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Grand Princess 10/21/11 - The Upgrade Fairy Lives!

ccrain

By ccrain,
in Princess Cruises

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ccrain

ccrain

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We had to cancel our 28 day Tahiti cruise and switch to the Grand, presently in-route to Malago (Cadiz was cancelled yesterday due to weather concerns) for our 30th anniversary cruise - we will actually be on the ship on tuesday which is our actual anniversary date - and yes I suprised Judy with the renewal of vows package which will occur on our anniversay date as well. And no, I will not be doing the couples massage. (She doesn't get everything she wants!)

 

Princess has recently started upselling to suites on selected ships and I did notice a lot of empty suites last week, so we enquired about upgrading with no luck. No price reductions available.

 

But Princess decided to have the upgrade fairy visit us at the dock and we were upgraded again to an aft suite - B751. We originally booked an AE GTY and were upgraded to an AB on Dolphin deck. We then got upgraded to the largest suite we have ever been in.

 

B751 is an outside suite opposite the owners suite. The cabin is simply huge. We have a couch, a table with 4 chairs, a 10-12' long desk area, coffee table and chairs on one side of the cabin. Bed, dressing table and desk, with closet on the other side of the cabin. Typical 2 room walkthrough bath with shower, jet tub on one side, toilet and sink on the other. We could easily host a dinner party of 8-10 people and no one would have to sit on the bed.

 

The deck has only one post in the center and slightly wraps around so you can see quite a bit on the side. The only slight downside is that people can look down from the back of the ship, so privacy is not assured.

 

This will not be a formal "live from" thread as I did not bring a laptop and the internet cafe is typically very crowded. I will be checking back from time to time and posting within this thread.

 

But while I'm on the line the food so far is suprisingly good. HC was great the first night and the dining room was fantastic last night. Dancing has been good with Phoenix Rising in the wheelhouse, Opus in Explorers AND the new 15 club is NON-SMOKING! So as soon as we can, we are going to try out the new club at night. So we now have at least 2 and most nights three dance venues.

 

so that's a quick and dirty to start. Will post more as time goes on. Now its off to line dance, ballroom class and then Zumba!

 

E'ya all later...

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strummer

strummer

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Glad you are having a good cruise and well done on the upgrade :D

My parents are presently on this cruise, been looking at the bridge cam and it looks a bit choppy but hopefully not too bad.

Looking forward to hearing any updates.

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cdngrl

cdngrl

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wow, what a great-sounding cabin. sorry you missed the first port, but you sound like you're enjoying yourself. i too looked at the bridge cam this morning and thought it quite choppy, i hope the rain stops for you. i was going to ask you to take good care of the grand as i board when you get off, but don't worry about the cabin, there's not a chance i'll get into it! ;) have a great cruise.

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montgomeryfamily

montgomeryfamily

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Ccrain, congrats on the upgrade.

 

I have a question about the Sanctuary on the Grand. Before the drydock, there was no elevator or lift to for wheelchairs to be able to access the Sanctuary. On some of the other Grand class ships, there is a lift which goes to the upper deck to provide access to the Sanctuary. Has a lift been installed on the Grand now, after the drydock? (there is a picture on the deck plan which could be a lift). Have you been to the Sanctuary? If so, could you ask them? Thanks.

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ccrain

ccrain

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I will check on the Sanctuary. The last few Grand Class ships had no elevator access to the Sanctuary, but I will check to see if they might have added it.

 

The sea was quite choppy. Judy was down most of the afternoon and early evening with motion sick, so we spent dinner time in the Piazza. We went to see Stardust and after that spent quite a bit of time dancing in the wheelhouse to Phoenix Rising and in Explorer's with Opus - by 2100 the seas had calmed down enough.

 

Our biggest problem is sleeping at night. We've never had this much trouble getting a good nights sleep. Of course being 7 hours ahead doesn't help. We even tried skipping the power nap yesterday and after Line, Salsa and Zumba, all in a row, and then a couple of hours of dancing you'd think sleep would be easy, but nope, couldn't fall asleep until after 0200 this morning.

 

Sabbatini's is, as usual, a wonderful place to have breakfast and this morning, on only the 2nd try, the chef got my spicy omelet, really spicy. Nice!

 

so anyway, off the to Malago.

 

Talk to you all later!

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jlaxelrod

jlaxelrod

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Congratulations on your upgrade! Heres hoping we get a similar one for our cruise in December. I was wondering if while you are heading over to the Sanctuary, you could look at the children's splash pool (Deck 16). Im having a hard time getting an answer to my question. The deck plans show it as a whale with a slide, which my dd will love, but the videos of the dry dock indicated that it was being replaced. Just wondering what it was replaced with?

 

Thanks! I hope this isnt too much of a burden.

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ccrain

ccrain

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Thanks for checking on the elevator access. I'm hoping that they might have added a lift like the Crown Princess has, which is really only an "elevator" from one floor to the one above and only large enough for a wheelchair and perhaps one other person (or a scooter).

 

Just checked and they have not added an elevator to the Sanctuary, so there are steps to deal with. Deck 15 is the closest you can get.

 

I will wander by the spash pool to see if it is still there, but I suspect it is now gone since the entire back of the ship has been remodeled with the new 15.

 

Movies - We have Limitless, Green Hornet, Thor, Hangover Part II, X-Men 1st Class, Mr Popper's Penguins...and a bunch of others. Don't have my 1st day patter with me.

