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Cruise Ship Reviews : Princess Cruises Reviews

Grand Princess reviews


Grand Princess reviews

Average customer rating:
3.8 / 5

Average Rating based on 11 Reviews:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 3.73
Cabin Design = 3.64
Entertainment = 3.91
Fitness Center = 3.33
Food Quality = 4.18
Ship Maintenance = 3.36
Spa = 3.60
Specialty Restaurant = 4.20
Staff and Service = 4.18
3.73
3.64
3.91
3.33
4.18
3.36
3.60
4.20
4.18







erng1624 saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 4
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 4
Fitness Center = 3
Food Quality = 5
Ship Maintenance = 2
Specialty Restaurant = 2
Staff and Service = 5
4
4
4
3
5
2
2
5

Princess does a good job., October 9, 2016
Reviewer: erng1624

Pros: Most itineraries are good. Post stays could be longer, especially in Alaska.

Cons: Ship itself is starting to age. Needs TLC

Date of cruise: September 8, 2016

Departure port: San Francisco

Region visited: Alaska

Cabin category: Balcony

Cabin number: C705

Good for teenagers: Yes

I have cruised on Princess 54 times and since they have made tipping inclusive, I have noticed the quality of service is not what it used to be. I have the gratuities removed and tip accordingly for services rendered. I don't like being told how much I have to tip people that do not serve me. If the day comes that I cannot remove the gratuities, I will stay home. I also noticed that the productions shows are now 30 minutes. Years ago they were more like one hour. Why not make the Alaska out of SF more than 10 days so you could extend times in ports. Six hours in Victoria is a crime. That city needs more time so cruisers can enjoy the many features. Night time in Victoria is stunning. Also some Alaska ports too short also and others too late. (Late night in Juneau? Why? )


Socks8 saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 4
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 4
Fitness Center = 3
Food Quality = 5
Ship Maintenance = 4
Spa = 4
Staff and Service = 4
4
4
4
3
5
4
4
4

If you like days at sea, you will enjoy this cruise, March 9, 2015
Reviewer: Socks8

