Conniemc
3rd Officer
I have tried to post this 10 times under Reviews...wasn't happening. If someone could move it to Reviews, that would be great.
Review of the Grand Princess Mediterranean Sailing Nov 6th-18th, 2009
Venice to Rome
First, this review focuses on the sailing itself, not the many ports. That review will follow.
I paid for the cruise transfers from the Venice Airport and disembarkation transfer to Rome airport. The transfers and embarkation were excellent. Smooth, organized and without undue delay. As I made my own air arrangements through Expedia, (much lower cost and wanted to choose my own times, seats, etc.), I wasn’t sure there would be someone from Princess there immediately to meet me at the baggage claim. However, it seems many people were on my flight, so all was well. Since I had an Alitalia connection from Rome to Venice with a very short layover, and they are notorious for losing baggage, I made sure my cruise tags were attached, double checked the airlines tags and mentioned at check-in in Rome that my bags needed to get to Venice with me, as I was sailing that day (not the whole truth, as the ship was overnighting in Venice). She took the baggage claim numbers, and entered them into her system. Since at least 30 passengers on my sailing who came in on Alitalia were without bags for up to 3 days, I was quite pleased I took precautions.
The Rome airport was enormous and chaos central and the baggage handlers went on “strike†for our flight, as it had started to drizzle rain outside. I’m told this is quite common. The “strike†ends when the rain stops. Fortunately, the rain stopped briefly before our scheduled takeoff, and the flight was only delayed approx. 30 minutes. For Alitalia, this would be a good flight.
When I entered my cabin, I immediately realized the ship had indeed gone through a very recent wet dock, as clearly the bedding, carpeting, upholstery was new, as were the flat screen televisions and the wonderful massage showerheads. With that relief past, I went to look for what should have been in the cabin. My robe, requested fruits, excursions tickets and bon voyage gifts to myself. None were present. I found my steward and requested same. She immediately brought my excursion tickets and champagne, but nothing else. I explained I really needed a robe (and a shower!) she came back with a “child size’ torn and tattered robe. I explained it was far too small, and she said Princess hasn’t given them new robes in years. She quickly came back with a “suite†robe, which I could at least wrap around me, although it too was old. Little things make or break a cruise for me, and to my delight, the hot water was very hot, the water pressure very strong and the shower head very relaxing.
While they did have the little annoying bottles of shampoo (I brought my own) I was displeased that I could not get a shower cap. I hardly thought to pack one, as I’ve never cruised where one wasn’t provided. None of these issues however, changed the fact that the steward did everything she could do take care of me.
We hit a violent storm the second night while heading to Olympia, Greece. The ship listed at 20-30 degrees port all night long, while the gale force winds made closing the veranda doors quite difficult. Since I love storms, I went out frequently to watch the constant lightening, thunder and winds. I did, however, make note of where the life jacket was. I also noted the other cruise ships “clustered†with us during the night. I presume in case one of us had to abandon ship. The Captain announced in the early morning, we could not make port at Olympia with the storm and instead had to continue on to Dubrovnik, Croatia. No compensation was offered.
Since this cruise was very port intensive, little time was spent aboard. Thank goodness, since the daily planner was EMPTY each day, except for "do it yourself" games and movies and a nightly show.
I did request and was given early fixed seating dinner at 6:15pm at a table for 8. I was given an excellent location and 4 dining companions. Since there is always a wait list for fixed seating, no one could figure out where the other people ate, but they never showed. The other tables were full. Since navigating the Grand takes a GPS system (you have to go up 2 decks to get to a place 3 decks down), we figured they couldn’t find the darn room and went elsewhere. Seriously, one of the worst laid out ships imaginable.
I was fortunate that for the first time in many, many years, I had both an excellent steward (Judi) and waiter (Rolando). Both were Pilipino and provided me with excellent service. Sadly, this was not the case throughout the ship. Customer service was spotty at best, and downright non-existent at the front desk. Phones were never answered, requests and/or issues never followed up on, etc. However, since I boarded this ship was very low expectations for quality, it didn’t really affect my cruise experience.
