Review of Grand Princess WCB 12/10/05-12/17/05

[spiritkat090909]

Review of Grand Princess from Galveston 12/10/05-12/17/05Captain Angelo Vago, GRT 108,806; pax capacity 3,100; cruising speed of 22.5 knots with top speed of 24 knots

 

Demographic background: My husband & I are in our early to mid forties, prefer cruising without children in the off season months of Sep-Dec. Our previous cruise history has been on the NCL ships Norway & Sun; RCI ships Sovereign & Rhapsody; & the now defunct Enchanted Isle. I was a travel agent for 5 years with a large Wal-Mart owned agency before turning to banking & currently a stay at home kitty mommy. Jim is a computer network consultant. Since we prefer to drive, rather than fly, our new home port is Galveston and the ships there are the ones we will sail in the future.

 

Day 1 Embarkation, Saturday 12/10 Sail at 4:00pm

 

From the ships log (no copyright notice, so I guess I can use it):

At 4:33pm with all pre-departure checks satisfactorily completed, Grand Princess slipped her mooring lines & commenced her passage out of Galveston. Once clear of our berth we entered the main channel, Bolivar Roads, and proceeded out of the harbour. Grand Princess disembarked her local pilot at 5:32 pm to set a south-easterly course into the Gulf of Mexico.

 

We used EZ-Cruise parking of Galveston & showed up around 11:45 pm. They led a line of us to the second lot (first lot is for mainly RCI ship) and we were onboard in time to have lunch in the dining room located to the right of the entrance. Although the website says the price for the week is now $55, we did see signs there at the port stating a drive up price for $45. We always get reservations & managed to book before the online prices went up. I’m guessing that if the lot isn’t full, then they put out the low rate sign.

 

Our stateroom, a balcony cabin on the Caribe deck, midship, was not what I expected. Both the Rhapsody & Sun had much larger balcony cabins. I guess one has to book a mini-suite to compare apples to apples. The balcony was huge, but the room itself

appeared smaller than it actually was due to the design…the entry area has to be walked around in an L shape to get from the door to the room. On the plus side, this cuts down hallway noise to nothing…you can barely even hear someone knocking. Our room stewardess wasn’t around, but her partner was. I noticed a urine smell in the bathroom that was taken care of the following day when the shower curtain allowed the floor to flood. Sprayed the soured curtain with Zero Odor & we were good to go for the week. I’m not a neat/clean freak BUT the restroom closest to the Botticelli dining room also had a noticeable odor. And speaking of smells… this is the only ship where I noticed the fetid trash smell when tendering. RCI wins hands down for their enforced environmental recycling programs.

 

The weather was cold, dingy, & rainy. Muster went smoothly in the Explorers Lounge for our cabin location. PCL does their muster differently than we were used to… no standing out on the deck in an orange outfit looking like a convict. Plus for PCL. As they explained, if there were an emergency, they would rather have us in a seated location out of the weather. In the event of a true evacuation, then they would lead us to our lifeboats. Most emergencies do not require the abandon ship & this method sounds like a winner to me. So nice to be in a warm bar with drink in hand, instead of outside freezing to death in a monkey suit.

 

We were supposed to meet our fellow cruise critic members upstairs at the sailaway party in the Seabreeze bar. Since it was cold & rainy, I’m not sure that that the alternative plan wasn’t put in place… we never made it up that far. As usual, we were pulled into the dancing festivities on the main pool deck &…the vacation started.

 

Having tried the personal choice type dining on the NCL Sun, we knew we did NOT want to do that & had requested late, traditional dining. Decided that it was a must to try the Steakhouse, known on this ship as the Painted Desert, instead of the Sterling Steakhouse as per the boards. I was confused. IMO it was not worth the extra fee of $15pp. It was good, just not THAT good.

 

Had pre-ordered a bottle of rum & a soda package. There was a note in the cabin with the rum when returned from dining. No note or notation that there was a soda package gift needing to be delivered.

 

LOVE the pocket Quick Reference Bar Guide which tells you where, when, & what is available to eat or drink AND the mini ship deck plan. These are in the pocket of the big portfolio in your stateroom. I never went anywhere without them & continued to use them right up to departure. I’m directionally challenged. SuperPlus for PCL.

