Review of Grand Princess Western Caribbean December 2-9, 2006

This was our 7th visit to Grand Princess and 12th cruise overall, and our third sailing from Galveston. Galveston is a handy cruise port for us because it is within driving distance from our home in Oklahoma. In spite of our familiarity with the ship and port, we always seem to find something new, and things change from year to year so there are always a few surprises with each return visit. We had family members who are first-time cruisers with us for the cruise, my wife's brother and his wife, so in a way we saw this cruise through their eyes.

Our trip got off to an interesting start. The worst winter storm this area has experienced for several years blew through the day before we were due to depart. We awoke the morning of our departure to find about 8 inches of snow, very cold temperatures, and reports of major highways being closed in the area. Fortunately the road we needed to take south was open, but barely. Several drivers traveling with us slid off the road or otherwise spun out in some of the worst stretches. I briefly reconsidered the wisdom of our decision to leave but the lure of cruising is just too strong. What should have been an 8-hour trip took 12 hours, but we arrived safely. Others on our Cruise Critic roll call driving from points north of us also made it. If anyone happened to be on board for sailaway and noticed that a few of us still had white knuckles, now you know why. Read more