Maureen

Age: 46
Occupation: RN
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Princess
Ship: Grand
Sailing Date: September 22nd, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

We had previously cruised on an older, refurbished ship that was 1/3 the size of the Grand Princess. Although we thoroughly enjoyed that experience, we wanted to cruise for two weeks in celebration of our 25th Wedding Anniversary and felt that a larger ship would provide more variety and options. Thus, after much research, we chose the Grand Princess and took back-to-back cruises sailing the Western Caribbean the first week and the Eastern Caribbean the next week. We booked early (8 months prior) to insure that we could get both cruises and not have to change cabins.  Although this is a lengthy review, I will attempt to provide you with factual information as well as our personal impression of this ship and the itinerary. Hopefully it may help you in selecting your cruise as much as other reviews help us select ours.

EMBARKATION:
Filling out and submitting your pre-cruise information either by mail or on-line will significantly speed up the embarkation process. We arrived at the port and were directed to the appropriate counter (designated by deck location of your cabin) and we were on the ship within 5 minutes! Amazed us that an older gentleman next to us still managed to complain that it was taking too long. We had read on some reviews that there was not enough staff to direct you to your cabin when you first boarded but this was not the case. At every turn, staff were strategically placed to direct you so it was impossible to get lost.  We had also read complaints that you are herded past the many framed pieces of art that are part of the ongoing art auctions on the ship. But it is only on display, with no one bugging you to buy it, so we figure “just enjoy the scenery”. It’s better than blank walls. We were late arriving for the tour of the ship but it didn’t matter because the signage on this ship is wonderful with a map of the deck plans located at each stairwell and elevator. There is also a list outlining the amenities on each deck placed in the same location and inside each elevator as well. Our advice is to use these maps and lists (we were still referring to them at the end of the second week) because this ship is the length of 3 football fields and these guides avoid unnecessary marathons in the wrong direction. Our luggage arrived within 2 hours of boarding the ship so we were able to unpack well prior to the dinner hour.

CABINS:
We selected an outside cabin with a private balcony for a few reasons. First, this was a very special celebration and we felt we’d earned it! Secondly, with cruising for a total of two weeks, we regarded it as an extension to our room space. It was lovely to be able to go out anytime of the day or night and have a private outdoor space in which to relax. But it is a luxury that not all can afford and we don’t think it should “make or break” for a good cruising experience. Our cabin was located on the Baja deck, second deck from the top. The Aloha deck above our deck and us were with the only ones with totally private balconies. That is to say that no one could look down from above onto our balcony. The Caribe, Dolphin, and Emerald decks also have balconies available and their balconies are larger in depth. However, if privacy is an issue, these balconies jut out further from the side of the ship and we could see into them from ours. While most people are respectful of your privacy, it was impossible when standing at the rail on the balcony to not see directly into the one below us. Each standard inside and outside room (with or without a balcony) is approximately the same in size. We cannot speak for the lowest decks, but the inside ones on ours were identical in layout. Most cabins on most cruise ships are not overly large, but we found ours to be more than adequate. There is plenty of storage space with a total of 7 drawers. There was a small closet containing the room safe and at least 5 more shelves that could be utilized for folded clothes and other items There is a fair sized closet area for hanging clothing but we did hear that some guests complained that they didn’t have enough hangers and were told there was no more available. One lady said they only had 10 hangers and we didn’t have the heart to tell her we had 2 dozen! My advice would be to pack a few metal ones in your suitcase. They don’t take up much room and it is better to be safe than sorry.  The beds in our cabin could be separate or made into a queen sized one. On our previous cruise, this meant they pushed to two beds together but each was made with it’s own set of sheets so it wasn’t really like sleeping in the same bed. This time, the beds were pushed together and made up as one bed. We will say that the mattresses were pretty hard. However, upon making inquiries with our cabin steward, they provided us with a foam egg-crate mattress which made it far more comfortable for sleeping. Chocolates were placed on our pillows every night along with a form to order breakfast via room service (more about this later). They did not make the towels into various shaped birds and animals like on some cruise lines but this was not a big loss to us. Beach towels are provided and Princess terrycloth robes are available upon request but we think the robes may only be provided to certain types of cabins (balcony or suites). You can control the air conditioning in the cabin but we did find that the rooms never got really cold and sometimes felt a little warm. However, it was extremely hot and humid every day and the air conditioning probably had trouble keeping up with the heat outside.  The bathroom was small but certainly adequate. Three small shelves are available for storage and shampoo, conditioner, and hand lotion are provided. Hint: take a small pair of scissors to open the packets as they don’t tear easily.  Hairdryers and a small bar fridge that has an ice bucket that is replenished twice daily are provided in each cabin. You must purchase their bottled water or you can go to the Horizon court and bring back glasses of water, tea, coffee, etc. to your room.

