Live Grand Jan 16 to Feb 13

[Canuk 48]

we are emerald deck out side cabin and we have a flat screen. The only problem it is hard to hook up camera to view pictures on but can be done.Hook up on the back.

[AliceS]

we are emerald deck out side cabin and we have a flat screen. The only problem it is hard to hook up camera to view pictures on but can be done.Hook up on the back.

 

Where is your cabin on Emerald. How's the view?

[dianef]

I am going to be in E210 on my cruise in March.It does not look like anything is obstructing the view.Any idea what is outside the window of that cabin?

 

I am enjoying reading all the posts and looking forward to our trip in March.

[O2Bcrusin]

 

The OBC we got a pamphlet today said if you book while on board for any 2009 sailing you will get double the OBC. We haven't booked anything as we just don't know where/what ship to go on.

 

Hey Vicki and Bernie, Join us on the Golden to Alaska on 5/16. They have great prices (2 for 1) right now. With double OBC you can't beat it.:)

[montgomeryfamily]

We've really enjoy your "live" report. We are going to be on the Grand next and this has been so much fun to read as well as informative.

 

I understand from your post that Captain Andrea Poggi is now onboard. Is that right? Also, I read where you indicated that James Ibrahim is the Cruise Director and Donna is deputy cruise director. Do you know if they both will stay onboard for the next cruise? Can you tell us any of the other cruise director's staff? (I read where you mentioned Ricky and Garrett as staff--did you mean cruise director's staff?).

 

We enjoy the theme party nights and also other activities on the ship. We also had planned to do some of the speciality dining and so were trying to determine the best nights for which to make the reservations when we get onboard. I had hoped we could get copies of the Patters from someone who has come off the last sailing, but didn't get any response to my request on other threads posted regarding the prior sailing. Do you remember on which night the theme party nights are (and which theme party on which night, e.g., Tropical Deck Party, 50s party, Country-Western night, English Pub night...)

[obendus]

Today we were in Trinidad again. Now the last time we were here we did a tour and even though we enjoyed the island it didn't leave a lasting impression on us. This time we talked about what we wanted to do and we both thought we would check out some of the historic sights. (note when you get off the ship the tourist info will give you a packet of brochures and there is a good one with a walking tour and building to check out... very easy to follow and easy walk).

There was a lot of little food vendors near the roundabout in the square and we were checking out this one guy who had a long lineup to see what he was selling. Well it ended up being this Curried Chic Pea with mango on a pita type bread. He smiled at us and said Here for you! Free. We loved it and were very impressed with their hospitality. We ended up giving him a Canadian pin and he proudly pinned it on. Many of the locals around offered suggestions for places to visit.We then started walking down the main street towards the larges roundabout and also where Carnival Parade happens. We checked out some local shops and again everyone was so helpful and friendly. Many just wanted to chat and find out where we were from. We checked out the Famous 7 houses (on the map) and then walked to the zoo which is right beside the gardens (which we visited two weeks ago on the last cruise). The zoo cost $2 US each and it was very very good. Got lots of great pictures and it was fun to be away from all the crowds. We ended up walking back to the ship (trust me a taxi would of taken longer as the traffic is CRAZY here). We stopped at a coffee bar and enjoyed an espresso. We chatted with lots of locals and many kids as they were just getting out of school. Most of the locals are very happy that tourists are coming to their island. When we got back on board we both commented that we were really glad we got off today and didn't let our last impression of the island stop us. Because we had a totally different experience this time. We hope to visit it again. (especialy since we have Trinidad Dollars left).

 

Thanks for the positive impression of Trinidad.

We were thoroughly unimpressed with our first visit, and Tina swore me to a (day-at-the-spa) if I ever (again) booked a trip visiting Trinidad.

You are incredibly resourceful at finding the best experiences, and excursions. You may wish to consider a career on the side!

Keep sharing Vickie...

Thanks, Pete

[chamima]

Thanks for the positive impression of Trinidad.

We were thoroughly unimpressed with our first visit, and Tina swore me to a (day-at-the-spa) if I ever (again) booked a trip visiting Trinidad.

You are incredibly resourceful at finding the best experiences, and excursions. You may wish to consider a career on the side![/I]

Keep sharing Vickie...

Thanks, Pete

"You may wish to consider a career on the side!"

 

Hi Pete

That thought entered my mind also!

[coo359a2]

Could you tell me if the FCC Desk will be open on embarkation day or do we have to wait until the following day to see her/him?

[winesfine]

Just curious if the Grand has the "real live wooden horse races"

[vickie_bernie]

sorry two days away and I need to catch up...

 

Yes Trinidad was a new and positive experience -- I am glad I tried it again. And Pete after the experience with the long taxi ride I understand Tina's concerns but trust me Tina the locals are great. We even watched some high school boys play cricket.

 

Karen - actually last sailing the waits for the dining room were not at 530 but later around 7 pm. But this problem only happened for the first two days. We spoke with the matre D about this and he said there were over 150 people waitlisted for traditional early seating last sailing. They tried to accommodate them with a fixed table and time at 530 in the anytime dining room. (note anytime dining is different than personal choice - personal choice applies to everyone on board, eat when and where you want... but you need to choose anytime or fixed seating, but even those with fixed seating can still eat in HC or specialty restaurants or many of the other areas). Where the problem arose was the dining room was full at 530 - but since the cruise staff moved the shows up 15 minutes it forced the early eaters to eat and get out of the dining room in time for a second seating around 730. Worked great last sailing.

 

It took a few days for things to flow like that on this sailing, but since the last formal night on day 4 things have been like clockwork, unless you want a table for a set number then you may need to wait, but the waits are not long.

 

I did ask Fellipe one of the matre d's about allowing fixed diners in. He said some ships ask to see the card but the Grand does not. he did say truely that not many fixed diners eat in anytime dining rooms (maybe 20 he said). but I do stand corrected waits for the dining room are gone especially around 745 you will have absolutely no problem and the service is better as they are not so rushed and you are not rushed to get out. Go to the early show and they go eat.

 

We have run into a lot of people who are in fixed who said that their table mates have disappeared. :D

 

Okay no debates about anytime/vs/traditional all we know is we love anytime and that is one reason we sail Princess

 

gardening guy - in trinidad the beach "maracas" is quite a ways away, at least an hour's drive but there are beaches close by in almost all the other ports.

 

Karin (O2Bcruisin) we would love to join you in Alaska but Alaska isn't somewhere we want to go. We crave warmth! But never say never!

 

montgomery family - yes Ricky and Garett are the cruisedirector staff members. Island Deck party was Barbados, 80's night was last night St. Vincent, tonight is Country. Don't remember an English Pub night, but one night in the Dining room it was a British isle's Theme menu. Hope that helps.

 

Future Cruise Desk is open the embarkation day after 5 pm. Her name is vivienne. She always has long lines at her desk. Other ships have a date book and times and you can schudule to see her... she doesn't. However it appears (can someone verify) that the double obc is available even if you are not onboard!

 

No the Grand doesn't have wooden horse racing -go figure.

[vickie_bernie]

Now to catch up with what we have been up to.

 

Barbados - now this is our third visit here and we had never seen the town so we decided to walk into town and then possibly head to the beach. We walked short walk, but the skies opened and the rain came down (seems to be a normal occurrence in the Carribbean). the dowtown was crazy but interesting... but to tell you the truth all the downtowns seems to look the same after a while. We stopped at a women's van who was selling baked good out of the back of her van and bought a few things, then purchased some cool drinnks and sat on a bench and people watched and enjoyed our sweets!

 

Because nether of us had had a good sleep we were tired and the heat was getting to us. We roamed around for about another hour then headed back on board around 4 pm. Note when we got back to the terminal there was a long long line to get back, and we soon learned it was just for the bus shuttle to take you back along the long pier. We decided to walk and bypassed the line.

 

all in all, we came to the realization that we are more beach/water/exploring types of people... we loved both previous visits here but walking around town is not for us. Of course our last visit was with Silvermoon and that was hard to beat.

 

That night we ate in the dining room with our great waiter Jullien and two couples one from Britain and one from Scotland, lots of laughs. Then we went started to walk back to the cabin but kept getting side tracked by friends and a quick hello. It was Island night and we changed into our island gear and head upstairs. Man was it hot up there, and of course with all the dancing we were both dripping sweat (oh what a lovely sight that conjures up).

 

Off to bed, early start for St. Vincent and Wayne's tour.

[vickie_bernie]

St. Vincent - we woke up and both of us had a very unrestfull night - that bed is getting to us, even with four egg crates. We ordered breakfast to be delivered at 730 and it was delivered at 715, one day I will play smart and order it for 8 and get it around 745.

