Not Live from the Golden Princess - LA to Sydney

This is the third sea day on our way from LA to Sydney.Due to my limited amount of internet minutes, I may not be able to answer many questions but I will be providing some comments throughout the cruise.

The internet AND intranet has been up and down several times throughout the cruise. This has meant that Princess@Sea has been unavailable and we have had to resort to the old fashioned paper Patter

 

We have a cabin on Caribe deck and the only water issue we have seen on board was wet carpeting and a fan in the public corridor adjacent to the Windows suites. The carpet is now dry and the fan is gone.

 

There were boxes of new pillows in the hallways. The new bedding and pillows are very comfortable.

 

We have the new, large screen LG TVs and connections are accessible. However, there doesn’t appear to be a way to switch between inputs and the input is a coax cable, not hdmi.

There has been plenty of butter in the butter dishes in the dining rooms. We ate at Sabatini’s Trattoria on the first night and it was a very good meal with excellent service. IMHO, the new menu is a welcome change.

 

The new carpet has a series of 4 dots, green on the starboard side and red on the port side, that provide the same capability to know which side of the ship you are on.

 

The ship will apparently be getting some or all of the new wines, beers and the sort in Auckland or Tauranga. As a result, inventory of a number of wines is low or nonexistent. Vines doesn’t have stock to be able to offer half of the wine flight tastings. I have heard that Priness has stopped offering the wine packages and I will try to confirm the facts later in the cruise.

Love sailing east to west because we have already gained two hours and will gain another hour tomorrow night

 

The first show of Born to Dance last night was standing room only but good seats for the second show were readily available almost until curtain time.

There were a fair number of tuxes display at last night’s formal night.

 

There are 1,200 elites onboard. Haven’t tried to send out laundry yet but the quote the standard up to 3 day turnaround.

It appears that Park West is gone and Princess Fine Arts is back.

 

We hadn’t received our elite minibar by the afternoon of the second day but was able to finally get through to Room Service and exchange for 2 coffee packages.

Thanks for checking in.........Enjoy Brian! :)

Interesting info. How long is your cruise?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Interesting info. How long is your cruise?

 

 

 

Its 28 days........

Completely random question: the boxes of pillows... did they happen to say the brand name on them (the brand name of the pillows, that is)? Or were the generic boxes with pillows in them?

 

I'm not a crazy person (I don't think :P) Recently off a Princess cruise and loved the pillows we had... trying to track them down because they were amazing!

 

Thank you and have a great cruise!

Completely random question: the boxes of pillows... did they happen to say the brand name on them (the brand name of the pillows, that is)? Or were the generic boxes with pillows in them?

 

I'm not a crazy person (I don't think :P) Recently off a Princess cruise and loved the pillows we had... trying to track them down because they were amazing!

 

Thank you and have a great cruise!

 

A quick Google led to this:

 

https://shop.princessluxurybed.com/pillows-comforters/princess-down-feather-pillow

Completely random question: the boxes of pillows... did they happen to say the brand name on them (the brand name of the pillows, that is)? Or were the generic boxes with pillows in them?

 

I'm not a crazy person (I don't think :P) Recently off a Princess cruise and loved the pillows we had... trying to track them down because they were amazing!

 

Thank you and have a great cruise!

 

 

They are available here........

https://www.princessluxurybed.com/pillows-comforters/

It appears that Park West is gone and Princess Fine Arts is back.

 

What was the indication this occurred? I assumed that all of the PFA on shore infrastructure and personnel were disposed of when the switch to PW was made.

Would also love to know. Keep getting emails rom Park West.

Thank you so much for doing this report. We were supposed to be on this cruise as it was dh bucket list. Unfortunately due to something beyond our control we will never be able to take such a long trip... especially one with a long flight home. We have previously done the 28 day r/t from LA to the South Pacific so will be looking forward to your reports about New Zealand and even if you stay extra days at the end in Sydney (we were going to spend a week). I'll also be curious about the weather as you get to New Zealand and crossing the Tasman Sea.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Would also love to know. Keep getting emails rom Park West.

All of the material refers to Princess Fine Arts. I will confirm one way or another when I can ask questions.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have the new wine list in the dining rooms but not Vines yet. There are almost 80 wines on the new wine list and many old favorites are gone. For instance, there are now 7 Pinots and 4 burgundys on the new list. I will try to post more information later.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have the new wine list in the dining rooms but not Vines yet. There are almost 80 wines on the new wine list and many old favorites are gone. For instance, there are now 7 Pinots and 4 burgundys on the new list. I will try to post more information later.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

WOW. That sounds like a major upgrade. Since you are heading in that direction I am curious Am I curious as to whether New Zealand is well represented on the list of Pinot Noirs?

 

Actually, I am now more excited than I would have imagined about the new wine list. I hope it gets rolled out to the rest of the fleet, quickly.

Have a great cruise!

We have the new wine list in the dining rooms but not Vines yet. There are almost 80 wines on the new wine list and many old favorites are gone. For instance, there are now 7 Pinots and 4 burgundys on the new list. I will try to post more information later.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

That's great about the new wines. Have they introduced any new wines by the glass? They had such terrible selections in the dining rooms.

