After Enjoying Others - My Golden Princess and Alaska thoughts

[kooljamming]

About US

We are a couple in our mid forties to early fifties. We enjoy cruising but are not devoted cruisers. This was our second cruise on Princess, with the first on Sapphire Princess for our anniversary. Recently we cruised on Carnival and RCCL, all wonderful but different experiences. This was our first trip to Alaska, a cruise we were really excited about. Overall, the chance to see Alaska was absolutely unforgettable with absolutely breath taking scenery. We enjoyed many things on this vacation but the cruise itself was not the type of vacation we envisioned.

Pre-Cruise

We flew in the night before and stayed at the Embassy Suites. This hotel is absolutely fabulous with a lobby that opens to the courtyard. We chose this because they served a full breakfast, not the usual continental. The breakfast was plentiful, and better than ones I have had on some ships. (Hey Carnival, loved our vacation but your breakfast buffet sucked). To enjoy the hotel we delayed our transfer by Seattle Express to the ship

 

What we loved:

The ship

Like the Sapphire Princess was absolutely beautiful. After a few minutes I was back to the feeling of, Oh, this is just like the Sapphire Princess except for a few additions. With true beauty it never hurts to see it again and again.

The buffet

From breakfast to dinner, we never went hungry. I loved the variety and this time was not bothered by the awkward flow of Horizon court. The design is flawed, so you simply learned to work with it. The staff was friendly and we were fortunate to always find someone willing to share a table during the peak hours. Before long the staff remembered that I liked two lemonades not one.

Cabin/Crew

As always wonderful. I am the one on vacation so I offered a smile and never had one refused. We booked the inside cabin for this trip. I have seen the inside before and knew it was smaller than others. I mistakenly thought a few square inches wouldn’t matter. I have never felt so cramped in a cabin before. I started to regret not booking two separate cabins which would have been only $100 more than the quad we had. Once the ladders were down, there were hardly enough room in the cabin to breathe (Ok a bit much).

Entertainment

We enjoyed the evening entertainment. I loved the live band in the Wheelhouse bar. They moved the champagne waterfall to 7 pm so we could enjoy this as a family. The New Years Eve Party was on Thursday the second formal night. Hey, New Years party in August, sounds cheesy but fun. We saw a few of the shows and really enjoyed the try-outs for the Princess Idol. There were some true laugh out loud moments. There weren’t a lot of those moments on Princess except at the sail way party. Moments when you see people forgetting about everything and having FUN.

 

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR US:

Dining Assignment

We wanted to experience good old fashion Traditional dining on this cruise, as in set time with table mates. For this trip we moved our travel date so we were confirmed for TD. As always we requested a large table (8-10). We showed up and was assigned to a table of 6 but was immediately told we would be dining alone. Ok, this was not what I had in mind but decided to give it a try. This gave us no chance of meeting the and sharing the dining experience beyond our immediate family. After 2 nights we decided to officially switched to anytime. This table remained empty, yes I checked.

 

Dinner:

I did not care of for the sauced up food on Sapphire Princess and I hated it without the sauce on the Golden. I ordered dishes with less sauce that were utterly and completely tasteless. The first night the dinner was painfully slow. We sat at 5:45 but our main course was served after 7 pm. I started to search in my bag for M&Ms. Eventually we gave up and went directly to the buffet. It was not worth our time to sit and wait to be served. There was nothing we truly enjoyed, not to say it was all bad.

 

Kids program

I read a lot of wonderful things about the program. I spent a part of my time on Sapphire to observe it and was somewhat impressed. The one on Golden was nonsense with lots of simple art and movies, rated to the tune of PG. I guess signing up your child for the program meant you gave consent. My daughter enjoyed aspects of it because she met new friends. Other times she was bored and wanted to have nothing to do with it. My son loved the teen program which was mostly a teen hangout. I went on this trip a bit concern about the 13-17 grouping knowing my son would be the youngest in the group. On this sailing, this program did not work for us. We vacation a lot, (recently 4 cruises, 2 trips to Jamaica, 2 trips to Riviera Maya plus camping) so my reward for not leaving them with grandma is counting on a good kids program so I can have a few peaceful moments.