Pros: Overall the food was good, great salad bar at Horizon Court

Cons: They could do more to get card/game players together

Date of cruise: February 17, 2015

Departure port: San Pedro, CA

Region visited: Hawaii

Cabin category: Outside

Cabin number: E406

Good for children: No

Good for teenagers: No

Grand Princess Hawaii Cruise Review We took this cruise for two reasons: We were going to renew our wedding vows for our 25th anniversary on Kauai and we wanted to see if we could handle five days at sea. We had been to Hawaii about six times over the years, staying a week at a time, two islands at a time using timeshares. There isnt much we hadnt already seen or done. We felt Princess was going heavy on the selling: coffee cards, Bellini drinks in the AM, wine pairings, etc. While at sea there was always stuff around the atrium for sale. When they announced the 3 hours Sale, it wasnt any cheaper than when the stuff was out earlier. The fancy purses and shawls are still $10, just like every other ship Ive been on. We had cabin E406 (mid ship, deck 8) which was a partially obstructed ocean view. Boarding went fine and our cabin was ready with the beds split as requested. Both beds had the egg carton mattress topper. Robes were still being laundered as the cruise before us docked a bit late. On first glance it looked like there was going to be a storage problem but we were able to stow everything away. Our first shower was scalding so ended up with a sponge bath at the sink. We reported it and the next time we tried the shower it was luke warm. That was better than scalding but it was nice to have a normal hot shower when we got home. We were afraid to report it again. After a couple of nights I asked our cabin steward if she could put an extra duvet under the sheet to give me a bit more padding. She put two under the sheet which made the rest of the cruise better. Food: Appetizers are very good; the main entre at dinner was good. We passed on desserts until we were headed home. What we did have were hit and miss. We passed also on almost all bread/rolls. Ove all, we had no complaints on the food. Horizon Court: The only places open for lunch after boarding was the Horizon Court on the Lido deck. Princess has a wonderful salad bar every day for lunch (and I assume for dinner too) on the buffet. There are always nuts and/or seeds plus several other items (some change daily). We found many of the items on the buffet werent as hot as they could be, but the crew was attentive about not leaving things out too long. Over the cruise I found that anything that was in a small bowl (mini quiche) and baked along with soups was going to be plenty hot. We ate all but 2 lunches at the HC and only ate one dinner there. We always had breakfasts at the HC, usually eggs of some sort. The oatmeal is just regular rolled oats, not steel cut. There was no sourdough bread either. There was always a bowl of prunes (in syrup) on the breakfast buffet, along with the usual items. I tried the hash browns once but it was more like a potato mound that was deep fried. Not worth finishing. Eggs were done correctly and there was always a poached egg on English muffin of some sort. Main dining room (da Vinci, first seating): I had requested a table of four but it was a table for six. Nice couples although one couple stopped coming after 2-3 nights. The other couple stopped coming after Maui, but we heard they left the ship. Service was good and so was the food. We ate a lot of fish and seafood. The last night the mussels were fantastic along with the trio of seafood appetizer. The galley had a tendency to undercook the beef, so you may want to order it medium to get medium rare. Dont expect prime cut on the beef, which is probably served in the specialty dining rooms. We had one lunch in the MDR on our way home. Prefer the HC for lunch quicker and better choices (salad bar). Alfredos Pizzeria: Shared a pizza one day for lunch. Limited menu. International Caf: Had a couple of dessert tarts, but that was it. Specialty Dining: Didnt partake. Entertainment: Besides the nightly shows, there were ukulele lessons, lei making and hula lessons every day at sea. There was a hula and ukulele concert at the end of the cruise put on by those taking the classes. There was a couple on board to conduct all the classes as well as provide Hawaiian music in some of the venues. Most of the movies were outside. About half were recent releases. I had gotten an email saying The Judge was going to be shown, but it wasnt. The movies shown while in port were strange. It was like Cirque du Soliel but not in English and didnt see much plot. We went back to playing cards. The evening entertainment was quite good, especially the sleight of hand magician. There were two lecturers on board: the one for the ports of call, volcanoes, and Route 66 was a naturalist and very entertaining. As word got around the ship, his classes were full. The other one was doing a series on astronomy. He was very dry, read his stuff and what we saw on the screen didnt match what he was saying. Turnout was low. Of course, there were the Trivia contests. There was a rum tasting one day and that was interesting tasty (only 3 samples). Ports of call: We did a private tour of Volcanoes National Park, going down the Chain of Craters Road with Gecko Big Island Tours. We got a substitute tour guide. Our tour was OK but would have been better if Paula hadnt gotten sick. Our guide had not been properly briefed about it being a private tour, not their standard one. We also had problem finding the tour. Hilo was the only place where we had rain. The next port was Honolulu. We headed straight for Hilo Hatties getting on an early shuttle. I needed to find my dress for the renewal ceremony the next day. After we got the dress and matching shirt, we headed back to the ship. Next day was Kauai. It was a nice day and the prearranged minister picked us up outside the secure area, driving us to Kalapaki Beach for the ceremony. We had arranged for a ukulele player to play the Hawaiian Wedding song. He played softly through the ceremony. It was very nice, very emotional. Rev. Wes then dropped us off at Dukes so we could have lunch with a piece of Hula Pie (macadamia nut ice cream pie on Oreo crumb crust with chocolate sauce). It was worth every calorie! After wandering the shops for a bit we caught the shuttle back to the ship. The last Hawaii port was Maui. The naturalist had mentioned the macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup in his talk. Since we had an early tendering, we decided to go ashore for breakfast. He was right, split the large order. After that we walked along Front Street up to Hilo Hattie. On the way back we stopped at Leola of Hawaii (872 Front St). There are several of these stores, but only this one has the fresh plumeria leis for $5 (sign said originally $8). This is the same shop we have bought leis before for the same $5 over the last 15 years or so years of coming to Maui. This store is between the Pioneer Inn and the mall where Hilo Hattie is. It is on the mountain side of the street, across from the sidewalk that goes along the ocean. The lady gave me a tip on keeping it fresh put it in ice water, not just the refrigerator. This worked great, after 4 days it still looked fresh! After another 5 days at sea (after three we were ready to go home) we stopped at Ensenada. We had been here on a California Coastal cruise and had taken the wine making/tasting ships tour. That was nice but didnt need to do it again so we just wandered around the secure area after lunch. I think we were back on the ship in about 10 minutes.


klb saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 5
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 5
Food Quality = 5
Ship Maintenance = 4
Staff and Service = 5
5
4
5
5
4
5

