The Grandclass is a class of cruise ships. Ships in the class are operated by the cruise linesPrincess Cruises or P&O Cruises. The class consists of several series of sister ships, most of which were built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone and Trieste, northern Italy. The first vessel of the original Grand class, , entered service in 1998. Ships of the later subclasses are based on the Grand class, but have modifications such as additional decks and varied placement of facilities such as the nightclub and restaurants. The structure used as a nightclub is a signature element of Princess Cruises' ships in the Grand class and derived classes. The nightclub either overhangs the stern of the ship or is located just aft of the funnel. The Gem class of ships is based primarily on the Grand class, but modifies the placement of the nightclub to be just aft of the funnel and also modifies the number of restaurants. The two Gem-class ships were built by Mitsubishi in Nagasaki, Japan in 2004. The Caribbean class is the third version of the design and has one additional deck. As in the original Grand-class design, the nightclub is suspended on the stern. Caribbean-class vessels also introduced a poolside theater, which was later added to other Princess ships. The Crown class is the fourth Princess Cruises version of the Grand class. Crown-class ships have returned the placement of the nightclub adjacent to the funnel. Crown-class ships also feature a poolside theater like the Caribbean class. The Ventura class has 19 decks like the Crown class. These ships both owned and operated by P&O Cruises and are marketed as Grand class, although they were given the Ventura class designation because they are not owned by Princess and are totally modified internally and externally. Ventura is also the largest ship in the Grand class. The second Ventura-class ship is MS Azura, launched in March 2010 which has a modified stern. Azura is also the only P&O Cruises ship to feature a poolside theater style outdoor screen.
A design difference on these ships is the relocation of the nightclub to directly aft of the funnel, rather than suspended over the stern. The two Gem-class ships, Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess, are the only two ships based on the Grand class to be built at Mitsubishi's Nagasaki Yard.
''Caribbean'' class
The design for Caribbean Princess derives directly from the original Grand-class ships, with none of the Gem-class modifications being included. Caribbean Princess uses the original Grand-class design, but with an additional deck. This additional deck increases the ship's passenger capacity from 2,600 to 3,100. Caribbean Princess was also the first ship to have a poolside theater. The three ships in the Crown class,,, and, were later built with this feature also included. It has since been added to the all of the ships in the class.
''Crown'' class
These ships, which build on Caribbean Princess design, also differ slightly. These ships have one more passenger deck than the original Grand class as well as the poolside theater. A nightclub is aft of the funnel.
''Ventura'' class
Ships in the Ventura class are based on the Crown-class design. The ships in this class are owned and operated by P&O Cruises. Azura has a modified stern.