 

MUTS

Should I say MADD or Movies ALL D@MM Day. This was a deck I chose to hangout with my daughter, meet others, and enjoy the wonderful scenery. Well, I tried except most times you could not hear yourself think with the blaring sound. I was not looking for peace and quiet, but was not ready to have the sound of real voices be replaced by audio from a screen. This was simply a great deck to enjoy the scenery or better listen to a nice band.

 

Photos and Photographer

While taking a picture in the dining room I looked down and noticed a wardrobe malfunction. This can happen when you are wearing fru-fru frock at my age. I wasn’t sure if the photographer was required to print all shots. I asked if the picture was going to be printed and he assured me No. I went as far to say I can be there to grab it, if that was the case. He took another shot and promised me the picture would be deleted. Low and behold, it was printed. Not that is was ‘that’ bad but I tired to get a straight answer and he BS me. Wost of all the lines for the pictures on formal night were painfully long. We finally gave up and never got the location we really wanted.

 

Trivia

We finally gave up. People were playing as if the prize was a FREE cruise in the Penthouse Suite. Oh, for heavens sake it was luggage tags.

 

Missed Port

We missed the last port. Yeah, I know this can happen but still disappointed. I was hoping to meet friends from our last cruise.

 

Our Wonderful Excursions

Juneau - We rented a car from Rent-A-Wreck for the day. We called their toll free number and they picked us up and returned us to the pier. We had a late start on the day and got the the Glacier around 1:30. The sight was absolutely spectacular. We decided to take the easy 20 minute hike over to the waterfall. The experience reminded me of Cave of the Winds in Niagra Falls. After the falls we headed for a quick stop at the Alaskan brewery. We sampled a few of the selection while the kids sang a 1000 bottle of beer on the wall, mama drank one turned around 999 bottles of beer on the wall. Before long we had to return the car, but getting to the glacier and the falls were our key objective. Knowing we were going to visit Butchart Gardens we chose not to visit the local garden, this was a mistake.

Skagway

This is one of the most picture perfect towns I have seen. We booked the 2.5 hours drive up to the Summit. I chose not to do the train (cost and time) and also I wanted to stop and see the waterfalls along the way. We drove along the railroad tracks and took pictures of the trains going by. Having a long day at this port we returned to the ship for lunch, dismissed my son for the kids program and later return for shopping. This was a great place for souvenirs. We took the shuttle from the pier to 7th street, then walked all the way back to the ship. There were tons of great buys at the SOS - Skagway Outlet Store and the American Tee-shirt Factory.

Ketchikan

This was a short day in town. I wanted to test my courage and do the zipline but thought to save it for Mexico for a fraction of the cost. We got off without the kids and took a walk around the town. We walked over to Creek Street and first check out Dolly Brothel. Hey, I am not one to judge and present Dolly seemed like a fun lady (no pun intend). The mantra at Dolly’s Brothel back in the 'good old days' was one could get hammered and nailed for $5. Five dollars doesn't buy what it used to anymore, does it:eek:

Seattle

We did the Best of Seattle excursion, which was perfect. Our flight was scheduled for 4 pm. We were concern about handling for bags and getting back to the airport. The tour stared around 9 with stop in the Space Needle and Pike Market. A tour worth while, granted way too short at the Pike Market.

 

There were clearly aspects of this cruise I did not care for. However it’s almost impossible to have the chance to see Alaska without leaving feeling truly blessed. We met some great people, saw some amazing places, and spent time together as a family. I loved the glaciers but was blown away by the waterfalls. In the end any cruise line for me is a product like bacon. Some days it great and enjoyable, other days it’s all fat. After being on Carnival and RCCL, I would not choose Princess as my favorite family getaway. This is not to say I would stay home and pass on the chance to meet some wonderful people and discovery amazing places.

 

So why post the review?

