Grand Schedule Adjustment

[Cruise Raider]

:confused: Could it be that many people who would sail out of SF want to sail on a newer ship than the Grand that has been home ported there 5 or so years now (with the exception I believe of one summer when the Star was there instead)?

 

You know, I really used to feel that way as I feel like the Grand is in need of some TLC and they certainly have a captive audience. But, my feelings have changed ... mainly because of the crew / staff they have onboard....they’ve always been top notch! I have a further cruise booked on the Royal as well as three more cruises booked on the Grand. I wonder which one I will actually prefer. I grown into a huge fondness of the Grand ... maybe because of the window suites but more likely because I am such a fan of the friendliness of the crew / staff! Now, she feels like home and that developed after being a big proponent of replacing her with a newer ship. Either way, I always want to see a ship home ported in SF. It makes it sooooo very easy for us to hop onboard when the land just feels too confining!

[LARGIN]

You know, I really used to feel that way as I feel like the Grand is in need of some TLC and they certainly have a captive audience. But, my feelings have changed ... mainly because of the crew / staff they have onboard....they’ve always been top notch! I have a further cruise booked on the Royal as well as three more cruises booked on the Grand. I wonder which one I will actually prefer. I grown into a huge fondness of the Grand ... maybe because of the window suites but more likely because I am such a fan of the friendliness of the crew / staff! Now, she feels like home and that developed after being a big proponent of replacing her with a newer ship. Either way, I always want to see a ship home ported in SF. It makes it sooooo very easy for us to hop onboard when the land just feels too confining!

 

Agree 100%

Currently we have 7 cruises booked on the Grand..

[lstone19]

New postings on Princess.com. The Grand returns to San Francisco from 15-day Hawaii cruise on May 5, then somehow appears in Los Angeles on May 6 and spends May in LA doing Mexico and Pacific Coastal cruises. Not in San Francisco in May. New mystery!! Isn't SF to LA more than a one night cruise, and it does not appear as a bookable 1-day cruise?

 

Princess.com has Grand's arrival in SF on 5/5 at 5am (vs. the usual 7am) and its departure for LA on 5/6 at 9pm (later than usual). So it does look like the plan is to make an overnight deadhead sail from SF to LA. A quick play with Google Earth puts a typical sailing path for it at about 375 nm so at 20 knots and some allowance for port maneuvering at each end, it should be doable in 20 hours (and I believe it can make a little bit better than 20 knots). So if they're away from SF by noon, they can be in LA by 8am the next day.

 

While Princess has not done it in years, it used to be annual tradition for at least one ship migrating from the Caribbean to Alaska (back when most Princess ships fit through the Canal) to end the Canal cruise in San Diego, then immediately sail empty* to Ensenada to board same day for a one-way to Hawaii (followed by another one-way Hawaii to Vancouver) - and the reverse in the Fall.

 

* Boarding in Ensenada made it legal per the PVSA for a one-way to Hawaii. But if you booked the Canal and the one-way to Hawaii B2B, then you could stay on for the San Diego to Ensenada portion since Ft. Lauderdale to Honolulu was also legal per PVSA.

[pris993]

I have mentioned before I am a big fan of the Grand, see I am not alone by the above comments. I have 26 cruises on Princess, have two more booked on the Grand. It is the quality of service and crew on board that makes me enjoy coming back to the Grand, plus the features of the Grand Class that I actually prefer over the new Royal Class... maybe the only cruises on Princess that I might have enjoyed more was a Baltic cruise we did on the original Royal l997 ; a cruise to Eqypt/Israel etc., on the small replacement for the original Royal and a 10 day Mexican cruise on the Dawn Princess mini suite which was actually a suite. If the Grand moves on I hope the crew is as good on the next home ported ship in San Francisco. I have gotten spoiled by the Grand.

[need2cruisesoon]

I live in the SF Bay and have sailed the Grand.

 

However I just can't get excited about this ship.

 

If she leaves, good riddance bring something else in. They say change is good.

[azbirdmom]

You know, I really used to feel that way as I feel like the Grand is in need of some TLC and they certainly have a captive audience. But, my feelings have changed ... mainly because of the crew / staff they have onboard....they’ve always been top notch! I have a further cruise booked on the Royal as well as three more cruises booked on the Grand. I wonder which one I will actually prefer. I grown into a huge fondness of the Grand ... maybe because of the window suites but more likely because I am such a fan of the friendliness of the crew / staff! Now, she feels like home and that developed after being a big proponent of replacing her with a newer ship. Either way, I always want to see a ship home ported in SF. It makes it sooooo very easy for us to hop onboard when the land just feels too confining!

