Dan

Age: 27
Occupation: Filmmaker/web design
Number of Cruises: First Cruise
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Ship: Grand Princess
Sailing Date: August 5th, 2001
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean - St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Princess Cays

My wife and I decided to go on a cruise because we wanted to have a somewhat exotic vacation in a short amount of time, i.e., one week. Due to a job relocation, my wife and I were not able to go on a planned trip to Europe. We wanted a cruise line that would provide a fun experience, but without a lot of kids or single people looking to “party” and meet others. Based on what we heard from others we decided to try Princess.

We did not purchase any of the air or hotel options. After researching them, we found you are much more likely to save money if you do find your own hotel and air. I also purchased cruise insurance from a third party company, based on the recommendation of a family member.

Boarding was handled very efficiently. We were able to board the boat earlier than the time printed on the ticket.

Our stateroom was acceptably clean, but not absolutely spotless. There were some old stains on the carpet, and the bedspread had signs of wear and tear. There was no defect serious enough for me to bring it to the attention of the staff. Our stateroom steward introduced himself. Our first encounter was pleasant but not overwhelmingly friendly.

We checked two bags, which arrived in our stateroom two hours apart. Both suitcases fit easily under the bed.

Because we wanted to relax on this vacation and not have to worry about making conversation with strangers we selected Princess’ “Personal Choice Dinning.” Under this plan, you can eat in two of the three dining rooms or either of two alternative restaurants at any time you like.

The dining room staff was, on the whole, friendly. On a couple of nights, our waiters were very funny and personable, on other nights, they were more businesslike, and simply brought us our food. The portions are not very large, which I liked, because you can try anything and everything on the menu and still have room for dessert or a snack later on. The food was good quality and nicely presented. I had read reviews of Princess before which said the food was not excellent, and I would agree - it isn’t outstanding and you won’t walk away saying it was the best meal of your life, but you will enjoy it.

There is some annoying suggestive selling during dinner - a man walked around selling after dinner drinks and “Shooters” which I didn’t care for - it spoiled the atmosphere slightly, but at least he was not persistent after saying you didn’t want it.

Wine on the Grand Princess is fairly reasonably priced, and the wine list is extensive in the many varieties of wine available, e.g, Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, etc., but within each variety there are only 4 or 5 choices available, with no real standouts. You are welcome to bring your own wine to the dining room, but they will charge you a 10 dollar corkage fee, which I found to be quite reasonable.

If you select personal choice, you will have to wait 20 minutes for a table at peak times. They offer you immediate seating with another couple, but we opted to wait and have a drink at the bar - they will come and get you when your table is ready.

One night, we dinned in the “Painted Desert,” the Mexican style restaurant. When you dine at the Painted Desert, an eight dollar cover charge is applied to your account, which includes one free margarita. Our waiter was from Mexico, and was very friendly. They had some interesting entrees - nothing like you’d find a local average Mexican restaurant such as “Acapulco,” “Chevy’s” or “Chi-Chi’s” restaurant. Tequila aficionados beware: I unlike some Mexican restaurants, the only “premium” tequila available was Cuervo 1800.

Another night, we dined at Sabatini’s, the Italian Trattoria. The cover charge was higher - around 13 dollars, and didn’t come with any drinks. If you take this option, bring your appetite. The waiters were all Italian, and very animated. First, they bring out some antipasti - prociutto, artichokes, olives, mushrooms, carpaccio, tomatoes and mozzarella. Then they bring out a slice of Sicilian style pizza, some soup and bread. By the time you finish this, you’re already full. Then - they bring you a menu and tell you to select your “main course,” all of which are very good. This is followed by a desert tray. The food was all excellent, though I left feeling extremely full. I think the meal and experience were worth the cover charge.

