Grand Princess 11/20-11/27/04 We're Back!!

[KaC-Cruiser]

Just wanted to put out a quick post to say we had a great time on the cruise ..... hope to pull together a trip report when I get a chance ....

 

It was also great to meet our Cruise Critic friends - Shelly & Jennifer, Scott & Cindy, Bill & Lu, as well as those that made it to the Friday night Tortugas get-together!! Hope everyone had a safe trip home!!

 

About now I'm missing my post port/pre-dinner pizza .......;)

[parrotheads]

Thanks for taking time to post! We are looking forward to a detailed report. Personally, we want to hear about the quality of Margaritas.... the attitude of the wait staff.... Were the shows any good? Which ones should we not miss?... Does MUTS interfere with the big shows in the evening... Does anyone on board play Buffett Music... (You see we have only 20 days until we spend 10 days on board and we can't wait)! :D :D :D :D :D

[KaC-Cruiser]

Thanks for taking time to post! We are looking forward to a detailed report. Personally, we want to hear about the quality of Margaritas.... the attitude of the wait staff.... Were the shows any good? Which ones should we not miss?... Does MUTS interfere with the big shows in the evening... Does anyone on board play Buffett Music... (You see we have only 20 days until we spend 10 days on board and we can't wait)!

Well surprisingly, I never had a Margarita! But the Texas Tea for the sail away was pretty powerful! The ship is so large that it's hard to keep track of what's happening where each night. And as we did Scuba in all four ports, we missed a lot of the late night action - just too beat!

 

I was not that interested in MUTS to begin with, but I was surprised by the high quality of the picture and the sound. The real bonus was on Friday - the ship contracted to bring in the UT/A&M game and show it on MUTS. What a blast! (I'm sure they made the cost back in drinks!) I'll bet the yelling could be heard back in Texas!! We actually had a live feed - not the televised stuff, so we heard EVERYTHING that went on during commercials - the commentators had no idea that outsiders were hooked in, it was hysterical some of the stuff going on.

 

Can't say that I remember any Buffett music specifically, but the house band - 'Deep Blue' were great with the Caribbean music. And Danny Mills (an Australian??) who plays piano in the Promenade Lounge at night is a riot - a strange sing-a-long with requests by the passengers. At first I thought it was just too weird. But by the last night everyone was hanging out and singing along.

 

Well enough rambling .....I'll have to see what I can remember - good & bad - and pull together a post. Not everything was great, but overall it was a great trip so we did an on-board future booking for another cruise to be taken in the next 4 years. Fully refundable tiny deposit, so no loss if we can't figure out when to use it. (As if that will be a problem!) :D

[lindnet]

Kathy, where did Deep Blue play? Was there a band outside on deck? And if so, was it every night? Was there a theme night??

 

Sorry for all the questions. I'll be on the Grand in less than 2 weeks!!

[aggieastrosfan]

I was not that interested in MUTS to begin with, but I was surprised by the high quality of the picture and the sound. The real bonus was on Friday - the ship contracted to bring in the UT/A&M game and show it on MUTS. What a blast! (I'm sure they made the cost back in drinks!) I'll bet the yelling could be heard back in Texas!! We actually had a live feed - not the televised stuff, so we heard EVERYTHING that went on during commercials - the commentators had no idea that outsiders were hooked in, it was hysterical some of the stuff going on.

I said this on another thread, but I am SO JEALOUS! I would've loved to have been on the ship during that game!

[KaC-Cruiser]

I said this on another thread, but I am SO JEALOUS! I would've loved to have been on the ship during that game!

Nothing like watching UT pull another one out of that hat sitting in the sun on a lounger on deck 16 watching the burnt orange sunset!! ;)

[KaC-Cruiser]

Kathy, where did Deep Blue play? Was there a band outside on deck? And if so, was it every night? Was there a theme night??

 

Sorry for all the questions. I'll be on the Grand in less than 2 weeks!!

When I saw Deep Blue they were playing on the back deck area under the Skywalker .... the area is multi level so people could hang out on all different decks. They also played various other places at night, but I never caught them.

 

As for Theme nights ... they did have specific dinner themes - Caribbean, Italian, etc. and there were also theme style events - like the Rock & Roll Party and Tropical Island Night Party. There was always so much going on, it was hard to keep track ..... they also had a 'Princess Idol' competition going on, but never caught any of that either.

