I don't like the Grand Class Ships --- Am I the only one???

[cruisemom42]

I'm familiar with which ships are Grand class ships. Would someone who is more in-the-know than me please post which current ships are in the Sun class and which are Coral class?

 

We were on Sea Princess (not sure what class it is) to Alaska, and while we enjoyed it, we much preferred the Star Princess and Golden Princess cruises we took (and we will be on CB this summer). Could be because DS (now 15) enjoys having all the activities....

 

I like to find quiet locations to read, and I have had no problem finding such spots on the Grand Class ships. The Skywalkers Lounge is particularly nice and very underused during the day, but there are other spots too.

[arlenez]

The Coral (and Island) are almost the same size as the Grand-class ships (actually longer - 964 ft vs. 950 ft - and narrower) but have a lot fewer passengers (1,950 vs. 3,120 on the Emerald). They do have different amenities but I'd trade the Sanctuary and Crown Grill in for 1,170 fewer passengers in a heartbeat. The Coral has a small-ship feel in a big-ship size.

 

I'm new to the Princess line and DH and I are booked on the Island Princess for a 15 day Panama Canal Cruise. After reading this thread I have a question. Since the Island is actually longer the the Grand-class ships, but have fewer passengers, does this mean that the staterooms on the Island are larger? Also, we just saw the Caribbean Princess on a cruise that we just returned from on another cruise line and want to know if it is a Grand Class ship? I'm confused by all the classes of ships.

 

Thanks & regards,

Arlene

[spongerob]

Grand Class - Grand, Golden, Star, Caribbean, Crown, Emerald, Diamond, Sapphire

 

Sun Class - Sun, Sea, Dawn, Coral*, Island*

 

Others - Tahitian, Pacific, Royal, Regal

 

*I know these two are totally different, but they are approximately the same size

 

Staterooms on Coral and Island will be more or less the same size as the Grand-class ships. The ship is longer, but narrower.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

Cruisemom42 Hope this helps - I believe this is a complete list of Princess ships.

 

GRAND CLASS

 

Emerald Princess - 2007

Crown Princess - 2006

Caribbean Princess - 2004

Diamond Princess - 2004

Sapphire Princess - 2004

Star Princess - 2002

Golden Princess - 2001

Grand Princess - 1997

 

SUN CLASS

 

Sea Princess - 1998

Dawn Princess - 1997

Sun Princess - 1995

 

SUN CLASS (Panimax) These are the largest ships that Princess sails that can fit through the Panama Canal.

 

Island Princess - 2005

Coral Princess - 2002

 

EXPLORER CLASS

 

Pacific Princess - 1999

Tahitian Princess - 1999

 

OLDER SHIPS

 

Regal Princess - 1991

Royal Princess - 1984

[Pam in CA]

EXPLORER CLASS

 

Pacific Princess - 1999

Tahitian Princess - 1999

 

OLDER SHIPS

 

Regal Princess - 1991

Royal Princess - 1984

This is almost correct. The OLD Royal Princess, which left the fleet two years ago, was built in 1984. The NEW Royal Princess was built in 2001 and is a sister ship to the Pacific and Tahitian Princess.

[KKB]

For the past several years I have alternated between the Grand Class of ships and the Sun Class of ships. It seems that whenever I am on the Grand Class-- I keep thinking that the design is one of the worst designs for a cruise ship. You have to go up stair cases to go across the ship and then back down a deck. And the back dining room is in the worst place possible. No one can find it. And there are no bathrooms back there. And only half the elevators in that area go to that dining room. No other elevators go there. On top of that, Princess didn't realize that the design was flawed and built a ton more ships just like it. Revenues must be more important then design.

 

So we have a poorly designed Grand Class Ship and service is only half as good on these ships. Service on Princess's smaller ships seems like a luxury cruise line and on the Grand Class it is like you are purely a number. No one bothers to know your name or goes out of their way to get to know you but on the smaller ships I always end up knowing many top officers by name and they greet me by name and this is on a 7 night cruise. Not after being on the ship for a month. I have stayed in touch with many people I have met on a Sun Class Ship but not one from a Grand Class Ship.

 

I continue to sail the Grand Class Ships because they go to the places I want but when on them--- I feel like I am at Walmart and the staff just go through the motions of service. On the Sun Class, I feel like a treasured guest and service shines.

 

I like the intimate spaces it creates. Getting to Amalfi dining room is odd, but other than that there is little difficulty getting around.

 

SO they really aren't poorly designed ships...you just don't prefer the design.

 

My father found the Coral a tad maze-like, too, but soon he figured it all out.

