Not SO "LIVE Reports" from the Grand 02/18 - 02/25

[San10s]

Since we are now home from our 02/18 - 02/25 Grand Princess cruise :o , I thought it would be better to start a new thread for my continuing daily reports.

 

In case you missed the first posts from on board the Grand, here's the link -

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=300188

 

Installment # 12 to follow on the next post. :D :) :D

[San10s]

First, I apologize for not getting more typing done from the ship. I had good intentions to do more! With the back to back to back to back port days, it made it more difficult to find the time to get into the Internet Cafe for the time needed to do 'live' updates! I am going to try and get some....not so 'live' updates.....done between today and tomorrow and then do a review next weekend. :)

 

I am now home and FREEZING in the 6 degree temps with wind chills of below zero temperatures! :eek: Thank goodness we who were on the Grand last week have our warm memories and thoughts to keep us warm now. :D

 

Day 4 - Continued

 

Once back on board from Belize, some enjoyed a hamburger and fries up on the Lido deck. Some of us had pizza too! Me....I enjoyed a few selections from the buffet and then had a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with some very nice caramel sauce and candied almond slices on it! Okay....I admit it....I also took some of the whipped cream for the scones and put that on my ice cream too! The 'free' ice cream served between 3:30 PM and 4:30 PM daily in the Horizon court still seems to be a well kept secret as there was rarely a line of more than a few people waiting for their serving.

 

We then used the hot tubs and then I went to the cabin to shower and change for the evening. I sat on my balcony….in my supplied Princess robe….and then watched as we pulled anchor and sailed away from Belize. No spectacular sunset but the breeze was lovely and it was nice to have some down time and quiet on my own balcony. After getting ready for dinner, we met up with the other 6 couples who decided to dine in the Michelangelo dining room. We did not have reservations but were seated within 20 minutes of arriving. We took a table for 8 and one for 6 right next to each other. I had some sort of seafood (maybe shrimp & scallops) in a pastry shell for dinner. I was probably my least favorite food of the week. It was pretty fishy tasting but I still ate it. I know I could have sent it away and had anything else I wanted but I didn’t feel that necessary. No soufflés on the menu for dessert tonight! (I only had 2 soufflés all week! There used to be 4 served throughout the week!)

 

After dinner, we spent a little time in the Casino before going to watch another comedian. He (maybe David Deeble?) was entertaining and we enjoyed the show. After having such a full, fun-filled day, it was time for bed for me since I knew we had another busy day planned for Playa del Carmen the next morning. My DH went back to the Casino and I went back to my cabin and read the Patters for Wednesday. I slept wonderfully….like I do on any cruise. The seas were very calm all afternoon and evening as well as throughout the night. :D

[runner1909]

My condolences on the current weather. Looking forward to your next post!

[Colo Cruiser]

Hi Judy,

Looking forward to more!

 

Did you ever find Antonio Banza??

[San10s]

Day 5 – Wednesday, Playa Del Carmen

 

It was a short cruise from Belize to PDC. Again, we had wonderfully calm seas except for maybe a bounce or two during the night. I had ordered room service for 6:30 AM by hanging the little card out on our cabin door handle before going to bed. I wrote in the time of 6:30 since the pre-written times started at 7:00 AM. The knock on the door came at 6:25 AM with everything we had ordered. We put on our Princess robes and had the delivery person place the tray on our balcony table. What a way to start our day! We did this several times during our cruise. I brought many $2.00 bills and used those for gratuities. The look on the faces of the staff were always cute…lots of smiles and interest in the $2.00 bills!

 

We arrived on time to pick up the local pilot and were anchored off the coast of Mexico. From our balcony we could see PDC and when on the balcony of our friend’s starboard side cabin, we could see Cozumel in the distance. I saw one of the several ferries heading from PDC to Cozumel while enjoying the views. We did not have Princess excursions booked for this port but instead booked a snorkel excursion with the Tank-Ha office for 9:00 AM. Tank Ha does snorkel and diving trips. There were 11 of us booked for the snorkel trip….and three of us deciding to do some shopping while the others were in the water. Unfortunately, one couple decided to stay on board in the morning as the DH was having some medical issues. They booked an appointment with the ship’s Dr. and we learned later that our friend did have some issues that will be treated now that we are home. Meanwhile, the Dr. prescribed several meds and our friend felt better once on the meds and did enjoy the rest of the cruise. They were very satisfied with the on ship DR. and facilities.

