What I would actually book
A standard Balcony cabin is the sensible default on any of these seven ships — the largest category on every one of them. If a balcony isn’t essential, this class offers a genuinely usable Oceanview alternative that most other Princess classes don’t. Families and anyone wanting more space should price a Mini-Suite before assuming they need a full suite.
Balcony
The largest category on every ship in this class — roughly 502–682 cabins per ship depending on which one.
Mini-Suite
Roughly 168–186 cabins per ship; price this before assuming you need a full suite.
Roughly 218–236 cabins per ship
Every ship in this class carries a genuinely sizable, no-balcony Oceanview category — not a token few cabins.
Reserve Collection
Confirmed current branding on all seven ships, alongside a Reserve Collection Mini-Suite tier on most of them.
Grand → Gem (Diamond/Sapphire) → Caribbean → Crown (Crown/Emerald/Ruby)
A real, documented design evolution — not an artificial grouping.
Cabins below pool decks, gyms or casinos, obstructed-view Oceanview grades, and forward cabins in rough seas
The most consistently documented location patterns across this class — see the location section below.
Four generations, seven ships, one class name
Grand Class covers more design variation than any other class in this project. The four-generation split below is the fastest way to know which ship you’re actually comparing.
Grand Princess (1998)
The original — first of the entire Grand Class family. 1,303 total guest staterooms per Princess’s current fact sheet (Princess’s own ship page and CruiseMapper separately state 1,301). Six named suite grades including a confirmed Window Suite (7 cabins) and Family Suite. A major 2011 refit added The Piazza and The Sanctuary and removed the original nightclub.
Diamond Princess (2004)
One of two "Gem class" ships — built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki, Japan, not Fincantieri in Italy like the rest of this class. 1,353 total staterooms, matched by independent sources. Japan-market design touches: the Izumi Japanese Bath and Kai Sushi restaurant.
Sapphire Princess (2004)
Diamond Princess’s near-identical twin, also Mitsubishi-built. Princess’s own current fact sheet for this specific ship has an internal math error — it states 1,337 total staterooms but its own itemized categories only sum to 1,320. We use the self-consistent secondary-source total of 1,339 instead.
Caribbean Princess (2004)
A one-off variant with a full extra deck (the Riviera Deck) added to the original Grand Princess design, built for year-round warm-weather Caribbean sailing — no sliding pool-deck roof. 1,571 total staterooms per Princess’s current fact sheet; two independent secondary sources separately tally a close 1,569.
Crown Princess (2006)
First of the "Crown class" trio — Wikipedia calls it the fourth Princess version of the Grand-class design, with two additional decks and the Skywalkers nightclub relocated near the funnel. Princess itself currently publishes two disagreeing stateroom totals for this ship, 1,545 and 1,541 — we present both rather than pick one. A documented July 2006 listing incident off Port Canaveral is part of this ship’s history.
Emerald Princess (2007)
Crown Princess’s near-identical Crown-class sister. Princess’s current fact sheet states 1,546 total staterooms; independent secondary sources land noticeably lower, around 1,532–1,533 — the widest stateroom-count gap in this class. SHARE by Curtis Stone is a genuine point of difference from Crown Princess.
Ruby Princess (2008)
The newest of the Crown-class trio, and the only ship whose own Princess fact sheet explicitly labels its "Class:" field "Crown" rather than "Grand" — direct confirmation of the sub-designation. 1,542 total staterooms per Princess’s current fact sheet; cruisedeckplans.com separately tallies 1,530. The highest accessible-cabin count in this class (31).
Interior → Oceanview → Balcony → Mini-Suite → Suite
Like every current Princess class, Grand Class sells by named tier rather than a single numbered or lettered code — Interior, Oceanview, Balcony, Mini-Suite and Suite, with individual cabin grades lettered underneath each tier on the deck plan. Unlike Royal Class, no ship in this class runs a separate Deluxe Balcony tier, and unlike Royal Class’s tiny 6-cabin Oceanview niche, Oceanview here is a real, substantial category — roughly 218–236 cabins on every ship.
