Normal
We went on the Star Princess in April, Grand in July then the Star again in October. The short time between sailings gave us an opportunity to compare things. The Star is a much newer ship. On the Grand we found many things broken or non-functional in our two cabins. Most of the problem items were not something the staff could fix. It was annoying that every time we opened a particular drawer the handle fell off, could not shave/blow dry hair in the bathroom because the power outlet didn't work, etc... As both of these ships are classified as "Grand Class" and are sister ships the internal layout is a bit different. One big difference is that the Star has stairs mid-ship from the Plaza deck to Lido deck and the Grand doesn't. The deck plans on the Princess website show they both have them but they weren't on the Grand when we traveled last year. Our stateroom was mid-ship on the Aloha deck (one below Lido) and it drove us nuts that we had to walk to the front or back of the ship anytime we wanted to go one deck up to the pools or buffet. As my wife and I are not anywhere near retirement and like to burn off some of the 6,000+ calories injested daily, we usually take the stairs and avoid the elevators. There are elevators mid-ship on both ships but find them to be real slow and the wait long. The Star had a true, full 24-hour buffet. They would serve dinner all night until the start of breakfast. The Grand would shut down the buffet about 11 PM every night and only have desserts, fruit, cheese and cracker type snacks until breakfast the next morning. For someone that is from the east coast and traveling the Caribbean they could probably care less about a full dinner after 11PM but if you are from the west coast like us your body clock is saying it is only 8 PM. The shutdown was annoying if you wanted to eat later.The staff on the Star was wonderful both times. The staff wasn't nearly as well trained or friendly on the Grand but I don't hold that against the ship itself. Princess for the most part turns over the entire staff every one to eight months depending on their classification. The personel on the Grand today could be on the Star next week. It was just one more of those little things that didn't make our trip on the Grand as nice as the trips on the Star.
We went on the Star Princess in April, Grand in July then the Star again in October. The short time between sailings gave us an opportunity to compare things. The Star is a much newer ship. On the Grand we found many things broken or non-functional in our two cabins. Most of the problem items were not something the staff could fix. It was annoying that every time we opened a particular drawer the handle fell off, could not shave/blow dry hair in the bathroom because the power outlet didn't work, etc...
As both of these ships are classified as "Grand Class" and are sister ships the internal layout is a bit different. One big difference is that the Star has stairs mid-ship from the Plaza deck to Lido deck and the Grand doesn't. The deck plans on the Princess website show they both have them but they weren't on the Grand when we traveled last year. Our stateroom was mid-ship on the Aloha deck (one below Lido) and it drove us nuts that we had to walk to the front or back of the ship anytime we wanted to go one deck up to the pools or buffet. As my wife and I are not anywhere near retirement and like to burn off some of the 6,000+ calories injested daily, we usually take the stairs and avoid the elevators. There are elevators mid-ship on both ships but find them to be real slow and the wait long.
The Star had a true, full 24-hour buffet. They would serve dinner all night until the start of breakfast. The Grand would shut down the buffet about 11 PM every night and only have desserts, fruit, cheese and cracker type snacks until breakfast the next morning. For someone that is from the east coast and traveling the Caribbean they could probably care less about a full dinner after 11PM but if you are from the west coast like us your body clock is saying it is only 8 PM. The shutdown was annoying if you wanted to eat later.
The staff on the Star was wonderful both times. The staff wasn't nearly as well trained or friendly on the Grand but I don't hold that against the ship itself. Princess for the most part turns over the entire staff every one to eight months depending on their classification. The personel on the Grand today could be on the Star next week. It was just one more of those little things that didn't make our trip on the Grand as nice as the trips on the Star.
