I mean, the grind is massively less than it originally was.

Have you been using EXP rings? you can get them from conquest points, the login points you get each day you log in, sparks, and more. You can literally level up to 99 in a day.|

There is also an EXP/capacity point bonus event happening next week, which gives you 2-3x exp and you can use the exp rings with it too.

It's not just this game though, all MMOs are grinds. The game does show its age in other ways, but honestly, it has a charm that will never be matched, and FFXI just gives you a lot of freedom to try different things that modern MMOs just don't let you do anymore.