After taking my last three cruises on The Star Princess I was immediately disappointed. I had heard that the Grand was charming and elegant and had undergone a huge refurbishment. I just didn't see anything Grand compared to the other Princess ships.
We boarded at Ft.Lauderdale and our embarkment was completed in less than 5 minutes. I was shocked since I heard the ship was full. We didn't need to enter through the Platinum Line. We had received a huge upgrade from a guaranteed oceanview to a balcony. Our room was wonderful and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We immediately went to the Lido deck to meet friends who were already on the ship from the previous cruise to have lunch. The Princess buffet is always very nicely displayed and this time the cheese and desserts were covered and in a different area. It looked so nice and fresh with a glass cover to elimate germs.
We quickly found out that the group we were dining with was a party of 8 and our friends asked the Maitre'd if they could move to accomodate us to a table of 10. We ate in the DaVinci room table 105 and each night was a fabulous dining experience. Our waiters quickly poured our drinks to our liking never having to ask after the first night. The waiters took special care of me because I am vegetarian and showed me the next days lunch menu in case I didn't like the choices on the dinner menu. In my five cruises with Princess that was the first time I ever was shown that choice.
Our Balcony Cabin was wonderful, spacious. It was so close to the elevator, we loved it.