Grandeur May 17 2013 Review and Trip Report

[danyelle]

I'm so excited to write this review.

 

The first post below, will be the basic/general overall review, for those who dislike the day by day recaps, and then I'll start the trip report in the following post going by day. It's more for my memory than anything else so if it's redundant for you, sorry!

 

I didn't take many photos at all on this cruise, regretfully, but I'll sort through the few I have and see if there are any without my family in them that are worth sharing with you.

 

A little about us: We are New Yorkers who travel a few times a year. For the past 4 years we've been doing all inclusive land vacays and vegas but we're returning to cruising! We've only done a few cruises in the past. Three on Royal (voyager, jewel, adventure) and one on NCL (spirit).

 

This is our first cruise as parents (our last vacay together was in october of 2011 when we found out we were pregnant), and it's our first vacation bringing our little bundle with us. Our son is 11 months and very (VERY) active. This cruise was a departure from our norm, starting with the room: We booked an interior due to cost. And our activities were seriously scaled down. We're water people, very active and big divers and snorklers and into adventures when we travel, but that had to be curbed for this trip.

 

OK, so here we go:

[danyelle]

PRECRUISE

We drove down to Baltimore from Jersey City and stayed at the La Quinta that we found via stay123 dot com. They offer free wifi, free full breakfast, 24/7 gym, a comfy room, and most importantly 14 days of free (safe) parking for during your cruise.

 

Check in was very easy, and the room was clean, well maintained and honestly a lil better than I expected. Service was quick and friendly, and the beds were comfy. The room had a fridge and microwave, and the location was convenient to several places to eat....and shop.

 

EMBARKING

 

The boarding process took a total of 2 hours from stepping foot out of the hotel's shuttle van to stepping foot into the Centrum of the Grandeur. (That does include about 10 minutes with the dining staff that was set up outside of the ship to sign up for the dining package)

 

The port of Baltimore was huge and looked chaotic at first glance but was organized enough. The lines moved extremely slowly though.

 

SHIP

 

Grandeur was pretty!! It was the smallest ship we've sailed, felt tiny but chock full of goodies!! I noticed the wear in some areas, but it's an old ship despite it's refurbishment. It's not a cruise ruiner. I smelled sewage only one day, and it was in our bathroom, nowhere else on the ship. Everything was generally clean looking and well maintained. I will say that our stateroom looked clean but (neurotic mom that I am) I wiped the place down with clorox wipes before letting my son loose in there, and it proved to be FILTHY. (sidebar: I wiped down our hotel room at la quinta and there was no visible dirt on my wipes)

 

The ship's layout was easy to navigate and I liked the solarium (they allowed us to stay and eat in there w/ our son when he was quiet or sleeping, when he was in a rowdy mood we didn't attempt to hang out there) I noticed the movement on this ship more than any other we've sailed though. (Luckily it didn't effect the baby at all)

 

OTHER PASSENGERS

 

This was the oldest cruise we've been on, and we expected and welcomed it. I didn't want to take our baby on a rowdy drunk young party cruise. For the most part we met lovely, sweet, friendly people. This was actually our friendliest cruise to date. I'm sure it's partially because everybody loves a smiling baby and partially because my husband can't get through a room without stopping to talk to everyone he sees. Most of the folks we spoke with were from the north east/south east and seasoned cruisers who'd seen Bermuda a ton of times.

 

SERVICE

 

Service on the Grandeur was excellent. This was the first time we needed as much assistance since we had the little one along. The staff in the dining areas, and in all the public spaces really, were just super helpful, friendly and made life easier for us. This was our first sailing that we were given a WOW card to use. I don't know what the staff gets from receiving them, but we gave ours to a wonderful server in the Windjammer who really knocked our socks off and my son's too! He surprised us with sliced bananas for the baby, and would stand behind me to get his attention so I could feed him easier, it was unexpected and very appreciated. Our stateroom attendant did a great job with setting up for us and the baby, he “made” a mattress for the pack n play using sheets. The wait staff everywhere were so hard working and so helpful. These folks deserve a raise.

