Just got back, Grand Princess

[wannabet]

We got back today from our western Caribean cruise aboard the Grand Princess. We had good weather most of the time. Our first stop, Costa Maya our snorkling tour got cancelled due to high winds. We shopped at the shops just off the pier. The next day we went to Honduras. We took a ride on the simi sub. it was a lot of fun. It was raining so the fish were not as colorful as they would be in the sun. We should have booked the morning tour and we would have had sun. The cameo shop is a waste of time most were not set and the rest wee porrly mounted. The following day we went to Altun Ha in Belize. A great start to our Mayan exploring. We followed it up with Tulum when we were in Cozamel. Just a note it takes about two hours to get back to the ship. There was no time to vist Cozamel. It was a great visit. On the way back we got to see the QM2. She is beautiful. The ship offered us much. Our cabin was an inside cabin. I was leary, but the room was very efficent and we never felt we were lacking anything. Colby our steward took great care of us. he picked up our rrom twice a day. We always had fresh towels. The food was good but nothing special. The ship was very nice. She had just been in dry dock but I didn't see what they did. Hot tubs were not working very well. The shows were good. We did have some wins in the casino, but they still got he beter end of the deal.

 

My wife and I were able to get close again for our tenth anniversary. For that it was worth every penny. We had a great time. When things changed we went with the flow and didn't get upset. That was the best advice from this board.

 

We did get to meet some of you in the Skywalker Lounge. Hey, there was someone that was trying to put together a class action law suit against Princess. What was that about? I can't belive they have a case. And , the atorney would get everything anyway. We had a great time and would do it again. We are planning a Disney Cruise next. But, we have to pay off the bar tab first. Ouch!

[chris2597]

Hi

We also just arrived home!! A bunch of us did the planning for the Meet and Greet. I am glad that you were able to be there. I was so happy that we had such a good turn out.

 

Did someone at the Meet and Greet advertise the Class Action suit? I sure hope not.

[Lynda90]

Glad you had a great time. Thanks for sharing.:p

[wannabet]

No It was not at the meet and greet. I heard about it while waiting by the pool to dis-embark. I was wondering what it was about. I met several people during the cruise that were really trying hard to have a bad time. They got what they wanted. I don't know why they would do that.

[brn2crz]

Glad you had a great trip...

 

I was browsing over here,because on our local news tonight...There was a spot about all the "Norovirus" on the ship...There were 2 particular couples that they were talking to...One man was literally (acting like) he was crying about the poor treatment he recieved...

 

But I see nothing about it here...And now I can not find it on our news site.

It looked to me to be a totally blown out of proportion issue..I wonder if thats what you over heard??

[BFBOLEN]

Hey, glad you had a good time....do you have a list of the MUTS being shown?? Going on the Grand 12/9

B

[camreesmom]

Glad you had a great trip...

 

I was browsing over here,because on our local news tonight...There was a spot about all the "Norovirus" on the ship...There were 2 particular couples that they were talking to...One man was literally (acting like) he was crying about the poor treatment he recieved...

 

But I see nothing about it here...And now I can not find it on our news site.

It looked to me to be a totally blown out of proportion issue..I wonder if thats what you over heard??

 

I saw that on KHOU last night also and can't find it on their website today. Wonder what's up with that? That man and his new bride were almost hysterical on the news report though. She said it was the most traumatic event of her life.

[Firefighterhoop]

Yes, also wondering what movies - also wondering which concerts were shown on the screen on the non movie nights, if anyone can remember!

 

Thanks!

Scott

[chasetf]

I saw that on KHOU last night also and can't find it on their website today. Wonder what's up with that? That man and his new bride were almost hysterical on the news report though. She said it was the most traumatic event of her life.

I think this is what you guys are discussing. Guess it must have been a slow news day in Houston / Galveston.

 

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou061203_seasick.4d946201.html

 

Nightmare on the ocean 06:31 PM CST on Sunday, December 3, 2006

Dreams turned into nightmares for passengers aboard a cruise ship. They said they spent days under quarantine, stricken with what they believe was the norovirus. Their ship, the Grand Princess, docked in Galveston Saturday morning.

The Garcia family was quarantined after their son became ill during a cruise.

Some passengers are vowing never to take a cruise again. Was the ship an enormous state of the art luxury cruise ship or a prison at sea for the quarantined and the sick? “We weren’t able to leave the room at all, for the whole cruise,” said Jesse Garcia.

He and his wife Rena said they spent the last four days forbidden to leave their state room, after their son Michael became ill with what they were told was the norovirus.

“He had diarrhea for three straight days, and vomiting. The only thing they did was take his temperature.” The Garcia family was not alone.

The ship departed Galveston last Saturday on a seven day Caribbean cruise. But after just 24 hours at sea, Vaughn and Sussanne Shelton’s honeymoon was fast becoming a horror tale. “I was quarantined. I was sick. I was throwing up buckets, buckets, buckets,” said Sussanne Shelton. “And I pleaded with the staff the whole time, to please help my soulmate. Please…,” said her new husband Vaughn. They said their repeated cries for help went unanswered.

