Live Grand Jan 16 to Feb 13

[Drews_Cruise]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Now we have a plan for Curacao at the Kon tiki. Hey Obendus, its real cold here in Hamilton. You aren't missing anything (Except even more snow tomorrow) so enjoy.

[O2Bcrusin]

Hey Vickie and Bernie, Wish we were with you but since we can't be, it will be fun to virtually cruise with you. Keep those posts coming.

[caribill]

Which dining room is used for breakfast and/or lunch?

 

 

Deck 6 atrium

[KreinKrunker]

Deck 6 atrium

 

Thank you!

[zellers]

Hi Vickie,

 

Dorothy, asked me to let everyone know, her dad passed away last night. She will not be going on the 30th.

 

Gerry and I will see you soon

Heather

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vickie,

 

Dorothy, asked me to let everyone know, her dad passed away last night. She will not be going on the 30th.

 

Gerry and I will see you soon

Heather

 

I am so sorry to hear that, my thoughts are with her at this time.

[vickie_bernie]

no cost for sauna or steamrooms

 

Today was a sea day and we slept in, had breakfast in HC and then down for our coffee - the coffee card has come in handy - so Vickie had two, Bernie had his specialty tea. Of course wherever we go we run into our fellow cc friends.

 

Had a lovely lunch in the dining room with Ken and Vera had the talapia taco - yum.

 

A quick change and up to the Sanctuary - now the times for the Sanctuary are different than they were on the Star in Nov. morning session ends at 12:30 and afternoon starts at 1:00. We used our free passes from the previous day and got two lounge chairs in the sun. All the other chairs in the sun were taken.

 

One thing we have encountered in the Sanctuary is that you can hear the sound from MUTS - which was surprising since we did not hear it on the Star, in fact we could hear this baby crying and wondered where is the baby only to realize it was coming from the move which is quite a ways away. Rather annoying - wish they would turn it down so then entire front half of the ship has to listen to it.

 

The chair reserving is a problem here too - lots of towels, books, glasses holding chairs. We did encounter the attendants removing towels later in the day around 1 pm.

 

The staff again are out of this world! And friendly - now I work with the public and I could never be that nice all the time.

 

Formal night tonight but we were lazy and just ended up in HC for dinner. Very good, and tons of shrimp to munch on.

 

Weather is hot hot hot - sunscreen is a must, seen so many people that obviously are going for the red look - must be painful.

 

Tomorrow is Trinidad and we have a private tour booked with many of our CC friends. I'll let you know how things go.

 

Tonight is Motown show, casino is dead at night, in fact someone commented that at midnight there were only three people in there.

 

There was a Bijoux sale today in the Atrium, with all items costing $10

 

Talk to you all later -

 

Not too many questions so I guess all is good.

[WannaCruise365]

HI Vickie..I just looked around the internet room,,as you just posted your info for the day..I want to go with you guys in St Thomas..Are you on Deck 10,,though I may have seen you,,

 

To all ..will report more later,,but the cruise is very good thusfar..the food is good...service great..weather great..all super..:p

 

HI Toto.What was the name of your suite,,I may have been in it today! VERY NICE

[zellers]

Hi Vickie

 

Save some sales for us!! Does Princess have too many people and not enough sun chairs?:rolleyes:

 

One more week, and we exchange this cold white stuff, for some warm white stuff! Sun Tooo!!!

 

Hope you have a great time in Trinidad

 

Thanks for keeping us posted!

Heather & Gerry

[SeniorMouse]

Hi Grand Cruisers,

 

We will be cruising aboard 02/27 sailing and have a question regarding recent refurbishment. Heard the Grand recently completed carpeting replacement - did this involve carpeting within cabins?? My cruise mate has allergy sensitivity to dust, mustiness, etc. Just wanted to get an onsight report.

 

Look forward to following your cruise and your reply.

 

Thanks!

[flgray]

We will be on the Grand in March, and you are helping to pass the time, thanks!!!!

A question, please. Do you know, or can you find out what kind of furniture is on the balcony of a mini suite?? Am hoping it's not the yucky plastic stuff!! Thanks in advance........

[CaliJohn]

Hello Vicky:

 

Sounds like you're having a great cruise. We're hoping to catch a cruise later this year but for now just enjoy the live postings.

 

Hope you like tonight's Motor City (Motown) show - my daughter's one of the singers.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences

 

Best Regards - John

[Toto2Kansas]

 

HI Toto.What was the name of your suite,,I may have been in it today! VERY NICE

 

HI Suzan, glad to hear you are enjoying the cruise and the weather. We were in the Leif Erickson suite, right outside of the elevators. Hope whoever is in there now it taking good care of it of us! ;) Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[Toto2Kansas]

I see by the Web Cam that you all are in Port of Spain, Trinidad this morning. PLEASE be careful out there guys! ;)

[winesfine]

Can anyone on board that is in a regular balcony cabin tell me if shampoo and conditioner is still provided. I heard rumour that they no longer provided any of these products.

 

Thanks

[Toto2Kansas]

Can anyone on board that is in a regular balcony cabin tell me if shampoo and conditioner is still provided. I heard rumour that they no longer provided any of these products.

 

Thanks

 

winesfine, No worrys, every stateroom is still provided these items, and replenished as needed. ;)

[winesfine]

Whew, that lightens the load in the suitcase. Thanks, Sue.

[55J5-5]

TOTO - do you remember what the brand is/was? If it is a generic one then I'll still bring mine. Those tend to strip my hair.

