PRE-CRUISE HOTEL - Arrived in Hollywood Feb. 9 and stayed at Westin Diplomat, an excellent pre-cruise hotel right on the beach.
BOOKING - We booked 2 consecutive 7 day southern cruises with the same itinerary (Aruba-Curacao-Princess Cays) although reversed the 2nd week on the non-refundable labor day special of $524pp per week for inside mid-ship cabin on Baja deck 11 cabin B508. As a platnium member, we appreciate Princess style cruising, but would not have sailed the Grand had it not been refreshed.
EMBARKATION - We arrived between 1-2pm both weeks and were in within 10 minutes.
No refreash for cabins on Grand Princess. Biggest issue is poor air circulation, especially between 1-4am when they turn off the AC. Also, for mid-ship cabins there are no stairs and we wasted alot of times waiting on elevators