Grand Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We stayed in one of the larger suites C409 (Penthouse), and we're disappointed mainly regarding the balcony, although the cabin was dated. The furniture was old with black mildew on most surfaces and in disrepair. The lounge chairs had stained cushions that were often wet, and the hardware was so corroded that they could not be adjusted. With that said, the crew was overall very nice. The food was good. Alaska was spectacular! Will I cruise on Princess again - NO! As a frequent cruiser on Royal Caribbean, I will return to their ships. I was told that I would be happy with Princess, but plain and simply the Grand Princess is not worth it. To me the balcony is my favorite part of a cruise and I was not able to enjoy it on this ship. Princess should completely refurnish this ship or retire it. Unfortunately, I was told that this ship was refurbished in March of 2019, this is absolutely untrue. Door locks were being changed out in the middle of our cruise. This created problems for our door closing properly and could only lock it by shutting the door extremely hard. Several times I went up to my door and was able to push it open without any use of the key card.
At one point there was a problem with a public toilet on the top deck. I reported black coming out of the toilet to the front desk (as in the water was black). When I went to the sink, the water was black/brown there, too. I showed the first crew person that I could find. He agreed it was a problem - they did NOT close the restroom! I checked the next day, and the water in the toilet was clearer, but the bowl was black and off colored water came out of the sink. I immediately went and used lots of hand sanitizer.
Our travel agent has contacted Princess with photos - unfortunately they have not responded.
Cabin Review
Penthouse Suite with Balcony
The balcony was unacceptable. The room was fine, the bed comfortable. The doors to the balcony did not lock. The carpet was worn and the bathroom was adequate. The room had a large closet with plenty of storage space. The cushions on the outside chairs were wet and mildewed. The teak furniture would have been beautiful it properly maintained. There was black mold on all the surfaces and the hardware was green with corrosion. See pictures.
Port Reviews
San Francisco
I grew up in the bay area and was saddened to see all of the homeless on the streets of San Francisco as we were being driven to the cruise terminal. We even saw a queen size mattress with two homeless people sleeping on it at the train station. Having been to the bay area all of my life, this was especially heartbreaking. Two friends that had never been to San Francisco had some very negative things to say about the cruise terminal surroundings.
Sitka
This excursion was mainly to see whales, and we saw several. Also sea otters.
Haines
Best excursion EVER! Fantastic guides and we learned a lot. We canoed to the Sawyer glacier on a perfect sunny day. This is one trip that I will never forget!!!
Victoria
We walked around Victoria which was very pleasant. The scenery was beautiful, clean and welcoming.
I want to make sure that people understand that the crew was very nice and accommodating. Always. The issue for me and my family is that we were told that this ship had been refurbished in March 2019. That is simply not true. From the balcony furniture to changing the door locks during the cruise and wet painted/lacquered railing on the upper deck - this ship is old. I am already looking to book our next cruise, however it will not be with Princess because I feel that the Princess Representative lied to our travel agent. Just be honest, why is that so hard?