What did affect my experience was the food. I simply cannot express how bad it was. I was actually hungry every day and had my first decent meal ashore in Greece. At the buffet, eggs were powdered, bacon was burnt and crumbled, hot chocolate was powdered, salad fixings were wilted and/or brown, selections were fair, but terribly overcooked and dry, regardless of whether it was a chicken, fish or pasta selection. About the only thing I found edible at the buffet was the desserts and fresh fruit. Bread selections in both the buffet and dining areas were stale and/or burnt.
The main dining room did not fair much better. While the menu was never repeated, and presented excellent selections, rarely did the prepared meal live up to it’s billing. Again, the desserts were the saving grace, but I would much rather have had a good dinner and no dessert.
As an experienced cruiser, I never punish the waiter for bad food or delays in the kitchen by asking to have selections taken back, etc. I learned instead, after the second day, to order fettuccini alfredo (the only reliably good entrée on the menu) every night, in addition to whatever, so at least I would have one thing to eat. I ended up eating A LOT of fettuccini alfredo.
The service throughout the dining room seemed good to excellent and my elevated table was in a great position to see everything, so I took note of other’s experiences. As I often left dinner hungry, there were many times I would attempt to get room service. I say ‘attempt’ as many times over 30 minutes would go by without anyone answering (this is at 10pm – not 3am). There was no point complaining to the front desk, as complaints were largely ignored. So one night out of frustration and hunger, I dressed and made my way up to the “24 hour buffetâ€Â…not so. I arrived shortly after 10pm to the “Bistro†set up, which consisted of sliced hot dogs au jus (I’m not kidding), congealed and vastly inedible leftovers from the lunch buffet. The brave could try the dried out cheese and crackers, for me, I just left.
When room service did show up, the food as expected, again, the only selection that excelled was the flan. Breakfast pre-orders in my cabin fared better. I always got precisely what I ordered, and always on time, which was 2 pastries, 2 croissants and jam and powered hot chocolate. I lived on primarily on continental breakfast, fettuccini and flan for two weeks. Again, I had low expectations, however, having been on the Ruby less than a year ago, I expected the buffet to be the same as the Ruby, which wasn’t half bad at all. The Grand was NOT the Ruby.
Just when I wished I was aboard a Celebrity ship, we docked next to Solstice in Mykonos. The site of that monstrosity on the Mediterranean was enough to stop those thoughts. It looked like Godzilla of the Seas. Like an enormous brick of humanity floating on the beautiful waters.
Princess has changed their smoking policy without notification. What else is new? On the Grand, you can no longer smoke in any lounge except a tiny sports dive called Snookers, the casino all nights but one (and that night the casino was empty) and a small area of the disco. At least half the pax were smokers. Outdoor smoking is now banned to deck 7 only. Thank God I could at least do as I pleased in my own veranda cabin. The passengers were mostly over the age of 70 and from rural American towns. A tiny slice of Japanese, Brits, Canadians, and urban Americans peppered the mix ever so slightly. However, seeing blue jeans (which yes Virginia, ARE permitted at dinner) with cowboy hats was a common site. Southern twangs abounded, as did canes and walkers. Had this not been port intensive, I would have been miserable with the pax demographic. But as always, I managed to seek out and find the few pax I could have some fun with, so I was fine.
Disembarkation was the best I had ever experienced. Instead of forcing everyone into a large room, so the crew could clean the ship, we were given different uncrowded small lounges all around the ship to meet in and were immediately taken off ship and boarded to the buses to the Rome airport. There was no cabin steward “lurking†at 6am pressuring you to get OUT. In fact, none were to be seen. I went up for a breakfast at the buffet, came back to my cabin, left around 7:45am to meet my group and was at the airport in less than an hour. Five stars for the disembarkation. Real kudos there.
All in all, I can’t say I was overly disappointed in anything, as I expected little. This cruise was all about the ports, not the ship. I do wish I could have had a few decent meals on board, but other than that, it was fine. Would I take another Princess? Highly doubtful. It seems the best quality and service are being sent to the “monster†ships, which I have no interest in. The vast majority of the crew were under 25, and when I found an experienced veteran, who was the bar manager, he confirmed they are shipping their best talent off to the mega ships and lamented over having to work with such inexperienced crew.
