Just returned from Grand 3/8

[Genessa]

We just got back from 7 night, Western Caribbean on the Grand.

 

We had a wonderful time. As always, the service was great, people were terrific, but we would not have the Grand (or any of her sister ships) on our "A" list, although we would sail her for a specific itinerary.

 

Our main dislike was the size of her. HUGE. I was finally figuring out where everything was and finding my way with no problems yesterday.

 

Our previous experiences have been on the Dawn, Sun, Sea, and Coral and we prefer the Sun class.

 

The Horizon Court is larger on the Sun and we were able to get made-to-order omelettes. The Vista Lounge is larger on the Sun class also. We also really like the stern pool on the Sun class.

The Grand did have terrific cheeseburgers, though and we spent most of our time by the forward pool.

[CaliJohn]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise, we'll be on the her in a few weeks. I just spoke with my daughter who works on the Grand and it sounds like you had pretty good weather.

[dot73]

Were you able to get off the ship in Princess Cays? The waves looked pretty big on the bridge cam. Do you remember who the captain was? I'm on the Grand on the 29th and can hardly wait. We are in the middle of a huge snow storm right now. It looks like the Grand is late leaving today from FLL. Probably waiting for late planes because of the snow.

[Genessa]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise, we'll be on the her in a few weeks. I just spoke with my daughter who works on the Grand and it sounds like you had pretty good weather.

 

the weather was fantastic. We couldn't have asked for better. Only "bad" day was today - raining as we left.

[Genessa]

Were you able to get off the ship in Princess Cays? The waves looked pretty big on the bridge cam. Do you remember who the captain was? I'm on the Grand on the 29th and can hardly wait. We are in the middle of a huge snow storm right now. It looks like the Grand is late leaving today from FLL. Probably waiting for late planes because of the snow.

 

we were able to get off the ship at Princess Cays. The waves WERE active, though. The winds "turned" and the seas calmed as the day progressed. They made an announcement that they couldn't do the barbecue on the beach, though.

 

The Captain was Nicholas Carlton.

 

There was mention in the airport of delays of planes arriving from various snowy places.

[dot73]

Thanks for answering my questions. I can't wait to get away from this hellish winter. I always go the day before just because of weather like today. The Grand finally left tonight at 6:30 p.m.

[sunlover2]

Thanks for answering my questions. I can't wait to get away from this hellish winter. I always go the day before just because of weather like today. The Grand finally left tonight at 6:30 p.m.

 

Dot73...I think we will be on the same cruise...Grand leaving March 29th? don't remember seeing you signed up on our roll call...are you?...come join us as we have a great group :p

[jules79]

Glad you had a good time. We will be on the Grand April 5th, and this is our first cruise. I'm hoping we will have a grand time:D ha ha ha

[sunlover2]

We just got back from 7 night, Western Caribbean on the Grand.

 

We had a wonderful time. As always, the service was great, people were terrific, but we would not have the Grand (or any of her sister ships) on our "A" list, although we would sail her for a specific itinerary.

 

Our main dislike was the size of her. HUGE. I was finally figuring out where everything was and finding my way with no problems yesterday.

 

Our previous experiences have been on the Dawn, Sun, Sea, and Coral and we prefer the Sun class.

 

The Horizon Court is larger on the Sun and we were able to get made-to-order omelettes. The Vista Lounge is larger on the Sun class also. We also really like the stern pool on the Sun class.

The Grand did have terrific cheeseburgers, though and we spent most of our time by the forward pool.

 

How was the food in the Dining Room? What did you do in GC and Cozumel? We'll be on her soon...March 29th! Can't wait!!! :D

[Genessa]

How was the food in the Dining Room? What did you do in GC and Cozumel? We'll be on her soon...March 29th! Can't wait!!! :D

 

the food in the dining room was very good. If you've sailed with Princess before, we noticed a few different dishes, as well as most of our old favorites.

 

This cruise we only ate dinner in the dr. Breakfast and lunch we had in the buffet, as I kept oversleeping, so we'd eat breakfast late, and then lunch late.

 

We had booked sting ray city on the catamaran in GC and Tulum in Cozumel (both excursion my dh & I had done previously), but ended up cancelling both and, in fact, didn't leave the ship at all. I had had a sinus infection the week prior to the cruise and just enjoyed basking in the sun and my m-i-l didn't feel like going on the tenders.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[debi56]

We were on the grand on Feb 23- Mar 1st.

The food in the dining rooms were great.

Our excursion in Grand Cayman was horrible this is a peak of some of a letter I have written and will be senting forward to princess as soon as I get a address:

Our Grand Cayman excursions: We booked the Island Highlight and Stingray City with Princess, the “worry free” tour that you offer. All the people who were going on this excursion were at the meeting place in plenty of time. We were escorted to a bus, not sure why, but the bus driver did take off late which meant we were rushed through our tour. We had time at the turtle farm, but at the Rum Cake Factory and Hell we were given 15 mins at each place, so it really wasn't what I thought I had paid for. We were on a schedule which is understandable but we pay for the driver’s lateness. We are now taken to a boat that will take us out to Stingray City. This is an excursion we personally have waited for over ten months to do. However, half way out, the boat stops working. The man can’t get it started and he told some of the people he hadn’t had it running in a week, but was sure it was a dirty filter that just needed to be cleaned . Instead of calling another boat to come and pick all 40 of us up and take us to our excursion, he left us in the 85 degree hot sun while he tried to fix his boat. Is this what Princess has hired to represent them in taking their customers for one of their worry free excursions? Finally, after one and a half hours of wasting our time, another boat came by as they were headed back to shore and took us all aboard taking us back with them. We missed this very anticipated excursion by someone Princess believes is worthy of using the Princess name. The excursion people MUST have their equipment checked by Princess more often.

