Grand Princess Mid-Ship Stairs

Hello,

 

I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016.

 

Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs?

 

Thanks!

Hello,

 

I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016.

 

Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs?

 

Thanks!

 

Just got off Grand a few hours ago. No mid-ship stairs other than the curved stairways from deck 5 to 6 and 6 to 7 in the Piazza. The original stairs are still there, but go up half way and end at an "Employee Only" door. Inconvenient is the insight I can offer.

The stairs are there but aren't finished for passenger use. Fine if in an emergency but not accessible otherwise.

Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks.

Just off the Grand. My husband has limited mobility. It was a short walk to the stairs. Just past the elevator bank.

Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks.

 

 

We have sailed the Grand many times since her debut and never thought twice about the lack of stairs until cries for help started appearing on Cruise CRitic after the Royal came out.

The Grand is now 19 years old and millions have sailed on her. :confused:

Just off the Grand. My husband has limited mobility. It was a short walk to the stairs. Just past the elevator bank.

 

These stairs do not go higher than deck 7.

Hello,

 

I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016.

 

Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs?

 

Thanks!

 

This may help

Hello,

 

I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016.

 

 

Obviously they were wrong. Maybe they were confusing the Grand with the Royal which did have the mid-ship stairway converted to passenger use last year.

 

We have cruised on the Grand in a mid-ship cabin and survived. So will you.

I'm sure it would be fine, but there are available cabins near the front staircase/elevator bank that I may pick just for the convenience of using stairs when we want to

 

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Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks.

The problem is that the lack of stairs puts more people into the central elevators. Easy if you're at the top heading down, or at the bottom heading up, but in the middle trying to get anywhere it's a challenge. It essentially "disturbs the equilibrium" of how people move about the ship. Those who are willing to use the stairs end up either waiting for an elevator or trying to dash down/up the halls to find stairs (or a set of less-crowded elevators).

 

Now, throw on some mobility challenges, whether it be walker, scooter, bags 'o stuff, or in my case, multiple cameras with relatively large lenses, etc., there's a lot more congestion for the elevators and/or going up/down the halls.

The problem is that the lack of stairs puts more people into the central elevators. Easy if you're at the top heading down, or at the bottom heading up, but in the middle trying to get anywhere it's a challenge. It essentially "disturbs the equilibrium" of how people move about the ship. Those who are willing to use the stairs end up either waiting for an elevator or trying to dash down/up the halls to find stairs (or a set of less-crowded elevators).

 

Now, throw on some mobility challenges, whether it be walker, scooter, bags 'o stuff, or in my case, multiple cameras with relatively large lenses, etc., there's a lot more congestion for the elevators and/or going up/down the halls.

Sounds like it's about the level of inconvenience I expected. It's unfortunate that they didn't reconfigure the stairs in the last drydock. Perhaps next time.

The problem is that the lack of stairs puts more people into the central elevators. Easy if you're at the top heading down, or at the bottom heading up, but in the middle trying to get anywhere it's a challenge. It essentially "disturbs the equilibrium" of how people move about the ship. Those who are willing to use the stairs end up either waiting for an elevator or trying to dash down/up the halls to find stairs (or a set of less-crowded elevators).

 

Now, throw on some mobility challenges, whether it be walker, scooter, bags 'o stuff, or in my case, multiple cameras with relatively large lenses, etc., there's a lot more congestion for the elevators and/or going up/down the halls.

 

I agree completely ... I always use the stairs and didn't really feel as though the walk to the aft or forward stairs would be an issue. But think of this ... there is only one side of the ship that is open to walk to the aft stairs. This may be the same for the forward stairs but we were all the way aft so didn't use those much. That area in front of the photos, Wheelhouse Bar, Explorers Lounge was just an accident waiting to happen ... always a huge traffic jam ... which only got worse when they added a photo event or an event in the Vista Lounge created a back up in that main hallway. Add a few strollers, scooters, walkers, people carrying packages or children running through the crowd ... you can see what an awful design flaw this really is. Others may downplay it and I suppose that is their prerogative but I think it is horrible. I think if Princess is going to keep that ship in service, they really should think about opening up the midship stairs.

Just got off the Grand today and I found it annoying to not have stairs midship. Obviously not life-altering, but annoying. We were often on decks 5-7 midship and I did not like using the piazza stairs to move between floors as if anything was going on there was a crowd gawking from the steps. After a few days of confused meandering we got much better at getting where we needed to be and avoiding the often-crowded central elevator bank. Our room was deck 9 aft.

Sounds like it's about the level of inconvenience I expected. It's unfortunate that they didn't reconfigure the stairs in the last drydock. Perhaps next time.

The Grand has been sailing for 19 years without the passenger accessible mid-ship stairs so don't hold your breath. There are about 1,000 more passengers on the Royal class ship's which probably made a higher demand for the stairs and the Royal class ship's were much newer, only three years old when the stairs were added. It's just one of the features of the first of nine Grand class ship's that make her unique. Another is the significantly smaller closets in balcony class cabins and below.

