Grand Review 11-17-07 thru 11-24-07

[Johnnyflatstick]

First let me say I was a solo traveler on this cruise, and have sailed this itinerary several times so I had different expectations than many.

 

I live in Ft Myers so was less than a 2 hr drive from the port. I arrived at 2:30pm and was in my cabin by 2:45pm, very quick.

 

I booked an obstructed guarantee and ended up with a CC OCeanview on the Lido deck, L306. This is a great cabin because it is off a small, private hallway with only 2 other cabins, one of which is the Grand suite. So there was never any hallway noise, ever. the only downside was I also never heard any announcements, but did not mind that. This cabin also features a floor to ceiling window, not the regular window in oceanview cabins. The beds were in the queen configuration, and one side was very stiff and the other was very soft. The most comfortable place turned out to be on the seam of the two mattresses.....go figure. Room steward was Antonio. Met him the first day, then rarely saw him, but he did a good job.

 

My only plans for this cruise was a lot of relaxation. I did not go for fine dining, social connections, even entertainment. I just needed and wanted to relax. So I cannot tell you about the dining room, most of the shows, etc.

 

I ate in the Horizon Court pretty much every meal. I have read recent reviews complaining about the food there. I have to say, there was always a good selection and being a meat and potatoes guy, I never lacked for food. For breakfast there were always eggs made several different ways, several meats, fruit, cereal, breads, I ate BIG breakfasts. I did not get a soda card because I did not think I would drink enough to make it worth it. $27.50 for the card, $2.01 for each soda.....I should have bought the card.

 

Lunch was much the same. I found that between the Horizon Court, pizza, and grill selections, there was plenty to choose from. Same for dinner. The food was fine. Again, I did not expect 5 star service in a buffet, but cannot relate at all to the complaints I have read lately. The staff was friendly and smiling and if you wanted to talk, they were more than willing to share their experiences. One odd thing was the Princess Patter never listed dining options and associated hrs. First time I had seen that.

 

The cruise director is James Ibrahim. Young guy, I was not very impressed with him. He rarely, if ever made daytime announcements to remind people of what went on around the ship. He did introduce the 2 comedians I saw, but did not have much to say. I admit to being spoiled because my first ever cruise was on the Carnival Victory and the Cruise Director was John Heald. He is the best I have ever had, and it is not even close.

 

I spent time every night in the casino, I always do. Marek is the head bartender and Supervisorof that bar and 2 others. Great guy, always smiling, always remembered what drink I wanted. I play craps mostly and this staff of dealers is like most in that they have some who are very good and some who are still learning. In a complicated game like craps you have to watch you money. Stan is one of the Supervisors and he was mostly at the craps table and did a great job keeping things in line. If a passenger had a dispute, he settled it quickly and always in their favor and kept the game positive and kept it going. He learned my name within the first hour and by the next day every craps dealer called me by name. That was a nice touch. I did hit a Royal Flush at the bar video poker game. That was worth $2096 on the progressive line. Marek immediately called a attendandt to handle my claim, and he shook my hand and seemed genuinely happy for me. Had several good runs on the craps table. Walked 2 different nights with over $600 and a other time with $1300+. Of course, craps is a streaky game, so I gave some back, but left the ship with an extra $3100 so I call it a good week.

 

Ports....have seen them all several times and this time I only left the ship once. That was in Grand Cayman. I wanted to purchase a very specific gift for a friend. I got off the tender, walked to the store I knew had it, got back on the tender. Total time off the ship for the week was about 40 minutes. The best time for me was whenever we were in port. The ship gets very empty and quiet. I spent a couple of those days lying near the Calypso pool, this is the one indoors. It was amazingly relaxing. The pool in the back of the ship is just as nice when the ship is in port.

 

Weather - Cloudy as we sailed out of Port Everglades, but then cleared. The weather was great except just as we left Jamaica the skies darkened and it began to rain. We left that behind quickly though. When we were in Cozumel, it rained off and on, but also had some sun that day. Then some showers on Thanksgiving. Overall though a good weather week.

