Live from the Grand 2/2/07

[oreoero]

Greetings all!

 

This is a partial post from the Promenade during our sail home after a wonderful week in this fine ship. Will stop in my journaling after day three (Costa Maya) and pick up tomorrow...if anyone has questions, please do not hesitat to aks. As far as scheduling, ports, times, etc...everything has gone smoothly without a hitch.

 

So, without furthur adieu, here's the story thus far....

 

1/27/07

We left Austin at 6 am..pleasant overcast rainy drive (at least we were on our way)… the worst part of the trip was the drive from Austin to Galveston, but we made it!

 

Nipply cold and drizzling when we arrived at the Victorian Condos. But, miraculously, the rain stopped when we got on the bus to the terminal. Then, as soon as we embarked, the clouds dissipated and we had a sunny cast-off at 5:05.

 

Embarkation was unbelievably smooth - in less than 30 minutes we were on our balcony.

 

Our steward, Wirot (pronounced Vee’ roat) was very accommodating and delightful to visit with.

 

We had a snack at the Lido buffet and got reacquainted with our Grand Princess. She was as beautiful as we remembered.

 

We meandered about the ship for a couple of hours, stopping here and there for a cocktail or beer and wound up on deck 6 at the Painted Desert Restaurant for an expected sumptuous steak dinner. Our appetizer of Colossal Shrimp Cocktail gave us a false hope of what was to come…gigantic in size, perfectly cooked and delightfully delicious! Unfortunately, our porterhouse steaks were overcooked and the quality of the meat was third-world. Our waitress was distracted and seemed rushed, even though the dining room was nearly empty. So a word to the wise…avoid the Painted Desert.

 

We turned in for the night and fell asleep dreaming about our first day at sea…..

 

Sunday, 1/28 … Cathy’s Birthday…

 

Slept in and had a leisurely breakfast in the Horizon Court buffet…good food and all smiles from the buffet attendants and servers. Returned to our suite and ordered our balcony dinner for the evening celebration and then fleshed out plans for our ports of call. Next stop…the Cruise Critic Social, 2PM, Skywalker’s…

 

Quick note…for any of you who are taking their first cruise on the Grand, don’t miss a trip to Skywalker’s Disco… located aft at the very back of the ship and suspended a full 17 stories above the sea…hip, hoppin‘, and totally fun… hypnotizing lights, pumping beat and total immersion in top-notch club entertainment. Say Hi to Agata, bartender on the starboard bar…be sure to order a chocolate cake (Frangelico, Absolute Citron, and a lemon wedge to finish off).

 

The meeting was hosted by Snedker and his wife…very informative and a good chance to meet fellow CC members, ask questions about shore excursions, port pointers, etc…go to the roll call section of this board to sign up for your cruise.

 

We returned to our room to find birthday balloons at the door and a few other surprises inside.

 

We refreshed, had a glass of chardonnay and went back out to watch the wake from Neptune Reef.

 

Finally, the moment we’d been waiting for arrived… Cathy’s balcony birthday dinner. Our charming waiter, Alex, arrived right on time and set up our table. A slight hiccup cropped up when we discovered that the florist had overlooked our table arrangement. Not to worry… Alex was on top of it and in no time, we had a most beautiful arrangement on our table and were posing for our included portrait. Tom, our savvy photographer, patiently took several shots for us to choose from.

 

Afterward, Alex was right on the spot with our appetizer of crab cakes under puff pastry. Light, delicate and beautiful to behold. Onward to the salad of field greens, fresh pears, Calamata olives and raspberry vinegarette… what a surprise! This refreshing combination of ingredients was pleasant on the palate.

 

We both chose the surf n’ turf… filet and lobster. This presentation was by far the most appealing of all the other photos I’ve seen. The lobster was fanned over the filet, along with asparagus. Turned potatoes and carrots adorned the perimeter. Everything was cooked to perfection.

 

I have to say, the dessert of Chocolate Mousseline was delicious…three chocolate mousses (dark, white, milk) and a chocolate zabaglione in a chocolate bowl.

 

The entire dinner progressed at a leisurely pace and before we knew it, three hours had passed. We could not have had a better time.

 

Monday, 1/29... Costa Maya

 

We awoke to the familiar sight of the vivid pink and orange cruise terminal buildings of “Costa Maya.” I would like to take a moment to encourage everyone to please take the time to go into the native fishing village of Majahual. The cruise terminal is “same-same” as all the other tourist terminals and the vendors there will do their best to discourage you from venturing outside the terminal gate. Majahual is safe, delightful, and the people are nice and genuine. Taxi drive is short (under five minutes), and, at most, $3.00 each way. There will be a lot of wares you can find at the terminal…but they are more reasonably priced in town… don’t be afraid to haggle. Between shopping and relaxing in this quiet paradise, we snacked on coconut shrimp (not what you’d expect), a plump, freshly cooked chicken tamale wrapped in a banana leaf (purchased from a little lady pushing a street cart), and guacamole, pico de gallo and tostadas. This is one of the last spots along the coast of Quintana Roo that still maintains the atmosphere of a little Mexican village. For the sake of time, I will stop at that, except to say again, MAJAHUAL IS A MUST-SEE part of your Costa Maya experience. Stop by the Cat’s Meow and say “hi” from Barry and Cathy. Oh, one more thing… there’s more to see past the no-traffic barrier on the other side of town. Check it out.

 

We taxied out of Majahual and were back on the Grand in no time at all. No tendering here.

 

Later, we had dinner in Horizon Court and finished the evening with Martinis at Crooner’s Martini bar on deck 7. Be sure to stop by there in the late afternoon, early evening, and order a well-made ‘tini of the day from Jun (pronounced “June“), a most amiable Filipino fellow.

 

Tomorrow….Roatan, Honduras………………………….

 

Until then, Viva Princess!!

[Tasha999]

We went twice to the Painted Destrt, the week of January 13-20, 2007. The first porterhouse ordered "medium" came out well done. The second time we ate there, I decided that maybe they cook on the well done side and ordered this one "medium rare", it was so raw, it was barely warm. I sent it back and they did nothing with it so I left it alone. After eating those giant shrimp, some bread and a salad, I wasn't hungry anyway. They didn't charge us for the meal. It's only food, you can get more 24/7 on the ship. Enjoy!!!

 

Tasha