Live - From the Sweltering Hot Grand Princess 11/19/11

[CRLess]

We are currently on night 2 of the first Caribbean sailing of the season for the refurbished Grand Princess. There have been a few hiccups so far which I will address in my review upon return. However, one issue has been persistent since we boarded the ship yesterday and I feel I need to vent. When we got to our cabin yesterday, we found the temperature to be a bit warm. Our steward told us this was due to so many entry ways being open on the ship due to turnaround and embarkation. Last night, the A/C cut off completely several times and this afternoon we lost the A/C all together. It took a phone call, a visit to the Passenger Services desk and personally dragging a cabin steward from down the hall into the room to get someone to do something about it. I propped the cabin door open with a chair just to get some cool air from the hallway into the room. Even with the curtains closed and the door open, the temperature in our room was 90 degrees, according to the alarm clock (with room temp) that we brought. Needless to say, getting dressed for formal night was interesting…The A/C came back on around 5PM but it is still not anywhere close to working at full strength. Before dinner, we stopped by the Passenger Services desk and there were a few other passengers down there complaining about A/C issues. After dinner, we came back up to the room and it is still noticeably hotter than the hallway outside. I called downstairs again and they informed me that “it does not appear that they are going to be able to do anything about cooling the room any further”. After reading all of csjkids posts from the Crown last week, I am starting to get concerned about how Princess is handling on-board problems.

I will try to post updates throughout the week as to any progress Princess makes in resolving this.

If any future Grand cruisers have questions, I will do my best to answer them. The bottom line is that my DW and I are on vacation and will make the best of it. In our opinion, there is no such thing as a bad cruise, some are just better than others!

[Pam in CA]

How hot is it outside? Do any of your neighbors have their balcony doors open and the A/C on? Both of these things can affect the A/C.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I am so sorry to hear about your AC issues. It must be incredibly uncomfortable for you. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that they get it fixed so you can enjoy your cabin and get some sleep.

I really hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[dog]

sorry to hear this.

 

what cabin is it?

 

please post again & tell us how your cruise is going

[TorontoTL]

That is terrible. I hope your next post is that it is fixed. Fingers crossed.

[cindep]

I don't know how the heat/cool system works on cruise ships, but I had a similar recent experience at our timeshare. They had done renovations on the particular condo I was assigned the week before. I too had a hot room. I had them check the thermostat ... all was well. The ultimate problem? They had turned off the a/c compressor while they did the renovations. Sounds like a silly thing ... but an important one for cool air!

 

Hopefully you'll get this issue resolved soon. I understand totally how miserable being hot is ... especially at night!

[lovevacadays]

Oh my goodness. That doesn't sound good at all. I hope they get this fixed for all you cruisers. I don't know what I would do in these circumstances. I'm one who walks into my cabin and the first thing I do is set the thermostat to the lowest it will go. I tend to get hot very easy. Although I don't mind it on an island with a nice, cold drink in my hand. I have to sleep in a room that is very, very cool. I even put my AC on at home in the winter when I go to sleep at night.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise and this gets fixed.

[ellenstarr]

:eek:

Hope it's fixed soon! I'll be on the Grand next week. How is Alfredo's? Is it true that Vine's doesn't have sushi or tapas anymore? What are the movies this week? Thanks for sharing! :)

[TM]

While not the same ship we had the same problem while on the Coral in September. As we sailed out of SF the warmth of the cabin was not a real issue at first. However by day 2 or 3 while still having cooler weather we noticed our room was getting warmer and warmer and one afternoon while attempting to sit in the room and read I just could not take it any more, I was feeling sick from the warmth in our room. I walked down to the purser's office and asked to have someone come and check it. It did take a few days and a few complaints. Thankfully, we had an awesome room steward who stayed on top of it for us and got it fixed. We too had great fun getting dressed that first formal night, we were ready for second showers before we even left our room. Good luck!

[Loonbeam]

If you have a balcony cabin, do peek out. Sometimes if the problem is in a wider area other people are opening balcony and cabin doors for airflow, which puts a strain on the recovering system and could break it again..

[montgomeryfamily]

I am sorry to hear this too and hope this is repaired soon. Is it hot in any of the public areas? I also am interested in the room number.

 

We will be on the Grand in a couple weeks too. Can you tell us the names of the Cruise Director and staff? Thanks.

[caribill]

Stop dealing with the Purser's Desk.

 

Ask to speak with the Hotel General Manager.

 

Also speak with the Captain's Circle hostess.

[dforeigner]

Stop dealing with the Purser's Desk.

 

Ask to speak with the Hotel General Manager.

 

Also speak with the Captain's Circle hostess.

 

Although a great idea, good luck with this one. Their standard answer is not available.

 

The Captain's Circle Host(ess) will probably bring better results.

[CRLess]

Thanks for all the input. I will definitely pay a visit to the Captain’s Circle desk sometime today. To update, our room was significantly cooler overnight, although it is still not where we would like it to be. The problem is not related to doors being open, but rather the entire system is on the fritz…a ship-wide problem with “Zone 2” we were told. We are in C227 and there are many cabins around us, and above and below us experiencing similar issues. Yesterday afternoon, the A/C system was not even running at all, which is why the room got so hot. As I type this, the room is starting to warm up again. Hopefully while we are ashore in San Juan later, they will do something further.

