Grand Princess — the basics, and what to ask
Mid-size at 2,602 berths: big enough to have the facilities, small enough to cross in a few minutes.
A veteran — 1998. Older ships divide people: smaller, more characterful, often cheaper, and the fittings show their age in places. Plenty of people prefer them and say so loudly.
Fewer headline attractions than the giants, and a much shorter walk to all of them. Ports tend to be easier too — smaller ships get alongside where the big ones anchor.
Passenger-to-crew is about 2.3 to 1. Fine, but at peak times — embarkation day, the buffet at one — you will notice.
From her deck plan: an indoor promenade, a casino, a spa, a dedicated kids area, a sports deck and a central atrium. That is what the layout shows — if something has been changed in a refit, correct us.
Cabins run from deck 5 to deck 14 across 8 decks. The usual advice applies and applies harder on a ship this shape: mid-ship and low is the steadiest ride, and what sits directly above your cabin matters more than the view out of it.
If you know this ship, the question people keep asking is which cabins to avoid. That answer only exists in people who have stayed in them.
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