28 day to the South Pacific.

We've never been to Hawaii, so any information for first timers will be welcome. Do you recall if the Kalapaki Beach in Nawlliwilli is within walking distance of the ship, and about how far?

Thanks again for an awesome review.

Pam

Thanks so much for the excellent and detailed report! It's not quite as good as being there, but it's got some of that feeling.

I've loved your daily reports and am certainly going to miss them! It's given me a great idea of what to expect on my November cruise to the Islands. Thanks again for doing this for us!

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In October, we doing the 28 day to the South Pacific.

 

Do you recall if the Kalapaki Beach in Nawlliwilli is within walking distance of the ship, and about how far?

 

 

 

Thanks again for an awesome review.

 

Pam

Thanks for the kind words. A 28 day South Pacific sounds fantastic.

The beach is only about a 5 minute walk from the dock. There are sidewalks the whole way. Just take the road out of the port facility and turn right. You will see it to your right.

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Thanks for the kind words. A 28 day South Pacific sounds fantastic.

 

The beach is only about a 5 minute walk from the dock. There are sidewalks the whole way. Just take the road out of the port facility and turn right. You will see it to your right.

 

 

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Or you can take one of the free shuttles to Anchor Cove.:D

Thanks for the review and pictures. We've taken 4 cruises to Hawaii out of SF and enjoyed each one.

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The ship. There have been some questions about the condition of the ship, so I will try to answer some of them based on my observations. The Grand was placed into service in 1998, so it is approaching 20 years of service. Many ships will go 30 years before they are retired from service or are moved to lower tiered markets, so the Grand still has some service life left.

For the most part, the Grand is well maintained for a ship of this age. You will find some rust spots and peeling paint in locations if you look, but crews were busy scraping and painting areas.

There were a few buckets out to deal with leaking pipes. They had a couple set out in the covered seating area on Deck 15 behind the Hearts & Minds.

I saw a couple buckets in the passageways, as well as a couple of carpet dryers in those areas. There were very few, and I walked every hall of each deck from deck 5 on up. I do know that one of our roll call members dealt with wet carpet when the cabin next to them had a water problem. This is the exact same problem we had in our cabin when we were on the Coral. I guess those buckets and dryers don't bother me, because they are so few, and it is not uncommon to find them on an older ship.

There was a problem with at least one of the aft elevators for most of the cruise. Out of the four aft lifts, only three were working. Since we never used them, it was a non-issue for us, but if you needed them, it would increase your wait time.

Another elevator maintenance sign popped up toward the end of the cruise, but by this time, they had the first one fixed.

In our cabin, we had a problem with the toilet one day, but with a call to maintenance, they had it fixed by the time we returned to the cabin.

We saw similar things to these on a couple of our recent cruises on the Coral, and on the Celebrity Summit which are both older ships.

I suppose if you were the one dealing with a flooded carpet, it may color your view of the ship, but nothing we saw bothered us.

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For the most part, the ship was clean and well maintained. The crew was busy every night/morning, or whatever time you refer to when the passengers are asleep. I would see them hard at work in my very early morning wandering around the ship.

Here are a few photos from around the ship, and things look pretty good in them.

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Demographics. The majority of the passengers probably fit in the mid-50 to mid-80 age range for this cruise. That is likely typical for a cruise of this length. There were some older, and some younger. There were some families with younger children, but there probably were not more than a dozen kids onboard.

Passenger makeup consisted of a couple hundred from the U.K., but probably 50% of the passengers were from California, with the balance from other states and Canada. There were a few, but not many from other countries.

Many we met had been to Hawaii before, but we did meet several people who were going there as first timers.

If you do have kids, there are a couple of kids areas on the ship.

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Some suggestions for first time cruisers on this trip.

Make sure you take a coat and heavier clothes. It is likely that San Francisco will be cool and windy, and the first couple of sea days and the last couple will also be cool.

Buy your Dramamine before you get on the ship. If you need it, you will pay twice as much in the ship's store. Even if you have never been sea sick before, pack some just in case.

Don't just eat at the Horizon Court. We talked to a couple of people who thought the food was bad on the ship, but they had only eaten there. Food in the HC is nothing special. It is good for breakfast items, but the couple nights we are there, the food was mediocre. Go to the main dining room, or try a specialty restaurant. Food was much better there.

