Grand Princess Cruise November 4, 2001 "Hurricane Michelle Cruise"
 
 

This was the first cruise for my wife and me. I wanted to give the details of it to inform people new to cruising or those new to the Grand. I gained a great deal of information from this board through reading other peoples’ questions and asking many questions myself. I especially enjoyed the cruise trip reports. I will try not repeat the obvious details reported by most of the other reviewers, but will give my opinions and observations and include some overlooked information.

I watched the progress of Michelle for a week. All predictions showed that it would cross our projected course. I figured that the itinerary would be changed to the Eastern Caribbean and I spent the last 2 days researching what to do in St. Marteen and St. Thomas.

Embarkation

We arrive on Sat night and rented a car to drive to my mother who lives near Ft. Lauderdale. We originally were going to return the rental car and have its shuttle bus drive us back to the airport to catch a taxi to the pier. However, when we said we were going to the ship, he drove us right to the pier. After a big tip, this saved us 1/2 the cab fare. It turns out that most of the car rental shuttles show up at the pier when the ships disembark. We were dropped off in front of the carts where they load the baggage for the ship. The handlers just put the three bags we had on the cart, but said they wanted a tip "to make sure the baggage is safe". We arrived at 12:30 pm and stood in a fast moving line. Even after calling the Princess office at the port the same morning, they said that we had to wait until we boarded to find out about any port changes. Even though they knew at the boarding desk that we weren't going to Princess Cay, they still made everyone fill out a Bahamas immigration form. Even though we gave all passport info on the Princess web site, we still have to fill out the info again. The express boarding line was the same length as other lines. The total time to get processed and board was only 30 mins. We openly brought aboard two 12 packs of Pepsi and placed one 12 pack in the cabin fridge. We had lunch in the Horizon Court and checked out the ship. A note on the bed said that we were to bypass Princess Cay and proceed to Ocho Rios in Jamaica. That sounded good to me.

Sunday Night

Due to late flight arrivals, the ship left Port Everglades one hour late. The Coast Guard and other patrol boats stayed close to all 6 cruise ships in port until they left. The winds were already starting to blow (though no rain). The baggage didn't arrive in our cabin until about 5PM. We immediately put on our Sea Bands and took the new, improved non-drowsy Bonine. I took one and my wife took 2 (big mistake) since just as the ship left the protection of the port, it began to roll slightly. We had a nice dinner and went to the Princess Theater for the scheduled singing and dancing show. However, it just consisted of the great Graham Seymour, Cruise Director and another comedian Scott Wyler. I later found out that the ship was rolling too much to allow scenery on the stage. We do not usually enjoy comedians, but they were very entertaining. Having an inside cabin with no clock made it difficult to judge the time. It was a rough night. The ship rocked and rolled and creaked. It would rise up and come down with a boom! I slept very poorly. My wife was out cold.

Monday

I ended getting up at 8:30 am, very usually for someone who rarely sleeps past 5:30 am since the room was so dark. My wife was too doped up to go for breakfast. I went to the buffet. The wind was blowing at 45-60 mph and everything on deck was tied down. The exits to the outside decks were blocked to prevent people from going out into the high winds. The winds gusted to 80 mph and the seas were 8-15 feet. My wife slept the whole day except for meals. Half the ship was probably seasick. The sea remained rough all day. I went to the library to research what to do at Ocho Rios. Later that day, the Captain announced that since he had to sail at a reduced speed through the storm, we would not be in Jamaica until the afternoon the next day, so he decided to sail on. We had a nice dinner. The seas were smoother and we went to bed early.

Tuesday
 

My wife was still groggy from the Bonine. The sunny came out and the winds remained stiff. It seemed like everyone on the ship was on deck sunning themselves or in the pools. It was a beautiful day. We sat on the back deck of the ship and read. It was the first formal night (our first chance to wear out new formal clothes). Despite what others had said, 90% of the men wore dark suits. I only saw one man not formally dressed in the dinning room. There were people in jeans about, but only in the other parts of the ship. We had our pictures taken, but the photographer had my head so contorted to avoid reflections on my glasses that they turned out terrible. We went to the production "Lights, Camera, Action" and thought the show to be odd and not that good.