One consistent structure, seven different ships
Unlike Royal Class, which splits into two structurally different generational tables, Grand Class runs the same five-category structure — Interior, Oceanview, Balcony, Mini-Suite, Suite — on every one of the seven ships. What differs is the exact cabin count per category, per ship, and how much of the suite detail Princess and independent sources have published. The table below reflects each ship’s own current Princess fact sheet; we did not force a single dataset across ships where sources genuinely disagree.
| Family | Category | Approx. size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interior | Interior (IA–IF) | ~150–180 sq. ft. | 366–456 cabins depending on the ship — no window |
| Oceanview | Oceanview (plus obstructed OV/OW/OY/OZ grades) | ~150–180 sq. ft. | A real, sizable category on every ship — roughly 218–236 cabins depending on the ship, window with no balcony |
| Balcony | Balcony (BA–BF, plus B2/B4 on some ships) | ~185–222 sq. ft. + balcony | The largest category on every ship — roughly 502–682 cabins depending on the ship |
| Mini-Suite | Mini-Suite (M1, MA, MB, MD, ME), Reserve Collection Mini-Suite (MV) | ~277 sq. ft. + balcony | Roughly 168–186 cabins depending on the ship — figures for several ships are disputed between Princess’s own fact sheet and secondary sources |
| Suite | Owner’s Suite (S2), Penthouse Suite (S3), Premium Suite (S4/S5), Vista Suite (S5/S6) | ~319–730 sq. ft. + balcony, varies by grade and ship | Named grades are consistent class-wide, but exact letter-to-grade code mapping is disputed between third-party sources on several ships, and per-grade counts aren’t published for most ships |
| Suite | Grand Suite (S1) | ~613 sq. ft. + balcony (disputed — see individual ship pages) | Confirmed on Grand, Caribbean, Diamond and Sapphire Princess (1–2 cabins per ship); explicitly does NOT apply to Emerald Princess, per our research — we did not confirm it either way for Crown or Ruby Princess |
| Suite | Window Suite (S7) | ~319–341 sq. ft., no balcony | Confirmed specifically on Grand and Caribbean Princess (7 cabins each); we could not confirm or rule it out on the other five ships in this class |
| Suite | Family Suite (S8) | ~335–427 sq. ft. + balcony, two bedrooms | 2 cabins per ship on every ship where a count was published — the one suite grade that’s genuinely consistent class-wide |
This class surfaced more small, unresolved gaps between Princess’s own fact sheets and independent secondary sources than any other class we’ve covered — a 2-cabin gap on Grand Princess, a 2-cabin gap on Caribbean Princess, an internal math error on Sapphire Princess’s own fact sheet, and a roughly 13–14 cabin gap on Emerald Princess. We present each ship’s own figures and flags on its own page rather than force one clean class-wide number.
These two top-tier grades are the least consistently documented across the class. Grand Suite is confirmed on four of the seven ships and explicitly does not exist on Emerald Princess; Window Suite is confirmed on two of the seven ships (Grand and Caribbean Princess) with no confirmation either way on the other five. We’re not asserting these grades are absent where we simply didn’t find them — see each ship’s own accuracy section for what was and wasn’t confirmed.
The value baseline across all seven ships
Interior cabins run roughly 150–180 sq. ft. across every ship in this class — genuinely windowless. Inventory ranges from 366 (Grand Princess) to 456 (Caribbean Princess), the most consistent category in terms of design across the class.
Every ship in this class carries a real, substantial Oceanview category as the next rung up — a genuine budget alternative, not a token handful of cabins the way it is on some newer Princess classes.
A defining strength of this class
This is one of the clearest differences between Grand Class and the newer Royal Class ships this project covered: every ship here carries a real, substantial Oceanview category — roughly 218–236 cabins depending on the ship, a window with no private balcony. On Royal Class, by contrast, Oceanview exists on only three of six ships and tops out at just 6 cabins per ship. If a genuine no-balcony window cabin at a real discount is what you’re shopping for, this class is a stronger fit than Royal Class.
With 200+ cabins per ship, Oceanview availability is real — not the scramble it can be on classes where it’s a tiny niche category.
