Two weeks ago my wife and I returned from the maiden voyage for the Grand in the Western Caribbean 2005-2006 season. She had just returned from Rome across the Atlantic and the crew was ready for a full ship again and some warm Caribbean weather after the very rough, cool weather of the crossing.

We stayed overnight in Galveston on Friday night at Americas Best Value Inn and Suites. The outside of the motel looked suspicious, but the suite was very nice and clean and it seemed brand new. Plus, the price was definitely right at $55 a night. We left our car there all week and all was well. After hearing that there was a taxi shortage in Galveston, we decided to get up early and call Tropical Taxi just to get on the list. We called at 8:50am and someone was there to pick us up by 9:00. We arrived at the terminal 10 minutes later ($14 cab ride). The porters were not helping yet, so we dropped our bags off at the bag drop area and headed upstairs. We were there by 9:30am. This was definitely too early, but we decided that being too early was better than being too late.

Embarkation was a snap. Except for the wedding party which began boarding at 11am, we were the first ones on the ship at 11:30. We headed to our room to drop our carry-ons, met our room steward and proceeded to the Horizon Court for lunch. It was strange eating in there by ourselves. There was one other couple we talked to who had stayed on for a Caribbean week after coming over on the 12-nighter from Rome. This is a big and confusing ship. I would suggest that you get a ship map from the pursers desk or from the leather binder in your room and carry it with you for at least a couple of days. The Food on the Grand ranged from average to great. Every night you could have a terrific bowl of fetuccini alfredo and some Caesars salad, which I had several times. There were nights that we loved every bite of every course and other nights when we werent impressed with any of it. The bread was always wonderful. In fact, it didnt matter what the food tasted like after a few minutes because typically I would eat more bread than I should and I would be completely full before the soup would arrive. The dining highlight was the night we paid the $15 cover charge to go to the Painted Desert Steakhouse. We have tasted some great steaks, but nothing any better than the filets we had there. It was great service, a great atmosphere and amazing food. I would highly recommend this option. We made reservations that morning for the two of us and the restaurant was never full for the 90 minutes we were there. We ate there on a port day which probably helped. Read more