FOOD:
As usual, there was enough food to feed an entire army. They told us they go through 65 tons of food per week!  Breakfast is available in the dining room ordered from the menu or you can go to the Horizon Court until 11:30 am for a breakfast buffet which offered a wide variety of foods. The Horizon Court is a 24 hour buffet and because of this, no midnight gala buffets are offered. There is a wide selection of foods to choose from. Seating can be a somewhat of a problem but we always managed to find a spot. Food can also be carried out into the pool areas where tables are provided off to the sides of these areas.

The other option for breakfast is the room service card mentioned earlier. This card is left on your pillow every night and offers a cold breakfast delivered to your room at the time you choose. Room service is available 24 hours a day and there is no extra charge for it. They are fairly quick to deliver to your cabin except during peak meal hours which may cause a delay of up to 30 minutes. We only used it for the cold breakfasts some mornings and tea/coffee at night before going to bed. We heard that you could order anything you wanted but the menu for room service in the room only indicated cold foods. Lunch options are much the same as breakfast and there is an open deck grill on the Lido deck forward offering hamburgers (delicious), grilled chicken (also very good) and hotdogs as well as fries, and sometimes chili and onion rings. Princess has optional dining available on this ship which means that you don’t have to go to a designated seating time for evening meals. The traditional dining is available in the Boticelli dining room if you so chose, but you can opt for Personal Choice Dining in the Michaelangelo and DaVinci dining rooms. This allows you to go for dinner anytime between 5:30 – 9:30 pm. It works pretty much the same as going to a regular restaurant without the benefit of dinner reservations. Upon arrival in the dining room, you can request a table for two, four, six, or eight. If you request a table for two, go early, no later than 6:30, or you will probably have to wait up to 30 minutes for a table. They do give you a pager so that you can go off somewhere for a drink perhaps until your table is ready. If you don’t mind sitting with others, you usually don’t have to wait at all. The only nights we had to wait were on the Captain’s Gala Dinner which is the busiest for the dining rooms but we only waited 5 minutes. Again, go early and you’ll avoid a long wait on those evenings. What personal choice dining does insure is that you won’t get stuck with some boring or unsavory people at your table every night of your cruise. We really only had one couple sitting with us at a table for 8 on one evening that were “out to lunch” and would have driven us nuts if we’d had to put up with them for an entire week. Most people were very friendly and interesting to talk with and we enjoyed their company. You can order a bottle of wine for dinner and if you don’t finish it, they will label it with your cabin number and store it for you so that you can have it on another evening. You can bring your own wine on board (more about this later) and consume it in your cabin. However, if you bring it into the dining room to drink, they will charge you a corkage fee.

The meals were generally very good. Something was available to please everyone’s palate. We are not gourmets but it all tasted fine to us. The menus change every night of course but there is a list of foods available at all meals for appetizers, soups/salads, entrees, and desserts. Hint: do not order their aged steak, it did taste terrible to more than just us. There are also heart healthy and vegetarian choices at each dinner.  We had read that the service in the personal choice dining rooms was not as good as you get with traditional seating. However, in all fairness, they provided just as good of service as you would get at most restaurants. The difference is, you have a different waiter every night and you lose the personal touch that you would get with traditional seating times. On our first cruise, the waiters sang for us and did the usual Baked Alaska parade etc. and this is missing if you opt for personal choice because it is impossible with people are coming and going all the time. It is definitely a matter of preference and I could go either way, but my husband says he prefers personal choice over traditional.

