Grand from Galveston-What a Yawner

[parrotheads]

Did anyone on this sailing do the Pirate Cruise in Cayman?

[ahracer]

Just two comments.

 

1. I was on the Grand in May and it was in fine condition.

2. I have never been on any ship that wasn't being cleaned/painted/mopped etc. constantly. I find it impossible that none of this occured on the Grand. Especially as others on the same sailing said it was prevelant.

 

Sorry Princess wasn't for you.

 

Scott

[Linkslady]

We also were on the Grand over Thanksgiving. We had a great time! I hope this mini-review isn't too confusing because I may jump back and forth a bit... As for the "rough seas" we only experienced them the last night heading back to Galveston when we hit the cold-front. They were probably 12-15 foot seas with gusty winds and lots of lighting - really cool to watch at 3:00 in the a.m. LOL

 

The food was excellent! We had a suite and ate dinner on our balcony every night. We ordered off the dining room menus each evening and had 2 of almost everything!! Imagine Lobster and turkey on Thanksgiving WooHoo!!

 

We saw the crew constantly doing maintenance - yes they used duck tape to tape the "wet varnish" signs where they were re-varnishing the teak hand rails throughout the ship.

 

I didn't care for MUTS - until the football games came on!! I prefer to listen to a steel band and read my book while I'm out by the pool instead of watching Shrek 3 times!!! UGGGH but then we discovered the aft pool and all was well!!!

 

With over 2800 pax and 500 of them being children we NEVER felt crowded until it was time to tender.. which is understandable. Most of the children we encountered were well behaved - there were a few that were not, but as a whole I think they did fairly well.

 

All the crew we encountered from our cabin steward "Jovic" to the bartenders were friendly.

 

In Belize we didnt' get off the ship - not enough time really unless you booked a tour through the ship. I would rather skip that port! In costa Maya we took a taxi to the town and walked to the beach. We were at a little beach across from "Tapas" bar and we had an umbrella and chairs and sat there the whole day... $20 massages for 30 minutes - more like "rub-down" but was still great! Beautiful, very rustic town. We had nachos with guacamole and was very good. Would love to visit here again.

 

Grand Cayman - we've been there several times before so this time we just took a cab to 7 mile beach. They took us to Sea Grapes beach which is where they take all the cruis ship pax... We got there early enough to rent 2 chairs and an umbrella $$ and stayed there all day as well. Beautiful beach to swim! The devastation of the vegetation was VERY apparent!! Alot of rebuilding still needed - tarps still on 85% of the roofs away from Georgetown central..

 

Cozumel, again, we've been there many times so this time we did Xcaret and took the ferry across to the mainland. We didn't have alot of time to stay there and it rained 1-1/2 hours at least.. I wouldn't recommend doing this tour from a cruise ship but it would be great to stay in Playa Del Carmen and visit there the whole day! Plus the ferry wasn't alot of fun - we took a bonine that a.m. before we left and I am glad we did!

 

Our suite had new carpet but they didn't do a very good job laying it - gaps between the carpet and the sliding doors etc.. but it was nice. We really enjoyed our large balcony - ate breakfeast and dinner almost every day out there!

 

The ship is huge - and we actually prefer the 70,000 to ships (Rhapsody / Splendour). All in all we had a wonderful cruise and would like to try a smaller Princess ship - if one ever comes to Galveston!

 

We didn't do any shows - we were so beat from the sun and the DosXX during the day that after dinner we stayed in our cabin or read our books out on our balcony.

 

I didn't like the choice of TV movies. If they were playing the movie on MUTS you couldn't watch it in your cabin. On RC they had several movie channels to watch - this ship has 1. You could however watch the football games in your room at the same time it was playing on MUTS.. I guess it's because that's a satellite feed and the movies are DVD...

 

I enjoyed the internet cafe - unlimited access becaue of the suite, but I only checked email a couple of times a day. I didn't think it was that expensive if you didn't have free email - $.35 a minute I believe and it was pretty fast speed...my husband said you could buy a card for $54 or something for unlimited access but this I cannot confirm.