All of the material refers to Princess Fine Arts. I will confirm one way or another when I can ask questions.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Not being one to attend the art auctions, I hadn’t noticed that all of the signage and brochures referred to Princess Fine Art but it is Park West that actually runs the program. So I was wrong and Park West staff is on board but using Princess name tags.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

That's great about the new wines. Have they introduced any new wines by the glass? They had such terrible selections in the dining rooms.

I will take some photos at dinner tonight. Until they get more wine in Auckland only the DR’s will have the new wines. Only old wines are current available at bars or Vines and many of those wines have little or no remaining inventory.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I will take some photos at dinner tonight. Until they get more wine in Auckland only the DR’s will have the new wines. Only old wines are current available at bars or Vines and many of those wines have little or no remaining inventory.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you. Enjoy your dinner!

We have the new wine list in the dining rooms but not Vines yet. There are almost 80 wines on the new wine list and many old favorites are gone. For instance, there are now 7 Pinots and 4 burgundys on the new list. I will try to post more information later.

Thanks Brian for sharing your cruise with us.

 

We sailed Sydney to LA and it was one of our favorite cruises. We’re in Maui...will you be stopping here? :cool:

Thanks Brian for sharing your cruise with us.

 

We sailed Sydney to LA and it was one of our favorite cruises. We’re in Maui...will you be stopping here? :cool:

 

Not on this cruise, but no...Honolulu and Kauai only.

Not on this cruise, but no...Honolulu and Kauai only.

 

Mahalo Renee...lots of thunderstorms today.

Not being one to attend the art auctions, I hadn’t noticed that all of the signage and brochures referred to Princess Fine Art but it is Park West that actually runs the program. So I was wrong and Park West staff is on board but using Princess name tags.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Same "art" from Park West on last cruise. Peter Maxx auction, same hard sell, "enrichment" classes, waste of paper and "free" champagne....if you register for a paddle.

 

I really liked Princess Fine Arts and wish Princess would consider bringing them back.

 

Thank you for the "not" live posts. I will be following you. Love the Golden and wish I was continuing on with all of you (mostly Australians and Kiwis?)

Mahalo Renee...lots of thunderstorms today.

 

I've been watching. Of course....no weather when I was there for 90 days. 3 hurricane misses and a canceled wedding on Kauai.

Thursday Evening

 

Work was done on the Golden’s thrusters during her recent drydock and they needed to be tested so at 3:00PM this afternoon the Captain stopped the Golden in the ocean several hundred nautical miles from Honolulu and conducted a thruster test for four hours. Fortunately the seas were calm but it was strange to be stopped and motionless for the testing. There was some shaking and rattling during our early seating dining.

 

We went to the $25 Maitre d’ wine tasting this afternoon which had some nice wines including:

Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne from France

Seigneurial De Tanlay “Les Ecuries” Chablis from France

Briar Ridge Verdelho from Australia

Innocent Bystander Pinot Noir from Australia

Similar Landslide Cabernet Sauvignon from the U.S.

Overture Engraved Red Blendfom the U.S.

They were offering a $34 Ultimate Wine & Luncheon Pairing in Sabatini’s which we will also be doing.

 

Wines by the glass on the DR Wine List

Mionetto Prosecco Brut Gold, NV - $10

Attend Pinot Grigio, 2017 - $11

Martin codex Albariño, 2016 - $10

S.A. Prum Essence Riesling, 2015 - $11

Lauren’s V. Singing Gruner Veltliner, 2016 - $10

Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc, 2017 - $9

Pascal Jolivet Pouilly-Fume, 2017 - $12

Conundrum White, 2015 - $11

Domaine d’Aussieres Chardonnay, 2017 - $9

La Chablisienne La Pierrelee Chablis - $11

Decoy Chardonnay, 2016 - $10

Hartford Court Chardonnay, 2017 - $14

Charles & Charles Rose, 2017 - $8

Albert Bichot Santenay, 2016 - $13

Meiomi Pinot Noir, 2016 - $11

Frescobaldi Chianti Rufina Riserva Nipozzano, 2015 - $11

d’Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz, 2015 - $11

Errazuriz Estate Carmenere, 2015 - $9

Decoy Merlot, 2015 - $12

Domaine d’Aussieres Cabernet Sauvignon, 2016 - $9

Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015 - $12

Errazuriz Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, 2016 (3oz) - $8

Quinta do No al Late Bottled Vintage Port, 2012 (3oz) - $10

 

Just for thrak (but no prices)

 

Scotch, Whisky & Bourbon

Johnnie Walker Blue

Johnnie Walker Black

Chivas Regal 12 Year

Knob Creek

Jameson Irish

Crown Royal

Dalwhinnie 15 Year

 

Beer

Heineken

Corona

Stella Artois

Grolsch

Guinness

Budweiser

Colors Light

Blue Moon

Miller Genuine Draft

Goose Island Sofie

Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks Brian for sharing your cruise with us.

 

 

 

We sailed Sydney to LA and it was one of our favorite cruises. We’re in Maui...will you be stopping here? :cool:

As cr8tiv1 posted, no stop in Maui this cruise. We need to get together some day.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums