A Norwegian Tries Grand Princess -- Is There a Fairy Tale Ending?

BACKGROUND

We’re in our 60s and love to cruise. We like long cruises, B2Bs and lots of sea days. We've done eight cruises on NCL and have four more booked with them. And we don’t fly, so we drive or take Amtrak to and from ports. We knew we’d have to expand outside of our NCL comfort zone if we wanted to see Hawaii.

Our dear friends love Princess, so that helped us choose the cruise line. Amtrak to Los Angeles is easier than to San Francisco or Vancouver, so that plus our calendar led us to book the Grand Princess for February 2, 2015 for a 15-night cruise to Hawaii. We were celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary, plus we were onboard for Valentine’s Day.

This will not be a review of the stops in Hawaii, but a comparison between NCL and Princess. FYI, our favorite ship is the NCL Sun, and we book aft mini-suites when possible. My DH and I are both process- or procedure-oriented, meaning we pay attention to how things are organized.

Also, this cruise was very different from our previous ones; we had several very rough sea days between Los Angeles and Hilo, and we both were sick for several days. Details to follow.

EMBARKATION

NCL embarkation tends to be chaotic and loud, with staff shouting instructions at large groups of people. That’s why you need a drink as soon as you get onboard.

Our Princess experience was very different. In a first for us, we arrived before check-in had begun. Our embarkation was a Zen experience, being well organized, quiet and actually pleasant. The Princess staffers were very professional. And when you get on board, your cabin is ready! (But why were so many of the bars closed??)

The only thing that seemed a little out of place procedurally was having our individual photos (not the “glad to be cruising” group photos) taken just before we actually, physically boarded the ship. At that point I’m in the home stretch and I have to stop?? For a photo?? What??? (NCL takes this photo at the check-in desk where you turn in your ticket. I mean, you’re already standing there, right?)

Princess = A

NCL = C+

CABIN: Mini-suite E729

We had E729, the aft-most starboard mini-suite. This is a special cabin, as the balcony is almost twice as long as the others mini-suites on this deck. So, you get more space, plus you have an open view towards the aft of the ship.

One potential downside is that this cabin is right above the Vista Lounge. I’m very sensitive to noise, so I read lots of reviews. The reviews were right; we didn’t hear a peep out of the Lounge. Hooray! (This was an older crowd on a longer cruise, so your experience may vary based on itinerary and time of year.) We also didn’t hear noise from the hallway or our neighbor’s cabin. Excellent.

The bathroom was relatively small, albeit with a bathtub. On the NCL Sun, the mini-suites’ bathrooms include a vanity and the closet, so it’s much larger and almost like a suite. If I can’t sleep I can read at the vanity. No way to do this on the Grand unless I want to sit on the toilet. (No, thank you.)

The bed was comfy (we had a pillowtop pad added). Nice pillows, too.

My favorite thing in the cabin was the sofa. It was a little worn, and the handle to pull out the sleeper was hanging out in plain view, but it was so very COMFY. I spent a lot of time on it during the cruise and honestly think it is the most comfortable sofa on which I've ever sat.

My second favorite feature was the fridge. I have medication which must be kept between 36-46 degrees. This is the first time I haven’t had to use ice every day to keep it at the correct temperature. (On NCL, you get a “cooler” that may hit 50 degrees.)

Our room steward, Ryan M., was great. Loved him. He’s an A++

My husband loved this cabin and I liked it a lot. Princess = A

Our favorite aft mini-suite on the NCL Sun would be an A. (A+ if they get a better fridge.)

LAUNDROMAT

Oh, I’ve died and gone to heaven! Heaven is a laundromat on a cruise ship, and there was one down the hall from us.

Princess = A+

NCL = F-

I am looking forward to the rest of your report. We are Elite on Princess but, due to health reasons, will have to sail out of Port Canaveral for a while. NCL has a ship there so I am anxious to read your total summation.

Thank you so much for posting. SilverBird

HEALTH AND SAFETY

HAND SANITIZER—NCL is very proactive about hand sanitizer. First thing when you board the ship, you’ll get squirted with sanitizer. You don’t get near a restaurant or the buffet without passing staff members with a squirt bottle of sanitizer, and they will come to you to be sure your hands are sanitized. There’s even a “Washy-washy” song. (YouTube link:

On the Grand, the only place I felt that a staff member was ensuring the use of sanitizer was the entrance to the buffet line itself, NOT the entrance to the buffet “room”. You can get coffee and tea without sanitizer. You can get desserts and some main dishes without sanitizer.

Those of you familiar with the Grand: think about the design of the buffet. It’s small and maze-like, designed to cram a lot of people together with lots of food.