The default choice, with no separate Deluxe tier
Balcony is the largest category on every ship in this class — roughly 502 (Grand Princess) to 682 cabins (Ruby Princess) depending on the ship. Unlike Royal Class, this class does not run a separate Deluxe Balcony tier on any of the seven ships — Balcony here is a single, unified category running roughly 185–222 sq. ft. plus a balcony.
Codes like OV, OW, OY and OZ (on both the Oceanview and Balcony categories, depending on the ship) indicate a lifeboat or machinery-blocked view, priced lower for a reason — this pattern is consistent across the class.
A sitting-area step up, and this class’s biggest source-conflict category
Mini-Suite runs roughly 277 sq. ft. plus a balcony across the class, adding a sitting area over a Balcony cabin. Inventory ranges from roughly 168 to 186 cabins depending on the ship — and this is the category where Princess’s own fact sheets and independent secondary sources disagree most often across this class, particularly on Emerald and Ruby Princess. A subset of Mini-Suites on most ships carries the Reserve Collection Mini-Suite designation (booking code MV on several ships), the same physical footprint bundled with Reserve Collection perks.
A standard Mini-Suite
The sitting-area upgrade over a Balcony cabin, at a fare below the suite tiers — price this before assuming you need a full suite.
A Reserve Collection Mini-Suite specifically
The same physical footprint, bundled with Reserve Collection perks — confirm which specific cabins carry this designation before booking, and check the specific deck: Cruise Critic notes some ships (Sapphire Princess specifically) have Mini-Suite balconies that are uncovered and weather-exposed on certain decks.
A broader, less uniformly documented ladder than Royal Class
Grand Class’s suite structure is genuinely broader than Royal Class’s three-grade system — Owner’s Suite, Penthouse Suite, Premium Suite and Vista Suite appear consistently across the class, joined on some ships by a top-tier Grand Suite, a no-balcony Window Suite, and a two-bedroom Family Suite. But this class is also the least uniformly documented of any we’ve covered on exact suite letter-code mapping and per-grade counts: multiple ships have suite grades (commonly coded S4) where secondary sources disagree with each other on the grade name, and Princess rarely publishes exactly how its suite total splits across named grades. We present what’s confirmed on each ship’s own page rather than force a single class-wide suite taxonomy that the source material doesn’t actually support.
The two-bedroom Family Suite (S8) is the most reliably documented grade across this class — roughly 2 cabins per ship everywhere a count was published, and the only suite category we’d call truly class-wide.
Confirmed on all seven ships, with one branding-currency wrinkle
Reserve Collection is Princess’s standard suite-tier program, confirmed as current branding on all seven ships in this class via Princess’s own Reserve Collection marketing page. It includes priority embarkation and disembarkation, a welcome bottle of wine or in-room mini-bar setup, evening canapés on request, upgraded bathrobes, and a Reserve Dining area inside the main dining room. On Ruby Princess specifically, Reserve Collection branding appears on current marketing pages but is notably absent from the official fact sheet PDF (last updated October 2023) — a sign that document predates the current rollout, not a real conflict about what’s offered today.
Like Royal Class and Coral Class, Reserve Dining on this class is a designated area inside the main dining room, not a separate suite-only restaurant venue — that structural difference belongs to Sanctuary Collection on Sun and Star Princess.
Seven ships, seven different current figures — and real source conflicts
Accessible-cabin counts genuinely differ by ship on this class, and this is one of the more source-conflicted figures we found: Grand Princess 26 (vs. 27 per two independent sources), Caribbean Princess 26 (vs. 25 per one outlier source), Diamond Princess 27 (agreed), Sapphire Princess 27 (agreed), Crown Princess — Princess itself disagrees with itself here too, 29 on one page and 31 on another, and we lean toward 31 since three independent secondary sources also agree with it — Emerald Princess 28 (vs. 31 per CruiseMapper), and Ruby Princess 31 (agreed) — the highest confirmed figure in the class.
Confirm the exact accessible cabin number, category and door width directly with Princess or a travel advisor well ahead of your sailing — and confirm which ship, since several of these figures are genuinely disputed between Princess and secondary sources.