 

We just disembarked the Grand yesterday. While there are visible signs of the ship's age, I couldn't agree with you more about the staff and crew. They were exceptional. One example was that soon after boarding we noticed a crack in the mirror on the closet door. We noticed it when it started "starring" like what happens when you get a rock in a windshield. Our steward had already reported it and when the crew couldn't fix it, they put an adhesive pad over it to eliminate any chance of the mirror shattering. We received an apology call from Passenger Services and despite our insistence that it was fine with us, they sent us a bottle of wine - actually my favorite Chardonnay. I thought this was a very nice touch but wasn't out of line with what we experienced on our cruise. We asked several crew members what their favorite ship and most said it was the Grand. The great service was visible on every level and it definitely enhanced our cruise.

[jwattle]

We just disembarked the Grand yesterday. While there are visible signs of the ship's age, I couldn't agree with you more about the staff and crew. They were exceptional. One example was that soon after boarding we noticed a crack in the mirror on the closet door. We noticed it when it started "starring" like what happens when you get a rock in a windshield. Our steward had already reported it and when the crew couldn't fix it, they put an adhesive pad over it to eliminate any chance of the mirror shattering. We received an apology call from Passenger Services and despite our insistence that it was fine with us, they sent us a bottle of wine - actually my favorite Chardonnay. I thought this was a very nice touch but wasn't out of line with what we experienced on our cruise. We asked several crew members what their favorite ship and most said it was the Grand. The great service was visible on every level and it definitely enhanced our cruise.

 

Exactly the type of service that we received on the Grand our first Princess cruise! 💕:hearteyes:

[Cruise Raider]

We just disembarked the Grand yesterday. While there are visible signs of the ship's age, I couldn't agree with you more about the staff and crew. They were exceptional. One example was that soon after boarding we noticed a crack in the mirror on the closet door. We noticed it when it started "starring" like what happens when you get a rock in a windshield. Our steward had already reported it and when the crew couldn't fix it, they put an adhesive pad over it to eliminate any chance of the mirror shattering. We received an apology call from Passenger Services and despite our insistence that it was fine with us, they sent us a bottle of wine - actually my favorite Chardonnay. I thought this was a very nice touch but wasn't out of line with what we experienced on our cruise. We asked several crew members what their favorite ship and most said it was the Grand. The great service was visible on every level and it definitely enhanced our cruise.

 

I know a lot of the staff we had on our last cruise on the Grand a few months ago won’t be on her next week when we sail on her again but it sounds like they are keeping with their tradition of exemplary customer service. Her age is showing but we’ve named her ‘the ship of YES’. When we’ve had a request, the answer has been one of the following:

Yes, sure thing, absolutely, of course

I can make that happen

Let me see what I can do to help you

 

Of course, you run into one now and again that isn’t quite up to those standards but fortunately, they are the exception and certainly not the rule. And, I would never judge the entire staff by the exception.

 

It is funny, we not only run into some of the same crew members that remember us, we also run into the same passengers at times.

[SharkieRools]

I see you live in Vancouver... so not surprised you may think folks SF might like a newer ship... as a long cruiser... I will take any ship Princess puts in SF... we have been on the Grand about 6 times at least, we did the first cruise on the Grand when it was brand new, out of Istanbul in l998.... ship is still in good shape and I actually prefer it to the Royal which i did a TA for 15 days last year.

Having lived in the Bay Area for over 40 years until recently I'll stand by my statement. Much like years ago when Princess kept stationing the original Regal Princess there summer after summer.

[J13C85]

Forgive me as I do not remember where I read it; but, I did read earlier this summer that Grand was being "retired" by Princess in summer 2020 and being "transitioned" to P&O. Anxiously awaiting summer 2020 schedule release from Princess. Hoping the speculation about Princess leaving SF is wrong.

 

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[ericmcgovern]

I hope we are just seeing the tail end of the schedule not being fully sorted - losing the Grand out of SF will be tough. If anything I hope they replace it. I would assume they will keep sailing out of SF, there are a lot of ships in and out of the port, and it is a fantastic one to sail out of.

[caribill]

Forgive me as I do not remember where I read it; but, I did read earlier this summer that Grand was being "retired" by Princess in summer 2020 and being "transitioned" to P&O. Anxiously awaiting summer 2020 schedule release from Princess. Hoping the speculation about Princess leaving SF is wrong.

 

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I thought that was the Golden Princess being transferred to P&O.

 

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[Cruise Raider]

Today I see that the Grand has three sailings out of LA starting on May 6, 2020, the first being a 10 night to Mexico, followed by a 7 night Pacific Coastal and a 15 night Hawaii itinerary ... not in that particular order.

I don't see any scheduled sailings out of SF for May 2020 and nothing on the schedule after that. I sure do hope they don't leave us without a ship home ported in SF. I thought Princess sunk a lot of cash into Pier 27 not that long ago. ???

[ericmcgovern]

I don't see any scheduled sailings out of SF for May 2020 and nothing on the schedule after that. I sure do hope they don't leave us without a ship home ported in SF. I thought Princess sunk a lot of cash into Pier 27 not that long ago. ???