 

Hope you have a great time!

[Blackrobe]

Kathy and Alan were great to travel with and we really enjoyed the company of Jennifer and Shelly. I am sorry to report that the margaritas that I consumed were only so-so but that might be a problem with a bartender. Contrary to other reports I found the waitstaff to be excellent. We ate dinner in both anytime dining rooms and in Sabatini's. The waitstaff in all three were excellent. We found Abel and Alexandra in the Michelangelo dining room to be one of the best service teams we have ever encountered while cruising. That is quite a statement after 12 cruises.

 

Unfortunately,we found the entertainment to be lacking. We did not go to the production shows as we had seen one of them twice before and the other one once previously. They were very good on the other ships and I would expect the same quality on this ship. There was a New York comedian by the name of Sarge and we thought he was great. I expected him to have a return engagement but he only appeared one night. They had the audacity to list Chip Romero as a "World Class Illusionist". He was so boring that I walked out and I never do that! Because he was so boring he got two nights of shows. They also had a comedy juggler by the name of Mike Price. Several people who attended his show gave him a less than favorable review.

 

I do not remember any Buffett Music. There was either a quartet in the atrium or a piano player. Both were very good. There is no deck music at the pool except for special events because the infernal MUTS is always playing. MUTS in the evening is pretty cool because the pool is an under used area after the sun goes done. During the day there is the pool with its attendant noise, the grill and the pizzeria. Then there is the noise originating from the conversations at the tables and around the pool. Add to this the sound from MUTS and it just makes the area too intense and too offensive to the senses to be enjoyable during the day.

[aggieastrosfan]

Nothing like watching UT pull another one out of that hat sitting in the sun on a lounger on deck 16 watching the burnt orange sunset!! ;)

Grrrr, don't remind me!:(

[KaC-Cruiser]

BEWARE! Do not use EZ-Parking in Galveston, please read my letter to the manager. The cruise terminal parking comes first in Galveston and the other private companies are a rip off. Please pass this letter on to anyone cruising out of Galveston.

Larry - thanks for sharing the info ..... coincidently we had started to pull into EZ-Parking around 11:00 or so, but Alan got a bad feeling by how things were going with the cars ahead of us, so we backed out and went to the 'official' parking, where things went quite smoothly. Upon our return he hopped the shuttle while I waited with the luggage. Although it was a bit crazy, we were still packed up and out in about 20 minutes. After hearing about the lack of taxis in the area as well, we were glad we used the cruise parking, rather than leaving our car at our hotel as originally planned. Sorry things went so poorly, but hopefully your sharing may help someone else.

[dutchess43]

Glad to hear that you had a great time. I am going on the Grand along with my husband & another couple this summer to the med/greek isles. We booked 2 Aloha balcony rooms anything that you can tell me about that deck or the cabins? I know the Grand now has MUTS have there been anymore renovations? I was led to believe that the Grand was suppose to get some type of renovations did you notice any changes? Is the lap pool on deck 15 open to anyone or is just for the people that pay to use the spa? We have traditional second seating dining did you have a chance to see the Botticelli dining room? So far we have been very satisfied with the food & service(Sun 12/31/03) how did you find the quality of the food? Did the Grand offer a wine package with dinner? Any information you can provide would be very helpful.

Thanks

Dutchess

[KaC-Cruiser]

Glad to hear that you had a great time. I am going on the Grand along with my husband & another couple this summer to the med/greek isles. We booked 2 Aloha balcony rooms anything that you can tell me about that deck or the cabins? I know the Grand now has MUTS have there been anymore renovations? I was led to believe that the Grand was suppose to get some type of renovations did you notice any changes? Is the lap pool on deck 15 open to anyone or is just for the people that pay to use the spa? We have traditional second seating dining did you have a chance to see the Botticelli dining room? So far we have been very satisfied with the food & service(Sun 12/31/03) how did you find the quality of the food? Did the Grand offer a wine package with dinner? Any information you can provide would be very helpful.

Thanks

Dutchess

Duchess .... we had a balcony on Caribe Deck, so don't know how that compares to the Aloha - the Caribe balconies are great - double sized and 1/2 covered, 1/2 open. MUTS was fully operational (very nice sound system & great quality picture) and as far as I noticed, all hot tubs were up & working. (There had been some earlier complaints from one of the cruises just before us.) Not sure about other renovations, as I was not familar with the ship or Princess prior to this cruise. There was the usual on-going replacement of carpet in some hallways ...

