Grand Princess Cruise Review

Mel and I sailed a couple weeks ago on Grand Princess and we'd like to share
our cruise review at http://cruisediva.com/Grand_diary.htm

We used a slightly different format... a "he said" and "she said" report.
One thing we both agreed on was Personal Choice. The open seating dining
worked seamlessly--when there was a brief wait to be seated, it was only
minutes. We had to tender ashore at two ports on the Western Caribbean
itinerary and the procedure was impressive. Again, very organized and no
waiting--pretty amazing for a ship that size!

Hope you enjoy the review and photos

Linda
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

"Linda Coffman" wrote in message ...
Mel and I sailed a couple weeks ago on Grand Princess and we'd like to share
our cruise review at http://cruisediva.com/Grand_diary.htm

We used a slightly different format... a "he said" and "she said" report.
One thing we both agreed on was Personal Choice. The open seating dining
worked seamlessly--when there was a brief wait to be seated, it was only
minutes. We had to tender ashore at two ports on the Western Caribbean
itinerary and the procedure was impressive. Again, very organized and no
waiting--pretty amazing for a ship that size!

Hope you enjoy the review and photos

Linda
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

Linda,
Thanks for a GREAT review. I will be on Grand doing West Car. end of November.
Steve Hayes

Linda, I was on the same sailing as you and your husband. I agree
with you about PC dining. We love it; it will be hard to go back to
traditional when we cruise other lines that don't offer it.

Great review!

Jo-Ann

"Linda Coffman" wrote in message ...
Mel and I sailed a couple weeks ago on Grand Princess and we'd like to share
our cruise review at http://cruisediva.com/Grand_diary.htm

We used a slightly different format... a "he said" and "she said" report.
One thing we both agreed on was Personal Choice. The open seating dining
worked seamlessly--when there was a brief wait to be seated, it was only
minutes. We had to tender ashore at two ports on the Western Caribbean
itinerary and the procedure was impressive. Again, very organized and no
waiting--pretty amazing for a ship that size!

Hope you enjoy the review and photos

Linda
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

Thanks for the nice review. We took the Grand on that same itinerary - two
weeks after 9-11!

I thought the ship was nice and our room was comfortable. But we differ in
our overall impression of the experience. I thought PC dining was the pits.
The overall flow of activities was disjointed and the service marginal in
most areas except the bars/lounges. That's because they were mostly empty at
cocktail times!

I can only assume that PCL has improved their product since we went two
years ago. We recently had to make a decision on what cruise line to take
because our SS Norway cruise was cancelled. Since many of us in the group
had already made air or hotel reservations, we needed to go out of either
Miami or FLL. We quickly discounted PCL largely because of our experience on
the Grand and chose RCI's Radiance.

You can read my review on cruisemates.com, cruisereview.com for all the gory
details.

Should I be rethinking my aversion to PCL? What has changed in the last
couple of years? Has the merger with CCL actually IMPROVED their product?!?!

In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise and took the time to share a
lot of helpful information and pictures. We did have some fun and it brought
back some good times, too!

MrTractor-------is ready to change his mind if given the right
reasons............

"Linda Coffman" wrote in message
...
Mel and I sailed a couple weeks ago on Grand Princess and we'd like to
share
our cruise review at http://cruisediva.com/Grand_diary.htm

We used a slightly different format... a "he said" and "she said" report.
One thing we both agreed on was Personal Choice. The open seating dining
worked seamlessly--when there was a brief wait to be seated, it was only
minutes. We had to tender ashore at two ports on the Western Caribbean
itinerary and the procedure was impressive. Again, very organized and no
waiting--pretty amazing for a ship that size!

Hope you enjoy the review and photos

Linda
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

I have not read your full review but based on you notes below I would
say we had a similar impression of the Grand. We did a 7 day in July
of 2003 and...

Food was fair
Service was poor to OK
Staff seemed unfocused and lacked management

We had a great time but some significant imporvements would be needed
to get us back given the other cruise options that are out there.

-D

"mrtractor" wrote in message . net...
Thanks for the nice review. We took the Grand on that same itinerary - two
weeks after 9-11!

I thought the ship was nice and our room was comfortable. But we differ in
our overall impression of the experience. I thought PC dining was the pits.
The overall flow of activities was disjointed and the service marginal in
most areas except the bars/lounges. That's because they were mostly empty at
cocktail times!

I can only assume that PCL has improved their product since we went two
years ago. We recently had to make a decision on what cruise line to take
because our SS Norway cruise was cancelled. Since many of us in the group
had already made air or hotel reservations, we needed to go out of either
Miami or FLL. We quickly discounted PCL largely because of our experience on
the Grand and chose RCI's Radiance.

You can read my review on cruisemates.com, cruisereview.com for all the gory
details.

Should I be rethinking my aversion to PCL? What has changed in the last
couple of years? Has the merger with CCL actually IMPROVED their product?!?!

In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise and took the time to share a
lot of helpful information and pictures. We did have some fun and it brought
back some good times, too!

MrTractor-------is ready to change his mind if given the right
reasons............

"Linda Coffman" wrote in message
...
Mel and I sailed a couple weeks ago on Grand Princess and we'd like to
share
our cruise review at http://cruisediva.com/Grand_diary.htm

We used a slightly different format... a "he said" and "she said" report.
One thing we both agreed on was Personal Choice. The open seating dining
worked seamlessly--when there was a brief wait to be seated, it was only
minutes. We had to tender ashore at two ports on the Western Caribbean
itinerary and the procedure was impressive. Again, very organized and no
waiting--pretty amazing for a ship that size!