Beyond the fear of being called a naysayer :To oppose, deny, or take a pessimistic or negative view of - , a whinner....the PICTURES of course :-)

 

Seattle: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574197196lfORgx

Juneau: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574203157McFqVM

Skagway: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574198308toxdMx

Tracy Arm: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574219468FgEhdE

Ketchikan: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574527457XmwzpA

New Yrs Eve: ttp://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574562705JNDkZN

Golden Princess: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574198687FsSgmB

[rdsqrl]

Pauline, I'm glad you finally posted your review; I was really interested in hearing about your trip -- and about what had disappointed you after all the hints you've been dropping (I'm nosy, what can I say?!). I'm sorry it wasn't as wonderful as you could have hoped but it sounds like the awesome-ness of Alaska made up for some of that.

I'm curious about one thing: here and in another post, you've mentioned "PG" as a problem. Isn't PG stuff pretty mild? Your kids look old enough to handle an occasional bad word or something. But then, what do I know? If I had kids, Child Services probably would have taken them away from me long ago for letting them walk to school by themselves and ride their bikes without helmets!

 

And, as always, your photos are terrific, and I really appreciate your generosity in sharing them all -- saves me the trouble of having to put on warm clothes and go to Alaska myself!

[kooljamming]

In today's rating PG pushes the limit. Even in high school you need parental consent for PG. My daughter knows she is not suppose to without my permission and most are fine. It's something to consider and factor in more so with younger children. By itself it probably would not be a problem to tell you the truth. Your attitude starts to change when one thing after the other is coming up short. Yesssssssssssss, Alaska was wonderful. Truly everything pales in comparison.

[rdsqrl]

Gotcha, thanks.

I'm off now to go watch The (definitely R-rated!!) Daily Show. Thanks again for the review.

[CruisinEars]

I was on this cruise with Pauline and we met and had a great time together. But, I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. Other than being in Alaska, this was my favorite ship and company so far. Pauline and I talked on the ship and it was funny how differently we felt about the same things.

 

I loved the food. It was very good, especially the crab legs and lobster. We also had traditional dining and everything was great. We had a good serving team and really enjoyed our family time. My inlaws were with us and they were waitlisted for early, and we were able to change them to be with us. We ended up at a table for 8 with only the 6 of us.

 

The pools were the nicest we have seen and the kids lived in them. I really enjoyed having the MUTS. Gave us something to watch while eating by the pool. Loved it on the Disney cruise too. Loved the indoor pool during the chilly weather.

 

Kids club~it was okay. The facility was very small for the number of kids. My kids mostly hung out with Pauline's daughter or in the pool.

 

So, all in all we had a fabulous cruise and are looking forward to sailing with Princess again. We just probably won't choose Alaska again. Too cold and boring.

[NotWthOutablcony]

I can SO sypathize with you on the MUTS thing! I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that they don't incorporate it onto every ship, specifically the Sapphire:D we reallky enjoy sitting up on deck listening to the music and watching the scenery go by, it gives us all time to sit together and chat or people watch, its hard to do with all of that blaring soundtrack in the background:(

I can certainly respect your point of view, everyone is different! I can't believe your going to try ziplining! My lifes ambition is to keep my feet securely on the ground!:eek:

We've done Alaska by land because we have family there, if you noticed, anywhere you go in the towns including Anchorage, you don't see ANY graffiti! Its a breath of fresh air. I think we may do the 10 day RT SF after our Hawaii cruise, I would LOVE the scenic cruising portion!!! All I want to do is sit with a blanket out on the balcony, with a pot of coffee and watch it all go by. I'm glad you at least enjoyed the ports! The kids programs are a little tough, I'm uber over protective of my 2 yr old nephew, we've talked about how fun it would be to take him with us when he turns 3, but, I just don't know, I think I'd feel much better about him being with us rather than anyone else, and that's not just due to the age. My niece was about 7 when we took her on a Carnival cruise, and we couldn't get her out of the kids club! I don't know, it really depends....that's Nana's little man:o

Food is so subjective! We've got southern roots, so do enjoy a good meal, we LOVED the food on the Sapphire, LOVED the food on the Caribbean, and HATED the food on the Star, it was like you said, tasteless! It reminded me of well designed hospital food. I NEVER add salt to anything, as everything these days are so high in sodium, but the Star cruise, I added salt, and dressings, and sauces etc. to everything! I don't know, I think its a hit or miss situation, I imagine their all serving the same food on all of the ships? Why do they taste different from one to the other? The best meal was my fall back choice, the alfredo! Always good in the event you can't find anything! And the always good dessert Loveboat! Yum!

