Grand Princess Review

Grand Princess - Western Caribbean

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Grand Princess
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blueyedblond
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Dec 2005
Cabin: Balcony

My husband and I just returned from our cruise on Grand Princes which left on Xmas Eve and returned on New Years Eve. We wish we could have something to celebrate about this trip, but sadly, that was not the case. What a disappointment! Since our last cruise was on Celebrity/Constellation and was an awesome experience we decided to, once again, close our business down for a week and try another cruise. We logged on to this website and narrowed down the choices based on the dates we could travel, and the reviews posted here. We talked to my Aunt, a veteran of 35 cruises who said Princess was her favorite (but she had not been on a cruise for 12 years). We settled on Grand Princes because it visited ports we had not been to and even though there were a few negative reviews, we figured that there are always people who you can't please. We knew that it may not measure up to Celebrity, but how much different could it be, right? All I can say is hind sight is always 20/20.

Let me begin by telling you this little story. On Constellation we had this lovely waiter in the dining room, Ernie. Wherever we went we see Ernie, In the dining room at dinner. In the food court the next morning and at room service. He was always there, always working. He must have been tired, but he never showed it. So I asked him, Ernie, how do you do it? and he said....and I'll never forget this...."Celebrity trains us to understand that a great many people who take cruises save up for a vacation like this their whole life. It is a once in a life time dream come true. It is our job to fulfill that dream and live up to their expectations." Thank you,Ernie. Therein lies the difference between Celebrity and Princess. This story says it all.

We began our journey from Philadelphia flying into Houston on Friday morning. From the minute we got off the plane we knew that this was going to be a completely different experience from our last cruise. Our plane was 10 minutes early. We made our way to baggage claim and remembered the thrill of being met by Celebrity cheer leaders telling us that we did not even need to get our bags it was their pleasure to direct us to our bus and just sit back and relax while they did the work....here is what we got from Princess. We had to hunt for the Princess rep and found them around the corner from the baggage claim. Three people, 2 over 65 and one young man around 19 sitting and talking. I approached them and they told me to get my bags and bring them over to their seating area. Not off to a good start. Remember, first impressions count and this set the tone for the rest of the trip. We waited for over an hour for other passengers to arrive and then for the bus to arrive to take us to the Hotel Galvez where we were staying for one night before getting on the ship. We had to move our own bags to the curb, only to be told that they had taken us to the wrong curb. We finally boarded our bus and were finally on our way to the pier and hotel area 1 hour and 45 minutes away. We were dropped off at the hotel...(no bag help again) and saw a Princess rep at a desk who told us the good news that we would not have to register to board at the pier that he would be able to do it for us at the hotel. This is a very good idea, and we were happy. He also told us to be down stairs at 10:30 and he would check us in. Hotel Galvez is just beautiful and we had a good nights sleep and a lovely breakfast. While we were eating around 9:30 we noticed people all ready on line to register. When we inquired we were told by fellow passengers that they were all given different times and wanted to know what bus we were on the 11 or the 11:30. We had not even been told about that. We went upstairs, got our own bags, again...and got on line. The same man who met us when we checked in...said "anyone booked for the 11 o'clock bus please come to the front of the line" we went up and told him that we never got a bus time and he said" don't worry honey, we'll take care of you". By the time we got to the front of the line we registered with another young lady, who said" oh, you were supposed to be on the 11:00 bus", which, bye the bye, had already left. So now we were on the 11:30 bus which now no longer had space for everyone and several people were taken by a separate limo. At the pier, we are told to find our bags and make sure that they were there, or they may not make it on the ship. Once again, second impressions count.

Cabin Review

Balcony

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