This cruiser got what she wanted. To see some amazing ports and experience the Mediterranean.
Review of the Grand Princess Mediterranean Sailing Nov 6th-18th, 2009
Venice to Rome
First, this review focuses on the sailing itself, not the many ports. That review will follow.
I paid for the cruise transfers from the Venice Airport and disembarkation transfer to Rome airport. The transfers and embarkation were excellent. Smooth, organized and without undue delay. As I made my own air arrangements through Expedia, (much lower cost and wanted to choose my own times, seats, etc.), I wasn’t sure there would be someone from Princess there immediately to meet me at the baggage claim. However, it seems many people were on my flight, so all was well. Since I had an Alitalia connection from Rome to Venice with a very short layover, and they are notorious for losing baggage, I made sure my cruise tags were attached, double checked the airlines tags and mentioned at check-in in Rome that my bags needed to get to Venice with me, as I was sailing that day (not the whole truth, as the ship was overnighting in Venice). She took the baggage claim numbers, and entered them into her system. Since at least 30 passengers on my sailing who came in on Alitalia were without bags for up to 3 days, I was quite pleased I took precautions.
The Rome airport was enormous and chaos central and the baggage handlers went on “strike†for our flight, as it had started to drizzle rain outside. I’m told this is quite common. The “strike†ends when the rain stops. Fortunately, the rain stopped briefly before our scheduled takeoff, and the flight was only delayed approx. 30 minutes. For Alitalia, this would be a good flight.
When I entered my cabin, I immediately realized the ship had indeed gone through a very recent wet dock, as clearly the bedding, carpeting, upholstery was new, as were the flat screen televisions and the wonderful massage showerheads. With that relief past, I went to look for what should have been in the cabin. My robe, requested fruits, excursions tickets and bon voyage gifts to myself. None were present. I found my steward and requested same. She immediately brought my excursion tickets and champagne, but nothing else. I explained I really needed a robe (and a shower!) she came back with a “child size’ torn and tattered robe. I explained it was far too small, and she said Princess hasn’t given them new robes in years. She quickly came back with a “suite†robe, which I could at least wrap around me, although it too was old. Little things make or break a cruise for me, and to my delight, the hot water was very hot, the water pressure very strong and the shower head very relaxing.
While they did have the little annoying bottles of shampoo (I brought my own) I was displeased that I could not get a shower cap. I hardly thought to pack one, as I’ve never cruised where one wasn’t provided. None of these issues however, changed the fact that the steward did everything she could do take care of me.
We hit a violent storm the second night while heading to Olympia, Greece. The ship listed at 20-30 degrees port all night long, while the gale force winds made closing the veranda doors quite difficult. Since I love storms, I went out frequently to watch the constant lightening, thunder and winds. I did, however, make note of where the life jacket was. I also noted the other cruise ships “clustered†with us during the night. I presume in case one of us had to abandon ship. The Captain announced in the early morning, we could not make port at Olympia with the storm and instead had to continue on to Dubrovnik, Croatia. No compensation was offered.
Since this cruise was very port intensive, little time was spent aboard. Thank goodness, since the daily planner was EMPTY each day, except for "do it yourself" games and movies and a nightly show.
I did request and was given early fixed seating dinner at 6:15pm at a table for 8. I was given an excellent location and 4 dining companions. Since there is always a wait list for fixed seating, no one could figure out where the other people ate, but they never showed. The other tables were full. Since navigating the Grand takes a GPS system (you have to go up 2 decks to get to a place 3 decks down), we figured they couldn’t find the darn room and went elsewhere. Seriously, one of the worst laid out ships imaginable.
I was fortunate that for the first time in many, many years, I had both an excellent steward (Judi) and waiter (Rolando). Both were Pilipino and provided me with excellent service. Sadly, this was not the case throughout the ship. Customer service was spotty at best, and downright non-existent at the front desk. Phones were never answered, requests and/or issues never followed up on, etc. However, since I boarded this ship was very low expectations for quality, it didn’t really affect my cruise experience.
