A review of the Grand Princess

A REVIEW OF THE GRAND PRINCESS TO DATE – FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Of my some 150 or so days on cruise ships only a dozen have been on Princess – the remainder on NCL.

Princess is a more formal and traditional cruise line while Norwegian covets the Freestyle concept so a direct comparison of the ships isn't totally possible.

For instance on NCL except for formal nights you can wear dress shorts in one of the main dining rooms – that is a NO NO on Princess and is one of the reason that I have eaten most of my dinners in the Horizon court buffet – I am too lazy particularly on port days to change into long pants especially in the warm climate on this trip.

The review:

Cabin location – I am on Baja deck 11 – about mid- ship – close to stairs and elevators. It is two floors up to the pools and buffet and it's four floors down to the start of the service decks which are on the 7^th, 6^th and 5 floors.

The 7^th floor is the Promenade deck – three times around it is a mile – I have started walking to try and burn off some of the calories from being at sea for four straight days.

For the most part I am using the stairs rather than the elevator.

FOOD – always a subjective matter but it is better than NCL but there are less pay options on Princess – there are three main dining rooms – the Botticelli at the back of Deck six is the designated traditional sitting restaurant – the Michelangelo and Da Vinci's are the two any time dining locales – on the two occasions I have used them – on formal night I have eaten early so there was no line – up. I had a Cornish game hen the first formal night and roast duck on the second formal night.

We will have one more formal night on this leg of the cruise.

The two pay restaurant are the Crown Grill – a steak house and Sabatini's – an authentic Italian cuisine – I will probably try each one of these before the cruise is over.

Down on the fifth deck is the International Cafe – it's 24/7 and serves coffee, pastries and panninis – basic coffee is free – the Starbucks like lattes are extra but judging by the volume of people lining up paying for the product doesn't seem to be an issue.

This is where I am having my breakfasts most morning – I am not a big brekkie eater – mostly just toast and jam etc so the buffet is too much of a temptation for me. I have been having an apple fondant and treat myself to a chocolate donut most mornings.

Delicious cookies are available most of the day – one thing that Princess is doing on sea days in the afternoon is having a number of the staff going around handing out cookies and milk to those out on the decks or lounging by the pools.

For those who like ice cream there is a soft ice cream shop up on Deck 14 between the pools and buffet – I have been frequenting it.

DEMOGRAPHICS – there are only 4 kids on board and no teens – about 25% of the ship are Aussie's – there are over 600 of them on board – there are a good number of Canucks on board – we had a good turnout for an unofficial Canadian meet and greet on Saturday.

Age wise – it's mostly a 55+ crowd – there are less scooters and walkers on this cruise than on my last Panama Canal cruise – there are also a lot less grossly obese cruisers compared to that Panama cruise.

The cruisers are mostly Caucasian – very few Afro-Americans or Asians.

ENTERTAINMENT: this where there is a difference between NCL and Princess – NCL seems to go more for one big Broadway style show while Princess seems to go for smaller productions and uses three venues – the main theatre, Explorer's and Vista Lounges for their shows – the One Five lounge up on deck 15 is a more sedate and mellow greeting place.

I haven't taken in too many of the shows as I am not big into entertainment but did enjoy a Motown revue the other night.

CD - Our cruise director is a gal named Sammi – she Irish and at one time operated the original Red Dog Saloon in Juneau – being Irish she has the gift of the gab but she is only on a couple of times a day so it isn't too overbearing.

CAPTAIN'S REPORTS: This is another difference – on NCL the Captain comes on like clockwork at 10AM for his daily update – on the Grand we only hear from the Captain if something isn't going right – like being late leaving a port because of a hassle with the port authorities over documents etc.

Overall so far a positive experience.

Cheers!