 

Day 2 at SEA, Sunday 12/11

 

From the ships log:

…at noon the Sky: Mainly Cloudy, Wind: Strong Northerly Wind, Temp: 68*… avg speed 21.3 knots….

 

Icky weather. Both sea days from Galveston in December were not compatible to outdoor activities. In spite of that, we managed to avoid the casino. Booked our next cruise & since we were one of the first to do so, received a really nice Princess back pack. Another plus for PCL.

 

The Princess Grapevine wine tasting at $7.50 pp was well worth it. We tried 6 different wines in the $21-29 per bottle price range. Each person was allowed to purchase a bottle of any wine on the wine list for a $5 discount & we were given an attractive shot glass valued at $3.75 for attending. So they paid US to attend! There is another wine tasting for $25pp that our dining companions attended. They said it was worth the fee & enjoyed it… they tasted the Opus I, Mondavi-Rothschild, which was selling for $175 per bottle onboard.

 

Formal night. Photographers everywhere. There were about six different backgrounds to choose from. The best photographer was the one doing the white paper background where you took off your shoes. The photos were $20 for a 5x7 formal & about the same for the 8x10 non-formals. We waited until the next to the last afternoon to purchase when they gave you 1 free if you purchased six. Of course we would have purchased more if they had been more reasonably priced, but the marketeers have decided that the expense & waste of printing doesn’t count in cost to profit ratios.

 

This ship really moves a lot, compared to the others we’ve been on. We don’t get motion sick, & didn’t see anyone else suffering, but I’d definitely think about a midship cabin on the lower decks if I did. The weather, while rainy, didn’t seem that bad with 6-8 foot swells being the largest I heard of. Maybe the stabilizers were not being utilized? In any event, one could tell they were on a ship. For us another plus! We like being rocked to sleep at night.

 

Watched “Curtain Up” with the Grand Princess dancers/singers. Entertaining & worth a look before retiring. I would equate it with NCL’s Las Vegas type shows. Maybe a step below. Not much difference, though.

Day 3 Costa Maya, MX Monday 12/12

Majahual 10:00am – 7:00pm

 

From the ships log:

We commenced our final approaches towards the pier off Costa Maya and embarked our local pilot at 9:04am. Grand Princess was safely all fast alongside her berth at 9:45am….

at noon the Sky: Clear, Wind: Light Northerly Breeze, Temp: 82*… avg speed 20.1 knots..

at 7:01pm with ‘all lines gone’ Grand Princess began thrusting off her berth and shortly after disembarked our local pilot.

 

We waited & waited for one person that didn’t show up for their tour. Majahual has tour collection signs by letter at the end of the pier, just before going into the shopping village. It is always hot & there is little shade (one tree). Bring a shade umbrella if you are sensitive to sunlight & heat. Since we were about 45 mins late getting started & were the last tour to be led to our bus, we were going by the central plaza when the locals started their folk dance. They call with the conch shell horn before they start. If you hear it, it is something to see. The guys are in traditional dress like the ones posing for pictures at the pier & it is quite a sight. We only got to see the start of the dancing. Next time… I just LOVE Costa Maya! Our favorite port. We’ve been twice & still haven’t seen the fishing village.

 

Tour MH1-Q

Bacalar Lagoon by Mini-Speed Boat With Lunch

 

Enjoyed it. This is mostly just riding in the boat. Don’t expect to swim any & you don’t even need to wear a swimsuit. We didn’t get wet at all. After the 1.5 hour drive to the lagoon (with 3 stops along the way by the bus driver & guide), we finally got into the boats. We were assigned boats according to experience level & followed the leader around the lagoon at full throttle for about an hour and half. Halfway through there was a stop to switch drivers if you liked. No one checked for licenses. When we returned to the shore, lunch was served. It was excellent. The typical fajitas, guacamole, etc. The return trip provided a stop to a local ‘gift’ shop that had a few interesting things. Mainly wooden bowls & carvings. Everything was priced in MX $$ & cash was accepted.

 

NOTE: Description on the Princess Shore Excursion brochure indicates you navigate through islands & mangroves. If we did, I didn’t see them.

 

Called Room service to ask about the soda package before dinner. They brought it right up. If I hadn’t known about it & it had truly been a gift from someone else, would it have been delivered? I won’t pre-order again. The price is the same & can be ordered via room service from the menu in the room.