A recurring pattern, and generally weaker sourcing than we’d like
The same handful of location risks turn up across every ship in this class — a byproduct of the shared design lineage. Sourcing quality varies: most ships’ location detail traces to a single third-party cabin-selection blog we couldn’t independently corroborate, though Crown Princess is a partial exception, where two independent blogs at least partially agree with each other.
Cabins directly below the pool deck, gym or casino
The most consistently cited noise pattern across this class — deck-chair dragging, equipment noise, or casino-floor sound carrying down.
Cabins near self-service laundry rooms
A recurring complaint across most ships in this class, though specific cabin numbers vary ship to ship.
Cabins near crew stairwells or elevator lobbies
Early-morning crew movement and elevator foot traffic.
Obstructed-view Oceanview or Balcony cabins (commonly coded OV/OW/OY/OZ)
Lifeboats or machinery housing block part of the view — priced lower for a reason, and this specific point is corroborated by the deck-plan category codes themselves on every ship.
Forward-facing cabins on upper decks
More exposed to wind and motion — reported as too windy to comfortably use the balcony on several ships.
Upper aft balcony cabins
Some risk of soot from the funnel/exhaust, reported on multiple ships in this class.
With the partial exception of Crown Princess, specific cabin numbers behind these patterns trace to a single third-party cabin-selection blog per ship, none independently cross-verified against a second source in this research pass. Treat all cabin numbers on the individual ship pages as plausible and worth checking against the current deck plan, not as independently confirmed.
What does the next dollar actually buy?
A window with no balcony, at real scale on every ship in this class — a genuinely usable step, not a token category.
Private outdoor space — the single most-felt upgrade for most travelers on any of these seven ships.
A genuine sitting-area upgrade, and — if it’s the Reserve Collection grade specifically — the most accessible route into Reserve Collection perks without full suite pricing.
Reserve Collection perks, priority dining and access to a private lounge on some ships — but Princess rarely publishes exactly how each ship’s suite total splits across Owner’s, Penthouse, Premium and Vista grades.
The top of the ladder on the ships where these grades exist — confirmed on four of seven ships (Grand Suite) and two of seven (Window Suite). Check the specific ship’s own page before assuming either is available.
Match the strategy to the traveler
Solo traveler
Princess does not sell a discounted solo-occupancy category on this class — budget a standard category at the single-supplement rate.
Couple
Start with a standard Balcony cabin. This class’s real Oceanview category is a genuine budget alternative if a balcony isn’t essential — unlike classes where Oceanview is a token category.
Family
Price a Mini-Suite before assuming you need a full suite — and check whether the ship you’re considering has a two-bedroom Family Suite (S8), the most consistently documented suite grade across this class.
Light sleeper
Avoid cabins below the pool deck, gym or casino, near self-service laundry rooms, or near crew stairwells and elevator lobbies.
Suite-first traveler
Confirm the specific ship’s suite detail before booking — this class is the least uniformly documented on exact suite grade names and per-grade counts of any class we’ve covered.
Value-first traveler
This is one of the stronger classes in this research project for a genuine no-balcony Oceanview discount, given the real inventory size on every ship.
Turn the cabin premium into a daily number
Use the Seabound Cruise Value Calculator alongside this guide: the cabin framework above gives you the facts, the price gap tells you whether the next category up is worth buying.
Seabound Cruise Value Calculator
Open the value tool and apply it to the cabin premium in front of you.
The class guide gets you close. These finish the decision.
Each ship page carries its own confirmed stateroom count, accessible-cabin figure, location-specific research and suite-grade detail, so this master page never has to fake one dataset that fits all seven ships identically.
Grand Princess
The original — 1,303 staterooms, six named suite grades including a confirmed Window Suite.
Caribbean Princess
The one-off with an extra deck — 1,571 staterooms per Princess’s current fact sheet.
Diamond Princess
Mitsubishi-built "Gem class" — 1,353 staterooms, Japan-market design touches.
Sapphire Princess
Diamond Princess’s near-twin — and a fact sheet whose own numbers don’t add up.
Crown Princess
First of the Crown-class trio — 1,545 staterooms, two extra decks versus the original design.