ACTIVITIES ON BOARD:
There are a ton of choices and something to appeal to everyone. The usual bingo games with sizeable prizes of cash ranging from $100 to $250 U.S. plus a chance for the grand prize (minimum $1200) which builds if not won. There are lots of trivia games, name that tune (that was a hard one), and a really fun one involving guessing the TV show by listening to the musical theme.  Lectures are given but most are from the Spa or on art. I would have liked to seen a broader range of topics and lecturers than what they offered. Golf simulators and chipping contests are offered. Organized workout sessions in the early morning are available. A visual reality area was frequented by the younger children and the men (they never grow up!). There is a childrens play area that is supervised during certain hours but I didn’t feel that Princess would be my choice if cruising with very young children (Disney would definitely be more geared to them). For the teenagers, the Skywalk Nightclub seemed to be a popular spot.  For those just wanting to lounge by the pool, there seemed to be enough deck chairs. People still do try and save them by placing their towels on the lounger which is not supposed to be allowed but is not policed by the staff. There are hot tubs that comfortably fit up to 8 people but we did not see them used a lot (probably because it was already so hot). And of course, there is the Casino (only open when not in port). It is fairly sizeable and has lots of different slot machines ranging from 5 cent ones up to $100 but most are 25 cents. They have at least 10 gaming tables with the regular card games and craps and roulette. Gaming lessons are provided if desired. A slots tournament is held once per week and you can sign up at any time in the Casino. It costs $20 cash (this is one of the few times you can’t but it on your onboard account) and all of the money goes towards the prizes for the top three winners. The tournament allows for 8 heats with 8 people in each and the winner from each heat goes to the final round. If it fills up and you want to play, just go anyways because some people don’t show up and you can fill their spot. Lots of fun! Especially if you win like we did! There are free snorkeling instructions given and gear can be rented quite reasonably for the entire week for around $25. Instructions for scuba diving are also offered with rental as well but not sure of the prices. The pools never seemed to be overly crowded even on the days at sea and were pristeen clean.

ENTERTAINMENT:
The two main areas are Princess Theatre and the Vista Showlounge. The theatre is set up like a very large movie theatre with comfortable, tiered rows of chairs. The arms of the chairs can be opened and a small table area pulled out of each arm to set a drink on. The bar staff does not serve you drinks in this theatre but you can bring one in with you. Movies and the large stage productions are usually done here. The movies were mostly good with something to appeal to everyone. Sometimes they show movies during the day when you are at sea but not if in port.  The Vista lounge has some production numbers as well as the other acts like comedy magicians and jugglers (the juggler was outstanding!). This lounge is set up with both couches and individual tub-type chairs with small tables. The staff do go around just prior to the shows to take drink orders. Other musical bands/groups are playing every night in one of the other lounges. For those who smoke, there is smoking allowed in a small well-ventilated area of the Explorers Lounge and Wheelhouse Bar. Karaoke is held nightly and a passenger talent night is held once per week.  A pianist plays almost nightly in the promenade lounge and has a rather bizarre sense of humour.  Other nightly entertainment includes the Newlywed Game, Weakest Link, and Family Feud. All were extremely funny and add that personal touch that is one of the delightful aspects of cruises.

BEVERAGES & BARS:
There are about 14 bars on this ship. If you ask for a bar card at the start of your cruise (available at the lobby bar), you will get a stamp from each of the bars where you order a drink. Fill up the card and you get a prize (t-shirt or hat) and it is a great way to orientate yourself on this wonderful vessel. Drinks are always pricey on any cruise. Drinks of the day are a little cheaper at $3.25 versus the average $3.75 for regular cocktails. My favourite was the Chocolate Banana (yummy).  Remember that you cannot bring liquor on board for consumption in your room. Your bags, parcels etc. are scanned every time you get back on the ship and all liquor is taken and held for you until the last day of the cruise. You can, however, bring wine and soft drinks on board for consumption in your room only. Wine taken into the dining room will cost you a corkage fee. A softdrink sticker can be purchased for $22.50 per person for unlimited soft drinks for the entire cruise. Remember that soft drinks are not free anywhere on the ship. We just purchased one card and both of us used it. They didn’t seem to police this well so if you can get away with just one card, go for it.  Coffee, tea, ice water, juices, and milk are available 24 hours a day in the Horizon Court with no charge.

