princess-grand15

Note - this page contains multiple reviews.

Name: Robert and Donna Zukowski
Email: lovers4life@home.com
Age: 54 and 39
Occupation: Computer Professionals
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Grand
SailingDate: May 14, 2000
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
Cabin: E306/Category FF
FoodDiningRoom: 80
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 75
CruiseStaff: 80
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 70
DiningRoomService: 85
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 85
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 80
DeckService: 75
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 85
CasinoStaff: 80
PrivateIsland: 85
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 80
TenderService: 85
GoodForSeniors: 75
BeautySalonStaff: 80
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 70
OverallPortsofCall: 80
BeautySalon: 85
EntertainmentPoolside: 80
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram: 90
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 75
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 70
SpaceRatio: 85
OverallCruiseValue: 80
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 28 May 2000
Time: 14:25:13
Remote Name: 207.247.103.133
Remote User:

Comments

We selected the Grand Princess for our latest vacation primarily since we wanted to try a very large ship.
Before this, we had sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Nordic Empress and Celebrity’s Zenith and Mercury ships.
Our travel agent and others had told us that Princess was comparable to Celebrity, so we were very excited
about our trip. We read only praise in most of the reviews from people who had sailed on the Grand Princess.

We are a working couple, ages 39 and 54. On this trip, my sister, who is 33, also accompanied us. We
booked our air and one night pre-cruise hotel in Ft. Lauderdale through the cruise line. We realize that this
may be a more expensive option, but we prefer to let the cruise line worry about getting us to the hotel, pier
and airport. The arrangements for us in Phoenix and my sister in Pittsburgh were handled by our travel agent
in Connecticut.

**** Our arrival **** Princess booked us on Continental Airlines from Phoenix, through Houston, to Ft.
Lauderdale. Our flight left very early in the morning (5:45 a.m.), but our arrival in Ft. Lauderdale was at
approximately the same time as my sister’s direct flight from Pittsburgh on U.S. Airways. We thought this was
great, that they would take care so that we all arrived at about the same time.

When we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, a Princess representative had baggage carts ready for us so that we
could collect our luggage in baggage claim. We boarded a large bus and we were pleasantly surprised when
the bus left the airport with only 8 people on board. It was nice not having to wait for more people at the
airport. It was also nice that our luggage traveled with us. We stayed at the Embassy Suites, where we had
also stayed on a Celebrity cruise a couple of years earlier. The Embassy Suites provides a free breakfast,
complete with made to order eggs and waffles as well as a nice selection of fruits and rolls. The hotel also
provides free drinks for a 2-hour happy hour in the evening. Like the last time we were there, there was a
wedding going on in the center courtyard. It was very romantic to stand on the balcony outside of our room
and watch as the couple exchanged their promises. After greeting my sister, we made tracks for the Irish bar
across the street from the hotel. We enjoyed our pints of Guiness and had fish and chips and bangers and
mash for dinner. We retired early that night since we had only minimal sleep the night before.

**** Embarkation **** Our luggage was picked up from our hotel room the next morning. We had been told to
be ready at 11:30 to board the bus for the pier, however we got a phone call in our room shortly before 11:00
telling us that we should go downstairs immediately to board the bus. Princess had not correctly determined
how many people would be going to the pier and there was not enough room on the bus for everyone. The
driver couldn’t fit all the luggage under the bus, but my husband stayed outside and made sure our bags
were on the bus before boarding. The bus driver called for another bus, but he said none are available.
There were several people left standing with their luggage outside of the hotel, with a Princess rep making
phone calls to get them to the pier.

The ride was very short and we were thrilled to recognize the Grand Princess as the first ship we saw. The
bus driver assured us that he could be trusted with our luggage and he dropped us off at the front of the
passenger terminal. We had to wait for about 10 minutes since they had not yet started to let people pass
through the metal detectors and into the embarkation area. Once they let the lines through, however, they
moved quickly. We were handed a customs form to fill in. We didn’t want to lose our place in line, so we tried
to write while walking. I don’t understand why this form couldn’t have been given to us with the other
pre-cruise documents so that we could have had it done before getting to the terminal. Once through the
metal detectors, we went to a podium based on our stateroom number. We only had to wait about 5 minutes
before we were issued our cruise card. We completed a form for our return flights so that the airlines would
issue our boarding passes on the ship rather than having to go to the airport. This was a great service. (See
'debarkation,' below.)

We were happy to see that there were 2 stations for embarkation photos. This helped keep the lines moving
and we didn’t have to wait at all. Depending on where your stateroom is located, you are directed to one of
two entrances onto the ship. This is where we were split from my sister. As we boarded the ship, we had to
put our cruise card in a scanner and our picture was taken as we looked down at the scanner. This photo
comes up on a monitor every time you scan your card as you enter/exit the ship. It’s not very flattering,
looking down as you are. (If you don’t believe me, put a mirror on the floor, bend over, and look at your face.)
Unfortunately, Princess does not escort you to your room. You follow the people in front of you and
representatives at the elevators help point you in the right direction. We didn’t have any difficulty, however,
and we arrived at our cabin shortly before noon.