Emerald Princess
Crown Princess’s near-twin — with SHARE by Curtis Stone and no Grand Suite category.
Ruby Princess
The ship Princess itself labels "Class: Crown" — the highest accessible-cabin count in this class.
Grand Class cabin questions
What is the best cabin on a Grand-class ship?
For most travelers, a standard Balcony cabin is the easiest right answer on any of the seven ships. If a balcony isn’t essential, this class’s genuinely sizable Oceanview category (roughly 218–236 cabins per ship) is a real budget alternative most other Princess classes don’t offer at the same scale.
What are the four Grand Class ship generations?
Grand Princess (1998, the original); the Mitsubishi-built "Gem class" pair, Diamond and Sapphire Princess (2004); the one-off Caribbean Princess (2004), which added a full extra deck; and the "Crown class" trio, Crown, Emerald and Ruby Princess (2006–2008), which added two more decks and relocated the nightclub. Princess’s own fact sheet for Ruby Princess literally labels her "Class: Crown," directly confirming this sub-designation.
Are Golden Princess and the original Star Princess part of Grand Class?
They once were, but both have left the Princess fleet entirely — transferred to sister brand P&O Cruises Australia between 2020 and 2022 and later absorbed into Carnival Cruise Line. Neither is covered in this guide. (Note: a completely different, newer ship also named Star Princess entered service in 2025 as part of Princess’s Sphere Class — an unrelated ship that happens to share a name.)
Is Reserve Collection on this class the same as Sanctuary Collection on Sphere Class?
No. Reserve Collection here includes priority perks and a Reserve Dining area inside the main dining room, but no dedicated suite-only restaurant. Sanctuary Collection on Sun Princess and Star Princess includes a separate, dedicated suite-only restaurant and lounge — a real structural difference.
How many staterooms does each Grand Class ship have?
Grand Princess: 1,303 (Princess’s ship page and CruiseMapper separately state 1,301). Caribbean Princess: 1,571 (secondary sources: 1,569). Diamond Princess: 1,353 (matched by secondary sources). Sapphire Princess: Princess’s own fact sheet states 1,337 but its own itemized categories only sum to 1,320 — we use the self-consistent secondary-source figure of 1,339 instead. Crown Princess: Princess itself currently publishes two disagreeing figures, 1,545 and 1,541. Emerald Princess: 1,546 (secondary sources land noticeably lower, around 1,532–1,533). Ruby Princess: 1,542 (cruisedeckplans.com states 1,530).
How many wheelchair-accessible cabins does each ship have?
This genuinely varies by ship, and several figures are disputed between Princess and secondary sources: Grand Princess 26, Caribbean Princess 26, Diamond Princess 27, Sapphire Princess 27, Crown Princess 29–31 (Princess publishes both figures on two different current pages; we lean toward 31), Emerald Princess 28, Ruby Princess 31 (the best-corroborated figure in the class).
Does every Grand Class ship have a Window Suite or Grand Suite?
No — this is one of the least consistently documented suite grades across the class. Grand Suite is confirmed on four of the seven ships (Grand, Caribbean, Diamond, Sapphire Princess) and explicitly does not apply to Emerald Princess. Window Suite is confirmed specifically on only two ships (Grand and Caribbean Princess); we could not confirm or rule it out on the other five.
What is fact, what is Seabound analysis, and what we hedged on purpose
This guide reflects Seabound’s own research into Princess’s published stateroom data for all seven ships, cross-checked against third-party cruise sources (CruiseMapper, Cruise Critic, cruisedeckplans.com and cabin-selection guides) current as of August 2026 — not a pre-audited or "locked" reference document. This is the largest and most source-conflicted class we’ve covered so far: seven ships across four design generations, several with genuine gaps between Princess’s own published figures and independent secondary sources. A dedicated senior-editor accuracy pass after the initial build corrected several errors, documented below.