 

 

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The Grand has been sailing for 19 years without the passenger accessible mid-ship stairs so don't hold your breath. There are about 1,000 more passengers on the Royal class ship's which probably made a higher demand for the stairs and the Royal class ship's were much newer, only three years old when the stairs were added. It's just one of the features of the first of nine Grand class ship's that make her unique. Another is the significantly smaller closets in balcony class cabins and below.

 

 

Didn't they already have stairs there but for crew only use?

 

I didn't think the Grand had ANY stairs above deck 7?

The Grand has been sailing for 19 years without the passenger accessible mid-ship stairs so don't hold your breath. There are about 1,000 more passengers on the Royal class ship's which probably made a higher demand for the stairs and the Royal class ship's were much newer, only three years old when the stairs were added. It's just one of the features of the first of nine Grand class ship's that make her unique. Another is the significantly smaller closets in balcony class cabins and below.

 

 

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Oh, there's no breath holding going on. I just thought I read at one point about another grand-class ship where the stairs (which are there, but are crew-only) were reconfigured for passengers. But perhaps I'm mixing it up with a different class.

 

In any case, I'm not too fussed. Forewarned is forearmed and all, so we'll just get in the habit early of going fore or aft for our vertical movement needs.

Just got off the Grand today and I found it annoying to not have stairs midship. Obviously not life-altering, but annoying. We were often on decks 5-7 midship and I did not like using the piazza stairs to move between floors as if anything was going on there was a crowd gawking from the steps. After a few days of confused meandering we got much better at getting where we needed to be and avoiding the often-crowded central elevator bank. Our room was deck 9 aft.

When someone aft or forward says the missing stairs were an annoyance, that's when you know they're an annoyance. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Didn't they already have stairs there but for crew only use?

 

I didn't think the Grand had ANY stairs above deck 7?

 

Yes I've walked them down a few times

 

Years ago they used to open the hidden midship stair well during the muster drill. They're basicly the same size as the other Grand class ships, but with bare unfinished white paint walls designed for employee's

 

Srpilo

Yes I've walked them down a few times

 

Years ago they used to open the hidden midship stair well during the muster drill. They're basicly the same size as the other Grand class ships, but with bare unfinished white paint walls designed for employee's

 

Srpilo

 

Thanks.

Yes I've walked them down a few times

 

Years ago they used to open the hidden midship stair well during the muster drill. They're basicly the same size as the other Grand class ships, but with bare unfinished white paint walls designed for employee's

 

Srpilo

Never meant to imply that there were no midship stairs, only that they were for crew only above the Promenade deck as originally on the Royal and Regal.

 

 

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Never meant to imply that there were no midship stairs, only that they were for crew only above the Promenade deck as originally on the Royal and Regal.

 

 

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Yeah I got that..

 

I was just replying to Keith's post, hence the quote of his post

Srpilo

Hello,

 

I'm cruising on the Grand Princess next year and I have a concern about booking a mid-ship cabin because I have seen posts and even a video online (circa 2014) about the mid-ship stairs restricted to crew only between decks 8-12. The travel agent said she checked with her Princess rep AND the Princess rep's supervisor who said the mid-ship stairs ARE accessible to guests, and perhaps accessible now since the last remodel was in 2016.

 

Anyone sail in the last year on the Grand Princess have any insight into the mid-ship stairs?

 

Thanks!

 

A few years ago, we sailed on a sister ship of the Grand, the Star. It had the Skywalkers and a mid-ship set of general-use stairs. Since then, we have sailed on the Grand several times. On the Grand, the Skywalkers was removed. The general-use stairwells are only forward and aft. In mid-ships, the stairwell only provides access to the Piazza deck levels (in addition to the spirally stairs in the Piazza itself).

Just how inconvenient is this? Looking at the deck plans, it doesn't appear to be that long a walk to the fore or aft stairs, and while I recognize that not all passengers are as mobile as I am, those who aren't are also unlikely to choose the stairs over the elevators, no? But perhaps it's a longer walk down the corridor than it looks.

 

This was my issue with the Royal and Regal. We like to book midship on deck 8 or 9 on the Grand Class ships that have midship stairs so in the morning we can grab coffee and a bite from the IC to bring back to our room or in the evening if we need to use the bathroom it was a quick walk up to our room. Midship comes at a premium price and I don't like the idea of having to do a 360 to get to our room or to the IC by using the stairs. I decided to book the less expensive rooms forward to save money and to cut down on walking in a circle.

It does seem like it would be sort of annoying to book a midship cabin and have to either use the elevators or do a lot of backtracking. I never thought about the fact that midship cabins are more expensive and in some ways the least convenient, if you don't use the elevators. Still, more steps mean more desserts.

 

My wife and I have been on the Grand twice and the Golden once, with aft cabins twice and forward once. We walk through the photo area a LOT on the Grand, and the art gallery, and even occasionally the casino despite the smoke, but in good weather we prefer the promenade deck. And of course we walk end to end from Horizon Court to Horizon Terrace and take the outside stairs down. We also like to walk a lot more than most.

 

I guess the upshot is that I prefer aft cabins... we like the movement of the ship back there and there are a myriad of direct routes to and from anywhere on the ship.