 

I do suggest that you pre-book any excursions you want because once they're booked, they are booked and there are NOT any "extras" once you board...

 

Hopefully i didn't ramble or bore anybody. If you have any specific questions feel free to email me!

[Charlene]

pyro,

Just because one of the Princess ships wasn't up to your expectations, doesn't mean the rest of them are that way!! Its like everything in life, just because one bad apple is in the basket, doesn't mean the rest of them are bad right? Think about it, and I think you will see the light!

[cbreit]

We, too, were on the Grand last March. Absolutely loved it! The first night was very bumpy. We actually had to get out of bed and walk around at 4:00 A.M. Talk about eerie... there was no one in sight except at the purser's desk. DIdn't think of it then, but we could have gone to the buffet. Oh well, next time. Thought the ship was in great shape. We got to see her again about 6 times in port here in Newport, RI. Hated to see her leave for that last time to go to Galveston. Would definitely recommend the Grand again!

[StarskysmyMINI-Suite]

We were on the Grand for the 5-day 11/8 and had a wonderful time, but apparently there were two distinctively different cruises going on while we were onboard. We experience an outstanding level of service from everyone we encountered(Joselite - Cabin Steward D418, Maciek and Katerina - Waiter and Jr. Waiter in the Michaelangelo Dining Room, and Dipak - a waiter in various bars on the ship...everytime we saw him, he remembered our names and our drinks...just to name a few.) Others that we talked to also enjoyed this level of service. I am a travel agent and was escorting a group of 16 (mostly first-time cruisers) and they all had the same comments about their level of service. But, we heard people commenting that they thought the ship was a "tub" and should be taken out of the Princess Line for complete renovation because it was an embarassment. (? never saw what they had trouble with. After a brief conversation with one particular group of ladies at breakfast on the last day, it just appeared that they would not have been happy with anything and just wanted something to complain about.

 

Dining - We opted for "Anytime Dining" but after the great service on the first night from Maciek and Katerina, we decided to make a reservation for their table everynight. We did make reservations for Sabatini's one night and it was toooooo long of an experience. It just takes a lot of time to eat the 22 dishes they serve. I wish we would have gone to Painted Desert (the Sterling Steakhouse of the Grand) instead.

The cruise was prefect, until disembarkation...IT WAS A JOKE! There was NO organization at all. It was like this was the first time Princess had ever gotten people off the ship. We stood in line (one of about 10 lines going to the Vista Lounge) for about 2.5hrs. They told us we had to be in the Vista Lounge between 8:15 - 9:30 to clear immigration; I am glad to see they are now doing disembarkation by color.

 

I can't wait to get back on Princess...we are going to Alaska on Princess next summer and just know that we can expect a perfect experience.

 

I am sorry for those who didn't have a great experience. As a travel agent it really hits me when someone spends this kind of money and doesn't get the experience they were hoping for.

 

Jed

[B113]

We were on the 11-13 sailing. We did enjoy the entertainment but the Horizen Court needs to be redesigned. There were too many lines and it was to cluttered. We did have a problem in our stateroom on the Lido deck which was an air conditioner that blew hot air the entire cruise. Maintance tried to fix it four times but it never worked. Asked the pursers desk four times for a fan but no one ever got back to us. I agree the customer service is better on RCI. The majorty of Princess employees just don't seem to care. We did tip our stateroom steward extra since she went out of the way to try and solve our air problem. Probaly will not sail Princess again. I have written managment about our complaint and hopfully something will change.

 

Daryl

[Blackrobe]

Okay sport fans, the November 20 cruise was our eighth on Princess and twelfth overall. We just got off a 10 day Eastern Caribbean on the Sun Princess in October. Based on our experiences we can give you some comparisons.

 

What pyro experienced is what pyro experienced and no one should get down on someone for presenting their experience on these boards. As this thread illustrates, many people have different experiences.