 

The 'lap' pool by the Spa is an adult only pool - except from noon to 3 pm - when children can use it with their parents. It is not restricted to Spa users, and it tends to be a very nice quiet area to sun.... we used the Botticelli dining room for 5 nights (TA screw up - we missed the first 2 nights!) Our waiter, Jorge, at table 282 was exceptional. The food was quite good, with some killer creme brulees and souffles. Don't remember any wine packages specifically, although we did go ahead and attend the first wine tasting ($7.50pp) which was very informative and more of a formal event then past wine tastings I've attended. Enjoyed it very much. They also had a second 'limited' high end wine tasting ($25 pp) but we did not attend that one as the timing didn't work for us.

 

Being a 5 time Celebrity cruiser, I was very curious to see how Princess stacked up, and I must say they did a very good job. There are things I like specifically about each line, and our next booked cruise is a Celebrity, but we also put a deposit down on a future Princess, so we may just have to keep alternating!

 

Hope you have a great time ..... doing the Greek Isles sounds WONDERFUL!!

[dutchess43]

Thanks KAC-CRUISER for the info.

We have never done a Celebrity cruise as of yet you seemed to be pleased with that line. We have been on on RCCL 9 times & are thinking about trying Celebrity in the future. What did you like about Celebrity? This summer's cruise is going to be our 17th, we look for good food, service, & entertainment. FYI In my Crown & Anchor brochure sent to me for the fall they stated that starting in spring of 05 they are now going to be combining RCCL cruise points with Celebrrity's cruise points. I think it's about time & it would be nice if more lines followed this policy.

Thanks again for yur feedback

Dutchess

[KaC-Cruiser]

Thanks KAC-CRUISER for the info.

We have never done a Celebrity cruise as of yet you seemed to be pleased with that line. We have been on on RCCL 9 times & are thinking about trying Celebrity in the future. What did you like about Celebrity? This summer's cruise is going to be our 17th, we look for good food, service, & entertainment. FYI In my Crown & Anchor brochure sent to me for the fall they stated that starting in spring of 05 they are now going to be combining RCCL cruise points with Celebrrity's cruise points. I think it's about time & it would be nice if more lines followed this policy.

Thanks again for yur feedback

Dutchess

Duchess ... well if they start sharing the cruise points, it might be time for us to give RCCL a shot!! So far we have been on 5 Celebrity ships. Previously we only had 1 Carnival to compare it to .... and there really wasn't much to compare. Our Princess cruise was much closer to Celebrity. Things we have enjoyed with Celebrity - excellent food, excellent service, nicely laid out ships. I think they beat Princess on service a bit as they tends to have a higher ratio of crew to passenger. Although the spas were also comparable, I think I enjoyed the spa staff a bit more on Celeb. I liked my cabin/bathroom layout a bit better on Princess, and I thought the buffet food was a bit better on Princess. I like the Traditional dining, and I like the layout of the Celeb dining rooms much better. And I think the Celeb dining room food was a bit more Continental. (Princess had better lobster!) Most of the Celeb ships have a multi-level dining room at the back with great windows. Makes it feel much more spacious. The Grand dining rooms felt a bit closed in - especially for such a big ship. The Grand also did not have as much 'hide-a-way' space as I can usually find on deck on Celeb. (I like a quiet corner up high to sun & read!)

 

Sorry for the rambling - this was probably more than you were looking for!! As you can tell - I think I will happily cruise on either line in the future!!

[dutchess43]

Hey KAC do not feel like you are rambling on, I so appreciate someone giving good factual information. I would rather find someone that has been on the ship in question that can give a genuine opinion good or bad. I always feel more knowledge is better then less. I always try & help out my friends on ships that I have been on so they know what to expect. I hate when you hear people say I did not know that, & then it's to late because it's after the fact. This is why this boards are so important.

Thanks again

Dutchess

[KaC-Cruiser]

I would rather find someone that has been on the ship in question that can give a genuine opinion good or bad. I always feel more knowledge is better then less. I always try & help out my friends on ships that I have been on so they know what to expect. I hate when you hear people say I did not know that, & then it's to late because it's after the fact. This is why this boards are so important.