Hope you enjoy the review and photos

Linda
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

I don't know what Princess is doing differently, but we absolutely
loved PC dining on our cruise two weeks ago. It was my Mom, my
sister, and myself. We arrived for dinner anywhere from 6:30 to 8:00
(depending in our mood any given evening). We were seated immediately
every night except one (the night of the Captain's Past Guest Cocktail
party, and then we waited less than 15 minutes). We requested to be
seated at a large table. Our service was outstanding. We ate
breakfast and dinner in the dining rooms, and except for one night
when the waiter seemed uninterested, everyone went out of their way.
We had a different waitstaff every day, and we gave each of them
glowing remarks on the cards placed on the tables. I'm not sure why
your service was poor. I can't wait enough good things about it. I
found the same to be true when we were on the Golden Princess this
past January. We had wonderful service all week.

I'm not happy about going back to traditional dining when we sail the
GGC2004 aboard the Radiance of the Seas. I have had much worse
service when we had traditional dining on other cruiselines. Not bad
enough that it would necessitate requesting to be moved to another
server, but bad enough to not make the dining experience what it
should have been.

I think your chances of getting good waitstaff on PC dining is much
more in your favor than winding up with the same great waitstaff for
an entire week on traditional dining.

Jo-Ann

"mrtractor" wrote in message . net...
Thanks for the nice review. We took the Grand on that same itinerary - two
weeks after 9-11!

I thought the ship was nice and our room was comfortable. But we differ in
our overall impression of the experience. I thought PC dining was the pits.
The overall flow of activities was disjointed and the service marginal in
most areas except the bars/lounges. That's because they were mostly empty at
cocktail times!

I can only assume that PCL has improved their product since we went two
years ago. We recently had to make a decision on what cruise line to take
because our SS Norway cruise was cancelled. Since many of us in the group
had already made air or hotel reservations, we needed to go out of either
Miami or FLL. We quickly discounted PCL largely because of our experience on
the Grand and chose RCI's Radiance.

You can read my review on cruisemates.com, cruisereview.com for all the gory
details.

Should I be rethinking my aversion to PCL? What has changed in the last
couple of years? Has the merger with CCL actually IMPROVED their product?!?!

In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise and took the time to share a
lot of helpful information and pictures. We did have some fun and it brought
back some good times, too!

MrTractor-------is ready to change his mind if given the right
reasons............

"Linda Coffman" wrote in message
...
Mel and I sailed a couple weeks ago on Grand Princess and we'd like to
share
our cruise review at http://cruisediva.com/Grand_diary.htm

We used a slightly different format... a "he said" and "she said" report.
One thing we both agreed on was Personal Choice. The open seating dining
worked seamlessly--when there was a brief wait to be seated, it was only
minutes. We had to tender ashore at two ports on the Western Caribbean
itinerary and the procedure was impressive. Again, very organized and no
waiting--pretty amazing for a ship that size!

Hope you enjoy the review and photos

Linda
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

"Jo-Ann" wrote

I don't know what Princess is doing differently, but we absolutely
loved PC dining on our cruise two weeks ago.

I agree with Jo-Ann. I have been on the Grand Princess once and the Golden
Princess twice and I really like Personal Choice dining.... and never found
the service to be lacking when I ate in the dining room.

I'm not happy about going back to traditional dining when we sail the
GGC2004 aboard the Radiance of the Seas.

On the other hand, I was on the Voyager of the Seas last May and I was very
impressed with the service in the dining room. I know that great service is
sometimes up to the luck of the draw, but I had no complaints and the other
people in our group seemed to be happy with their service as well. I'm
hoping it is as good on the Radiance.


--
George in PA http://www.countryside-travel.com

Norwegian Dawn http://www.cruisemaster.com/dawn.htm
Sleazy 3 - Carnival Conquest http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy3.htm
The Mother of All Group Cruises http://www.motherofallgroupcruises.com

Been on the Golden twice and PC is our PC. We loved it. Had a table for
two every evening and had the same wait staff a few times without
requesting it. Loved not having to make te dinng room same time every
day

SUNNY

"Jo-Ann" wrote in message...
Linda, I was on the same sailing as you and your husband. I agree
with you about PC dining. We love it; it will be hard to go back to
traditional when we cruise other lines that don't offer it.

I wish we'd run into you, JoAnn.

The PC dining really worked well for us and they seemed to coordinate the
seating like a well rehearsed ballet. I was impressed with the short waiting
times, especially since there were six of us and we didn't want to join a
larger table--plus, we seemed to usually arrive at a peak time.

Linda
http://cruisediva.com

"mrtractor" wrote in message...
snip
I thought the ship was nice and our room was comfortable. But we differ in
our overall impression of the experience. I thought PC dining was the
pits.
The overall flow of activities was disjointed and the service marginal in
most areas except the bars/lounges. That's because they were mostly empty
at
cocktail times!

Yes, PC has come a long way from what I understand from others who has
similar experiences to yours. With the exception of one waitress/assistant
team, we had good service in the dining room (actually the one pair weren't
*bad*... they were just somewhat indifferent). Sabatini's was a top notch
dining experience--well worth $20/per person.

snip
Should I be rethinking my aversion to PCL? What has changed in the last
couple of years? Has the merger with CCL actually IMPROVED their
product?!?!

I don't know if the Carnival merger has anything to do with it, but we were
quite impressed--it was better than our last Princess cruise, which was on
one of their ships that didn't offer PC. We had to tender ashore twice and I
thought it would be a stampede on a ship the size of Grand Princess--it
couldn't have been a smoother operation, though.

Linda
http://cruisediva.com