 

During our week on the Grand Princess we saw the crew constantly cleaning, wiping handrails, working on electronics, and cleaning up after some very piggy people. (One evening we had difficulty walking down our hall because some of the 600 urchins who were onboard had built a mound of streamers in the middle of the hallway.) The Grand Princess has 1300 cabins and is rated at a standard 2600 capacity (2 persons x 1300). Add 600 to that number (triple and quad cabins) and the resources begin to strain.

 

The ship was in excellent condition overall. I was surprised that more had not been done while the ship was refurbished. One of the other posters reported seeing carpet replaced during the cruise and I observed rolls of carpet being loaded as we disembarked in Galveston. There were no signs that the ship was being neglected in any area that I observed and I explored the whole ship.

 

Our food was very, very good and the service was as good or better. We tried anytime dining for the first time. We ate in the DaVinci and Michelangelo dining rooms and in Sabatini's. The service was excellent in each of these restaurants. For the last three nights of the cruise we made reservations in Michelangelo with Abel and Alexandria because they were one of the best service teams we have ever encountered on a cruise. The other three nights we used anytime dining there was no wait to get a table.

 

One of the things we like about Princess is the activities that are available each day. The activities range from pool games to dancing lessons to educational opportunities to passive entertainment like movies. Then there is horse racing, bingo, the casino or just plain relaxing. If you can't find something to do you are either not looking or cruising is definitely not your gig.

 

Pyro gives an inaccurate impression when she writes, "Every show we attended was in the same place, the Vista Lounge." The statement is not inaccurate because it is qualified by the statement, "we attended". The Princess Theatre had the following shows in the evening hours: the introduction show featuring the staff dancers and signers with the introduction of the crew staff followed by an illusionist Chip Romero; the next night featured the first of two production shows; the third night was a return show by the illusionist Chip Romero; night four had Darren Lynton singing in the Princess Theatre; there was a movie on night five because of the Caribbean Island Night deck party; the next to last night featured the second production show; and, the last night a comedian, Rondell Sheridan appeared. There was only one movie in the Princess Theatre during the evening hours. Maybe pyro didn't care for this entertainment, the illusionist was pretty boring and we had previously seen the production shows, but it really is inaccurate to imply that the main theatre was used for movies every night! I have to agree with pyro that "Sarge" was great. The question is why he didn't get to appear for a second show?

 

The atrium is roughly mid-ship. There are stairs in the atrium going from the 5th to the 7th floor. Immediately to the stern of the atrium are six elevators. Immediately to the stern of these elevators are stairs which shift slightly further to the stern and these go all the way to Aloha deck.

 

The Grand Princess is very nice but has some significant design flaws, in my humble opinion. 1) The Botticelli dining room is stuck in a hole and difficult to access. Glad we didn't use it. 2) The hall used to access the Vista Lounge is too narrow. It has the Explorer's Lounge, Wheelhouse Bar, and Sabatini's all opening into the hallway plus the photo gallery with the counter for the photos also located in the hallway. This makes for a major restriction of traffic flow. 3) The Promenade deck does go around the ship but there are stairs at the bow. The overall width of the Promenade walkway is narrow and further narrows in spots to the point that it is just wide enough to allow a wheelchair through. In fact, it is so narrow that there are no deck chairs on the Promenade deck which I did not like as this is one of my favorite areas to sit and relax on the Sun class ships. 4) There is a lot of wasted space on the ship with the most obvious area located on Deck 5 which is used as an area to display art for the art auction (no, it is not the only place as art auction art is distributed like dust throughout the entire ship).