**** Our staterooms **** We booked an inside stateroom and were upgraded to an outside, obstructed view
cabin on the Emerald Deck, E306. My sister was also upgraded to an outside, obstructed view cabin on the
same deck, E604, one category lower than ours was. The rooms were great and we had no complaints with
our cabin steward, Randy. My sister’s stewardess, however, was a little more invisible.

My husband had ordered a tux rental and the tux was in our cabin when we arrived. We had also booked a
package to renew our wedding vows, but the champagne was not in the cabin when we got on board. This
showed up later in the afternoon, along with two shipboard credits from family and friends. A bottle of Asti
Spumante and shipboard credit that I had ordered for my sister did not arrive until Monday. When I asked her
cabin stewardess about them on our first day, I was told that they didn’t want to deliver the Asti until Monday
because they were short on it. Flowers ordered by a friend were delivered to my sister’s cabin on Sunday
night, however.

**** The ship **** The ship is beautiful and large. It doesn’t give you the impression of being a large ship,
however, because it is broken up into smaller areas. You only get a feel for the size when you look out from
the nightclub or if you tour the bridge and look out from the bridge wing. There were two design features that
we did not like. People walk through the center of the Painted Desert restaurant to get to the right entrance of
the theater. It was rather like eating in a train station, with everyone looking over to see what you are eating.
Also, the only steps in the center of the ship are in the atrium area on decks 5, 6, and 7.

We found that we do not like such a big ship. I like to feel the movement of the ship and I felt as if we were in
a hotel rather than on a ship until we finally got a little movement on Friday. It was just enough movement to
be pleasant. While the variety of rooms on the ship is nice, we never even went to some of the areas.
Perhaps if we were on a longer cruise, we would have done more.

**** The food **** As soon as we unpacked the few items in our carry-on bag, we headed upstairs for the
lunch buffet in the Horizon Court. We had to wait a short while before they opened. When they did, we found
the layout confusing since you must go to several counters to get your food. People got mad when we moved
from one bar to another, thinking that we were somehow 'cutting line.' We were surprised to see mainly
common items like chicken wings on the menu. We were not very impressed with the selection of items.
Breakfast in the Horizon Court the next morning was cold (eggs) and hard (pancakes) and you could not get
omelets made to order. It would have been nice if waiters would bring you drinks like iced tea, cocktails, juice,
coffee, etc. For beverages that you needed to pay for, they rolled a beverage cart around and called out like
you were at a baseball game. You were on your own for the free drinks. We ate in the dining room from then
on.

We were assigned the Da Vinci dining room, first seating. We prefer the early seating since we are always on
the ship in plenty of time to get ready for dinner and this leaves the rest of the evening for us to do what we
like. We were seated at table 169, a table for 4 in the far corner of the dining room, next to a window. There
were only the 3 of us at the table and we really enjoyed the quiet corner that was ours. Since it was still early,
we were able to open the drapes and watch the water as we ate. Our waiter was Francesco, from Italy, and
our assistant waitress was Jill, from England. We enjoyed their company over the course of the week and we
were impressed by their hard work. We were surprised that they did not clean the table (cleaning crumbs) as
we have had in other cruises. I have heard recently that other cruisers had this service done for them, so it
must have just been our waiter/assistant who neglected to do so. On the last night of the cruise, I thought it a
little odd that the assistant waitress asked to speak to us, then asked us to please rate them excellent or don’t
rate them at all. She explained that 'good' just doesn’t cut it with the dining room managers and they are
docked time off for less than excellent ratings. I found this a little 'cheeky,' for lack of a better word.

The food in the main dining room was good, but there were very few memorable dishes. After hearing from
online reviews that the pasta was not as good as might be expected, we passed it by for the first couple
nights of the cruise. We are disappointed now that we did that, since we found some of the pasta dishes to be
the best items on the menu once we started ordering the pasta course a couple days into the cruise.

It is plainly written in the literature that you receive from the cruise line before the cruise that shorts are NOT
permitted in the dining room during dinner. Yet, we saw many wearing shorts (overall type, even) on casual
nights. We feel that the cruise line should stop these people at the door and not let them into the restaurant.
If you want to wear shorts, please eat in the alternative dining areas or in your room. Apparently, the cruise
line is too eager to keep their passengers rather than risk them being dissatisfied by telling them their dress
is incorrect. Enough said.

We were disappointed with the alternative restaurant, the Painted Desert. Living in Phoenix, perhaps we are
spoiled with the best of southwestern cooking. I had heard rave reviews about the filet mignon being the best
steak people have ever had. When I hear a comment like that, I expect a filet that you can cut with a fork and
melts in your mouth. The filet I had was neither. My sister had the chicken fajitas and they did not even
appear to be grilled. Add to this the traffic problem with people walking through and you can see why it was
never difficult to get a reservation here.

We had lunch at Sabatini’s one day and it was nice, but not worth making the reservation and paying the
extra amount. Most of the dishes are served at some time in the dining room.

We did not have any of the ice cream on deck, nor did we eat at the grill. I did try the pizza and found it to be
okay.

**** Bar service **** The cost for drinks was about the same as other cruises we have been on. Compared to
an evening at a local bar or restaurant, we thought the prices were very reasonable.

