Live from The Grand Princess - February 18 - 25

[kimprior]

We're leaving Fri morning for our voyage on the Grand. I'm so excited, we had a rough year and I'm so looking forward to vacation.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us back home. I am so much more excited than the rest of my family. I've already packed and the suitcases (except for our oldest daughter) which are by the front door waiting. I'm watching the weather and if it looks like a snow storm, we're either heading out on a earlier flight or by Gosh I'll drive to Texas if I have too!

 

Have a great week!

[chris2597]

We're leaving Fri morning for our voyage on the Grand. I'm so excited, we had a rough year and I'm so looking forward to vacation.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us back home. I am so much more excited than the rest of my family. I've already packed and the suitcases (except for our oldest daughter) which are by the front door waiting. I'm watching the weather and if it looks like a snow storm, we're either heading out on a earlier flight or by Gosh I'll drive to Texas if I have too!

 

Have a great week!

 

 

Kim P......DH and I will also be on the Grand this coming weekend....Have you checked in at The Roll Call for Princess? So far there are 76 of us from CC signed up for the Meet and Greet. If interested, go to The Roll Call thread for Princess....The Grand...You will find a link to the 2/25 sailing....Bluey258 (aka, Joanne) has arranged the M and G with Princess for us....but she needs a headcount....

[bjkTX]

We're also going to be on the Grand with you this weekend - as Chris mentioned - come join our Roll Call and the Meet & Greet. We guarantee no snow in Galveston :-)

[TexasAggieCruiser]

Thanks so much for posting while on your vacation!! It's so fun to hear about all the great things I have to look forward to!

 

I was wondering if the ship ended up cancelling a lot of the shore excursions in Costa Maya since you arrived late? If so, which ones? Or did they just adjust the times? Did you stay longer than originally scheduled?

 

I am also interested in the tendering waits at each port, especially for those people who do not have excursions booked with the ship.

[San10s]

Well I am almost two full days behind on my cruise journal here but I don;t have much time right now so it will have to wait until morning. :)

 

I did want to let you all know that today....Playa Del Carmen.....was a hurry up and wiat exercise for most of the day. Although the seas looked and felt pretty calm, there were huge SWELLS. We did not even get off of the ship on the first tender....... for those not on Princess tours....until almost 11 AM. We were in the Vista lounge at 7:45 AM and kept waiting and waiting. The ferries were having a really tough time pulling up to the side of the Grand and the Grand was having a tough time keeping herself steady. We were the first passengers on the ferry and were held at the exit...with the ferry in sight but had to wait another 15 minutes or so because the ramp between the ferry and the ship was boucing all over the place. Even we were finally told to go ahead.....I had to run up the ramp and jump off onto the ferry. The taller folks had to watch their head as sometimes the ramp went up so high that there was less than 5 feet from the ramp to the top of the entry way. Once on the ferry we waited another 25 minutes for it to fill with passengers. Once under way, there was no issue getting over to the pier but again it the ferry and rampway were bouncing all over the place.

 

Tonight, although the last tender was scheduled to leave the pier at 5:30 PM, at 6:45 PM there were several hundred people on the pier still trying to get back to the Grand. Again the sea swells were the issue and so they had to wait. The bigger catamaran type ferry actually crashed into the pier and has a huge gash in the front, left side of it. They were able to continue to use it but it was quite a bump. Many shore tours were cancelled due to the late arrivals today and then many more were cancelled due to the rough sea conditions. Some in our group went snorkeling with Tank Ha but the boat ride to / from as well as how rough the water was for snorkeling should have had them cancelling the excursion....but they didn't. I am glad I hadn't gone to snorkel since the rough conditions would have had me staying on the boat! :eek: We finally pulled anchor at 7:10 PM and headed out from shore to spend the night nearby C0zumel.

 

Everything on board the ship is absolutely wonderful! Have there been a few little thigs....of course....but nothng that would change our great time here on the Grand! :D

 

I will let you know if we make it to Cozumel or if the seas win out tomorrow.:D

[chris2597]

I hope the seas are calm next week.....tendering really un-nerves me.....but I guess it is part of the adventure.

[Princess Bride]

Yeah........ it sounds like these tender trips are excursions all on their own.

[budaman]

The tenders were the one issue that did and will probably continue to be the one weak link in what otherwise is an excellent ship & itinerary. The holding the ferry until it is full is one area they need to look at and ammend....I did write my opinion on the exit card. One interesting thing, the entire week, we were never once asked for a tender ticket. We had Suite Priority Boarding passes and never used one. We always headed down to the tender area as soon as we anchored, and were able to get on the first tender each time.

 

Mike

[San10s]

Good Morning Cruise Critic Buddies!:D

 

I have a little window of time before we leave the ship in Cozumel so I thought I would get another "live" report posted.