 

We got ready as today we were doing the infamous Wayne's tour. Thank you Frank and Lynn from our CC group for doing that, much appreciated. Wayne showed up right on schedule and in total we were 22, with one being Chelsea who is 4.

 

Everything everyone has written about him is true, you can see how much he prides himself in his boat and his business. He works so very had to ensure you are having a good time. The boat was spotless and we had more than enough room. Boy oh boy those rum punches can really hit you! We unfortunately didn't see any dolpins, but we did see some whales off in the distance. The Pirates of the Caribbean movie set was kind of sad, it is too bad the island didn't preserve it as it would of been a great tourist site. We did stop for lunch there and the food was very good and lots of it. But the flies!! This is common though in most beach establishments... so you eat with your fork and wave with your knife to keep the flies off. I had the fish, which was tuna and the sauce it came with was yummy. However soon after finishing my allergies started to act up and my sinuses became congested and painfull. I dropped some antihistamines, and proceeded to the snorkel/beach stop.

 

The water was very cloudy Wayne said but we all dove in and even though it was difficult to see very much we still did see some lovely sights and coral and some fish. The beach is dreamy... and the black beach is so beautiful.

 

However for me I was completely loopy because of the drugs and the snorkeling and diving was not helpping any. I snuggled into bernie's arms and rested the whole way back to the ship. We were back on board around 4pm.

 

Of course I just crashed! And woke up two hours later and feeling totally drained, it is amazing how the sun can do that to you. We just got food from the HC and stayed in and watched a movie. Bernie did head down for trivia.

 

Today we are in St. Kitts and we are heading off to Friggats beach (hopefully sometimes plans change)

 

So far we have encountered morning showers in many of the ports but hen the cloud quickly blows away and the heat/sun come out. Today is not different.

 

We did encounter a problem on our bill. We noticed that they charged us $500 for internet on my account and $300 for Bernie for internet - they had put thru some credits but they are still owing us $500 in credits. The internet guy said it would be taken care of today. I think the problem still goes back to our initial problem on the first day trying to set up a new account; however we never were able to set up a new account, the internet guy had to do that. Will let you know how it works out.

 

James (the CD) did promise me a DVD copy of the morning show.

 

We have had many friends who have eaten in the Painted Desert for dinner, and we have had mixed reviews, some say they absolutely love it and others say they didn't so -- try it and you be your own judge.

 

Well off to lather on the sunscreen.

[mii]

Hey Vicki and Bernie, Join us on the Golden to Alaska on 5/16. They have great prices (2 for 1) right now. With double OBC you can't beat it.:)

 

Not to hijack tis thread but O2Bcrusin join us on our roll call for that cruise on the Golden.

 

Marilyn

[Toto2Kansas]

Vicki, Again, thank you for the report, it is like reliving our cruise through your eyes.

So, you ended up with four egg crate mattress toppers? I had to give a chuckle when I read that, as I thought I had read you had only one or two to start, and I was thinking how brave the two of you are? And here I was thinking we were bad using three. Guess we should have asked for that forth as three just didn't do very much after about a week.

One thing we always look forward to after a cruise is getting home to our own comfy bed. Such a shame Princess has replaced the beds with those made at the concrete plant. :(

 

Glad to hear your tour with Wayne went well. I don't know how many times we have taken his tour now, but each time we visit St. Vincent we repeat it, it's always been a great day with new friends.

Yep, I watch that rum punch carefully now. After one of our first tours, I missed dinner that night AND breakfast the next morning. lol Oh yea, that bad. :eek: ;) Love that black sand beach, and when it's clear water, the snorkeling is magnificent!

 

Enjoy your final days onboard, and hope you get that internet credit straightened out real soon.

[hypernurse1]

Vicki,

The mattress toppers...are they queen size or are they twin for the individual beds?

[coo359a2]

Vickie this was received in an email from a TA telling about the double OBC

 

 

Double Shipboard Credit Offer from Princess ~ OK, here's a complex offer with a very narrow window of opportunity. If you sail on Princess and you'll get home by March 15, 2009 you should book your next cruise while onboard for later in 2009. And I'm saying you must book an ACTUAL cruise for later in 2009 while onboard, not just do a future cruise deposit.

