Grand Princess Refit April 2011

[Chrisatsea]

Interesting artist impresions.:confused:

Seems strange if they do remove Skywalkers from the Grand as the Golden refit in 2009 they kept it .

If it goes I will feel a bit cheated as I have booked 2 cruises on Grand, one with 12 other family members. All first timers looking forward to the unique Skywalkers.

Sailed on Her twice and Golden once, stunning ships.

 

However that old saying aplies:-

 

No cruise is bad cruise (yet).

 

Chris

[sidari]

People did not believe it when rumours began to spread about tha Handle being removed but one UK cruise reporter had the story 10 weeks before Princess actually told everyone that it was going to happen! sadly this week that person died but below is a link to the story.

 

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/2011/02/you-were-right-all-along-steve.html

[sidari]

People did not believe it when rumours began to spread about tha Handle being removed but one UK cruise reporter had the story 10 weeks before Princess actually told everyone that it was going to happen! sadly this week that person died but below is a link to the story.

 

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/2011/02/you-were-right-all-along-steve.html

[u2cruiser]

Interesting artist impresions.:confused:

Seems strange if they do remove Skywalkers from the Grand as the Golden refit in 2009 they kept it .

If it goes I will feel a bit cheated as I have booked 2 cruises on Grand, one with 12 other family members. All first timers looking forward to the unique Skywalkers.

Sailed on Her twice and Golden once, stunning ships.

 

However that old saying aplies:-

 

No cruise is bad cruise (yet).

 

Chris

 

I'm sure the IC and Vines, Crooners, pizzeria etc will more than make up for it Chrisatsea. Once I tried some of those on the Emerald I wouldn't go back to the Grand, but now I will. :)

[u2cruiser]

What a shame he won't get to see the changes on the Grand. :(

[Chrisatsea]

Well it's confirmed from Princess via an EMail.

With a link to the Flickr renderings as posted previously.

Pity as I just had cheapo offer from MSC for Norway calling at my fav port of Flam.:mad:

 

Chris

[carolmacey]

I received a Meet and Greet date and venue from Princess a couple of days ago for our June cruise on the Grand...the location is SKYWALKERS!! ?? I was told 'all the renovations would be completed by then' in answer to my querying the location.

Our Meet and Greet on the TA immediately following the refit originally said Skywalkers. Just recently we got a change of location e-mail stating Skywalkers would closed. Everything else I have seen says it is coming off as do the artist's renditions of the new Grand.

[BarbinMich]

When we were on the Grand in Jan 10, we picked a mid-ship cabin on Emerald so that we could use the stairs more, esp. to get down to Deck 7 where most of the fun stuff is and even down to Deck 5, where there will be more fun in the future. We were surprised that the mid-ship stairways are not accessible above Deck 7. We know the stairs are there because we were told to use them during the safety drill. Someone explained that this is one of those things that happens on a ship that was the first of its kind for Princess. In all subsequent ships in the Grand class, the mid-ship stairs are fully available to pax, not just crew! Anyone know about this being changed in the refit? Sure was a pain to use the elevators to go one deck down! Or walk aft or foreward and then back to mid-ship.

[wadswatcher]

When we were on the Grand in Jan 10, we picked a mid-ship cabin on Emerald so that we could use the stairs more, esp. to get down to Deck 7 where most of the fun stuff is and even down to Deck 5, where there will be more fun in the future. We were surprised that the mid-ship stairways are not accessible above Deck 7. We know the stairs are there because we were told to use them during the safety drill. Someone explained that this is one of those things that happens on a ship that was the first of its kind for Princess. In all subsequent ships in the Grand class, the mid-ship stairs are fully available to pax, not just crew! Anyone know about this being changed in the refit? Sure was a pain to use the elevators to go one deck down! Or walk aft or foreward and then back to mid-ship.

We were on the Grand a week ago. Nothing was mentioned about the stairs being changed during refit. The elevators at midship were horrible. They often would not stop on the floors where passengers were waiting. Many passengers were stuck on the elevators for more then 15 minutes before being rescued. My hopes are that the elevators will be repaired during refit. When we disembarked, a crane was loading plywood to an area where skywalkers was looked. The Grand also had new mattresses on the bed and they were comfortable.....so work has already begun.

