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Live from the Grand to Hawaii Jan 4 - 19

spyro1952

By spyro1952,
in Princess Cruises

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spyro1952

spyro1952

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A little late in starting the live thread but here it goes:

Embarkation - Very smooth for San Francisco. I arrived about 10:30 to the pier and they started checking people in a little after 11. We then proceeded to another room until we got the ok to board. I was in my cabin at 11:50. Most were on board by 2:30 pm.

 

The summary of entertainment for the cruise:

Production shows: Stardust; British Invasion; Do You Want to Dance

Vocal Impressionist: Sean O'Shea

Headliner: Christina Blanco

Instrumentalist: David Klinkenburg

International Pop Entertainer: Heather Sullivan

Acrocrazy Comedy: Uber Rossi

Comedy: Steve Caouette

Jesses Kazemek's Tribute to the Beatles

Comedian: Doug Funk

 

Early dinner on this ship is 5:30 and late sitting is 7:45. I'm not sure why not the usual 6pm & 8:15 pm. An interesting thing at dinner last night when I attempted to order the wine package and they told me they weren't offering this trip. Since I wasn't satisfied with that answer I started going up the "food chain". Finally had the head waiter call the F&B manager (I really wanted my wine package) and he returned and said, they are going to discontinue it but since I was so insistent, they went ahead and let me do it. So I don't know how true this is or if it is fleet wide or when they are d/c it.

 

We had our roll call M&G today with about 75 in attendance. Capt. Lawes attended and spoke for about 20 minutes, also Sammi Baker the CD, Ricardo Capraro, Hotel General Manager, & Giancarlo Cappa, customer services director.

 

The most traveled passengers even will be a luncheon on Wednesday. I did make the top 40 so I will post about the specifics afterwards.

 

Many Hawaiian themed events onboard with naturalist Gary Sheehan, and hula and ukelele lessons with Kimo & Lokelina. I have decided to o the ukulele classes and practice is every sea day and then the class does a performance at the end of the cruise in the Princess theater along with the hula class.

 

Everyone is watching the NFL playoffs today to all the TV venues are really busy.

 

More later......

 

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knippsel

knippsel

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Thank you for doing this Live From. Many of us seem to have questions about the Grand since her drydock. Is there any classical music on board? There was a string quartet at one time, l think. Anything like that still?

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Orangefan

Orangefan

Posted
Posted
A little late in starting the live thread but here it goes:

Embarkation - Very smooth for San Francisco. I arrived about 10:30 to the pier and they started checking people in a little after 11. We then proceeded to another room until we got the ok to board. I was in my cabin at 11:50. Most were on board by 2:30 pm.

 

The summary of entertainment for the cruise:

Production shows: Stardust; British Invasion; Do You Want to Dance

Vocal Impressionist: Sean O'Shea

Headliner: Christina Blanco

Instrumentalist: David Klinkenburg

International Pop Entertainer: Heather Sullivan

Acrocrazy Comedy: Uber Rossi

Comedy: Steve Caouette

Jesses Kazemek's Tribute to the Beatles

Comedian: Doug Funk

 

Early dinner on this ship is 5:30 and late sitting is 7:45. I'm not sure why not the usual 6pm & 8:15 pm. An interesting thing at dinner last night when I attempted to order the wine package and they told me they weren't offering this trip. Since I wasn't satisfied with that answer I started going up the "food chain". Finally had the head waiter call the F&B manager (I really wanted my wine package) and he returned and said, they are going to discontinue it but since I was so insistent, they went ahead and let me do it. So I don't know how true this is or if it is fleet wide or when they are d/c it.

 

We had our roll call M&G today with about 75 in attendance. Capt. Lawes attended and spoke for about 20 minutes, also Sammi Baker the CD, Ricardo Capraro, Hotel General Manager, & Giancarlo Cappa, customer services director.

 

The most traveled passengers even will be a luncheon on Wednesday. I did make the top 40 so I will post about the specifics afterwards.

 

Many Hawaiian themed events onboard with naturalist Gary Sheehan, and hula and ukelele lessons with Kimo & Lokelina. I have decided to o the ukulele classes and practice is every sea day and then the class does a performance at the end of the cruise in the Princess theater along with the hula class.