[kooljamming]

We just probably won't choose Alaska again. Too cold and boring.

 

I loved Alaska, even the cold and can't wait to go back. We might return next year with my inlaws but without the kids. Great meeting you guys!

I think sometimes a trip starts out on a low key and continues down from there.

[kooljamming]

Best of Seattle tour: http://travel.webshots.com/album/574152470niZasv

[CrusinAgain]

We are taking the Golden in May to Alaska on the week she goes to Glacier Bay. We have never had complaints about Princess or service except the darn beds. I hope the Golden won't be the first. We are taking our favorite next month to New England, the Caribbean Princess. I am surprised MUTS was running on the days in Alaska as I would not expect that. Personally, I like MUTS for the evenings in the Caribbean but doubtful for Alaska. Sorry you did not have the greatess of times.

[spongerob]

Golden Princess and MUTS were never meant to go together, but that horse has left the barn. As for worries about the ship itself, all I can say is that we had both one of our best, and one of our worst cruises on that ship. What a difference a day makes.

[Sailkeywest]

Thank you for posting this thorough, detailed, yet to the point review of your Golden Princess Alaskan Cruise! You gave some good pointers for potential things to do in Alaska, and appreciate you posting some good places to get souvenirs. I bookmarked the page so that I could read it again when my Golden/Alaskan cruise gets closer. :)

 

Sad to hear about the food, I was rather hoping that it would be really great.

 

One thing, you mentioned that you missed the last port? Was it Victoria? And also, why did they skip it?

 

Thanks again, always look forward to your posts :)

 

P.S. Just started sorting through your pictures, it looks as though you have a lovely family. Love the pics!

 

P.P.S. Sorry to be so inquisitive, but is the only way to get to that waterfall in Juneau to rent a car? and "Knowing we were going to visit Butchart Gardens we chose not to visit the local garden, this was a mistake." How so? Thanks again for any info!

[Sailkeywest]

Eek, just saw the last of your pics, and that room did indeed seem rather small for 4 people! I am surprised that they didn't offer to upgrade you, considering how many cruises you have taken with them! (dunno how the upgrade fairy works, but I think that should be a consideration)

 

Also, saw the sushi pics, looks beautiful, but how did it taste?

 

Thanks again (and loved the video of the fish swimming upstream and the waterfall video!)

 

P.S. GORGEOUS red dress!

[kooljamming]

We missed Victoria due to high wind. I love gardens but chose not to go to a very unique one in Juneau and saved the experience for Victoria.

Well, maybe, could be, I wanted more time at the brewery in Juneau:p

 

You can hike from the glacier to waterfall. You need a car to get to the brewery. For a family of 4, the car rental was cheaper and more convenient than taking the shuttle from the pier to mendenhall ($7 each way)

 

Due to the traffic I think MUTS was more of a distraction and more so in Alaska. I like to sit down in quiet and watch a movie, so at night it was fabulous.

 

The sushi was fabulous. Make sure you check out the special buffet outside of HC. I have an album of the special offerings I can share later.

 

The Golden is a beautiful ship and the staff was great. Chances you won't run into my issues. Not only is each ship and sailing is different but the person experiencing it.

 

This was my second cruise with Princess and with a quad there is usually no chance of an upgrade. Not many of their cabins accommodate 4 people.

 

I delayed posting the review because anything less than a praise tend to have some posters calling you names (naysayer, whiner and disgruntle) and making assessment of the kind of life you must have. I wanted to share the pics and this was still the best way to do it.

