My wife and I have been on many cruises; both with Princess, and on other lines. We remember when Princess was a cut above. After being purchased by Carnival, this is no longer true; in fact, Carnival may be slightly better than Princess overall (if you don't mind all the kids and their inebriated parents). Overall, this ship was mediocre.

Hawaii was, well, Hawaii...always great. Hilo was a disappointment though. We didn't take a tour, but did take a shuttle into town, and what we saw was mostly industrial. We knew there would be several sea days, and we were fine with that. One reviewer complained that the ship stopped in Ensenada. While I am not a big fan of Ensenada either, it should be understood that the Passenger Services Act prohibits ships of non-U.S. registry from embarking and disembarking passengers at two different U.S. ports. Princess is foreign-flagged; therefore it must adhere to the requirements of the Passengers Services Act. So the ship must stop at some foreign port, and Ensenada is close by.

The Grand Princess is long overdue for retirement. Princess should sell it to a small cruise line that can spiff it up and use it for lesser service. The ship is dated in layout, design and decor. The condition of the ship is poor, with many examples of lackluster maintenance. Rust, flaking paint, ripped upholstery, torn carpeting, dirty drapes, and sagging furniture abound. Most seating was so dilapidated, there was virtually no padding left. Many of the seat-bottoms in the Princess Theater were actually angled down in the front from over-use. The repeated touting of the ship as "magnificent" was really tiresome. Read more