 

This evening we found the Wheelhouse Bar, which became our before dinner retreat for dancing. Although not country music, the Don Walker Quartet did play songs we could dance to easily enough. Since it was a small lounge, we quickly became stars at sea, always being greeted by the band when we arrived. Next year we’ll already have our evening routine worked out & won’t waste time in Skywalkers. Nice place in inclement weather to watch the ship sail, but not our cup of tea for evening dancing.

Day 4 Belize City, BZ Tuesday 12/13

6:30am – 1:30pm

 

From the ships log:

At 4:27am we embarked our local pilot…at 6am we let go the Port anchor. By 6:15am GP was “brought up” to the port anchor with 5 shackles of cable in the water

at noon the Sky: Mainly Cloudy, Wind: Light North Westerly Breeze, Temp 78*… avg speed 13.3 knots

At 1:30 pm sailed..

 

Waited in the Theater for our tour to depart. We were the first group on the tender & off the ship. Our tour had a 7am departure time noted on the ticket.

 

The roads in Belize are bad. And that is an understatement. It really doesn’t take long to get anywhere, it’s just that one can’t go faster than 20 mph on dirt roads with potholes full of mud! I wonder how many of the tour buses get stuck on a daily basis? Something to consider if you plan to book tours on your own instead of through the ship. We booked all of ours through the ship, but had planned on doing Nachi Cochum independently in CZ, before the Hurricane. With our experiences this trip, in the future we will only do independent things if the ship is not tendered but docked. I believe! I believe!

 

Six passengers missed the ship &had to catch pilot boats to get back onboard. The Captain came over the speakers & stressed how important it was … & sighed his frustration & disgust. Note that this isn’t indicated in the ships log. I remembered departure being delayed, but I guess I was mistaken. Either that or the pax caught up before we left the Channel.

 

Tour BZE-O

Lost World Canopy & Rappelling Adventure

 

We were waitlisted until the day before we sailed. We cleared online & I was surprised to see that we did not have tickets & were still showing waitlist when we arrived. Tickets showed up later on day one. This was a lot of fun. The first zip line was a little spooky & my adrenaline was pumping. I was lifted up to the first line due to my height, 5’4” but the rest of the zips/rappels weren’t so high. I have to say that the cave really makes it fantastic, you begin & end in it. We were told to leave our belongings in the bus, so we didn’t take a camera. Should have. Could have secured it with a small backpack or fanny pack. This tour is one we will do again! You use one hand to hold the line in front of you & one behind to brake, if needed. We didn’t do any that required braking. The instructions in the beginning that we couldn’t understand due to accent that we needed to hear were: IF you start to twist, put the braking hand that is behind you farther away from you.

 

BRING: A head scarf or bandana to wrap your head/hair with before putting on the helmet. Ugh. The equipment has a wet musty mildew smell. Maybe my sense of smell is changing as I age? I’m noticing a pattern as I write. Loose clothing/pants… the harnesses cinch up rather tightly.

 

Formal night again… so soon?

 

We actually made it to the Comedian, Jim McDonald. He was attractive, but you really had to work at seeing the humor in his jokes. The slide show he followed up with WAS funny & he ended well. Skipped his second show.

 

Day 5 Grand Cayman, CI Wednesday 12/14

12:00pm - 7:00pm (LAST tender was noted as leaving at 4:45 in the Patters)

 

From the ships log:

We commenced our final approaches to Grand Cayman just before 10:10am. By 11:16am we were in position ..let go the Port anchor. By 11:25am Grand Princess was ‘brought up’ to the port anchor with 6 shackles in the water. Once a shore party had been established and tenders launched, we began taking (pax) ashore with a regular ship’s tender service.

Sky at noon: Partly Cloudy; Wind – Fresh North Easterly Breeze; Temp 78*… avg speed 21.0 knots

AT 5:34pm the anchor was aweigh & Grand Princess sailed….