One negative incident occurred in this category. My husband was on deck and ordered a can of Guiness.
Instead, they brought him a Becks beer. When my husband told them that he did not order that, they told him
it was too late and he had to keep the drink because they already opened the bottle. We also witnessed a
similar incident in a lounge when a man told the bartender that the drink he received was not made correctly
and, in fact, did not even contain any alcohol. The bartender argued that the drink was made correctly and
would not take it back and make it the way the man insisted. A manager was called in and the manager
backed up the bartender.

**** Activities/Services **** We attended a few of the activities offered on the ship. My sister and I participated
in a 1-hour scavenger hunt. We went to some of the art auctions. This was a lot of fun and my first time at an
art auction. It was educational as well as entertaining. My sister learned how to snorkel on the ship. They
scuba staff was very patient and made sure that everyone who wanted to learn had a chance to use the
equipment in the pool. There are the usual pool events, trivia contests, and of course, bingo.

I had a pedicure and manicure down in the Plantation Spa. While expensive, it was a great way to feel
pampered. The technician suggested products I might like to try, but I simply said I was not interested and I
was not pressured.

The ship does sponsor singles meetings. I attended one of these with my sister on the first night. To my
disappointment, there were only 3 other single women there. While it was nice to meet the assistant cruise
director and have some free champagne, I had hoped that my sister might find a romantic spark at the get
together. My sister did go to another singles mingles event later in the week, but the same women were the
only ones there.

**** Entertainment **** We didn't care for the entertainment. Please keep in mind that life would be pretty
boring indeed if we all liked the same thing. I did not care for Roger Carr’s singing at all and the dancing of
the Taylors was really not my style. I like upbeat production numbers and I love to laugh. I didn't think Dave
Heenan was very funny, particularly when he was making fun of 300-pound women trying to get into tour
buses. (I could have been one of those women, and I frankly found it insulting.) The comedy magician, Jeff
Peterson, was great. We didn't go to any of the other shows and from what I have heard, that's too bad since
they were probably the better of the shows.

We had been very excited that this ship boasted a 'sports bar.' My husband and I enjoy watching sports,
particularly hockey. Since we were sailing during the hockey playoffs, we were looking forward to spending
some time in the bar, lifting some pints while we cheered on our favorite teams. There must have been at
least 10 screens in the bar, but they were always tuned to the same thing and it was very rarely hockey! One
night, they couldn’t get the signal at all and another night the reception was so bad that we couldn’t watch the
game. This may or may not be important to you. If they’re going to use the fact that this is the only sports bar
at sea as a selling point, they should at least deliver on the promises to show some sports in it.

**** Shore excursions/Ports of Call **** We had been to St. Thomas before, so we knew what we wanted to do
and did not book a shore excursion through the cruise line. Instead, we took a taxi to Megan’s Bay and spent
a couple of hours on the beach. This is a beautiful area and we were happy to be back. We returned to the
ship and had a quick bite to eat, then my sister and I did a little shopping at Havensight Mall, at the pier. We
didn’t want to battle the crowds in town. This was probably the best decision we made since it started to lightly
rain a couple of hours later, just as we had finished shopping.

While in St. Thomas, I took a tour of the bridge on the Grand Princess. This was very interesting and I urge
anyone who has not been on a bridge to try to take such a tour. The 3rd Officer explained how computers run
most of the processes on the ship and I was amazed at how much they know about what is going on by
looking at their monitors. An interesting fact that I learned was that there is a system on the ship that will allow
the ship to remain within 10 meters of any fixed point without having to anchor the ship. I learned that the ship
could stay at the dock without any ropes needed, allowing the computers to control the engines to keep it still,
but since that is expensive, they use the ropes. Interesting stuff.

In St. Martin, my sister and I booked the 'Snorkeling at Shipwreck Cove' tour through the cruise line. Before
we got on the boat to take us to the snorkeling site, we were told that there was a little movement out there
and if you get seasick, you might want to check with one of the guides. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay enough
attention to this advice. When we got out there, we realized how rough the swell was. Once we got in the
water, we were being lifted up and down several feet. Several snorkelers got ill in the water and returned to
the boat early. Once on board the boat, we watched the shore go up and down and prayed for our time to
return to the dock. I said a prayer of thanks once all the snorkelers were back, but they announced then that
we would take a tour down the coast of the island before returning to the dock. I’m afraid I didn’t see much as
I struggled to keep myself in one piece.

We didn't find much of interest in St. Martin. 'Home base' was 'Bobby's Marina' at one end rather than the
main pier that is in the center of town. We did buy a few things that we wanted and had a quick bite of conch
fritters at a place down near the main pier, but I was not impressed. The locals lined the streets, trying to sell
us bags and beads. Next time we go to St. Martin, we plan on heading for the beach.

We liked the private island, but there has got to be a better way to feed so many people. We had to stand in
long lines to get our food and you can forget going back for seconds or something you missed. There were
no trays and I was balancing plates as I tried to get back to where my husband was saving room at a picnic
table. Where smoking is prohibited on the ship, there are ashtrays on the picnic tables. We actually had
someone who was sharing our table light up while we are eating. I asked the man to please not smoke while
we were eating and he made a comment about how 'ex smokers are the worst' and stalked off.

