Grand Princess Review

[ancryan]

The uploads on reviews are taking weeks to get up, so I'm going to attach mine here. Please respond if you have any questions.

Review

Grand Princess

November 27, 2005

 

Two weeks ago my wife and I returned from the maiden voyage for the Grand in the Western Caribbean 2005-2006 season. She had just returned from Rome across the Atlantic and the crew was ready for a full ship again and some warm Caribbean weather after the very rough, cool weather of the crossing.

We stayed overnight in Galveston on Friday night at America’s Best Value Inn and Suites. The outside of the motel looked suspicious, but the suite was very nice and clean and it seemed brand new. Plus, the price was definitely right at $55 a night. We left our car there all week and all was well. After hearing that there was a taxi shortage in Galveston, we decided to get up early and call Tropical Taxi just to get on the list. We called at 8:50am and someone was there to pick us up by 9:00. We arrived at the terminal 10 minutes later ($14 cab ride). The porters were not helping yet, so we dropped our bags off at the bag drop area and headed upstairs. We were there by 9:30am. This was definitely too early, but we decided that being too early was better than being too late.

Embarkation was a snap. Except for the wedding party which began boarding at 11am, we were the first ones on the ship at 11:30. We headed to our room to drop our carry-ons, met our room steward and proceeded to the Horizon Court for lunch. It was strange eating in there by ourselves. There was one other couple we talked to who had stayed on for a Caribbean week after coming over on the 12-nighter from Rome. This is a big and confusing ship. I would suggest that you get a ship map from the purser’s desk or from the leather binder in your room and carry it with you for at least a couple of days.

The Food on the Grand ranged from average to great. Every night you could have a terrific bowl of fetuccini alfredo and some caesars salad, which I had several times. There were nights that we loved every bite of every course and other nights when we weren’t impressed with any of it. The bread was always wonderful. In fact, it didn’t matter what the food tasted like after a few minutes because typically I would eat more bread than I should and I would be completely full before the soup would arrive. The dining highlight was the night we paid the $15 cover charge to go to the Painted Desert Steakhouse. We have tasted some great steaks, but nothing any better than the filets we had there. It was great service, a great atmosphere and amazing food. I would highly recommend this option. We made reservations that morning for the two of us and the restaurant was never full for the 90 minutes we were there. We ate there on a port day which probably helped.

Service: From the moment we walked onto the ship with white glove treatment of everyone helping us get where we needed to go to walking off the ship a week later, Princess lived up to her reputation for serving its customers. Everywhere you turned, everyone knew everything you might need to know about the ship, the activities, the times, everything. The service in the dining room was sometimes suspect however. We were taking part in the “anytime dining” option which we were dreading but we now love. We missed not getting to know a waiter and having fun joking around with him. Some of the waiters we got warmed up quickly and we had a great time. Others seemed to be a bit put off that we would want to eat. We wondered if it was because of the anytime dining. Who knows, but overall, it was really good.

Shows: After 6 cruises for me and 8 for my wife, we both agreed that these shows and these performers were the best we have seen on any ship. The comedian was OK and the magician was a little annoying, but the shows are not to be missed. Trust us. We also went and watched three different movies at Movies Under the Stars. The pads they put on the loungers are very soft and the blankets help with any wind that might be blowing across deck. There was a movie or concert video every night and a couple of movies during each day. The screen is amazing and it is a very cool way to watch a movie.

Weather: First day at sea was WINDY and a little cold. We finally found a spot at the front of the ship, above the spa pool, behind a really big wall where the wind was blocked so we could enjoy the warm sun. It was a good spot and we were about the only ones out. Costa Maya and Grand Cayman were perfect. Cozumel and Belize were a little rainy. The best weather day was the day at sea on the way back home. Very little wind and very warm. I think everyone on the ship was outside enjoying the weather.

On the ship we enjoyed the bingo and putt-putt golf and the 24 hour pizzaria. I thought I would eat pizza everyday, but I only ate it the first day. I was always full from the other meals. One tip here is that in the Horizon Court, they serve ice cream sundaes every day from 2:30-3:30. They don’t advertise this much, you just have to figure it out on your own. I’ve told you, so now you know.