Aside from all of the A/C issues, we are having a great cruise. This is our first time in a long time on one of the original Grand class ships…I forgot how uncrowded they feel compared to the current generation of ships.

To answer a few questions, Vines does not serve tapas and sushi. We have not eaten at Alfredo’s yet. Cruise Director is Billy London.

[montgomeryfamily]

I agree that begin able to see the Hotel Mgr through the Purser's Desk is a real challenge. And, of course, if this is a shipwide outage affecting a certain zone, then it is a more difficult to get anything done, but adjusting the vents can help.

 

If you have not yet had the Meet and Mingle, then I suggest that if any staff such as the Hotel Director, etc attend, you initiate a conversation and casually mention it. On our cruise last spring on the Star Princess, we had an air conditioning issue that had not been resolved by the time of the Meet and Mingle. The Hotel Director attended and I casually mentioned it in conversation. We went to the pub lunch after the Meet and Mingle and then back to the room. Maintenance had already been there and fixed the problem, leaving their little note. :p

 

Thank you for the name of the Cruise Director. Could you tell me the names of any of the Asst. Cruise Directors?

[kywildcatfanone]

Hi,

 

So sorry about your A/C problems, I hope that gets resolved quickly. I will be following your thread because we are on the Grand in a couple of weeks. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Mike

[Whimsy]

I sure hope they resolve the HVAC problems for you soon. I cannot sleep if I am too hot.

[billscruiser]

CRLess: We are in rooms C229 and C233 in three weeks. Could you come back on toward the end of your cruise and let us know the status of your A/C. I can't imagine my DH or friends trusting me to arrange another cruise if not fixed. They are all very hot blooded people and will be VERY uncomfortable if it is hot. We enjoy hanging out in our room and balcony. Glad you can be positive. Personally, I get grumpy if too hot and sweaty :eek: although in Florida we are used to hot, but can escape and sleep in A/C. Thanks for posting.

Kathryn

[Nomsayin]

Probably wouldn't help in your situation, but we always pack a small electric fan for DW who is a bit warm-natured and also likes the white noise. Hope they get it fixed soon.

[giambotto]

Stop dealing with the Purser's Desk.

 

Ask to speak with the Hotel General Manager.

 

Also speak with the Captain's Circle hostess.

 

When they have one of those shake the captain's hand events, maybe you could ask the captain if he would be OK with a 90 degree cabin for the duration of the cruise. Then I'd ask him for my money back.

[Immebsmom]

We had this problem on another cruise line. Called and called and got ignored because the computer showed the room at 70 degrees, until I went to the pursers desk and INSISTED that someone come to the room with us and refused to leave until they did. They walked down, trying to explain that our expectations were too high and the room showed that it was fine on their computer systems. He walked in and said "OMG it is so HOT in here!!!" I looked at him and said, "Not according to your computers". They brought in a fan to try and cool it down while they attempted to fix it. We were moved to a new room while my friend was off on an excursion. That was fun trying to find her to tell her where our new room was and again, the pursers desk was no help because she thought her room key was bad and they wouldn't give her a new one because she didn't know the correct room number, because of course it had changed!

[CRLess]

CRLess: We are in rooms C229 and C233 in three weeks. Could you come back on toward the end of your cruise and let us know the status of your A/C. I can't imagine my DH or friends trusting me to arrange another cruise if not fixed. They are all very hot blooded people and will be VERY uncomfortable if it is hot. We enjoy hanging out in our room and balcony. Glad you can be positive. Personally, I get grumpy if too hot and sweaty :eek: although in Florida we are used to hot, but can escape and sleep in A/C. Thanks for posting.

Kathryn

 

Does your screen name imply that you are a fellow Bills fan in South FL? What a no-show by the Bills yesterday :eek:

 

I spoke with the Circle Host this morning and she took lengthy notes that she input into her computer in what I assume was an email to facillities. The room is between cool and hot right now. Way cooler than yesterday afternoon, but still much warmer than it should be with the thermostat all the way down to cold. I will keep you posted on progress. We should be arriving in San Juan in another few hours, so we will be off the ship for the warmest part of the day.

[cindep]

In the meantime, you might ask for a fan. I do believe there are some available on the ship, but you have to specifically ask for them. Hopefully they'll get you fixed up pronto!

[billscruiser]

No, my name implies that I am married to Bill and I love to cruise. I am, however, from Wisconsin, so I grew up with the Packers, and over my 40 years of being a Floridian do support the local team(s). And yes, don't know what happened to the Bill's yesterday, but it sure did make the Dolphins look good.

 

Thanks for keeping up posted.

 

Kathryn

[camofwilliamsburg]

This is a real concern. I love cruising lately because I can keep the ac on full blast while DH is under the entire comforter folded back twice and I feel great under the top sheet only. I cannot stand the heat when I want to be cold. Outside tanning is a different story....

What movies were shown?

How is the cd and staff?