Just returned from our third cruise with Princess but our first on board Grand Princess (previous cruses were on board Crown Princess) We flew from Heathrow to Miami on Thursday March 12 and stayed overnight at the InterContinental West hotel in Miami - along with around 150 other Princess travellers. The flight was with American Airlines which was OK but not as good as British Airways. On Friday morning we had breakfast in the hotel. This was a bit pricey and many others went out for breakfast to Wendy's or McDonald's that are close by. At around 12.45 a fleet of 6 or 7 coaches came to collect us all and take us to the cruise terminal at Fort Lauderdale where we arrived at around 1.30 pm and the embarkation was very speedy and efficient. There were no long queues and it only took 5 or 10 minutes at the most.

Our first impressions of the Grand Princess were very favorable. Other reviewers have said that she looks her age but we did not think so at all. Only some of the external paint finish on balcony floor and surround looked a little tired. Internally - in all areas - there was nothing really to fault. Our stateroom was a balcony stateroom on Caribe deck and we were very happy with the layout and facilities.

The layout is almost identical to the slighter larger Crown Princess and we had no difficulty in finding our way around. There had been a recent refit to incorporate The Sanctuary (one of my wife's favorite spots on the Crown) and I guess that they may have taken the opportunity to replace some of the carpets and other internal fittings so - as I said - it looked pretty good. Read more