Grand Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Pre-cruise
We booked through Bolsover Cruise Club, the booking was handled by Craig very efficiently and we were pleased with the service. An unexpected bonus was that our P&O loyalty was acknowledged by Princess (it doesn't go the other way though) this put us straight into Platinum. However as my wife did the booking only she got the upgrade, a quick call to Princess fixed this, apparently this does happen when transferring loyalty. We had booked a guaranteed balcony cabin on E deck, when the cabin was confirmed we had been upgraded to A deck. The Roll Call on Facebook was useful, just a shame that more people did not join in, we even had a get together in the Wheelhouse bar, time to put names to faces.
Embarkation
Cabin Review
Balcony
Cabin
The cabin was functional rather than glamorous, and a bit dull/tired. The fridge is a good size and replenished with ice every morning. The 220V power point under the bed is not very convenient, but we had been recommended to take an extension lead. The balcony was in need of some TLC, the doors rattled (fixed this with a cardboard wedge), and large area of pealed paint on a down pipe (back to bare metal) and the bottom of the patio door was sealed with duct tape. Our cabin steward Dixon was excellent, nothing was too much trouble.
Things that go bump in the night, we knew that being under the Lido deck there was potential for noise, and most of the time it was perfectly quiet. Our cabin (A312) was under the doors leading from the Lido area and around 04:30 most mornings a heavy trolley would clank over the grating (we should have mentioned it); similarly some mornings when the deck was being hosed at 06:30 could be disturbing.
The internet access wasn't great and kept dropping off; I even went and stood by the access point in the corridor. Near the end of the cruise I had a chat with the Internet Manager who pointed out that because I was using an iPad I needed to change some settings. I wish that had been mentioned in the guide in the cabin, iPads have been around for a few years now.