 

If you do this future cruise booking onboard, they'll give you double the onboard credits on that future 2009 sailing from what you're normally get.

 

So, if you usually book onboard and get $50 per person onboard credit for a 7-night sailing, you'll have $100 per person on this special one. The future booked sailing can't be rebooked. It must stay frozen on the sailing you booked it onboard.

[Toto2Kansas]

Vicki,

The mattress toppers...are they queen size or are they twin for the individual beds?

 

I will answer this for you to save Vicki some internet minutes. They come in both sizes both twin and queen. But remember, they have changed them now and are maybe 1" thick (or less) without the egg crate design, just a slight dimple instead.

 

After the first week, we finally had to have them split the queen into two twins. As the three mattress toppers on the queen made the slight hump in the middle of queen become larger and larger until we felt like we were sleeping on the side of a mountain and that we were rolling off the side. After they split them, they were still very hard even with three toppers, but at least we weren't rolling over the edge and feeling like we would fall out of bed every night. ;)

[phabric]

I will answer this for you to save Vicki some internet minutes. They come in both sizes both twin and queen. But remember, they have changed them now and are maybe 1" thick (or less) without the egg crate design, just a slight dimple instead.

 

Did you order the egg crate before your cruise or while on board? Did you try 1 egg crate at a time and then added more after trying it out.

 

I plan on faxing for the egg crate before our cruise in July. Would they laugh if I asked for more than 1 on each bed. I am a very light sleeper and do not like sleeping on a bed that is hard.

[Toto2Kansas]

Did you order the egg crate before your cruise or while on board? Did you try 1 egg crate at a time and then added more after trying it out.

 

I plan on faxing for the egg crate before our cruise in July. Would they laugh if I asked for more than 1 on each bed. I am a very light sleeper and do not like sleeping on a bed that is hard.

 

We faxed our request to Princess before the cruise. I actually faxed a request for 'two' egg crates (thinking they were the old style that were thick with the actual egg crate design), but when we arrived, only one was on the bed. This happens all of the time when you request more than one, they won't add more than one no matter how many you pre-order.

We slept the first night on the one egg crate and both woke up the next day so miserable with the worst back ache ever. So, I talked to our suite steward, who in turn had to contact his supervisor for permission to put mulitples on the bed for the next night.

As said, with the queen, even three was horrible. But splitting the beds and having three on each twin was tolerable. Not comfortable for us by any means, but better.

[55J5-5]

I faxed asking for 2 or 3. But I am packing one also. Hubby talked me out of ordering a nice 3inch to be delivered to the hotel so we could take it on. Now I am rethinking that....oops he might read this. LOL

 

I have not seen on my princess page any special request or such for the topper yet. We shall see when I get on board.

[chamima]

Now to catch up with what we have been up to.

 

 

 

all in all, we came to the realization that we are more beach/water/exploring types of people... we loved both previous visits here but walking around town is not for us. Of course our last visit was with Silvermoon and that was hard to beat.

 

.

 

I'll second (and third and fourth) that!!!!!!!!!!!

[bob&sharon]

We did encounter a problem on our bill. We noticed that they charged us $500 for internet on my account and $300 for Bernie for internet - they had put thru some credits but they are still owing us $500 in credits. The internet guy said it would be taken care of today. I think the problem still goes back to our initial problem on the first day trying to set up a new account; however we never were able to set up a new account, the internet guy had to do that. Will let you know how it works out.

 

Vickie - on our sailing we had a problem with internet billing as well. The internet attendent promised to correct it and he did but it took several days to show up on our print out. If it is the same guy I was totally impressed with him.

[yyzatcqq]

Sailing along with you has kept me wanting more. I'm on the Grand out of Southampton in May.

 

Do they have the "British Pub Lunch" (ala Ruby Princess Wheelhouse Bar) on sea days yet? If not can you find out when they're going to add it to the Grand?

[cruzzers]

We can't wait to sail in March but are somewhat concerned with the issue of the "bad bed" issues that many have had. I have a really bad back (bulging L4/L5) and it doesn't take much to set it off. If the beds are so bad, Princess needs to take action and fix the problem instead of relying on the egg crates to try and solve the issues. Have any of you tried sleeping on top of the fluffy douvet covers or do they have those on the Grand?

[Jeepers385]

Vickie, where do you dock in St. Thomas? Thanks so much.