We ate breakfasts and lunches at “Horizon Court,” the buffet located on the Lido deck. It’s open 24 hours a day serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I had all three meals there except the light night bistro fare that is available. First off, this restaurant has a nice view of the sea, and the seating area is bright and pleasant. The buffet has quite a few options, but I was really impressed by their selection of salads - Chinese chicken salad, tuna salad, artichoke salad - every gourmet salad you could think of was available at one time or another. They also had a traditional lettuce salad bar, pasta, potatoes and usually a carved meat, plus pastry style deserts. You can eat how ever much you want whenever you want. Coffee, Tea (hot and iced) and water is available for free, and orange and grapefruit juice is available for free in the mornings. There is a drink attendant who will sell you a can of soda, bottled water or beer for a charge plus an included 15 percent gratuity.

The spa services are generally more expensive than comparable services on land, which is hardly surprising. I had a seaweed wrap, which was fun. The therapist was friendly and professional. Its very relaxing to have a treatment and hear the ocean and feel the boat gently moving. The only exception to the higher prices are the up-do’s for the formal night, which were very reasonably priced, and cheaper than many salons on land.

I would not recommend the Princess golf links simulator. On the first day, the simulator was open for a “free try.” I had fun doing that, so I made an appointment for later in the cruise for 30 minutes, which costs $20.00. Basically, its like watching Microsoft Golf on a big screen TV, and being able to swing the club. It isn’t very accurate, and if the screen moves by itself from the motion of the boat, it will count a stroke against you. Of my thirty minutes, the attendant took five to show me how the program worked, and stopped me exactly at thirty minutes. I couldn’t have done with out it - but maybe I was just mad because my score was so high.

Another area that I was disappointed with was the room service menu, which was very limited. You could get one of 3 sandwiches - tuna, club or BLT, a hamburger or cheeseburger, or hot dog. That was pretty much it. I had expected you could get any entrée on the ship available to your room. The food did arrive fairly quickly and was hot. They did skimp on the French fries though, however you could just call them up and order more since it doesn’t cost you a dime extra - since you’ve already tipped the attendant involuntarily. I have a feeling that less is available from room service, because so much is always available from the Horizon Court. However, for the price of the cruise, they should be able to bring you lobster at 3:00am if that’s what you want.

Shipboard activities:

There was something going on almost all day and all night long on the Grand Princess - especially on the “sea days,” i.e., those days where we did not dock at a port. I did not participate in most of these activities. My wife and I opted to spend most of the day lounging by the pool. Passengers are well informed of the activities by the “Princess Patter” a newsletter delivered to your room every evening. I did attend a culinary demonstration and galley tour that was very interesting. The head waiter, chef and maitre-d were all very entertaining. I also attended a wine tasting which was equally interesting. There was bingo for prize money, bridge tournaments, etc.

Entertainment:

There were two major “productions” that were performed, one was “Rhythms of the City” and the other was “Lights Camera Action.” We only saw “Rhythms of the City.” There is no charge to see these shows. I’d have to say that the production values were quite high, and the dancers and singers seemed well trained and talented. However, the content was a little boring for me. They perform some musical theater standards like selections from “West Side Story” and also some newer productions like “Stomp.” On the whole, I didn’t hate it, but I was a little bored. To be honest, I would have been happier watching a movie.

There was also a comedians and a magic show. We only saw one of the comedians, Mr. Dave Heenan. I found his performance to be mediocre. It looked like they asked him to do material that was more accessible to families, which robbed most of the entertainment value. Like “Rhythms of the City,” I didn’t hate it, but I was bored.

To be honest though, I wasn’t expecting anything great entertainment. It wasn’t the reason I decided to go on a cruise so the fact that it was indeed mediocre wasn’t something that spoiled the enjoyment of the whole cruise.

Ports:

The cruise we were on went to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and “Princess Cays.”

