Onboard grand Princess 21st of December till 22nd of January

[yes!yes!yes!]

Well. Not quite on board yet. Later this morning.

Flew in from Perth to Melbourne  yesterday and stayed last night at the sofitel on Collins. Lovely  hotel with great views.

I'm cruising with my mum for the first two cruises and solo for the last one.

Join in this thread  anyone else on board.

Will attach my first glimpse of the ship from my hotel room earlier this morning 

[RobinBancs]

We'll be on board when you get back in to Adelaide on the 5th 🙂

 

Hope you have a lovely time!

Edited December 20, 2022 by RobinBancs

[yes!yes!yes!]

Ha, will have to work out how to post photos the right way up. I think I did it right on my last cruise.

Doing 13 nights Melbourne, around new Zealand  and back to Melbourne. Then a 6 night cruise to south Australia return. Then another  13 night around new Zealand  going the other way.

I  have cruised new Zealand  before on the radiance of the seas and mum has done it many times on royal and Princess.

 

For anyone that wants to know. Taxi from Melbourne airport to sofitel was $85. Needed a larger taxi to carry  3 suitcases and 2 people. I don't travel light and I need all those shoes for a 33 night holiday 

[yes!yes!yes!]

Yes these cruises have boarding in Adelaide also. Say hi if you see us

[yes!yes!yes!]

View from the 38th floor 

[RobinBancs]

Yes indeed, and likewise!

[yes!yes!yes!]

Hot air balloons over Melbourne 

[RobinBancs]

It looks like the balloons are part of Melbourne's seedy underground 🙂 😅

[yes!yes!yes!]

Expecting a full cruise for the first one as we were waitlisted and only got an inside room confirmed  over a week ago. Got ocean view for the other 2 cruises. I'm not a balcony girl except when the ship is not moving. But no balconies available  anyway 

[yes!yes!yes!]

2 minutes ago, RobinBancs said:

It looks like the balloons are part of Melbourne's seedy underground 🙂 😅

Yes. I'm technically challenged  and will impress you with my uploading skills.

 

[arxcards]

I hope boarding is slick and the B2B days are a minimum hassle.

 

Enjoy!!

[RobinBancs]

15 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Expecting a full cruise for the first one as we were waitlisted and only got an inside room confirmed  over a week ago. Got ocean view for the other 2 cruises. I'm not a balcony girl except when the ship is not moving. But no balconies available  anyway 

We got Minisuite for our leg, but booked it just short of 2 years ago now.

[Josiejk]

Beautiful morning 🤓

[yes!yes!yes!]

54 minutes ago, arxcards said:

I hope boarding is slick and the B2B days are a minimum hassle.

 

Enjoy!!

Yes. Might have to get off the ship on turn around cruise 1 as it's international. Other one should be a breeze.

Couldn't get the medallion app to work on my phone at all precruise. Will get one of the staff onboard to sort it. But I never used it last time. So I'm not stressing.

 

 

[Rassa]

Hope you have a smooth embarkation.    As I get on soon after you get off, I would be grateful to know how smooth things are throughout your 3 cruises on the Grand.  My friend did 1st Dec one to NZ and 2 days after cruise finished, she unfortunately had covid.   Regardless she said she had a wonderful time but I think she wore one of those blue masks, but I prefer to use the KN95 face huggers.

[arxcards]

52 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Yes. Might have to get off the ship on turn around cruise 1 as it's international. Other one should be a breeze.

Couldn't get the medallion app to work on my phone at all precruise. Will get one of the staff onboard to sort it. But I never used it last time. So I'm not stressing.

 

 

Ocean Front is between the photo gallery and Vista lounge. They are a wizz at all stuff medallion

 

Say hi to your mum for us.

[yes!yes!yes!]

19 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Ocean Front is between the photo gallery and Vista lounge. They are a wizz at all stuff medallion

 

Say hi to your mum for us.

Thanks.

She says hi, too

As long as I get WiFi on board I will be OK.

[yes!yes!yes!]

On board. Had lunch in the dining room. 

[yes!yes!yes!]

Taxi from sofitel to the port was only $23.

Got there just after 11am and there were a few people lining up. Then they announced group a only and transit people allowed thru.

We went anyway as I couldn't use the medallion app before getting on board for some reason.

Was not asked if we rat tested at all.

A bit of a line for the xray machine. Probably  30 minutes from the taxi to our room.

[yes!yes!yes!]

Room is the same as a coral Princess room except the wardrobe area is smaller but a bigger bathroom.

Cases were  outside our room when we got back from lunch. Have unpacked and we keep getting lost on the ship

[arxcards]

39 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Room is the same as a coral Princess room except the wardrobe area is smaller but a bigger bathroom.

Cases were  outside our room when we got back from lunch. Have unpacked and we keep getting lost on the ship

I thought your mum would be able to get around the grand class ships with a blindfold on.

[yes!yes!yes!]

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

I thought your mum would be able to get around the grand class ships with a blindfold on.

She can find the smoking areas no problem. 

It's more me getting lost.

I keep  thinking it's coral. Don't like where the international Cafe is. Prefer it next to explorers.

 

[arxcards]

12 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

She can find the smoking areas no problem. 

It's more me getting lost.

I keep  thinking it's coral. Don't like where the international Cafe is. Prefer it next to explorers.

 

Coral is nice but is the odd one out, with most Princess ships having their International cafe on deck 5. Coral's cafe was a retrofit, and they couldn't find enough space on deck 5.

 

At least you have plenty of days to get used to the differences.

[yes!yes!yes!]

53 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Coral is nice but is the odd one out, with most Princess ships having their International cafe on deck 5. Coral's cafe was a retrofit, and they couldn't find enough space on deck 5.

 

At least you have plenty of days to get used to the differences.

Yes. Just more seating on coral. Could sit in the blue chairs outside explorers as well.

 

[yes!yes!yes!]

Garlic prawns were awful. Short ribs superb.

Bananas foster suitable  for little kids only. Not the real thing.

Service was excellent.