We managed to be on the first tender to St. Martin and we were able to get a cabana with 4 lounge chairs.
There were plenty of lounge chairs, although those people arriving later in the morning had to walk quite a
ways to find empty seats. At one point, a band with dancers made their way down the sidewalk. It was quite
festive.

**** Debarkation **** According to the published times in the 'Princess Patter,' we would be leaving the ship at
approximately 9:10 a.m. This was based on the luggage tags given to us, which were determined based on
our return flight. Since we were flying on Delta for our return flight, we were able to meet a Delta
representative on the ship. Based on our luggage tags, we were scheduled for this between 7:30 and 8:15
a.m. We arrived at the Princess Theater about 7:40 only to find that the line extended across the theater, out
the side entrance, and down to the next level. We waited over 1/2 hour in line, but it was well worth it. We
were issued our boarding passes and airline luggage tags. As they handed us our documents, we heard the
call for us to leave the ship....about 45 minutes earlier than they originally published! Trying to find luggage in
the terminal was about the same as other cruises we have been on. They try to sort it by color coded luggage
tag, but other people move it around. My sister could not locate her luggage and we finally found it across the
terminal, in the middle of the room. Once found, we handed our luggage to our airline representatives and
boarded buses for the airport. The debarkation process was about as good as you can get it and Princess
deserves high marks for both embarkation and debarkation.

**** Summary **** We felt that this cruise on Princess was a nice cruise, but not the greatest we have been on.
We feel that Celebrity excels in the areas that matter to us the most: service and food. We met many people
on this cruise who felt the same as we did but we also met people who felt this cruise was terrific. I do have to
note, however, that the people we met on board who thought that Princess was great were ALL people who
had not been on Celebrity or who were on their first cruise. You may regard other factors as being the most
important in your selection of a cruise line/ship. Princess is very good, the ship is beautiful, and I would not
hesitate to recommend this cruise line or ship to anyone. For us, however, we will probably look elsewhere for
our next cruise.

Name: Scott Feuer
Email: sfeuer@kallashenk.com
Age: 39
Occupation: Attorney
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Grand
SailingDate: June 28, 2000
Itinerary: Barcelona to Istanbul
Cabin: E 423
FoodDiningRoom: 80
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 70
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 80
CabinQuietness: 75
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 98
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 65
GoodForHoneymoon: 85
CasinoStaff: 60
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 99
LoungeService: 99
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 99
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 70
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram: 75
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 99
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 70
SpaceRatio: 80
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 14 Jul 2000
Time: 17:06:27
Remote Name: natout.btpl.org
Remote User:

Comments

I read the review for the Grand Princess numerous times before our trip and found them most
interesting and helpful. As one would expect, however, our experience was different than many had
previously reported. In other words, some problems we had anticipated, based on other reviews,
never materialized, while we encountered some unexpected difficulties. We flew out of Detroit using
the Princess air/sea program. Since I had frequent flier points I wanted to use, I attempted to make
reservations myself, however, the flights were booked. As I later learned, Princess had bought out
quite a few seats on the flights, which caused all of our flights to be full. We flew KLM from Detroit to
Amsterdam, changed planes, and then flew from Amsterdam to Barcelona. On the return, we flew
KLM from Istanbul to Amsterdam, changed planes, and then flew Northwest from Amsterdam to
Detroit. With all of the negative publicity surrounding Northwest(at least here in its hub city of Detroit),
along with all of the positive things I had heard about KLM, we were looking forward to flying on KLM.
Interestingly, we found Northwest to be much better than KLM. The food was much better, the service
better and the airplane was in better condition.

Our vacation started out on a bad note. Our KLM
flight was late leaving Detroit, which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Amsterdam. I
attempted to call the airline so that we could get the next connecting flight to Barcelona, however, the
airline told us that we must contact Princess. Although we called 7 hours before the flight left, we
were told that we would not be able to get on the next connecting flight. Rather, we would not be able
to get on a flight until much later. Accordingly, we did not arrive in Barcelona until 6:00 p.m.(we were
scheduled to arrive at noon). We ended up arriving at about 7:30 p.m. At that point, we were to tired
to explore Barcelona, so we just got something to eat and went to bed. In an attempt to turn a
negative into a positive, during our layover in Amsterdam, we took the train to the central city and
explored Amsterdam for a couple of hours. Instead of being in 7 countries in 2 weeks, we ended up
being in 8 countries!

Many people in review that I read complained of the small cabin size and lack of
closet/storage space. We, therefore, anticipated very tight quarters with no place to put the
tremendous amount of clothes we brought. We had absolutely no problem and were very happy with
the cabin. We also booked a room with an obstructed window. In the brochure, it looked as though
our view would be completely obstructed by a lifeboat. In fact, the lifeboat barley obstructed our view
outside. I would recommend such a room for those of you who may want to save a few bucks. The
food in the ding room was decent. It seemed to get better as the cruise went on. Our favorites were
the lobster tails, lamb chops and the bananas foster. We found the appetizers and the soups to be
mediocre. We found the Horizon Court to be very good at lunch, but poor at breakfast. The
breakfasts in the Horizon Court were poor. The scrambled eggs were lousy (I never knew scrambled
eggs could be screwed up!) and the french toast, pancakes and pre-prepared omelletes were
un-edible. At least they had fresh fruit available at every meal. We ate at both the alternative dining
rooms. We loved the Southwest/Mexican restaurant. In fact, it was so good, we ate their twice. It had
the best guacomole I have ever eaten. I would highly recommend the delicious roast pork loin.
Unfortunately, Europe was experiencing a heat wave when we were there, consequently, the tours
were difficult. The lunch on the Nice-Cannes tour was bad and the service was terrible.