 

HC special buffet link : http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574505829epeLTc

[Sailkeywest]

I like to read people's personal opinions about what they actually observed/experienced. If I don't like something, I am gonna say it! :P Besides, isn't that what this forum is all about, learning from other's experiences?

 

BTW, thanks for all the pictures, I could just look at them over and over and over again! Hubby says that I shouldn't look up so much stuff and to let it be a surprise, but it all just makes me even more excited for our trip. :)

 

One last question and I will try to stop :P Did you have any experience with the Sanctuary?

[mii]

Eek, just saw the last of your pics, and that room did indeed seem rather small for 4 people! I am surprised that they didn't offer to upgrade you, considering how many cruises you have taken with them! (dunno how the upgrade fairy works, but I think that should be a consideration)

 

Also, saw the sushi pics, looks beautiful, but how did it taste?

 

Thanks again (and loved the video of the fish swimming upstream and the waterfall video!)

 

P.S. GORGEOUS red dress!

 

As to the upgrade, believe me I think and this is my opinion that most upgrades are with newer people to Princess. I have had 14 Princess cruise and only once have I been upgraded. The upgrade fairy works in mysterious ways. Hopefully most people will not expect an upgrade.

 

Marilyn

[Guest Spo]

Kooljamming's review and CruisinEars' feelings are why I'm never offended when someone prefers Carnival or RCCL (or any other line for that matter) over Princess. There's a cruise line out there for everyone and thank goodness we don't all like the same things! What a boring world that would be!

[Wishing on a star]

About USMUTS

Should I say MADD or Movies ALL D@MM Day. This was a deck I chose to hangout with my daughter, meet others, and enjoy the wonderful scenery. Well, I tried except most times you could not hear yourself think with the blaring sound. I was not looking for peace and quiet, but was not ready to have the sound of real voices be replaced by audio from a screen. This was simply a great deck to enjoy the scenery or better listen to a nice band.

 

OMG, whoever came up with M.U.T.S ought to be shot...

 

I wish Princess would listen to these reviews and refrain from having that thing blaring 'Movies ALL D@MM Day'

 

Can you tell how excited I am to have to feel like I have to avoid the most major public venue on the ship for most of our entire upcoming cruise because of this nonsense.

I think that on the Ruby, they at least have breaks and other activities on deck.

Maybe James Lay, the CD, occasionally checks out these CC boards.....

 

MUTS is nothing more than Princess' unacceptable excuse for so called CHEAP mass entertainment. :confused:

[Guest Spo]

OMG, whoever came up with M.U.T.S ought to be shot...

 

I wish Princess would listen to these reviews and refrain from having that thing blaring 'Movies ALL D@MM Day'

 

Can you tell how excited I am to have to feel like I have to avoid the most major public venue on the ship for most of our entire upcoming cruise because of this nonsense.

I think that on the Ruby, they at least have breaks and other activities on deck.

Maybe James Lay, the CD, occasionally checks out these CC boards.....

 

MUTS is nothing more than Princess' unacceptable excuse for so called CHEAP mass entertainment. :confused:

 

Once again, different strokes. Some people really like MUTS and miss it when they're on a ship without it.;)

[kooljamming]

Sanctuary- I went by it but never used it.

 

We had an almost perfect cruise on Sapphire Princess this past February.

Almost prefect because we did not get TD and was ONLY offered table for two. On Sapphire Princess I was impressed that there was a ship of sheer beauty without the gimmicks the others are known for, waterslide, rockwall ect. For me MUTS is Princess answer to Carnival's waterslide and whatever RCCL hasn't thought about as yet. Both lines I enjoyed but for different reasons......Reggae band by the pool;)

[stellalimelight]

About US

 

Trivia

We finally gave up. People were playing as if the prize was a FREE cruise in the Penthouse Suite. Oh, for heavens sake it was luggage tags.

 

I have to agree with you on this. The first cruise I went on it drove me crazy and I quit going. However, on the next cruise, I looked at is as a form of entertainment. Watching people going all crazy to win a luggage tag. Now I look forward to seeing how far people will go to win. It cracks me up.