 

Day 4 - Belize

 

Belize was the first of our 3 tender ports. It was posted in the Princess Patters that the tender tickets would be handed out in the Vista Lounge at 7:00 AM. Again, this was for anyone NOT doing a Princess excursion. I had booked a cave tubing adventure with Yhonny at Cave-tubing.com for 8 of us. I went to the Vista Lounge...anticipating I would be in line for a while but when I got there...they were already handing out tickets! I got tender tickets for the #1 tender. I left and got ready for breakfast and packed our bags for shore. After enjoying another great breakfast in the dining room, we waited in our cabin to hear them start callin numbers. I never heard any numbers called on the TV but I ran into someone in the elevator area that told me they had just called the first numbers.....so we headed to the Plaza deck (deck 5) where we found the area filled with people. We finally made it onto the tender and then we were on our way to the pier in Belize City. I wasn't shocked how far off the coast we were since many had written here on CC about it but we were well over a mile off the shore. I thought it would take forever to get there but the ferry tendering us wasted no time and we were there within 15 minutes. There are a lot of shops, restaurants and bars right at the dock. We needed to go through the first 'terminal' area and out to the street to meet our topur guide. When we walked towards the exit, there was Yhonny and some of his staff waiting with a big sign with my name on it. It was very easy to get to and find him!

 

We loaded onto a bus.....an older school type bus....and off we went for a tour of Belize City. Many of us were early so we were given the "extra" tour since the bus couldn't stay parked where it was. Yhonny did a nice job narrating the tour. We then returned to the terminal and picked up the rest of the folks who came over on the next couple of tenders. We then were off for the hour long drive to the mountains of Belize. Our driver did an excellent job....especially passing all those slower trucks on the 'highway'. :eek: A little more than half way there we stapped so Yhonny could get some Cashew wine. I (not a big drinker) decided to try a 'shot' since I had heard the water might be cold once at the river. I looked at it as medicinal! ;) One shot was enough for me but my DH enjoyed it and had a couple of more.

 

I will go into more detail about our cave tubing adventure on the Belize board when I return home. Let me just say it was absolutely incredible and one of the top 5 excursions we have done in 17 cruises! Even those with me who were a little nervous about doing this tour thought it was fabulous.

 

After the tour, on the way back from the mountains, we stopped at a local restaurant for a traditional lunch of rice and beans with chicken for $5.00 each. It tasted excellent.....or we were really hungry!

 

Once back at the port we browsed through some of the shops but I didn't find anything to buy. We lined up for the tenders to the Grand and were back on board by 3:30 PM.

 

I am off now to get ready for our Princess Tour - Playa Mia Beachbreak. I will finish the Day 4 report later tonight.

 

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone.:D

[niborHS]

OK, I will try this again. I am on the Grand this week too, but did not read through all the previous posts, but will put my 2 cents in anyway. As Judy mentioned, we did not have our cruise critic get together at sailaway because of the change in muster time. This was disappointing more because I wanted my son to meet the other kids in some organized way. We have been on 12 previous cruises, but this is out first time with Princess, and the first ship without a basketball court. That is where my son usually meets other kids and this hasn't happened. He has made the best of it, but I know he's not thrilled. The ports have been very good, except for the tendering. Embarkation was easy for us. We had a suite, and went into the private area to check in, which was empty. Our friends came in with us as well, and were able to check in too. We were escorted up to the front of the line, and got on easily.

In Costa Maya, we did a dune buggy tour, which was fun. We went to a small beach that was only for those who were on the various dune buggy type tours, which was nice, and they served lunch to us there.

In Belize, we did cave-tubing with Yhonny. Contact them at www.cave-tubing.com. They run an excellent tour, the people who work for them are a great bunch of guys who work very hard and want everyone to be happy. The walk to the cave is moderately strenuous, so keep that in mind. I wear progressive lenses, and looking down where i was walking while carrying a tube was a little difficult, but my son carried the tube for me the second part of the walk. The cave-tubing itself was a great experience.

In Playa Del Carmen we wanted to find a driver to take the 6 of us to Tulum and Xel-ha. They are not used to cruise ships yet, and told us we had to take separate cabs for each leg of the trip. The cab ride to Tulum is $45 one way. When we got to Tulum, the drivers asked us if we wanted them to stay with us for the day, for $100, and we decided that was worth it. It worked out fine. We were in Tulum for about an hour, then went to Xel-ha. It was crowded there, and we didn't have that much time there. We propbably would have been better off planning to spend the whole day there. It is an ecological park, with restuarants, shops, a small zoo, snorkeling, and some other things. We got to the pier just as one tender left, so we had to wait.