[mise]

my nephew is due to start work on the grand princess's refit.he will be doing some of the joinery work onboard. i have given him strict instructions to take loads of photos.couldn't believe it when he told us we were on her in september 2010.

[dstables]

We were on the Grand February 14 and my DH did the Ultimate Ship Tour. The Captain spoke a lot about the refit. He did address the rumors about Skywalkers and about it being unsafe and that is why it is being removed. He said in no uncertain terms that this is UNTRUE! Skywalkers is being removed off of the back of the Grand, not because it is unsafe and falling off but for design reasons. The atrium is being refitted with a ton of marble which is increasing the weight of the Grand. Removing Skywalkers from the back of the ship and relocating the disco to deck 15 where the arcade was they will give a lighter ship and that weight loss can be used in the atrium. The Captain told them that the Grand is the only ship in this class with a steel hull and the newer ships have aluminum hulls. Something had to be done to compensate for the weight of the marble going in to the atrium. Also removing Skywalkers will open up the aft pool that does not get a lot of sun and hence does not see a lot of use. The Captain also said that taking Skywalkers off of the back of the Grand will balance the fore and aft weight of the ship which will allow the ship to move through the water better. I would like to think this was a VERY RELIABLE SOURCE!

[seastar2]

We were on the Grand February 14 and my DH did the Ultimate Ship Tour. The Captain spoke a lot about the refit. He did address the rumors about Skywalkers and about it being unsafe and that is why it is being removed. He said in no uncertain terms that this is UNTRUE! Skywalkers is being removed off of the back of the Grand, not because it is unsafe and falling off but for design reasons. The atrium is being refitted with a ton of marble which is increasing the weight of the Grand. Removing Skywalkers from the back of the ship and relocating the disco to deck 15 where the arcade was they will give a lighter ship and that weight loss can be used in the atrium. The Captain told them that the Grand is the only ship in this class with a steel hull and the newer ships have aluminum hulls. Something had to be done to compensate for the weight of the marble going in to the atrium. Also removing Skywalkers will open up the aft pool that does not get a lot of sun and hence does not see a lot of use. The Captain also said that taking Skywalkers off of the back of the Grand will balance the fore and aft weight of the ship which will allow the ship to move through the water better. I would like to think this was a VERY RELIABLE SOURCE!

 

 

I was on the Grand for the 3/28 sailing...the last with Skywalkers open. The captian told us the same information at our meet and greet which was held in Skywalkers....

[CruiseDuck]

We were on the Grand February 14 and my DH did the Ultimate Ship Tour. The Captain spoke a lot about the refit. He did address the rumors about Skywalkers and about it being unsafe and that is why it is being removed. He said in no uncertain terms that this is UNTRUE! Skywalkers is being removed off of the back of the Grand, not because it is unsafe and falling off but for design reasons. The atrium is being refitted with a ton of marble which is increasing the weight of the Grand. Removing Skywalkers from the back of the ship and relocating the disco to deck 15 where the arcade was they will give a lighter ship and that weight loss can be used in the atrium. The Captain told them that the Grand is the only ship in this class with a steel hull and the newer ships have aluminum hulls. Something had to be done to compensate for the weight of the marble going in to the atrium. Also removing Skywalkers will open up the aft pool that does not get a lot of sun and hence does not see a lot of use. The Captain also said that taking Skywalkers off of the back of the Grand will balance the fore and aft weight of the ship which will allow the ship to move through the water better. I would like to think this was a VERY RELIABLE SOURCE!

 

Moving through the water better will in turn make for better fuel consumption which in turn was the main reason I heard that the 'handle' was being removed. The handle was causing drag on the aft of the ship. The handle of the Grand made it very distinctive. I'm sorry to see it go.

