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Live From The Grand Princess

BigTimeCruiser

By BigTimeCruiser,
in Princess Cruises

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BigTimeCruiser

BigTimeCruiser

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Grand Cayman Surprise

 

What a surprise when we reached Grand Cayman. We were ship number 7. There are 2 Princess ships; 3 Royal Caribbean ships; 1 NCL ship and 1 Carnival ship. All BIG Ships. So, a very conservative estimate of the increased population on Grand Cayman would be 15,000 plus. Needless to say, Cindy and I went to the pool forward on the ship near the Lotus Spa and relaxed. Can't imagine how crowded the main street is today. Oh, and there was a traffic jam at the pier. Tenders were lined up waiting for their turn to unload or load passengers.

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BigTimeCruiser

BigTimeCruiser

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Upgraded Amenities

If you are in a suite or minisuite, you may want to ensure that you receive the new upgraded amenities. When we boarded, there wasn't a pillow menu and the cabin staff; Purser Desk; Captain Circle Hostess; nor anyone else had any idea what we were talking about. However, we did get nice pillows from our cabin attendant, by telling her what type of pillow we wanted. No embarkation champagne was offered, but after discussing this today with the Purser Desk we were provided a bottle of the bubblie. It would appear that the word has NOT made it out to the line staff on the Grand Princess. I did let them know about the Posting here on Cruise Critic from the Princess PR Department that explains everything. Oh, we do have the new mattress; upgraded towels and robes, and of course all the new shampoos and conditioners. Once they knew about the new upgraded amenities, they came through without hesitation. :) :)

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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Cruise Director is Trevor Bradford. He joined the Grand Princess 3 weeks ago for its Transalantic voyage. We sailed with him recently on the Sun.

 

That is great about Trevor being your CD- he has become my favorite CD. A super nice guy. I hope he liked his new dog that he would have met between his contracts on the Sun and the Grand. I remember him telling me on the Sun that right after he left, his wife went out and got a new puppy and he couldn't wait to get home to meet the dog.

 

It is funny - we had Captain Calabrese and the same Future Cruise person (Marcia) on our Golden cruise in October that we had when we were on the Sun. It really is a small world - that or we shoud broaden our cruise line choices :)

 

Enjoying all the updates :) Sounds like you two are having a very relaxing cruise.

 

Theresa

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BigTimeCruiser

BigTimeCruiser

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Cozumel

We arrived at Cozumel this morning a little after 9:00am. The sky is overcast with some light rain. The tendering process began a little around 10:00am for the tours. Around 10:55am an announcement for tendering was made. The Explorers Lounge is being used for non-tour tendering. Lines for tendering were pretty backed up down past the photo department. The tenders that we have seen leaving the ship are large yellow and blue boats from Cozumel. It was taking between 20 to 25 minutes to load these boats completely. There are swells that are affecting the tendering process. We have not seen any of the ship's tenders being lowered at this point. Three other ships are in the harbor today. There is a Celebrity ship, a Royal Caribbean ship, and a Carnival ship, all anchored out about 1/4 of a mile from shore.

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BigTimeCruiser

BigTimeCruiser

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Cozumel Tendering Delays

At 11:25am, an announcement was made that tendering is taking longer than expected here in Cozumel. They are utilizing 2 shoreside boats, each that holds 400 people to accomplish tendering. Due to the size of these boats and the swells it is taking much longer than normal to get passengers to shore. :(

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luckyking

luckyking

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was there a schedule change for arrival time in Cozumel or did you all just get in early.

My itineray shows arrival of 10 but it sounds like it's a good thing if it was early arrival due to the tendering process.

 

Thanks again for the updates! I think we are all thankful for you taking time out of your vacation to share the play-by-play with us!

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Cruise Gopher

Cruise Gopher

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Upgraded Amenities

 

I did let them know about the Posting here on Cruise Critic from the Princess PR Department that explains everything.

 

BigTimeCruiser, where on the Cruise Critic boards is the press release located, I want to bring a copy with when we gon on the Grand in January, to avoid any problems if they say they don't know what I am talking about.

