LIVE-The Grand Southern Carib Holiday Cruise with Sungirl 12/21/09

[KCSungirl]

Greetings from Fort Lauderdale. I have a direct view of the Grand Princess from my hotel room at the Renaissance on 17th St. I am over the moon to be able to spend two weeks and two holidays cruising the carib.

 

Due to the storms on the east coast, I made a last minute decision to travel a day ahead. I was originally scheduled on a SWA flight out of KC non-stop today. I always travel a day ahead, but this year I wanted to maximize my pre-holiday time at home. I thought it was worth the risk as the flight was a 7am non-stop. But in the end, I decided not to take any chances and came down a day early. We are a little more rested I guess. The amount of luggage I brought is OBSCENE. I have Christmas decorations, New Year's decorations, gifts, costumes for everyday, too many clothes, and 20 pairs of shoes. My DH gets so disgusted with me, but I don't care. I am bring Christmas cheer to my cabin.

 

Sunday was packed with cruise goers. I think I counted ten ships at Port Everglades. The hotel lobby was full of cruisers leaving on the Ruby and Emerald as we were checking in. We did splurge on a mini-suite this cruise. Our last mini-suite was a New Year's cruise on the Grand out of Galveston in 2004. Looking forward to some extra space.

 

We drove to Las Olas and had a late lunch at my favorite restaurant - La Bonne Crepe. MY DH was exhausted, so I couldn't shop. ;-(

 

My DH and I are are traveling with our friends Becky and Mike from Savannah, GA. We met them on the Emerald Princess a year ago Thanksgiving and became fast friends. We cruised together earlier this year on Carnival. Becky and I have fallen in love and can't live without each other. We have taken six trips together so far this year. This is a good story for the next Princess love story competition. ;-) You will soon be hearing about our crazy antics. Here is a preview - we are Sexy Santa Helpers this week, but since we are a little plus size, we are Sexy Santa Heifers. No cow bells, however.

 

We don't plan on celebrating Festivus this year. We can't think of any grievances yet. If we think of any, we will celebrate. Airing of grievances might be fun, however.

 

I was not active on the roll call for this cruise, but nevertheless might enjoy attending the meet and greet if the timing works out.

 

I will check in as often as possble. Some new ports for me this cruise - La Romana, Trinidad, and St. Vincent. I will enjoy some new scenery. I am hoping to win the tanning contest as usual. I am so white at the moment.

 

We will stop at the liquor store and Walgreens before we drop the car at Budget on 17th st. We always rent a car from Budget so we can drop it off at the location next to the Renaissance and use their shuttle to the ship.

 

Are you ready to come along with me and have some fun? Let me hear from you!

 

Bon Voyage and I will be back soon. HO HO HO Sungirl

[Colo Cruiser]

Congrats and Bon Voyage!!!

 

What! No Festivus Pole?

 

What a great trip, 14 days on the Grand, I am

so jealous. You will have a blast.

 

Enjoy and keep us updated. :D

[-Lew-]

Hey Sungirl,

 

Good to hear from you as you prepare for your cruise! Hope you have a fantastic cruise on a wonderful ship.

 

We did this itinerary last winter and will board her again on January 29th to do it again.

 

Looking forward to anything you can tell us about the ship and your cruise.

 

Lew

[dchip]

Have a fabulous time and enjoy your holiday celebrations aboard the Grand!

 

We are looking forward to our 2 weeks with her in March. We cruised on her Inaugural Transatlantic voyage in September 1998.

 

Can't wait to read about the different ports and life on the Grand.

 

Cheers, Denise

[Alessandrina]

Bon Voyage!

Looking forward to your fun posts!

Cheers. :)

[Clutterlady]

Bon Voyage and Happy Holidays!!!! Lucky You:)

[spongerob]

Have fun with the folks from Del Boca Vista (Phase II). :)

[danacline]

You're going to miss the White Christmas here in KC...supposed to start snowing Christmas eve and continuing into Christmas day. Sadly, nothing like the Great Eastern Blizzard of two days ago...we may get a few inches if we're lucky.