On NCL ships you can easily walk through the much larger buffet to see what items are available before you get a plate. There’s space to walk around without blocking others’ access. You can dip in and out of the line(s). You are not crammed together. And you don’t get near it without hand sanitizer.

Here’s a link to a CDC website listing incidents of norovirus on cruise ships. Princess ships seem to be listed more frequently than NCL ships.

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm

Princess = C

NCL = A

ILLNESS ONBOARD—My husband never gets sick. I mean it. When the next great flu pandemic hits, he’ll be burying the bodies. Meanwhile, I get sick more than most.

Imagine my surprise when DH started complaining about a sore throat. Then he started coughing—a LOT. This began around our second port day (Honolulu) and two days later, in Lahaina, I got off to buy cough and cold meds and lots of cough drops. As I was hitting drugstores, I felt a little “off”.

So, in a first for us, I caught something from my DH. I stayed in our cabin for four days, eating lots of soup and not much else. (These were beautiful sea days while we sailed to Ensenada.) Luckily I rallied for Valentine’s Day for our Ultimate Balcony Dinner (more on this amazing meal later). We learned from the waiters that LOTS of people were sick and that the medical center had been packed with sick folks. I heard later that some guests had been quarantined in their cabins.

None of this was ever addressed in the Patters. No “Please visit our Medical Center if you’re not feeling well.” No “Please stay in your cabin if you’re not feeling well.” Nada.

I don’t have anything to grade NCL on for this, but Princess = D

By the way, the best cough drops for a cough so bad you think you’ll throw up are called Fisherman’s Friends: http://www.fishermansfriend.com/en-us/.

POOLS IN ROUGH SEAS—We had very rough seas between Los Angeles and Hilo. A crew member told me that some wine bottles weren’t properly secured in a bar or restaurant and one day some of them fell and broke.

So, why weren’t the pools drained? Water was surging from one end to the other, with lots of water spilling onto the surrounding pool decks. We particularly noticed this on the small pool all the way aft on Deck 12. We met a passenger at embarkation who told us later that she fell near that aft pool and needed medical attention. She refused to pay since she felt Princess was liable, and last we heard it had been kicked up to the Princess corporate office.

Princess = C-

NCL = A (they drain the pools!)

GRABBARS FOR BATHTUBS—On the NCL Sun, the sides of bathtubs are 24” high (for comparison, ours at home is 13” high). There isn’t a grab bar to help you climb into the tub, so I grab a towel rack which probably isn’t designed to support my weight.

In our Princess mini-suite, there were enough grab bars so I could feel safe stepping in and out of the tub. Excellent.

Princess = A

NCL Sun = C

ENTERTAINMENT

We only attended the ventriloquist’s show and a musical, I think called “British Invasion”.

Both were fine. The Princess Theater had many more technical options than we've seen on NCL (except for the NCL Epic). The costumes were more elaborate, too. Talent-wise, I’d say they were comparable to NCL’s shows.

We felt the Princess Theater was a little cramped, since it doesn't have a true balcony level above the main floor. Not a knock on it, but the ceiling just seemed a little low, so that we were seeing lighting equipment in our view of the stage.

The best, most amazing thing in the theater was the relative silence before the shows. Bar staff moved through the crowd to bring drinks, but that’s it.

On NCL, the casino and/or cruise director’s staff are pushing raffle tickets relentlessly. No wonder that NCL has a reputation for trying to sell something all the time.

Pre-show environment: Princess = A

NCL = D

Entertainment: Princess = B

NCL = B

TRIVIA

We like trivia and we’re used to winning at trivia on NCL. Well, we were playing in the minors and Princess is the major league. We felt lucky to come in second as often as we did. And we won once—Woohoo!!

NCL tends to use and reuse trivia questions, so on a B2B you’ll get the same questions during the second cruise. Many times on the Grand, the CD staffer would start by saying, “I just finished putting together these questions.” (Eventually we started quaking with fear when we heard this.)

Trivia usually was held in the Explorers Lounge. Often the staffer would display the questions onto the screen there, which was great. (Getting older. Need all the help I can get.)

Our least favorite venue for trivia was the One5 bar. They had audio problems and the microphones didn't always work.

Princess doesn't have progressive trivia (as NCL does), where you play as a team over several days and sessions to determine the winners. In progressive trivia it’s important to have team names to keep the results straight. So, on Princess we didn't need to have team names. This sounds dumb, but team names help you identify your competitors and can tell you something about them. It personalizes the competition and makes it more fun. So, I missed having a team name.

