Live from the Grand, March 13-27, 2009

[CTGirl]

Thanks for posting. We are on the Ruby going out of FLL on the 28th. How is the weather in the Caribbean now? Have you met Starskyfan? She is on with you. Please tell her that I'm saving the bridgecam pictures for her.

[Polar Bear]

We are in Granada today instead of Trinidad. Princess was concerned with "political problems" and decided to change ports.

 

the weather has been beautiful so far and we are looking at another great day ahead of us here in Granada. We have a private tour booked for Barbados with Thriller for tomorrow so we hope we have lots to sun for snorkeling with the turtles and viewing the reef and shipwreck. Can't wait!

 

 

When did they let you know that you where not going to Trinidad?

 

You toured with "Thriller" a few years ago.....had a blast. Look for Barbados photos on the Sea Princess.....my webshots http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2699744410084305395IjHELa?vhost=travel Steve and his daughter are fantastic hosts

[burm]

We are in Granada today instead of Trinidad. Princess was concerned with "political problems" and decided to change ports. We had our second formal night last night and had a very nice dinner.

 

It must have been chaotic with 2700 passengers trying to find things to do in an unexpected port. Did Princess offer last minute excursions? Were 2700 people trying to find taxis? Please tell us more!

 

Thank you for all the information you have provided. You are far more helpful and knowledgeable than Princess.

[cruzzers]

Hey Beth and Terry, great to hear from you! Nice upgrade, way to go!! That is a real upgrade:D We love the balconies on the Caribe deck.

We shall live vicariously through your posts, as we are in the midst of PCD. aka post cruise depression:eek:

 

Hope you have a great time, we sure did!! susan

 

We are having a really nice time and already dreading going home. We have had beautiful weather and some really nice entertainment.

[cruzzers]

It must have been chaotic with 2700 passengers trying to find things to do in an unexpected port. Did Princess offer last minute excursions? Were 2700 people trying to find taxis? Please tell us more!

 

Thank you for all the information you have provided. You are far more helpful and knowledgeable than Princess.

 

Princess did offer last minute excursions. We just got off the ship and walked around for a little while in town but we were hounded by the locals to take taxi rides and buy things. We finally got tired of it and went back to the ship to relax. We did hear that there were some nice beaches and wished we would have gone there.

[cruzzers]

We were in St Thomas today and planned to do a little shopping and then go to the beach. Well....we got the shopping in but it started to rain so we spent the afternoon on the ship relaxing. Another day in paradise....what can I say!

[MichCook]

Enjoying your posts. We're reliving our time on the Grand through you. :) Congrats on the upgrades! We were hoping to catch a glimpse of dolphins, but I guess they were waiting for you. :) We did see flying fish, though.

[dianef]

Cruzzers,glad to hear you are having a good time.Is this the first rain you had?How are the seas.We are going this Friday and got upgraded to a balcony in the very front of the ship on Aloha.I am thankful for the upgrade but worried about the rocking of the ship so far up front. I figure with all the ports the days going from port to port might be calm since the ship might be going slow.I will take sea sickness medication just in case.Hope you have a great rest of the cruise...

[musicnana]

Glad to hear your cruise is going well. We were worried about the weather; however, it seems you have had good weather at least 90% of the time.:)

 

If you can, tell me which nights are the formal nights and do you think they will include Grenada on our cruise....we will be on the Grand beginining this Friday, 3/27/09! I tried to find out what kind of political unrest they were having in Trinidad; however, their [Trinidad's]newspaper didn't mention anything.

 

Please let us know about the Dominican Republic, also. Some say it is very third world with nothing to do.

[chamima]

Glad to hear your cruise is going well. We were worried about the weather; however, it seems you have had good weather at least 90% of the time.:)

 

If you can, tell me which nights are the formal nights and do you think they will include Grenada on our cruise....we will be on the Grand beginining this Friday, 3/27/09! I tried to find out what kind of political unrest they were having in Trinidad; however, their [Trinidad's]newspaper didn't mention anything.

 

Please let us know about the Dominican Republic, also. Some say it is very third world with nothing to do.

We wereon this cruise in January. The people that went to the beach (Bayahibe) had a good time. Get a taxi (try to share with another couple) at the port. (We went to Los Altos and personally felt it was a waste of time and money)

[ocnlvr3]

Musicnana- We are also on this cruise. I called Princess and they said we won't know if we are going to Grenada until we board. We think the reason they skipped Trinidad is cause there will be a big political meeting the 3rd week of April there and our President will be attending too!

This is just a guess:)

 

 

Andrea

[diamond4lt]

we are boarding the cruise in april..who is the cruise director and assistant if you could tell us? thanks

[lovespositano]

Maurizio has now been moved to the atrium for more room. I think he is going to be in the Princess theater tonight due to his popular following.

Well, you are LUCKY cruisers!! Wish I were there with you. Enjoy!! We just got off the Sapphire 10 days ago and leave on the Ruby in less than a month - great cruises, but NOTHING like being on a ship with Maurizio!!

[dianef]

Cruzzer, what dock did you dock at in St.Thomas.Hope you have great weather the rest of your cruise.You are now down to the last few days,not that I have to remind you. We will be getting on when you get off.

