Royal friends and the Grand Princess
The people you see standing in front of the Grand Princess are special to us. They've been friend for 40 years and godparents to our three children, and they've always been willing to help in any way they can, because that's what godparents do. Friends, too.
So here they are helping us again…as cruise correspondents.
Marg and Jim Madsen are just back from a cruise on the Grand Princess, after it underwent the most extensive refurbishing in the history of Princess Cruises, at a cost of $64 million. The ship is 14 now, so it was time to bring her into the 21st century of cruise ships, given that in 1998 she was the biggest ship around, and the first in the Grand Class.
After spending two weeks in the Caribbean on the Grand Princess, the Madsens were impressed.
"It took us a couple of days to get [home] out of our minds, but it's taking more than a week to get the cruise ship out of our minds," they said.
Their cruise left Fort Lauderdale, returned in a week and then left again. As our intrepid cruise reporters, Marg and Jim provided some thoughts about a few of the ports the Grand Princess visited, and we thought they were worth passing along…
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands: "We visited Blackbeard's Castle, the Amber Museum, and a rum museum where we tasted Coconut Rum for the first time. Was it ever good! Then, it 
was the 99 steps down to the shopping centre and on to the ship."
Princess Cays: "About 30 acres on the southern tip of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas where we visited Rock Sound, Tarpum Bay and had a scenic drive and lunch. It was a four-hour outing, a great trip."
Aruba: "We went for a trip on the Atlantis submarine, and saw lots of fish and a couple of shipwrecks. We were down 136 feet, and it was a great experience."
The funny thing is, the Madsens didn't even know they were being intrepid reporters, but that's what friends do.
Isn't it?
Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas
8 nights
November 29, 2012
Sydney (return): Noumea, Lifou, Ile des Pins, New Caledonia
Inside: $675
Cost per day: $84
www.rccl.com