Golden to Hawaii 11/10-11/24

[KINGSFAN1]

Great Cruise & a beautiful ship

The seas on the first two nights were rough and then moderate--7 1/2 to 12 ft then 4 1/2 to 7ft. I don't get seasick, but I did take Bonine as a precaution every day and it worked for me--even with a couple Martinis or beers--My wife and I were on the Aloha deck--Balcony stateroom midship

I was able to use the Balcony almost every day-well worth it. We liked our stateroom very much-we asked for a top sheet for our bed and our room steward Eduardo brought it right away-he was excellent throughout the cruise--The beds are firm, but that's how we like them-we are not big people--The staff is excellent no matter where you go. The Casino was fun--Didn't come out ahead, but not far behind for fourteen days.

We were one deck down from the buffet, so you could get snacks,coffee, fruit anytime and take it to your stateroom--or call room service, also fast and good. I personally liked the buffet the best--we had late dining in the Canalleto , we made it on the formal nights and two or three other nights- we also ate at the any time dining a couple of times and did not have any wait, they seated us right away--we were willing to share a table and had a good time, everyone is so friendly. We were accepted to the Chefs table when we first boarded, but my wife wasn't ready for all the food etc. so we passed.

The shore excursions we booked online for each island were very good, except for Hilo, it rained from the moment we left the ship until we returned, the tour itself would be good if dry.

The weather was great on all the other islands. For the short amount of time at each island, I think you see and are told much more than you could do on your own for such a short time, unless you know the islands.

Our return home was about the same as when we began the cruise.

Disembarkment was a little slow at first--one of the gangways would not lower, but they got it fixed and were able to speed things up. Customs and security were slowing things up,but they started speeding things up after awhile.

Finding our bags and getting a porter were not a problem--The porter took our bags right to our shuttle.

We had a great Cruise and would take it again.

Aloha :)

[boaterette]

Nice review. Sounds like you had a great time.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments.

[Toto2Kansas]

Glad you enjoyed your Hawaiian cruise. I must add that I can't remember ever visiting Hilo when we didn't have a real downpour, so that is pretty normal I think for that port. We always go prepared with rain gear when we get off in Hilo. ;)

[Cruisin' Chick]

Thanks for the review. I think I managed to talk the hubby into going on the Golden sometime within the next 13 months.

 

My question revolves around what you said about dining. You obviously had late traditional, but went to the anytime dining room for dinner sometimes. Were your cards checked or was it okay with the maitre'd?

[Cruise Junky]

Did you feel you got enough of Hawaii? I've always looked at this cruise and can't imagine using 2 weeks vacation for 4 days in Hawaii. I'm so tempted because I like sea days and leaving out of LA would be nice...but I just can't justify it for such a short time in Hawaii.

[srpilo]

Nice report..

 

 

 

Many thanks

Srpilo

[KINGSFAN1]

Not really enough time in the islands, but never having been there it did give us an idea where we might vacation to another time. Four days of tour bus is a lot.

 

As for the anytime dining even though we were traditional 8:00 pm we were told we could also do anytime dining so we did so with no problems

[waterduo]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise to Hawaii. We did this cruise last January and will repeat it this January.

We also have a midship balcony cabin on Aloha deck. Wondered what it was like! Sounds like it is a good location?

Had no rain in Hilo last trip!!! We were lucky it seems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Cruise & a beautiful ship

The seas on the first two nights were rough and then moderate--7 1/2 to 12 ft then 4 1/2 to 7ft. I don't get seasick, but I did take Bonine as a precaution every day and it worked for me--even with a couple Martinis or beers--My wife and I were on the Aloha deck--Balcony stateroom midship

I was able to use the Balcony almost every day-well worth it. We liked our stateroom very much-we asked for a top sheet for our bed and our room steward Eduardo brought it right away-he was excellent throughout the cruise--The beds are firm, but that's how we like them-we are not big people--The staff is excellent no matter where you go. The Casino was fun--Didn't come out ahead, but not far behind for fourteen days.

