Grand Princess Review

3.5 / 5.0
1,601 reviews

Fantastic Family Vacation

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Grand Princess
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CaliJohn
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Mar 2008
Cabin: Balcony

Arrival This was our first Princess cruise after 2 with Carnival. My wife and son and I flew from LAX (we live in So Cal) to Miami where we stayed with friends prior to boarding on Saturday. The embarkation process was quick and efficient and we were guided to our Baja balcony stateroom (B503). We then had a happy reunion with our daughter who is a crew member on the Grand and had been gone since early November. We went on a tour of the ship and then joined the sail away festivities which were a lot of fun.

Ship Layout & Condition I was concerned that the lack of a central staircase to Baja and above would be a problem, but it turned out to be a non-issue as the elevator wait wasn't too bad and the walk to the fore and aft stairways was no big deal. Since we spent most of the time in the showrooms on the Promenade or the pool area & Skywalkers the layout worked well for us with minimal crowds and walking. After reading many negative comments about the Grand's condition I was pleasantly surprised to find her to be in great shape. The crew was constantly retouching & refinishing common areas and I was amazed at how clean things appeared.

Stateroom Our Baja balcony turned out to be fine for us, as our son stayed in his sister's cabin and the covered balcony was perfect; rain or shine we could stand at the rail and enjoy the view. We received our robes as ordered, but never did get the egg crate mattress covers despite several requests. Beds were hard but we were exhausted from late night partying and had no problems sleeping. Our steward did an efficient job of maintaining our cabin and replenished the fruit bowl & ice daily - no complaints there. On sea days we had no problems getting poolside or top deck chairs, but we arrived before 8:30 am then grabbed breakfast and ate at the nearby tables. Dining Since we were waitlisted, we used anytime dining and it was perfect for us. We never missed a production show due to a dinner schedule. Never had to rush, we ate at our leisure and never waited more than 5 minutes for our own table. We would have been happy to share a table with another group but never did. Both the DaVinci and Michelangelo dining rooms were wonderfully maintained and food and service was excellent. The escargot and desserts were particularly memorable. We celebrated our birthdays at Sterling's Steakhouse (Painted Desert) and the Filet Mignon and New York Strip steak were cooked to perfection. We grabbed our breakfast in the Horizon Court due to our excursion schedules and not being big breakfast eaters the fare was fine for us with no long waits.

Cabin Review

Balcony

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