 

Now to MUTS which is the acronym for Movies Under the Stars. Much has been written about this new addition to the ship. My impressions prior to experiencing it were affirmed during this cruise. It is a nice addition for an under used area of the ship during the evening hours. It is a pain in the butt during daylight hours. It is also a nice venue for special events like the daytime football games during Thanksgiving (I appreciate there are contrary opinions especially when it comes to sporting events which everyone does not like). The problem is that Princess has mindlessly scheduled something to be playing from morning to night without considering whether anyone is watching or not. For instance, (9:00 a.m.) Toy Story, Ice Age, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo were being played. Obviously, this was for the children on the cruise. Let's just say that I didn't see any of them watching the movie nor did I see anyone else watching the movie at that hour. What this means is that if I want to sit in that area I am subjected to the intense sound from MUTS, and it is intense, although it does not generally carry to the other areas. If you want pizza or a hot dog or a hamburger you get MUTS. If the only outdoor table is in the MUTS area you get MUTS. In my opinion it is being used excessively. On the other hand, in the evening hours it is very pleasant to sit outside and watch a movie. The grill and pizzeria are closed at that time. The chair covers and blankets are a nice touch along with the complimentary popcorn (can you believe something for free).

 

The itinerary was not bad but the scheduling is totally screwed up. The stop at Belize City is way too late for a worthwhile visit. It probably takes two hours of tendering to get everyone off the ship. There are those who wonder why they even bother with Belize but those comments may be based on the fact that the ship is not scheduled to arrive in Belize until 2:00 p.m. With dusk arriving at 5:30 to 6:00 p.m., you only have an hour or two after tendering ashore to do anything in Belize. Why Princess does not schedule Belize in the middle of the week is unknown. Then instead of going to Cozumel from Costa Maya, the itinerary requires the ship to sail way out of the way to Grand Caymen before returning to Cozumel. This means we did not get to Grand Caymen until 11:00 a.m. This time it takes about an hour and a half to tender everyone into shore. We left Grand Caymen at 5:45 p.m. This was not a total waste but a longer day would have been much more productive. We did not arrive in Cozumel until 10:00 a.m. Cozumel is a very short hop from Costa Maya. Scheduling the stop at Grand Cayman between the two Mexican ports screws up the timing for both Grand Caymen and Cozumel. Princess could do a much better job of scheduling.

 

Embarkation was a bit of a mess as the passengers from the previous cruise had not left when passengers for our cruise began to arrive. Things were much better when we disembarked. In fact, one of the staff told us that ours was the best debarkation they have had this season in Galveston. We were in the last group to disembark and we were off the ship slightly after 10:00 a.m.

[parrotheads]

 

The itinerary was not bad but the scheduling is totally screwed up. The stop at Belize City is way too late for a worthwhile visit. It probably takes two hours of tendering to get everyone off the ship. There are those who wonder why they even bother with Belize but those comments may be based on the fact that the ship is not scheduled to arrive in Belize until 2:00 p.m. With dusk arriving at 5:30 to 6:00 p.m., you only have an hour or two after tendering ashore to do anything in Belize. Why Princess does not schedule Belize in the middle of the week is unknown. Then instead of going to Cozumel from Costa Maya, the itinerary requires the ship to sail way out of the way to Grand Caymen before returning to Cozumel. This means we did not get to Grand Caymen until 11:00 a.m. This time it takes about an hour and a half to tender everyone into shore. We left Grand Caymen at 5:45 p.m. This was not a total waste but a longer day would have been much more productive. We did not arrive in Cozumel until 10:00 a.m. Cozumel is a very short hop from Costa Maya. Scheduling the stop at Grand Cayman between the two Mexican ports screws up the timing for both Grand Caymen and Cozumel. Princess could do a much better job of scheduling.

 

 

Our Christmas cruise will include Panama as a port of call between Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I wonder how this will work out. However, we are very excited to be going further south!

[spingal]

KaC- Cruiser,

 

Thanks for your post!!! Your experience is in line with what I have seen on my Princess cruises!!

:D

[spongerob]

Blackrobe - great summary! I might disagree on one or two of the finer points, but such disagreement would be minimal and could easily be discussed over an adult beverage.

