We stayed on the Plaza Deck on the Grand last June. We had always had a balcony, so we really missed that, but thought that the location was great. We really made use of the atrium area on the Plaza Deck more than ever. We hardly ever went down that far before. But found that the chairs with headphones were great as was having our own personal purser's desk. Hardly anyone realizes that there are two purser's desks so most go to the one on the upper floor. We got to know a junior purser and he would say hi everytime we went by and ask if there was anything we needed. It was great! There is also usually a musician of some sort playing in the atrium on this deck every afternoon and we enjoyed that. And no, there was never much noise.
Enjoy the Grand! This is our favorite ship design. We went first on the Golden, then Grand, and our last cruise in March was on the Star. So much to do!