Golden Princess Review - July 24 - 31

[simbasmom]

Great review! Just one question-did you meet the famous Bolero, the parrot from the magician's act? I've heard of him but never seen him, just pictures. But any parrot that has his own Facebook page-I don't know any other birds so "famous".

[Host Anne]

Simba ~ sorry to say we did not see the magicians parrot. In fact, we did not go to a single show the entire cruise. Since we were with a group and had late dinner, we tended to do other things after dinner. We did take in some of the theme parties (50s, indoor deck party, etc) but we didn't take in a show in the theater. I think that was a first for us. Sorry!

 

Sampsonsmom ~ have a fantastic cruise!

[Wormy53]

Just wanted to say thanks for the review and gorgeous pictures!! The first trip I took to Alaska had weather like yours. Unbelievable every day!! The last one had us dealing with a lot of rain. It can make a big difference. But we got out there and took it all in anyway. Majestic is a good word for it!! One of my favorite things was seeing this sea otter right by our tour boat at Valdez. It was so close and so still that at first I thought it was a fake just put there for us!!!:D NOT SO!! Precious little critter!!:)

 

PS - your reference to Payton - the frogs and the baby whale were very touching.

[Woobstr112G]

Host Anne;

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....;):):)

 

Bob

[Paradisefound619]

Thanks for the great review Anne! I was unable to read it until today because I was on the Golden this past week (7/31-8/7). The cruise and weather were fabulous. No rain at all.....even the day before our cruise in Seattle. Unbelievable!!!!!!!

 

I am currently working on my review and will hopefully post it sometime tomorrow.

 

I also inquired in a separate thread about your shutterfuly photo link. Once I figure that all out I'll post my pictures too!!!!!!

 

Missing the Golden already....but it is good to be home too :) Nothing can beat your own comfy bed. We got in late late last night and boy did I sleep well!

[Host Anne]

Hi everyone ~ thanks for your very kind comments. We are still finding ourselves missing Alaska and the new friends we made. We had everyone over on Sunday evening for a salmon dinner. 59 pounds of it that we caught arrived on Tuesday from Ketchican. It was delicious and we all enjoyed reliving our wonderful week.

 

Paradise ~ did you get to see the Northern Lights last week? That would have made our trip over the top. Here's a link to the Shutterfly album of our photos: http://alaskasailawayforacure2010.shutterfly.com/ Let me know if you need help figuring any of it out.

 

One important thing I left out of my review....if you are at Pike's Place Market the day before, you CAN purchase a bunch of the goregous flowers and take them on the ship. We saw people do it and I was so bummed I didn't ask about it. For $10 we could have had a beautiful bouquet in cabin. Even the $5.99 bouquets were terrific! You can see some photos of the flowers in the Shutterfly album!

 

Great day to all!

[Paradisefound619]

Anne- I figured out the shutterfly site and have a link in my review which I posted late last night. I am actually going through the photos right now and adding some descriptions on some of the pictures.

 

I did not see the Northern Lights although we really tried. We stayed up late both nights that they were forecasted to be seen but saw nothing but a lot of stars. It was hard to find a spot on the ship that didn't have a lot of light around it. We tired though!

 

Great tip about the flowers! We thought about it but would have had to take them all around town with us and to dinner because the market was our first stop on our tour of Seattle with our friend. We should have had out taxi stop there on Saturday morning to get some on the way to the pier. They are SO beautiful, so fresh and so cheap!

[AlaskaGolden]

Host Anne,

 

Thank you for the great review. Enjoyed reading it, especially since we were on the Golden for our first (and only :() cruise to Alaska about 3 years ago (of course, before the renovations).

 

Your review was mostly positive with the notable exceptions about the rude photo crew member and the Crown Grill. I agree with you about the Crown Grill, but that was on the Caribbean Princess last month. The only reason the service was good was it was the first formal night and we ate fairly late, so it was mostly empty. Although the steaks were fantastic, we were very disappointed in the soups and appetizers. The desserts were just OK; not much better than the International Café or the Dining Room in our opinion. $25 per person is a bit much to pay just to get a great steak.

 

We plan to try the Crown Grill again on our upcoming cruise on the Crown Princess. If the food and experience don't live up our expectations, then we won't be eating there again for a while.

[Host Anne]

Paradise ~ we DID go back to the market on Saturday morning for breakfast and could have easily grabbed some flowers but I never thought we'd be allowed to bring them on. I should have asked as I bet the vendors would have known. LOVED your photos. Makes me want to go back now!!!!

 

Alaska ~ our trip was more than mostly positive. The couple of things I mentioned can happen on any ship so they certainly didn't impact our overall wonderful cruise. In fact, I've learned that Specialty restaurant and even main dining rooms can be as good as the chefs in the kitchen and the management out front. Our dining room experience in Alaska far exceeded our experience on Crown Princess last year. But our Crown Grill experience on the Crown Princess outshone Golden every step of the way. It's just things that happen. Sometimes it's the dynamics of crew working together, etc. I hope your next experience in the Crown Grill is a great one!

