GRAND PRINCESS

[IRIS FAYE]

Hello, I will be cruising on the Grand Princess in July. Never cruised the Princess cruise line. I have been with Carnival, Norwegian, Holland American, and Azure Seas. Can you tell me if the Grand compares to any of the above. I know it's a few years old, but curious as to whether it's a really Grand experience. Thanks!!!!

 

IRIS FAYE

[lunyma]

Which Carnival, Norwegian, and HAL ships have you been on? Line to line, they're all different, as they are, ship to ship, as far as comparisons go...

 

Pam : )

Emerald Seas 6/20/83

Nordic Empress 6/93

Imagination 3/30/00

Ecstasy 9/4/00

Majesty of the Seas 10/27/00

Triumph 12/16/00

Radiance of the Seas

3/26/01 & 3/29/01

Crown Odyssey 6/24/01

Golden Princess 10/11/01

Spirit 11/11/01

Sensation GGC 1/13/02

Sovereign of the Seas 3/24/02

Imagination 5/18/02

Pride 11/2/02

Explorer of the Seas 3/29/03

Enchantment of the Seas 9/1/03

Serenade of the Seas 10/28/03

Grand Princess 11/16/03

 

check out my pics at http://community.webshots.com/user/lunyma

[GloriaF]

Princess keeps her older ships looking just like her newer ones. I've sailed the Grand 2X & loved her.

 

Gloria

 

Grand Princess, Eastern, April 2001

Grand Princess, Western,April 2002

Regal to Hawaii, April 5-20, 2004

[Coral]

I agree with Gloria - I have sailed the Grand 3x and each time I have been on her, she has been in excellent shape!

[redjoan]

We are just off the Grand, and sailed her 3x. If you have never sailed on her, you will be most pleased! However, if you have sailed on her before, you can't help but notice that the Princess product is not the same as it was before. Still good, but not the same. Had a great week, but realize cutbacks are necessary today for survival of these cruise ships/lines. If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

[ambullmom]

The Grand Princess it truly Grand. I have taken 4 cruises and this was my favorite. The staff can't be beat. You will love this cruise. Have a great trip.

 

Mary BEth

[roohound]

redjoan, I'm interested in hearing specific examples of the differernces you saw as compared to your previous Grand cruises.

[redjoan]

Our very first cruise with Princess was in 2000. (The Grand was only 2 years old.) The first and foremost difference was price! We sailed this last cruise for about $400 less pp. Dinners had 6 courses, always with a fresh pasta included. Souffles were always their hallmark dessert, and this last cruise, there was only 1 dinner with a souffle choice. No celebrity entertainer onboard this cruise. Entertainment-- bands, comedians---just ok: our first cruise had a great Las Vegas band in the Explorer's Lounge, a jazz and blues group in the Wheelhouse, a comedian from Rodney Dangerfield's nightclub, amazing acoustic violinists, etc. Saw the same big shows again, for the 3rd time. Cleanliness of stateroom was ok. We had a group of 24 and several cabins were not cleaned completely----"leftovers" under the beds, soiled blankets, bedspreads, mirrors not cleaned, non-functioning plumbing in the bathrooms, broken chairs on balcony. All was taken care of after several requests. At times, it almost seemed as though the staff was short-handed? And as with all cruiselines today, there are charges for additional items: coffee, ice cream, soda. As I mentioned before, we enjoyed ourselves and the cruise this last time. Just can't help but compare and notice the changes. We would most definitely sail Princess again.

[ahracer]

redjoan,

 

We just got off the Grand today and they had souffles three nights and they were wonderful!

 

It was a great cruise on a very nice ship.

 

Scott

[crusing plantlady]

I was on the Grand over spring break with the hubby and 13 and 10 year old girls and can I just say we had a ball. We have been lucky enough to have had many wonderful vacations in our and their lives and this would have been my favorite. Thinking back on the ship one thing that is great is that you have 4 ports. We went to the beach at princess cays and did stingray city with Soto cruises (Highly recommemd) $24 for 3 stops and the guides find a eel to show you. Did the snorkle w the dolphins through dolphin discovery. Many would disagree but we didn't like the way the camera of theirs was what you saw the most of. Yes isn't the dolphin cute but look at the camera so we can take a picture that we will then hard sell you. We used the Costa Maya experiance as our only time to shop for tinkets. We should have gone to the nearby town. Majaharlai sp. Back to Cozumel, the park that the dolphin discovery was at Chubbacka sp was great for snorkeling. You entered the water and theer were fish everywhere. You gotta love that drink man too. Oh well too much info. but I know when I was looking on CC before the trip it made me happy to know that we had made a GREAT decision. Wonderful cruise, very good food and we had sunshine ever day.eeeeeeeeeeeeenjoyyyyyyyyy

[crusing plantlady]

reading my post I was unclear that Sotos was at Grand Caymen.

[IRIS FAYE]

Ryndam, Noordam, Inspiration, Azure Seas, Norwegian Star Thanks

 

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lunyma:

Which Carnival, Norwegian, and HAL ships have you been on? Line to line, they're all different, as they are, ship to ship, as far as comparisons go...

 

Pam : )

Emerald Seas 6/20/83

Nordic Empress 6/93

Imagination 3/30/00

Ecstasy 9/4/00

Majesty of the Seas 10/27/00

Triumph 12/16/00

Radiance of the Seas

3/26/01 & 3/29/01

Crown Odyssey 6/24/01

Golden Princess 10/11/01

Spirit 11/11/01

Sensation GGC 1/13/02

Sovereign of the Seas 3/24/02

Imagination 5/18/02

Pride 11/2/02

Explorer of the Seas 3/29/03

Enchantment of the Seas 9/1/03

Serenade of the Seas 10/28/03

Grand Princess 11/16/03

 

check out my pics at http://community.webshots.com/user/lunyma<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

IRIS FAYE

[jennew]

we were on the Grand for our Honeymoon (3/21 to 3/28) and we LOVED it!! Enjoy!!

[tommyboy7]

You will not go wrong sailing on the Grand. She's starting to show her age, but wouldn;t you if you had 2600 people on you 50 weeks a year? That sort of sounds bad, ehh? Sorry moderator.

 

The Grand staff is fantastic, the ship never feels crowded, there's always something to do (or not do) and the diet coke flows better than the ocean around you (sorry, got a little carried away)...

 

Ditto on Soto's in Grand Cayman. Found them through this board and was thoroughly impressed.

 

Future Booking - For 2005

Grand Princess - Western - 02/29/04