Onboard the Grand---the sequel

[Crzn-Life]

At the end of our 1st week on the Grand, I posted a review. We’ve now completed an additional 2 weeks on the Grand and I can tell you emphatically that the Grand continued to be a grand and wonderful experience. The 2nd week (10-17) was better than the first and the 3rd (17-24) was as nice.

 

 

Here’s my updated take on the rest of the cruise:

 

 

Customs for Intransits: This was a pretty smooth process both times. The first time we had a delay getting onboard because of a software glitch plus we had to wait over ½ an hour in the terminal for them to clear the ship. The last time (the 17th) it went more quickly and the wait was just a very few minutes before we could re-board. Again there was a software issue with the card readers, but it was minimal and we got right back on.

 

 

Muster Drill: We attended the muster drill at the beginning of the 1st cruise. For the 2 subsequent cruises we were told that we didn’t have to attend the safety drill even though they strongly recommended it.

 

 

Food and Service: There was no decline in service from any of the staff. If possible, it got better as we all became more and more comfortable with each other. We never made it to the Crown Grill but ate a Sabatini’s once each week. The first time it wasn’t so great. The last week it was excellent. DH thought the lobster was really good. Also the last week the lobster in the MDR was better too he says. We do not go to the buffet, but we did try one day while in port. The new design looks nice with the desserts in a separate area, however the food in the steam tables just didn’t look good, so we went to the burger place instead.

 

 

MDR Lunches: Lunch was served in the Da Vinci dining room embarkation (turn-around) days, sea days and on days we were scheduled to arrive in port at 1:00 p.m. (Curacao). The only times we missed lunch in the MDR when it was available was the days the Most Traveled Passenger luncheons were held.

 

 

Our Caribe Balcony: We adjusted quite well to the new furniture. I spent 2 or 3 hours every day on the balcony and enjoyed it tremendously. We don’t eat meals out there so the tiny table worked quite well for coffee, drinks and canapés. I still prefer the painted deck to the nasty old mat they used to have. It was much cleaner. Also we weren’t bothered by any smoke from cabins forward of ours. Just love the no-smoking on balconies and in stateroom. On the 2nd cruise the people in the next cabin seemed to be having issues which they “discussed” at very high volume on the balcony. Not nice to hear. Plus it’s hard to imagine wasting precious cruise time fighting with someone.

 

 

Casino: On the first cruise there were a lot of serious gamblers. There were smokers too, but not so many that you couldn’t occasionally play slots in the smoking section and still be comfortable. The tables were always comfortable because they enforce the no-smoking rule there. The second cruise had fewer gamblers and smokers. Totally different story on the last week. Chain smokers and the air was heavy and blue in the smoking area of the slots and just walking through would choke you. There weren’t as many people at the tables but the slots were always busy. In the no-smoking section the slot machines were primarily the old ones plus there were a lot fewer machines. There also seemed to be a large turn-over in the casino staff for the 3rd week.

 

 

Internet: No problems at all for the last 2 weeks. Connectivity was good throughout the last 2 weeks. Each week the time not used was carried over to the next cruise so we both ended up with a lot of unused time at the end of the cruise. That’s surprising because we are pretty heavy users, but with good connectivity a lot of time isn’t wasted in trying to open websites or download.

 

 

Stateroom: Our steward was really great. Sometime ago I read a post where someone was complaining that the sheets weren’t changed. Certainly not an issue for us. The sheets are typically changed once during the middle of 7-day cruise and of course at the end. Ours were changed frequently…every 2 or 3 days. Amenities were replenished on a regular basis. We also had a beautiful floral arrangement sent to us at the beginning of week 2. The florist told us it would last a week if we watered it daily. The 1st time I tried to water it, I ended up with water everywhere. Our steward was taking care of it for us! He watered it daily and removed any dying flowers so the arrangement stayed in great shape for over a week and was still in good shape after almost 2 weeks.

 

 

Disembarkation: By the time we were up and looking out at the pier from our balcony, the self-helps were in line for taxis. We dressed, packed up the rest of our stuff and went to the Elite lounge (Vista) at about 8:00 a.m. and there was lots of room. Went to IC for my last double latte then waited for our color to be called. It was called just a couple of minutes ahead of the time listed in the disembarkation instructions. We made our way to the mid-ship elevators and one was waiting when we got there. Went down 1 deck and found a very short line so with no waiting, made our way off the ship. We found our luggage easily and we the lines for Customs moved quickly. The agent was friendly and efficient and off we went to the taxi line. Again no waiting - all very quick and painless. Well, leaving the ship was painful because we really didn’t want to go home, but the process was quick and efficient.

 

 

General Info:

 

 

 

1. Spring Break:

• It was spring break so there were lots of under 21’s. There were 250 something on the 2nd week but we hardly noticed them. We don’t eat in the buffet or hang out at the pool, or watch MUTS so that would account for not seeing many of them.
  
• There were over 400 under 21’s onboard the 3rd week. For this cruise saw something we’ve never seen before: A Parental Advisory was sent to every stateroom which in essence reminded the parents that they were responsible for their children and that rules were to be obeyed. Infractions could lead to being put off the ship. Really pleased to see it. There seemed to be more young children. Saw more of them on this cruise because they seemed to think the stairs are race tracks!
  