 

We also have found wonderful service on both our Star cruises. We had traditional first time, and anytime this time, but "made" it our own w/ standing ressies w/ same waiter. We were at same bars, same casino tables each night, so got to know the staff pretty well...lots of conversation, and excellent service. I truly believe you get the service you seek...everyone we dealt with was polite. But the ones we saw daily became truly friendly, and often went out of their way for us...we recognized this with extra, personal tips at the end of the week, and recognized them in our evaluations. The head waiter took a fancy to us, and brought us a special appetizer each night...one not on the menu, and I rarely saw other tables getting it. It really helped to make this cruise a tad special!

[critterchick]

We've enjoyed all of our Princess cruises! I prefer the Star & Diamond to the Sun or Island - those are the only ships I've sailed in the Princess fleet. The Sun was packed to the gills during our sailing and Norovirus was making its rounds, so she may not have had a fair chance to win my heart. The crew was stressed & sometimes surly. On the Island the crew seemed dispirited, the ship was dirty and the food was mediocre (the CC group onboard was magnificent, however).

 

When we sailed the Diamond in her inaugural season, Anytime Dining was chaos (I understand that it works a bit better now), so we switched to traditional the second time & it was terrific. Dining on the Star was always good. I didn't have trouble getting around the ships, either, and found them to be less crowded-feeling than either the Sun or Island.

 

We are also "mini suite people," and as another poster said, the price of a mini is much more reasonable on the Grand class.

[GoodAsGold]

I also think there is a difference between the newer Grand class (Diamond, Sapphire, Crown, etc.) than the older ones, Grand, Golden and Star Princess. That extra deck of passenger cabins definitely adds more people to wait on. I've been on the Star and the Sun and I liked them both for different reasons. I did love those pools on the Star. But, I did fine on the Sun, too. I particularly loved the Wheelhouse Bar on the Sun. But, I preferred Karaoke in Explorer's Lounge on the Star instead of that little dark, disco nightclub. I'll be on the Golden two weeks from tomorrow, so I get to experience the Star's older sis (by one year.) :)

 

It's not just the plan of the Grand class ships that I don't like, it's the fact that there are too many people and less personal service. The service issue is subtle but it's there. As for too many people, the Grand class ships are really designed for a lot of people to be able to take advantage of the outside space, including balconies. If you're on a cruise, as I as in February, where it was too cold, windy and wet to be anywhere outdoors, even in the covered Calypso pool area, you have chaos and crowds with not enough to do inside. I knew it was going to be cold for most of the cruise and planned accordingly, but it was still way too crowded with no where to go or even sit.

 

Give me a Sun-class, Coral/Island or smaller ship any day of the week.

[Tina G]

Grand Class - Grand, Golden, Star, Caribbean, Crown, Emerald, Diamond, Sapphire

 

Sun Class - Sun, Sea, Dawn, Coral*, Island*

 

Others - Tahitian, Pacific, Royal, Regal

 

*I know these two are totally different, but they are approximately the same size

 

Staterooms on Coral and Island will be more or less the same size as the Grand-class ships. The ship is longer, but narrower.

 

No way are the Coral and Island comparable to the Sun class ships! While they are beautiful, with wonderful interior spaces. the stateroom was a disappointment. The bathroom is VERY tiny!!!!:( Other than that, people love these ships. Crew does not. They can be a bit tipsy in rough seas. This is one reason they cancelled the order for the other two Coral class ships! They were built in a French shipyard which did not deliver anywhere near schedule, and caused Princess some major problems.

[sunviking82]

I enjoy all the Princess classes, but feel that the Grand Class later designs are better laid out then the earlier ones. But when compared to other large ship from RCI or Carnival the Grands seem less crowded and have more nooks to relax in.

 

Personally, I think that the Grand is the worst of them, while the designs have been modified with the Golden, Star, Diamond/Sapphire, Caribbean and now the Crown. I hope the Princess will take the time (and money) to update the older Grands to be more like the Crown/Emerald.

[kruisey]

No way are the Coral and Island comparable to the Sun class ships! While they are beautiful, with wonderful interior spaces. the stateroom was a disappointment. The bathroom is VERY tiny!!!!:( Other than that, people love these ships. Crew does not. They can be a bit tipsy in rough seas. This is one reason they cancelled the order for the other two Coral class ships! They were built in a French shipyard which did not deliver anywhere near schedule, and caused Princess some major problems.

Ha no wonder I got motion sickness for the first time ever on 'The Island'......I mentioned at the time on this web page maybe it was due to the extra length and being narrower than the other ships of the line.I never had motion sickness on the other smaller ships 'Dawn and Sun.