 

So now there were 12 of us who went to the Vista Lounge at 7:45 AM to get in line for the tender tickets that were supposed to be handed out starting at 8 AM. Shortly after 8 AM the tickets were handed out. We were asked to stay in the lounge so that we could be escorted to the tenders as soon as the ship’s tours were loaded on the first few tenders. As I mentioned in an earlier post, there ended up being problems with the BIG swells that the ferries and the Grand were encountering. Although the seas looked and felt pretty calm, there were huge SWELLS. We did not get off of the ship on the first tender....... for those not on Princess tours....until almost 11 AM. The ferries were having a really tough time pulling up to the side of the Grand and the Grand was having a tough time keeping herself steady. We were the first passengers on the ferry and were held at the exit...with the ferry in sight but had to wait another 15 minutes or so because the ramp between the ferry and the ship was bouncing all over the place and would have been dangerous to attempt to board. We had to run up the ramp and jump onto the ferry. The taller folks had to watch their head as sometimes the ramp went up so high that there was less than 5 feet from the ramp to the top of the entry way. Once on the ferry we waited another 25 minutes for it to fill with passengers. When finally under way, there was no issue getting over to the pier but again, the ferry and ramp-way were bouncing all over the place.

 

Once on the dock in PDC, it was two blocks to walk up to 5th Avenue…the main shopping district. The 5th Ave shopping district goes on for many, many blocks. We actually were at one of the far ends of 5th Ave and had about 10 blocks to walk down to where the Tank Ha office was located. It was now almost 11:25 AM and we were close to 2.5 hours late for the snorkel excursion. Desiree, at the Tank Ha office said they had been waiting for us and would radio one of the boats to come pick the group up for a shortened snorkel excursion. Two in the group had a dive scheduled for the early afternoon but were assured they would make it with no problems. They all finally headed to the beach to go for their snorkel. In hind sight, with the issues with the tenders, we probably should have asked about the snorkel conditions that people would be facing. Although I did not go, my DH and friends said it was quite rough riding in the boat. Once in the water, snorkeling too was quite difficult for those inexperienced folks. Later in the afternoon, the two guys who went diving ran into even worse conditions and had limited diving.

 

For me and my two girlfriends, we spent our time shopping and enjoying some snacks and adult beverages at Carlos & Charlie’s. C&C was not crazy like you find it at night but the wait staff was still entertaining. It was quite warm…maybe around 88 degrees so a frozen strawberry margarita tasted wonderful to me…..one of three adult beverages I had all week…..!! The shops were a mix of the usual souvenir type stuff in Mexico but there were also some very nice clothing stores mixed in. I did not buy anything but my friends did get a few things, including a nice bottle of tequila and some t-shirts and hats. We then met the group back at the Tank HA office. Some went right back to the pier to catch a tender while some of us lingered and shopped our way back down 5th Ave. We got back to the pier and waited in a long line to get on board one of the ferries. There was also a line for people going back to a Carnival ship. We finally got on the biggest of the tenders and then left for the rocking n’ rolling trip to the Grand. It was definitely worse then when we left in the morning. We sat about half way to the Grand while another tender was letting their passengers off. We finally were able to bump our way next to the Grand and started getting people off of the tender. I was way at the front of the tender and it took over a half hour to get off the ferry. The problem is that they can only let about 5 – 7 people onto the Grand to line up to scan their cards and go through the security scanning process.

 

Again, as I wrote earlier, although the last tender was scheduled to leave the pier at 5:30 PM, at 6:45 PM there were several hundred people on the pier still trying to get back to the Grand. Again the sea swells were the issue and so they had to wait. The bigger catamaran type ferry actually crashed into the pier and has a huge gash in the front, left side of it. They were able to continue to use it but it was quite a bump. We finally pulled anchor at 7:10 PM and headed out from shore to spend the night nearby Cozumel. I later spoke with CD Neil Chandler and asked if they had regretted letting people finally tender to PDC. He said not at all but he went on to say that people on board looking out at the sea probably saw no problems with the sea and most would not understand if a port was cancelled….especially after looking at what looked like a fairly calm sea. Again, the problem was swells not waves and white-capped seas. He also stated that the reason we did not stay later in PDC, especially since we are right there next to Cozumel….was because tendering at night…in the dark… is not safe, of course. That makes perfect sense to me! ;) If I think back to many of our ports over the years, only those ports where we were docked did we get to stay in port later into the night….like Aruba ….Cozumel (before Wilma)….and some others.

 

After getting on board around 5:20 PM, we got a snack from the Lido deck and then went to relax on our balcony. We enjoyed some cocktails with our friends who were next to us on both sides and some additional snacks. We decided to meet for dinner at 8:00 PM. I was looking forward to it as there was Alaskan King Crab on the menu!!  I was not disappointed as there was a decent serving…about 7 – 8 split legs or about 8 inches long. The Jr. waiter spooned several servings of melted butter on top of them. YUM! I really wanted another serving but decided it best not to get it so I could have dessert! ;)

 

After dinner we took in another show with yet another comedian. We spent a little time in the Casino and then went to the Wheelhouse bar for a cocktail. We went to the disco but it was VERY quiet. I called it a night since I was having trouble keeping both eyes open. :o Again I checked out the Patters for the following day's activities and then put my head on the pillow and was out like a light! Another wonderful day was behind us! :D