[sunsetbeachgal]

HI Sungirl! I am expecting a review with lots of humor-I remember your Live From thread a couple of years ago "Traveling with the Seinfelds" or something like that-probably the funniest thread I have ever read on CC!!

 

Enjoy and can't wait to keep up with your journey!

 

Carole in NC

[vickie_bernie]

well I want to say HAVE A GREAT TRIP -- she is a wonderful ship, we sailed on her on b2b last year, 28 days went really fast, so it will be nice to relive it thru your review

[50cruiser]

Ill be getting on as you get off. I also have a mini suite . Ill wave as you leave ha ha . Let us know how cruise goes and what you think of ship . I was on the grand a year ago and liked her I cant hardly wait 2 weeks to go till I get out of the snow . CARL

[Woobstr112G]

Have a great cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Arlened236]

Have a great cruise...looking forward to reading your posts...we will be on the same cruise on the Grand Feb 12, 2010...can't come soon enough...Winter started today (officially) and I need sun and warm already. Only 2 inches on snow on the ground in Chicago.

 

Many of thesse ports will be new to me and my DH so your reports will be very helpful

Wishing you sunny days and smooth seas

Arlene

[mycruz]

Hi Paige! hope you guys have a really great holiday cruise. What's this no grievences? what about not being able to bring me along on this great cruise?!!:eek:

 

Merry Christmas! Looking forward to reading your live thread.

 

Mary

[mycruz]

One more thing, if you go to the M&G say hello to Phyllis and Jim for me. Met them last week on the Ruby, very nice couple!

 

Happy cruising!

[KCSungirl]

Good Evening from the beautiful Grand Princess. We were very busy today. We left the Renaissance Hotel around noon. I figured the ship would be late boarding as she has been overseas for 8 months and had to go through inspections upon entering the US. After a quick stop at Crown Wine and Spirits and Walgreens, we dropped the car off and shuttled to the ship around 1:30pm. Walgreens had sold out of every Christmas decoration. I think all of the crew members from every ship this weekend must have shopped at Walgreens. There were two HAL ships in port today. One was doing a Eastern Carib itinerary and the other was an 18 day Panama Canal to San Diego. We were on the ship by 2pm. The check-in process was easy after the crowds had thinned a bit. Mike and Becky have an inside cabin on the Baja Deck two floors directly above us. I love the mini-suite, especially the extra space in the bathroom. We dropped our bags and went to the grill for hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza. It was pretty cool outside and was not a pool day. After the muster drill at 4:15pm, we started the huge job of unpacking. At 5pm(sail away) we had a cabin decorating party in our cabin (with vodka). My decorations are fabulous - lights, garlands, wreath on the door. window gel art, ceiling stuff, balcony garland with lights, and so on. I have more decorations for New Year’s. We went to the Sail Away seafood buffet at 7:30pm. Shrimp cocktail, lobster claws and a variety of other seafood items plus prime rib and the usual offerings. Becky and I had girls night out. We dumped the guys in the cabins to watch MNF and we checked out all of the venues. We attended the Welcome Aboard show. Couldn’t believe there were still seats at the early show after the show had started. I think everyone must have been tired from traveling today as the ship was so quiet. I have never seen the cruise director before - ****** Moss. It was a new comedian for me also - Tom Briscoe. After 17 Princess cruises, I seem to see the same entertainment acts over and over. It’s great to have some new faces. We listened to the piano player at Crooners - Tom Franek. He does a good job. The highlight was doing the Polka, singing Roll out the Barrels, and listening to Oli and Lina jokes. So sad! You have to be from Minnesota to appreciate the Oli and Lina jokes. They are funny. No music in the Wheelhouse tonight. We went to Explorer’s lounge and danced to the house band- Retrospect. Skywalkers was empty. We hit the buffet again for a sweet treat around 11pm. Big Problem - the popcorn machine is broken. That will kill me if they don’t get it fixed. Love the popcorn. Tonight’s featured movie was Duplicity.