[san diego sue]

Thanks for the wonderful honest review.

We were on the Star as it passed you in Tracy Arm. From your photos, looked like you got much closer to the glacier than we did.

We never watched the MUTS. I agree there.

We went to dinner in anytime dining only once,(we selected anytime) also took too long.wound up going to specialty restaurants , Horizon court and international cafe the rest of the evenings. For us, the cruise was not about eating.I also will not wait in a line to eat. I think on our next cruise will take fixed dining.I really like meeting people every night but after a few nights, get tired of the same introductions and questions.Did this on a previous cruise.

We have never been on a cruise that we didn't love and ours was no exception.we went for the scenery (Our third time in Alaska).

Kooljamming., next time you cruise, get separate rooms. We stopped taking our kids once they hit their teens,really hard with four in a room.Also they are too old for younger programs and too young to hang with the older teens.

:D

[Momma Mojito]

Thanks for your review and honesty about your likes and dislikes. I'm still trying to convince myself to do and Alaskian cruise. I really haven't heard many say anything bad about seeing the wonders of Alaska, I started to look at you pictures and they are fantastic . You said you enjoyed the spending time in the Wheelhouse, was the band that was there possibly called "Phoenix Rising" I think I read that they were on the Golden.

[NotWthOutablcony]

OMG, whoever came up with M.U.T.S ought to be shot...

 

I wish Princess would listen to these reviews and refrain from having that thing blaring 'Movies ALL D@MM Day'

 

Can you tell how excited I am to have to feel like I have to avoid the most major public venue on the ship for most of our entire upcoming cruise because of this nonsense.

I think that on the Ruby, they at least have breaks and other activities on deck.

Maybe James Lay, the CD, occasionally checks out these CC boards.....

 

MUTS is nothing more than Princess' unacceptable excuse for so called CHEAP mass entertainment. :confused:

ROTFL!!!! AHAHA! You said it, I was only thinking it!!!;) You know, it wouldn't be so bad if they made an event out of it, and only showed something once a night! I could get along with that, but movie after movie after concert after ball game.... Oye! Peace and quiet was never this hard to come by!

[geoherb]

Trivia is fun for us. On our last Princess cruise, we found great teammates. It helps to have diversity: old and young, U.S. born and others, variety of occupations, etc. We won a lot of individual contests and the cumulative grand prize (a bottle of champagne for the team and swarovski crystal ornaments and Princess tote bags for each member).

 

But I have witnessed the people that become obsessed with trivia and argue with the answers and the questions. They do take the fun out of it. After all, it's just a game.

 

As for the OP's review, I think it's great to start off with the positives. For the dining, we once had a table for four with just the two of us assigned to it. After checking with our waiters, we invited two couples we had met to join us (on different nights). We tipped appropriately.

 

As for MUTS, I have only experienced it on the Emerald. It was easy enough for me to avoid since I prefer the aft pool to get away from kids.

 

For scenery, we preferred the Promenade Deck on our Alaskan cruise. It was generally very quiet.

[roe2ship]

I can SO sypathize with you on the MUTS thing! I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that they don't incorporate it onto every ship, specifically the Sapphire!

 

OMG, whoever came up with M.U.T.S ought to be shot...

 

I wish Princess would listen to these reviews and refrain from having that thing blaring 'Movies ALL D@MM Day'

 

Can you tell how excited I am to have to feel like I have to avoid the most major public venue on the ship for most of our entire upcoming cruise because of this nonsense.

I think that on the Ruby, they at least have breaks and other activities on deck.

Maybe James Lay, the CD, occasionally checks out these CC boards.....

 

MUTS is nothing more than Princess' unacceptable excuse for so called CHEAP mass entertainment. :confused:

Apparently they are listening, they are adding the screen to most of their ships.:rolleyes:

 

Avoid most major public venue??? Are you kidding?? Since you haven't been on a Princess cruise yet, why not wait and see and then form your own opinion.