I agree ... and although I know some people did not have the best of cruises on our Grand trip (see Pyro's 'Yawner' thread), I think Alan & I had a good trip due some pre-planning, some good luck and the willingness to over look some problems when they occurred. I can also say I know I missed a lot of what went on aboard the Grand, as it was impossible to see & do everything. Never made it to the Skywalker at night, although the view during the day was spectacular. Never made it to Bingo, as we always seemed to busy with something else. I'm sure there were a lot of other 'nevers' but there were also lots we did do, so we were very happy with the end results.

 

Once of our best cruises ever was on the Celeb Zenith - despite it being an older, smaller ship, not really in the best shape, and not the best itinerary. It was because we ended up with a random group at our dinner table of the most fun people. It really carried the cruise ... To some extent, I think you make your own cruise .....

 

Which reminds me - I think Celeb has the better stores on board - the Grand just didn't seem to be too diverse ... and too much space (and time) was wasted on the Art & Art Auctions .....althought I'm also sure someone else loved that part!! ;) I'll be interested to hear how things go for you on your cruise, and your opinions of the Grand when you return!!

[wecruise4life]

What nights were the Formal nights ?

 

Does anyone know what if any equipment princess provides for the sports court?

 

Were there any Theme nights?

 

Was it cold outside the first evening and following day and last eveningand day?

was there a captain's cocktail party the first formal night?

 

time of events for past passenger events?

Thanks

Daphne

[MaryPoppinz]

Nothing like watching UT pull another one out of that hat sitting in the sun on a lounger on deck 16 watching the burnt orange sunset!! ;)

 

That is truly having your cake and eating it, too, isn't it?? Yummy!!

 

\../

[KaC-Cruiser]

Daphne - here's what I info I have .....

 

What nights were the Formal nights ?

Formal nights were Sunday & Thursday.

 

Does anyone know what if any equipment princess provides for the sports court?

I remember seeing some paddles and possibly some rackets in a bin by the sports court.

 

Were there any Theme nights?

Wednesday night was listed as 'Smart Casual/Tropical Attire' and there was the'Tropical Night Deck Party' that night. Monday night they had the Rock & Roll Dance Party in the Explorers Lounge.

 

Was it cold outside the first evening and following day and last eveningand day?

I remember the last afternoon and evening getting cooler as we headed north. I don't remember it being quite as chilly on our departure - but then again, might not have really noticed in all the excitement!

 

was there a captain's cocktail party the first formal night?

Yes

 

time of events for past passenger events?

1st time Princess cruiser, so don't know on this one.

[wecruise4life]

Thanks for answering my questions.

In looking back at you posts I thought of another question I needed answering

 

What were the day and times of the wine tastings?

 

thanks

Daphne

[KaC-Cruiser]

Thanks for answering my questions.

In looking back at you posts I thought of another question I needed answering

 

What were the day and times of the wine tastings?

 

thanks

Daphne

The standard wine tasting was on Sunday at 3:15, and they did a very nice job. It was $7.50 pp, but they gave everyone a very nice specialty glass to take away. At that point they announced the higher end wine tasting, with a limited attendance of 60. I believe it was held around 4 on Tuesday -we didn't make that one, as we were diving ib Costa Maya and didn't think the timing would work.

[mikki_r]

We will be on the 12/11/04 sailing and plan to dive in all ports except Costa Maya. A few questions:

 

- Did you use the ships excursions?

- If so, how were the operators?

- Did you take your own gear?

- If so, how did you transport it on/off the ship and to/from the excurdsions?

 

Thanks for your time! Any other tips are appreciated - this will be our 1st saltwater/non-local dives...

[mackie]

Who was it? Did he/she have a morning show of the TV or was that just a Graham Seymour thing?

 

Thanks!

[Mary Ann 2]

Originally Posted by wecruise4life

time of events for past passenger events?

 

We were also on this cruise. The repeater's party was the last formal night at aroung 5:30 for first seating; not sure about second seating. We ended up missing it because I had scheduled a hair appt. for 4:30 and didn't get done and ready in time.