We were one deck down from the buffet, so you could get snacks,coffee, fruit anytime and take it to your stateroom--or call room service, also fast and good. I personally liked the buffet the best--we had late dining in the Canalleto , we made it on the formal nights and two or three other nights- we also ate at the any time dining a couple of times and did not have any wait, they seated us right away--we were willing to share a table and had a good time, everyone is so friendly. We were accepted to the Chefs table when we first boarded, but my wife wasn't ready for all the food etc. so we passed.

The shore excursions we booked online for each island were very good, except for Hilo, it rained from the moment we left the ship until we returned, the tour itself would be good if dry.

The weather was great on all the other islands. For the short amount of time at each island, I think you see and are told much more than you could do on your own for such a short time, unless you know the islands.

Our return home was about the same as when we began the cruise.

Disembarkment was a little slow at first--one of the gangways would not lower, but they got it fixed and were able to speed things up. Customs and security were slowing things up,but they started speeding things up after awhile.

Finding our bags and getting a porter were not a problem--The porter took our bags right to our shuttle.

We had a great Cruise and would take it again.

Aloha :)

[janetjulie]

Thanks so much for your review. Would like to hear a little more about your shore excursions. Did you book them with Princess or an outside vendor? Which excursions did you choose and what were the highlights?

 

Did you spend any time on your own in any of the ports?

 

Thanks.

 

Janet

[CruiseKing]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise to Hawaii. We did this cruise last January and will repeat it this January.

We also have a midship balcony cabin on Aloha deck. Wondered what it was like! Sounds like it is a good location?

Had no rain in Hilo last trip!!! We were lucky it seems.

Also just off this cruise. Cabin A341. Rather noisy above you. I would suggest 1 deck down.

[KINGSFAN1]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise to Hawaii. We did this cruise last January and will repeat it this January.

We also have a midship balcony cabin on Aloha deck. Wondered what it was like! Sounds like it is a good location?

Had no rain in Hilo last trip!!! We were lucky it seems.

 

 

We were in A523 There was some noise from above at times,like chair dragging in the buffet, but not enough to bother us, also less ship movement towards the center of the ship. One deck down would also be good. I liked our location because I had one deck to walk up to the buffet for coffee,snacks,etc. and could carry them back to the balcony myself. The Aloha deck and deck below have smaller balconies but they are covered and enough room for two chairs and a table, great for us,the larger balconies below have half of the balconies exposed and you can look down on them from above, to see whats going on you are in the open on those balconies.

[Richard Stein]

We are doing this cruise in late April next year and my wife is bummed about missing the Royal Wedding. Did you get CNN and Fox on your cruise? Thanks.

[KINGSFAN1]

yes we did

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for your review. I keep thinking about this particular cruise as I live in Southern Cali so would be an easy drive to port. I love sea days but still wondering if this might be too many for such a short time in Hawaii. I'll keep reading reviews and one day make up my mind!

 

Nice to hear you enjoyed your cruise:)

[Nancyquilts]

Chris had the most welll-balanced series of questions, Susan the worst. One day she would have 8 questions in a row on sports, and the next would have just about as many on pop stars. And really far out questions - sometimes the winning team got 8 or 9 right out of the 20.. But we learned a lot that we'll never remember.

[west coast cruiser]

I think that most cruise lines will be showing the Royal Wedding.

WCC

[Gregory67]

I did that cruise but the one right after you got back. Hawaii was super great. I did go on one tour in Hio, and the weather that day was great. Then in Honolulu, I did the Diamond Head tour. That was truly super cool. Walked all the way to the top and got some awesome photos, super great weather. I posted tons of pictures on my Facebook page and I still have more to post.