 

I agree that the Art Gallery is completely wasted space. I suggested in one of my comment cards that this would be a great place to put the photo gallery, and would relieve much of the congestion on Deck 7 near the Vista Lounge.

[TXSailor]

Hi Everyone:

 

We sailed on the Grand on Nov.8 out of Galveston, it was a great cruise. Yes, we were a little let down that rust could still be seen in some areas of the ship, not enough variety of food in the Horizon Court, only 2 jacuzzis working on the entire ship. Hopefully, maintenance will work on these things.

 

IMHO, the level of service(throughout the ship) did not meet our expectations. We get better service on the Rhapsody of the Seas. Funny how some of those who rave about Princess, have never been on the Rhapsody of the Seas.

 

We experienced the rocking as well, even though the seas were smooth. We finally concluded that there must have been a stablizer that went out.

 

The entertainment was ok, nothing to brag about.

 

The crew members were friendly, the food was good, but overall, we expected just a little more out of Princess.

 

Will we cruise on Princess again? In a heart beat. We are sailing on the Grand for New Year's down to Panama. We are sailing again on the Grand on Feb.19, 2005. Yes, we like this ship, but it takes getting use to.

 

Want to see the pics?

http://community.webshots.com/user/txsailor102

 

Fausto

[StarskysmyMINI-Suite]

Hi Everyone:

Want to see the pics?

http://community.webshots.com/user/txsailor102

 

Fausto

HI Fausto - Those are great pics!!! I must say I wans't ready to see the picture of me in Senor Frogs :blush:.

Great to meet everyone from CC onboard and hope to see you all on a future cruise.

We will bring the wine, of course!!!!

 

Jed

[michaelL]

Hi Everyone:

 

We experienced the rocking as well, even though the seas were smooth. We finally concluded that there must have been a stablizer that went out.

 

 

Fausto

Can anyone elaborate on this? Was it a "one time occurance" or have others experienced this. Just want to know before we go on a 12 day med cruise on a "rocky boat"

[KaC-Cruiser]

I agree that the Art Gallery is completely wasted space. I suggested in one of my comment cards that this would be a great place to put the photo gallery, and would relieve much of the congestion on Deck 7 near the Vista Lounge.

Spongerob .... Great Idea!! Way too much space was used for artwork that didn't get auctioned off .....

[KaC-Cruiser]

[quote name='michaelL']Can anyone elaborate on this? Was it a "one time occurance" or have others experienced this. Just want to know before we go on a 12 day med cruise on a "rocky boat"[/QUOTE]
Just got off the Grand on Saturday, and really didn't notice too much of a rocking problem. Our cabin was in the front so we had a slight up & down motion. It was more noticable in the Boticelli Dining Room in the back that there was occassionally a side to side motion during dinner. Never noticed any major rocking while on deck or around the pools. Usually the pool sloshing is a major sign ...... Then again, I think some people feel it much more than others.

[pyro]

Now that most of you have completely ripped my opinions apart, let me just state for the record that number one: I never said we did not enjoy our cruise. Of the many things I mentioned that we did not like, everything else that WASN'T mentioned, we had no complaints about and we loved. And there was plenty of other things about this ship and ports to like. And number two: yes, we had very high expectations about this ship because of the price we paid. this is the reason we will not sail with Princess again. I would rather spend that much money on a ship and/or line that we were 100% satisfied with and I know will be worth our money. We are a family of four, and it took over a year to save up for this cruise. If money grew on a tree in our backyard, we might consider giving them another chance, but unfortunately it doesn't. We will just stick to what we know and enjoy.

Thanks for the opportunity to post my opinions here, and I am SO SORRY to have ruffled so many feathers. I have read many posts here that have been helpful (both positive and negative) and I thought my opinions might be just as welcome. I'll know better next time.

[figmentdj]

Quote:
"The Grand Princess is very nice but has some significant design flaws, in my humble opinion."