The worst part, as I mentioned was the tendering. They use large tenders in Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, which take a long time to fill, and they don't want to leave until they are full. The tender in Cozumel took 45 minutes from the time we boarded until they left the ship. The ride is only 5 minutes. We went to Playa Mia beach, which was nice, but very hot. The ride back on the tender was not as bad, it took only 15 minutes to load up.

Here are some likes and dislikes about this cruise. Our cabin steward, Joel, is doing an excellent job. Our first table, 2nd seating traditional, was in the back of the dining room, and the vibration there from the engines is bad, so we asked to change, which was fine. There is no bar staff and no sommeliers in the dining room, so the waiter is really overworked trying to do it all. This makes the meal take much longer than it should. So far we ate in the dining room 3 times, and in Painted Dessert and Sabatinis. Both alternative restaurants were quite enjoyable. Painted Dessert had better service. In Sabatinis, the various courses they serve as hors doeurves came out very quickly, but then it lagged once they had to bring out the soup and main course, which you choose from the menu. The meal took close to 3 hours.

We have been eating breakfast in the dining room, which is nice, but they are short staffed there as well, which means that you don't get your coffeee refilled as quickly, and things like that. The little bit of extra pampering that we are used to on Celebrity is not here. I cannot complain about the coffee, it is at least as good as on any other line.

One night the show in the theatre was a broadway review. It was quite good, but our service in the dining room was so slow that we missed the first half. That was the only show like that, the others did not seem interesting enough for us to want to see.

Will continue later, this is getting much too long.

[Princess Bride]

Budaman,

 

 

You didn't happen to save those "priority tender tickets" and bring one home, did you?

 

:D ........................:D ........................:D ...................:D

 

.

[budaman]

Actually probably do somewhere;) We kept all the Patters & Port info so I'm sure they are there also. We went down early each morning and got in line and never saw them ask anyone for tickets and there was plenty of personnel there to check.

 

Can't believe we have been back a week already:(

 

Mike

[TexasAggieCruiser]

In Playa Del Carmen we wanted to find a driver to take the 6 of us to Tulum and Xel-ha. They are not used to cruise ships yet, and told us we had to take separate cabs for each leg of the trip. The cab ride to Tulum is $45 one way. When we got to Tulum, the drivers asked us if we wanted them to stay with us for the day, for $100, and we decided that was worth it. It worked out fine. We were in Tulum for about an hour, then went to Xel-ha. It was crowded there, and we didn't have that much time there. We propbably would have been better off planning to spend the whole day there. It is an ecological park, with restuarants, shops, a small zoo, snorkeling, and some other things. We got to the pier just as one tender left, so we had to wait. ....

 

One night the show in the theatre was a broadway review. It was quite good, but our service in the dining room was so slow that we missed the first half. That was the only show like that, the others did not seem interesting enough for us to want to see.

Will continue later, this is getting much too long.

 

Robinsilver--Was the $100 for the cab the total cost or in addition to the $45? How did 6 people fit in one cab? Did you consider using the Collectivo vans in PDC to get to Xel-ha? This is what we would like to try when we go in March. Also, what was the name of the show you liked?

[jbobst]

We just got off the Grand last week, and we went to Tulum that day. Unfortunately it was very confusing once we got there and we had no idea where to buy tickets, or how much the entrance fee was, etc. Everyone there seemed to be on some sort of tour, and since we were on our own, it was a bit confusing. Back to the point...there were 8 of us, and we rented two cars about 2 blocks from the pier. My family and I rented a little chevy 2 door (with A/C) for $50 for the whole day, and the other two couples rented a little VW bug for $40. I was pretty amazed to hear that the taxi was so expensive, and I would highly recommend renting your own car. It seems to be more cost effective, and you have a bit more freedom. The problem is, we barely had time to see Tulum, let alone go to Xel-ha or other places. If I was going to do it over, I would have just stayed and enjoyed the town of Playa Del Carmen and not spent the extra money. They seemed to have nice beaches and restaurants there.

 

Just my 2 cents :)

[Seal]

Judy--Miss you--love your upbeat reports

 

Nancy:)

[c_galle]

Thanks for all the info. Nice to see the info presented in a non-biased way.

[runner1909]

Can anyone tell me if the balconies in category BB are covered? Specifically the Lido deck? Thanks!

[Cindy]

Can anyone tell me if the balconies in category BB are covered? Specifically the Lido deck? Thanks!

 

Yes, the balconies on Lido deck are covered. The only completely exposed balconies are the mini-suites on Dolphin deck. The cabins on Caribe have a partially covered balcony.

[MoonPet]

We are also on the Grand and are having a great time. For anyone out there thinking of canceling their princess transfers it was the best thing we could have done. We used Gulf Coast Limo and they were great.