Fabulous service and attention to details, January 27, 2014
Reviewer: klb

Pros: Value for quality of food and ship, itineraries

Cons: Smoking areas to avoid if you are allergic to smoke

Departure port: Miami

Region visited: Caribbean - Western

Cabin category: Outside

Great ship. Great entertainment. Great value. For the price of Princess cruises, you do get so much more for your money than compared to Royal Caribbean or Carnival. The service is better, and the food is definitely better!


sharkman saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 1
Cabin Design = 1
Entertainment = 1
Fitness Center = 4
Food Quality = 4
Ship Maintenance = 1
Spa = 4
Specialty Restaurant = 5
Staff and Service = 2
1
1
1
4
4
1
4
5
2

Extremely old ship in poor condition, provides a subpar cruising experience, November 15, 2013
Reviewer: sharkman

Pros: Specialty Italian restaurant

Cons: Ship is in terrible condition, leaks, flooded cabins, rust on balconies

Departure port: San Francisco

Region visited: Hawaii

Cabin category: Balcony

Cabin number: C10503

Good for children: No

Good for teenagers: No

This was the worst 15 day-cruise experience. Public restrooms were out of order the entire cruise, buckets were seen throughout the ship to capture leaking water, even in the main theater. Cabins flooded and had to be dried out and carpets replaced. Rusty balconies, elevators were unvented and extremely hot. No walking track that circled the ship, you had to climb up and down steps to make a complete loop. Princess charged a premium price and delivered a subpar cruise. They openly stated that the ship has to go into dry dock, yet continue to charge full pricing for this Hawaiian cruise.


halfbrainboy saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 5
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 4
Food Quality = 5
Ship Maintenance = 4
Specialty Restaurant = 5
Staff and Service = 5
5
4
4
5
4
5
5

Great older ship with all the things you expect from Princess., April 30, 2013
Reviewer: halfbrainboy

Pros: New Club (The One 5) and dining service

Cons: Painfully slow elevators

Date of cruise: October 4, 2013

Departure port: San Francisco

Region visited: Hawaii

Cabin category: Outside

Cabin number: E311

We sailed on a 15-day cruise to Hawaii out of San Francisco. The cruise port terminal is a bit old and you have to wait in a line outside. After Americas Cup, the terminal that they built for that will be the new cruise terminal so it should be a lot better soon. If you are sailing out of San Fran, you get to go by Alcatraz, and under the Golden Gate Bridge. That was a great experience, but quite windy. The boat is in pretty good condition, but feels a bit smaller inside than the Island Princess. I think that the ceilings are a bit lower and the rooms just a little bit smaller. We had an obstructed view window room, which put us on Deck 8 (Emerald), which was just one floor above the majority of the activities. The Promenade around the boat goes up a flight of stairs to get around the front and provides a wonderful view from the front of the ship. Under heavy winds, or sea conditions, they close that section down, which can be frustrating as you are trying to get some morning exercise. They have eliminated smoking in the rooms which is a big plus, but that means the areas where smoking is allowed (The starboard side of the ship Promenade deck, and some locations around the pool), you are often met with a lot of smoke. They have put a pipe and cigar bar and the casino on the 6th deck, and you can smell the smoke coming up the staircase all the way to about the 8th deck. The food and service are quite good on the boat, and there is an international cafe which has donuts and breakfast sandwiches in the morning, and desserts and sandwiches and salads in the evening. Additionally, they have Alfredo's which is a sit-down pizza location and Vines, which has small appetizers to go with wine. The two specialty restaurants are Sabatini's and the Crown Grill. We did the Crown Grill ($25 per person) and the food was excellent. When you go to a specialty restaurant, make sure you have plenty of time for our dinner took a good 2+ hours. The only real complaint about the boat is slow elevators. The elevators in the center of the ship are especially bad, for they have two which give you a view of the atrium, and four behind it. But they are controlled by different buttons. So everybody presses both buttons, which causes the elevators to stop at a lot of extra floors with no people. During our trip one elevator became "broken" and never left floor 4. The upper decks are nice, the back adult-only area has a great view off the boat, and there are nice hot tubs up on deck 16. The front of the boat is reserved for the "Sanctuary" which is a Princess thing, and it is $10/person per half day to go there. We never tried it.


mahagow saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 4
Cabin Design = 5
Entertainment = 4
Food Quality = 4
Ship Maintenance = 4
Staff and Service = 5
4
5
4
4
4
5

Good cruise, but definitely not excellent., November 22, 2012
Reviewer: mahagow

Pros: The rest it provided

Cons: Not enough activities on sea days for the older people who were in the majority.