 

CABIN

 

I already mentioned the cleanliness...but otherwise the interior cabin wasn't as suffocating as I expected. I am a chronic overpacker and was able to find a place for all of my and my son's clothing and toiletries and toys. My husband lived out of his suitcase, but not because he had to, there was space for his items too. Only issue I had is that our luggage didn't fit under the beds. We had a pack n play set up for the baby and it was able to fit next to the bed and not be obtrusive. I was surprised at how well appointed the cabin was. Lots of nooks, crannies, shelves and drawers to put all the stuff you didn't need to pack in the first place :)

 

MDR / WINDJAMMER / PARK CAFE

 

This was the first week of the new menu in the MDR! It was lovely, we missed 2 days though. We ate in the MDR for lunch a couple times and dinner most nights, and we ate breakfasts in Windjammer. The variety in Windjammer was decent, the omlette station was popular, some of the items could have (should have) been kept warmer, and I think a waffle station would be a welcome addition. I noticed they changed out the trays frequently, and were constantly cleaning, wiping up, and maintaining the area well. The Windjammer staff is underrated. They hustle!

 

Our MDR staff was Peter and assistant Tomislav and it was a rocky start, but they were good overall. I think the baby threw them off their game a bit. We had to let them know just to keep the pace up no matter what the baby was eating and things went smoother after that. We missed a few nights with them because of My Time Dining scheduling/availability and specialty restaurants and Tomislav actually found my husband and asked him if his service was to blame for us not sitting in their station for dinner. I felt terrible. Overall they were good, but things that other servers in the past have done, like, remembering my severe nut allergy and letting me know in advance what items had nuts in them, or remembering that I always order a hot tea with lemon before dinner, weren't done. It's not a big deal because I'm so used to asking about/for these things anyway, it's just always special-feeling when the waitstaff remembers before you have to say anything.

 

Park Cafe was close to our room and we ran up there for snacks often. Also ran up early mornings for oatmeal for the baby. They had a nice variety of light dishes and drinks, plus a great salad station, in the mornings it was a bagel station.

 

SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS

 

Izumi: Underwhelming food, great service. If you're a foodie or big into sushi, you won't like it at all. I think NYC sushi has spoiled us too much.

 

Chops: Slow service, but very friendly. Great food, perfectly cook steaks! I felt like we had 100 servers since everyone was coming to hang out and play with the baby.

 

Giovannis: Yummy apps, great service, overcooked main courses, but still flavorful. I got a well done steak when I asked for medium....I would've sent it back, but our son was in the nursery and I didn't want to take any longer at dinner. Desserts were not impressive....but I still ate them!

 

ACTIVITIES

 

This part disappointed me a bit. There were such ill-timed activities. Also, just few activities that suited our taste. Lots of seminars from the spa, which in my mind equates to “info you can find in any magazine plus a sales pitch thrown in.” Art auctions and bingo. Neither are up my alley. There was some trivia, which we enjoy, and some demonstrations that were OK: cake making, sushi making, napkin folding etc. I think there was only one dance class (I love those and my husband tolerates them for me).

I bested the rock wall, then freaked out when I turned around and saw just how high I was.

 

I guess I'll put this here. The cruise director, to me, was awful. No charisma, not funny, very forced and just unappealing. There was a girl Aubrey, who, while she wasn't funny, she felt a lot more 'real' than the cruise director. The other entertainment staff seemed OK, and one guy from NYC was funny to me.

 

We went to bed early with the baby so no shows/nightlife for us on this trip.

 

SPA / GYM

The gym was small but never crowded. I took one class, a boot camp. It was terrible for me as a regular exerciser, but would be great for a beginner or non consistent exerciser. I don't think it was worth the cost, no matter who was attending. The machines were clean, up to date, and there was a decent variety of free weights. There was not enough floor space though. It felt a little cramped for space, so it's good that it was never crowded with people.

