Shelagh Kuse

Age: 45
Occupation: Court transcriber
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Ship: Grand Princess
Sailing Date: January 13th, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

We took the Western Caribbean trip on Grand Princess. This was our 4th cruise, all with Princess, and our best. This was the first time we took our kids, age 13 and 16. Grand Princess is huge: 16 floors and three football fields long. We understand the different schools of thought about mega-ships but we loved the size of Grand Princess. We loved the fact that there were so many different venues for eating and entertainment. We even loved all the walking we had to do as it made us feel like we were burning off at least a minute portion of our meals! We feel that Princess handles the number of passengers extremely well, as we never once felt like we were traveling with thousands of other people.

Embarkation

Handled pleasantly, efficiently and quickly. 15 minutes after arriving at the terminal, we were aboard the ship.

Stateroom

Having paid for an inside, we were upgraded to E626 and E624 with views obstructed by lifeboats. On the two days we were at ports served by tender, our lifeboats were used as tenders so we enjoyed the full view. We had requested the kids' room be made up with twin beds and found both rooms made up as queens, but our steward, Sara, whom we soon came to esteem greatly, was right nearby and immediately made the change. The rooms were spotless always. We liked the good-sized fridge, in which we stored shore-bought Cokes. Our kids stayed up half the night and slept till 1:00 in the afternoon, but Sara was always patiently waiting to clean when they finally vacated the premises.

Ship

As I indicated above, we loved the size of Grand Princess. There were two main pools which even on at-sea days never seemed packed and the lap pool (forward) and adults-only pool (aft) were often deserted. I had read a review which said the aft pool, being directly under the suspended nightclub, was always cold, but did not find this to be the case. There was a lounge area to suit everybody. During the day, if I got too hot on deck, I especially enjoyed the Promenade lounge, which was bright and sunny and from where you could hear the musicians in the Atrium below. Or if I felt like being quiet and alone, there were many inviting couches by windows all over the ship. Also, the Skywalker lounge, the one suspended high at the aft of the ship, was absolutely deserted during the day, probably because there was no bar service at that time. I could stretch out on a couch with my book and end up reading nothing because I was enjoying the spectacular view.

Teen Activities

Grand Princess has a section of the ship dedicated to teens called Off Limits. They have their own, walled-off portion of deck with lounges and hot tub, and an indoor club area. They have cruise directors whose goal in life is to keep them entertained. Our kids quickly made friends and if we saw them half an hour out of every 24, that was a lot. They played games, watched movies, were given a free pass to the virtual reality (video games) center, had their own turn in the Skywalker nightclub, which they were normally not allowed in once its bar opened and the party started there, and generally traveled in a pack, eating and swimming. They quickly figured out that the activities offered in the early evening (7-8) were generally lame, in their minds, but after 8, things got fun.

Itinerary

We had chosen this particular route because it only had two at-sea days and one of us suffers from seasickness. As it turned out, the sea was beautifully calm at all times and this was never a problem. Our stops were Princess Cays, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Princess Cays was great. The kids were able to rent snorkeling gear for about $15 each and were so busy in the water they never ate anything from the wonderful buffet Princess had set up. The tendering operation to shore was handled very smoothly: initially, you went to the Explorer's Lounge to get a ticket and then relaxed until your number was called and you could proceed to the boarding area. Even at its busiest, this didn't take long at all. Eventually, when the bulk of people had gone ashore, you could just go and get on a tender. The tenders went back and forth very frequently all day long.

I can't comment on Grand Cayman because we chose not to get off there. We were all enjoying the ship too much and couldn't be bothered to leave it!

We also didn't get off at Costa Maya, about which much has already been written. The cruise staff make fun of it and the brochures for shore excursions to the Mayan ruins warn that it is very hot and that they issue bug spray on the bus there. It didn't sound appealing. One passenger on our ship returned from this expedition with a broken foot. It's apparently quite rough terrain you have to walk through to reach the ruins.

Cozumel was fun. A long, long stretch of shops with fabulous silver jewelry and every one of them with people standing outside trying to sweep you in both with arms and words. "Lady, lady, your husband love cigar! Hey, Dude, it's let's make a deal time! Very cheap, very cheap, practically free!" My daughter was intimidated but I thought it was hilarious. Lots of little booths with people wanting to cornrow braid hair, definitely the "do" of choice in the dining room that night! Be sure to dicker hard for everything; they'll come way, way down in price.

