Rick & Kathleen Meyer

Age: 56 & 54
Occupation: retired police captain and retired office manager
Number of Cruises: First Cruise
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Ship: Grand Princess
Sailing Date: February 24th, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Our first cruise was a very pleasant experience and we will definitely sail with the crew of the Grand Princess again.

We booked our own flights from Raleigh-Durham NC to Fort Lauderdale, arriving on Sat. the 23rd of Feb. We stayed at the Airport Ramada Inn and we would like to warn others not to stay there. The shower was dirty and the faucets didn't work properly. In addition, the noise lasted all night long with nothing being done about it.

Embarkation was a breeze, it was less than 10 minutes after arriving at the pier and we were aboard ship. Our stateroom was A701, the Aloha deck. We had an outside stateroom with a small deck with an unobstructed view. Our steward was Jose and he did a great job of keeping the room picked up and the sheets clean and turned down. The only problem with the stateroom was the shower drain started to drain very slow towards the end of the cruise. We did report it to Jose and hopefully it was taken care of prior to the next occupants.

My wife has a tendency to get seasick but did not get sick on this cruise as the Grand Princess is so large motion is limited. The ship is kept very clean and there is minimal sign of carpet wear in some areas. The 24 hour buffet is fabulous, with a staff that keeps it spotless and the food is very good. We chose dining option "Personal Choice" and were pleased with it. The food was Excellent and the waiters were very attentive and professional. Do get a standing dinner reservation however and try to book it with the same waiter. Outside of one reservation which was "lost" our reservation was on time every night. I do think that next time we cruise we will choose "traditional dining". Getting served by the same crew every night should lend itself to a more enjoyable dining experience.

The pools were very nice but we spent most of our time around the "adults only" pool on the fantail as we do not appreciate the yuppies and their wonderful children who can do no wrong and are allowed to run wild on other parts of the ship. Some parents just didn't pay any attention to their children. This was not a large problem if you manage to enjoy areas away from where the little darlings are.

We did not book any shore excursions with the ship and really only shopped a little in each port. Cozumel is a Zoo when there is more than one ship in port. Next time I think we will stay on the ship in port as we found the ship nice and quiet when we came back early.

My wife did attend some of the shows and found them entertaining. We did go on the cruise with friends, which was nice, as I like to spend some time in the casino while my wife is taking in the entertainment. By the way, the blackjack tables were very good to me that week. There is a dealer named Carole from England who is a lot of fun and can even make losing fun....if that's possible. She was a lot of laughs.

We did book a tour of the everglades on an airboat upon debarkation as our flight home wasn't until 8:00 PM. The tour people could take a lesson in organization from the staff of the Grand Princess.

Debarkation was a breeze. the crew of the Grand Princess has really gotten it down to a science. Even when you have to wait it's in comfort, not in a slow moving line. Kathleen and I will definitely sail the Grand Princess again, she is quite a lady.

The only real downer during the whole week was the Fort Lauderdale airport. The line at American Airlines took forever to get through as they didn't have enough staff and if you arrive 2 hours early like you are supposed to, the people who arrive late for their flights are placed at the front of the line effectively punishing those who arrive early.

I would highly recommend the Grand Princess for people looking for a relaxing cruise. We did not find this ship to be a "party" boat full of young all night party goers. Great food, great staff, great amenities, great weather and great company equals one great time on Grand Princess. Many thanks to the Captain and his very attentive crew, they certainly made our first cruise one of many.

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