 

I was on the CB in September and was disappointed they did not show NFL football. Well, the Grand made up for it big time. They had NFL on the MUTS screen all day Sunday, then showed the night game Sunday, the Monday night game, then had the Thanksgiving games on in the sports bar, plus 1 of them on the MUTS screen. I read recently someone said the MUTS screen on the Grand looks like an add on. It is an add on, but I like it better than the screeen on the CB. The reason is you can sit at the bar on deck 15 and watch the game. You cannot do that on the CB. The Grand made it more of a sports bar kind of experience. It was a very popular place to be on Sunday.

 

I also spent quite a bit of time in the internet cafe. This is in a different spot than the CB and also layed out differently. On the CB I felt like I had no privacy. The Grand has a much more private layout. The walls around each screen are higher and have cloudy glass that you cannot see through. The connection speed was typical...better late at night.

 

Disembarkation was very quick. I chose self disembarkation. I recieved a letter with instructions and a little card saying I was in Group D. I was to meet in the casino, starboard forward entrance at 7:30 am. WHen I got there there were 2 lines. One was coming into the casino from the Aft Starboard entrance and the people were lined up well out into the hallway past the shops. I entered through the door I was instructed to and joined the line there near the craps table....just can't get away from that thing. Both lines merged and went out the gangway. I never heard any announcement and no one ever asked for my little pass. Common theme on this cruise was the lack of any real communication, and I think that goes back to the cruise director. But bottom line I was off the ship by 7:45, through customs before 8am, and driving out of the port by 8:10am.

 

Well, that is it for my review. Again, it will not be much benefit for those looking for dining room or production show reviews. My goal was relaxing and destressing and I met that goal big time. I will be happy to answer any questions if I can.

[zaandam_2]

The cruise director is James Ibrahim. Young guy, I was not very impressed with him. He rarely, if ever made daytime announcements to remind people of what went on around the ship. He did introduce the 2 comedians I saw, but did not have much to say. I admit to being spoiled because my first ever cruise was on the Carnival Victory and the Cruise Director was John Heald. He is the best I have ever had, and it is not even close.

 

princess assumes their passengers can read the patters. john heald was the absolute worst CD i have ever had the displeasure of sailing with. obnoxiuos, constantly making announcements and totally full of himself.

[Johnnyflatstick]

princess assumes their passengers can read the patters. john heald was the absolute worst CD i have ever had the displeasure of sailing with. obnoxiuos, constantly making announcements and totally full of himself.

 

Yes, I am sure you are correct. The cruise director on the Grand is the best in the business. Is that better?

[Eric95403]

One great moment when we were about to leave Cozumel, we were docked next to Disney Magic (my favorite ship I've cruised on). It seemed like many Grand passengers were on their balconies, same w/ Magic's. As we were about to leave the dock...Grand lets off a loud horn, Magic a short beep. Grand lets off 2 loud horns, Magic another beep. Grand lets off a short burst of horn...nothing from Magic. Then all of a sudden, Magic lets it burst..."When You Wish Upon a Star" from it's horn, loud and beautiful. Magic = scoreboard, as both ships passengers erupt in cheers. We bowed down to Magic....much classier, even in it's beautiful loud horns.

 

PS....weird, we went to Playa del Carmen to see Tulum and it didn't rain one bit over there. Sunny and friggen hot. Did shower on the bus ride back, but sunny once in Playa del Carmen. Cozumel was sunny upon our return. Pretty much avoided the rain that day...

[notsure4]

How was the ship for single passengers.....my buddy and i are goin in jan....a little worried.....people might think we are .......aw.you know..we aren't.....he has never been anywhere and thought this would be a good experience to see many places at once....

[Johnnyflatstick]

How was the ship for single passengers.....my buddy and i are goin in jan....a little worried.....people might think we are .......aw.you know..we aren't.....he has never been anywhere and thought this would be a good experience to see many places at once....

 

If you want it to be a good experience, it will be. If you worry about other people and what they may think, you are wasting your vacation time. I was solo, and ate every meal alone. I was fine with that. There may have been someone who noticed and felt bad, but that would have been silly. I wanted to get away alone, and that is what I did.

 

As for you and your friend being looked at as, aw, you know...there are groups of obviously, aw you know, people on every cruise and no one pays any attention. On the Grand there is a waiter in the casino who runs around saying "Drinkie drinkie!"....no one cares! The only one who will really know is your cabin steward, if you tell him to push the beds together, but aw, you know...that is your business!

