Compare Royal and Grand Princess for me - trans-pacific

[lissie]

Hi I'm looking at a trans-pacific relocation from Vancouver home to New Zealand in September. Both the Royal and Grand sail on similar days from Vancouver to Auckland in September. We've never sailed Princess but did 2 long cruises on Queen Elizabeth last year so we  know what a trans-oceanic cruise is like. 

 

The itineraries are a bit of a wash for us -  either is acceptable. With the number of sea days I think it comes down to ship choice.  We like shows and music and drinking nice cocktails with live music. We love ballroom dancing but not expect to do that on either ship.  We like a good lecture on a relevant topic but I'm not sure that Princess does those? 

 

We like to eat a variety of food so the ship with the more options would probably be preferred. I know the Royal is 3500 pax and the Grand about 2500pax  - we've only been on Queen Elizabeth which is about 2200 - with the Royal feel like a floating shopping mall? 

 

No interested in spas or lying all day in the sun - but like a good promenade deck and nice pools.  I dont' think either ship will have a huge number of kids on them because of the time of year and length of cruise. 

[Mud_Shark]

We are booked on the Royal for the Fall crossing this year, more because price was better than any particular ship choice.  We prefer the Royal but either would be acceptable.  We have never felt like the "floating mall" idea fit any Princess ship.  The buffet on Royal class ships far outstrips the equivalent on the Grand.  Both have Alfredos pizza (included) and similar dining choices.  The Atrium (Piazza) is a little bigger on Royal and we enjoy that aspect.  The Grand has a couple outdoor pools and an indoor one, whereas the Royal has fewer pools and all are outdoors, but that does not sound like an important consideration for you.

However, only the Grand has a wrap around walkable outside Promenade, so that might be more of a factor to you.  You can walk the top sports deck on Royal, but the track is shorter and uncovered, so hot during the direct sun of the afternoon.

 

We would enjoy either, hope you do too.

Don

[lissie]

Yes the Royal is about 10% cheaper than Grand (but both are very reasonable) - the itinerary for Grand is slightly better.  The extra pools may swing it Grand's way - we don't sit outside onsunloungers to get skin cancer - but we like pools - we swim and then retreat to somewhere shady for a drink or  2 .  

[cr8tiv1]

Grand Princess Cheerleader here....

 

If you want ballroom dancing, you may find it more available on the Grand Princess.  The Royal will have it in the Piazza on uneven tiled floor.  On the Grand, there might be music in the Wheelhouse, the Explorer's Lounge, and/or Club Fusion, as well as in the Piazza.  They've had canned music for afternoon dancing, but I have requested better music with the Entertainment Director (who was happy to comply).  You might be able to convince the DJ to play music in One5 Lounge late in the evenings.

 

The. Grand has a full Promenade Deck for your pleasure.  

 

The Grand  has a covered pool area.

 

I am not a buffet person but have heard that the Royal Class ships have a better buffet.  Don't forget the International Cafe for additional snacks.

 

The Royal will have better production shows (boo to Princess for not changing out the Grand shows).  But with that comes the crowds and inability to find seats in the theater with 1000 extra bodies.

 

Lots of sea days with really no where for the Royal Class passengers to lounge.  WIll you have a balcony?  Grand balconies are bigger and better.

 

 

 

 

[jeromep]

The Grand Princess has been a head scratcher for me for a few years now.  Back in 2011 it went in for a long and involved dry dock in which the biggest change was removing the "shopping cart handle" Skywalkers from the rear of the vessel.  The subsequent Grand class ships that have the shopping cart handle, Golden, Star, Caribbean, didn't have a weight issue with the structure as they re-engineered it and made it out of a lighter material, (I think it was steel on the Grand, making the vessel stern heavy, and was changed to aluminum on the subsequent sisters, correct me if I'm wrong).  After Grand got modified, her seaworthiness was significantly improved, adding easily 20+ years to her service life.  However, since 2020, Princess has sold off the Golden and Star to P&O Australia and kept Grand in the fleet and is the oldest ship in the Princess fleet.

 

I am pretty sure that the Grand was last dry docked in late 2019 or early 2020, I recall it was in Portland, OR at the Vigor ship yards getting refreshed.  There is some documentation out there that was captured by an on-board entertainer who had some time to do photos in between his dry dock tasks and exploring Portland.  It was an extensive dry dock with lots of public area refurbishment and refurbishment of crew areas, too.  Obviously Princess wants to keep this ship in the fleet.  But again, I'm trying to figure out why?  Could be an issue of depreciation, the cost of removing Skywalkers, tidying up the area in which the structure was removed from the vessel and then repurposing space on board for a night club, was no doubt very expensive.  They may be on a long (20 year?) depreciation cycle which is forcing them from an accounting standpoint to keep the ship in the fleet until the work is fully depreciated.  Maybe it is more emotional, they don't want to send the class leading ship out to another cruise line until they have most if not all the Grand class vessels replaced with newer ships?