OTHER FEATURES/AMENITIES:
There are a number of Laundromats (one on each deck) provided with self service washers, dryers, and ironing boards. It is $1.00 per wash and $0.50 per dryer. Soap, bleach, and fabric softener is available out of a machine at a reasonable cost but we just brought our own. There are change machines in each Laundromat but sometimes they don’t work so it is a good idea to bring lots of quarters with you.  Boutiques and stores on board have all sorts of items for sale such as clothing, jewellery, beach supplies, junk food, and a good assortment of personal items. Prices are a little high for some things (especially personal items and junk food) but other prices are quite reasonable and they have loads of sales for Lladro, jewelery and clothing.

Other featured sales of the day are located around the banisters in the main lobby areas and feature watches, gold by the inch (watch out, it’s not pure14 K gold), silver by the inch, other jewelery, t-shirts etc. You will find some items more reasonably priced in the different ports and other a better value on-board the ship so you have to compare. There is a pianist, violin & cello, and classical guitar musicians who play in the lobby every day, all day. Lovely music and makes for a very refined atmosphere. There is a games room on board with cards and a wide variety of board games. A library is available but only open during certain hours and they have a large assortment of reading material. There is a Wedding Chapel on board and we had quite a few weddings take place during both cruises (can imagine honeymooning with your parents on board). It is nicely decorated and would probably hold about 75 people comfortably. It does not have any windows however, and gave me the impression of a funeral home setting more so than a chapel. Renewal of wedding vows also takes place in this area. Art auctions are held frequently, usually in the Explorers lounge during the day. We are not art collectors but these events were well attended and we heard that the auctioneer was very well versed in the field of art. The Business Centre (open only at certain hours which vary daily) has computers for use at a cost. They advertise that internet can be used at a cost of $7.50 for 15 minutes minimum, and $0.50 per minute thereafter. However, one time we only used it for 10 minutes and they just charged us $5.00. We like to keep in touch via e-mail with our almost-grown but still living-at-home kids because it is cheaper than phoning. Beware though, the computers are very slow so it will take you longer to access the internet. Laptops are available at the same cost at any time.  The TV channels in your cabin have great recent movies that run around the clock and are repeated throughout the week. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Kate and Leopold, as well as many others were amongst those shown during our cruise.

OTHER INFORMATION:
Princess now adds $10 per person per day to your onboard account for gratuities. This was started because of Personal Choice Dining because you have different waiters each night. They say that $6.50 per day goes towards the dining staff (waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter, & maitre’d) and $3.50 per day towards your cabin steward. You can adjust this amount up or down by going to the pursers desk. I don’t mind tipping but did somewhat resent tipping the head waiter and maitre’d which is something most people do not do in a regular restaurant. Also, some cruise lines only suggest $3.00 per day for the waiter and room steward and $1.50 per day for the assistant waiter while others suggest the same rate as Princess. So it is up to you if you want to adjust the rate and would also depend on the type of service you felt you received. We felt the service all around was top notch. The cruise staff are wonderful. They work very hard, (don’t know when they sleep) and are loads of fun. The cruise director, Tim Donovan, is an upbeat and very pleasant man who seems to be everywhere on the ship all at one time. They really seem to enjoy their job. The ship in general is extremely well appointed with so many delightful details that you really have to stand back and take a careful look to fully appreciate this wonderful vessel.  It always clean, including the public washrooms (which are more nicely decorated than ours at home!) and they are constantly maintaining it to a level of excellence. We did not need to use the medical facilities but heard that one of the passengers who was a nurse had a tour and was very impressed with their state of the art equipment and capabilities. I myself am a nurse and have heard that in years gone by there have been some problems on some cruise lines with the quality of medical care available. No one anticipates becoming ill on vacation but it can happen and if serious, the quality of the care available is a very important consideration when choosing a cruise line. The TV channels also have a morning show hosted by the cruise director who goes over that days events and is lots of fun to watch and very informative.

ITINERARIES:
The Western Caribbean includes the Princess Cay (private island that is part of the Bahamas), Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. Princess Cay is a lovely island that is accessed by tender (more on this later) and has a large beach area with plenty of chairs. Shaded area on the beach is abundant but on really hot days gets occupied quickly. The beach is beautiful thick white sand but does not some small rocks so watch where you walk. All sorts of water sports are available to rent such as snorkeling, paddleboats, and other motorized water sports. There is shopping available, some provided by the locals, and includes a wide choice of items. Open-air barbeques are provided and are delicious and plenty of picnic tables are available. Displays of food carving are done early in the day and left out for photo ops all day long. Truly works of art. You will have the choice of going to the left or right as you get off onto the dock and found that the area to the right is far less busy and more lounge chairs are available. We opted to snorkel at this island and it wasn’t too bad but would advise buying some of their fish food to attract more fish and really enhance the experience.  

