This was our 33rd cruise and our 5th on a Princess ship. We made our own air and transfer arrangements and all was well until we arrived in Galveston. I had contacted "Houston Professional Shuttle (Limo?)" service and had a confirmed reservation to be picked up at our hotel the morning of the cruise. Upon arrival I stopped by their desk to reconfirm pick up the next morning at 10 a.m.. I was told we had to be back at the airport by 9 a.m. for the 10 am shuttle. Next morning we arrived back at the airport to find no one at their desk. At about 9:35 a lady showed up and told us it would be 20 minutes before the shuttle was here. At 10:15 still no ride and was again told 20 minutes. At 10:30 I called the dispatcher and was told van was arriving. Guess what 20 minutes later it did with a brand new driver and no idea of where he was going. We had to direct him to the pier in Galveston after a detour to Hobby and then a stop for gas. Driver was wonderful, to bad he had to be employed by this very "UNPROFESSIONAL" shuttle service.

Embarkation was wonderful, we simply just walked on board, thanks to the preferred boarding passes. Our cabin was on the Aloha deck and was fine, some chair noise from above but nothing to complain about. Noel our cabin steward was super. Dining in the dining room was good, we had a table for 8 and great cruisemates made for enjoyable dining. The buffet was not as good as on other ships as the food was mediocre and the layout itself was hard to navigate with a full tray. Ports of call, were ok, Roatan was a zipliners paradise and beautiful beaches. We did the "Pirates of the Caribbean" zipline and found it more work then fun (try another one!) Playa DeMaya was a waste of time, do yourself a favor and stay on board and enjoy the empty ship. Belize City was our "Cavetubing.Com" adventure !! If you are going book with them..1/2 ship price and twice the fun. Cozumel, been there done that, other then being nicely cleaned up after the last hurricanes its the same ol trinkets and shops that you find at all the ports. Shows were all standard fare with Broadway and Movie themes. We did find them very enjoyable and also liked the entertainment in the lounges very much. We did a tour in Galveston of the Space Center and that made disembarkation very easy. Plus they delivered us to the airport so we didn't have to use the above mentioned shuttle service again. The Grand was in great shape and well cared for by the crew, kinda large but looking at the new ships coming out I guess thats the new trend..Happy Cruising - Art & Susie