Wednesday

We were finally on schedule. The day was sunny, in the 70's, but still breezy. We tendered to the dock in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Michelle did a lot of damage to the island and caused extensive flooding the week before. We booked the full day snorkel trip on the net with Captain Marvin's boat. This was not necessary since there were only 8 of us on the boat. Due to the rough water conditions (choppy and windy), the trip only lasted about 5 hours. After busing us to the boat, we took a 20 min cruise to a sandy area to get fresh conch. They picked up 4. We then snorkeled around some coral patches for 20 min. I saw a baby spotted moray eel in one of the rocks. They then took us to a yacht club for a nice picnic lunch of fresh raw conch in sauce on crackers, two kinds of salad, bread, and mahi-mahi. We went to Sting Ray City and stopped about 200 feet from the masses of other people from multiple boats. We stayed there about 25 mins. We fed the rays and each of us were allowed to pick one up and hold it. They are huge (3-4 feet across). I had one suck in my thumb while feeding it. They have no teeth, but the inside of their month is rough. One nipped my wife on the butt. Due to the waves and tide, there were breakers crashing over the barrier reef and we could not snorkel there (the biggest disappointment of the day). They spend another 15 min over some coral heads since a current made everyone tired and then we returned to the dock. It cost only $55 including the big lunch ( a better deal than through Princess). We looked around the shops and returned to the ship at 3 PM. After dinner, we watched "Tomb Raiders" on the TV in our cabin.

Thursday

We docked at Costa Maya. It was sunny, in the low 80's and the sea were still choppy. I took the Chacchoben Maya ruin tour only because there were no independent tours available on the dock and the beach activities didn't interest us. There were 12 buses with 50 people in each driving one hour to the ruins. We were supposed to have a 20 min intro video on board, but our guide couldn't get the VCR to work. The scenery going there was not at all interesting. The 1.75 hrs tour on the site was interesting, but $72 ea was way out of line. They made about $50,000 for that morning excursion! We returned to the ship for lunch and then walked around the area. We found the shops tacky or over priced, even for Mexico made local items. There was not much sand on the beach and it was too rocky. There was a lot of debris on the shore including a board with nails sticking out which should have been cleaned up. Despite what others had written, there was a line of taxis available in the back of the complex. You could go out to the same ruins for $35 ea, but with no tour guide.

Friday

We docked in Cozumel at 7AM. The day was sunny and warm, but there was still choppy water. I immediately walked down the dock to find an independent snorkel boat. Only one company was stationed on the pier. They had a book of beautiful photos to show. They told me that a 4 hour / 3 reef trip for a maximum of 10 people on a boat was $35 ea. I walked to the parking lot where 2 others offered 2.5 hrs trips for $25-30. I decided on what I thought was a better deal with the first. We were supposed to leave at 9am. At first we were the only ones going, but after approaching everyone that came from the ship, they got 5 more people. However, they told others that it would be only a 2.5 hr trip. We got into a small, glass bottom boat and headed out only 1/2 mile from the dock near the road. We were told that we would get 30 min, 1 hr, and 45 mins at the 3 reefs. When we got into the water, one of the men acted as a guide. The coral formations were 8-15 feet down. He constantly told us to swim with him. We just couldn't stay in one place and dive down where we choose. It was constantly "people, follow me, keep with me" the whole time. After 25 mins we went a little further down the coast, but still not far from the shore. He initially told us that we had 1 hr, but after 20 mins of following him again, we had to move on. Finally, we got close to the ship pier again and only got 5 min in the water. We really felt ripped off! Avoid Fantasy Island Adventure. The ride back to the ship was wet and bouncy. With the rough ride and outboard engine fumes, my wife got seasick. We returned to the ship for lunch and then walked to the shopping area. After 5 mins, we wanted to get away from all the tacky, junk shops and walked toward the real town center and then back to the ship. I watched the Crystal cruise ship next to us sail away. We had our second formal night. This time we brought our own camera and had others take our pictures. We went to the Theater afterwards. The captain said that there would be smooth sailing back to Fla, but the ship started to rock and roll again. My wife this time tried to take only one Bonine.

