This was our fourth holiday cruise (Christmas and New Years) and the third with Princess. Year one was Panama Canal on the Island, two was Hawaii on Golden, then last year we tried Holland America and did Panama Canal on the Amsterdam. We decided to go back to Princess because although the HA ship was nicer - Princess seemed to have better food and entertainment.

GOOD - The price was right when I purchased this for us in May and when we got married in October, we decided it would also be our honeymoon. Things started smoothly - embarkation was a dream (especially after having to wait three hours with no food to board HA last year because of a health issue.)

BAD - The ship looked very worn. We were told that it is due for renovation in April and it is none too soon. I'm really getting sick of Princess Bland. My main problem with this ship is the issue with smoke. On all the other ships (in the common areas) - if you just avoid the casino - you can avoid the smell. The Grand must have been built before people became so concerned. The entire sixth deck stunk and the smell spread to parts of decks five and seven. I was only able to eat in the dining room on the fifth floor. I couldn't sit at the bar on five or six to listen to music like I normally do - because of the yucky smell. It is bad enough that you will likely smell smoke in all hallways and on your balcony because the ship is too lazy to require smoker's to confine themselves to certain levels or areas. This ship was the worst! I didn't even get to see Skywalker's because they cater to the smokers. Read more