 

I have twenty presents to wrap tomorrow. I am too busy. ;-)

 

I am going to repost my Silver Hairs Christmas Carol. It is a very appropriate cruise carol. Not much action to report tonight, but hopefully things will pick up. Tomorrow night is formal night. That seemed kind of soon for a 14 day cruise. It also includes the Champagne waterfall at 7: 45pm. Yes, we packed the monkey suit and cocktail dresses for the first time in five years. It will be fun.

 

See you soon, Sungirl

[KCSungirl]

To the tune of "Silver Bells". Practice the tune real quick before singing my version.

 

 

Silver Hairs by KCSungirl

 

Crowded buffets, busy buffets.

Stocked with plenty of food

In the room

There’s a roaring

of Seniors

Seniors shuffling

Seniors shouting

Meeting cane after cane

And on every deck level you’ll see

 

Silver Hairs, Clairol Hairs

It’s cruising time on the Grand

Ring -A-Ling, hear them scream

Soon it will be time to eat

 

Strings of walkers

Even scooters

Block the path to the door

As the seniors rush on to the buffet

 

Hear them farting

See them wandering

This is the Grand's big scene

And above all this chaos you’ll see

 

Silver Hairs, Clairol Hairs

It’s cruising time on the Grand

Ring-a-ling, Hear them scream

Soon it will be time to eat

__________________

[highheel girl]

Your first day sounds awesome!! Enjoy!

[grandsmack]

Love the words in your song, thanks for sharing it...not quite to the silver hair yet, but did use some clairol product just last night :D Have a wonderful time on your cruise, especially sharing this holiday time with husband and girlfriend. Thanks for posting about your cruise, a gift to those of us still on land, dreaming, waiting, counting....

[RevSmith]

Thanks so much Sungirl for sharing your adventures on the Crown. We have some friends on your cruise, Karen, Dan and Diane from Florida, they commute by sail boat between Jacksonville and Key West...if you run into them at the meet and greet, please tell them Rev says hello.

Thanks...have a wonderful trip...please take pictures of your decorated cabin, would love to see them.

Rev

[12Cruise]

Thank you so much for the Live review. We sail on her Jan 2011 and appreciate this very much. Happy cruising, Merry Christmas and the

Happiest of New Years to you!! :)

[Coolmama_1]

Y'all sound like you are going to have a blast! Thanks for sharing your Christmas cheer!

[KCSungirl]

Good Morning. I need to catch you up on yesterday’s activities. I was so busy being Santa’s helper, I did not post. We had a cloudy and showery sea day. It was actually ok with us as we were still decorating, unpacking, and wrapping presents. Between the four of us, we have over 40 presents under the tree. My holiday Ipod mix makes everything complete. Our room steward is blown away by the situation! He has called his colleagues and supervisors to our cabin to check it out. I am in heaven with the mini suite. Best money I ever spent, especially considering it is a 14 day cruise. I can’t do this very often, but I am going to enjoy every second. I confess I did bring a coffee maker and Glade plug-ins holiday scent, so the fragrance of the season is also filling the cabin. I ordered a beautiful holiday flower arrangement.. I brought beverage napkins that say naughty and nice. Today I am nice. ;-)

 

Yesterday the 300 lbs of luggage we had schlepped for two days caught up with us. DH’s back was killing him. He booked a 75minute hot stone massage at 11:30am. ($195). He loved it and was very pleased with the massage therapist. He also enjoyed the steam and sauna, which he had never used on any prior cruises. I found a coupon in the coupon book after the fact and he returned to the spa to get a $40 credit. Yippee! My back is killing me also, but should heal in a few days. The mattresses are great for us - firm and hard.

 

We made out way to the Horizon Court around 2pm. I had the awesome spareribs and my favorite matzo ball soup. I think the featured theme was oriental. We love the Horizon Court and never have any complaints. We are pretty easy to please food wise.

 

I finished all of the wrapping, decorating, and unpacking.

 

We dressed for formal night and went to the Champagne Waterfall at 7:30pm. It is a bore now that it is early. I much prefer party music to chamber music. Not a huge crowd. We ate in the dining room around 8pm. There was no wait for seating, but a small line. We maybe stood fifteen minutes in the line. Dinner was very slow, but very good never the less. We used our wine coupon from the TA. We normally drink Pinot Noir, but I wanted something really sweet for some reason. Probably because I have several bottles of Pinot in the cabin. I ordered the sweetest Riesling. I had the fillet medallions and DH had Cornish hen. The fillet was cooked to order perfectly rare. I had my beloved Chocolate souffle. I ordered two, but could not even finish one. That’s a first.