Date of cruise: November 3, 2012

Departure port: Southampton

Region visited: Transoceanic

Cabin category: Jr. Suite

Cabin number: D329

Embarkation in Southampton was a disaster. It took us over 90 minutes to get on board. The weather was not the best -- we had rain and wind most days; sun on two days. We have taken three transatlantic cruises -- this was the poorest. The Azores was the best port of call. The sun shone and the island showed us its finest features. It is likely the most interesting and attractive of the ports visited on this cruise. The West End at Bermuda, on the other hand, was really uninteresting. The bleak dull rainy day did not help, but when you consider the attractions available at both St. George's and Hamilton it makes you wonder why they chose this port. The entertainment on board was mixed; going from outstanding to just mediocre some nights. The passengers on board were mainly seniors, but the activities offered did not reflect the interests of seniors. On previous cruises there has been daily mass and religious services for non-Catholics. On this cruise there were no sponsored religious services; merely bible study and on Fridays a Jewish service but only if someone from the cruise passengers would lead the service.


russbow98 saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 4
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 4
Food Quality = 3
Ship Maintenance = 4
Specialty Restaurant = 4
Staff and Service = 4
4
4
4
3
4
4
4

Princess has dropped a lot of "perks" and is not up to previous standards, April 30, 2012
Reviewer: russbow98

Pros: They handle the total passengers EXCELLENT, no lines, no waiting

Cons: Drop in quality of food selection, and overall experience (our 18th Princess)

Date of cruise: April 7, 2023

Departure port: Ft. Lauderdale

Region visited: Europe

Cabin category: Balcony

Cabin number: B619

I think that adding the "tips" to your shipboard account, vs using a direct envelope approach, has led to a drop in service as they know they are getting it anyhow. It is obvious that the food menu has dropped in the quality of offerings, I presume due to cost, but it is noticeable. Lectures were really great. No hearing aids from the shows and lectures. There used to be a set of head phones available in the theatre to aid hearing. I use hearing aids but could not hear in the Lounges or the theatres well. Princess Theatre the best if I sat directly under a speaker. ONE show had the volume so loud we used kleenex in our ears!!! Most, I could only hear about 90%. But in the Vista Lounge, I finally just gave up and left as I could not hear 90% even sitting under a speaker. Explorers Lounge was 100% on hearing as I sat in the front row directly in front of speaker, and what I didn't hear directly I could read his lips to aid. Ships announcements that do not feed into the rooms, are totally lost. We could not hear a single word. Ships announcements into the room were Excellent.


jazzfan777 saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 4
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 4
Food Quality = 5
Ship Maintenance = 4
Staff and Service = 4
4
4
4
5
4
4

Great Cruise - Ship in good shape and staff is very friendly, February 23, 2012
Reviewer: jazzfan777

Pros: Food - Pizza - Cookies all excellent

Cons: Turned away from main dining room because I wore shorts, but only 1 night

Date of cruise: February 11, 2012

Departure port: Ft Lauderdale

Region visited: Caribbean - Southern

Cabin category: Balcony

Cabin number: L242

Other than the issue with Maitre'd (shorts), everyone was very friendly and efficient. Great cruise.


flowers saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 2
Cabin Design = 2
Entertainment = 4
Fitness Center = 2
Food Quality = 1
Ship Maintenance = 1
Spa = 1
Specialty Restaurant = 5
Staff and Service = 2
2
2
4
2
1
1
1
5
2

Rust bucket, run-down condition, very unsanitary conditions all over ship, January 9, 2011
Reviewer: flowers

Pros: Singers & dancers were the best on the ship, everything else went downhill

Cons: Sanitation conditions, total lack of hygiene since one year ago

Date of cruise: December 20, 2010

Departure port: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Region visited: Caribbean - Southern

