Overall we had a good time, however, I'm not sure it was worth the "double the price" because of Christmas week sailing. It would have been a good deal at $500/person not $1000 especially when two were under 6. The best amenity for my family was the huge movie screen above the pool. After dinner we would head to the pool for the 8:30 movie. Our five year olds LOVED it because they could swim and hot tub and we LOVED it because we could relax on the chaise lounges in our pajamas with cocktails and blankets all while not having to worry and supervise (our kids are good swimmers). Family fun for all and well worth picking the Grand Princess.
The food honestly sucked. I'm not a huge fan of gaining vacation weight, so I didn't really care, but my mom did. Before I went, I had this vision of amazing food (big shrimps, lobster tail, crab legs, and awesome filet) which was not the case. Because I don't eat a lot (usually one meal at dinnertime), I'd hoped the food would be a matter of quality over quantity, which turned out to be the opposite. I never tried the burgers or pizza by the pool. I would scan the buffet occasionally for seafood or sushi, but usually missed it. Deserts were fair and we all usually (laugh I know) opted for the kids sundae with butterscotch or caramel (they didn't have hot fudge- some yucky, fake, chocolate sauce concoction). The boat was in beautiful condition and pretty clean. Doing laundry one afternoon, I began talking to another woman who's mother had come down with the cruise virus. I was impressed and glad to hear the medical staff IMMEDIATELY controlled the situation by treating her with numerous injections and quarantining her for 24 hours. (Whew. Didn't want my 5 year old twins to get that!)
The service was OK. We had a few good waiters and a few bad ones. Our party consisted of 12 and the first dinner surprised us with a table of 8 next to a table of four. We were not happy with this arrangement. We switched to anytime dining which at least gave us two tables of six until the last two nights when we all squeezed into a table for 10. It did suck having to call for the reservation by 8 AM every morning. Our Steward was AWESOME, very accommodating. He had to deal with a peed in bed one night and vomit the next. (My kids not mine). He caught me moving our beds together the first day (we had four singles) and told me I wasn't allowed to do that for safety reasons. I told him I'd read online (thanks cruise critic) that stewards will "overlook" it. He said he'd have to ask his supervisor. The next time we entered our room he'd made it up as a king. Very thoughtful and accommodating.