 

Everyone is watching the NFL playoffs today to all the TV venues are really busy.

 

More later......

 

 

 

Marcia, Thank you for your live. I watched the Grand leave SF and she sure looked beautiful all lit up. Sunday when I checked the bridge cam, the water looked calm. I know some people on your cruise. Say hello to Christine and Terry ( your M & G group ) and friends. Have a great cruise !

Sali

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dchip

dchip

Posted
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So excited. Great info. We are doing this same cruise on 2/18th. Do you know who will be replacing Sammi? I heard she was going PT after your cruise.

 

According to the email we received from Princess yesterday, the CD is going to be Neil Roberts on our cruise...1/19-2/3.

 

Cheers, Denise

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cruises r us

cruises r us

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We were on the same cruise over Halloween '13, Spyro1952.

This brings back some entertaining memories, including seeing the British Invasion, David Klinkenburg and Uber Rossi.

And an amazing Halloween night, courtesy of Princess and the passengers.

Gary Shahan was a daily highlight. Great guy who packed them in with his wit and information. Excellent one-on-one, too. He's a gem. Please say hi.

Lots of fun.

Enjoy.

 

You had a far larger meet-and-greet group – and much better co-operation from Princess.

We invited the captain (not Lawes) and his staff via letter, along with our contact with Princess to reserve the lounge. Didn't hear back from cpt and crew, but bartender/wait staff in the lounge (who were great) kept saying they were on their way, to wait.

We waited.

After more than an hour, we gave up and went on an impromptu cabin crawl. Most interesting.

Of all people, we ran into CD Sammi Baker who said she thought M&G was the next day, then scooted off.

Never a make-up appearance offered nor a message from the captain/staff received.

Pretty disappointing for our group.

We experienced a far superior meet-and-greet on the Infinity the year before. Food, fellowship...

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spyro1952

spyro1952

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Marcia, have a great cruise!

 

 

Pam thanks so much.

I'm sure you've all heard about the unfortunate experience we are having. We have about another 30 minutes of day light and we are still searching. Captain Lawes has been exceptional keeping everyone abreast on what's going on. We haven't had an official announcement yet as to what changes will be made to the itinerary.

 

On a lighter note, I am participating in the ukulele lessons and having a lot of fun with the daily classes. Today the internet is a little slower than it has been. tomorrow is the MTP luncheon so I'll report on that. Last night was formal night with the usual champagne waterfall.

 

Most of the Hawaiian culture classes and arts and craft classes are very busy as well as Gary's lectures. I must say that Sammi Baker is a great cruise director and comes to our knitting group every morning.

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ChuckinSC

ChuckinSC

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From the bridge cam it looked like you were having a race with another Princess ship.It was only in view for a few frames. I think it is Star Princess

 

Have you not read about the unfortunate incident aboard the Grand?

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Thrak

Thrak

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Does anyone know if you can purchase wine at any of the Hawaii ports, bring it on and pay corkage or will it be confiscated?

 

Others have reported that they could buy wine in ports and bring it onboard as long as they paid the corkage.

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KruzPrincess

KruzPrincess

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Thank you for doing a live report. I'm thinking of sailing on the Grand later this year and am interested in reading your experiences. I'm sorry for the sad event that happened.

 

I just saw David Klinkenberg on the Star Princess in December. I highly recommend his show. He's a classically trained violinist and well regarded, but now he's doing a fold fiddle show. He does about a 100 dates in Branson during the summer and some cruises in the winter. I loved him.

 

If you get the chance, can you find out if they've replaced all the balcony mats? Also, I read that they're replacing all the beds on the Grand. Any word on if that's true.

 

Thanks.

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Grammyluvs

Grammyluvs

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Others have reported that they could buy wine in ports and bring it onboard as long as they paid the corkage.

 

Unfortunately, I posted this question on the Princess FB page and a Princess rep. said they would take it up and hold it till the end of the cruise. So inconsistent.

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Cras108er

Cras108er

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Does anyone know if Sammi Baker is a little short lady from Juneau, Ak. We sail on the Grand on Feb 3rd. I believe she was our CD on our last Princess Cruise. That would be such a coincidence. Would be our first repeat CD.

 

Just found out it is the same Sammi. We enjoyed her on the Star. Does anyone know if she will be on the Grand in February?

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