 

I did a fire and ice pedicure at the Spa and Victoria did a wonderful job. I can't speak to other services, but the area is clean, spacious, quiet and relaxing.

 

DISEMBARKING

 

Best disembarking ever. We did the self-assist. We got breakfast and went back to the room, grabbed our bags and walked off. Easy as pie. And we noticed when walking off that the suitcase situation was very orderly and organized with several people waiting as you got off the ship to help you to where your luggage would be. I've gotten off ships before to just a sea of bags and no rhyme or reason to where they were placed, so it was nice to see, even if we didn't make use of that service.

 

ROYAL BABIES / NURSERY

 

We went daily to the Royal Babies area so my son could have some play time with all the toys. The staff there were excellent, engaged, patient and just lovely people all around. I noticed them wiping down the toys and the floor a lot, and I appreciated it! There are toys and books to borrow during the cruise, and free play time that my son loved. The nursery/babysitting service was 8/hr and SO worth it!! They give you a beeper in case anything happens, but they will feed/change/play/put to bed if you want them to.

I stay at home with my son and he's never been watched by anyone other than my mom a few times. This was the first time that we experimented with leaving him in someone else's care. We left him for 2 hours on 3 days so we could have dinner as a couple, and each time he did really well. He didn't cry and was playing well with the staff. I think bringing him there to play with them without leaving him helped out a lot for the times we did leave him. (We did notice one family left their crying daughter there, the staff told us she cried the entire time, and they beeped the mother several times.)

 

OVERALL

The cruise was great, the Grandeur was great, and the staff was awesome. We loved the food and honestly when I try to think of what was bad about the cruise my mind goes to the weather, and the temperature of the water in Bermuda. Things that are not cruise related. (In fact, the staff handled the rainy weather very well, switching events to inside) We love cruising with Royal Caribbean and willl keep going! We booked our January cruise while on board. Liberty, here we come!

 

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions I'm happy to answer if I can. I will do my day by day trip report below.

[danyelle]

Edit: My husband thinks I'm rewriting history. I didn't "love" the food. I did love certain items but I had an issue with almost every dinner.

 

MY TIME DINING:

 

We liked it. We were given the same section without asking for it. And never had to wait. Only once were we seated in a different section, and it was only because we had the baby in the nursery and didn't want to wait for a seat in Peter/Tomislav's section. That was the only day we shared a table and it was enjoyable. (note: even when we had a table for 2 we still chatted with the tables around us and it felt like we were sharing a table anyway)

 

DINING PACKAGE:

 

We did the 55/pp dining package and it really just saved us a small amount. But small amounts add up!

Chops+Giovannis (for dinner) = 50 regularly. Izumi you're given 20/pp to use, but 5 goes to "cover charge" haha, so you're given 15 for food only.

The dining package therefore will save you $10. If you use giovannis table for lunch, the dining package will save you only $5.

 

CC MEET & MINGLE:

 

We were late to the meet and mingle, waiting for my son to wake up. I should've ran up at the beginning because we were 20 minutes late and everything was over. There was a raffle or free spin thingy and lil RCCL goodies were given out, but we missed it.

Good time talking to the CC folks though, and bumping into them for the rest of the cruise was nice too.

 

BERMUDA:

 

We had 2.5 days in Bermuda and it just wasn't long enough. Definitely an island we must return to for a land-vacay. It reminded me of St. Martin and was clean, bright, friendly, and seems the economy is much better than other islands we've cruised to. I didn't get accosted to buy items (but also didn't get the fun of haggling over a price).

On the first day our son was sleeping so we got a very late start, we spent about an hour and a half on land just walking around the dockyard.