Also for some reason the week we got to the bahamas, the people before us and it sounds like the people the week after us all didn't have a lunch bbq, it is just weird how they can get the alcohol the stuff you have to pay for on land?

We did have a good time other than our excursions they were not good, Cozumel all excursions were cancelled due to bad weather so that couldn't be helped.

Food, service, ship all wonderful!

Honestly we did have a great time just some bad luck as there was also something happening I gather some people were sick on board so out came the sanitizer which in the buffet made for lines ups servicers couldn't keep up and it was a little annoying at times.

A holiday is what you make of it, go enjoy and have fun!

 

[BeachBaby82]

We were on the grand on Feb 23- Mar 1st.

The food in the dining rooms were great.

Our excursion in Grand Cayman was horrible this is a peak of some of a letter I have written and will be senting forward to princess as soon as I get a address:

Our Grand Cayman excursions: We booked the Island Highlight and Stingray City with Princess, the “worry free” tour that you offer. All the people who were going on this excursion were at the meeting place in plenty of time. We were escorted to a bus, not sure why, but the bus driver did take off late which meant we were rushed through our tour. We had time at the turtle farm, but at the Rum Cake Factory and Hell we were given 15 mins at each place, so it really wasn't what I thought I had paid for. We were on a schedule which is understandable but we pay for the driver’s lateness. We are now taken to a boat that will take us out to Stingray City. This is an excursion we personally have waited for over ten months to do. However, half way out, the boat stops working. The man can’t get it started and he told some of the people he hadn’t had it running in a week, but was sure it was a dirty filter that just needed to be cleaned . Instead of calling another boat to come and pick all 40 of us up and take us to our excursion, he left us in the 85 degree hot sun while he tried to fix his boat. Is this what Princess has hired to represent them in taking their customers for one of their worry free excursions? Finally, after one and a half hours of wasting our time, another boat came by as they were headed back to shore and took us all aboard taking us back with them. We missed this very anticipated excursion by someone Princess believes is worthy of using the Princess name. The excursion people MUST have their equipment checked by Princess more often.

Also for some reason the week we got to the bahamas, the people before us and it sounds like the people the week after us all didn't have a lunch bbq, it is just weird how they can get the alcohol the stuff you have to pay for on land?

We did have a good time other than our excursions they were not good, Cozumel all excursions were cancelled due to bad weather so that couldn't be helped.

Food, service, ship all wonderful!

Honestly we did have a great time just some bad luck as there was also something happening I gather some people were sick on board so out came the sanitizer which in the buffet made for lines ups servicers couldn't keep up and it was a little annoying at times.

A holiday is what you make of it, go enjoy and have fun!

 

 

 

 

I really hope you got a refund because that excursion isn't cheap in my opinion.... Could you let me know what happens with your letter?

[debi56]

They did refund the stingray part of it but truefully it really should of been the whole thing, as we were so rush through the whole thing.

It just put a damper on our trip cause we had looked so forward to that day. But like I said you can't let the little things that go wrong take away from the big picture. We did have a wonderful time.

Will let you know if I hear anything.

[Colo Cruiser]

They did refund the stingray part of it but truefully it really should of been the whole thing, as we were so rush through the whole thing.

It just put a damper on our trip cause we had looked so forward to that day. But like I said you can't let the little things that go wrong take away from the big picture. We did have a wonderful time.

Will let you know if I hear anything.

 

 

You won't get any further refund most likely, but they should have refunded the whole tour onboard, and I would not have been satisfied until that was done.

Once off you really loose a lot of bargaining power. :)

[NeurosurgeryNP]

the weather was fantastic. We couldn't have asked for better. Only "bad" day was today - raining as we left.

How fitting!

[Colo Cruiser]

We just got back from 7 night, Western Caribbean on the Grand.

 

We had a wonderful time. As always, the service was great, people were terrific, but we would not have the Grand (or any of her sister ships) on our "A" list, although we would sail her for a specific itinerary.

 

Our main dislike was the size of her. HUGE. I was finally figuring out where everything was and finding my way with no problems yesterday.

 

Our previous experiences have been on the Dawn, Sun, Sea, and Coral and we prefer the Sun class.

 

The Horizon Court is larger on the Sun and we were able to get made-to-order omelettes. The Vista Lounge is larger on the Sun class also. We also really like the stern pool on the Sun class.

The Grand did have terrific cheeseburgers, though and we spent most of our time by the forward pool.

 

 

 

Thanks for the thoughts on the Grand. :)

[CaliJohn]

I appreciate your Grand Cayman tour experience. We're booked on the same one on 4/1 and now know how to handle any issues... Thanks for taking the time to share.

[cruiserus]

Just curious...who was the cruise director on the Grand? We will be doing the 3 Continents transatlantic in April on her.

[Stevesan]

We were on the grand on Feb 23- Mar 1st.

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Your comments are well taken, but allow me to suggest that in the future you post a separate thread for what is essentialyl a mini review.

Your review, although brief, is off topic and distracts from the OP's comments.

 

Reviews are more than welcome (the more the merrier) and you'll get a much better response to your comments. :)

[dforeigner]

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had a great time.

[Genessa]

Just curious...who was the cruise director on the Grand? We will be doing the 3 Continents transatlantic in April on her.

 

I must confess, I didn't save a single Patter - first time, ever, but I was trying to cut down on weight (I am trying to decide on our next cruise and picked up 5 cruise books).

 

I think his name was Gavin. Pleasant young man, but other than Bingo, we don't usually partake in any "activities".

[ladyco4]

We were on the same cruise as the OP. The cruise director's name is Lee Childers. My family and I really enjoyed him and the rest of his team.