How grand is the Princess Grand Ship? Anything helps TYIA

[shaunsgirl]

Hello all, I have a chance to take a 10 day Alaskan cruise out of San Fran. on the "Grand" or a 7 day Caribbean on the "Royal"... I have read review after review and have mixed feelings/concerns. If money was no object which one would you choose? Needing to book with 8 days...:confused:

[paul929207]

We sailed around South America in 2013 on the Grand. It was a wonderful 49 days.

[CruiserBruce]

First of all, 10 days over 7, 10 days wins every time....

 

Otherwise, in comparing Alaska to the Caribbean you are not comparing apples to apples to apples, or even apples to oranges. More like apples to pork chops. Two entirely different types of cruises.

Edited January 11, 2016 by CruiserBruce

[Colo Cruiser]

Hello all, I have a chance to take a 10 day Alaskan cruise out of San Fran. on the "Grand" or a 7 day Caribbean on the "Royal"... I have read review after review and have mixed feelings/concerns. If money was no object which one would you choose? Needing to book with 8 days...:confused:

 

 

The Royal.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[shaunsgirl]

The Royal.

 

May I ask why?

[Colo Cruiser]

May I ask why?

 

 

Since the removal of Skywalkers and the addition of one5 lounge I just don't care for that ship anymore. If you have read all the reviews etc the pros and cons are there. Some like it some don't.

The Royal is the 2nd newest Princess ship and the Grand was built in 1998.

[pris993]

I vote for the Grand, just got of it, did 10 day New Year's cruise to Mexico. Ship still in great shape, staff excellent. I was on the first cruise on the Grand in 1998, did a 12 day from Istanbul to Barcelona. Did a 7 day California coast a few years ago, when Grand first home ported in San Francisco. Reviews were mixed then, decided to see for myself. Do not see any reason not to book the Grand.

 

I am not a fan of the new Royal or Regal, balconies are narrow, I usually book a mini suite. No main deck, something else I really like... walk every day on the Grand.

 

My sister went on the Royal a year ago in the Carribbean, she said she likes the older ships too. Validates my feeling, so don't plan on checking out either Regal or Royal.

 

I will see what the new ship due out in 2018 does with the balcony and main decks...

 

Cruising out of San Francisco is great fun... beautiful city... I am biase -- I was born there and live nearby today.

 

Hope you have a great cruise not matter what you choose.

[KruzPrincess]

For itinerary... I'd pick Alaska.

 

For a ship... I'd pick the Royal Princess.

 

For time period.... 10 days on a cruise is better than 7 days.

 

A lot depends on what you like. I used to love to spend as much time as I could in the Caribbean. Now, I love the beauty of Alaska. If you're specifically asking which ship is better. Despite the small balconies and lack of a central staircase, the Royal Princess is beautiful and has a great crew. When the Royal came out I said I'd never sail on her because she was too big. I got a good deal and cruise on her for 3 weeks in October. I loved the ship. I had very few complaints. I've been on the Grand 3 times, but I was disappointed the last time. It was 2 years ago and the condition of the ship was not good at all. Crew was good and I had a good time because of the people I was with.

[tml1230]

i have been on both ships in the last 6 months and really enjoyed them both. Different... but both great ships….like others have said….the itineraries are not even comparable. Have you done Alaska or the caribbean before?…

 

Also if it matters to you, to us the buffet on the royal is far superior to any other class of ship. San francisco is really our favorite port to begin our cruise, even tho we have to fly 3000 miles to get there. 3 extra day on a cruise ship usually is a winning tie breaker for me, but for us ,but one cruise in Alaska, incredible as it was, was enough.

 

what ever cruise you choose, have a great time!

[timetravler]

I also just returned from a 10 day Mexican cruise out of San Francisco on the Grand. I have now been on the Grand 3 times and the Royal once. I would pick the Grand going to Alaska any day over going to the Caribbean. Alaska is far more scenic. Plus the Royall is just so big service suffers. For instance when I boarded the Royal in October, 2015, our cabin was not ready until 1pm. Cabin stewards seem to be more rushed on the Royal too. The best thing about the Royal is the buffet which is superb. However on the Grand, everything ran smoothly. But I was on the Caribe deck and did notice some sort of wet carpeting several doors down from me. They had the carpet driers going for 2 days there. However over all, the Grand is still grand.

Edited January 11, 2016 by timetravler

[golferdog]

just off back2back on the Grand ~~the ship and crew were delightful and the food as good as anything we've had on any of our 20 plus Princess cruises~~princess better hang on to this chef~~given your options I'd pick The Grand in a heartbeat!!

