Princess Cruises

MV Grand Princess

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Operator: Princess Cruise Lines
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1998 / 2011
Length / Tonnage: 910 / 108,800
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 1,300 / 2,600
Officers / Crew: International / International
Operating Area: Caribbean, Europe

At 109,000 tons she is too wide to fit through the Panama Canal but her size allows her to offer passengers an unmatched number of outside cabins with balconies.

The public areas are very nice, beginning with the Grand Plaza which is the first place you visit as you board the ship. The interior design of the Grand Princess was done by a team of Italian architects and designers. With the Grand Princess and her sister Golden Princess they have demonstrated that you can actually build a large ship and still maintain a sense of intimacy usually only found on smaller vessels. Having said that, you still do a lot of walking on this ship to get from here to there.

Most of the public rooms are located on the lower decks and as such offer great views of the sea. A walk-around promenade is great for long walks or a relaxing place to read a good book. Rooms of note include the Princess Theater where it is difficult to find a seat with a bad view - something that cannot be said for all theaters at sea. The Explorers lounge is also a great place to relax and enjoy the entertainment. The Vista lounge is made up of very comfortable couches the view of the stage is good.

The Grand Princess has four pools, all freshwater. On cruises to the Caribbean they can get crowded so if you want to avoid the crush show up early in the morning or in the late afternoon when everyoune is getting ready for dinner. As with most cruise ships today the "chair hogs" will be out in force so don't be afraid to move a towel or book if the chair is empty for 30 minutes or more. The lap pool is nice and you can actually get a work out if you wish. There is a pizzeria and hamburger grill near Neptunes Reef. The spa areas on board are crowded until about 5 p.m. after that you can even have the spa to yourself for as long as you like.

The Casino is one of the biggest afloat with plenty of slot machines and you typical table games.

There is also a good basketball court not too big but good enough, never crowded. Also the Grand Princess has a Video Arcade VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY a great place for kids a lot of games all for a price though but worth it they will enjoy it.

The Grand Princess was the first cruise ship equipped with a "spoiler" which is actually the Skywalkers Disco/Nite Club perched 15 decks above the ship's stern. With floor to ceiling windows Skywalkers offers breathtaking views of the ocean.

The ship offers a variety of dining options with three main dining rooms that seat around 500 passengers at a time. With the introduction of Personal Choice dining the service has dropped off a bit as most passengers are served by different personnel each evening. Food on board is good, not great. It seems more and more of the staff are working for tips nowadays so at times the service can become intrusive and it becomes difficult to just enjoy your meal.

Dinner in the alternative restaurants is a bit more refined - although not without risk. One of our fellow passengers described a dinner at Sabatini’s - the Italian restaurant - where service started out awful, but mid-dinner the waiter appeared to give up, and they were assigned a new one. He turned out to be excellent - all the way down to singing and recommending courses from the menu. During meals at Sabatini's diners are sometimes encouraged to leave between courses and stretch or walk around a bit if they want. There was a fifteen dollar charge per person for Sabatini's.

The other alternative restaurant is the Painted Dessert which features southwestern American food. The quality of the food here is not quite as good as the Italian dishes in Sabatini's. If you have to choose between the two, opt for Sabatini's.

There is a 24-hour dining restaurant the Horizon Court which has beautiful floor to ceiling windows with the gorgeous view of the ocean. The overall service here is is very good.

Of the 1300 cabins on board, 931 are outside and 710 of those have balconies. In a typical outside cabin with a balcony you will find a nice use of wood, mirrors, fabrics and soft colors give it a homey feeling. Using every nook and cranny, there is just enough storage space for a 7 night cruise. There’s also some wasted space under the TV, between the TV and refrigerator, which could accommodate a good size shelf or small cabinets. The Sony TV’s have front cable plug-ins to make it easy to view videos you tape and/or pictures taken from a digital camera.

Don’t pack a hair dryer, it’s provided, and the beds are just high enough off the floor to slide your luggage (soft sided) underneath. Standard inside and outside cabins aboard Princess ships are not spacious, until you get into a mini-suite, or better, category. But if you pack (and unpack) right, you will have ample room. Our balcony was GREAT!! - again, second time around. We spent a lot of time on it and it was one of the larger ones we’ve had. The balconies on the Aloha and Baja decks have 4 chairs and a 30”X 30” table and were totally private. The balconies on Dolphin deck were the same as Aloha and Baja, but had absolutely no privacy. Our balcony, on Caribe deck, was twice the size as the others, offered 50% privacy. We lived out here. For all you sun worshipers, choose the starboard side, shade lovers, port side - at least on this itinerary.

You'll meet all kinds here....multi repeaters, partiers, families, the young and old, the wealthy and the not so.

Grand Princess primarily operates in Europe during the summer to early Autumn, and then operates in the Caribbean during winter to late spring.

In general, Princess offers a good product for a reasonable price. On most itineraries you will be traveling with a good mix of fellow passengers who tend to be slightly older than you might find on Carnival or Royal Caribbean. While aspiring to be a premium category cruise line, we feel that Princess should remain in the mass market category because while the service and amenities on board are good, they are comparable to what you can find on many other ships for a similar price. If the ship is sailing on an interesting itinerary at a convenient time you should certainly give Priness a try, just do not expect anything extraordinary.