[Jamiebearr]

Host Anne-

Thank you for the review and pictures. I will be on the golden in just a couple of short weeks, and I didn't think it was possible, but I am now that much more excited!!

[Host Anne]

Jamie ~ wishing you a fantastic cruise! Hope the excitement continues to grow!

[bhopal21]

Anne did Princess schedule a meet and greet for cruise critic and publish it in the patter? Or would you advice us to plan one on our own?

 

Thanks,

 

Mike:)

[Host Anne]

Mike ~ we actually had a VERY quiet roll call. There wasn't even a discussion of setting up a meet and greet. Since I was with a group of 16, it made it hard for me to do since I was primarily with our group. I did tell some CC folks where we would be at sailaway and we did have some join us for an excursion but that was it this time around. I have read that Princess will set something up for you. I know others have done it. But it can be just as easy to pick a time and a place on your roll call and go it alone. That's what I've done on other ships that don't set up something for us. Let me know if I can help.

[bhopal21]

Oh we have a quiet roll call as well and have tenative plans to get together however it has been reported that Princess is organizing and publishing a meet and greet for each cruise without input from CC members. If you didn't notice such in the patter then it must not be true.

 

We are just going to wing it as we have each other's cabin numbers.

 

Thanks again for the help,

 

TWO MORE DAYS!

 

Mike:D

[Host Anne]

Mike ~ I didn't notice anything in the Patter about a Cruise Critic get together....but then I wasn't looking for it. I don't think they'd just do it and put it in the Patter without having a way to know if anyone was attending. We aren't a well established group like the other group meeting typically posted. But who knows??? You'll enjoy doing your own get togethers. That always seems to work well, too! Have a fantastic cruise. Wishing you blue skies and lots of sun! ENJOY!

[beachbummers]

[quote name='hughdm'][FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Thanks for the great review. We can't wait! Forgive me if I missed this in your earlier posts. I'm organizing our Meet-and-Greet for our Aug 21 Golden cruise. Did you catch the names of any of the officers that I might invite? Did you guys have a Meet-and-Greet, and did any ship's officers make an appearance? Thanks.[/SIZE][/FONT][/quote]


Het Hugh, CanI also get a copy of the patters for the cruise.Thanks Sandbums4@aolcom

[ontheweb]

[quote name='Host Anne']Mike ~ I didn't notice anything in the Patter about a Cruise Critic get together....but then I wasn't looking for it. I don't think they'd just do it and put it in the Patter without having a way to know if anyone was attending. We aren't a well established group like the other group meeting typically posted. But who knows??? You'll enjoy doing your own get togethers. That always seems to work well, too! Have a fantastic cruise. Wishing you blue skies and lots of sun! ENJOY![/QUOTE]

On the Star Princess in the Baltic 3 years ago, we had a very small roll call (only 16). We set up our own breakfast meeting.

But then there was a cruisecritic meeting mentioned in the patter. Only 3 showed up including me. And 1 of the 3 hadn't posted. (He said he read cruisecritic, but it did not accept his screen name to post.) The rest either did not see it, or thought it was not a serious announcement. But, I think it was the particular cruise director (John Lawrence) and his wiife who did that on their own initiative.

[bhopal21]

One more question.

Are formal evenings Sunday (at sea) and Thursday (Ketchikan)?

Thanks

Mike:)

[Host Anne]

Hi Mike ~ you've got the formal nights correct! If you see Christopher -- the wine sommelier in the dining room (he's the only American in a tux), tell him his fishing buddies say hello and hope all is well :) Have a FANTASTIC cruise!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Anne...thank you for a thorough and heartfelt review.

[Host Anne]

You are most welcome, Sunset! Love your name. I never tire of seeing another beautiful sunset!

[bhopal21]

[quote name='Host Anne']Hi Mike ~ you've got the formal nights correct! If you see Christopher -- the wine sommelier in the dining room (he's the only American in a tux), tell him his fishing buddies say hello and hope all is well :) Have a FANTASTIC cruise![/QUOTE]

We are going to try our best.

Thanks so much for all your help.

Mike:)

[Host Anne]

Bon Voyage, Mike!!!!

[Nana G]

Host Anne, Thanks for the great review and wonderful pictures! On our 2nd time in Alaska on the Golden we also had Michael M. doing the commentaries. he made the whole trip for us. My husband, who is not a lecture person, was dragged to the first one Michael gave and was completely hooked for all the others. Even bought and enjoyed his book. That was really a special way to enjoy the sights of Alaska for us!

[Host Anne]

Nana G ~ I completely agree. Between Michael and the US Park Service rangers that were brought on board, they took this cruise to the next level. Kudos to Princess for enhancing our journey through these knowledgable and inspiring people! They don't have to do this!