Princess Cruises - Ocean Medallion Update

Princess has announced that their Ocean Medallion program will expand beyond the current trio of Ocean Medallion enabled vessel of the Royal, Regal, and Caribbean Princess.  By the end of 2020, guests on most itineraries will be sailing with the technology.

Note that the Pacific, Star, and Golden are not mentioned.  This is interesting since the Star and Golden have recieved some of the foundational upgrades for Ocean Medallion on previous drydocks.  When we sailed on the Star in late 2017 after her drydock in Victoria, there were several technicians working on-board wearing uniforms with Ocean Medallion logos and labels on them.  It's likely that the Ocean Medallion program will be activated on these ships after their transfer to P&O Australia in 2020 and 2022.  The Pacific Princess has an uncertain future and may not ever get Ocean Medallion.  It is also interesting that the Majestic, Sapphire, and Diamond are not mentioned at all.

The list of ships and planned activation dates are listed below the messages from our sponsors.

h/t: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/20825-princess-to-activate-six-more-medallion-ships.html


Booking.com

Ship	Code	Year Built	OM Activation
Sun	SP	1995	Not Announced
Grand	AP	1998	3/29/2020
Sea	CP	1998	Not Announced
Pacific	PA	1999	Not Announced
Golden	NP	2001	Not Announced
Star	TP	2002	Not Announced
Coral	CO	2003	10/16/2020
Island	IP	2003	12/20/2020
Caribbean	CB	2004	Active
Diamond	DI	2004	Not Announced
Sapphire	SA	2004	Not Announced
Crown	KP	2006	7/24/2019
Emerald	EP	2007	8/16/2020
Ruby	RU	2008	1/27/2020
Royal	RP	2013	Active
Regal	GP	2014	Active
Majestic	MJ	2017	Not Announced
Sky	YP	2019	10/12/2019
Enchanted	EX	2020	6/15/2020

Grand Princess Final Drydock Update and return to SFO - 3/18/2019

The Grand has completed her drydock and is on her way back to San Francisco.  At about 9pm tonight she cleared the Columbia Bar in Astoria and will turn south.  This post will include the last few photos and a tracker on her location.  Hope you have all enjoyed following along.  In about 3 weeks we will be trying to follow the Caribbean Princess along on her MONTH LONG drydock to replace an engine and make other improvements.

Some pictures are from the Facebook member "Martin Cruise" - others have been scoured from other internet sources.

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And now, the photos.

A final, beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest

New carpeting in the dining rooms

Crooners' sporting new seat decor

Updated drink station in the Horizon Court

Refreshed elevator interiors

New couch upholstery around Explorers lounge - it doesn't really go well with the carpet, in my opinion.

New paint, new props.

New hottub tiling around both Calypso and Neptune pools

Ocean Medallion ready? (but not enabled yet)

New information screens - these are even nicer than what the Star got in her drydock in 2017.

Work continues through the evening.

Grand Princess Drydock - 3/11/19 Update

Some more photos...

In the drydock "Vigorous"

Booking.com

Fully out of the water

Looks like some work on balcony doors is happening

A lot of work under the waterline

The Grand isn't that large of a ship by modern standards, but this view shows that she is still very large.

Updates to the Neptune Pool and Reef area

The bulbous bow and thrusters

Grand Princess - Drydock update 3/10/2019

I found some photos lurking around on the internet...

Looks like the Calypso Pool is getting new edging and perhaps tile

New carpet in the hallways

New tilework around the hottubs - thank goodness!

New deck railings

General maintenance and upkeep.

Following the Grand on her Drydock Journey

3/4/19 - 8:25pm PT update - The Grand cleared the Astoria Megler Bridge - unfortunately since it is night time, it was hard to see from the camera on the Astoria Column.

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3/4/19 - 7:30 am PT update - The Grand is approximately 260 nautical miles from Astoria and 340 from Portland.  At the current speed of 20.3 knots, she should enter the Columbia River around 7 to 8pm this evening, local time (Pacific time zone).  Once in the Columbia River, she will likely have to reduce her speed to an average of 12 knots which would put her close to the Vigor drydock in NW Portland around 2 or 3am, local time.

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3/3/19 - 2:40 pm PT update - The Grand should be departing soon.

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I anticipate the Grand departing SF on March 3rd in the early afternoon and sailing to her drydock at Vigor Shipyards in Portland, OR shortly thereafter.  It's about 31 hours at 18 knots from SF to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River which would put the Grand sailing by Astoria in the evening of the 4th.  She should then arrive at the shipyard just NW of Portland by midnight.  The weather on the Pacific Coast looks reasonably peaceful for her transit.  For those that are curious about Astoria and the Columbia river, the interface with the river and the Pacific is very treacherous due to geography, river current, and ocean tides.  I go over my recent experience on the Eurodam on this page.  I also highly recommend this book which talks in detail about Astoria and the challenges facing sailors, even to this day.






We'll be following along as she sails, and you can too by watching on this Marinetraffic link as well as the various webcams along the way:

• Astoria LIVE camera

• Astoria Megler bridge from ODOT Office
• Astoria Megler bridge cam 1 - The Grand will sail under this span.
• Astoria Megler bridge cam 2 - The Grand will be visible from this north vantage point
• St Johns Bridge - The Grand may be visible sailing under this bridge very close to the shipyard.

As always, the Grand should have her webcam on

Grand Princess Upcoming Drydock Info and Medallion Update

First thing - Booking.Com has some great deals on hotels no matter where you are and also lists AirBNB and VBRO listings! Check it out!

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Courtesy of our friends at PrincessCruisesFAQ, the Grand is scheduled for drydock in Portland from March 3rd to March 19th.
Unconfirmed information reported from CruiseCritic: 

GUEST AREAS:

• Reupholster lounge chairs in Explorer's, Crooner's, Wheelehouse, Crown Grill, Library, and Snookers. 
• New sofas for Explorer's and Crooner's 
• Replace Mini-suite sleeper sofas 
• Replace astro turf deck covering on upper decks 
• Replace Horizon Court carpeting and tiles 
• Replace Wheelhouse Dance floor 
• Repair/Refinish beverage station cabinets in Horizon Court 
• New carpets in dining room and Crooner's. 
• Ocean Medallion wiring install (not active until subsequent drydock in 2021/2022)

 SHIP SYSTEMS: Inspection and repair of propellers, exchangers, propulsion as well as hot and cold water lines.

As shown above, this will be at the Vigor drydock yard in north Portland, OR, the same place where she had her last drydock.  Here is a great drone flyover video of the Grand during that drydock.

REALLY COOL DRONE video of the last drydock of the Grand in Portland's Vigor shipyard.

A few other notes, Princess has announced the follow schedule for the deployment of MedallionNet (note this is NOT Ocean Medallion, but it is the foundation for it, and does include very fast wifi)

• Currently available on Caribbean, Regal, and Ruby
• Royal - April 13
• Crown - July 24th
• Sky - October 12th - the Sky will also be the first newbuild with the Ocean Medallion activated.