 

The first full day in port we took the ferry to Hamilton, walked a bit, then took a bus over to the Crystal & Fantasy Caves. We had the baby strapped onto us and did the cave tours which were overpriced but interesting. They're similar to the cenotes of the Yucatan peninsula if you've ever visited those. Except in Mexico they let you swim in the caves, they forbid it here in Bermuda. We wanted to go to the aquarium but instead got sucked into the Swizzle Inn and time escaped us. Yummy restaurant!

 

2nd day we took a bus to Horseshoe bay beach and just enjoyed the sun and the freezing water. It was our son's first trip to a beach.

[alligeek]

Thanks for posting this! I love reading about others' experiences.

 

For the most part, we had a great time. I agree with you about the activities staff being somewhat disengaged. DH and I thought that the assistant CD looked really uncomfortable at all of the events and on the Morning Show.

 

The food service was really the biggest disappointment for us. The staff in the Windjammer, with the exception of a supervisor and a handful of servers, were very not helpful at all. I drink Diet Coke in the morning (I know it's odd, but that's my thing!) and two of the servers refused to bring it to me because the bars weren't open yet. This was a common theme, and I learned after a few days which servers would help and which ones wouldn't. Our MDR waiter was completely baffled by the new menu and consistently mixed up our orders. The bartenders and most of the other staff were great, though.

 

I agree that most of the passengers were really friendly! We were the ones with the wild preschooler and most people were very patient and kind to him. We did agree that we won't do another cruise until he's old enough to spend more time in Adventure Ocean though.

[emeraldcity]

Thank you for taking the time to post. We'll be on the May 31st sailing, and the packing party is scheduled for Monday! I've already got the mixers for the tropical drinks and DD has the cruise music recorded!

 

We're winging it on island activities. If its warm enough for watersports, we'll launch Plan A ... if not, we have a full slate of activities detailed in Plan B.

[dixieva]

You mentioned your luggage not fitting under the bed. We always have to lift the bed up a little, slide luggage under and put the bed back down. Try that next time.

 

Glad you had a nice cruise!

[ShakyBeef]

Thanks for posting! Enjoying your review and looking forward to the day-by-day. We'll be on the Grandeur for the Eastern Itinerary in January, so I've got lots of time to read lots of reviews before then:p

 

I'm sorry to hear that Izumi is disappointing to a real sushi fan. I was looking forward dining there at least once in our 10 days. Will you be critiquing your Izumi experience in more detail in the day-by-day part of the review? If not, could you tell me what, specifically, you found lacking in the Izumi food? Did they have decent nigiri, at least?:o

[Daghis]

Thank you for posting your review. I'm enjoying it while DH is on his Ph.D. celebration cruise on Grandeur this week, and this way I can enjoy DH's cruise somewhat vicariously. :)

[Kroozen]

Thanks for your review. I'm on the 31st sailing so it was nice to read a (mostly) favorable review. I'm a bit disappointed about the water temperature in Bermuda, but I guess that's to be expected in the mid-Atlantic in spring time. I've got some beach plans and some land plans, so I'm sure I'll be fine.

[danyelle]

Thanks for posting this! I love reading about others' experiences.

 

For the most part, we had a great time. I agree with you about the activities staff being somewhat disengaged. DH and I thought that the assistant CD looked really uncomfortable at all of the events and on the Morning Show.

 

The food service was really the biggest disappointment for us. The staff in the Windjammer, with the exception of a supervisor and a handful of servers, were very not helpful at all. I drink Diet Coke in the morning (I know it's odd, but that's my thing!) and two of the servers refused to bring it to me because the bars weren't open yet. This was a common theme, and I learned after a few days which servers would help and which ones wouldn't. Our MDR waiter was completely baffled by the new menu and consistently mixed up our orders. The bartenders and most of the other staff were great, though.

 

I agree that most of the passengers were really friendly! We were the ones with the wild preschooler and most people were very patient and kind to him. We did agree that we won't do another cruise until he's old enough to spend more time in Adventure Ocean though.