Search for an excursion on each of the islands that interests you, and book them as soon as you can. You are only going to get a small taste of the islands, so make sure you get the ones you want before they sell out.

If you book independent excursions, make sure you allow time to get off the ship and make it to your excursion. I tried to give some time frames as I wrote this report. Don't assume that if a ship docks or anchors at 7:00 that you can make a 7:30 independent tour.

There are so many things to see in the islands, it would be hard to recommend just one thing on each island. Everyone has different interests and tastes, so things I like, you may not.

And finally, enjoy your trip if you are going.

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Thanks to everyone for taking time to read and comment. Now it is time for me to get another cruise booked.

Wishing everyone smooth sailing.

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Thank you. Enjoyed your cruise along with you. We are doing the Star Princess from Los Angeles in November and can't wait. Let us know where you are going next...we want to go with you again!!

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Thanks to everyone for taking time to read and comment. Now it is time for me to get another cruise booked.

 

Wishing everyone smooth sailing.

 

 

 

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Thanks for letting all of us go on your wonderful journey with you through your very interesting and informative photo review! Great info, great photos, great stories, and a great read!

And some excellent thoughts at the end for those of us yet to take a Princess HI cruise. We were booked to take your very cruise the turn just before yours but had to cancel. We are now booked on the same itinerary for a future April in, as always, the too distant future...

Thanks again and may your next, and all your future cruises, be at least as relaxing and enjoyable as this one seemed to be.

P.S. And a great photo to "sign off" with!

Awesome blog! Thanks for sharing your insights - your level of detail is very helpful!

There was a problem with at least one of the aft elevators for most of the cruise. Out of the four aft lifts, only three were working. Since we never used them, it was a non-issue for us, but if you needed them, it would increase your wait time.

 

 

Another elevator maintenance sign popped up toward the end of the cruise, but by this time, they had the first one fixed.

 

 

Missing an elevator wouldn't bother me (things happen), but the sign would annoy me the whole trip.

"We apologize for the inconvenience" = We're sorry.

"We apologized for the inconvenience" = We said we were sorry before; why are you still giving us grief?

Probably not the message they meant to send. :confused:

Missing an elevator wouldn't bother me (things happen), but the sign would annoy me the whole trip.

 

 

 

"We apologize for the inconvenience" = We're sorry.

 

 

 

"We apologized for the inconvenience" = We said we were sorry before; why are you still giving us grief?

 

 

 

Probably not the message they meant to send. :confused:

Don't you just wish autocorrect was smarter? I know they had trouble with spelling at times.

Speaking of elevator signs, this is one of my favorites that I saw in Pittsburgh.

Probably not needed with the group on this ship.[emoji16]

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Thanks for a wonderful review! You are quite the writer and kept my interest the whole way. We took the cruise from LA to Hawaii and back on the Crown last October and loved every minute. We had been to Hawaii on many land trips so we only did those things that we love about Hawaii. Your review brought back many memories! Enjoy your next cruise and I will look for your review!!

Thank you so very much for the wonderful review, photos, stories and suggestions. We are going on the Star out of Vancouver next April and cannot wait...

Enjoyed reading your review and pictures.

Awesome review. I'm researching what to do on each island. Your review was very helpful.

I'll chime in again and say thanks for the review. It was both informative and entertaining. (and you can mention to your DW that my favorite pictures were the food pics!)

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Thank you so much for doing this. We are going to Hawaii on the Grand in November. I was starting to have a bit "buyer's remorse" as the price for us was pretty hefty and I was thinking we could have had 2/3 great holidays for the price of this one. We are from Scotland so have flights, hotels etc. to factor in. Reading your review is lighting my excitement again for doing this cruise and I look forward to reading it all.

Thank you so much for doing this. We are going to Hawaii on the Grand in November. I was starting to have a bit "buyer's remorse" as the price for us was pretty hefty and I was thinking we could have had 2/3 great holidays for the price of this one. We are from Scotland so have flights, hotels etc. to factor in. Reading your review is lighting my excitement again for doing this cruise and I look forward to reading it all.

Glad you are enjoying it. We met a nice couple from Scotland on our trip. One thing they didn't do was book their tours ahead, and some of them were sold out. The best advice I can give you is to research what you want to do, and book those tours early. If you are booking independent tours, be mindful of the actual time you may disembark.

Hawaii certainly has a lot of beauty in each island. You will only have time to get a small taste of what Hawaii has to offer.

Enjoy your planning.

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