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Hello frm the Grand Princess

Toto2Kansas

By Toto2Kansas,
in Princess Cruises

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cruzzers

cruzzers

Posted
Posted

Thanks again for your detailed accounts of the cruise so far! I am really interested in the number of formal nights now that some have indicated there is only one. Given the fact that luggage weight has become such an issue, that would be one way to lighten the load.

 

Happy cruising to all of you onboard. Keep those details coming!

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pmcrusta

pmcrusta

Posted
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If it is. I am hoping this doesn't mean you guys haven't left Curacao yet, and obviously not in Aruba (that would have worked for me as bad as you know I dislike that place). I noticed before I left for work you weren't in port when you were supposed to be (time on Bridge cam if it is working).

Glad no more Princess and the Pea stories (bed to hard:D).

Thanks! For the vicarious cruise...wish we were there.;)

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pmcrusta

pmcrusta

Posted
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Never mind...I was trying to fix my post when I realized I had my days mixed up from not looking at the correct itinerary... DUH! I missed the time limit before I could do a do-over to fix it.:eek::)

Anyway have fun in Curacao today, Monday 1/5/09.

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Celest1022

Celest1022

Posted
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Hi Toto,

Glad to read you are having a great time. How is the suite? Remember to call the dining room the night before you depart to order your breakfast. They always brought a tablecloth for our balcony table for our meals. It's a nice treat. Enjoy and keep us posted.

Happy Belated New Year!!!

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pmcrusta

pmcrusta

Posted
Posted

Looks like you had a pretty good day at Aruba, all the web cams I looked at looked like the wind wasn't to bad. Thought I'd post hopefully it'll help you locate it if you get to the computers on your sea day. :)

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MGnut

MGnut

Posted
Posted
Thanks for your report. Love to hear anything about the Grand since I'll be on the ship in March.

 

Hi. I'm on the Grand too, and in our Minisuite on Dolphin, we have normal, non-flat TV sets.

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MGnut

MGnut

Posted
Posted

Toto, did you happen to catch the show in the theatre last night? The entertainer had several Kansas jokes - several also including 'Toto'. He was actually a pretty good comedian/singer/guitar player.

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Toto2Kansas

Toto2Kansas

Posted
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Sorry there has been a delay in my updates, but two port days there kept us a bit busy.

Lovely beach day in Curacao and another yesterday in Aruba. Water is a bit chilly, but I wouldn't call it all that cold as I went in, and if it were really cold, I would have been parked in a lounge on the beach. Weather has been partly cloudy so far and we haven't encountered any rain YET! ;)

 

As to the shows and entertainment onboard. I have to tell you, we have tried several nights and have yet to succeed. Arriving 25-40 minutes before showtime = not even one available seat in the theaters. I think these passengers must order dinner delivered to their theater seats as they must be arriving over an hour before the show begins. DH is a bit disappointed as he loves the shows and after 5 days on the ship, he hasn't seen a one. And he refuses to sit for an hour or more waiting to see a 45 minute show.

 

The passenger load onboard could possibly have something to do with this and I will give you a clue what it's like. We came back onboard after Curacao and I walked out of the buffet through the covered pool area. I almost yelled for a medic to take pulses. EACH (and I mean EVERY) chair was occupied by someone 75+ (being kind here) reclined with mouths wide open snoreing. Not one person awake in any of the chairs with each one occupied. If I was brave, I would have tried to take their pulse to make sure they were alive, as most looked like they had passed away in their sleep and we were a floating morgue. To some this sounds funny, but it really was a concern. I thought they had all died out there from some strange plague that had taken over the ship. :(

 

Going to continue this so I don't loose it.

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burm

burm

Posted
Posted
As to the shows and entertainment onboard. I have to tell you, we have tried several nights and have yet to succeed. Arriving 25-40 minutes before showtime = not even one available seat in the theaters. I think these passengers must order dinner delivered to their theater seats as they must be arriving over an hour before the show begins. DH is a bit disappointed as he loves the shows and after 5 days on the ship, he hasn't seen a one. And he refuses to sit for an hour or more waiting to see a 45 minute show.

 

The passenger load onboard could possibly have something to do with this and I will give you a clue what it's like. We came back onboard after Curacao and I walked out of the buffet through the covered pool area. I almost yelled for a medic to take pulses. EACH (and I mean EVERY) chair was occupied by someone 75+ (being kind here) reclined with mouths wide open snoreing. Not one person awake in any of the chairs with each one occupied. If I was brave, I would have tried to take their pulse to make sure they were alive, as most looked like they had passed away in their sleep and we were a floating morgue. To some this sounds funny, but it really was a concern. I thought they had all died out there from some strange plague that had taken over the ship. :(

 

Going to continue this so I don't loose it.

 

Why am I hearing the Twilight Zone theme as I read this. :D

 

Your description is hilarious but I am having some concerns about our cruise. I hate not being able to see the shows but cruise time is too short and precious to spend it in a theatre seat waiting an hour for the show to start.

 

I can also see that I will never get a lounger by the pool. Maybe staff could check for breathing every half hour. No response and they send the body to the morgue to free up space.

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Toto2Kansas

Toto2Kansas

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OK, I see that went through so will continue.

 

The ship seems to have new carpet pretty much throughout, but that is the only difference we have seen onboard, that and the placement of the sanctuary (which is not busy at all).

Still in lovely shape with cleaning and polishing going on continuously.

 

Someone asked about the embarkation in Port Everglades. There is now a section for only Elite passengers in the waiting area, and another for Platinum. It looks like they actually enlarged the old waiting area to make room for the section for Elites.

