My husband and I were on the Grand Princess to Alaska from July 13 until July 20. We had never sailed on Princess before, & I was a little worried after reading some of the reviews. I don't know why the Grand Princess got any bad reviews. We had a great trip from start to finish.
The ship was large, & well laid out. There were a lot of activities to choose from, but we did our own thing.. We did go to a wine tasting and to a vodka tasting, too. Both were reasonably priced and fun.
The shore excursions were fun for the most part. In Ketchikan we went on the Lighthouse,Totems, and Eagle Excursion. That was just okay. We saw plenty of Eagles, but I was not really impressed with the totem poles or the lighthouse, and neither was my husband. The ship captain made it entertaining and made us laugh a lot, but without him the excursion would not have been very much fun.
This was a great cabin with more than enough room for the two of us. We brought 4 suitcases & still did not feel crowded. I read some other review saying the bathroom had an order. We didn't have any problem with odors or anything else. Our cabin steward was named Grace & she went out of her way to take care of us. We never heard any noise from the elevator either. The balcony was roomy with two chairs and a table. Nice.