Grand Class Love, Why?

[pris993]

On 10/27/2018 at 12:33 PM, need2cruisesoon said:

I've been on a couple Grand Class cruises (Ruby, Grand) and yes they are nice ships but seems like many here have the opinion they are the "do all, end all"

Yes, I know promenade deck, Horizon pool......but getting long in the tooth to be honest.

 

What happens when the last Grand Class is retired?

 

[pris993]

I could ask the opposite question, what is so great about Royal Class?   I did a TA on the new Royal... bigger but that did not make it better, for us.    I have been on the Grand. Star, Sapphire, Golden and Ruby over the years.  Liked the Ruby the newest one I believe in this class, the best.   Glad it will replace the Grand in SF, our home port.    When the grand class retires so will I... i am 72 anyway... LOL.   We are doing a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral this year, never been on it before... many like it because it is smaller.  I have done the original Royal, all suite ship;  the second Royal, also very small ... very pleasant, did a 12 day visiting Israel, Egypt and Greece years ago... service on board outstanding.    For years, service on the Grand in SF, was great as well, kept us going back again and again.    We did the first cruise on the Grand from Istanbul to Barcelona in l998.  Fond memories... for us Royal Class is just too big, too many people and it is missing some Grand class features we enjoy, large balconies in mini suites and the main deck.  

[BritinSoCal]

55 minutes ago, pris993 said:

I could ask the opposite question, what is so great about Royal Class?  

 

We've sailed on both Regal and Majestic and are looking forward to the Royal when head South of the Border from San Pedro. What's to like? Space (seriously - so much space); the buffet; the fact that the promenade (or supposed lack of) is always deserted that we've never had a problem grabbing a spot... The only thing we don't like is the loss of The Explorers for the antiseptic Princess Live. That said at least the Royal Class are proper ships and not floating amusement parks... we're adults and can make our own entertainment, thanks very much.

 

We've also sailed on Grand Class, Coral Class and will be popping "home" before picking up the Pacific later this month. Bottom line is we haven't sailed on a Princess ship we didn't like - sure they all have their quirks - but that's what makes them all individual. 

 

We don't care about balconies or suites - a restricted view suits us fine. We treat our cruise as a fully-inclusive floating hotel, and just like our land-based hotels, providing our cabin is clean, has a comfortable bed, we're good to go... looking at the number of Elites in the same type of cabin as us, seems others have the same idea.

 

And while bigger isn't necessarily better, this is the future of the mainstream cruise industry. Those who want the smaller more intimate experience will migrate to those lines that will cater to them. Us? We've a finite vacation budget and plan on stretching it as far as we can...

Edited August 6, 2019 by BritinSoCal

[snaebyllej]

27 minutes ago, BritinSoCal said:

Those who want the smaller more intimate experience will migrate to those lines that will cater to them. Us? We've a finite vacation budget and plan on stretching it as far as we can...

109K (Grand) is not intimate.

 

I was on Ruby and Royal in May; I won't be going on the Royal class again.  Too big, and like others I care a lot about the promenade.  Yes, they still have little bits of the deck left here and there, but on the Royal they had them closed much of the time.

[Iamcruzin]

My biggest complaint about the Royal Class ships is that they don't have Ocean view staterooms and the price of a balcony is high enough for me to book on another line that has larger balconies.  I'm learning to love Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. They both sail from my area and with the savings not having to fly to port I can afford longer trips and better accommodations. I don't think I would sail on a Royal Class ship even if they ran Caribbean itineraries from NY.  At the very least it would have to be a deep discounted cruise.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[cruisingrob21]

Maybe what OP was referring to was the decor and style of the grand class ships is starting to be a bit dated.  Some of the upgrades done on the grand in the last 6 years or so have helped.  The One5 lounge is nice and she generally has a more cosmopolitan feel than the star and golden, direct sisters.  Does that mean the Crown, Emerald, and Ruby are step sisters?  And the Caribbean is the middle child, and the sapphire and diamond are cousins that live down the street? 🙂

 

Looks like the Caribbean got some nice furniture upgrades in the last drydock.  Arguably, the grand class and all derivatives are well designed and have a nice assortment of pools, hottubs, and outdoor space.  Something the Royal class doesn't quite have. However, after sailing on the ms Amsterdam last month - it will be hard to sail on anything with more than 1500 people again.  Nary a crowd to be found and THAT ship, was perhaps the most well taken care of I have ever been on - they vacuumed the carpeted ceiling!  They also had a great library/game room concept - it's a shame that HAL has reduced the size of them on the later ships.  Sorry, got off track...