Name: Rodney Bell
Email: rbell9@earthlink.net
Age: 43
Occupation: Attorney
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Grand
SailingDate: August 3, 2000
Itinerary: Grand Mediterranean
Cabin: C 238 Outside w/ Balcony
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector:
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 92
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 98
FoodVariety: 98
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 86
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService:
TenderService: 99
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges:
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 85
EntertShowLounge: 78
OverallPortsofCall: 100
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 98
EmbarkDisembark: 99
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 78
SpaceRatio: 98
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 23 Aug 2000
Time: 11:19:59
Remote Name: pool0402.cvx15-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net
Remote User:

Comments

I sailed on the Grand Princess from Istanbul to Barcelona with my wife, 11-year old daughter and
12-year old niece. We had an outside standard cabin with a balcony and an inside cabin for the
girls. In general Princess did a fabulous job. On a 12-day cruise there are a lot of opportunities for
someone to screw up on the customer relations front but in our case nobody did. Everyone with
whom we came into contact was courteous and eager to do anything necessary to make the cruise
more enjoyable. This was our first cruise on Princess and it definitely will not be our last.

We booked our air independently. Although we saved about $1500 for four fares over what
Princess had quoted, we made some mistakes that ended up having a major adverse impact on
the start of our cruise. The lessons we learned may benefit someone reading this review, so here
they are. Lesson (1): Expect air delays. Since you must be to the port city by the time the ship
sails, make those layovers long to allow for late arrivals! Or better yet, arrive a day early and
eliminate the schedule-related stresses completely. We blew it by booking flights with just a
two-hour layover. Inevitably, weather delays caused us to miss a connecting flight, we lost all of our
luggage (the airline had no idea where it went) and wound up stranded in Madrid overnight with
just the clothes we were wearing. This delay prevented our arrival into Istanbul until after the ship
had left, causing us to have to take an additional domestic flight on Turkish Airlines to the nearest
city to the ship's second port of call in Kusadasi. This added a second night in a hotel in Izmir,
Turkey (after the first unscheduled stayover in Madrid) and a 70-mile cab ride to the port (still with
no luggage) with a driver who spoke no English. While looking back all of this seems like kind of an
adventure, at the time it was just hell. Chasing a cruise ship through a foreign country is no way to
start a relaxing vacation.

Lesson (2): Minimize your connecting flights: We booked LAX to New York to Madrid to Istanbul.
Bad idea! Our delay coming into New York caused a chain reaction resulting in the missed flight in
Madrid. Use as few legs as possible!

Lesson (3): This may be the most important. Avoid Iberia Airlines at any cost!!! After nearly
wrecking our vacation, Iberia was utterly uninterested in the predicament that they put me and my
family in. They left us to spend a frantic day in the Madrid airport standing in line after line trying to
find our luggage and get a new flight to Istanbul. (In fairness, Iberia was willing to pay for the
replacement flight provided we located it, obtained boarding passes and were willing to leave
Madrid without our luggage.) Iberia refused to pay for any of the $1,000+ in expenses that we
incurred in booking the Turkish Airline flight from Istanbul to the ship or any peripheral expenses (a
night in a Turkish hotel, room service, emergency phone calls and cab fares). Their position, as so
eloquently stated by their counter agent in Madrid was, ‘our only obligation is to get you to the
destination for which you were booked.' Iberia could not have made it more clear that they didn't
care WHEN they got us to our destination or what impact their delays and the loss of our luggage
had on our plans. The counter agent would not even allow me to speak to a supervisor. I think they
should adopt the counter person's quote as their advertising slogan. At least it would accurately
reflect their philosophy about customer service.

We arrived at Kusadasi, the ship's second port of call, after missing Istanbul and the first two days
of the cruise.

EMBARKATION: For the reasons described above, we missed the regular embarkation in Istanbul.
However, when we did arrive Princess took a report on our missing luggage so that they could
begin looking for it. They also gave us each a toiletry kit and offered us shipboard credit to replace
necessary items. They also immediately credited us for four shore excursions in Kusadasi since we
had arrived too late to use the tickets. Keep in mind that we had booked our air independently. I
was extremely impressed that Princess would do these things when it had no real obligation under
these circumstances but it turned out that this was just typical of the lengths to which Princess was
willing to go to make its passengers comfortable.

We did not know it at the time but five of our six bags had somehow made it to the ship in Istanbul
and were waiting for us in our stateroom. And Princess found the last bag by the time we reached
our next port of call in Piraeus.

With those preliminary complications resolved, the cruise began for us. Here are my impressions.

THE SHIP: Although I had only been on two previous cruises, this ship was easily the most best
designed, most attractive (interior-wise) cruise ship that I have seen. The exterior of the ship is a
matter of personal taste, and though it is nontraditional-looking, I didn't find it offensive or anything.
Anyway, I really don't care what a ship looks like to bystanders.