Saturday

My wife was again knocked out most of the day. If she wants to cruise again, she will have to try the Patch. Sea Bands and Bonine just don't work for her. We attended a cooking demo (showed how they made apple strudel) and a gallery tour (not that great) in the morning. We also watched an ice-carving demo. My wife returned to the cabin to sleep and I took the backstage tour (very interesting). I watched a contest of who can make the biggest splash in the pool. We had a nice dinner and attended the comedy show Kimika.

Sunday Debarkation

Everyone was suppose to meet in the Vista Lounge at their appointed time between 6 and 7AM for passport inspection by the immigrations dept. It was quite a zoo. There was a line just to stand in the line, which snaked back and forth from the atrium area to the lounge. You just showed your picture ID or passport and that was it. Everyone had to do this before anyone was allowed off the ship. There were several people they continued to page to go for inspection for about one hour. You could have a leisurely breakfast and just wait around for your room color to be called. Once it was called (ours at 9am), you just left the ship and handed over you customs form. Buses and car rental shuttle vans were waiting to take you away from the port.

The Ship

Like everyone else, I thought is was beautiful and very well maintained. Someone was always painting or wiping the railings of salt. Our cabin was cleaner than some better hotels we have been in. After about 2 days, I became familiar with the layout and was able to quickly move around without checking the map. Since this was the first ship we were on, I hate to think how plain some others may appear.

The Cabin

We had a nice inside cabin on the Caribe deck. The fridge was larger than a dorm fridge. The bathroom was small, but adequate. The one thing we never got used to was the toilet flushing noise. It make a loud whooshing sound like in an airplane toilet. It always sounded like you partner was "playing music" in the john.

The Food

I have no complaints about the food in the dining rooms. We chose PC dining which was great. We always asked for "2 to share" and never had to wait for a table. The wait for a specific table setting was sometimes 20-30 min. Food was 5 star quality as far as I was concerned. The variety, quality, and presentation were top notch. The portions were sometimes huge, so I was too full to order a second entrée. We met some very interesting people at our tables. However, I found the buffet food in the Horizon Court to be only good, but not great. The desserts were only fair. It was good enough for lunches and breakfasts. It did have a great variety of items. We only ate lunch once in the dining room. It was too much to have a 4-course meal 2 times a day. Since this was my first cruise, I wanted to see the baked Alaska parade, which only occurred in the traditional dining room. On the last night, we asked the Maitre de if we could be seated at someone’s table. That was no problem. It was worth asking.

Entertainment

We found that the singing and dance troupe was not so great. We walked out of the second night’s performance after 20 min. The comedians were good. The best show of the cruise was a guest appearance of the 50-60’s comedian Marty Allen and his singing wife Kate Blakewell. On the last night was saw the comedy /guitar team Kimika. They had the only risqué show we saw. There was always something going on board, but most things were not to our taste (bingo, games, art auctions). I played the 25-cent slots with one dollar and won $10 at which time I just walked away ahead of game. There were 4 different movies available on the cabin TV each day (the latest video tape releases). Many films I wanted to see, but they were shown when I was eating, on shore or late at night. My wife enjoyed the piano lounge. Graham Seymour, the Cruise Director was always entertaining whether live or on the ship’s TV each morning.

Dress Code

At first, my wife and I were reluctant to go on a cruise which requires formal dress. We are very informal dressers at home. After being convinced by members of this board, we bit the bullet and purchased formal clothes, which we do not regret. We would have missed some great food in the dining room on formal nights if we had remained casual and ate in the Horizon Court.

Service and the Crew

We were treated always like royalty. It was like staying in a 5 star hotel. All crew members were friendly.

Conclusion

We definitely will cruise again.
 

Don Hirschfeld
11/24/2001