Sunrise on the Pacific Ocean.Our first whale sighting from our balcony.Looking back from the aft deck.Calm seas.Beautiful morning.Afternoon fog sets in. The ship blew its foghorn about every two minutes while we were in the fog.Moon setting and its reflection on the water.
Our ship for this cruise was The Grand Princess, the oldest of the Princess Cruise Lines fleet. It was commissioned in 1998, and refurbished in 2016. It has a guest capacity of 2600, compared with the largest of the Princess ships, which have a guest capacity of 3600+. In this post I show many of the things to see around the ship, such as bars, lounges, restaurants, swimming pools and the casino. This is a very long post because there is so much to see and do on the ship!
The Ship
The front (bow) of the Grand Princess at Vancouver port.Our view as we embarked the ship. This is looking toward the bow.Looking toward the rear (aft).The port (left) side of the Grand Princess. Our suite was on the starboard (right) side.The rear (aft) of the Grand Princess.
Our stateroom suite
Our suite was on the Dolphin Deck, deck 9. We wore medallions which were actually transponders that unlocked our door as we neared our suite. They also scanned the medallions whenever we disembarked or embarked at ports of call, or had an adult beverage (we were allowed 15 per day).View from the front of our suite, looking out toward the balcony. It was pretty comfortable.It was windy on the balcony, of course!
Passenger Services desk.Another fine dining restaurant.Jewelry store.Shop with Alaska themed merchandise.Snookers Cigar Bar. Cigar-only smoking allowed in this bar.Inside Snookers Bar.Items autographed by Michael Jordan, Troy Aikman and Tiger Woods.Basketball autographed by Shaquille O’Neal.Another of the three fine dining restaurants included with our package.Baked AlaskaElevator lobby outside the Casino.We did not participate in the Grand Casino, but I did go through it to take some pictures.
Deck 7 – Promenade Deck
The Princess Theater is the venue for the largest capacity shows. We went to several shows here – they were quite good!The Crown Grill is the premium fine dining restaurant. There is a $50 per person extra charge for meals here – not included in the dining and beverage plan.Crown Grill.People would sit at these tables and play card games, dominoes, etc.Crooners Bar.Wheelhouse Bar.Wheelhouse Bar has a nautical theme. Many paintings of historic ships.Explorers Lounge is also a venue for performances.Vista Lounge has drinks and performances. We went to a worship service here on the Sunday morning we were on the ship.
Deck 14 – Lido Deck
There is an outdoor and an indoor pool on the Lido deck.This is the indoor pool.The outdoor pool also has “Movies Under the Stars” all day long and late into the night. The movie screen is also accessible from the Sun deck.Pizza by the slice, always very good and hot.Another bar.The Salty Dog has excellent hamburgers, hot dogs and fries.Ice cream, milk shakes and coffee.Calypso Bar.
Lido Deck – Horizon Court Buffet
The Horizon Court buffet is open 24 hours a day, with rotation of foods. Some nights are themed nights, like Mexican, or Chinese or Crab Shack.
Deck 15 – Sun Deck
Massage at the Lotus Spa. Also a gym and hair salon.The outside bars are open even when it is cold!The One-5 Bar on the 15th deck (Sun deck)There is even a wedding chapel!
Deck 18 – Sports Deck
I just had to shoot some basketball on the 18th deck at the top of the ship. No one else was playing.There were numerous hot tubs throughout the ship.Walking/running track around the sports deck.
Prior to starting our cruise, we spent a half-day day in Vancouver, BC Canada, the port where our cruise began. Before boarding our ship, we took advantage of beautiful weather to see some of Vancouver’s more famous sites. This is a beautiful city, with much greenery, flowers, well-manicured hedges and plants.
A-maze-ing Laughter, a sculpture by Yue Minjun. This is a fun place to try to match the statues’ expressions!Beautiful scenery overlooking English Bay Beach.Totem Poles. Each totem has an explanation of the images on the totem. I can give you the details if you are interested. Pretty neat place.Brockton Point Lighthouse.Lions Gate Bridge with West Vancouver on the other side.Gastown district.Gas Steam Clock in Gastown. Every hour on the hour, this clock plays a tune through the steam pipes on its top. It actually started at 3 minutes before the hour. I videoed it so you can see and hear the performance if you are interested – it is pretty cool.Millennium Gate entrance to Chinatown. Vancouver’s Chinatown is the third largest in North America.Vancouver has some interesting architecture. This Deloitte building looks like it was built with toy building blocks.A lone tree growing atop this building.Neat artistic design on this building.The Paradox Hotel, the second tallest building in British Columbia, 60 stories tall. It was formerly the Trump Hotel Vancouver.1550 Alberni by Kengo Kuma Tower, still under construction. It is 41 stories with 184 condos for sale.Harbour Centre, with the Top of Vancouver revolving restaurant and lookout. We did not have time during our day here, but this would be a neat place to look down on much of Vancouver’s buildings.Partial view of Vancouver skyline.Wider view of Vancouver’s skyline from our ship as we left the port. Heading out to sea!
Grapefruit tree.Our hotel.Sunday morning in Palm Springs.The desert.These cacti are known as “mother-in-law stools”!Grave of Frank Sinatra.This was once Jack Benny’s Estate.Side view of Jack Benny’s Estate.Mid century house famous for a 1970 photo called “Poolside Gossip”.Poolside Gossip, 1970.Elvis Presley estate.Marilyn Monroe’s estate.Elvis’s Honeymoon Hideaway. Elvis and Priscilla spent their honeymoon here in 1967. This house opened for tours the week after we left Palm Springs!Mid-century house.Dean Martin’s house, in disrepair.Liberace’s house.Frank Sinatra’s house, Twin Palms is a historic site now. It is available for rent like an Air BnB. Not cheap.Front of Twin Palms.Back of Twin Palms. Not in view is the famous swimming pool shaped like a grand piano.Palm Springs.Another mid century house.This is known as Robolights, an art and light display that was created in 1986.This mural was actually a paint-by-numbers creation that was painted by many visitors to the La Quinta Arts Festival in 2019. Visitors were invited to add their finger paint marks to the montage.“Forever Marilyn” by Seward Johnson, 1996.The Cake in Palm Springs by Decluuz.The Palm Springs Babies by David Cerny.Lucille Ball sculpture.Lunch at Elmer’s. Great choice.German pancake was delicious!Palm Springs Airport, outside.Mt. San Gorgonio from Palm Springs Airport.
Rocks that can be seen in Joshua Tree National Park: Cottonwood Pass Monzogranite, Phyllite, White Tank Monzogranite, Basalt, Pinto Gneiss, Skarn Deposits, Granite, Twentynine Palms Quartz Monzonite, Foliated Gneiss with Intrusive Granite RocksJoshua Tree has more interesting rock formations than Joshua Trees!A few Joshua Trees in front of a rock formation.Field of Joshua Trees.Can you see why this is called Skull Rock?Skull Rock.A Joshua Tree.Another Joshua Tree.Cholla Cactus Garden. Pronounce “choya”.Close up Cholla Cactus.