Although at 109,000 tons it is huge, but it doesn't feel huge when you're on it. Our cruise was fully
booked with 2,600 passengers and even so it just never felt crowded. I expected at least to find
lines at breakfast in the Lido Deck buffet but I never did, and had no trouble finding a table.

The atrium area is very tasteful but is only three decks high. I think this is in keeping with Princess'
effort not to emphasize the size of the ship from within. There was almost always live music there (a
piano, string quartet or guitarist) and the area reminded me of the lobby of a very nice hotel. I
remembered the garish seven(?)-deck atrium on the Carnival Fantasy-class ship that I sailed on a
few years ago and can only imagine what Carnival would have done had it had this size ship to
work with. (Come to think of it, it does -- the Carnival Triumph.)

The ship has a large casino but it seemed to get very little use when I saw it. (I'm not much of a
gambler.) One thing about the Mediterranean cruise is that it is very port-intensive, and this seems
to inhibit the amount of nighttime activities and the mood of the passengers. People tend to retire
early to be ready for the next day's port.

I am into physical fitness and I used the gym every other day. I found it to be well-equipped with
cardio equipment (steppers, treadmills and bikes) but the selection of weight machines was pretty
basic. I never found it too crowded, although at peak times one would be wise to reserve a treadmill
in advance. (None of the other machines need to be reserved.) The best thing about the gym is
the view, which is from deck 15 above the bridge. It was particularly nice to be in the gym as the
ship left port.

My daughter and niece made some use of the arcade, which has a lot of advanced arcade games
– hang gliding, road racing, motorcycles, skiing, fighter planes, and a motion simulator. I didn't try
any of this. The minimum outlay to use the arcade is $20, which buys you a rechargeable card.

The showrooms were very impressive. The two-deck Princess Theater (near the bow) would put
most land-based theaters to shame with is computer-driven lighting and special effects. Also, there
are no support posts to block sight lines. (I don't know how they do that.) The Vista Lounge (at the
stern) is only one deck but it is very comfortable and provides a reasonable rake for good visibility.

The ship has a small collection of shops, including a jewelry/Lladro type place, a hat/t-shirt/candy
bar/souvenir/sundries place, and a store with more expensive clothing and bathing suits. I was kind
of surprised that there were not more stores on board, especially given my cruises on Carnival
ships, which devote a lot of space to stores. One thing that I didn't like is that you cannot get a
magazine or newspaper on the ship. I was news-starved by the end of the first week.

The Grand Princess has a lot of lounges and bars but I'm not a big drinker or lounger so I only got
to know them in passing. (Just what the hell was I doing on a cruise in the first place?) The most
spectacular was the Skywalker's Bar which looks like a huge spoiler over the stern of the ship. I
was up there for a get-together with a tour group one afternoon. You access the bar from a moving
sidewalk in a glass tube 18 decks above the water. The view from up there is really something.
Interestingly, my wife and I went up there one evening after dinner and the music was going but the
place was completely deserted. If an active night life is important to you, try the Caribbean itinerary.

The ship has four pools, all freshwater, and a bunch of jacuzzis. One pool has a retractable
transparent skydome, and the roof was kept closed during days at sea making for a comfortable,
non-windy environment. Of course, if you wanted exposure to the elements you could use one of
the other three pools.

I had read complaints about the elevators on the Grand but I didn't think they were any worse than
those on the other ships that I've been on. There were a few times when the waits were longer than
they should have been but mostly they were fine. Anyway, there's always the stairs.

The passengers on this cruise were of every age except not a lot of twenty-somethings. It was
either kids traveling with their parents or adults who are established enough to afford this kind of
cruise, and a substantial contingent of retirement-age couples. There were enough kids on board
for my daughter and niece to make some new friends on board but the ship never felt overrun with
kids.

There are purser's offices on decks six and seven. Adjacent to each is a currency converter that
works like an ATM. You put your money in (American, Greek, Turkish, Italian, Spanish or French)
and tell it what kind of currency you want back. It was very convenient although I noticed that the
conversion rates were less favorable than those I had downloaded into my Palm Pilot from the
internet. Also, each currency conversion transaction carries with it a $1.50 fee. As an alternative,
most ports had easily-accessible currency change offices.

OUR CABINS: The standard outside cabin was smallish but very nicely appointed. The beds were
adequate, and the storage space was sufficient but with two weeks' worth of clothing you're really
pushing the limit. The room has an electronic safe. The bathroom is small but usable, with a sink,
shower stall and toilet. A really anemic blow dryer is provided. The heating/air conditioning controls
were easy to use and worked well. The room has a small TV and a refrigerator which the steward
kept filled with ice.