 

Our PH suite is lovely, and as I said earlier, our bed is now as comfortable as our one at home. Many nights the maitre d' phones our suite to enquire if we would like to reserve a table for dinner at a certain time that evening. Lots of extras (as usual) with the suite, so we are very comfortable. We have had dinner/breakfast delivered to our suite several times and it was fantastic. Always served hot and delightfully displayed.

 

We had a small sailaway party last night as we left Aruba and have a funny one for the memory books. I had not yet met our neighbors in the suite next door but had heard them on their balcony earlier in the day. I had thought if I heard them again, I would envite them over for sailaway, but didn't want to knock on their door and bother them as we hadn't actually met yet. Half way through sailaway we hear a loud thump on the balcony partitian and someone yelling. YOU HAVE JUST BROKE A CARDINAL RULE ON THIS SHIP, said quite rudely. Now, those on our balcony with us thought these people were being nasty. But to finish their abrupt annoucement. The cardinal rules was NOT INVITING the neighbors. LOL I knew they were kidding, but the others mouths were dropped open. We all had a good laugh, met our neighbors and invited them to any and all sailaway parties from now on. It really gave us all a good laugh and our neighbor kept saying "my husband made me do that, he wanted to come to the party because you all sounded like you were having so much fun". :)

 

Before I forget, the thrusters. From what I heard, they worked for about 10 minutes and then poof, gone again. We are assisted by a large tug boat in the larger ports but will end up tendering into the smaller one. This has upset those passengers we have visited with that only booked this cruise as there were no tender ports. Oh well, things happen, and you just have to roll with the flow.

 

Hey MG-Been looking for you. I brought along a little something for you but haven't run into you since the M&G. If nothing else, I will try to remember to bring it in St. Vincent, I know I will see you there. LOL

Darn, missed the show last night, we gave up since we hadn't been able to find a seat in any of them up until now. Let me guess, last night was the one night it wasn't crowded 45 minutes prior? My luck of coarse.

 

OK I need to run here. If I missed any of the questions, I apologize and will try to read this thread later on.

 

Oh, and before I forget, having a wonderful time, and as long as they serve food, the sun shines and the seas are pleasent, that is all I ask for this trip. :) :)

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Toto2Kansas

Toto2Kansas

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Why am I hearing the Twilight Zone theme as I read this. :D

 

Your description is hilarious but I am having some concerns about our cruise. I hate not being able to see the shows but cruise time is too short and precious to spend it in a theatre seat waiting an hour for the show to start.

 

I can also see that I will never get a lounger by the pool. Maybe staff could check for breathing every half hour. No response and they send the body to the morgue to free up space.

 

These thoughts are the same as my DH. He has never not been able to find ONE seat 15-20 minutes before showtime, but even arriving earlier he hasn't been able to on this ship. He will not sit for an hour waiting, cruise time is just too precious.

 

As to lounges by the pool. Aside from those we aren't sure are with us or have left this world, the chair hog savers are out in force. Everything from pool towels to books and I have even seen them saved with a single chap stick. LOL Had to laugh about that one. I retreat to my balcony, not even going to fight these old guys for a lounge.

 

But remember one thing. Each cruise is different than the last (passenger wise). What we have encountered on this sailing, is not necessairly what you will have onboard yours, whether it be next cruise or one months from now. :) :)

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jfv379

jfv379

Posted
Posted
We came back onboard after Curacao and I walked out of the buffet through the covered pool area. I almost yelled for a medic to take pulses. EACH (and I mean EVERY) chair was occupied by someone 75+ (being kind here) reclined with mouths wide open snoreing. Not one person awake in any of the chairs with each one occupied. If I was brave, I would have tried to take their pulse to make sure they were alive, as most looked like they had passed away in their sleep and we were a floating morgue.

 

Toto,

 

If they were snoring, you wouldn't even have to put a mirror under their nose to make sure they were breathing.:D Not snoring would be scary.:eek:

 

Love the posts.

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chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted
Sorry there has been a delay in my updates, but two port days there kept us a bit busy.

 

 

The passenger load onboard could possibly have something to do with this and I will give you a clue what it's like. We came back onboard after Curacao and I walked out of the buffet through the covered pool area. I almost yelled for a medic to take pulses. EACH (and I mean EVERY) chair was occupied by someone 75+ (being kind here) reclined with mouths wide open snoreing. Not one person awake in any of the chairs with each one occupied. If I was brave, I would have tried to take their pulse to make sure they were alive, as most looked like they had passed away in their sleep and we were a floating morgue. To some this sounds funny, but it really was a concern. I thought they had all died out there from some strange plague that had taken over the ship. :(

 

Going to continue this so I don't loose it.

 

Toto

How funny! I remember that several years ago we were on a New Years cruise and the last day some of the staff were visibly upset. We asked why and were told the next cruise would be full of VERY old people who were very difficult to deal with and no fun. So maybe that is a pattern for the cruises immediately after the holidays.

Have you tried MUTS? I wonder if it mightn't be too much trouble for the seniors to get up there.

Also, any news on the formal nights? We're on the 16th and were bringing clothes for 3.

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CaliJohn

CaliJohn

Posted
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Toto2Kansas:

 

Thank you for the fantastic detailed postings. I'm amazed you have the time to compose and send them, but grateful nonetheless. It's a shame you haven't been able to find seats for the shows - the wait times are ridiculous, especially for the 10:30 show. I hope the good weather you've gotten continues for the remainder of the cruise.

 

Pretty bizarre scene that you describe around he pool area. But it could be worse - my daughter had to endure a "nude cruise" on the Amsterdam a couple years back...

 

Thanks again for the informative and humorous postings.

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