[nukesubsailor]

Hello all, I have a chance to take a 10 day Alaskan cruise out of San Fran. on the "Grand" or a 7 day Caribbean on the "Royal"... I have read review after review and have mixed feelings/concerns. If money was no object which one would you choose? Needing to book with 8 days...:confused:

 

Book both. Alaska in the summer and the Caribbean in the winter will help avoid that dreadful feeling one gets when they have no cruise coming up in just a few months. Taking both will be much less stressful and all your questions about the ships will be answered based upon your likes and dislikes. The opinions of strangers will be based upon their tastes which may not be the same as yours.

[Kingofcool1947]

The Grand. Why? 10 days instead of 7. You are only doing one or the other, correct?

Unless you have the financial means to book both as someone suggested.

Or they give you their credit card number. :)

Edited January 13, 2016 by Kingofcool1947

[Cruise Raider]

I am with Colo cruiser. I would choose the Royal.

While I love the SF embarkation port (right in my backyard) and would choose Alaska over any itinerary (done it 8 times and have the 9th one booked), I just didn't care for the Grand as a ship at all. I found the crew to be outstanding, they had good to great entertainment and food.

I wrote a pretty extensive review about the Grand -- think it was very fair and balanced based on my experience. I feel, to the disagreement of others, that she is ready for a major refurbishment. Parts of the ship were just dirty and tired. I stopped using any public bathroom as they were pretty disgusting. There is no central staircase which kind of forces you to make your way through very congested areas (past the photo area) or having to take the elevator. We never take the elevators but found we had to more than all of our other cruises combined.

The design of the ship has you walking through a smoky casino to get from here to there. The smoke was not contained well in the casino either - a lot of it spilled out into the pursers area.

Many seats/couches in the public area were broken or just plain worn out. The carpeting is lifting up in several areas, one of which was on the aft stairs ... could be a hazard. Lots of rust .... I get it, I get it ... but never have I witness that much before on any cruiseship on which I have sailed. Our balcony was pretty much filthy - not the fault of our room steward but those yucky blue mats they use -- to top it off, we were on the Caribe deck so had a lot of the debris from the deck(s) above washed off onto our balcony. Our shower fixtures were broken -- fixed immediately but broken again on the last morning.

The ventilation system either had it freezing or artic freezing in some of the public rooms. It was probably in the fifties on the last formal night considering the wind chill factor....with that vent blowing down on us. LOL

They told us they couldn't adjust the temperature even though a few of us had to go get a warm sweater just to make it through dinner.

I would say the worst of it is the stability of the ship, though. This was absolutely the least stable ship on which I have sailed. Someone mentioned they thought it was because they removed Skywalkers. Others have argued that they felt as though there is nothing wrong with the stability. Maybe they are right, I was in the far aft of the ship so my opinion might be skewed a bit... I would just warn of an Alaskan itinerary from SF on the ship if you are prone to seasickness....or definitely shoot for a midship cabin.

 

So, while embarking in SF and going to Alaska would always be my first choice, going on the Grand would not be my choice. I will repeat, though, they did have one of the best crew I have ever sailed with. If you like glitz, I would go with the newer of the two ships.

[raider23]

Can anyone tell me what deck you enter upon embarkation? Thanks!

[Kingofcool1947]

Can anyone tell me what deck you enter upon embarkation? Thanks!

 

Depends on ship.

Just curious, what ship are you sailing on, and why is embarkation deck important?

Edited January 15, 2016 by Kingofcool1947

[Nancyquilts]

Can anyone tell me what deck you enter upon embarkation? Thanks!

 

In SF, you get on at deck 7.

[raider23]

In SF, you get on at deck 7.

 

Nancyquilts,

Thank you for your response. :)

[paluni]

Took the Grand in October 2015, really liked it. Took the Regal before, a slightly improved version of Royal. Did not like the Regal. No promenade deck, miniscule shelf-like balcony. But I would take the Caribbean over Alaska, because I really like to be warm. If you don't mind being cold (although it can get very warm in Alaska), I would take the Grand.

[cruis247g]

For me? Ten days beats seven days and Alaska beats the Caribbean. Both are nice, but the beauty and wildlife of Alaska stuns me every time. I like the new feeling of the Royal and the buffet, but dislike the narrow balconies because I'm a balcony lover. It's been about a year since I've been on the Grand. At that time, I thought she was showing her age in a few spots, but I like this ship a lot and wouldn't hesitate to cruise the Grand again.

 

But what is best for you??? Do you like warm or cold weather vacations better? Does an extra three days matter or are you ready to come home after a week on a ship? Do you love great buffets? Does the width of a balcony matter to you?

 

The bottom line is that I think you can have a great cruise on either ship:)!