What did affect my experience was the food. I simply cannot express how bad it was. I was actually hungry every day and had my first decent meal ashore in Greece. At the buffet, eggs were powdered, bacon was burnt and crumbled, hot chocolate was powdered, salad fixings were wilted and/or brown, selections were fair, but terribly overcooked and dry, regardless of whether it was a chicken, fish or pasta selection. About the only thing I found edible at the buffet was the desserts and fresh fruit. Bread selections in both the buffet and dining areas were stale and/or burnt.
The main dining room did not fair much better. While the menu was never repeated, and presented excellent selections, rarely did the prepared meal live up to it’s billing. Again, the desserts were the saving grace, but I would much rather have had a good dinner and no dessert.
As an experienced cruiser, I never punish the waiter for bad food or delays in the kitchen by asking to have selections taken back, etc. I learned instead, after the second day, to order fettuccini alfredo (the only reliably good entrée on the menu) every night, in addition to whatever, so at least I would have one thing to eat. I ended up eating A LOT of fettuccini alfredo.
The service throughout the dining room seemed good to excellent and my elevated table was in a great position to see everything, so I took note of other’s experiences. As I often left dinner hungry, there were many times I would attempt to get room service. I say ‘attempt’ as many times over 30 minutes would go by without anyone answering (this is at 10pm – not 3am). There was no point complaining to the front desk, as complaints were largely ignored. So one night out of frustration and hunger, I dressed and made my way up to the “24 hour buffetâ€Â…not so. I arrived shortly after 10pm to the “Bistro†set up, which consisted of sliced hot dogs au jus (I’m not kidding), congealed and vastly inedible leftovers from the lunch buffet. The brave could try the dried out cheese and crackers, for me, I just left.
When room service did show up, the food as expected, again, the only selection that excelled was the flan. Breakfast pre-orders in my cabin fared better. I always got precisely what I ordered, and always on time, which was 2 pastries, 2 croissants and jam and powered hot chocolate. I lived on primarily on continental breakfast, fettuccini and flan for two weeks. Again, I had low expectations, however, having been on the Ruby less than a year ago, I expected the buffet to be the same as the Ruby, which wasn’t half bad at all. The Grand was NOT the Ruby.
Just when I wished I was aboard a Celebrity ship, we docked next to Solstice in Mykonos. The site of that monstrosity on the Mediterranean was enough to stop those thoughts. It looked like Godzilla of the Seas. Like an enormous brick of humanity floating on the beautiful waters.
Princess has changed their smoking policy without notification. What else is new? On the Grand, you can no longer smoke in any lounge except a tiny sports dive called Snookers, the casino all nights but one (and that night the casino was empty) and a small area of the disco. At least half the pax were smokers. Outdoor smoking is now banned to deck 7 only. Thank God I could at least do as I pleased in my own veranda cabin. The passengers were mostly over the age of 70 and from rural American towns. A tiny slice of Japanese, Brits, Canadians, and urban Americans peppered the mix ever so slightly. However, seeing blue jeans (which yes Virginia, ARE permitted at dinner) with cowboy hats was a common site. Southern twangs abounded, as did canes and walkers. Had this not been port intensive, I would have been miserable with the pax demographic. But as always, I managed to seek out and find the few pax I could have some fun with, so I was fine.
Disembarkation was the best I had ever experienced. Instead of forcing everyone into a large room, so the crew could clean the ship, we were given different uncrowded small lounges all around the ship to meet in and were immediately taken off ship and boarded to the buses to the Rome airport. There was no cabin steward “lurking†at 6am pressuring you to get OUT. In fact, none were to be seen. I went up for a breakfast at the buffet, came back to my cabin, left around 7:45am to meet my group and was at the airport in less than an hour. Five stars for the disembarkation. Real kudos there.
All in all, I can’t say I was overly disappointed in anything, as I expected little. This cruise was all about the ports, not the ship. I do wish I could have had a few decent meals on board, but other than that, it was fine. Would I take another Princess? Highly doubtful. It seems the best quality and service are being sent to the “monster†ships, which I have no interest in. The vast majority of the crew were under 25, and when I found an experienced veteran, who was the bar manager, he confirmed they are shipping their best talent off to the mega ships and lamented over having to work with such inexperienced crew.
This cruiser got what she wanted. To see some amazing ports and experience the Mediterranean.
.. unable to post back there..