 

Tendering in Grand Cayman is a Fiasco of Nightmare Proportions:

...I have never seen such a mess in my entire cruising life. We picked up a tender ticket, 1075, around 11:30am. We did not rush since we had intentions of only going to Hell (guess we sorta did that) & if there was time, seeing the beach. All the bars & lounges were packed with people waiting to get off & not a drink could be found. The wait for a tender would have been more tolerable with a drink... HINT: Go to the pool area. It has the only open bars during the port tendering. Guess they didn't want a bunch of upset drunks bobbing around in an enclosed tender with no a/c for an hour. During OUR hour on the tender, I spoke to a gentlemen who had been on a ship’s excursion that had been cancelled. He said that they were told that they would probably not make it to shore in time to do their tour & could cancel with a refund if they didn’t want to take the chance. I thought the ships excursions would have been let off first & had already decided that THAT was the way to go, but on THIS day, that was NOT the case.

By 2pm, when we finally made it to shore, after bobbing around close enough to have swam the distance to shore…there wasn't a cab in sight. If we had found one, we may not have made it back to the port before departure… the demand for return taxi’s not a consideration since we couldn’t find one port side. So, we shopped for 2 hours (a real tourist Trap) & braved the return tender apprehensively, hoping our liquor made it back easier than we had arrived. No problems for the Tortuga Rum. Hmm.

 

There were about 7 ships in port, I didn’t count those on the OTHER side of our ship, precisely. We were the last to arrive & had NO shore service tendering at all. This meant that our little 150 pax Grand tenders had to wait their turn to unload at ONE slip. And if a GCShore tender was in our slip waiting to fill up to take pax to another ship, we had to wait until they were full, before they would leave & we could take a turn. The other ships in port did not have the same difficulties we did, in part because the Jewel & the Triumph (super large mega liners) had their own Super Tenders that held quite a few people AND they arrived early in the day. I think that was the main issue… if we had been earlier (we were on time), then we might have had a chance to get off in a timely manner. The ships that WERE in port weren’t small ones, either. I’m estimating that there were an extra 20,000 people that day. For one pier with 3 (?) slips. Perhaps I should have DONE THE MATH while I was waiting to board the tender. I never have been good at math. Too lazy. I thought I was paying someone else to figure it out for me. I was on Vacation!

PCL KNOWS this is a real problem. I spoke to the Pursers desk & the guy there said it happens every week, this is not an unusual situation for GC. I'm just surprised that I hadn't read about it before hand on this site. If I had expected it (or if the Captain or other staff had mentioned it), then I would have adjusted my plans accordingly. As it was, we wasted a day that could have been spent out by the ship pool instead of an hour in an unairconditioned dinghy with a roof. No circulation, just think of steaming clams…baking away. I just noticed… no unpleasant odor wafting throughout! That was a plus for PCL on a most challenging day... I think that is the best one I could find.

 

Next year, Roatan replaces Grand Cayman. Thank God. We booked again while onboard. IMO it stinks that everyone on this itinerary loses one day of their cruise when they could simply stay at sea & have the employees keep us entertained another day. For us, that loss of one day was about $103 pp. For what it's worth... our shipboard expenses were $1500...:Dwe would have SPENT about 103pp for that day if we had been at sea. So, I guess we came out even.:o

 

Had a nice chat in the Harley shop with pax from the NCL Jewel. They had no tendering issues. The ship sounded great, but they are still doing the freestyle dining that we hate. That is the reason we stopped sailing NCL. No choice. I like options. We choose traditional.

RECCOMENDATION:

SKIP Grand Cayman if you are on the Grand Princess. Just go to the pool & hang out for the day. Unless you can stand in line for the tendering tickets an hour before they start handing them out, you won’t have time to do anything.

Day 6 Cozumel, MX Thursday 12/15

10:00am - 7:00pm

 

From the ships log:

At 9:29am we embarked our local pilot who assisted us in our final approaches towards Cozumel. Once in position we again used the ship’s engines and thrusters to maintain that position throughout the day. (WOW… what did that cost?)

Sky at noon: partly Cloudy; Wind- light Easterly Breeze; Temp - 80*….avg speed 21.5 knots

At 8:04 pm, once ALL OUR TOURS HAD RETURNED (caps mine), Grand Princess sailed…

 

Tour CZM-D

Caverns Exploration & Beach With Lunch

 

Fabulous! There were only 15 of us on this ship sponsored tour. The 45 min ferry ride was done in style… a huge 500 pax UltraMar double deck ferry, new. The lower level has a/c, a bar, & super comfy high backed seats. The upper level is typical tender seating. These ferry’s are leased to MX until the new pier is completed, which is expected to take about a year and half. I’m not sure if that is a Mexican 1.5 years, or American. Time is different in Mexico, a minute can take all day.