 

Wow, so funny how our windjammer life was so opposite!

Were you the family with little AJ?

 

I wonder what was up w/ the CD staff...maybe something funky was going on behind the scenes and it spilled over a little.

[danyelle]

Thank you for taking the time to post. We'll be on the May 31st sailing, and the packing party is scheduled for Monday! I've already got the mixers for the tropical drinks and DD has the cruise music recorded!

 

We're winging it on island activities. If its warm enough for watersports, we'll launch Plan A ... if not, we have a full slate of activities detailed in Plan B.

 

YAY!!! Enjoy every minute. I love that you have a plan a and b in place. Hopefully it'll be warm enough for good beachin'!

[danyelle]

You mentioned your luggage not fitting under the bed. We always have to lift the bed up a little, slide luggage under and put the bed back down. Try that next time.

 

Glad you had a nice cruise!

 

Oh man we're idiots!

 

DH was using his old defensive lineman skills and trying to just PUUUUUSH those bags under, to no avail. This is in my memory bank for the January trip!

 

Did they change beds or something? I remember the bags sliding easily under on the Jewel/Voyager/Adventure.

[Kroozen]

Are there mini bars or refrigerators in the cabins on Grandeur?

[danyelle]

Thanks for posting! Enjoying your review and looking forward to the day-by-day. We'll be on the Grandeur for the Eastern Itinerary in January, so I've got lots of time to read lots of reviews before then:p

 

I'm sorry to hear that Izumi is disappointing to a real sushi fan. I was looking forward dining there at least once in our 10 days. Will you be critiquing your Izumi experience in more detail in the day-by-day part of the review? If not, could you tell me what, specifically, you found lacking in the Izumi food? Did they have decent nigiri, at least?:o

 

John and I are actually thinking about doing the eastern itinerary (or another out of NJ/NY) in lieu of the Liberty in January just to avoid flying.

 

Well, I know food is always subjective, but to us:

 

miso soup was a step above standard, and I enjoyed it

 

edamame was actually yummy. I feel like they boiled them in UNsalted water and then sprinkled the sea salt on which I didnt mind at all.

 

The chicken appetizer (name long forgotten) was just OK, chicken didn't seem seasoned and the chili sauce seemed right out of the jar.

 

John's gyoza were definitely from a frozen package but weren't bad, actually my son ate the guts out of most of the gyoza.

 

The lobster champagne roll was mostly rice, bland and very mayo heavy. I feel like it needed another crunchy element because the asparagus in it wasn't crisp.

 

John had a fried spicy tuna roll that was the yummiest part of the meal. I've never had a deep fried roll before, but it was a good balance of textures and flavors.

 

I liked my surf and turf roll, the steak slices were tender and I forget what was inside the roll but every bite felt like I was eating stir fried beef with rice. Nothing "sushi" feeling about it. (I didn't care!)

 

Last one was the tempura shrimp roll, and while the flavors were ok, the shrimp was heavily breaded and unseasoned. The texture balance was off too.

 

We probably should've ordered sashimi like we normally do.

 

I know it sounds nitpicky, I know.

 

Despite everything I've said above: nothing was left on our plates. So our greedy guts were ultimately satisfied.

[danyelle]

Thank you for posting your review. I'm enjoying it while DH is on his Ph.D. celebration cruise on Grandeur this week, and this way I can enjoy DH's cruise somewhat vicariously. :)

 

Congrats to DH!!!

[danyelle]

Thanks for your review. I'm on the 31st sailing so it was nice to read a (mostly) favorable review. I'm a bit disappointed about the water temperature in Bermuda, but I guess that's to be expected in the mid-Atlantic in spring time. I've got some beach plans and some land plans, so I'm sure I'll be fine.

 

Yeah after reading reviews I figured we would have our first, non-beach-intensive trip ever.