Cabin category: Outside

Good for children: No

Good for teenagers: No

Took this same cruise, ship and room in 2009. A complete 180-degree difference this trip. Entire staff forgot how to speak English. Very unsanitary conditions in room and especially in Lido. The yellow bucket on the floor with one rag was used to clean staff's hands and tables, with one wipe and tables still wet. I am sure that is why 85 percent of the people were sick on this ship. We got very sick in 2009 on this ship and we can see clearly why. We have cruised for 35 years and have never been sick on any other cruise. Again, we did get a stomach flu system again this year on the third to the last day. We felt like it was food poisoning. The cabin sheets were changed once in 14 days. Toilets had black rings in them, which should of been cleaned. Rooms always stunk. We used our cologne and Lysol to correct our room, however, the halls stunk when you went through them. They used nothing to make the odor go away. The dining room lacked staff. One waitress and one helper for three tables of eight with a 1-1/2 hour minimum dinner wait. We tried it three times in the dining room and failed. We had to walk out and eat at the Lido where the food was plentiful, however, always very very greasy. A crew member was stationed at the exit of food line instead of beginning, therefore very few people used the hand sanitizer. There was an over-abundance of help in the Lido and still did very little work and just talked among themselves in their native language which we found to be very rude. Food is the same throughout the entire trip, they just make dishes out of leftovers. The best food is the desserts. We dress up each night, therefore, we chose to pay extra and eat several times in the Steakhouse which was superb, both food and service and that is how the rest of the ship should have been. The crew on this ship appeared to all be in a training session. Right down to the purser's office they were rude and not helpful at all. The ship itself is a hazard, tape on the steps, carpeting coming up, wires hanging out. This ship is going into refurbishing in April which we did not know otherwise we would of never taken it. We were on the Ruby Princess in March and it was a completely different and pleasant cruise. They work on chipping and painting at 5 a.m. We complained in 2009 about the banging door leading to the steps. The situation has still not been corrected. We did not complain this time, however, others might have because a few times the door was corrected but did not last long. We paid extra for this Christmas/New Year's cruise and regret taking this ship. It was a complete let-down. In all fairness the entertainment was our only refuge, except they had nothing at all between 6-7 pm when you are dressed and would like a cocktail and to listen to music. It was only between 5-6 and 7-9. There were very few choices of entertainment, however, there were five excellent Hungarian musicians and a great cruise director. Tony Cherry was the best entertainment along with the singers and dancers, otherwise, there was not much to look forward to. As far as the destinations we were dropped in very filthy areas, the worst being St. Vincent and Santo Domingo. We were not alone with our feelings, most people on this ship from the UK and Canada were totally disappointed and said they would never take this ship again. People don't take time out to write up these reviews and that is why no one really knows what to expect. A lot of the people came on sick using antibotics and the other half were the staff itself with bad colds which we noticed immediately. Why fill out those papers when entering the ship that asks you if you have been sick in the previous days, when there is nothing to be done about it. We will certainly think about it many times before we ever get on another Princess ship. We were surprised to get so much voluntary feedback from the staff, many are very unhappy and it shows. They said they have so much extra staff in the Lido because they do not want to promote them and pay them more to work in the dining rooms, which many of them deserve. I can see they complain amongst themselves, it is very obvious. To put it plainly, this was a cruise from hell and I know I am not alone with this feeling. Teenagers and kids were running rampant at 3:30 a.m. using four-letter words. No security or supervision. What is happening to the Princess Cruise Line? We hope we did not offend anyone, but if you want the truth... here it is.


thomas707 saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 4
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 5
Fitness Center = 4
Food Quality = 5
Ship Maintenance = 5
Spa = 5
Staff and Service = 5
4
4
5
4
5
5
5
5

Great big ship -- broke my foot from walking so much, but no weight gain!, August 17, 2010
Reviewer: thomas707

Pros: Just to be away from home is great. Princess has wonderful service.

Cons: Don't like the how-to-get to the restaurant stairwells.

Departure port: Ft. Lauderdale

Region visited: Caribbean - Western

Cabin category: Outside

Cabin number: dont remember

This was a great cruise to the Caribbean. Loved all the ports and felt very safe on the ship.


guzmang1 saw things this way:

Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
Value For Money = 4
Cabin Design = 4
Entertainment = 4
Fitness Center = 4
Food Quality = 4
Ship Maintenance = 4
Spa = 4
Staff and Service = 5
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
5

For the amount of money paid, I would choose Celebrity Cruise., July 7, 2010
Reviewer: guzmang1

Pros: The staff was very professional.

Cons: Had a 'mass' feeling to it in the public spaces.

Date of cruise: March 1, 2010

Departure port: Fort Lauderdale and Barcelona

Region visited: Mediterranean

Cabin category: Inside

I traveled on the Grand then immediately boarded Royal Caribbean while in Barcelona. The difference was like night and day. Grand felt constantly busy in all public areas while Royal provided a sense of privacy away from the main areas while still being public. Staff on both ships were great.

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