This was the first cruise with Princess and we sailed on the Grand from Southampton to Guernsey and then on to Le Havre and back to Southampton. It was a quick 3 night break.

Boarding was organised and quick and our suitcase was waiting at the cabin when we arrived. We were originally given a staggered boarding time of 12:30 but when we arrived at the check in they were simply accepting people as they arrived. Cards were issued in alphabetical order according to when you arrived and you were called by this. We were then called at 12:40.

We occupied balcony cabin C753 on Caribe deck. A lovely cabin with it's own private bit of corridor so very quiet. The only thing I was puzzled about was the fact that very early every morning (around 4:00) the ship started up its engines ready to dock and it was very noisy waking me up each morning. I was unsure whether or not this was due to the position of the cabin as having done around 10 previous cruises I could not recall this happening mid ship before. Regardless of this the cabin was lovely, shower room fine and the balcony wonderful albeit the furniture sligtly uncomfortable. A padded seat would have been gratefully received. Cabin service was good but it always is on any of the ships we've stayed on. My gripe with the cabin was the pillows. Gee gods they were dreadful. I asked my cabin steward if they could be swapped and he said they had no others. They supplied a hard one and a soft one, so you could decide which one to place on top. Neither were comfortable. I ended up having the soft one on top (which was all lumpy and bumpy) as opposed to the hard one which was harder than a house brick. Absolutely awful. Mattress was firm (I'd read reviews stating this, so was prepared for it) but was only slightly firmer than mine at home, so this didn't bother me. It was those darn pillows. Toiletries in the shower room were not the best. The shampoo was of poor quality and in fact it didn't even feel as though my hair was washed. Must remember to take my own next time. Read more