Question re Grand Princess

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CathyP

Guest
Hi there Princess fans
My husband and I are investigating a transatlantic crossing for April 2010...various cruises however the Grand Princess itinary is looking pretty appealing. We are frequent Princess cruisers (along with Celebrity and HAL) but have not been on the Grand for many years...anyone aware when it last was refurbished and/or what kind of shape it currently is in?

Appreciate your assistance
Many thanks
 
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Conniemc

Guest
According to recent pax on cruise critics, she isn't looking very pretty. All of the cruiselines it would seem, are spacing the dry docks out further and further.

I am sailing her in Nov and will expect a lot of wear and tear. Maybe you'll get lucky and after she repositions in late November, she'll be dry docked! Wouldn't that be lovely?
 
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Snowblower

Guest
Was on her last year and she was showing some wear then but I don't think it was that bad. Unless they cancel a couple of cruises this ship won't see drydock prior to April 2011 (have full sailing schedule). The ship was constructed in 1998, last refurbished in 2004.
 
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drewt

Guest
I was on her in March 09 and they had replaced a lot of the carpeting and had installed flat screen tvs in all the cabins. Its not looking bad actually. My balcony (aft) was a little rough though with losts of metal rot around the edges. Generally speaking, if you look for problems you can find them but the overall appearance was ok.
 
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Conniemc

Guest
Rant

drewt said:
I was on her in March 09 and they had replaced a lot of the carpeting and had installed flat screen tvs in all the cabins. Its not looking bad actually. My balcony (aft) was a little rough though with losts of metal rot around the edges. Generally speaking, if you look for problems you can find them but the overall appearance was ok.
Click to expand...

I think certain lost cost items, there is no excuse for not replacing. Like toilet seats, shower heads, rugs, linens, etc. Each month the ship makes millions of dollars - spending 50K of nonimal repairs should be the least we demand as customers. I've been on "not looking bad" and "ok" ships. I don't think pax should consider that acceptable, unless you are paying rock bottom prices. In my case on the Grand, I am paying rock bottom. For the people booking now, at over 4Kpp, I don't think "ok" is acceptable. All ships should be maintained in "Very Good to Excellent" condition at all times.

The Mad Men spent the last year marketing "price per day" for all cruises to bring in new masses. Did it work? Yup. First time cruisers flooded the ships. Are experienced cruisers stupid enough to fall for the "price per day" nonsense when they are charging for every little thing and lowered all standards? Not this one. And once the newbies wise up, they're going to have a fallout. They've painted themselves into a corner with this marketing. They will lose long time people who expect certain standards, and they will lose newbies who realize they can't really enjoy themselves without spending 2x the cabin price for excursions and on boards.
=twocents
 
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drewt

Guest
I don't disagree Connie. I actually complained about the condition of our balcony among many other problems unrelated to the condition of our cabin and Princess gave me a generous credit. (Perhaps its wasn't so generous after all?) I don't know what Princess actually makes in profits but I had assumed they were having a tough go with the cost of fuel. It seems thats not the case?
 
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Conniemc

Guest
drewt said:
I don't disagree Connie. I actually complained about the condition of our balcony among many other problems unrelated to the condition of our cabin and Princess gave me a generous credit. (Perhaps its wasn't so generous after all?) I don't know what Princess actually makes in profits but I had assumed they were having a tough go with the cost of fuel. It seems thats not the case?
Click to expand...

This should answer your question. Fuel costs, my behind.
:eek:
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=...=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
 
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