Grand Princess is crossing the Pacific to Sydney for a new Australian season, and despite being the oldest ship in the Princess Cruises fleet — she entered service on 26 May 1998 — she arrives with a reputation for warmth that her captain insists matters more than novelty.

Captain Stefano Ravera, who shares a birthday with the ship (though, as he jokes, not a birth year), argues she doesn't need to compete with newer mega-ships like Sun Princess. Her biggest asset, he says, is the crew. His standing instruction to them: treat passengers as though your own parents were aboard.

That philosophy got a road test in Alaska, where a group of Australian travel agents sailed the ship ahead of her southern deployment. Lyndall Baldwin, a senior consultant at Frank Ford Travel in Ballarat, said the most common objection she hears from first-time cruisers is fear of crowds. Grand Princess carries 2,610 passengers, but Baldwin found the abundance of lounges, decks and public rooms meant she never felt packed in. Her verdict: elegant, classy and homely — not old and tired.

The ship offers the familiar Princess formula: main dining rooms, speciality restaurants, theatre shows, the adults-only Sanctuary, Movies Under the Stars and a central Piazza. Baldwin thinks that mix suits a broad range of travellers — couples, families, first-timers and multigenerational groups — rather than a single demographic, which makes her an easy recommendation for clients booking South Pacific, New Zealand or round-Australia itineraries. Many passengers fly into Sydney or Brisbane and tack on a hotel stay either side of the sailing.

For the 2026-27 season, Grand Princess will be based mainly in Brisbane, part of a wider Princess programme with departures from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Fremantle. She'll also run a 79-night Circle Pacific voyage calling at 32 destinations across 13 countries.

Ravera knows Australian waters well from earlier commands with P&O, though he'll hand over the ship after delivering her to Sydney — so locals won't find him on the bridge through the season. Expect modest tweaks to food, drink and entertainment to suit local tastes.

For travellers, the takeaway is simple: if you want a cruise that prioritises comfortable public spaces and personal service over waterslides and neon, an older, well-loved ship may be exactly the right fit — and she'll be sailing from Australian ports all summer.