[obendus]

Can anyone on board that is in a regular balcony cabin tell me if shampoo and conditioner is still provided. I heard rumour that they no longer provided any of these products.

 

Thanks

 

It is still provided. We also had hand cream and shower gel.

[Toto2Kansas]

TOTO - do you remember what the brand is/was? If it is a generic one then I'll still bring mine. Those tend to strip my hair.

 

Sarah, Sorry, I sure don't. I don't use the stuff, and don't even bother to bring any home with me. The shampoo and conditioner do nothing for me so I don't even bother to give them a try anymore but always pack both mine and DH's to take along now. I left each exactly where it was placed originally when we checked in, right on the shelf and never even bothered to look. Sorry, maybe someone onboard can have a look and reply back to you.

 

All I know, was they were provided.

[vickie_bernie]

Good day from Trinidad!

 

yes shampoo and conditioner are provided and they are the Lotus Spa's brand with a eculuptus smell (I know I spelled that wrong) they also provide soap, and body gel.

 

Carpet is new, our cabin has new carpet but I don't notice any new carpet smell anywhere (mind you it was installed over a month ago) and trust me I would notice.

 

The only smell that is annoying is the varnish painting that they are doing to the Promenade deck -- but you can easily find a space where the smell isn't so bad.

 

Will try and drag hubby to Motor City show, I love it and he has never seen it.

 

One thing we are finding very very handy is the plastic suction cup hooks we brought, we need more places to hang things and they come in very handy.

 

Today in Trinidad we did a private tour that we arranged ahead of time. We booked it with Island Experience and thru Gunta... she is a great lady and the tour was GREAT, she was there promptly and got a bus for all 18 of us and we toured from 9 am to 2:30. We also visited Maracus beach and loved the waves at the beach, also got to try the bake and shark sandwich, yum.

 

Gunta commented that there is violence on the island but it is usually gang related and not usually directed at tourists, of course she did comment that you do need to use your common sense like most places. We were welcomed by the locals and enjoyed Trinidad very much. One thing we did notice is that they are not use to tourists here, and they really don't promote Trinidad, Tobago yes but not Trinidad... there is a lot of wealth here on the island which shows in the cars and very expensive homes. There seemed to be a lot of vans available that you could arrange an independent tour. We know of someone from our group that did this, but can't comment on cost or how long or where they visited.

 

We visited the Port of Spain, the Botanical Gardens, Maracas Bay Beach, and we also got to visit where they make the costumes for Mardi Gras and even got to try on some headdresses.

 

We like the new menus there is an item on each menu called "home style cusine" which has been something like pot pie, fish and chips etc.

 

We got a good dump of rain while here today (made me feel like I was back home) but it quickly passed and got very very humid.

 

There are quite a few shops at the port and some stalls have been set up, but we found it to be rather expensive.

 

I should also comment that two people in the CC group carried on wine in Fort Lauderdale and they took the wine that was in excess of 2 (you are allowed 1 bottle each) however two days into their trip they received the excess wine in their cabin (so don't know why).

 

There is lemonade available in the Horizon Court now and there is an omlete station in teh morning.

 

There finally advertised the Chef's Table - but we will do it next sailing.

 

Don't worry I believe they have tons of sale items, and I will make sure there is some left for when you board.

 

Having dinner with friends tonight, the menu is called Princess Night...

 

Island Night is tomorrow, movies Under the star last night showed Mama Mia and they are showing movies in Vista Lounge too.

 

Have a great day everyone, we are in Barbados tomorrow and doing Silvermoon which I know from Toto's posts is going to be great.

[GSDsky]

Your bringing back things I missed while onboard.

I would be back on in a heart beat!

Loved it and thanks for the posts as it does take time.

I never seemed to have that time while on board.

So thanks again. Yes enjoy silvermoon.

Did receive an e-mail with prices for late Feb and mentioned to DW.

Went over like a lead balloon!:o

Not sure what your doing in La Romana but the Bahibe (sp) Princess was a blast excursion.

[Toto2Kansas]

Vickie-Thanks for the update. Glad things went well in Trinidad. For us, no more cruises that have that as a port stop, just not a nice place IMHO and I have no idea why Princess changed this stop to a full day. But glad you enjoyed it.

OK, here's your challenge. On the Silver Moon they finally caught a fish on our tour. See if you can catch a bigger one. ;)

[crusdiva]

TOTO - do you remember what the brand is/was? If it is a generic one then I'll still bring mine. Those tend to strip my hair.

Hi,

Princess shampoo, conditioner, bath gel and body lotion is their own brand - Lotus Spa. The lotion and bath gel are great but I'm not a big fan of the shampoo or conditioner.

I bring my own and I will say that my products combined with Princess water - well, my hair always looks and feels great onboard - but that's JMHO.:)

[WannaCruise365]

Hello from the Grand..Vickie is doing a great job describing our trip..I was lucky enough to find her and introduce myself last night....HI VICKIE!

 

We did almost the same tour as Vickie in Trinidad..(when we were there with Toto on the Sea Princess we did not go further than the market by the ship port)..We missed a lot,,we went with a taxi driver today for 4 hours and toured much the same as Vickie described on her tour, the beach and the shark,$4.00 for a great meal...at NO time were we intimidated or fearful in Trinidad..I would say,enjoy the island..its full of history and really lovely..a wonderful day..

 

The cruise is great..and I am beginning to really like this size ship...

 

Barbados tomorrow.. :))