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Name: Gary Segers
Email: gsegers@cyberhighway.net
Age: 55
Occupation: Manager
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Grand
SailingDate: June 19
Itinerary: Mediterranean
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 97
FoodRoomService: 70
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 93
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 93
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 85
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 80
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram: 70
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 85
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 01 Sep 1998
Time: 01:43:57
Remote Name: 209.161.10.74
Remote User:
Comments
Most readers will find many good reviews about the Grand's
inagural season so I'll try to point out the particularly
outstanding and shortcomings of this
rather extraordinary ship.
This was our first cruise to the Med that included my wife,
myself, and our 25 year old daughter.
What was good about the Grand:
The Mini-suite. We were located on the forward starboard side.
Without a doubt this was a good decision to book this
accomodation. The best location for
viewing port calls and no vibration. Plenty of room, comfortable
beds (even the couch/bed that my daughter used), and lots of
closet space. The noise
from adjoining staterooms was minimal. The balcony was large
enough to have four chairs and a table. We were on the Dolphin
deck and I do
understand that other balconies were not as large -- so you may
want to check that out before deciding on which deck for your
stateroom. The only
downside was the Butler service. See below for an explanation.
The Ship and facilities. Large (is that an understatement?),
roomy, well designed and fairly easy to get around. Of course, a
ship of this size ought to
have lots of interesting places and it did. We rarely got lost
once we got our bearings but it did take a few days. Check our
the library -- literally. Lot's of
good travel related books that you can check out but get there
early in the voyage or they'll be gone.
Email. I suspect most of you did not know that the Grand has
facilities to send email in it's business center. For those who
absolutely keep connected, this
is a pretty good feature. The cost to use one of their PC's was
reasonable. After a while some passengers found out about this
service so toward the end
of the trip there was some wait but you could reserve a time to
use the PC's. Sometimes the server was down which was a bit
inconvenient.
The Food. Princess seems to take hits from the professional
reviewers about Princess food being a bit mediocre. I think we're
fairly discriminating
epicureans and we concluded that the Grand's food was superb
whether it be in the dining rooms or in the Horizon Court. Room
service food was fine,
but not special. We did not try any of the alternative dining
rooms because we always looked forward to dinner in the dining
room. I can't understand,
however, why everyone is raving about the pizza -- it seemed
pretty ordinary to me. It was our feeling that dinner pastas and
the desserts clearly stood
out as exquisite. By the way, our table mates were terrific --
one couple from England and later joined by a couple from
Florida.
Recreation facilities. I used the sports deck almost every
morning. Knowing full well my food intake would exceed all
reason, I decided to job every
morning on this deck. Don't try that on the Promenade deck --
it's just too crowded and it has some stairs. Ten times around
the jogging track got you a
mile and besides, exercising while viewing port arrivals is not a
bad experience. I usually finished off the morning torture by a
few minutes in the fitness
center (lots of equipment but some out of order), took a shower,
then got into one of the saunas, steam room (there are two), or
spa. That was great for
meeting new people and sharing experiences. Here's a tip: Most
people didn't know that there is a men's and women's changing
room adjacent to the
spa area. Using this facility was better than slogging back to
your room in a wet and/or sweaty work out clothes.
The Ports of call and tours. Couldn't ask for a better variety of
places to visit. Venice was awesome, Monte Carlo was a pleasant
surprise -- one of our
favorite places. All the historical sites were facinating
although they were in a bit of disarray -- but, what can you
expect from places that were thousands
of years old? Plan on getting a workout on the tours -- there's
lots of walking and on very uneven surfaces. Suggestion: Bring
along a hip pack that
holds water bottles. Also see my comments on public toilets in
ports of call in the Could Be Better section. By the way, the
wine tour of Tuscany was
superb. The only downside is that the tour guide new virtually
nothing about wine and grapes -- but she did know Italian.
Anyway, Tuscany is a beautiful
place and one afternoon I will remember.
The Staff: Great! Never had any complaints.
COULD BE BETTER SECTION.
Air/Sea Package. Grrrrr!! Very few reviewers have much good to
say about the air package. Ours was a combo inbound and outbound
between United,
Delta, and a charter called American International. Outbound on
AI was ok (the plane was 3/4 full) but inbound from Barcelona to
JFK was a very
unpleasant trip. Thank god they had an open bar. The 747 they
used was OLD and it showed. It was packed and you felt it. The
flight attendents were
obviously haggard but tried to do there best. The final blow was
waiting over two hours to get all our luggage out of baggage
claim. We never did figure
out the reason for the delay but AI gave us about four different
stories over the course of the two hours.
Nickle and Dime charges. Other reviews have already addressed
this issue so there's not much more to say about this. I do
resent having to pay $4 per
person each way for bus shuttles from the pier to downtown
locations. Best to find out other means of transportation because
the tour staff will not
provide you with any advice on this. And, for what good reason
does Princess charge $3.50 per person to eat at one of the
alternative restaurants?
Public Toilets in Ports of Calls. I think I'll write a book on
the strategies, hints, warnings, and techniques of finding and
using public toilets in Europe.
There's probably such a book in existence -- and I'd bring one
with me for the next trip.
The Butler. Those booking a mini-suite will get there very own
butler. We never really figured out what exactly he added to the
service -- but we clearly
understood that he was to be provided an envelop of money at the
end of the voyage. Our room steward did a fine job and it
appeared that there was
some confusion about who did what. Our opinion is that Princess
ought to drop the Butler service. We dismissed ours years ago
(just kidding - never had
one).
The Ship. I suspect that Princess had a very clear purpose when
designing this ship but exterior beauty could not have been one.
Upon first seeing the
Grand, one is awestruck by it's massiveness -- particularly
relative to it's surroundings in ports. But after a while we (and
many others) began to realize
that it is not a graceful looking ship -- particularly from the
stern. So function most likely won out over beauty. Inside,
however, is magnificent.
Venice and the Gondola ride. In spite of what one reads in the
travel books, I don't think the gondola ride is worth the money.
Perhaps it was our
particular experience because our gondolier continued jabbering
away to his fellow gondolier the entire voyage. They sort of went
along the water ways
in parallel and were far more interested in talking to each other
than attending to us ga ga eyed tourists.
Overall Princess ought to be very proud of the Grand and the
amenities it offers. It was a great itinerary that surpassd our
expectations. I would definitely
sail with Princess again because I suspect that booking with
another cruise line (except for a few) would be a letdown.
Feel free to contact me personally by email if you have any
questions.
gsegers@cyberhighway.net
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