 

I don't think Princess put any money into the cruise ship terminal (I could be wrong) - the old Pier 27 shed was torn down by the Port of San Francisco for America's Cup. They half built the terminal for the races, then once over finished it off with shore power, immigration, etc.

 

Not 100% sure when the Grand was posted year round to SF, but it has been at least a few years. We have sailed on 4 different Princess ships out of SF (the old Regal, Star, Golden and Grand) - so even if they don't home port out of SF, I am sure they will continue to sail out of SF.

[cruisingrob21]

Interesting development in my email box today...

 

We are pleased to announce that due to popular demand, we have reinstated the 4-day Pacific Coastal cruise on Grand Princess from San Francisco to Vancouver departing on May 5, 2020.

 

Our records indicate that you were previously booked on this voyage. If you choose to move back to this sailing, your cruise fare and promotions will be protected

 

 

Well now im stuck in a tough spot because I had found the Koningsdam from San Diego to Vancouver followed by a 1 night cruise to Seattle on the Oosterdam and had booked it out of the novelty of being able to circumvent the requirements of the PSVA by using 2 ships. But i really wanted to go to Astoria again and Nanaimo - so I'll probably go back to that booking - if not for the ability to sale on an original grand class ship, perhaps for the last time.

[Bonnington]

Received an email today stating that our 17 day Australia trip on the Golden on 8 April 2020 has been cancelled. That and all other April sailings on the Golden have been taken down from the cruise schedule

[Hobbes67]

We just got a voice mail from Princess that our Coastal May 23, 2020 has been cancelled. They can move us to Royal on an earlier cruise. We were in a window suite and they said they can move us to a mini suite for an extra $40 per person and less desirable location. Unfortunately we were planning on celebrating my birthday so will just cancel the whole thing and find another type of vacation. On the phone with them and they said they would give a whopping $15 obc for the inconvenience if we would move to a different date! What a deal.

Edited October 3, 2018 by Hobbes67
added information

[shepp]

On the phone with them and they said they would give a whopping $15 obc for the inconvenience if we would move to a different date! What a deal.

 

Fifteen bucks does indeed sound cheesy. But I'm not sure that many of us think that having to change travel plans 20 months in advance would entitle us to even that much.

[tcdcruiser]

Now princess.com shows the grand princess in May 2020 making a 4 day sf to Vancouver run. The mystery continues.

[cr8tiv1]

We just got a voice mail from Princess that our Coastal May 23, 2020 has been cancelled. They can move us to Royal on an earlier cruise. We were in a window suite and they said they can move us to a mini suite for an extra $40 per person and less desirable location. Unfortunately we were planning on celebrating my birthday so will just cancel the whole thing and find another type of vacation. On the phone with them and they said they would give a whopping $15 obc for the inconvenience if we would move to a different date! What a deal.

 

Website has the Golden for May 6, 2020. A few Window Suites still left. I just booked one.

[cruisingrob21]

Now princess.com shows the grand princess in May 2020 making a 4 day sf to Vancouver run. The mystery continues.

 

This was the voyage originally scheduled on the Grand when the schedules came out in May of 2018. In August they cancelled that voyage, and had the mexico trips out of LA. The mystery is that they brought this voyage back due to "popular demand"

 

Here's the email we got. We were booked on the voyage originally, and then got the cancellation notice, and now are rebooked.

 

Dear Princess Guest:

We are pleased to announce that due to popular demand, we have reinstated the 4-day Pacific Coastal cruise on Grand Princess from San Francisco to Vancouver departing on May 5, 2020.

 

Our records indicate that you were previously booked on this voyage. If you choose to move back to this sailing, your cruise fare and promotions will be protected or you can choose to book under a current promotion if you prefer. You will also still be eligible for the $15 onboard credit offered due to the original voyage cancellation (for the first two guests on the original booking), and will be able to apply that to your new booking.

 

If you would like to move back to this sailing, please contact us at 1-800-774-6237 (North America), 0344 338 8663 (United Kingdom), 13 24 88 (Australia), or 0800 780717 (New Zealand).

[Phamer55]

Thanks for letting me know that the 4 day Grand cruise is now back on! I've gone ahead and rebooked by original cabin.

[Seadog & Sea Hag]

Fifteen bucks does indeed sound cheesy. But I'm not sure that many of us think that having to change travel plans 20 months in advance would entitle us to even that much.

 

 

 

Concur

 

 

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[Sea Hag]

This is weird, or at least it looks weird to me. I saw the original coastal to Vancouver and wondered about that. Then I saw the Grand in LA instead and wondered about that. Then I saw the coast to Vancouver was back on and wondered about the folks who booked during all these schedule shuffles. This looks to me like a good example of how not to run a cruise line. And I'd still like to know what ship will be in San Francisco after the Grand leaves for the Vancouver coastal.

[portcbob]

Would anyone please have a clue which ship is doing the 10 nighter San Fran to Alaska cruise in September of 2020 or is that cruise still going to operate at all??????=

PS. When do the new princess itineraries get released for 2020??