Overall, the whole experience was wonderful. I had read many reviews of the Grand Princess, both negative and positive and wasn't sure what to expect regarding the condition of the ship. We were very pleased. We were a party of 4, my sister and I, and our husbands. We booked mini-suites, ours on the port side and theirs on the starboard side of Dolphin deck #9. We are experienced cruisers, but this size cabin and the balcony was a first for us. Couldn't have been happier!
We chose this cruise for the many sea days and the advantage of sailing from SF. We kept looking for signs of extreme wear, dirt and mechanical issues onboard. We didn't find any. Normal wear and tear, but nothing out of the ordinary. No problems with elevators or air conditioning or plumbing. She was serviced in wetdock for a few days last spring. She will go into drydock in early December 2016 for almost 2 weeks. Normally, every 2 to 3 years, a ship goes into drydock for scheduled maintenance. We constantly saw crew cleaning and painting, so upkeep is really very good.
Since we live in the SF Bay Area it's a real treat to drive to the ship, and not deal with flying and luggage restrictions. We opted to book a limo for the trip from Vacaville to SF. Worth every penny. We had lots of luggage which the driver wrestled in and out of the car. Upon arrival at Pier 27, the driver was directed to the front end of the drop-off area. Porters were immediately available to take all the bags. We didn't realize how great this was until we saw the huge line of people checking bags in for porters to collect. We proceeded inside the terminal and we knew to ask for the Preferred Check-in line as we are Platinum level past passengers. We were given our cabin keys and a group number for boarding the ship. They had started boarding Elite passengers, and we followed after a short wait. We arrived at the port shortly before 1:00 pm and were onboard by 1:45 pm. Our bags were waiting for us at our cabins. We did hear about many people waiting 2-3 hours to board the ship. They had to use a smaller gangway, because the main one belonging to the terminal had a mechanical issue.
Excellent!! We splurged this time and booked the mini-suite. The sitting area and larger bathroom were wonderful. Bed was very comfortable. Plenty of closet and other storage space. Due to weather, didn't use the balcony as much as we thought we would, but it was great for watching our early morning arrivals in Hawaiian ports and back home in SF. I think we're spoiled now for smaller cabins, especially for this length cruise or longer. We were very happy with our mid-aft location. Easy access to midship and aft elevators.