On March 12, 2005, we returned from a Grand Princess seven-day Western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston, Texas. This, our first Princess cruise, was terrific including by far the best food and service of any ship we've sailed. To provide context for our comments, over the last six years my wife and I have been on ten cruises: eight with Holland America and one each with Celebrity and Norwegian Cruise Lines.

First off, I must say how delighted we are to have a truly first class cruise ship at our doorstep. Although a 109,000-ton ship is a physically imposing object, GP's interiors were intentionally designed to minimize the impact of her size. As a pioneer among mega-liners, her interiors were scaled down to lessen any potential intimidation factor. The more recent trend, notable among Royal Caribbean's mega-ships, has been in the opposite direction. Many now intentionally celebrate size, even expanding interiors to obtain the greatest possible spectacular effect.

The ship's condition was near faultless. Despite 2,000 plus passengers tramping through every day for the last seven years, signs of wear are virtually invisible. Maintenance is obviously a priority for the ship's crew, clearly a tribute to her Captain, Andy Proctor. GP's mechanical condition seems faultless. On the large scale, engines perform as intended, side thrusters function, tender operations go off without a hitch, elevators function properly, etc. On the more personal level, our cabin's thermostat correctly responded to settings, drawers and doors opened and closed properly, every toilet we used flushed instantly. No obnoxious odors, aka sewage, were evident anywhere. In our observation, absolutely everything worked as designed. This ship is a model for those in the cruise industry who claim that unpleasant odors and malfunctioning toilets are inevitable and unavoidable on sea-going passenger vessels. Grand Princess, although not a maiden, puts the lie to that mistaken bit of nonsense. Dining is an important factor for cruise passengers. We found little fault with either the quality or presentation of the food, either in the main dining room or buffet, the Horizon Court. Warning: My wife, Japanese by birth, says to avoid the buffet's sushi. The rice is a gluey mess. Also, the butterfish in main dining is to be avoided as too tough and chewy. I thought the escargot lacked firmness. That's it - the only criticisms! We had late traditional dining. The dining staff in the Botticelli was personable and very efficient. Our waiter, Stefan, was particularly attentive to our eleven-year-old grandson, and did not display a hint of adult attitude condescension. He took orders at rapid-fire speed, without once delivering the wrong item. On the second Formal Night, Stefan performed what I thought to be an impossible task: he delivered two entrees in sequence. In addition to the lobster tails, my wife and I wanted to split a single order of the ravioli entrEe. Previously, I was always told that entrees have to be served simultaneously. Stefan not only served them in sequence, but both were served hot and without interfering with the main service. Overall service was sufficiently prompt that we were in and out of Botticelli in an hour or less every night. The headwaiter, Francesco, was first-rate, frequently visiting tables and overseeing service. One evening he prepared a special pasta dish employing his own authentic Italian recipe for the sauce. It was intended as a sampler plate, but was so delicious people were enjoying full bowls as the entree. Antonio, the Maitre d', was a professional who went the extra mile for us from day one. Although traveling as a family, we were on two separate booking numbers. Our TA requested that we be seated together, but on arrival found that we were assigned different tables. Antonio straight away reseated our group that first night and we kept that table the remainder of the cruise. Since traditional dining was filled well in advance to sailing, this was not a simple undertaking. In addition to reseating us, Antonio obviously had to rearrange seating for the other two effected groups, keeping them content as well. He managed the switch smoothly and with supreme patience. The best part of the dining experience was the food. Preparation was first-rate: ordered medium rare - the item was delivered medium rare, sauces were fully flavored, all dishes were consistently served at the correct temperature. The desserts possessed intense flavors, indicative of quality ingredients. Read more