Line: Princess Ship: Grand Princess Sailing: December 7, 2003

Let me begin by telling you a little about my family and what our expectations are for traveling. I am a 40 year old stay at home mother, my husband is a 36-year-old aerospace engineer, and we have a 4 ½ year old daughter. We take a "large" vacation, like a cruise, every couple of years. When vacationing, we splurge on luxury resort properties with onsite amenities like pools and spas. On a more routine basis, we dine out frequently and take weekend getaways to the mountains and beaches. When we go out as a couple, we tend to choose upscale restaurants and often steakhouses.

We have cruised 5 times: our honeymoon, on Norwegian Cruise Line's Seaward (now the Norwegian Sea); our fifth anniversary, on Celebrity Cruise Line's Zenith, our tenth anniversary, on Princess Cruise Line's Grand Princess, last year on the Star Princess to Alaska and now; our thirteenth anniversary again on the Grand Princess. I have written a review of our tenth anniversary trip and it is posted on this site (12/10/2000-Judy Part 1 and 2), as well as a review of our Alaskan trip on the Star Princess in May of 2002. If you would like more detail of the ship, I have covered the ship EXTENSIVELY in those reviews). Having sailed on Princess before (and the Grand Princess in particular) we did not do our usual research to choose a vacation. We are interested in good food and excellent service in an elegant atmosphere. We are NOT party people, so discos, bars, pool games and the like are not important to us. We want to relax and reconnect. This year we made it a family trip and included my daughter, my in-laws, and my mother and her boyfriend. Read more