St. Thomas - One of the US Virgin Islands. It is heavily promoted as a duty free shopping paradise. Our shore excursion (discussed later) wasn’t until the afternoon, so we decided to walk around. My first bit of advice is take a cab! I had no idea where I was going but assumed that the downtown shopping area was a short stroll from the cruise ship dock. It really isn’t. I guess you can walk it if you know where you are going, which I didn’t. After about 15 minutes, my wife and I were amidst some housing project looking buildings, when I cab driver asked us what we were doing there. I assumed, from trips to Tijuana, that the cab drivers are out to rip you off. Not so in St. Thomas. The trip is three dollars per passenger, no negotiations. So - take a cab and it drops you right where you want to be. When we finally got to the downtown, this kid stopped us and started talking about some old pirate castle that we could get free tickets to. Then he wanted to know how old we were and if we were married. When I said I was 27, he said “Oh, well you’re supposed to be 28, but if you are married then you should have some financial stability. I then realized this kid was trying to get us to go to some timeshare presentation, so I got out of there quick. Stick to the Princess recommended jewelry stores. We went in some others, and were fairly certain that some of the watches were counterfeit. We did buy some jewelry in one of the stores. They seemed willing to negotiate, and I’m pretty sure we could have gotten them lower. They also provided free delivery to the boat so you didn’t have to walk around with it. Also, they’ll give you free beer or soda while you browse.

Shore excursion: Snorkeling

We chose the snorkeling cruise that Princess offered. The tour met at the gangway, and it was a short walk to their small boat. The guides were friendly and the boat was super fast. If you don’t like a thrill, don’t choose this tour. The boat jumped up and down as it skimmed quickly over the waves. The first snorkeling site was in a protected marine reserve. It was some of the best snorkeling I have ever done. The water was crystal clear, and the coral reef was full of amazing fish. We also got lucky and saw a sea turtle swim by. The boat returned to the Grand Princess with plenty of time for us to board, and for me to hop off again and take a picture of the boat.

St. Maarten

St. Maarten is a half Dutch half French Island. The boat docks on the Dutch side. There are duty free shops located a short water taxi ride away. If you pay five dollars, you can ride the water taxi back and forth as many times as you wish. There is a nearby beach. Several shore excursions are available to other parts of the island. We found some stores selling Swarovski crystal. I bought a couple of Cuban cigars at “Cigar Emporium,” located on the shopping street. From the water taxi dock, walk to the burger king and turn left. There are so many counterfeit cigars floating around the world, but I am confident that these were real. The Cohibas, probably the most frequently counterfeited were in sealed packages, as well as displayed openly did not bear any of the signs of counterfeiting.

Shore excursion: Golden Eagle Out Island Sail

This tour met at the gangway and proceeded by water taxi (included in the price of the tour) to a nearby dock. You are instructed to leave your shoes in a bin at the dock, since the sailboat is barefoot only - probably to prevent damage to the fiberglass. All drinks are included in the price, and they practically beg you to have as many beers as you can drink. Of course, non-alcoholic drinks are available as well. The boat’s crew of one captain, one big guy to help with the sails, and three bartenders were all extremely friendly and genuine. Its about an hour trip to “flat island” a small, uninhabited island with a beautiful beach. They anchor the boat and you wade to shore for about an hour. Snorkeling equipment is available for no charge. The only bad part is that due to the rolling motion of the boat on the trip out, you may experience sea-sickness.

Grand Princess: décor and public areas

One thing I noticed when I boarded is that there are several areas of Grand Princess that are showing some 3 years of wear. However, if you aren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t notice. There are patches of carpet that are worn down, some water stains on ceiling tiles here and there. The décor still looks current. The 3 deck atrium feels elegant, especially on formal nights. I’d equate it with a floating Nordstrom - elegant but understated.

Overall impressions:

Our cruise was VERY expensive. We definitely had a wonderful time, but probably would save another cruise for a special occasion

Tipping is always a major concern for cruise passengers. Princess has attempted to make this easy, but in doing so has eliminated the voluntary aspect of giving a gratuity. Personal choice dinning passengers are charged 6.50 each per day for the staff of all shipboard restaurants. When you buy a drink at any of the ship’s bars or lounges, a 15 percent tip is added automatically. I found this to be especially annoying since the poolside bar staff was slow and unfriendly and not deserving of a 15 percent tip.

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