 

Either way, I'd want to be on a newer vessel that has newer and more amenities, especially for that length of voyage.  The biggest drawback of the Royal class ships is the lack of an indoor pool option (except for the Majestic).  So, on those cooler days at sea, pool will be unusable, but hot tubs will probably be fairly popular.  If there is rain, everyone will be indoors.  The case for the Grand is going to be the indoor pool and the wrap-around promenade, and maybe smaller passenger count.  The case against it is going to be its age (25 years), fewer dining venues and amenities, and possibly older feel with a bit more wear and tear in places.  The Royal isn't a spring chicken anymore (10 years old), but has more dining options and more amenities, and probably less visible wear and tear.

[cr8tiv1]

The Grand went into dry dock in the spring (April?) of 2022.  I have sailed on her 5 times since the restart.  I was saddened when Princess moved the Golden, then the Pacific Princess in a move toward bigger (not always better) ships.  The Grand Princess has her charms.  She was a rust bucket pre-pandemic.  They cleaned her up nicely with no more water buckets to catch her drips. 

 

Most of the recent dry dock was cosmetic.  New carpets, improved sofas in cabins and other public areas. 

 

My most recent voyage was a back to back for 25 days.  I found enough food choices that helped me gain weight.  The crew on this ship is phenomenal.  If you read any of the reviews of her voyages, everyone rates the crew extremely high.  I don't think the Royal gets that kind of praise.  

 

As for dining options, I think they are pretty close to running neck and neck.  Both have Alfredo's although the menu is a little more complex on the Royal.  All other venues are the same.  Royal has Princess Live, Grand has Explorer's Lounge.  Royal has Skywalkers. Grand has One5 lounge.  

 

But you have to decide for yourself, what kind of an experience you would like to have.  You can always catch a ride on the Royal, but, I am fearful that the Grand's days are numbered.  The Grand has her loyalists. 

 

Please let us know what your final decision was and why.  I'm interested.

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by cr8tiv1

[lissie]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Grand Princess Cheerleader here....

 

If you want ballroom dancing, you may find it more available on the Grand Princess.  The Royal will have it in the Piazza on uneven tiled floor.  On the Grand, there might be music in the Wheelhouse, the Explorer's Lounge, and/or Club Fusion, as well as in the Piazza.  They've had canned music for afternoon dancing, but I have requested better music with the Entertainment Director (who was happy to comply).  You might be able to convince the DJ to play music in One5 Lounge late in the evenings.

 

The. Grand has a full Promenade Deck for your pleasure.  

 

The Grand  has a covered pool area.

 

I am not a buffet person but have heard that the Royal Class ships have a better buffet.  Don't forget the International Cafe for additional snacks.

 

The Royal will have better production shows (boo to Princess for not changing out the Grand shows).  But with that comes the crowds and inability to find seats in the theater with 1000 extra bodies.

 

Lots of sea days with really no where for the Royal Class passengers to lounge.  WIll you have a balcony?  Grand balconies are bigger and better.

 

 

 

 

We tend to do buffet for breakfast and lunch.  We will be cruising with an inside cabin the balconies are significantly more expensive. We don't mind insides - so long as there are places to sit around the ship. 

 

I'm still fairly evenly posed between the options LOL  

[lissie]

4 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Please let us know what your final decision was and why.  I'm interested.

 

Haha - I'm definitely flip-flopping. And having to work on a partner who things that 2 months is too  long away (after being away for longer last year) . So the last option maybe a flight home 😞

[Peetee]

We just completed the trans pacific From Sydney to SF last month.  We were on the Grand and it was only about 3/4 full.  We prefer the smaller ships.   The Grand works for us. We had cabin A734 which is steps away from the door the leads to the Terrace Pool.   Loved it have booked again for next year.

The wheelhouse bar has good music and many people liked to dance there.  We enjoyed watching.  Don't care for Piazza. 

[mtnesterz]

Just realized this is an old thread. Decision was likely already made.

Edited May 12, 2023 by mtnesterz

[lissie]

17 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

Just realized this is an old thread. Decision was likely already made.

Partner won - we are flying home 😞

[Oceansaway17]

i picked the Grand for Alaska on purpose because I wanted to try an older Princess ships to enjoy the wrap around outdoor promenade and the enclosed pool.  Will be on her for 14 days in Alasak r/t Vancouver doing all ports twice,

The thing about new ships is there is less outdoor space and lots of rooms up the back and on the sides.   I have only sailed on Cairbbean Princess and I love aft area of the ship with the ramp to upper area and lots of seating in the aft too.