 

Dance Music -

 

Phoenix Rising (trio) is in the Wheelhouse and they play about everything from classical ballroom to today's pop.

 

Opus is in the Explorer's lounge - They are the party band and lean heavily towards Calypso and Caribbean tunes, but play mainly rock and roll from the 50's onward.

 

Club 15, one beautiful space, is DJ'ed and can play anything from a top 10 today to to a top 10 from 1959. The unrequested mix is mainly middle of the road rock and roll. The do have theme nights where they will concentrate on one era or another, but will take requests at any time.

 

Yesterday was Malago and we went to see the town and see a Flamenco dance show. It was good to get out. We followed a couple from ABQ, NM (she spoke Spanish) to do some shopping. Everyone successfully got the souveniers they wanted. It did rain pretty much all day, but it was a warm rain...

 

A couple of notes:

 

1 - The Horizon Court schedule has changed on the Grand. The close at 11PM and don't reopen till 6. If you want a late night snack you must go to the International Cafe. Which isn't a bad thing. The IC has everything you might need.

 

2 - They don't run lunch until dinner, but set up a "tea time" snack line in the new dessert bars outside each side of the HC.

 

3 - Vines does not have Tapas and Sushi. When they installed Alfredo's Pizzaria they didn't have room for the other stuff.

 

4 - The Pizza in Alfredo's is really good, but totally different from the one upstairs. Fresh vegetables, no pepperoni (parma ham) and different cheeses are the draw here. The Pizza upstairs is good, this is just better. Order the vegetarian pizza smothered in ham!

 

5 - Suites can still order off the MDR menu in-suite. Last night was french night and we ordered in extra snails and bread. The deck was still wet, so we ate on the large table in the suite. Very nice.

 

Last night was 50's and 60's night. We had a blast and so did everyone else. The dance floors were crowded all night and it was definitely a party atmosphere.

 

Today is our Anniversary and tonight is our renewal of vows ceremony. We are also having our UBD tonight after the ceremony. Hopefully the weather is clear and we can have it on the balcony overlooking the sea.

 

The free elite wine tasting is at 11am today. We might, for the first time ever, actually be able to attend! (Power nap time comes later...)

 

E'ya all later...

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ccrain

ccrain

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How's the gym? What kind of music are they playing in the smokeless club? And, what movies are they showing on board? Thanks!

 

We did line dance, salsa class and then Zumba all in a row. Then 3-4 hours of dancing at night.

 

No need to go to the gym...yet!

 

But I'll take a look...

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montgomeryfamily

montgomeryfamily

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Ccrain, thank you for checking on the elevator/lift to the Sanctuary. I was really hoping they had at least installed a lift to the Sanctuary-- with all of the other massive upgrades they made taking Skywalkers off and other changes/improvements. This is a disappointment.

 

I do hope that your vow renewal ceremony and UBD dinner was fantastic. What a wonderful way to spend your anniversary!

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ccrain

ccrain

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Our balcony is in fine shape, but its a suite balcony, not one of the metal scaffold types like on Dolphin deck.

 

Our ROV and UBD was fantastic last night. The UBD photographer from the ship, and I will get her name later today to post, caught the photo of a lifetime for us off the balcony with the sunset in the background. It will go onto canvas. Probably the best photo we've had taken ever...

 

The ceremony was great with a couple of new found friends and a lot of the cruise staff, including Melissa, whom we've sailed with before, Eric, Sasha, Stu and Martyn as well.

 

The dinner was hands down the best UBD we've ever had. The view off the back was breathtaking, the air cool, but not chilled. Viktor and Anna were delightful to talk to during the meal and the food was fantastic. We even had Earl, their supervisor, popping in an out making sure everything was going right. If you've never had a UBD, we highly recommend them. The personalized service, the food and the view just can't be beat.

 

It was a perfect 30th anniversary celebration. Worth every last penny and every penny I'm about to spend on photos! We've celebrated almost every anniversary since the 20th on Princess, but this ranks on the top.

 

So today, its Alghero and Italy.

 

Off to the tenders....

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ccrain

ccrain

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Alghero was a nice port stop. We did the Princess tour that included the ancient 2500 year old civilization on Sardinia that built the 7000 nuraghi towers. That was pretty interesting. The various churches and cathedrals in town were also nice to visit and the weather cooperated by being absolutley perfect.

 

Today was Rome and we did the expensive princess connoisseur tour which included the Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum, the Vatican museum, the sistine chapel and St Peters.

 

WOW. INCREDIBLE. FANTASTIC. OMG!

 

We've never been before so we splurged and did we ever get our money's worth. From Mario, the bus drivers getting us around Rome, to Sophia's helping with all of the people and Valentina's expert archeological viewpoint we got blown away by the sights.

 

Oh, and I should mention that Judy, my pastaholic, loved the lunch pasta we got served in the Hotel Savoy.

 

All I can say is that I was personally moved by the scope and majesty of St Peters. From the basilica to the square, the grandeur, the sheer scale of the architecture and statuary was simply breathtaking. To think that mortal men, mere homo sapiens created something that moving, that spectacular is overwhelming and humbling.

 

Worth every penny, that's for sure.

 

So tomorrow we start in Livorno. Another long day.

 

E'ya later...

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