Grand 2/18/06- long

[MsJ]

Hello...having read so much info here about the Grand....I wanted to share our experience on the Grand this past week......

First the few minor negatives out of the way...I read so much about the lack of center staircase and couldnt figure out why it was a problem..now I know....our cabin was midship and it would have been nice to have that staircase as the elevators..which I usually avoid..were soooooooooooo slow

but it was a minor issue

bed was in need of a new mattress...had Reymond put on an eggcrate thing and it helped a little

would have liked to have had towels available poolside....not that we spent a lot of time there so again..really a non-issue

dining room a little cool..but had sweaters and shawl

stores didnt have much of interest to buy..not there to shop

no cheaper "drink of the Day" like on the Zuiderdam.....but didnt stop me from trying something new each night..lemon chaffon martini YUM..chocomint martini-yum

now the positives

very nice ship..we had a great cabin C601..with the big balcony-LOVED that

Reymond our stewart always..and I mean always.... had our cabin spotless and picked up...we swim a lot and use lots of towels taking showers in between...no matter what time.... when we put out the "please service" card in the door... we came back to clean fresh towels..he was very friendly and accomodating...we thanked him with an extra tip

we had room service for breakfast a few mornings and anything extra that we wrote in was always on the tray....had room service bring my "drink of the day" each afternoon..always friendly and with a smile

the food was delicous......ate in the Horizons Court(oop forgot that negative..confusing setup..much better set up of buffet on the Zuiderdam)...lots of choices

ate in Michelangelo the first night..great service..ate in Davinci 2nd night ..great service... but much to our delight ..back to Michelangelo third night..we were seated and LOVED our waiter and assistant waiter so much we requested them every night..Marcus and Rudy......EXCELLENT service...friendly.....attentive...and just made eating dinner each night so much fun.....the last night we were unable to get them as it was late and their tables were all full.....we really would have liked to have had the last night with them...we went to say goodbye and also thanked them with extra tips....

the food in DR was great..my favorite was the Alaskan King Crab legs which I had on the Ocean Princess in Alaska in 2001...great desserts...loved them all......

all week there was really nothing on MUTS I wanted to see..then on Friday night Pride and Prejudice...it was a very enjoyable movie experience......loved sitting on the padded lounge chair in the open air.....

Was not lucky in the casino....had a few good hits on the slots...but I only go to play until I am out of money....enjoyed my time there

we had 2 great snorkeling adventures...one on Costa Maya..the other in Belize...both ships excursions....the Belize excursion was great in that the catamaran picked us up at the ship and brought us back to the ship..no tendering

had major tendering problems coming back from Playa..very choppy seas..spent over an hour on the tender waiting to get off...snorkeling was not all that great..not wild about Playa...we were really looking forward to going to GC as we had spent a week there last April and planned to get off the ship and jump in to snorkel at Eden Rock....oh well

And Cozumel......I felt like crying..we stayed at the Fiesta Americana which is south of town 2 years ago for a week..there was a great shore reef at their beach and of course continued to Dzul Ha....Chanchanabb is still closed..so we took a taxi to FA to snorkel there figuring we would snorkel down to Dzul Ha which we did when there before.......the reef is gone......dead.....a few fish....talking to a dive master from FA dive shop..he said that there is significant damage out deep too.......we swam towards Dzul Ha but decided to give up as there was nothing ..I really almost started crying...all that beautiful reef just gone....so sad to see all the cruise ship docks gone.....we went back to the ship feeling sad....

did a lot of walking around the promande deck..loved the swim against the current pool...we had a wonderful time on the Grand.....would sail her again in a minute!!! actually we are already booked on the Crown for next year so we are looking forward to that

so today...no room service breakfast....no Reymond making my bed.....no Marcus and Rudy serving me dinner...sigh sigh sigh....and sigh again...

Oh and the 2 hour bus ride from airport to ship and back again was fine..no problems with that..no problems embarking and disembarking....seemed to run pretty smoothly to me....

we had a great time and both dh and I are going through "grand" withdrawals today......

Marianne

[Princess Bride]

I'm glad y'all had a Grand time.

 

Do you remember which night they offered the Alaskan King Crab legs?

[Mrs. Gump]

MsJ - we were also on the grand 2/18 and my husband and son had Reymond as their cabin attendant. He was WONDERFUL to them. They are both "neatness challenged" so poor Reymond was picking up dirty underwear, etc... all week long, but he always had a smile. My 11 yo son even locked himself out of the cabin and found Reymond who was nice enough to let him in. My daughter and I had a different attendant for our room. She was good, but nothing spectacular. Reymond said he's only been on the ship for a month!

[mii]

Glad you had a "grand" time. It sounds like the ship is getting back to normal considering what has happened in the past.;)

 

marilyn

[MsJ]

I'm glad y'all had a Grand time.

 

Do you remember which night they offered the Alaskan King Crab legs?

it was Wednesday night I think...david has it recorded in his travel journel so when he gets home I can ask him...they were sooooooooo sweet and soooooooooooooooooo good!!!

[MsJ]

MsJ - we were also on the grand 2/18 and my husband and son had Reymond as their cabin attendant. He was WONDERFUL to them. They are both "neatness challenged" so poor Reymond was picking up dirty underwear, etc... all week long, but he always had a smile. My 11 yo son even locked himself out of the cabin and found Reymond who was nice enough to let him in. My daughter and I had a different attendant for our room. She was good, but nothing spectacular. Reymond said he's only been on the ship for a month!

he really was one of the bets attendants we have had...so friendly and pleasant..always asked us how we were when we saw him in the hall...we have had a few cold standoffish attendents in the past....it just made it that much better to see his smiling face all the time!!