 

We had a great cruise! We had done a HAL cruise this summer and were SO..O glad to be back on Princess. We had the best cabin steward - he noticed we put wine in the fridge, so he brought wine glasses; when we used both washclothes, he started bringing a third; etc. - he was just super! We had one of the best rooms ever! We had D734 on the aft and had been a little concerned because we'd always had a mini-suite, but the room was great and the balcony was HUGE! It had a square table with four chairs and two full size loungers! We loved having the sound of water all the time. And it was totally covered and private.

 

We had the Ultimate Balcony Dinner and loved it! Such great service and great food not to mention wonderful flowers, drinks, appetizers, and pictures.

 

We also had great waiters in the Trad. Dining. Even the supervisor for that part of the dining room - can't remember his title - was great! He came and talked to us every evening. He found out Tues. that I loved the Love Boat Dream - which is not on the menu every night now - and I had one every night after that!

 

I had seen many of the shows before, but still enjoyed them especially Sarge - anyone at the first show where he made fun of the math teacher? That was me - but I got a free CD out of it. My husband helped the magician one night and got pulled up on stage another night to do a jitterbug with a dancer in the production show. It was great! We also watched a Movie Under the Stars one night and enjoyed it.

 

Didn't really go for the ports or excursions, so only did one excursion, but enjoyed the submarine in Cozumel.

 

Loved the port and shopping advisor Michael. He's studied gemology and gives seminars to educate the passengers. Then he hangs out at the port stores especially in Costa Maya where it's easy to find him and gives you advice on jewelry. We were so thrilled to have someone to help us pick out a diamond. It gave us the confidence to buy one. We had looked this summer on our HAL cruise, but were too afraid to buy one then. He helped us find a great diamond at a great price! Diamonds International set it in my wedding set and resized my rings in only about 2 hours!

 

Everyone on the crew was very friendly and helpful. We fell in love with Princess all over! Just wish they would vary the itinerary out of Galveston over the next few years, so we could do it more often with some new ports.

 

I think the only negative was the EZ Cruise Parking. When we arrived at 11:30, the Grand had just started disembarking, so it took some time to get to the ship. Leaving wasn't too bad though - both the ship and parking had gotten their act together by then. However, about half way home, we discovered that someone must have tried to break into my new 2005 Escape as the lock on the driver's side is completely messed up. We had used the lockless entry so had not noticed it until we stopped for gas on the way home. That doesn't seem like a good recommendation; I guess something stopped them from getting in eventually, but someone definitely had time to work for sometime on the lock. Unfortunately, my alarm system had been disabled while I was awaiting a replacement part. But my insurance covers vandalism with no deductible.

 

Anyway...we loved our Thanksgiving cruise. Sorry we didn't make the Cruise Critic meeting due to the port shopping talk at that time. Would love to have met some of you. We will definitely be on this ship again.

[KaC-Cruiser]

We will be on the 12/11/04 sailing and plan to dive in all ports except Costa Maya. A few questions:

 

- Did you use the ships excursions?

- If so, how were the operators?

- Did you take your own gear?

- If so, how did you transport it on/off the ship and to/from the excurdsions?

 

Thanks for your time! Any other tips are appreciated - this will be our 1st saltwater/non-local dives...

We used the ship excursion for diving in Belize - no other safe way to go, as the port time is so short. We arrived late and were within 15 minutes of being canceled. We boarded the dive boats straight off the cruise ship and headed directly to Turneffe Atoll. As it was, our second dive was a real twilight dive - you might want to pack a light! we used Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection as an operator and they were very good. Alex, our group's DM was excellent. Great ship and fun crew. In the other 3 ports we went independent, so I don't know how the ship excursions were in Coz & Grand Cayman. We took all our own gear. We both have dive backpacks so we can carry everything. (The gear on the boat in Belize looked to be very good rental stuff.) Granted, lugging the wet gear back can be a bit heavy, but I prefer to use my own stuff, as it's easier for me to dive with familar equipment. Since we dove all 4 ports in a row, we just left it damp each day, then rinsed it in the shower after our last port. Let it dry for a day, then packed it back up in the suitcase.

 

Our first blue water dive ever was about 2 years ago, in Belize, and we loved it. It started out riding a small boat thru the mangroves in the pouring rain heading to the Barrier Reef, and I still thought it was wonderful! (Not to worry - Belize Dive Connection used two large multi- boats - as we had 47 divers!) I hope you have a wonderful time!!!