 

We were promptly met at the pier by Juan & loaded into a BMW mini van, also new. The port at Playa Del Carmen/Playa Mia is beautiful. They were planting new palms as we were leaving later that evening & you can’t tell that there was any Hurricane damage until you reach the rainforest. On our drive to the caverns, there was a HUGE accident on the only road to Tulum & Aktun Chen. An overturned propane truck in the middle of the road, a large pickup & a military patrol boat in the ditch. Our driver managed to get around in 15 mins & we were on the way to the caves.

 

The caves required walking shoes & took us about an hour & a half to walk through. You could see where the water line of the Hurricane had left a mark about 8-10 feet up the cavern walls. The guide said that several people had taken refuge in the caves during the Hurricane, but made it out safely as the waters began to rise.

 

There is a small area of caged snakes & the opportunity to take a picture (they charge, you can’t do your own) with a boa. Eight bucks, I think. Goes to some worthy snake cause. Plenty of baby monkeys running around, but despite what Jaun said, they do NOT want you to feed them! Signage accordingly. Another photo op inside the cave with your hat on…

 

When we reloaded the van, our photo’s were delivered. Cash, no credit cards. Then we drove a short way to our very own PRIVATE beach!

 

We had 2 hours at the beach, which was just enough for me. It was around 3pm so the sun was not as harsh as it could have been. Lunch was waiting in a bar with swing seating all around, buffet style. The fajitas this time were beef instead of chicken. Fresh pineapple & jicama (pronounced hee ka muh) with lime juice & salt were also available. The tour included soda or a beer, I think. I had the best margarita of the whole trip here, with Cuervo. Six dollars. Food was excellent.

 

The beach itself had about 150 loungers, palapas, restroom, plenty of sand. Quite lovely & it was all ours! I had considered skipping the cave & doing a direct booking with the people who do the beach/horseback riding part but later reconsidered. Tender required.

 

Horseback riding was available at the beach for an additional $35pp. If they hadn’t been so thin, we probably would have done that…but, don’t think it’s fair to ride a horse if you aren’t going to give him grain afterwards. That’s the Texan in me, I guess.

 

NOTE: The description on the Princess Shore Excursion brochure is slightly inaccurate in that you do NOT swim at the underground caverns lake. IMO you wouldn’t want to… although pretty, there is a limestone dust on the surface.

 

RECCOMMENDED DRESS: Tour ticket said to wear your swimsuit, but there are changing facilities at the private beach. One stall, so I’d say wear it, but bring something dry for later. Shoes – You really need sturdy walking shoes for the caverns & water shoes for the beach. There were a great number of underwater coral formations so although the snorkeling would have been worth bringing a mask & snorkel to see, they were difficult walking to get out to a sandy bottom.

 

On our return to the pier, we were supposed to be back at 5:30. We made it! Our driver got around the accident, which was STILL in the middle of the road, only now it was closed off, in less than 20 mins. This time there were a couple of military trucks that had a least six soldiers each added into the mix. It really looked like a terrorist incident this time. This road was THE road to everything. Tulum included. Turned out that there were rumored to have been 9 large tour buses caught behind the accident that had been to Tulum. One of the people on one of the buses said they had been in the resulting traffic for over an hour. Whew! We were Thankful to have been waiting on the nice beach. But…were worried that the ship would sail without us. Particularly at 7pm & we still had no tender! And little communication. Most of the info has been pieced together after the fact. At the time, it didn’t look like there were 300 of us on the dock. I estimated about a hundred. Math. Eeyeew… I’m on vacation!

 

I say there was no time for shopping, but there turned out to be plenty of time. We were informed the tender would be there any minute…just not that it would be a Mexican minute. Jim had wanted to hit the shops for some Kahlua but I was paranoid that he’d be left behind. My fears were for naught.

