This was my husband’s and my first cruise ever. It was our 5th year anniversary and we were very excited! Since we live in Florida, we didn’t need to get a flight or hotel for the trip, so it saved us some time and stress.

We found the Grand Princess to be a very big ship and very beautiful. We were both impressed with the service (very friendly and helpful). We booked a mini-suite and found it to be quite roomy. Loved the balcony. I used the balcony every day. I would recommend the mini-suite if you like room. My husband and I are both tall, so having the extra square feet helped us to stay comfortable. Especially when you’re living out of that room for a week.
We also like the fact that tipping was charged at the end of the trip so we didn’t have to worry about it.

Our Maitre’d was Jorge (worked in DaVinci dining room) and he was fabulous!! For our anniversary he had the chefs cook us up a special Indian cuisine, which was not on the menu. We were very impressed.

Entertainment

We found the entertainment to be quite enjoyable. After reading some (not-so-good) reviews on other company ships, we weren’t sure what to expect. However, there was a variety to choose from every night. We really enjoyed the singers and dancers. They did an excellent job! I also decided to enter into the talent show on the last night, which turned out to be a lot of fun. I sang The Way you Look Tonight. I have to give the dancers a lot of credit for being able to do all their routines when the ship happens to be rocking a lot!

Ports

Princess Cays

Definitely a waste of time. We felt there was another port that would be more interesting than that. Nothing really to do but relax (although it was really hot that particular day). The hammocks, however, are nice to lay down in and take a nap.

Grand Caymen

We loved The Grand Caymen Islands. We booked a sting-ray snorkeling tour with Nativeway Watersports. It was only $25 per person and 12-15 people on the tour. I would suggest to anyone that they book a tour through private companies rather that through the ship. It saves you a lot of money. We loved the snorkeling adventure. It was my first time and I didn’t want it to end! My husband grew up in Florida snorkeling, but he had never gone with the sting-rays. We also paid $15 to take a tour of Grand Caymen Islands with a local taxi. We stopped in the town called Hell and also at the Turtle farms.

Majahual

We decided to go see the ruins while we were there. It was half the cost to see them through the local taxi and tour groups than through the ship, so we went with a local company. The ruins were nice, but it was hot and humid that day. But, I was glad that we went. They are historical.

Cozumel

We booked a dolphin swim and snorkel through Princess. My husband and I both had a lot of fun doing that. I would recommend that if you have extra time and money to have that experience. After the swim we still had some time so we stayed in the park and did some snorkeling. It was very beautiful, really colorful fish.

We didn’t really do any shopping, so I can’t say much about that. Since this was our first cruise, we wanted to do a lot of activities that we don’t get to do at home.

One thing I have to say my husband and I noticed about Grand Princess is that even though there was 3,000 people on board, it never seemed like it. You had the bid ship, but with the convenience and privacy of a small ship. We would definitely book through Princess again!!