 

https://cruisingrobsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/ms amsterdam

Edited August 6, 2019 by cruisingrob21

[getting older slowly]

Grand class... is like a cruise ship... not a floating hotel....

 

The Golden will be leaving Princess late 2020 to go to P&O..... add more cabins, water slide and other non ship things..

 

Being in  Australia we have mainly cruised on Golden   .. after is goes we with get the Sapphire which is similar design

 

But just like the feel of the grand class ships

 

Cheers Don 

[Steven_&_Daniel]

On 8/5/2019 at 10:26 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

I've been on Royal and Majestic and they are my least favourite Princess ships.

We've sailed Royal & Regal. I've seen pictures of the enclosed pool on Majestic, which looks really cool. What was your view of that? I was really surprised that Princess didn't reposition one of their ships with a covered pool (not necessarily Majestic because I know it was built for the Asian market) to sail in Alaska after the Golden leaves. We haven't done Alaska yet, but I hate the idea of not having a usable pool when cruising.

 

We do love the buffet and the piazza on the Royal class. But obviously lots of stuff could be better. I prefer the Grand class over smaller ships. But everyone has their likes and dislikes.

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Steven_&_Daniel

[peety3]

We love the Adagio Bar on Ruby, and how it works with the adjacent specialty restaurant and the outdoor patio that's adjacent.

 

Now that we understand how the "four half-sized midship MDRs" work on Diamond/Sapphire, those are appealing.

 

Golden or Star would be next on the list. Grand is nice but I personally dislike the lack of passenger-accessible midship stairs; it puts more burden on the midship lifts and the other stairwells.

[Grammyluvs]

I love them for so many reasons. Why do  cruise ships not have promenade decks anymore? Also, always  book the  Caribe deck for the  larger balcony for shade and no shade. Best of both worlds. I love the Regal and going on the Sky next year, but  boy do I miss the promenade deck and larger balconies. 

[MISTER 67]

On 10/27/2018 at 10:25 PM, mevs904 said:

The promenade deck is very important to us.  It feels like really being at sea.  We will never sail on RC or Celebrity.  We are only sailing on the Regal because it goes to St. Petersburg.  We love Disney...classic ships!  Staring to look for ships on other cruise lines that have a promenade deck.  MSC maybe?

The smaller RCCL ( Freedom class and older) ships have promenades like the Grand Princess ship, so does Holland America on all but their 2 newest ships. I'm pretty sure the 4 oldest Celebrity ships have the full promenade. IMHO, HAL has the best promenade decks, plenty wide with the old steamer type loungers with nice cushions.

Edited August 8, 2019 by MISTER 67

[Swingdancers]

We all have things that we love about cruising. For my wife and I, it is walking around the promenade deck looking at the ocean, being out on the balcony when we enter or leave a port, and being able to go out each night for dinner and dancing. The design of the new ships have either downgraded or completely done away with these activities.  

[jondfk]

For us, I think Golden is our favorite of the class.  We do like the Adagio lounge, which showed up later in the series.  The real decider though are the 7 glorious window suites which exist only on Grand, Golden and Caribbean.  As noted elsewhere Golden will fleet exit in about 18 months, off to Australia.  We're hoping Grand and CB remain in the fleet a few years longer - we'll follow them wherever the itineraries take them.  

 

I have no reference yet for Grand versus Royal class . . . first Royal cruise is next month.

[suekel]

There are 2 window suites each on the forthcoming Sky and Enchanted but they look like whole different creatures than the ones on the ships mentioned above. 

[nini]

Pris993-

We love the Golden and Regal. Not so much...…. with the Coral. We took the Coral for a PC cruise

and did not care for the "stuffy" buffet and not as great food. The windows in the buffet, which is at the very front of

the ship, were usually steamed up from the humidity and are slanted. However, of course we were on it for the itinerary and liked our port balcony on the very end of the ship. (sort of a corner). And we enjoyed getting to know our great neighbors.

[Iamcruzin]

On 8/7/2019 at 6:26 PM, Grammyluvs said:

 Why do  cruise ships not have promenade decks anymore?  

Simple they don't produce revenue.