I just returned from 12 days on the Grand Princess, Istanbul to Barcelona. This mega-ship has 2600 passengers at capacity but seems much smaller. Crowds are seldom a problem; two times that were a oribken was disembarkation in Barcelona, where the Spanish seemed totally NOT in control [we tried to get a bus for our group of 45; it made sense since we were all on the same flight - other people haphazardly rushed to the bus we had been assigned that had pulled into an out of the way space away from the buses] and the other times areas seemed very crowded was just prior to tours in the early morning in the Horizon Room, the Lido restaurant-but that was understandable. One morning I counted 160 buses waiting for tours-at approx. 50 per bus, you have 800 people trying to have breakfast at the same time!

Where it never seemed to be crowded was around the pools & in hot tubs -- which was very nice. And the dining rooms, 3 of the "seating" rooms plus two other "choice" restaurants plus the Horizon-kept crowding at a minimum.

Our stateroom was efficient if small, our balcony in constant use! We unpacked almost immediately & stowed our bags under the beds-freeing up quite a bit of space! We were fairly tidy people, so the room seldom looked very messy, thanks to Leo, our room steward. Read more