Grand Princess 2/17/07 review from a first time Princess cruiser

[librarygal]

Here is a review of my Grand Princess cruise on 2/17/07. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I have the Patters.

 

This was our fourth cruise and our first cruise on Princess. The other cruises were on Celebrity and Carnival. Our flight left Washington, DC after work on Friday and arrived late at night at IAH. We picked up our car at Enterprise and drove to the Wyndham Greenspoint hotel which we booked on Priceline for $40. Nice hotel. The next morning we drove around downtown Houston and the Galleria area and then headed to Galveston. We dropped our car off at Enterprise in Galveston and they drove us to the port.

 

Embarkation

We arrived around 12:45 and the line for security had hundreds of people in it. It took us about two hours to go through security and check in. Princess needs to get more metal detectors. On our other cruises there were no metal detectors at all. A sign of the times, I guess. Do not bring any heavy hand luggage. We brought some Coke and water with us and it was just too heavy to carry for two hours. Needless to say we did not look too happy in our boarding photos. We talked to people on the ship that had arrived before noon and they said the wait was only 15 minutes.

 

Cabin

We had an inside cabin on the Caribe deck. The cabin was the smallest we ever had but quickly got used to it. I thought the bathroom was larger than any of our previous ones and loved having a real vanity instead of little shelves above a metal sink. The beds were five inch dorm mattress and worn out. We had requested and egg crate by fax but it was not on the bed when we arrived. We had stopped at Wal-Mart and bought and egg-crate pad so we just used that. The beds were not overly hard just cheap and sinking in the middle. Storage was adequate for two people. I thought the soundproofing was the worst of any ship we had been on. We could hear people on both sides through the walls talking loudly and noise from the hallway. Thankfully it was quiet at night.

 

Service

Our room steward kept the cabin clean and was friendly. No towel animals though. Only had one encounter with the purser’s desk and it was fine. The service in the dining room seemed slow at times but maybe we are just not used to sitting through so many courses.

 

Food

The food in the Horizon Court was mostly good although the setup was poor. It got crowded at times and you ending up bumping into people. The food in the dining room was good to excellent except for some of the steaks. My filet was undercooked and my husband said his New York Strip steak was tough and Sizzler quality. We never ate in the alternate restaurants and they never seemed crowded. We both thought the ship needed more casual and fun dining options. Why not have a free Houston’s or Outback Steakhouse quality restaurant that has some energy? There was no free juice except for at breakfast.

 

Ship

The ship was full but it never felt crowded. It was in good shape for being nine years old. They were doing some varnishing and painting while we were on the cruise. The décor was pleasant but not awe inspiring. Kind of like a Marriott hotel. Some areas of the ship were very cold so bring a wrap or sweater. We never used the gym but it seemed small and cramped. I thought the conservatory was a great idea. A nice place to relax on a chilly day. The elevators were slow and erratic. Sometimes they would pass our floor numerous times before stopping. We heard other people on the ship commenting about them.

 

Entertainment

The entertainment was pretty good and there were a variety of shows. Some of the lead Princess singers had weak voices in my opinion. We did not go to any of the late night parties since we were in bed by 10:00 each night. They could have had a greater variety of things to do during the day. For example, one day they had three trivia contests. We were disappointed that the only presentation about the ports was a shopping talk. Some entertainment was later than it should have been. For example, Princess Popstars was at 11:00pm each night. Why not have the finals at 5:00pm on the last sea day so everyone could come out and support their friends and family? The final round of the Blackjack tournament was at 11:30pm!

 

What to pack

Guys, you can skip this section. Our first day at sea it was only 60 degrees so I wore a long sleeved shirt, khakis and a sweater. It warmed up after that but the interior of the ship can be cold so bring a wrap. I wore long sleeved dresses in the evening and did not feel hot. The last day at sea was perfect for cropped pants as it was in the low 70s. I would say over 90 percent of the ladies were wearing a cocktail dress or a skirt and blouse as opposed to an evening gown on the formal nights.

 

Ports of call

 

Costa Maya

The ship arrived two hours late due to high winds. The seas were only about four feet so I thought that was a little odd. They changed the times of the shore excursions to arrive back later. We took the David and Ivan tour. I was surprised that there were fifty people on the bus. David gave us a tour of the Chacchoben Ruins. He gave a lot of detail about Mayan life. He did a good job and was very pleasant but there was too much information. The kids looked bored. Book a shore excursion at this port since there is nothing to see near the dock except for a few shops.

 

Roatan

This was the most scenic port. There is no shopping inside the security gate although it looks like they are building some. If you leave the gates you will be asked by dozens of people if you want to buy a tour or a trinket. We took the Discover Roatan Island tour that Princess offered. The tour covered the east end of the island and included some gorgeous views of the bays. The tour also included a boat ride through the mangrove tunnel. Roatan is poor but there is a lot of development of resorts and condos.

 

Belize

This was our only tender port. We went on the Belize Zoo and City tour that Princess offered. Belize City is kind of like a run down Key West. The zoo was nice and let you see the animals close up. Another port where you need a tour because there is not much to do within walking distance. An interesting fact about Belize is that there are no American chains.

 

Cozumel

We were lucky to dock at Punta Langosta. I heard a crew member say that they were docking there every week now. There were about six ships in port. We had been to Cozumel before so we took the ferry over the Playa Del Carmen. Nice ferry with airplane like seats ($20RT). I was impressed with Playa Del Carmen. Lots of shops and people on the street.

 

Disembarkation

We did express walk off since we had a flight at IAH at 1:05. They called our number about 8:00. The main problem is getting an elevator. Every elevator that stopped was full. We finally determined that the only way to get out was to go up then down. Customs was pretty quick but we had to wait on the Princess transfer bus for about a half hour. Strangely, they never asked for our disembarkation number or our name to get on the bus. The bus stopped at Hobby first but we arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our flight.

 

We enjoyed the cruise and were happy with the price we paid. Although Princess definitely has room for improvement we may cruise the line in the future since it has the largest selection of itineraries. I doubt we would cruise from Galveston again since it is too cold in the winter and the transfers are expensive.

[dforeigner]

Thanks for the review. Did you have traditional or anytime dining?

[librarygal]

We had anytime dining which we loved. We ate early and never had to wait for a table for two.

[dforeigner]

We had anytime dining which we loved. We ate early and never had to wait for a table for two.

 

Cool, did you try both restaurants or stuck to just one?

[kristensue]

Doing this cruise 4/7. Do you have the patters to share?

[librarygal]

We alternated between to two main dining rooms and also ate dinner two nights at the buffet.