 

It was a full moon, so as the sun was setting it was quite lovely & the beach was deserted. We got tired of waiting on the pier & went down to the beach & collapsed onto the deck chairs. Made use of the nearby restaurant facilities that were within sight of the beach/tender area. There was a ship's officer in the restaurant (he asked our guide what was going on & where the shore contact was...huh? MIA)

 

The tender finally arrived around 7pm. We heard that the ship had sailed & would pick us up on the way. That turned out to be inaccurate. The tender ride was a 45 minute trip & we needed to be dressed & in the dining room by 8:15pm. We started unloading the tender at 7:45pm. We needed to shower to be presentable…thank goodness it wasn’t a formal night or we’d have just had to skip our assigned dining & forced our way into the personal choice. We made Lobster night with 5 mins to spare. Only by going up the FORBIDDEN staircase midship & ignoring the crew telling us we couldn't be there...

 

There was no WAY we could have waited for an elevator & our midship cabin had only elevator service, no public stairs. We were allowed to use the stairs for muster so we knew where they were. Normally I am a non-confrontational type & obey all the rules…I had just had enough & the silliness in not having public stairs is beyond my comprehension. The deck plan in the book does not indicate that they are not for public use, or we would have chosen an Aft cabin. We always use the stairs after dinner, on port days, anytime there is a rush, and always going down… works off the extra poundage & keeps the elevators for those that really need them. Bad ship design. Plus for RCI Rhapsody.

 

Dinner was pleasant with a special surprise from our waiter Dennis. My name in chocolate on a plate. THAT was a first. Great service in the traditional dining room. Had a table for 6 that was secluded in back. We could even hear each other talk!

 

The evening finally got back on an even keel with that night’s comedian Jay Moore. Way to go Princess!! This guy has been featured on the Comedy Channel & I had seen him before. The jokes were all new & mainly ship specific. His show was more like a continuous funny conversation than just a joke after joke. For an hour! We saw him again later in the week for a 30 minute show. He had all new material, again ship specific. Best comedian I have EVER seen on ANY ship. And we didn’t have to watch him juggle!

 

Day 7 at SEA, Friday12/16

 

From the ships log:

Once clear of Cabo Catoche, Grand Princess altered course to head North West into the Gulf of Mexico. …

 

Sky at Noon: Overcast; Wind – Fresh North Easterly Wind; Temp - 75*…expect to be all fast alongside for 6am…avg speed 20.9 knots

We tried the Horizon Court for Breakfast one day & Lunch another… surprisingly enough the food was exceptional, for buffet food. This is the only ship that I actually preferred the buffet to the sit down breakfast & lunch in the dining room. It was a little confusing in that it is two separate restaurants on each side of the ship. When one side is closed for setup, the other is open. I heard one passenger complaining that it was supposed to be open 24 hours. At that point I had not found the other side, so I was wondering what the deal was myself. We had been served before that side closed. In our much delayed ship tour, we finally figured it out.

 

Galveston disembarkation 12/17

 

As far as the ship goes, disembarkation went much as I expected it to. We had driven so knew that we would be one of the later ones to debark. After the carry your own luggage folks were gone (not an option for us…too much Tortuga rum), Red was called first. Quickly followed by the other colors, so that I suppose we ended up waiting about an hour for our turn. We look at it as part of our cruise & continue to get to know our fellow pax. After handing our customs info over & being waved through with no additional tax figured or collected, we proceeded to the pickup area for EZ-Cruise. There we had a much different experience than the last time we had used them. Another car accident (this one minor) in front of the port area, a frustrated & yelling traffic director (could have been police, covered in rain gear), and our Ez-Cruise contact freaking out because there were 3 ships in port at the same time! Apparently, Galveston handles the disembarkation with subsequent & simultaneous embarkation with 2 ships well enough, but 3 make it stressful for port employees.

The port is expanding their facilities & were paving additional lanes in front of the pier as we were leaving. Shouldn’t be as difficult next year, even if there are more ships. From our standpoint, none of the cruise pax were all that anxious. EXCEPT that it was raining again, with a freezing mix, temp was NOT 78* & the wind was definitely Northerly! We made it to our car by noon, just as I expected. All luggage accounted for.