The other three ports offer organized tours and of course, they are never cheap. Our advice is to chose tours carefully because you can often just grab a taxi much cheaper and have just as good of experience. If you do get a taxi, make sure you establish the price before taking it. You can chose your tours on-line or via mail prior to your cruise and this is advisable to avoid disappointment. Otherwise, the tour desk is open only during certain hours while on board the ship and you can sign up then. They also offer information sessions about the available tours while on board but we didn’t go to them so are not able to comment. They do have information sessions for each port of call for shopping tips. This session is also taped and televised on you cabin TV to watch at your convenience and does provide great tips for shopping and discounts. Unfortunately we were not able to tender at Grand Cayman because of huge swells in the port left over from a recent hurricane making it unsafe to open the port. This was disappointing because we heard with was the best port on this itinerary. If you do go, we heard from our relatives and through other cruise reviews that it is cheaper and more informative to go to Captain Marvins at the dock and take a tour of Stingray City than to join the ships tour to the same area. And from everyone we have heard that swimming with the Stingrays is an unforgettable experience. For those non-swimmers like myself, you are really on a sandbar and the water is only 3 feet deep so you don’t really have to swim. We did not take a organized tour in Cozumel, although many Mayan Ruin ones are available as well as others. We opted to take a taxi to the Chanakabb Park (not sure if I spelled that correctly). It cost only about $8.00 for the taxi and it is $10 each for admission into the park. If was very disappointing however because they didn’t tell us until after we paid admission that the dolphin encounter (this is not the same as swimming with the dolphins) and the sea lion show were cancelled. So other than that, there is not a lot to do in this park except snorkel which could be done for free at a beach. Shopping is available close to the port and they do barter so don’t pay the listed price for anything. There is a lot of jewellery and clothing available but it made me leary of the true value when they dropped the price of a gold chain from $250 US to $100 US within 10 seconds of balking at the original price. Bartering can be fun but when it is an expensive item I would really prefer knowing that I am getting true value for my money. Costa Maya is not really a town or city. It is a port created specifically for cruise ships and the area is being developed as a future resort site. Progress seems slow and there is not much actually at the port but they do have a large tent type structure that features a Mexican folk show with dancing and music. There is shopping available only at the pier and they do not barter with prices. We took a tour to a Mayan Ruin via coach. Beware that most sites of interest are located at least an hours bus ride from the port. The tour was interesting but we did have one problem in that the only bathroom was on the bus. Other than that, they said there were 2 portable toilets available at the site but we didn’t see them. I waited until the ride back and was totally disgusted with the condition of the washroom on the bus. It was virtually unusable (even men were refusing to use it and they don’t have to sit!). I reported this to the tour desk on the ship because I felt that if they were offering this tour they should be aware. They requested that I fill out a quick form for them, detailing the problem, and much to our surprise, they followed up with a note of apology, thanked us for passing along this information, and credited our onboard account for 25% of the cost of the tour. We felt this was more than fair and appreciated their quick attention to this matter. So our advice is, if you have a legitimate problem with any tour, let them know. In all, we enjoyed some ports more than others but feel we wouldn’t do the Western Caribbean again, not something worth repeating in our opinion. We may have felt differently had we had the opportunity to see Grand Cayman. Tendering operations run very smoothly. They ask you to go to one of the lounges and obtain a ticket and then call you when they are ready to tender you ashore. If you wait until the crowd clears (if you don’t have an organized tour to catch), you will find you can just walk to the tender boats and get on immediately.

IN CONCLUSION: (FINALLY, YOU SAY!)
Would we travel on Princess again? Definitely. Would we do the Western itinerary again? No, we didn’t enjoy Mexico that much. If they were to drop the port at Costa Maya and substitute an non-Mexican port such as Ocho Rios we may consider it.  Did we have fun overall? For sure. And we were glad we were staying on for a second week for the Eastern Caribbean itinerary to enjoy this great ship even longer.

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