2. As mentioned previously, we don’t go to the buffet or pool, but we do pass through the area on our way to One5 (love the non-smoking area behind the club overlooking the terrace pool). There were reminders on all of the lounges that they couldn’t be held for long periods and that belongings would be removed. I think staff actually moved stuff because the table that had a sign on it indicated it was stuff removed from the lounges always had a lot of things on it like books, glasses, etc.

 

3. There’s a new princess policy at Princess Cays requiring passengers to take photo ID if they planned to go outside the Princess gate. Don’t recall ever seeing that requirement before.

 

4. A photo ID was also required at San Juan to return to the ship. It wasn’t in the Patter and we didn’t hear any announcements to that effect so I didn’t have a photo ID with me and was given a lot of grief by the guard at the gate.

 

5. We didn’t hear many of the announcements because they weren’t going through Channel 46 on the TV. Don’t know what the story was on that.

 

6. Grapevine: The wine-tastings were scheduled the 1st sea day of each cruise. We didn’t go because we’ve been to so many and who needs any more shot/liqueur glasses? Well, we might have out-smarted ourselves. On week 3 right after the Grapevine winetasting was held, we were talking to the sommelier. When we told him we hadn’t gone to the Grapevine because we were tired of the same old, same old….La Cremea, Nobilo, Wolf Blas, etc., he told us that he presented different wines. He said he used new and better ones like Luce. Of course we could have been having a mis-communication and he was talking about the Sommelier’s Wine Tasting instead of the Grapevine, but we did ask him to verify that we were talking about the Grapevine.

 

7. Each of the 3 cruises had distinct “personalities”. The first week the majority of the people dressed up and formal nights were special. The second week there were more families with children and it was a little more casual, but still people dressed up more. The 3rd week was very different. At the end of the week many of the folks still appeared to be lost! Also the demographics of the passengers seemed to be very different. Formal nights had people dressing up, but not to the extent as on the previous cruises. All in all we spent 21 wonderful days aboard the Grand. We thoroughly enjoyed it and it was really difficult to pack up and leave.

 

We’ve been on a lot of cruises and ships. Without equivocation, this was one of the best cruises we’ve been on. It was fun just lolling around on the ship in familiar Caribbean waters and ports. The service on the ship was wonderful. We thought 21 days would be too many, but they weren’t.

[Coolmama_1]

Great review. It sure does show how demographics can change the whole experience. Thanks for sharing.

[kywildcatfanone]

Great review, thanks for taking the time to write it up. Sounds wonderful. We board Saturday, so I'm really glad to hear all is well with the Grand. We were on her in December and had a great trip, so I hope next week will be as well!

 

Mike

[cibaygirls]

Thanks for your review. Interesting to see how the personality of the ship changes with the demographic.

[paul929207]

Thanks for the comments. Makes me look even more towards our journey on the Grand Next year

[highheel girl]

Thanks.

[xavier]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post, you have made me so excited to board the Grand! Did you ever go to Vines? and if so, was it crowded?

[OnVacation11]

Thanks for the review. We are really looking forward to our 1st cruise on the Grand. Sounds like she is a great ship.

[westie1490]

Great review - we were on the Grand for 5 weeks last year and due to go on in May - just one question- do they still offer Zumba on board on sea days ?

We had the fantastic Paul from the ents team last year and he was fantastic.

[6MonthsHere6MonthsThere]

Thanks for the review, we were on her the 1st week of your three and agree about the friendly staff,especially around the International Cafe. We will be back on her in just over a week for her Transatlantic crossing to the UK:D.

[shepp]

Great review - we were on the Grand for 5 weeks last year and due to go on in May - just one question- do they still offer Zumba on board on sea days ?

We had the fantastic Paul from the ents team last year and he was fantastic.

 

 

They did when I was aboard in February, in the Vista. Leader was Kelly, who'd taught line dancing on a previous cruise of ours, and whom we enjoyed. It did get crowded in there, though. I wish that Princess had a larger space for Zumba and dance classes, or held Zumba on deck the way they did on the Island.

[Crzn-Life]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post, you have made me so excited to board the Grand! Did you ever go to Vines? and if so, was it crowded?

 

We didn't go to Vines. The number of people at Vines seems to depend on the cruise "personality" or demographic. The cruise on 3/3 seemed to have quite a few wine-drinkers and there were people at Vines but we never saw it crowded. On the last week more of the crowd seemed to be beer and mixed-drink imbibers and we seldom saw many people in Vines.

[Crzn-Life]

Great review - we were on the Grand for 5 weeks last year and due to go on in May - just one question- do they still offer Zumba on board on sea days ?

We had the fantastic Paul from the ents team last year and he was fantastic.

 

 

Yes, Zumba was offered on sea days. The staff member's name in the Patter was Kelly for those during the 2nd & 3rd weeks. No name given the 1st week. The first week it was in the a.m., the last 2 weeks in the afternoon.

 

The 1st week it was on deck by the Neptune pool and the other weeks in the Vista lounge.