Costa Maya: Man, don’t sleep through this port. This was by far our favorite. Near the ship was a group of shops and a huge pool with a swim up bar. There were plenty of people with donkeys or other animals for pictures. This is a village created by cruise companies for cruise passengers. It’s cool, but the real fun lies about 2 miles down the beach. Behind all of the shops is the place to catch a cab. There is a central location to purchase taxi tickets to get to Majahual. We bought our $3 tickets and waited in a 10 minute line for a cab. The ride was only about 4-5 minutes and we were in old Mexico. We were dropped off at a little restaurant/bar, but it was not really the town, so we walked the rest of the way down the road to the town. There were lots of shops and people set up to sell every piece of jewelry, mayan artifact and mexican souveniers you can imagine. That’s across from the beach. On the beach side, there are several restaurants and probably 20 places where you can get a massage on the beach. Our day was perfect, so let us suggest to you two places to go. For a massage ($20 for 40 minutes when everyone else was $20 for 30 minutes) go to the only elevated massage tables on the beach. This place is run by 3 women and the three tables are up on a platform built about 12-15 feet up in the air. It is surprisingly professional and they are very good. For lunch after our massage, we headed just a few feet down the beach to a restaurant called The Lighthouse or El Faro restaurant and bar. We paid about $20 to have some sodas, margaritas, nachos, quesadillas and two lounge chairs for as long as we wanted them. The food was really good and the service was even better. I noticed that some of the ship’s workers were there and that is always a good sign. El Faro is open-air with just a little bar and a few tables. I have no idea where they cooked the food, but it was good. There are plenty of cabs waiting to take you back for $2 a person. (I don’t know why the cost is different) Back at the little cruise pax village is a tower with a winding staircase that gets you up high enough to see a long way in all directions. I would suggest trying that out before dark. We could only see the ship’s lights after dark.

Belize City, Belize: We had been to Belize before and enjoyed a great day of Cave Tubing with Reggie. Google this excursion. It is awesome. But this time we just took the tender over to the pier (shoreside tenders were used with no problems at all here) and hung out in the shops for awhile and took a town tour cab ride for $20 a piece. It was a little over an hour and pretty interesting. The highlight for us in Belize was a little museum behind the cruise pax village that went through the history of the pirates that visited the caribbean. You have to get behind all of the shops on the pier and exit the complex. You will immediately be attacked by about 10 vendors wanting you to buy their junk and some of it is cool. My wife bought a few bracelets, but turn left and head to the museum which will be about 100 yards up on your right. It’s in an old house. The cost is free. Tendering back to the ship is equally simple and fast.

Grand Cayman: OK, Grand Cayman is too small for all of the ships. There were seven very large ships there that day with approximately 18,000 cruise passengers. We used the ship’s tenders. On the tender ports, they give you a time to meet in the Explorer’s Lounge or the Vista Lounge to wait for your turn to exit the tenders. This is not a time to go and get a ticket. You actually need to be ready to roll. They only give tickets to complete parties who are ready to leave the ship. We arrived about 30 minutes before the advertised time because the time in Grand Cayman is very short. We were on the first tender and everything was fine. For those who were later, we heard of some pretty long waits. We got off the tender onto the dock and it was immediate bedlam. There were people everywhere. Stores were packed, streets were packed, restaurants were packed. There were lines to everything. Couple of tips here: There were some stingray tour operators right there waiting to take people to swim with the rays for only $40. I have taken those tours before from these folks and it is a good deal. Also, we headed right. Instead of heading left, go across the street and go to the right. We found a group of shops in a building that had very few customers. It was fun and my wife found a purse store where we bought some convincing knock-offs of expensive purses. We couldn’t handle the crowds anymore, so we hailed a cab and headed to Seven Mile Beach. ($7 per person I think) She dropped us off at a restaurant/club area and we ate a quick lunch on the beach – hot dogs and fries – and headed to go lay out. Beautiful place. Great sand, water, everything. People who were snorkeling said it was no good because there was not coral or anything. Take a snorkel tour for better snorkeling. Another $7 cab ride back a couple of hours later and we were back on the ship for dinner and a great night of shows.

Cozumel: I love Cozumel and I love the people there and I feel terrible for what happened to them with hurricane Wilma. However, there should be a little more work done before they let all those ships come back. This was a nightmare from cover to cover. We went to the lounge to wait for our tender tickets at 10:30, the correct arrival time. At 1pm we got on the second tender. They said there were swells, but there were also only two shoreside tenders available and evidently they weren’t available for a long time. They couldn’t use the ship’s tenders because the pier was too high on land. Most of our day was gone by the time we got to shore. I think some of the excursions still happened, but others ran out of time. We basically found a phone (more on that later) and shopped and ate at a great mexican resaurant called Pancho’s Backyard. There were four ships there and the only thing except for excursions were a few shops right on the old Carnival pier where they drop you off of your tender. You could also get a cab and go down to the old part of the shopping district. I think about half of those shops are still there from what I heard. The tender ride back was better and we were back on and headed toward home by 5pm.

Back in Galveston, we were the last group to get off and we didn’t get off until about noon. No problems with customs or finding a cab back to the hotel.

