In honor of Princess Cruises’ massive transformation of its Grand Princess in May, our 1998 trivia contest promised a free Europe cruise to one winner. And now we’ve got him! Gilmour Callender, of North Lanarkshire, was chosen randomly from all players who’d answered a question correctly. The contest, which we held in conjunction with the [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Live from Grand Princess’
June 8, 2011
Watch this, feel fabulous
As Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess pulled out of Vigo a few weeks back, the ship’s entertainment staff planned a full-on British-themed sailaway (easily 80 percent of passengers were Brits). It was a great party, moving and boisterous at the same time. This, we heard people say over and over again, is one reason why cruising [...]
May 31, 2011
Grand Princess: Our last impressions
In a blog written as we were preparing to board Grand Princess last week to check out its mighty refurbishment, I wondered: Will this new stuff make cruising better on Grand Princess? Will it make the experience more fun? Can you teach an old ship new tricks? After our seven night cruise has ended – [...]
May 27, 2011
Live from Grand Princess: Cutting a red ribbon
Red ribbon cutting ceremonies launching trendy new bars aren’t typically in the realm of cruise ships. Most of the time the bars open their doors on ships’ inaugural debuts just as passengers begin boarding. But on Grand Princess, a longer-then-expected project to remove the iconic old Skywalkers – and build the brand new One5 – [...]
May 26, 2011
On Grand Princess, we forgot one thing
For all the chatter on Cruise Critic over the past week about the transformation of Grand Princess, we forgot to tell you one thing. Sure, the new piazza’s great, the pizza’s delicious and the sleek new nightclub — premiered last night, we’ve got great photos — are all well and good. But in the end, [...]
May 25, 2011
Lasting Impressions: Romance on Grand Princess
When it comes to setting the stage for onboard romance, Princess Cruises has long been more successful than any other line in aptly making this point: If you’re a couple, of whatever age or tenure, and you want a simply swooning experience, book yourself on a Princess cruise. From the earliest stages of our one-year [...]
May 24, 2011
Grand Princess: Aft impressions
Grand Princess has always been rather unusual in that it has a string of four pools along across its sundeck rather than the usual three. The last, lying at the back of the ship and, until its recent refurbishment was trapped under the shadows of the mighty maw of Skywalkers, its ungainly disco, was an [...]
May 23, 2011
Grand Princess: First Impressions
The much heralded refurbishment of Grand Princess has indeed inspired about the vessel a new buzz of excitement. And yet I’ve set out on this seven night cruise along the Atlantic coast of France, Spain and Portugal with a persistent message thrumming through my head. Call me a traditionalist (actually most mariners in the classic [...]
May 22, 2011
Quiz: Name these ships
It’s a great day on Grand Princess in Southampton. Which other two cruise ships are in port with us? And for a bonus: Also in photo — vessels from a ferry line and a cargo shipper (to name the latter think of a Royal connotation). Name those too. Quiz ends Monday, 10 a.m. BST. Follow [...]
May 19, 2011
We’re Live on Grand Princess!
It may be hard to believe this but when Princess Cruises launched Grand Princess 13 years ago the vessel was the Oasis of the Seas of its time. It was, like Oasis, the biggest cruise ship ever built when it debuted in Manhattan (to fireworks and a successful champers smash by godmother Olivia de Havilland). [...]