The balcony was great. Ours had two reclining chairs, two regular chairs, and a table. We often left
the door open to go to sleep to the sound of the water rushing past the hull. If you're going to book
a balcony stateroom on the Grand, book the Caribe deck. Here's why: The Aloha Deck balconies
are private but half the size of the Caribe Deck. They are also under the pool deck so they get sun
only at limited times. The Baja Deck balconies are the same size as the Aloha Deck (small) and
less private since you can see most of the balcony from the Caribe and Aloha Decks. They also
get little sun. The Dolphin Deck has balconies that are about the same size as the Caribe Deck,
but there is absolutely no privacy since the entire balcony juts out past the Caribe Deck and is
completely visible to all higher decks. On the other hand, the Caribe deck balconies are under
about a five-foot overhang from the Baja Deck, offering significant privacy, and still get lots of sun,
and they're large to boot.

By the way, if you want the best views on the Istanbul to Barcelona trip, book a balcony on the port
side. Try starboard for the reverse trip.

My daughter's inside cabin was, well, an inside cabin. It was pretty small, but nicely furnished. If
their cabin steward happens to read this – I'M SO SORRY!

DINING: There are many dining options on the Grand, most of which we didn't try. We were in the
Michelangelo dining room, which is very easy to get to. I noticed one dining room (I think it was the
Botticelli) was kind of confusing to get to because you have to use a certain elevator and come
down from an upper deck. I would think that it would not be overly difficult to figure this out in the
first couple of days. Until then you can just go hungry.

While I am no gourmet (I stick mainly to fast food at home) I thought the food in the dining room
was uniformly excellent with a nice selection of entrees and appetizers at each dinner. In addition to
the daily menu there are certain standard items available every night. My niece appreciated this
and had a sirloin steak and fries almost every night. The service was very attentive as our waiter
had just three tables.

There were three formal nights on the cruise. I would estimate that about two-thirds of the men
wore tuxedos with the rest in suits. On the two semi-formal nights it was mostly sport coats and ties.

The three dining rooms have open seating for breakfast and lunch, but we didn't eat there for
these meals. Most of our meals during the day were in the Horizon Court, which is the Lido Deck
buffet. This is a very well-executed buffet with multiple stations and a wide variety of food for
breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast there were pancakes, french toast, eggs, sausage,
oatmeal, grits, muffins and donuts, cold cereal, hash browns, and juices, milk and coffee. Lunch
changed from day to day but usually included carved turkey or beef, several seafood dishes,
salads, vegetable, rice, breads and desserts. The Horizon Court is open 24 hours a day.

There is also a burger grill and pizza kitchen outside next to one of the pools. The food here was
okay, but nothing special. There was also the notorious Haagen Dazs ice cream parlor where they
(gasp!) charge you for ice cream. I don't think I ever saw a single person buy anything there during
the entire cruise. This is ironic because it really seems to antagonize people that Princess charges
for ice cream and yet they can't be making any money since nobody seems to patronize it. While
it's not a big issue to me I wonder why Princess can't just add $10.00 to the cost of the cruise and
give the ice cream away for free.

The ship also has two alternative restaurants for dinner. One is a Southwestern-themed place and
the other is Italian. There is a $3.50 per person charge to eat at each. We heard that both were
fully booked from the first day or two of the cruise (we didn't confirm this) so if you're interested in
eating there you should make your reservations early. We didn't.

ENTERTAINMENT: We saw a pretty good sampling of the entertainment on the cruise. Overall I felt
that this was possibly the weakest part of the experience. To be fair, on most nights I wasn't really
in the mood to be entertained having spent most days on long, physically strenuous tours, and I
think much of the audience felt the same way. This is not a nightlife cruise. Since the audience's
reaction has much to do with the perceived entertainment value of the show, the performers really
had their work cut out for them. So none of my criticisms should be taken as any serious complaint
about the offerings. This is all very subjective.

We saw a show with a hypnotist twice. A hypnotist is basically at the mercy of the ‘performers' who
are pulled from the audience and are susceptible to being hypnotized. In both of the shows that we
saw the audience members who were hypnotized were mostly duds. There were a few chuckles but
it could have been better.

Billy Vader (‘no relation to Darth') was the comedian on the ship. We saw two of his shows. He's an
old-style comic in the borscht belt mold and he did some impressions (John Wayne, Tom Jones,
Elvis), some gag songs, and a lot of jokes about the food and the toilets on the ship. He had some
fairly funny stuff but the act felt very dated.

We also saw one variety-type show (I don't remember the name) that was okay, and a magician
who did a lot of tricks with birds. Neither was anything to write home about but both were
reasonably entertaining. If you're looking to be really dazzled, go to Las Vegas.

SHORE EXCURSIONS: For me, the fabulous itinerary was the main attraction of this cruise. It did
not disappoint. With stops in Turkey, Athens, Venice, Pompeii, Florence, Monte Carlo and
Barcelona, it really was a ‘trip of a lifetime.'

With regard to the port experiences in general, if I had it to do over again I would book the cruise
for later in the year, possibly in late September or early October. Mid-August is the peak tourist
season and the crowds limited what we were able to see in some of the ports. Also, the
Mediterranean area gets mighty warm in August.

Princess has the shore excursion thing down to a science. They are incredibly efficient and
well-organized, especially when you consider the number of people to be gotten off the ship within
a short period of time at each of the ports.

I have a few comments about each of the ports.