What do you get for winning? Princess gave out small, dumb gifts for winning, like key chains. They were very upfront about this, which was great.

NCL used to do the same thing. Then they switched to a signature system to reward participation in all onboard activities. If you attend a class, play a game in the atrium, etc., you get a signature on a little piece of paper. If you win at trivia, you get two signatures. At the end of the cruise, you take all your signatures to a display somewhere so you can get – wait for it – small, dumb gifts. Or maybe a t-shirt if you've been very busy.

Well, I hate to wait in line. And you have to wait in line to get a signature, right? So, for me this is another example of NCL’s nickel and diming of cruisers. To save money on small, dumb gifts, they make you stand in line, which saves them the small, dumb gift I might have received for winning trivia because I won’t wait in line. Jerks.

Princess = A

NCL = C

CRUISE DIRECTOR

A small aside about the cruise director. I think his name was Mike W. He attended our meet & greet and answered a question sarcastically. It may have been a dumb question, or something he could do nothing about, but I didn't like his attitude.

And he rarely smiled—doesn’t that seem odd for a cruise director? Not all cruise directors are fabulous, but I think this man is in the wrong line of work.

Most of his staff members were lovely.

BEER

We drink craft beer. NCL’s selections vary from plain boring (Bud/Miller/Coors) to mildly interesting (Stella, Becks or Dos Equis). They've never had an IPA, which DH drinks.

So, we get onboard and see a sign for Seawitch IPA, a Princess beer. DH tries one, then another. He likes it! They won’t sell them in a bucket but he bought multiples at the Wheelhouse Bar at Happy Hour (2 for 1 drinks; 3-4PM daily on our cruise). Thus the fabulously cold fridge in our cabin came in handy again.

In a first for me, I drank lots of cocktails. The blender drinks were fabulous.

Princess = A

NCL = C

POOLS IN ROUGH SEAS—We had very rough seas between Los Angeles and Hilo. A crew member told me that some wine bottles weren’t properly secured in a bar or restaurant and one day some of them fell and broke.

 

So, why weren’t the pools drained? Water was surging from one end to the other, with lots of water spilling onto the surrounding pool decks. We particularly noticed this on the small pool all the way aft on Deck 12. We met a passenger at embarkation who told us later that she fell near that aft pool and needed medical attention. She refused to pay since she felt Princess was liable, and last we heard it had been kicked up to the Princess corporate office.

 

Princess = C-

 

NCL = A (they drain the pools!)

I believe the pools on NCL ships are salt water. The pools on Princess ships are fresh water. It's likely much easier to empty and refill a salt water pool.

FOOD – MDRs & Buffet

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I read reviews, so I have expectations. I’m prepared for what I’m likely to encounter. Sometimes, my expectations are met or wildly exceeded. Other times, I experience bone-crushing disappointment. Both things happened on this cruise, depending on which plate of food was in front of me. Let’s start with the low points.

MDRs and Buffet—I’ll discuss these together, since we saw little difference between them in terms of the quality of the food. We are very, very casual, so we tend to hit the buffet more often than the MDRs, partially because we can control our time better.

But Princess’s food is usually described as better than NCL’s, so we tried both. I made notes at our first few meals:

First breakfast in the MDR: I ordered the special; I think it was called “Alaskan Salmon Scramble”. Sounds yummy. What I received looked like dry, yellow cottage cheese curds with tiny, tiny flecks of smoked salmon. OK, I get that they use powdered eggs. But powdered eggs can be made well or badly. These were very bad. My husband ordered the ham omelet. He received an omelet with ham mush in it, like they pulverized some ham with who knows what for the “filling”. DH was not a happy camper. Mush does not = meat. For shame.

First breakfast in the buffet: The quiche squares, fried eggs and French toast are all COLD. Bacon is fine (thank goodness). The pineapple is fabulous.

Second breakfast in the MDR: The pancakes were undercooked. Service seemed slow. (Our experience is that you spend a lot of time at MDR meals since you’re usually with six other people, so slow service seems a given.) The half grapefruit and melon were good, but the watermelon was off. The eggs Benedict were very odd and seemed dried out. Turns out they put the béarnaise sauce on ahead of time so it has plenty of time to dry out. I asked for and received some additional sauce, but it didn't help much. I also asked for a side of smoked salmon (yummy with eggs Benedict) but it was pretty flavorless. The waiter made a note of this.

This isn't looking good. How am I going to gain my 5-10 cruise pounds? We gave up on the MDRs and didn't even bother trying the MDR for dinner. I’m sure we missed some good food. Someone told me the 50th anniversary dinner was the best meal she’d ever had. But that was a formal night and we don’t do formal, so we weren't going to have it anyway.