[shopperwhite]

i found the best entertainer on the grand was maurizio. just so much fun. we landed at crown bay. that was on the 27 of feb to 13 march.

[cruzzers]

Glad to hear your cruise is going well. We were worried about the weather; however, it seems you have had good weather at least 90% of the time.:)

 

If you can, tell me which nights are the formal nights and do you think they will include Grenada on our cruise....we will be on the Grand beginining this Friday, 3/27/09! I tried to find out what kind of political unrest they were having in Trinidad; however, their [Trinidad's]newspaper didn't mention anything.

 

Please let us know about the Dominican Republic, also. Some say it is very third world with nothing to do.

 

We have heard now that the reason for not docking in Trinindad was that they were having a dock strike. We really don't know what the strory was for sure.

 

We had a formal night on the second sea day and then again on the 3rd sea day and then on the day we were in Barbados.

 

We really didn't like Domican Republic. It is a busy, city with nothing to do. We took a snorkle/beach tour to Catilina Island and the water was littered with trash. The tour operators were very friendly and tried to make us all happy but no one speaks English in this country or on our tour. It was difficult to communicate unless you know a bit of Spanish. There is nothing to do at the port either.

 

Unfortunately, we had to miss Grand Turk due to high seas and wind. It was raining too so we had a day at sea yesterday. We have never been to Grand Turk so we were dissapointed but fully understand that safety is a priority.

 

Today is our last sea day and it looks to be a very nice day for outside activities. The sea is a bit rough but we are sailing with the wind so sitting on the deck is very pleasant and I am sure there will be plenty of things to do.

 

For those of you going on the next voyage, you should have nice weather like we have for the most part. The Caribbean is colder that normal so you may not encounter the really hot weather. The staff onboard is wonderful and have gone out of their way to make sure we are having a good time. We watched the crew entertainment show last night and they had some really talented people.

 

Will post again after returning home!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks and enjoy your last days. :)

[Toto2Kansas]

We have heard now that the reason for not docking in Trinindad was that they were having a dock strike. We really don't know what the strory was for sure.

 

We had a formal night on the second sea day and then again on the 3rd sea day and then on the day we were in Barbados.

 

We really didn't like Domican Republic. It is a busy, city with nothing to do. We took a snorkle/beach tour to Catilina Island and the water was littered with trash. The tour operators were very friendly and tried to make us all happy but no one speaks English in this country or on our tour. It was difficult to communicate unless you know a bit of Spanish. There is nothing to do at the port either.

 

Unfortunately, we had to miss Grand Turk due to high seas and wind. It was raining too so we had a day at sea yesterday. We have never been to Grand Turk so we were dissapointed but fully understand that safety is a priority.

 

Today is our last sea day and it looks to be a very nice day for outside activities. The sea is a bit rough but we are sailing with the wind so sitting on the deck is very pleasant and I am sure there will be plenty of things to do.

 

For those of you going on the next voyage, you should have nice weather like we have for the most part. The Caribbean is colder that normal so you may not encounter the really hot weather. The staff onboard is wonderful and have gone out of their way to make sure we are having a good time. We watched the crew entertainment show last night and they had some really talented people.

 

Will post again after returning home!

 

Sorry to hear of your port cancellations! I do agree the Dominican Republic isn't a place I would like to return to anytime soon. We too visited Catalina Island on a tour, and I wasn't impressed with any of it.

 

Enjoy your last few days!

[cruzzers]

We made it home late last night and though we had a wonderful time, it is always good to be home in our own bed.

 

We had time to kill due to a late flight out of Ft Lauderdale so we asked "Sun and Moon" to pick us up at the port at 9:45. As usual, Edwin was right on time to greet us and he took 4 of us to the Everglades for a tour. It was so nice to be picked up and not crowded into a taxi or bus. If any of you have time before your flight, he only charged us $40 PP for everything and then delivered us to our gate at the airport after the Everglades tour. He is also very good to use if you need transportation from the airport to hotel and hotel to ship.

 

I will write a better review later but to sumarize, we have a wonderful cruise, upgraded room from an obstructed view to a Caribe deck balcony, exceptional food, with most dinners in the dinning room with our friends, good weather with a bit of rain on the return trip that caused us to miss our port at Grand Turk, service was outstanding, ship in good shape for it's age, beds not so good.

 

Will try to do a more detailed account of our trip.

[CaliJohn]

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us. It must be difficult to find time for posting with so many activities and things to do and experience.

 

Looking forward to a more detailed review if you have the time, if not - thanks for sharing.

[timespliters]

Sorry to hear of your port cancellations! I do agree the Dominican Republic isn't a place I would like to return to anytime soon. We too visited Catalina Island on a tour, and I wasn't impressed with any of it.

 

Enjoy your last few days!

 

We will stop at Catalina Island in Dec, was the beach good near where ships dock?

[Colo Cruiser]

We will stop at Catalina Island in Dec, was the beach good near where ships dock?

 

You won't be swimming at Catalina in Dec, unless you have a wetsuit. :eek:

[timespliters]

You won't be swimming at Catalina in Dec, unless you have a wetsuit. :eek:

 

 

why is water cold

 

but

 

hows the beach near pier,u got any photos

[Stevesan]

Didn't y'all notice this thread is more than six months old???:p