 

You'll be great either way. I hope it's warm enough for beach fun for you though.

 

Are there mini bars or refrigerators in the cabins on Grandeur?

 

We did not have one. I'm not sure if it's because no cabins have them or if it's because we were in an interior cabin.

 

Enjoy your cruise, it's just a few days away!! woohoooo!

[Kroozen]

Thanks for the info. We're going to bring a case of water on board so I was hoping to have a refrigerator to keep it cool. No big deal though. There's always ice.

 

This is the longest time between cruises since I've started cruising so I'm looking forward to this one more than in the past. My boyfriend and I have also just finished medical school, so it's going to be a celebration before starting our residencies in September.

[powelweb]

Thanks for your review- we're sailing Grandeur in August.

 

We went to Izumi on Oasis this past April, and DH said it was the best salmon roll he'd ever had, so I'm wondering if it's all Izumi's or if this one is just gettng up to speed after their revitalization work.

 

Also- to Alligeek-you're not the only diet coke drinker in the morning!

[danyelle]

So you know where we're coming from for this week of vacay:

 

John just sat for his MCATs and finished a greuling postbacc semester. I work from home as a blogger and a coach and I am a stay at home mom to our 11 month old son. For the past few months John and I have been like ships in the night, so getting a week of family time together was really priceless for us. This week was the only break in school for John before his next postbacc semester starts on the 29th and the week before my work schedule picks up and I return to my masters program. We NEEDED this week away.

 

Pre-Cruise:

 

I pored over CC and got TONS Of advice, so thank you all, especially everyone in the family section. I felt super prepared to cruise with my little guy. We drove down from NJ to Baltimore and at the advice of some members here, I booked one night's stay at La Quinta via 123stay. The Rate was a119 and included a full breakfast, a shuttle to the pier, and most importantly, free parking for the duration of the cruise!

 

The room was well appointed, larger, cleaner and brighter than I expected. Full couch and chair, a desk, loads of floor space for the baby to run around, an armoire with the flat screen TV, fridge and microwave.

 

The service was good too. Friendly check in/front desk folks. I know it's a 3 star property, but they gave us the ol' “is everything OK, do you need anything” call about ½ an hour after we'd gone up to the room. I appreciated that.

 

For the baby they brought in a crib, which clearly wasn't used often. It was dusty and filthy (thank goodness for me being a clorox wipe carrying psycho!) I wiped it down and wiped down everything else I could get my hands on, and was pleasantly surprised at how clean the room was overall.

 

We dropped our bags and relaxed for a bit, then motivated ourselves and headed over to target to grab some last minute “needs” for the cruise. We ran into a young couple that was taking the same cruise also, and my husband ran into them a few times on board as well. Target has the ability to just suck me in and take all my money, so an hour later and a hundred bucks poorer my husband dragged me out of target and headed to grab dinner.

 

Being big Diners, Drive-ins & Dives fans, we headed to a place about 20 minutes away from the hotel area called Chaps Pit Beef. It was Guy Fieri approved, and so freaking delicious. I've been to some great Jewish delis here in NY but I have never had a better corned beef sandwich In. My. Entire. Life.

Because we're greedy guts, we also tried the ribs (just OK), the pulled pork sandwich (awesome!) and some other meaty sandwich (awesome!) The sides were just OK – mac n cheese and cold slaw.

We're definitely going back next time we're in the area.

 

We headed back to the hotel to get the baby down for bed, and more importantly, watch the season finale of Scandal :) I did a little last minute work on the computer (La Quinta offers free wifi) and went to bed.

 

The beds were comfortable! (I missed the la quinta bed while I was on the cruise's hard mattress!)

[danyelle]

Thanks for the info. We're going to bring a case of water on board so I was hoping to have a refrigerator to keep it cool. No big deal though. There's always ice.

 

This is the longest time between cruises since I've started cruising so I'm looking forward to this one more than in the past. My boyfriend and I have also just finished medical school, so it's going to be a celebration before starting our residencies in September.

