Grand Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We gave the new "club class" a try after reading the promotional materials. We did not find value in paying the extra charges, and here's why: 1. The "canapes" (snacks) that can be ordered the night before turned out to include stale bread sticks wrapped in a bacon-like meat and three other unattractive items, so we only ordered one time. 2. The separate dining area for club class was not better than the regular seating area. Club class customers entered a separate door in the normal restaurant and were relegated to a corner of the restaurant. The tables each with a single flower stem looked different only by the kind of flower. The meals were the same, even though the advertisements said a meal would be prepared at the table. A pasta was available cooked at the table, but the pasta was available cooked at the table throughout the restaurant. The pasta consisted of simply cooked tomatoes, garlic and oil, and the pasta arrived when our table mates were almost finished their main courses. The wait staff were very stiff and lacking in fun and humor. We spent the rest of the cruise in the regular part of the dining room where the staff were great fun and efficient. 3. Club class allows immediate boarding in San Francisco, but because the port staff are so efficient, this was not a big advantage. The special lounge for disembarkation featured only coffee and mini-sweets. We were given no preference arriving in temporary ports.We booked a mini-suite for our next cruise without paying extra for club class.
We noticed a downward spiral in food offerings in the direction of more college dormitory offerings. That being said, we were very selective in trying to find items above institutional- style food.
I use the gym on all ships, and the gym equipment was replaced with a lower cost set of workout machines. The yoga mats were the thinnest available and required the thickness of three mats to protect senior bones (cushioned by less soft tissue than youngsters), and the mats were beginning to shred. Princess's decision to save money in the gym is short-sighted.
Response from SaraD, Social Team at Princess Cruises
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
Mini-suite cabin with large balcony was very spacious with lots of extra storage for two passengers. Two television monitors faced either the bed or the full-size sofa, although they would be more suitable if they displayed Hi Definition instead of the blurred images (No, it's not my old eyes!). Princess recently upgraded its bed linens and so they felt luxurious. The full-sized bathtub requires stepping over a high barrier, which was not an issue for us but could be for some mobility-limited guests. Unfortunately the tile grout was black with mold and brown with bacterial film where the shower splashes, and this could be scrubbed clean with dilute bleach. We prefer the sliding door to the balcony in this room, being easier to open than doors that swing outward. Although the cabin features two temperature controls, neither was functional, resulting in hot temperatures during the night when the ship turns off the air conditioning. We always travel with an electric fan because we have run into this problem in the past.