And who knew that soup for breakfast could be good? I thought it was weird at first but came to really enjoy it (especially after I got sick). And the matzo ball soup was fabulous.

Pet Peeve: The pancake syrup in the buffet was labeled “maple syrup” but no way in hell was it real maple syrup. My Vermont relatives would be appalled.

MDRs & Buffet: Princess = C

MDRs & Buffet: NCL = A/B

HERE’S WHERE WE ENJOYED EATING

International Café is a mixed bag. The morning pastries were forgettable (either too dry or not crispy enough). But at lunch you can get a sandwich and have it “panini’d” for a nice treat. This worked well with croissants that were otherwise not great on their own. The salads were OK though not my favorite.

But the desserts! For my last meal I’m starting with dessert, and it will be the white & dark chocolate mousse from the International Cafe. Extraordinary. The white chocolate mousse is airy and light, while the dark chocolate mousse is like a ganache or truffle. But eat it while you can; they rotate it with an espresso mousse that isn’t nearly as good.

International Café = A-

Chocolate Desserts: In fact, almost all the chocolate desserts onboard were very, very good. (The only exception was the chocolate croissant at the International Café.) The soft-serve chocolate ice cream on the pool deck was awesome—deeply, intensely chocolately. Chef’s Table and our Ultimate Balcony dinner had wonderful chocolate desserts, too.

I appreciate this more because NCL cannot make a chocolate dessert worth a flip, except for Chef’s Table. They have brown food items they call chocolate, but they’re lying.

Chocolate desserts on NCL = D

Chocolate desserts on Princess = A

Alfredo’s Pizzeria was the most reliable place to eat for us. The pizzas were delicious, and we could ask for additional ingredients and mix things around to get just what we wanted. We usually got a table by a window, had a glass of wine and watched the ocean go by while we enjoyed our pizzas.

I made sure to fill out a Consummate Host card (or whatever they’re called) for the entire staff of Alfredo’s.

The only downside is that you can’t take the pizza out of Alfredo’s. Next time I may just make a break for it and run out after they serve my pizza. Wouldn't it be nice to have on your balcony? Would they tackle me to prevent my escape?

Alfredo’s Pizzeria = A

CHAMPAGNE BALCONY BREAKFAST

This was a mixed bag. It was too windy and rough to have on our balcony, and there isn’t really much service included with this meal. You get five or six plates with plastic covers delivered to your room, and maybe a tablecloth for your table, and that’s about it. It would work better if they would consolidate some of the food so you don’t have plates and covers all over your cabin. I’m glad we did it but doubt we’d do it again.

Champagne Balcony Breakfast = B

ULTIMATE BALCONY DINNER (UBD)

We knew we wanted to do this on Valentine’s Day, and all the reviews said to call the Dine Line as soon as you board. Well, I called Princess a week before sailing to order the Champagne Balcony Breakfast, and they let me order the UBD at the same time—hooray!

I called the Dine Line after we boarded to get on the list for Chef’s Table and to schedule our UBD. The Room Service manager, Pablo, came to our room that same day to set up our UBD food order. He was great and we had a blast figuring out all the details.

Set up on Valentine’s Day started at 5:30PM. Set up took about 30 minutes, and we finished dinner around 8PM. We did it in our cabin as it was very windy outside. We loved, loved, loved it.

First, we had the fabulous James (Philippines) and Igor (Serbia) as our waiters. There’s a lot of “down” time between courses while dishes are brought up from the galley, and James and Igor visited with us to pass the time. They were both charming and we learned a lot about their careers and Princess by chatting with them.

The food was amazing. As you may have read, there’s enough food for four to six people, but we did our best.

During our conversations, I mentioned that I’d heard about Princess’ association with a chocolate dessert chef. So James brought up a dessert from the MDR’s Valentine’s Day menu. We’ve got three desserts, which were exceptional. Then James whips out a plate of petit fours and tries to put some on my plate! At that point, I started laughing and said he couldn't make me eat another bite. But we saved them to have with friends the next day.

This is a very special Princess experience and I encourage you to do this at least once.