 

 

Summary:

 

Even though we prefer the RCI ship Rhapsody of the Seas over the Grand Princess, the value that PCL offers, for us, IS worth the small differences. When you take a minimum balcony cabin fare & the difference is in the neighborhood of $300, add on the savings with the onboard reduced booking deposit and additional shipboard credit for the future sailings…we have to choose Princess. Our experience has been that RCI past pax coupons are NOT combinable with all discounts, most, if not all, of Princesses promotions are combinable with the Future Cruise Credit/Onboard credit. If money were no object, we’d prefer Royal Caribbean. The Rhapsody is a prettier ship & when we were on it in October of 2004, they had fine-tuned their entertainment to be more Texan friendly. By that I mean they had Dr. Pepper, American sauce (catsup), & iced tea easily available, along with a noticeable amount of country music! It’s funny how the small things can really make a difference. You just don’t notice them until they are not there. Likewise the surprises… the hot tubs are open 24 hours?! Next time… I will find out first hand.

 

jimkat02@iwon.com

[Ricebird]

Katrina -- I really appreciate the day-by-day review. We are on the Grand's 2/11/06 sailing and your report will be very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[Mandee]

Great review! And I agree Jay is hilarious. Sadly, we only made it to his 30 minute show during the Farewell show.

[cnmiranda]

Thanks for your reivew! Lots of great info:)

[houstoncruisers2001]

we prefer the RCI ship Rhapsody of the Seas over the Grand Princess

 

Wow. We've been on both ships twice and we prefer the Grand BY FAR over the Rhapsody. Not that we didn't like the Rhapsody, we did, but we liked the GP much better overall.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to put it together and post it. We were on back to back cruises on the Grand last February after spending 30 nights on the Sapphire Princess (where they resolved that midship stairway issue by opening them up like the forward and aft staircase), and I totally agree with you...it is a real pain to not have access to that midship stairway, especially when you head down to dinner.

 

We've also been on the Rhapsody, but it was 8 years ago and our first cruise, so it is hard to compare...it was perfection to us!

[Cindy]

Wow. We've been on both ships twice and we prefer the Grand BY FAR over the Rhapsody. Not that we didn't like the Rhapsody, we did, but we liked the GP much better overall.

 

I agree with Houstoncruisers2001. I've been on both ships, and prefer the Grand to the Rhapsody. When it came time to choose a ship for this March, I chose the Grand, even though we booked very early and both ships were wide open at the time. A couple of factors that are important to me that make me prefer the Grand to Rhapsody are the food (I thought the food was much better on the Grand) and the two adult-only pools on the Grand. I also prefer to get home on Saturday rather than Sunday...I need a day to recuperate before I go back to work! That said, I would sail on either ship again.

[lindnet]

Another vote for the Grand over the Rhapsody. Not sure I can put my finger on it, but I would sail the Grand again if I had to choose between the two.

[TexasMom2]

Rhapsody, hands down, over the Grand.

[Cruise Gopher]

It’s funny how the small things can really make a difference. You just don’t notice them until they are not there. Likewise the surprises… the hot tubs are open 24 hours?! Next time… I will find out first hand.

 

Are you referring to the hot tubs on the grand as being open 24 hours? Or the Rhapsody? We are going on the Grand on Jan 21st and would love it if the hot tubs are open 24 hours.

[spiritkat090909]

Are you referring to the hot tubs on the grand as being open 24 hours? Or the Rhapsody? ....

 

The hot tubs on the Grand are supposed to be open 24 hours. Not having expected that, we missed it!

[DannyMac]

Katrina, good review. That is pretty much the way we felt about the cruise. I am sorry we could not meet up, but I will bet we were pretty close as we hung out at the Wheel House and after not locating anyone at the sailaway we went to the party. We were in C214 portside, but next time I think a mini-suite will be on the agenda.

 

If PCL is dropping GC from the intinerary, it looks as if my wife and I will have to start thinking about a 3rd cruise on the Grand.

[spiritkat090909]

Dannymac,

 

If you hung out at the Wheelhouse Bar, then we probably did run across each other...on the dance floor at least. We came down each night before dinner around 7-8...the long haired brunette with the blonde guy. Usually at the table on the dance floor. I think that was probably my favorite part of the day!

 

K

[Cindy]

We were in C214 portside, but next time I think a mini-suite will be on the agenda.

 

 

Danny,

We love the extra space in the mini-suite, and it's great to have a sitting area with a couch. We weren't bothered at all by the open balcony, but if you think you wouldn't like being "exposed," there are about 12 minis in the very aft portion of Emerald deck that have fully covered balconies.

