Grand Princess

"Grand Princess" is a large cruise ship owned by Princess Cruises. Built in 1998 by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani in Monfalcone (Hull Number 5956), Italy, at a cost of approximately US$450 million, she was the largest and most expensive ship ever built at the time, a distinction now carried by Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of the Seas. And soon to be Oasis of the Seas. Grand Princess primarily operates in Europe during the summer to early fall, and then operates in the Caribbean during winter to late spring.

"Grand Princess" was the first of the Grand Class ships, and has a different decor scheme to her sister ships, using darker woods, and the interior decor is more similar to the smaller (77,000 grt) Sun Class ships. The cabin layout is also marginally different in the arrangement of the bathroom and the walk-in wardrobe. At a recent refit, the "Movies under the Stars" feature was added.

She is the sister ship of the Star Princess and the Golden Princess. The "Grand Princess" was the setting for a task in the second series of the UK version of the reality TV show "The Apprentice".

External links

* [http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=54 CruiseCritic.com review]
* [http://www.princess.com/ships/ap/index.html Princess Cruises page]
* [http://www.littley.com/Dave/images/grand_princess/grand_princess.html Photos]
* [http://www.relevantsearchscotland.co.uk/ships/ships/078grandprincess.html Large Photos]
* [http://ships.galutschek.at/grand_princess/ Two Video Clips of Grand Princess in Venice]