Ultimate Balcony Dinner = A++

CHEF’S TABLE

We've done Chef’s Table on NCL and it was great. Here are some nuts and bolts comparisons:

On NCL, you sign up at the restaurant reservation desk by Guest Services and pay for it then. You can review the menu in case you need to ask for substitute items. Princess holds a meeting the day before to tell you the details and to get your payment. You don’t get to see the menu (or did we just miss it??). Advantage: NCL

NCL does a full galley tour the next day, going through the food prep areas, meat, fish, veggie, bread & pastry areas, dishwashing, trash; you see the whole nine yards. Princess takes you into a small part of the galley for appetizers and champagne. You’re wearing a little white coat, but you don’t see very much. Advantage: NCL

NCL usually has 14 attendees; Princess had 10. Advantage: Princess

NCL serves the Chef’s Table in a private room off an MDR; Princess has it in an MDR, with other tables around us. Advantage: NCL

NCL gives you a copy of the menu and group photo. Princess gives you those plus a cookbook. Advantage: Princess (though I’d prefer a DVD to cut down on luggage weight.)

So, both lines do a fabulous meal and usually the people who attend are very nice. What’s not to like? Oh, and the Grand’s maître d’ was fabulous. The cruise director could use some of his enthusiasm.

Princess = A

NCL = A

DISEMBARKATION

Ah, now I know why we were able to get into our cabin as soon as we boarded. I think we had to be out of our cabin by 8AM, whereas on NCL you can often stay in your cabin until 9:30AM.

We chose walk-off disembarkation, so we manhandled our own luggage off the ship after a longish wait in the Wheelhouse Bar. Pretty easy, all said.

LOYALTY PROGRAMS

NCL gets you to higher levels faster with better benefits. Just our opinion.

NCL = A

Princess = C

LOYALTY PROGRAMS

 

NCL gets you to higher levels faster with better benefits. Just our opinion.

 

NCL = A

 

Princess = C

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

Well, was there a fairy tale ending? The better question might be: Will we sail Princess again? Yes, we will. We bought two future cruise credits to make sure of it. You can’t beat Princess’ itineraries and they have lots of longer cruises. We’ve got our eye on the 28-day cruise to Hawaii, Tahiti and Samoa, round trip from Los Angeles. Lots of sea days, Bora Bora, and no flying.

Will we sail the Grand Princess again? That’s harder to justify. I’d prefer to try one of her sister ships and experience Skywalkers, since so many people mention how much they love it.

We cruise to have a good time, and we did on the Grand. I just feel Princess has more to offer than we experienced on the Grand, and I hope we’ll enjoy our next Princess cruise for all the right reasons. (In other words, if the food is better, I'll be much happier.)

Now, if NCL and Princess had identical itineraries, which would we take? At this point, we’d choose NCL.

Love the way you write a review. More!! I want more!!

As someone who has been on 3 LA/Hawaii cruises (the Island, the Golden, and the Golden again), it's interesting to get another cruiseline's regular take on Princess.

Did you get to partake in the Hawaiian activities? According to their Facebook page, Elua is currently on the Grand. If you missed hearing them perform, you've missed a special part of the Princess Hawaiian experience, IMO. They also teach uke and hula classes.

And yes, the cruise tends to have a lot of rough seas (even though on our return on the first time, it was relatively calm). Not for a first time cruiser. My hubby and daughter don't mind the swells, but I bring along a lot of ginger.

Sometimes the crew member stationed by the entrance of the service area of the Horizon Court will point out the sanitizer dispenser that's right there. Usually there's one by some of the MDRs, but it's up to the passengers to spot it and use it. We've been lucky (knock on wood) not to be on a ship with an outage of Noro. I often do carry a little bottle of sanitizer in my purse on the ship so if I forget to squirt outside, we can avail ourselves at the table being eating.

Thanks for your easy to read review & comparison to NCL...I get so much more from objective reviews like yours. :)

We haven't sailed on NCL since our first cruise in 1986 on the Starward & it's good to read about how they've evolved. At that time we got bombarded by frequent "advertising" announcements & we much prefer having only a few on Princess. I don't need to know about another Princess art auction & prefer to read the Patter to plan my day. ;)

Thanks again for taking the time to post your review...very informative.

What a great review! Thank you. I love reading comparison reviews. I don't often see ones comparing Princess with NCL so it was fun to read.

Thanks for your review.

I just disembarked from the Grand Princess on Wednesday. I, too, had Ryan as my cabin steward. He was good, not the best steward I've had on Princess.

When considering another Princess cruise, keep in mind that the Grand is an older ship and not typical. It's my least favorite Princess ship. :( IMHO, the IC is much better on other ships than the Grand. I love the chicken Waldorf salad but found it too salty and the chunks of chicken too big on the Grand.

As for the hand sanitizer, that works only for bacteria and doesn't help for the flu or Noro, which are viruses. It gives a false sense of security if people think it'll help prevent a cold or stomach bug. It won't. :(

Your cruise had far more heavy seas than we experienced although we did have a couple of days of high winds and pools you could surf.