Princess Cruise Lines refused to discuss the matter with 11 News, but a spokesperson did confirm that passengers who exhibit symptoms of norovirus are usually quarantined. But that does not excuse the way some passengers on this ship believe they were treated.

“They’ve treated us like prisoners. Never even called to see if they could make it better for us,” said Garcia. “I did not receive any appropriate medical attention,” said Shelton.

“I don’t ever want another married couple to have to go through what we did. This has been the most traumatic experience of my whole entire life,” said his wife. There is word on how many cruise passengers may have quarantined during the trip

[Rmascot25]

Hey you guys who just got back, I'm going on Dec. 9th. Did you all have to do a lot of tendering? I know you have to tender in Belize, what about the other ports? thanks for the info. Becky

[houstoncruisers2001]

The dramatics in the above story just kill me.

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

Last year while onboard I took ill, not life or death but I reported to the ship that I was ill,

 

that afternoon, the nurse phoned, the doctor phoned, I got a visit from my cabin steward, an officer some one checking up that my cabin steward had called and I think it was the nurse that called again this was all within a four or five hour period.

 

My cabin was debugged by a clean up crew everything put into red bin bags bio hazard.

 

They then sprayed everything with bug killer, made a point of going over every surface that I could have touched TV remote light switch etc etc.

 

carpets curtians all sprayed, all towels bedding etc changed.

 

Princess do care about you, and more importantly they care about the rest of the folk on the ship not getting sick.

 

I was even told that the doctor would call and not charge me.

 

So sorry when people say they got no responce I find it very hard to except that as the truth, and if they were locked in there cabin then it was because they were going to make the rest of the ship ill.

 

That evening I recovered well after sleeping and drinking loads of water, anyway the nurse was happy to give me the all clear to mix with other passengers.

 

yours Shogun

[wannabet]

There was a couple two cabins down from mine that were quarentined That may be the ones they were talking about witht he sick kid. It had to have sucked. They had an inside cabin. But, as a result I stayed well the entire time. We took Airborne the entire trip, washed our hands all the time and used the hand sanitizers at the dining rooms. Just keep your hands away from your face if you touch the handrails.

 

The MUTS on our cruise were Priates of the Caribean 1&2, Cars, the Lake house,Toy story, Mission Impossible III, Monday night football, Elton John, just about everything that is for rent at blockbuster. They also show these movies in your cabin. The MUTS seemed like it would be fun, we just couldn't stay up that late. The main movie is at 10:30, it is windy and it rained at night. The shows were good and if you miss one they repeat them in the other showoom the next day.

 

We only had to tender in Cozamel and Belize city. Belize was very efficient and took about 10 minutes to get to shore. In Cozamel we went to Playa del Carmen on a jet boat, it took about 30 minutes. But returning to the ship we had to ferry across to Cozamel and then tender to the ship. It took 2 hours. But we did see some great things at Tulum.

 

The Ship is huge a good way to work off all the food is to take the stairs. We were on the Plaza deck, level 5 the Horizion court is on 14 aft. you will stay in shape if you walk it. We took the elevators.

 

I booked an inside room in the middle of the ship on hte lowest level my wife gets motion sickness. It did help being low and to the center. She wore the patch. One night was rough and she was feeling sick. we went to the horizon court to eat in the back of the boat and she couldn't eat. She took a regular dramamine and went to bed early. We had had to get up early for our tour to Altun Ha at 6:50am. we had a great time and I would go again.

[chasetf]

The dramatics in the above story just kill me.

It is great to hear from people like Shogun to get the real story of what happens. The cruise line has to respond as he describes to prevent the virus from spreading. I was not aware they even treaded his linens as "bio hazard", but it does make sense separating it for extra deep cleaning.

 

Guess those folks on the Grand were trying to "set up" their lawsuit. :mad:

[Shogun]

Hi Chasetf,

 

I was very pleased with how Princess responded, OK it would have been nice to be able to sleep without people phoning and comimg to my door but I did tell them I was alone, and I was in so much pain.

 

Forgot to say that while in my room they wore masks, after the clean up a supervisor came and checked that everything had been cleaned, bagged etc.

 

If I had to get ill again, then I would be happy to be on a Princess ship as I got better care from them than I would in many a hospital.

 

yours Shogun

[Texas Cruisin]

We just got back from the 11/25 Grand Princess cruise as well. We have only sailed on Carnival before and this was definitely a much better ship. I had a great time at Skywalker (if anyone was there I was the very tall blonde - I was there almost every night - met a great group of people who had a total of 34 people on board - would love to find them again). Our trip was great, the only complaints I had were the shore excursions brought us back so early so we could "shop" cutting down our beach/snorkel time but hey I should have known that would happen. In Roatan we went to an orphanage and had a driver for the day so we were able to do a lot more and see the gorgeous island. We did get sick Friday morning from the rough seas but the cabin steward checked in with us to see if we needed anything.

 

I will definitely cruise Princess again, I heard they are not going to cruise out of Galveston anymore..... I sure hope this is NOT true!

 

If anyone would like to share pictures that would be GREAT!!!!