In Kusadasi, we were unable to go to Ephesus due to the problems recounted at the beginning of
this review. We did visit the local bazaar near the dock for some shopping. Turkish money is really
confusing – one million Turkish lire was worth about $1.60 US. The Turkish vendors are very
insistent but I didn't find them annoying. If you tell them ‘no' they don't pester you. In fact, some of
the nicest locals we met during the trip were in Turkey. This is a very tourist-friendly country. Also,
the prices here were very low.

In Athens we took the ‘Acropolis and Plaka Sampler' tour. We had an Athenian tour guide who
spent most of the trip telling us what an unlivable place Athens had become. I don't think this was
the Chamber of Commerce-approved spiel. The Acropolis is spectacular. Although it was very
crowded with tourists it was still awe-inspiring to see this place in person. We spent about an hour
and a half there. Be prepared for some climbing to get up to the top.

The Plaka is a bazaar/shopping area below the Acropolis. We were dropped off and given three
and a half hours to walk around. The vendors here are less aggressive than in Turkey and good
deals could still be had if you were willing to bargain.

Venice was truly the highlight of the trip. This city has a totally unique character. The ship comes
into the city via the channel that passes in front of St. Mark's Square and since the ship towers
over nearly everything in the city you get a spectacular view.

We didn't take a tour here. Venice is small enough to get around on foot and the points of interest
are fairly easy to find. St. Mark's Square was just thronged with tourists and pigeons, but once you
get away from that area you can find parts of the city with few tourists around. Here you can get a
better sense of the city. Be prepared to get lost though; Venice is like a maze and maps don't help
much. For the most part you work your way in a certain direction and hope that the place you are
looking for is big enough to be visible from where you end up.

We took a 40-minute gondola ride at the high-season cost of about $100 US. This was after
shopping around. I couldn't leave Venice without doing this once. We also toured the Doge's
Palace and looked at Italian Renaissance art in a wonderful church called Santa Maria Glorioso dei
Frari. Although this was far from the tourist epicenter and was completely uncrowded, it had
paintings by Titian and a sculpture by Donatello, as well as tombs of various Venetian Doges and a
nice selection of reliquaries (these are body parts of saints that are preserved and used to attract
pilgrims with offerings).

In Naples we did the ‘Ruins of Pompeii' tour. This was a straightforward trip to Pompeii with a stop
at a cameo factory. The factory thing was pretty silly since it was a Saturday and there was no one
making any cameos. The instructional part of the stop was a bored-looking woman who held up a
seashell and told us that this is was what they used to make cameos. Then we were dumped into
the cameo showroom where, if we wanted, we could buy a cameo. (Surprise!) This was really a
waste of time.

Pompeii was awesome. Unlike the Acropolis, you have pretty much the run of the whole place here.
You can freely explore the interiors of houses, shops and baths and the place is so big that you
can get far from the main crowd of tourists. They even have several corpses of people who were
caught in the ash from the volcanic eruption on display.

We took the ‘Florence On Your Own' tour in Livorno. This consists of a bus trip from the port to
Florence with a guide (this took about 70 minutes), and then they drop you off and you can explore
on your own for about five hours. This is not really enough time. Florence was the center of the
Italian Renaissance and there is a huge volume of art to see.

If you are interested in Italian Renaissance art (as I am), you must see the Uffizi. This is a famous
museum full of famous works. While many opt for the Accademia because it has Michelangelo's
original David, the Uffizi is really the crown jewel of the Florentine museums. While David is worth
seeing, it is really the only major draw at the Accademia. Anyway, there is a full-scale replica of
David in the town square (the Piazza della Signoria) in the exact spot for which it was originally
sculpted by Michelangelo.

If you wish to see the Uffizi, it is imperative that you make reservations in advance. Otherwise you
will be faced with a three-hour plus wait to get in during the summer. Although the Uffizi's official
website does not process reservations requests, I found a hotel in Florence where, as a free
service, they will obtain reservations for you upon e-mail request. Just send your name, the
requested date, desired approximate time, and number in your party, to basilea@dada.it. They will
e-mail a confirmation number back to you. Armed with a reservation number, it took us about 30
minutes to get in.

We didn't take a tour in Monte Carlo. The entire country is just a few square miles so it's easy to
see things on foot. But be prepared - the prices here are very high for everything. In Barcelona we
wimped out and took the ‘Barcelona Highlights' tour. This is a very easy, short bus tour with a
single stop at architect Gaudi's unfinished cathedral, La Sagrada Familia Church. The church is
really quite unique and if they ever finish it (its been under construction since the turn of the
century) it should be a major tourist draw.

Barcelona looked like an interesting city and it would have been nice to have some more time
there. But this was the day before the end of the cruise so our minds were on the things that we
had to do prior to debarkation.

DEBARKATION: With Princess' usual incomparable organization, debarkation went very smoothly.
On the day before, you are given coded luggage tags and a list of scheduled flights out of
Barcelona. You find your flight and it tells you what time you will be leaving the ship. The times are
keyed to the departure time of the flight so that everyone makes it to their plane in time. We were
off the ship, reunited with our luggage and headed for the airport in less than a half-hour, and we
had no trouble making our 11:30 a.m. flight home.

In summary, this was a wonderful cruise and I cannot say enough about the wonderful job that
Princess did for us. I would strongly recommend the cruise to anyone interested in a varied
sampling of key Mediterranean ports.

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