Dale's, James' & Mary's 2004 Vacation:

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My parents and I took a week-long cruise to the western Caribbean in March-April 2004. This was the first cruise for any of us. We celebrated my father's retirement. Our eight day, seven night cruise started and ended in Ft. Lauderdale FL. The cruise was Princess Cruise Lines aboard the Grand Princess ship.

The Grand Princess is a 951 ft. long, 109,000 ton ship. It has 18 decks and five pools. Normal capacity is 2600 passengers and 1100 crew. Mom and Dad had a stateroom with a private balcony and I had an inside stateroom nearby. The rooms were not nearly as small as I was expecting. This ship has five dining rooms, two theaters, basketball/tennis court, mini-golf, gym, spa, running track, a nightclub 16 decks above sea, etc.

Princess Cruise Lines 8-day, 7-night western Caribbean cruise map. Grand Princess. Grand Princess - side view.

Day one the ship left Ft. Lauderdale at 5:00PM sailing towards the islands of The Bahamas. Dad and I explored the ship.

Mom & Dad on the balcony of their stateroom. Celebrity cruise ship leaves channel - view from nightclub - highest part of ship View of large outdoor pool. Entering Atlantic Ocean from Ft. Lauderdale.

Day two was at Princess Cays, a small private penninsula on the southern tip of the island of Eleuthera in The Bahamas. Beach stuff, snorkeling, volleyball, running across hot sand, relaxing, etc. The ship couldn't come to shore, se we rode on tenders, which are small ships to ferry passengers to shore. The water was so clear and blue. We were so happy we used plenty of sunscreen - we saw plenty of people who didn't that night at dinner.

A tender going ashore. You can see the shadow on the bottom of the ocean. The tenders lined up taking people ashore. An interesting view from the tender looking up at the ship. Mom & Dad on Princess Cays in Bahamas with Grand Princess in background. Princess Cays. Princess Cays.

Day three was at sea - all day on the ship as it sails around Cuba towards the Grand Cayman Islands. This was our first formal dining evening, although less than half of the men were dressed in tuxedos.

Mom & Dad on first formal evening. What IS Dad saying to Mom??? Mom & Dad on first formal evening. Me, all spiffed up for chow.

Day four was at Grand Cayman Island. Our brief visit included a submarine ride 100 ft. below sea level and a small ride around Georgetown. While on the sub, we saw some sea turtles underwater. We shopped a bit and had some sea turtle fritters (more fritter than turtle). Didn't have time to visit Stingray City - next trip though.

The port at Georgetown, Grand Cayman. The Atlantis Deep Explorer submarine - this one goes down 1000 ft. The Atlantis sub surfacing for us to board. A World War II amphibous landing craft intentionally sunk to start a habitat for coral and fish. Inside the sub. Note the current depth. A mermaid on the bottom. A nice courtyard at a hotel on Grand Cayman.

Day five was at Costa Maya. This is a new port on the coast of Mexico along the Yucatan Penninsula. We took a great day-long tour of the ruins of two ancient Mayan cities, Dzibanché (pronounced zee-bawn-chay) and Kohunlich (pronounced koh-hoon-leek). I climbed to the top of a Mayan pyramid! We saw monkeys in the wild for the first time too. Furthest south I've been - 18° N latitude.

There was a lengthy bus trip to and from the Mayan ruins, which were remotely located. Our groups were the only ones there, so we had almost exclusive access. The province of Quintana Roo is actually less populated now than it was at the peak of the Mayan civilization. One of the poorer sections of Mexico. The new port of Costa Maya was built in part to help bring tourism to this region. My favorite adventure of the entire trip.

Walking down the dock behind the ships. And you thought parallel parking on your driving test was hard. Welcome to Costa Maya. Mom and Dad ready for adventure! The only fuel available within a two hour drive. Sadly, this is one of the nicest homesteads we passed on our eight hour trip in this poor state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. The first pyramid we see once we arrive at Dzibanché. A monkey in a tree above us enjoys dropping fruit on the group. The second pyramid at Dzibanché. We are allowed to climb this one. Looking down from the top of the pyramid. It is VERY steep. Quite a view of the horizon from the top of the pyramid. Our cool tour guide, Jesus, gives us a brief history once we arrive in Kohunlich. A structure in Kohunlich, which is much more open and bright than Dzibanché, which is covered by the forest. A view of a pyramid from atop a terrace. The hole in this structure is used to track the sun on the wall inside. The Mayans had one of the most accurate calendars in the ancient world. Walking towards the last pyramid of the trip. Dad climbing the last pyramid. One of the remaining carved stone masks on the pyramid at Kohunlich. After a long bus trip back, we arrive a bit late, but the ship waits for us.

Day six was at Cozumel Island, an island on the tip of Mexico near Cancún. It briefly rained, which was the only poor weather we encoutered on the entire trip. Shopped for most of the day and ate at a good mexican restaurant, Pancho's Backyard (best carne asada I've ever had). This evening was our second formal dining evening.

A view of the ships at the dock from Pancho's Backyard Restaurant. The center of the square at the boat docks in Cozumel. Mom & Dad dressed for the second formal evening. A little AVI video of a mariachi band playing in the square.

Day seven was at sea. We relaxed and packed our stuff to leave. They offered a galley tour, but we didn't see as much as I would have liked. They had some decorated cakes and sweets on display. The handout with statistics on just how much of various kinds of food that was served seemed more interesting.

The food was excellent throughout the trip. Both in the dining room and in the 24-hour buffet. I ate like a pig, but since I got so much exersize, I actually lost four pounds that week! I certainly wasn't expecting that. The food was nutritious food, not junk food (except maybe the deserts), so I'm sure that helped.

Galley tour. Cakes and sweets on display on the galley tour. Sweets on display on the galley tour. Cake on display on the galley tour. All quiet on the ship on the last evening. The kids' area is below. A ship in the distance as we sail home...

Day eight we returned to Ft. Lauderdale at 7:00AM. We had to wait our turn to disembark, depending on when our flight was scheduled to leave. We took this opportunity to snoop around and take a peek at some vacant rooms and suites. Some of the larger rooms were pretty nice. The rooms with four beds (two bunk beds) didn't seem as crowded as I would have thought.

This page was last updated on Friday, April 1, 2005

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