 

Congrats Kroozen!!! That's awesome!!!! John's just taken his mcats and is applying in 5 days! Fingers crossed. Would you mind if I picked your brain a bit? About the application process / interview process / 1st year?

 

If not, it's totally cool.

[Kroozen]

Pick away!

[danyelle]

Thanks for your review- we're sailing Grandeur in August.

 

We went to Izumi on Oasis this past April, and DH said it was the best salmon roll he'd ever had, so I'm wondering if it's all Izumi's or if this one is just gettng up to speed after their revitalization work.

 

Also- to Alligeek-you're not the only diet coke drinker in the morning!

 

I wonder, maybe it was just all the changes that contributed to it. I hear that they're switching up a lot of staff too. I heard from a few crew members that a lot of people left and a lot of new people got on in Baltimore during our embarkation, so maybe that contributed. I'm glad you had a great Izumi experience and I know you'll enjoy Grandeur in August.

[danyelle]

Pick away!

 

How many schools did you target w/ your application?

Did you have much patient contact/volunteer etc before applying? (That's where DH is lacking)

DH is a career change student (non traditional) did you have many in your class?

What was the best advice you received about the app process / interview process?

What was the interview process like for you?

How long after sending in your amcas did you hear back w/ secondaries from schools?

How long after submitting secondaries did you hear back w/ interviews?

I hear first year is a killer beast, did you find it that way? Any advice/tips?

 

THANK YOU!!!!

[Kroozen]

- I applied to 5 medical schools, and was accepted to all of them. I did my undergraduate work across the country from where I lived, but I wanted to attend medical school closer to home so I attended one that was about 2 1/2 hours away.

 

- Since I was pre-med/biology in college, my program had a lot of internship experience. I did a year long internship (about 30 hours a week) shadowing an ER doctor. (As that is what specialty I had originally wanted to enter, but now I am doing surgery.) I also submitted a letter of recommendation from the doctor along with my applications.

 

- Some of the best advice I can give regarding the interview process is to be flexible, and upbeat. Everyone who is being interviewed by the schools has nearly perfect GPA's, so you need to set yourself a part from the others. I tried to really express my genuine interest in the human aspect of medicine, and not just the science.

 

- The interviews were quite daunting, but I went in with the mindset that I belonged there and had a good shot of being accepted. You have to be confident in yourself and your skills.

 

- I did the early decision program so I didn't have to wait as long as others. I think the median was around 2 months.

 

- 1st and 4th years were definitely the hardest. I think because they are different than anything I've experienced. During my 1st year I was like "wow, I'm in medical school...This for real." and my 4th year I was like "wow, I'm finishing medical school...This for real." You really need to concentrate and let medical school be your first priority. I don't have children so it wasn't too difficult for me, but your husband may have an different experience. But at the same time, you also need to learn to relax or you will be consumed by stress.

 

In all honesty, every time I started to get stressed (which was all the time), I would always remind myself that after medical school and my residency, my life would become easier.

 

I'm starting a residency in general surgery in September, with the hopes of become fellowship trained in surgical oncology.

 

My boyfriend is doing his residency critical care. We're at different hospitals, but they are both within an hour of our homes.

[jamscckmc]

Thank you for the review. I was on the Bahamas cruise May 10th and am back on for Bermuda on Friday. I was hoping there was a great new CD since Jimmy the temp Cd left when we did. We either didn't have a morning show or they didn't repeat later in the day. Hopefully she will get her act together. I did like Lynn? from the CD staff who did bingo and some show trivia. Also Melissa and the guy from Jamaica.

 

We had the old menus and hope by next week the waiters have the new menus down.

 

I hope the water warms up but being used to the Carolina beaches it probably won't be warm enough for me. I remember reading that Memorial Day weekend is usually the soonest locals will go in the water.