Christmas on the Grand

[Capt Blood]

We just got off the Grand this morning after what was the longest dis-embarkation I have ever had the displeasure to endure. That definently was the low point of the trip. Of course it was the end, and always a bummer.

Saturday, embarkation went well. We got there about 11:30, and other than alittle port traffic it was no problem. 20 minutes and we were in our stateroom.

This was my first time to have Anytime Dinning. This was pretty much as I have read about. The wait depends on when you go. We dined at different times and never had to wait. I was dis-appointed at having different waiters each night and I believe the service does suffer with this vs Traditionial as you are not as able to develop any relationship with the wait staff. We did like dining at different times, but I think this is harder for the waiters and this is the reason the service does not seem as prompt. I am not really complaining here, as the service for the most part was good, just not as excellent as we had on the Coral recently in Traditional dinning. The food was in-consistant. We has a couple of meals that I just did not care for. But for the most part the food was very good. Especially in the Steakhouse. The Ribeyes were terrific and the service was outstanding. We did not eat that much at the Horizon as we tried to eat breakfast in the dining room. If you take the time, I thought this was a much better option. I had a great time on the golf sim on our first sea day. We were looking forward to playing at the Cozumel CC on Monday, but due to the rain that was cancelled by Princess. I found out later that several people took taxis out there and did play about 14 holes before they did get rained out. I was also surprised to learn that Cozumel CC gave those players a partial refund due to the rain. I should have used my own golf judgement and gone myself because I had really looked forward to playing there. From there we ended up at the dolphin swim with my wife, who had a great time swimming with Flipper. We bought some good pictures of her. As usual the guys there were quite mercenery and would not allow me close enough to take pictures of her, thus we spent another $35 on pictures in addition to $189 for the excursion. Oh well guess you cant really put a price on it...she had fun.

Roatan was a real drag. Third world country and it showed. We went to the West end and ate a Half Moon Bay resort. Pretty good lobster, but almost a 30 % tax on the meal. I could not wait to get back on the ship.

Belize City. Took an off ship excursion with a group called

cave-tubing.com This was GREAT. Yjony runs a first rate outfit. We had a much longer ride than the cruise ship group and for 1/2 the money.

Our last stop of course was Costa Maya - Mahahual. Here we also did an off ship excursion to the Mayan Palms Resort. The only problem here was the tour guides in the cruise area did not want to give any information on how to find a taxi cab. The all wanted you to buy tickets for some bus ride. Finally I asked a grounds keeper and he showed me the way to the Yellow Taxi cabs. I noticed as we walked away, one of the tour company guys really started giving this poor guy all sorts of grief for helping me. That is why I dispise the big tours. The guys are OVERLY MERCENERY! IMHO. Anyway, the snokling and diving was fantastic. Only wish we had more time in this port. BEAUTIFUL! Back on the ship, we enjoyed our last sea day. The weather was great, especially on the back of the ship.

For the most part it was a very enjoyable cruise. Being from Pearland which is about 45 minutes from Galveston, I was also looking forward to a speedy journey home. We were out of our stateroom as requested by 8 and proceeded to sit in the lounge area until we were called at 11am. Oh well, no vacation is perfect. We had a great time and are looking forward to New Zealand in 2008

[Shoalwater]

Had work to do in my office today, but took a break at 11:00 and walked across the street to check out boarding (our family, 10 of us, will leave next Saturday on the GP). Turns out there were three ships in port today (Grand, NCL Splendour of Seas and Carnival Ectasy). This always strains the port infrastructure, so not surprised you were delayed getting off. When I headed home around 2:30, Harborside was really backed up with passengers trying to get to the dock to drop off. I'm sure we'll hear about embarkation problems soon, as from the looks of things those arriving were showing all siigns of anxiety as they sat in their vehicles waiting in a very long line!

[chasetf]

.........I'm sure we'll hear about embarkation problems soon, as from the looks of things those arriving were showing all siigns of anxiety as they sat in their vehicles waiting in a very long line!

Especially those in taxi's with the meter running....:eek:

[geoherb]

I was thrilled with the speed of today's disembarking from the Sun Princess. There were several other ships in port, including the Star Princess, Costa Magica, and Queen Mary 2. I was worried that cabs wouldn't be plentiful, but we had no wait to catch one and were at the airport shortly after getting through Customs.

[Wildcatter]

I think the disembarkation took a long time because the ship was 2 hours late getting into port due to the port being closed the night before due to the weather. If we had started a little after 6 a.m., we would have been off by 7. Princess can't control that.

 

I agree with you on Costa Maya. The ship was only there from 7 till 1:30. It was a neat little port with a lot of shore excursions for sale at the dock and the people were very nice. Probably because it's a new port and not so commercialized like Cozumel. I wish we would have stayed until 5 or 6 at this port.

[Stevesan]

We just got off the Grand this morning after what was the longest dis-embarkation I have ever had the displeasure to endure. That definently was the low point of the trip. Of course it was the end, and always a bummer.

Roatan was a real drag. Third world country and it showed. We went to the West end and ate a Half Moon Bay resort. Pretty good lobster, but almost a 30 % tax on the meal. I could not wait to get back on the ship.

 

We had the exact same disembarkation experience last year (can't say that after today :p ).

This year we signed up for "Express" disembarkation. We were off the ship and on EZCruise's first shuttle by 8:30AM. Even with a late arrival, you're among the first off. I love it to death!!

 

Not to argue with your Roatan experience, but for those who like diving/snorkeling, Roatan is world class. There's great snorkeling and dive entry even from the beaches, Tabayana for example.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for review and welcome back. :)

[Capt Blood]

I agree, the water looked great, even with the bad weather we had that day. I was just not crazy about all the pushy hawkers, but that was pretty much everywhere. Still, I have seen much nicer places in the carib.

 

Not to argue with your Roatan experience, but for those who like diving/snorkeling, Roatan is world class. There's great snorkeling and dive entry even from the beaches, Tabayana for example.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Sounds like you had a great trip overall, yes disembarkment is the worst part and it's really depressing to have to get off the ship and back to reality!!!:D

[snedecor]

I think in most of the past Grand Princess voyages, Costa Maya was first, and Cozumel was last on the itinerary. Was yours changed for some special reason, and how were you notified of the change?

 

We're going Jan. 27, and our itinerary has Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize, then Cozumel. We have already started booking excursions. If the Grand is permanently swapping Costa Maya and Cozumel, I hope they let us know in time to change excursions!

 

Snedecor

[kftw]

I think in most of the past Grand Princess voyages, Costa Maya was first, and Cozumel was last on the itinerary. Was yours changed for some special reason, and how were you notified of the change?

 

We're going Jan. 27, and our itinerary has Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize, then Cozumel. We have already started booking excursions. If the Grand is permanently swapping Costa Maya and Cozumel, I hope they let us know in time to change excursions!

 

Snedecor

 

Your itinerary should be the same as you booked. The Thanksgiving & the Christmas cruises had Costa Maya & Cozumel switched. Not sure why.

[waterbound]

thanks for the review.. we will be on Grand in 2 weeks and looking forward to it..