 

Thanks

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BigTimeCruiser

BigTimeCruiser

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BigTimeCruiser, where on the Cruise Critic boards is the press release located, I want to bring a copy with when we gon on the Grand in January, to avoid any problems if they say they don't know what I am talking about.

 

Thanks

 

First, be sure to log in with your User Name. You can find it by Clicking on Search at the top of the page. For User Name put in Princess PR and select the Princess Cruises Forum. You will see the posting when the search results come up.:)

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Hulagirl

Hulagirl

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Thank you so much for all the updates on the cruise this week. It sounds interesting!

 

Can you tell me if they had the "Caribbean Menu" one night and what night it was? That is my least favorite and want to make reservations at Sterlings for that night.

 

I'm still so thrown about the formal night. Sounds like it was just a regular night, just everyone dressed up. So the formal menu is tonight along with the repeaters party and I'm guessing the champagne waterfall? Still I find this very odd.

 

 

I envy you on the ship and cant wait for our turn. Sitting here and it is 37 degrees outside with snow coming down. Not sticking, but snow and cold.

 

Thanks for all the information.

 

Hulagirl

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Hulagirl

Hulagirl

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Thank you so much for the information! I agree with Coral that this is their weakest menu also. When we were on the Star last April we got the menu in our cabin and thought, "What are we going to eat?" Now we aren't picky people at all, but there was just nothing that appealed to us. I know where we will be making reservations right away now.

 

Thanks again.

 

Hulagirl

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montgomeryfamily

montgomeryfamily

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BigTimeCruiser, thanks for finding out that lobster will still be served one night during the cruise. It is going to be different to have it on a casual night instead of a formal night, but, now at least you don't have to worry about dripping melted butter on your tux. :)

 

I also agree about the Caribbean night menu and would like to have alternate dining on that night too. But my brother is not totally convinced. By any chance do you remember the appetizers served on that night? That could be the clincher. :D

 

Do you go ashore at Cozumel? If so, how was the tender ride? How are things looking onshore?

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BigTimeCruiser

BigTimeCruiser

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OPENING NIGHT SUCCESS

Fast moving; superb choreography; excellent singing and masterfully produced....The first night production of "Cinematastic" here on the Grand Princess is a welcome addition to the Princess Theater entertainment. It was a pleasure to hear singers with good voices and dancers that were in step and appeared to be enjoying themselves.

Whatever you do when you sail of the GP, don't miss this production. It's a real winner.:) :) :) :) :)

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BigTimeCruiser

BigTimeCruiser

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I also agree about the Caribbean night menu and would like to have alternate dining on that night too. But my brother is not totally convinced. By any chance do you remember the appetizers served on that night? That could be the clincher. :D

 

Do you go ashore at Cozumel? If so, how was the tender ride? How are things looking onshore?

 

Sorry, don't remember what the appetizers were for Caribbean Night.

 

We decided not to venture in to Cozumel. The tender/boat ride took longer than most people expected. One passenger reported that at 2:55pm he got in line on shore to return to the ship. It took him 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach the Grand Princess. IMO, it's not really the ship's fault for the long delays. The pier that is being used is one that was partially destroyed. They are docking at the end of the pier nearest land. Since the pier is high, normal tenders probably would not be able to off load passengers. So, they are utilizing larger boats for tendering. All the cruise ships that anchored off Cozumel today were using similar boats to get their passengers ashore.:(

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cre8tive1

cre8tive1

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We leave this Saturday (12-3-05) on the Grand. My sincere thanks for your posts. Peace.

 

 

Hey, Join us for sail-away and for lunch. Go to our roll call for details. I think they should still be on the last page. We will be wearing red shirts and leis. We would love to meet you! You are also welcome to join us for our other activities.

 

BTC- This means you too! Our friend was actually booked in your room or in the same one on the other side. She had to cancel....she now has a three month-old.

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aggieastrosfan

aggieastrosfan

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BTC- This means you too! Our friend was actually booked in your room or in the same one on the other side. She had to cancel....she now has a three month-old.

 

Unless BTC booked about the same time I did, I'm pretty sure I was in E728. I canceled it in February.

 

BTC, if you're in that cabin again next week, take care of it for me. I was supposed to be in there tomorrow. :(

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