Guests sailing aboard a Princess Cruise ship are receiving partial refunds of their cruise fare because of issues with the air conditioning and toilets in their staterooms.
Grand Princess departed on a 16-day Panama Canal cruise on September 15, 2025. She is expected to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Oct. 1.
Although there are no changes to the itinerary, Princess Cruises acknowledged the warmer-than-usual temperatures in some cabins and offered compensation.
"We are aware and want to acknowledge that you are experiencing issues in your staterooms, and we truly appreciate your patience as our teams work to address the concerns," reads a letter given to passengers aboard the Grand Princess.
"While our cooling systems are working properly overall, additional adjustments need to be made in affected staterooms to bring the temperature to a more comfortable level. This is a result of Grand Princess repositioning from a cooler climate during previous voyages."
As part of its seasonal repositioning, Grand Princess is moving from Alaska to the Southern Caribbean. She will return to Alaska in May 2026.
In addition to cabins with limited air conditioning, some staterooms also experienced issues with the toilet. The toilet disruptions were caused by ongoing treatment to the system.
"Our technical team is actively addressing this matter to make the necessary repairs as quickly as possible," the letter added.
Affected guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare for the days that they had issues with their cabin.
Moreover, a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) equivalent to 25% of the fare paid for the current voyage will be issued. It's valid for bookings made by April 1, 2026, for all cruises departing by April 1, 2027.
Refunds will be automatically processed to the original form of payment, while the FCC will be applied to guests' Captain's Circle account.
Grand Princess is the oldest ship in Princess Cruises' fleet
Although the vessel underwent a dry dock before its seasonal stint in Alaska, guests have complained about the cooling systems aboard Grand Princess.
"I just got off the Grand. I had a good cruise. With that being said the Grand is 27 years old and it shows. I suspect they had problems with the AC as the main [dining] rooms were absolutely boiling. I’m kinda surprised it’s scheduled to cruise in 2026," one passenger wrote on Reddit.
Another added, "We just got off grand princess last week to Alaska and had the air as cold as it would go the whole week and the room was still really warm."
A third traveler shared a more critical review of their cruise aboard the Grand Princess in January 2025:
"We were just on the [Grand Princess] and both of us were very disappointed. The food subpar, our room the A/C was not working, toilets [were] not working in the rooms for days."
"Princess did give us a fan. They told us that there was no other room available to upgrade or change [to]. We offered to pay whatever. Yes, we got two vouchers that totaled 250 person but that was not worth it."
Read more: Princess Cruises overview of fleet
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Having sailed on over 30 cruises across different lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, Margaritaville at Sea, and Princess, she loves sharing her insight and expertise on all things cruising!
In addition to writing for Cruise.Blog, Elizabeth has bylines in Business Insider, Royal Caribbean Blog, and Cruiseshipfood.com.