 

We also used Gulf Coast Limo - we could not have been happier with our decision.

[MoonPet]

Also wanted to add . . .

 

Judy - great reports and kudos to you for organizing the CC get together on the last sea day. It was great to meet so many of you!

 

My grandmother is home from the hospital and doing well - thank you all for your concern. My parents are currently in the process of assembling all of the paperwork for the insurance, so I will post back here and let you know what the windup is.

 

For future Grand cruisers - my husband and I chose to purchase a day pass at the Omni hotel (Omni Puerta Aventura) in Playa del Carmen. The 15 minute cab ride from the pier (which is NOT Calica, but "downtown Playa del Carmen") cost USD $15 each way. The day pass is 250 pesos per person and allows you use of all their facilities and a 200 peso food and beverage credit. We spent a lovely quiet morning on the beach and in their pool, and had a fantastic lunch. And, for extra adventure we were on that last tender back to the Grand at 7:00pm, riding those swells.

 

We had a truly fantastic cruise and I envy those on board at the moment. If only they could FedEx me the pan roasted pheasant and a souffle. Sigh . . .

[sailormom]

My husband and I just returned from the Grand where we booked cave tubing with Yhony at cave-tubing.com and ruins with Ivan(E von) and David (Daa vid)-- their pronunciation-- at chacchobenruins.com. These were 2 of the best privately booked excursions of many cruises. We learned much about the Mayans (the guides have Mayan blood) and laughed when "bottoms up" were shouted on the water and in the caves. Like Yhony said, "twice the fun at half the price". Bug spray or wipes could be needed in the jungle but I only had a couple nips around my ankles.

Every person finds likes and dislikes when they cruise but I'm not too hard to please. I just love being pampered and getting away. Just make sure you take the time to fill the questionaire at the end. The cruise lines want your pats and pans.

Judy made such an effort for the cc gathering that I felt bad that all her work wasn't shared with us earlier.

I enjoyed winning at trivia and a couple of the WakeyWakey contests and now the letdown of no food choices, chosing activities, fresh towels and meeting more very nice people in PC dining nearly meal make me wish for a B to B cruise. Seven days is not nearly enough.

I won't get another cruise "fix" until September when 6 of us go down the Rhine.

Hello, to any of the cc readers who were on the Grand from the 18th to the 25th.

Cecelia

[San10s]

First, I apologize for not getting more typing done from the ship. I had good intentions to do more! With the back to back to back to back port days, it made it more difficult to find the time to get into the Internet Cafe for the time needed to do 'live' updates! I am going to try and get some....not so 'live' updates.....done between today and tomorrow and then do a review next weekend. :)

 

I am now home and FREEZING in the 6 degree temps with wind chills of below zero temperatures! :eek: Thank goodness we who were on the Grand last week have our warm memories and thoughts to keep us warm now. :D

 

Day 4 - Continued

 

Once back on board from Belize, some enjoyed a hamburger and fries up on the Lido deck. Some of us had pizza too! Me....I enjoyed a few selections from the buffet and then had a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with some very nice caramel sauce and candied almond slices on it! Okay....I admit it....I also took some of the whipped cream for the scones and put that on my ice cream too! The 'free' ice cream served between 3:30 PM and 4:30 PM daily in the Horizon court still seems to be a well kept secret as there was rarely a line of more than a few people waiting for their serving.

 

We then used the hot tubs and then I went to the cabin to shower and change for the evening. I sat on my balcony….in my supplied Princess robe….and then watched as we pulled anchor and sailed away from Belize. No spectacular sunset but the breeze was lovely and it was nice to have some down time and quiet on my own balcony. After getting ready for dinner, we met up with the other 6 couples who decided to dine in the Michelangelo dining room. We did not have reservations but were seated within 20 minutes of arriving. We took a table for 8 and one for 6 right next to each other. I had some sort of seafood (maybe shrimp & scallops) in a pastry shell for dinner. I was probably my least favorite food of the week. It was pretty fishy tasting but I still ate it. I know I could have sent it away and had anything else I wanted but I didn’t feel that necessary. No soufflés on the menu for dessert tonight! (I only had 2 soufflés all week! There used to be 4 served throughout the week!)

 

After dinner, we spent a little time in the Casino before going to watch another comedian. He (maybe David Deeble?) was entertaining and we enjoyed the show. After having such a full, fun-filled day, it was time for bed for me since I knew we had another busy day planned for Playa del Carmen the next morning. My DH went back to the Casino and I went back to my cabin and read the Patters for Wednesday. I slept wonderfully….like I do on any cruise. The seas were very calm all afternoon and evening as well as throughout the night.

 

I will go to another installment for Day 5 – Wednesday, Playa del Carmen.