After reading your review and based on my own experiences with the Golden and Diamond, I have to say that the Diamond has just about got it right. No MUTS, good sized dining rooms, plenty of rest rooms, awesome aft, enclosed Wheelhouse Bar, wide hallways and more. The only flaws, in my opinion, seemed to be the spa located under the jogging track (boom, boom, boom) and the wake bar which is neat, but just doesn't fit especially if you're claustophobic. If you have the opportunity, give this great ship or the Sapphire a try.

[Blackrobe]

There was quite a bit of rocking side to side. It was most noticeable the last night. I am not talking about severe rocking. It was just a noticeable movement from side to side which caused an awkward step now and again. It was much more noticeable on the Grand than on any of the Sun class ships. I think it probably is the result of wind against the tall and rather narrow ship which has a comparatively shallow draft for a ship of its size.

[rickdeni]

My husband I have sailed Carnival, Celebrity, Disney and the last time on the Princess Diamond. Our first cruise was on a Carnival ship in 1988. We enjoyed it. Celebrity has beautiful ships and very formal dining. Disney is "Disney" and it is impressive the way you are welcomed onto the ship. Disney has the best disembarkation of all - you just walk off. We just got off the Princess Diamond on October 23rd. She is a beautiful ship, great food and wonderful shows. I enjoyed all of our cruises. On each cruise there was something that I didn't like but there were more things that I did like. Our Princess cruise was the least expensive. (We had a suite on Carnival in 1988). We felt it was a great bargain. I would sail each of these lines again without hesitation. Our next scheduled cruise is November with the grandchildren on Disney.

[coiran]

Blackrobe - Great summary - apparently problems are in the windmills of ones mind!

Ron

[bdjam]

[QUOTE]We get better service on the Rhapsody of the Seas. Funny how some of those who rave about Princess, have never been on the Rhapsody of the Seas. [/QUOTE] [color=black][font='Comic Sans MS']It’s also interesting that a lot of those who complain about Princess are migrating from RCI – maybe the two lines offer experiences different enough not to expect that they would both appeal to the same demographic?[/font][/color]
[color=black][font='Comic Sans MS'][/font][/color][font='Comic Sans MS'][QUOTE] [font=Verdana]We experienced the rocking as well, even though the seas were smooth. We finally concluded that there must have been a stablizer that went out. [/font][/QUOTE] [color=black][font='Comic Sans MS']I would say that’s an incorrect conclusion. If one stabilizer was out, they’d both be out of operation. Little known to most passengers, stabilizers are only used when necessary. They cause drag and lower the efficiency of the engines. I spent 14 days on Grand Princess in 2001 and didn’t notice any significant motion. [/font][/color][/font]
[font='Comic Sans MS'][color=black][font='Comic Sans MS'][QUOTE][font=Verdana]Now that most of you have completely ripped my opinions apart, let me just state for the record that number one: I never said we did not enjoy our cruise. [font='Comic Sans MS'][color=black][font='Comic Sans MS'][/font][/color][/font][/font][/QUOTE] [color=black][font='Comic Sans MS']I think it important that reviews on this board – to make them attack proof – are balanced. If some of the enjoyable parts of the cruise had been mentioned, it might not have appeared the whole week was a loss.[/font][/color][font='Comic Sans MS'][/font]
[/font][/color][/font][font='Comic Sans MS'][color=black][font='Comic Sans MS'][/font][/color][font='Comic Sans MS'][/font]
[/font]

[spongerob]

There have been times on the Grand Princess where it has been difficult to tell you were at sea. Anything that floats is going to react to the wind and waves - I think it's great because it's a little reminder that you aren't in Kansas anymore. Even a small course correction will be noticeable to your inner ear if you can't see the horizon for reference. It's the same thing that causes inexperienced pilots to suffer vertigo if they lose their horizon reference. Tiny movements suddenly feel very large.

I haven't really noticed any difference in the perception of motion on the Grand Princess compared to any other ship. If we don't feel any movement at all, that's a disappointment to us.