[20Fathoms]

DannyMac,

 

What did you you think about your C214 room? My DH & I are in C218 on the 2/4 sailing and I was worried about being so far forward. It sounds as though the balconies are nice on this deck. I would appreciate any thoughts you have to share about your experience,

 

Thanks!

[DannyMac]

20Fathoms, I guess the best way to put it would be "No worries mate"

 

We had C250 Portside last March and we did not see a difference. The balconies are great. Very spacious and when the walk through doors are open it is convenient when traveling with friends.

 

The only downside would be when the anchor is being lowered, we could hear the chains rattle but it was no big deal. No motion or anything else that might be cause for concern. The only other downside is when going to the dining rooms, you have to traverse the length of the ship.

 

The cabin is a tad small and judging from what Cindy said about the mini suite having a sitting area and more space that would make a difference in my choice of cabins on the next trip. I met Cindy and her husband on the March cruise so I will be waiting to her thoughts as she is cruising on the Grand 3/11/06.

 

Enjoy you cruise and have a wonderful time.

[TexasMom2]

Katrina, check December 2006 prices for the Rhapsody - they are shockingly low, lower than the Grand. Balconies are $899, Junior Suites are $999.

[houstoncruisers2001]

check December 2006 prices for the Rhapsody - they are shockingly low, lower than the Grand. Balconies are $899, Junior Suites are $999.

 

The balconies start even lower, $749 for the Conquest, which also sails out of Galveston.

 

Interesting....in December, 2001, we paid $749pp for an INSIDE(cat M) on the Rhapsody...same cabin for December, 2006 is $519pp. WOW!!!

[Dallas Rose]

My 2 cents in response to the note on this thread about less expensive sailings from Galveston:

 

There are so many factors one has to choose from, not just price. For instance, Rhapsody Of The Seas visits the ports of Ocho Rios, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico. But personally, I am more interested in the Grand's ports (sailing in Jan. 2007) of Costa Maya, Mexico; Rotan, Honduras; Belize City; and Cozumel, Mexico. I have never visited these "Grand" port so the few dollars more for the Grand over the Rhapsody is not an issue.

 

But, the truth of the matter is just knowing I do have a cruise booked somehow makes my daily stresses easier to deal with. For me, that cruise on the "horizon" adds an extra bounce in my step and glint in my eye. It even makes my DH like living with me better!

[spiritkat090909]

Katrina, check December 2006 prices for the Rhapsody - they are shockingly low, lower than the Grand. Balconies are $899, Junior Suites are $999.

 

Umm...thanks for looking out for us... but, our current fare is $617+191 tax & fees for a total of 808 pp on the Grand. We also get the $100 shipboard credit for booking onboard & an addtional $200 onboard credit (great expectations or something letter that had to be bkd by 12/15) making our total for the cat BB cabin $1316. That makes it about $656 per person net with tax included... and RCI doesn't discount. The following week is about $40pp less for the same category, but we prefer the full moon view from the balcony. My TA is showing the same RCI fares as you state.

 

If you'd like to swap stories, email with cruise critic in your subject line so I don't think it's spam & I'll share more...;)

[TexasMom2]

Katrina, thanks for offering to share your info, but I am happy to pay more to sail on the Rhapsody. You got a great deal with awesome onboard credit.....enjoy!

[spiritkat090909]

Tina,

 

Your welcome. Wish I had your bank account & we'd be there too!:)

 

katrina

[TexasMom2]

Katrina, our bank account is average, we aren't wealthy by any means. We will forgo Christmas presents and save all year to sail as a family in December. What I meant was, we are paying the same price for Rhapsody next December that we paid for the Grand this past December. We will even get a Jr Suite for a tad bit more than the regular balcony on the Grand. In '05 the Grand was a lot cheaper than the Rhapsody for the same week, and the Rhapsody was even a 6-nighter instead of 7-nighter, that's why we decided to try it. I was happy to see those Rhapsody prices for '06, as we prefer that ship. I think it's awesome that we have so many choices to sail out of Galveston these days. We left the rat race for the week before Christmas, came home and thawed our frozen, pre-cooked lasagna, and enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with no stress. You can't beat that!

 

Happy sailing,