My wife and I experienced our first cruise on the Grand Princess several years ago and had a wonderful time. After other cruises on Princess, HAL, and Celebrity we decided it was time for a Grand encore. We flew from our home in the Lexington, Kentucky area to Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise and were booked into the Amerisuites. To our surprise the Amerisuites had been acquired by Hyatt and was now the Hyatt Place. This turned out to be a good thing - all rooms had been completely updated and although upgrades were underway in the lobby area it was only a small inconvenience. This hotel also offers a free shuttle from the airport and a free shuttle to Port Everglades on embarkation day. Hyatt Place was clean and the staff friendly and the rate was a very reasonable $130.00 per night. I would certainly recommend it to anyone.

We arrived at the cruise pier at approximately 11:30 AM and after waiting for twenty minutes in a holding area were registered, given our cruise cards, posed for the obligatory photograph and were on board. All in all a very efficient process. We went immediately to our cabin - C101 on the Caribe deck and were met by our cabin steward - German. German was the most outstanding steward we have ever had. He was inobtrustive, but always available. Our cabin was spotlessly clean, always stocked with ice, and he always addressed us by name with a smile on his face. He proved to be the shining star of a crew that otherwise did not meet our expectations (more on this later).

The weather for the entire cruise was sunny and warm, but not too hot. Our first port of call was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. For a shore excursion we chose the Dunn's River Falls and Bamboo Beach Club booked through Princess. This turned out to be a great choice. We first went to the falls which are breathtaking. Following our falls visit we were bused to the Bamboo Beach Club. On a somewhat small, but beautiful white sand beach near downtown we were treated to endless rum punch, White Stripe beer and lemonade. The excursion also featured ample quantities of Jamaican food - salads, pasta, rice, Jerk chicken, and desert all served to us in our beach chairs by friendly Jamaicans. In addition there was continuous live entertainment - singers, dancers, and a very interesting contortionist who appeared to have no bones. All in all, a great experience. Read more