I agree with you Tina with regards to the staterooms.

[edYYZ]

I also think there is a difference between the newer Grand class (Diamond, Sapphire, Crown, etc.) than the older ones, Grand, Golden and Star Princess. That extra deck of passenger cabins definitely adds more people to wait on.

 

Actually the Diamond and Sapphire don't have the extra deck (Riviera). That started with the Caribbean princess and has also been included on the Crown and Emerald. Considering the fact that most areas on the Diamond felt busy when I was on it, I imagine that extra deck of passengers would add to that feeling of crowdedness.

[NAS-KARR]

So far our favorite is the CORAL (size) but we find no problems w/the GRAND class. We cruise mainly for the itinerary anyway and the vessel is secondary. With 2 "R" class ships up next for us I'm anxious to ck this horse out for what it's worth.

 

CIAO,

[giggster11]

We loved the Sapphire. Great size and feeling. Service was never found lacking to us. The first time we ate mostly in the buffet and the guys there were always friendly behind the counters. The second time we ate in the dining room and our family table of 10 was well taken care of. After often ordering 2 or 3 desserts each night I was presented with 1/5 of a baked alaska and made my way through quite a bit of it. Our assistant waiter went out of his way to say hi and take care of us when we saw him in the buffet at lunch one day. Our cabin steward provided extra chocolate dipped strawberries as a surprise one day. No problems navigating the ship. In fact, we almost always were able to find plenty of quiet spaces around the ship. Everybody has their different experiences though and that's fine. We just happened to love ours.

[edYYZ]

We loved the Coral too, Necrosis. ((And a big hello to you - haven't seen your posts around much. We were on the Coral to Alaska together, do you remember?))

 

Yes of course I remember! That was a great cruise - hello to you and to Largin as well! Yeah I've been off the boards for a while now because we were sort of "off" the cruising thing for a while (almost did the Crown last year but decided we werent Caribbean going people) and I've now started med school, which has been keeping me busy. It looks like we might be able to find some time to cruise again next year and I've been doing some trip planning for this summer, which reminded me of CC! Anyways, back to the thread topic (we should have a "lounge" sub-forum under each cruise line for general chatting).

 

I guess I just saw it as missing things like the Sanctuary and Crown Grill which we really loved on the Crown, but adding nothing. I had no idea that the service might be better on the Coral because she is smaller. (We really enjoy Celebrity because of the service but they just don't have itineraries that interest us any more so we switched over to Princess.)

 

I have sailed on the Pacific, Regal and the old Star and loved them and the service I got on each one. Can anyone who has been on any of those, and the Coral and a Grand class, tell me what I could expect from the Coral? Suddenly - thanks to you guys, my vacation might look promising again. THANK YOU!

 

I can try to give you my personal comparison of the Coral vs Diamond. Looking back, the Coral really did have a better feel to it because it was less crowded. I spend a lot of time on the open public decks so less people meant more personal space for me (although we were in Alaska and I know some people don't like being out in the cold)! I don't really know if the service was noticeably better, but aside from dining, I didn't have much interaction with the staff anyways. I honestly thought that the Diamond had better wait staff but I don't think that has anything to do with the ship size. You probably would notice a better staff to passenger and size to passenger ratio on these ships versus the grand class (tonnage isn't that much less but there is a drastic reduction in the number of passengers).

 

The reason I didn't come off that cruise loving the Coral class like some of the other posters here is because I did miss some of the public spaces/deck space that it was missing compared to the Diamond. I like being on the open decks at the top, and I couldn't manage to find a really good view from anywhere on deck. Also, there are less areas to explore in general. I'm also a fan of eating late night meals in Horizon and the Coral had much less selection than the Diamond. A really small and strange point, but important to my cruise experience. Overall, the Coral might be "missing" a few things but it's not really that noticeable and you might get a bit better service. I think you'll have a good time if you end up picking that cruise!

[LeftCoastCruiser]

With Princess, I've only been on the Diamond and didn't care for it compared to the 1900 passenger ships I've been on with Celebrity and RCI. I'm trying the Dawn in a few weeks so I'll let you know ;)

[ladysheri]

We loved the Diamond and the Sapphire, including the layout, the dining, and I will say the service on the Diamond was superior to the Sapphire. I never felt crowded on either ship. We took a short cruise on the Dawn and I did not care for it at all. The balcony was a joke and I felt hemmed in in the common areas. After the wide open spaces of the Grand Class, it seemed very claustrophobic to me. I have not been on the Coral/Island yet, but expect to try them at some point.

Isn't it nice that Princess offers something for almost everyone?

S