Phone Calls: During this trip we had a 15 month old daughter at home, so we had to make a few phone calls. I researched this a lot and can help anyone who needs to make some calls. Go to Walmart and buy an international pre-paid AT&T phone card. I put about $30 on it and that was plenty for long calls at each port and I still had some minutes left over. In Mexico, you have to find TelMex phones. Not a problem at Majahual, they are right on the street. In Cozumel however, we had to find an internet café and calling center. Head out of the back of the cruise pax shopping village and go to the street behind it and take a left. You can walk about 3 blocks and it is on your right. We called for only 50c a minute. In Grand Cayman, we needed a normal pay phone. There are a bunch of tourist phones that make you use credit cards and don’t allow pre-paid calls, but we found a regular pay phone in the Hard Rock Café, just across the street from the pier. In Belize, there are several pay phones. Just ask a worker in any store.

Overall, this was an excellent cruise. We love Princess for its commitment to excellence, its ships and its service. You will definitely enjoy this vacation. We recommend it to anyone.

[zydecocruiser]

Tomorrow we sail on GP and are looking forward to it. Thanks for the info!

[joanne1]

ancryan, Thanks for a great review. Can you tell me more about the tube company you used and the excursion? I have looked at this excursion and it looks like a great time but I am worried about the times. As you know we are only there from 6:30 - 1:00 and we have to tender. We usually book private but this one makes me nervous. I have talked to a company and they said that it will be fine but . . . Princess does offer this tour as well but they are charging more than double for the exact same trip.

[ancryan]

Here's the website of Reggie's tours: http://www.regtour.com/

My father-in-law was on this cruise last season and signed up with Reggie on the internet before he went. When he got off the tender in Belize, Reggie was there waiting for him and his group and they were the first ones on the water, going through the caves, even before the Princess tours. They got back in plenty of time for shopping at the port before tendering back over to the ship.

 

Good luck - let me know if there's any other questions you have.

[Coral]

Thanks for the great review!

 

I agree about Costa Maya - it is a great port, you just have to do something there other then walk around.

 

Question about the pizza - are they extending the hours due to MUTS? You mentioned 24 hours and I didn't know if they have it 24 hours now or at night when MUTS is going on? It used to be 11-7 or something like that.

 

Food - had you sailed Princess before? You had mentioned some nights you didn't like the food - I am wondering if it was worse then other Princess cruises or if this was your first Princess cruise and just didn't care for food that evening?

 

Grand Caymen - that is just too many ships in port. There never seemed to be that many before. It isn't that large of a port to accomodate that many ships.

 

I agree with you about service in PC dining - it doesn't seem to be as consistent as when you have Traditional dining. I have had very good waiters there and not so good waiters.

 

Again, thanks for the review! I have some friends returning today and they seemed to like their cruise. I can't wait to talk to them about it.

[scootepie66]

Thank you for the informative review. This will be our first cruise with Princess and this itinerary. We truly appreciated the phone info since we were trying to figure out how to stay in touch with our son.

[ancryan]

Coral,

Pizza was advertised as 24/7 on this cruise, but I never really had it except once during the day so I can't verify. As for the dining room food, this was my second time on Princess. I'm not sure if it was better or not before. That was 8 years ago and it was my very first ever cruise, so everything tasted great.

[traci28]

who were the magician and comedian on your ship?

[Catathome]

Ancryan

 

Did anyone on your cruise do the stingray and shark snorkeling tour, or any princess snorkeling excursion in other ports?

 

Did anyone do any of the ruin tours by princess and did they like them?

 

We are leaving Sat. and just wanted some input.

 

Thank you!!

[ancryan]

Traci28, I don't remember the name of the magician or the comedian. The magician was a "comedian/magician," but he wasn't funny. After his introduction 15 minute show on opening night, we didn't return to his big act. The comedian was a former Texan who is now in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Sorry I don't remember names.

 

Catathome,

100s of people snorkeled with stingrays and it is really great. I have done that twice, once with the ship's tour and another time when I just got off the ship and went with one of the many tour guides waiting for customers. It is great. I would also recommend snorkeling in Belize on a Princess tour. As for the ruins, the only one I know much about is Tulum. It is during Cozumel. Again, take the ship excursion for this. It is worth the trip and the money. It has some of the most breathtaking views of the Carribean you can find anywhere. Hope this helps! Have fun.

[OMargie]

ancryan,

I have a few questions. Would you please email me at maggiehar@yahoo.com. We're sailing in 3 weeks.

 

Thanks!

M

[Catathome]

Thanks for the snorkeling information:D

 

Cat