[notsure4]

Thanks......for the giggle.....is the majority of the people on there couples.....? and we dont really care what people think we just want to know are we goin to be a minority on the single side....and not catagorized in the .aw.you know column......LOL.....

[phonejock]

:D So glad to hear that you had a RELAXING trip!

Just courious. How was the condition of the Grand?

My TA thought she might be going into Drydock.

Thanks

[Johnnyflatstick]

Thanks......for the giggle.....is the majority of the people on there couples.....? and we dont really care what people think we just want to know are we goin to be a minority on the single side....and not catagorized in the .aw.you know column......LOL.....

 

 

You will be in the minority as singles. Even on a so called singles cruise, a group of 200 singles on a ship with 3000 passengers is still in the minority. Cruises are mostly made up of couples and families, but there will be some singles as well.

[Johnnyflatstick]

:D So glad to hear that you had a RELAXING trip!

Just courious. How was the condition of the Grand?

My TA thought she might be going into Drydock.

Thanks

 

Not sure about the drydock, but the ship is fine. I read a lot of comments about wear and tear. I suppose if you look for it, you will find it. It never occurred to me to look fo rit. I did have a private giggle when I was the only one in the Calypso pool. I was hanging on the side and noticed up under the edge there was some pealing paint. I thought "that must be what they are talking about!".

[silvercruiser]

I've often wondered why it is that if two women travel together everyone assumes they're either sisters or good friends. But if two guys travel together the perception is...aww, you know. It's really crazy.

[Gabrielle R.]

Johnny, question for you about the pools. The indoor pool (Name?) Is that the one that has the swim against the current? Is htere a poll by the (in?) the spa area? and does it cost? Just wondering.

 

Your vacation sounds much like what my husband and I are planning over Christmas. Glad you had a relaxing time! I plan on enjoying the pools and getting sun- before we hit Minnesota winter again! That means a lot of serious sun soaking! Thanks for the review! Just what I was looking for! Gabrielle

[Johnnyflatstick]

Johnny, question for you about the pools. The indoor pool (Name?) Is that the one that has the swim against the current? Is htere a poll by the (in?) the spa area? and does it cost? Just wondering.

 

Your vacation sounds much like what my husband and I are planning over Christmas. Glad you had a relaxing time! I plan on enjoying the pools and getting sun- before we hit Minnesota winter again! That means a lot of serious sun soaking! Thanks for the review! Just what I was looking for! Gabrielle

 

The Calypso pool is just forward of the Horizon court. It has a retractable roof, which was closed the whole week so that space was basically air conditioned. That is the pool I spent time at, along with the pool at the rear of the ship, which is the best place for sailaways.

 

There is a pool in the spa area that I did not even know was there until later in the week. Near the gym and yes it is covered.

[Johnnyflatstick]

I've often wondered why it is that if two women travel together everyone assumes they're either sisters or good friends. But if two guys travel together the perception is...aww, you know. It's really crazy.

 

Actually, I have noticed on almost every cruise I have taken there are, aw you know, couples, both male and female. In fact, my wife and I went on the Coral to Alaska for our honeymoon and there was a very large number of husky, short haired women on board. I hate to jump to conclusions, but.....aw you know..........

[notsure4]

hi guys and girls............i sure hope we have people on the ship like you people.........cause all you are making us smile......with your comments and information....

thanks.......from the guys that aren't ....aww....you know......:p

[cruiselovincouple]

Thanks for your post!! I have been interested in seeing for myself the Grand's condition when DH and I board her in a couple weeks. It was nice to hear your anecdote about the small section of peeling paint in the pool, it seems more realistic than these woeful tales of the abhorrant state of the ancient Grand and how she's just falling apart at the seams. I agree with the idea that if you go looking for problems, you'll probably find them. Looks like you found the source of some posters' frustration; a square inch of peeling paint on the underside of one pool. Bravo!! ;) It was nice to hear about your vacation, I am also looking forward to just relax this trip and am sure DH and I will have a blast. It was sure fun to read about your recent trip, thanks again for sharing and I'm glad you had the relaxing time you set out to have.

[windango]

I have to agree with you, Johnnyflatstick. My mother and I were on the Grand the week before (Nov 10th) and I didn't even realize who the cruise director was until the end of the cruise. We didn't attend any shows either, but we did go to a couple of the demonstrations and he never once introduced himself. Guess he figured we all knew who he was.... : )