This being our first cruise with the Princess line we were very interested to see how they compared with the other lines we have traveled on. The Grand Princess is an older ship that shows its service but, was in fairly good condition. There are some areas which need more attention than others. I understand that it is due for a much needed refit early in 2011.

This cruise was of a longer duration than most (14 days) and the size of the staterooms led for an interesting and creative session of finding sufficient storage room for all the clothes a longer cruise requires. As someone previously noted by another reviewer, the beds were very hard. This was easily rectified by a request of our steward for a mattress pad. In general the food was very good and the service was excellent. Overall I would rate Princess better than some and less than others (some where around 8.5 on a 1 to 10 rating system [10 highest]).

I must add a word or two about the excursions we took on several of the islands visited: On Curacao, Grenada, St. Vincent and St. Kitts; If you are faint of heart, have any heart condition, have anxiety problems or the like do not under any circumstances ride in the front of the bus on any of the land tours! The roads are narrow, there are no traffic control devices and the drivers, although successful in beating the laws of averages, sometimes defy the laws of nature. Additionally if you are taking a bus/van tour on St. Kitts be sure to have a window seat if you want to see anything. The people in the non-window seats could not see anything up or down due to the window size and the cramped conditions. Actually I feel that Curacao, Grenada and St. Vincent were a wasted stop on the cruise let alone Santo Domingo. Additionally, about Santo Domingo; This port is very dirty and the country is something less than a third world country. Do not travel unescorted off the ship! It is unsafe! The one highlight of the cruise was the "Barbados In-Focus Photography Tour" (BGI-245). It was an excellent trip with the award winning photographer Ronnie Carrington providing narration and photo tips along the way. I highly recommend the tour for all.