Food

Well, I can't use enough superlatives in this category. On our last cruise on Crown Princess two years ago, we were very disappointed in the food, but this time, no matter where you ate, it was spectacular. We chose the traditional dining as we felt it was less hassle and enjoy getting to know our waiters. All seafood was gently cooked to perfection, never rubbery. Prime rib arrived cooked exactly to spec. Beautiful food presentation and fabulous desserts. Very attentive service.

The Horizon Court buffet is open 24 hours. When my 16-year-old son discovered this, he thought he had died and gone to heaven. He ate all day. I was amazed at how they even managed to serve buffet food cooked just right. And selection? You name it, it was there. We never had a problem finding a place to sit. Leave the main area, which is always busier, and head to the seats down either side. They're never crowded. There are beverage stations dotted throughout where you can get coffee, tea, iced tea or milk. (Anything else, you have to buy.)

We all enjoyed the pizza from the pizzeria on deck, as well. It's open from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and we only wish it were open later. There was also a grill on deck which did hamburgers, hot dogs, fries and onion rings, open the same hours, and an ice cream place. The ice cream place was seldom used as you had to pay for ice cream and I think people were letting Princess know what they thought of that.

Service

This is the one area I have a couple of complaints in, but I'll list the positives first. As previously stated, our cabin steward Sara was terrific. Bar service was prompt and attentive without being annoying. Our waiter and assistant waiter were great.

Many reviews in this forum and others have mentioned the "saving" thing, as in saving seats at shows and lounges on deck. As far as the shows go, my advice if you want a seat is to get there at least 20 minutes before the show is to begin or it may be a problem. We didn't find it a problem finding a lounger too often, especially since it was so warm we were happy to take one in the shade. However, on the at-sea days, they certainly were at a premium and while persons with "Deck Attendant" on their shirts were often seen, I never saw one do anything about saving of deck chairs. In fact, even the lounges in the Off Limits area, meant solely for teens, were filled with adults at times. However, in practical terms, I'm not sure how you would police this. With hundreds of deck chairs, how can you tell how long one has been left empty?

Here's my biggest gripe. Having cut myself, I went to the Purser's desk and asked if they had a band-aid. They did, and sold it to me for 10 cents. I thought at first the fellow was joking, but he was dead serious. I didn't have a penny on me, as the ship is "cashless" and you pay for everything with your cruise card. When I expressed reluctance to go back to my cabin and get a dime, I stood there bleeding while the man filled out a debit slip for 10 cents that I had to sign before he released the precious band-aid. Surrounded by five-star service, this was ludicrous beyond comprehension. It was only 10 cents, of course, but it put a nasty blot on what was otherwise a perfect week.

Entertainment

There are two main show lounges, one with bar service and the other more like a traditional theater. We especially enjoyed the British Pub Night run by the cruise staff (cruise director Graham is hilarious). In the evenings, you could also always find a lounge playing live music to your taste. We spent most of our time listening to S'il Vous Plait in the Explorer's Lounge because they played the kind of 50s, 60s and 70s pop music that we knew all the words to. Elsewhere you could find country music, ballroom dance music or, in the nightclub, whatever they call today's noise. During the day, there was often live music in and around the Atrium.

Disembarkation

We found this almost as painless as embarkation. It's early but with a new load of people coming on by noon, there's nothing to be done about that. We got our requested wake-up call at 7:00 a.m. and had time for a leisurely last breakfast in Horizon Court before having our baggage tag numbers called about 8:15. Our luggage was right there waiting for us when we cleared Customs and Immigration (which took only a few minutes). There were no lineups at all in our experience, unlike some others I read about.

We had chosen to buy a shore excursion in Ft. Lauderdale because our flight didn't leave until 5:00 p.m., and it was well worth it. We went on an airboat ride in the Everglades, which the kids loved, and toured Flamingo Gardens, a botanical garden and wildlife rescue park, very beautiful.

In conclusion, our week on Grand Princess was nearly perfect and we can't wait to take another Caribbean route with them very soon.

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