Emerald Princess: a prior version of this guide stated the ship still offers SHARE by Curtis Stone and that O’Malley’s Irish Pub was exclusive to Crown Princess. Princess’s own current dining page shows SHARE has since been discontinued on both Emerald and Ruby Princess, and O’Malley’s (added in a December 2025 drydock, not April 2025 as previously stated) is now offered on both Emerald and Crown Princess. Corrected on Emerald Princess’s own page.
Diamond Princess: a prior version of this guide named Kai Sushi as this ship’s specialty sushi restaurant and listed only five suite grades. Kai Sushi was replaced by Makoto Ocean in a late-2025 rollout, and the ship in fact has six named suite grades, not five. Both corrected on Diamond Princess’s own page.
Caribbean Princess: a prior version of this guide claimed Crown, Emerald and Ruby Princess all lack the sliding pool-deck roof this ship has by design — that specific three-ship comparison wasn’t supportable from what we could verify. Corrected to compare only against Grand Princess, which the guide’s own FAQ already did correctly.
Crown Princess: a prior version of this guide treated this ship’s stateroom total (1,545) and accessible-cabin count (29) as settled, Princess-confirmed figures. Princess in fact currently publishes two disagreeing figures for each on two different current pages of its own site (1,545 vs. 1,541 staterooms; 29 vs. 31 accessible cabins). Corrected to present both, leaning toward 31 for accessible cabins since three independent secondary sources also support it.
Sapphire Princess’s total stateroom count: Princess’s own current fact sheet states 1,337, but its own itemized categories sum to only 1,320 — an internal inconsistency in Princess’s own document, not a stale-vs-current conflict. We use the self-consistent secondary-source total of 1,339 on that ship’s page and flag the fact sheet’s own math error.
Grand Princess and Caribbean Princess each show a small 2-cabin gap between Princess’s own fact sheet and either Princess’s own separate ship-experience page or independent secondary sources.
Emerald Princess shows the widest stateroom-count gap in this class — Princess’s current fact sheet states 1,546, while independent secondary sources land around 1,532–1,533.
Ruby Princess’s roughly 12-cabin gap against cruisedeckplans.com traces mostly to the mini-suite count (10 cabins), with a smaller balcony-count discrepancy (2 cabins) also contributing — not the mini-suite category alone.
Suite grade letter-to-name code mapping (particularly the S4 grade) is disputed between third-party sources on Caribbean, Crown, Emerald and Ruby Princess, and no ship in this class has a fully Princess-published per-grade suite count. On Emerald Princess specifically, five independent secondary sources converge on "Penthouse Suite" for S4, which the page now reflects as the better-supported (though not Princess-confirmed) name.
Grand Suite and Window Suite grade presence: confirmed on some ships, explicitly ruled out on Emerald Princess (Grand Suite), and simply not found either way on several other ships (Window Suite on five of seven ships) — we did not assume absence where we only lacked confirmation.
Wheelchair-accessible cabin counts are disputed between Princess and secondary sources on four of the seven ships (Grand, Caribbean, Crown, Emerald Princess) — on Crown Princess specifically, Princess disagrees with itself across two of its own pages.
Location detail for most ships traces to a single third-party cabin-selection blog per ship, none independently cross-verified against a second source in this research pass — Crown Princess is a partial exception, with two blogs that at least partially corroborate each other.
The named-tier category structure, the genuine class-wide Oceanview category, Reserve Collection’s role as this class’s suite-tier program, the two-bedroom Family Suite grade’s presence across the class, Ruby Princess’s own "Class: Crown" fact-sheet designation, and the departure of Golden Princess and the original Star Princess from the Princess fleet are each confirmed on Princess’s own current published materials.
The four-generation design evolution (Wikipedia’s Grand-class cruise ship article and Cruise Critic both independently describe the same structure), the accessible-cabin counts on three of seven ships, and the general below-deck noise pattern are each corroborated by more than one independent source.
Which category is the better buy for a given traveler type, how the four ship generations compare, and what each rung of the upgrade ladder is actually purchasing.
This master page doesn’t pretend one dataset fits all seven ships identically, especially on suite structure, stateroom totals and accessible-cabin counts, where they genuinely diverge and where several real source conflicts exist. Confirmed cabin numbers and ship-specific detail belong on the seven ship pages, which this guide links to throughout.