[talako]

Check out this web site for videos and photo's of the Dry Dock on the Grand Princess. http://www.elitecruiser.net

 

Cool videos from the Cruise Director so far! :)

[luv cruising 007]

www.flickr.com/photos/princesscruises/sets/72157626354589807/

Just found this AWESOME LINK that shows skywalkers being cut & removed:( as well with the whole refit inside & out in detailed pics! 234 pics to be exact! enjoy(this is what happens on a slow day at work:D;):p)

[robsaw]

The Captain told them that the Grand is the only ship in this class with a steel hull and the newer ships have aluminum hulls. .... I would like to think this was a VERY RELIABLE SOURCE!

 

I can assure you that all Princess ships have steel hulls and some of the other comments sound misunderstood at best. The largest aluminum hulled ship in the world is not even close to the size of the Grand and is smaller than the smallest Princess ship. There may be aluminum used in parts of the ship structure but certainly not the hull.

[runnerodb83]

I can assure you that all Princess ships have steel hulls and some of the other comments sound misunderstood at best. The largest aluminum hulled ship in the world is not even close to the size of the Grand and is smaller than the smallest Princess ship. There may be aluminum used in parts of the ship structure but certainly not the hull.

 

I think OP meant that the Skywalkers shell was steel on the Grand, aluminum on Star, Golden, Caribbean. I've heard that around somewhere too. I've also hear that the Skywalkers shell on the Star is slightly different from the Golden, however I've never been able to tell a difference.

[robsaw]

I think OP meant that the Skywalkers shell was steel on the Grand, aluminum on Star, Golden, Caribbean. I've heard that around somewhere too. I've also hear that the Skywalkers shell on the Star is slightly different from the Golden, however I've never been able to tell a difference.

 

The person was supposedly quoting the captain, who would certainly know the difference between the hull and superstructure. My point is that the telling of the story has become distorted as it has been passed on rendering it not much better than any other story we've heard on the "real" reason for removing Skywalkers. Given the complexity of welding aluminum to steel, I wouldn't believe that any Skywalkers is made of an aluminum superstructure either. I have heard that some of later ones were lighter though, but that could easily be achieved with lighter gauge steel.

[Sincity]

Just booked the Grand for this Nov and while reading the ship layout section on my 2012-2013 Cruise Atlas, I noticed the signature Skywalkers is missing which lead me to a search here on CC. We probably will never know the reason unless some engineer decides to leak it out. There could be all sorts of conspiracy theories about it. I have a guess but that is pure speculation. If there is a structural issue, I don't think Princess will ever publically admit to it. But it is sure suspicious that Skywalkers still remains on the Golden and Star. Someone brought up the complexities with welding steel and and aluminum together which brought up something I do know a little about. Unibody cars are made of steel and welded together. The BMW 5 Series has a main steel unibody structure, but the front section that holds the engine and front suspension is aluminum and is attached to the main section using engineered rivets; no welding.

 

I will miss Skywalker and I love the view while reading up there in the afternoons. Glad I was able to experience it twice while on the Golden.

 

Looking forward to spending time on the Grand. :cool:

[caribill]

Just booked the Grand for this Nov and while reading the ship layout section on my 2012-2013 Cruise Atlas, I noticed the signature Skywalkers is missing which lead me to a search here on CC. We probably will never know the reason unless some engineer decides to leak it out.

 

No mystery.

 

Grand had the first Skywalkers and it was very heavy in relation to the subsequent versions on other ships.

 

It was removed to prevent structural problems over the long term at the aft area as well as to lighten the load. There are no plans currently to remove Skywalkers from any other ship that has one.

 

The One5 on deck 15 is the lounge that has replaced Skywalkers on the Grand. I have not read how good or bad the view is from that new venue.

[Sincity]

No mystery.

 

Grand had the first Skywalkers and it was very heavy in relation to the subsequent versions on other ships.

 

It was removed to prevent structural problems over the long term at the aft area as well as to lighten the load.

 

That makes the most sense. I was looking at the official pics from Princess with Skywalkers cut off and sitting at the shipyard. I wonder who bought the scrap and what they are going to do with it?

[rhowei]

We are very excited to be taking this cruise... it is our first time crossing th Atlantic, we look forward to the sea days, I am curious as to when they will have the excursions available? rhondalouise@comcast.net