 

After dinner we went to buy our embarkation photos. We all had different Christmas hats on in the photo. Really cute.

 

We went to the late show of “Cinematastic”. A movie themed song and dance. I have seen it before. We left when “My Heart Will Go On” started. I think I am so excited about the minisuite, I want to skip the shows and watch movies in the cabin. Our movie tonight was “Duplicity”. There was so much double crossing going on in that movie I could hardly follow it. We also watched the Texas/Michigan State BB game. My DH is a Longhorn. I am a Jayhawk. Yes, we number 1 and 2 in the polls.

 

This morning it is cool, cloudy, and rainy in Grand Turk. A great excuse to stay in and enjoy the cabin some more.;-) The coffee is brewing,, the DH is snoring like a freight train, the lights are twinkling, and all is right with my world.

 

I will say that I am missing my Del Boca Vista friends terribly. They are so much more colorful than the nearly comatose passengers I have seen thus far. Pretty tame out there. Becky and I have been a hit with all of our costumes. Last night I wore red sparkly glitter heels with Christmas boas.

 

Tonight’s entertainment includes a comedy show with Tom Briscoe and “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” revue.

 

I will be back later to give you the day’s events. Cheers, Sungirl

[davekathy]

Sungirl...Thank you for taking time to share your cruise. We’ll be on the Grand 26 March 2010 sailing. That sailing will be our first on the Grand Princess.

[KCSungirl]

Grand Turk was a wash out. :-(

 

It was raining off and on at Grand Turk. We got off the ship at noon to walk around the cruise center. The cute store that sold Fresh Produce sportswear and fun jewelry is out of business I believe. My DH bought me a Swarovski bracelet at the big duty free store. He wrapped it up and put in under the tree. We needed the umbrella and rain ponchos today, but guess where they were? In the cabin of course.

 

We had lunch at the buffet. I had clam chowder, gnocchi, and the free range fried chicken was beyond delicious. (Was going to use the “O” word, but trying to keep this thread PG).

 

Our roll call had a Yankee gift exchange party at 3pm in the Wheelhouse. I did not participate in the gift exchange, but I went to watch the action. It was a really fun idea and everyone enjoyed themselves.

 

At 3:30pm Becky, DH, and I went to sign up for the Gingerbread House making contest. I have never done anything like this before and thought it would be fun. We joined forces with a family from Jersey. They were so sweet. Our team name was the Candy Canes. Our finished product was hysterically bad, but we had a lot of fun. The winning team was awesome - A surf shack theme. Really cute.

 

At 6pm we had the first round of our gift exchange - the stocking stuffers. Mostly holiday type stuff - Christmas boxers, thongs (Is this too much information?), t-shirts, candy, ornaments, etc. The highlight was DH’s gift to Mike - two magazines - Big Boobs and Jugs. Mike is a boob man. And somewhat of a perv. My DH loved buying that gift. It’s probably the only time he will have the opportunity to shop in the adult magazine section ever again.

 

We went to the Horizon court buffet at 7:30pm. Again, just fantastic. The filet medallions were better than the night before in the dining room. Also had spinach tarts, salad, and mushroom rice pilaf.

 

The popcorn machine is fixed. Huge relief.

 

We grabbed a few bags of popcorn on the way to the comedy show in the Princess Theater. Tom Briscoe was back for his full length show. I enjoyed his act.

 

After the show we headed back to the cabin for the bedtime movie - My Life in Ruins. We fell asleep, so I will have to watch it again.

 

Something on the ship is making all four of use totally congested with allergies. I have no allergies so I don’t know what it is. I just got up to take a Benadryl and felt wide awake.

 

La Romana, Dominican Republic is today‘s port. We have the private Catalina Island excursion booked through the ship. This will be all new for us.

 

See you later. Glad to have you along and thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

 

Merry Christmas Eve, Sungirl