I was also on deck 12, Aloha but I was at the very aft, A745. I did not hear any extenral noise, but then again, I have bad hearing. Rough sea days, had a couple but other than that, not bad. You do feel the ship moving even in calm waters when your at the back of the ship where I was. I hear that midships is the best to minimize feeling ship movment. Anyways it was a great curise. Oh and the buffet is one deck up on deck 14, the Lido deck. There is no deck 13, just like most hotels do not have a floor 13, which I think is silly. Anyways it would be nice if it did not take so long to get to and from Hawaii so you could enjoy it more. Maybe the laws will change so that that can happen. Would be nice to be able to fly to Hawaii, get on a ship and sail around to different ports, then fly back. I know NCL use to do this through their NCLA division, but it got to be so expensive to operate that they shut that down in 2008. That whole thing deserves its own thread. If you want to learn more, Google this search phrase: Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886. It is a real eye opener.

[LuauHoneyMooners]

I just wanted to say that we met some wonderful new friends on the Golden Princess during this cruise. It started when we met a group at the Doubletree Hotel before going on board and the bond just grew. My new Husband John and I learned so much from the CruiseCritics and plan on many more cruises to come. Thanks for making our honeymoon cruise a memory we will cherrish because of all of you that cruised the Golden Princess to Hawaii on November 10th. Happy Holidays. Brenda and John

[judyjudy56]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We will be on the Golden in March. I am really surprised that a traditional diner could use the anytime dining room. Seems a little unfair to anytime diners who have to wait for a table because traditional diners are seated in the anytime dining room. We usually go to dinner fairly early and have never had much of a wait. Hopefully, this will still be the case.

[KINGSFAN1]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We will be on the Golden in March. I am really surprised that a traditional diner could use the anytime dining room. Seems a little unfair to anytime diners who have to wait for a table because traditional diners are seated in the anytime dining room. We usually go to dinner fairly early and have never had much of a wait. Hopefully, this will still be the case.

 

Did not have to wait once for the anytime dining if we were willing to share a table. Only had to show our cruise cards in the Traditional dining the first night. Never had to show them for the anytime.

Good luck and I hope you are seated quickly.;)

[Cruisin' Chick]

I did that cruise but the one right after you got back. Hawaii was super great. I did go on one tour in Hio, and the weather that day was great. Then in Honolulu, I did the Diamond Head tour. That was truly super cool. Walked all the way to the top and got some awesome photos, super great weather. I posted tons of pictures on my Facebook page and I still have more to post.

I was also on deck 12, Aloha but I was at the very aft, A745. I did not hear any extenral noise, but then again, I have bad hearing. Rough sea days, had a couple but other than that, not bad. You do feel the ship moving even in calm waters when your at the back of the ship where I was. I hear that midships is the best to minimize feeling ship movment. Anyways it was a great curise. Oh and the buffet is one deck up on deck 14, the Lido deck. There is no deck 13, just like most hotels do not have a floor 13, which I think is silly. Anyways it would be nice if it did not take so long to get to and from Hawaii so you could enjoy it more. Maybe the laws will change so that that can happen. Would be nice to be able to fly to Hawaii, get on a ship and sail around to different ports, then fly back. I know NCL use to do this through their NCLA division, but it got to be so expensive to operate that they shut that down in 2008. That whole thing deserves its own thread. If you want to learn more, Google this search phrase: Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886. It is a real eye opener.

 

 

Actually NCLA still has one ship going. Some friends of ours went this summer. But I would rather do the RT from LA (no flying involved) so the sea days aren't a problem with my family and many others. The Hawaiian islands are a bonus. We have done a couple of land trips to Hawaii and I would rather do any longer stays in Hawaii that way, rather than getting on a NCL ship and just using it to go from one island to another, IMO. Princess is just much classier from what I've heard.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We've had a lively discussion on the PVSA a couple of years ago on the Ask a Question thread when the prez of NCL was trying to get his buddy, Senator Inouye, to make the rules more restrictive. If the changes were allowed, it could have been the end of the RT Hawaii cruise as well as several other RTs out of US ports, which would have hurt some of the NCL cruises (like their Alaskan RT out of Seattle). Fortunately, cooler heads of Washington listened to the many comments posted on the congressional record (including mine, other cruisers, chambers of commerce, politicians including the Guvernator and the governor of Hawaii) and put the kaboosh on the evil plan.

[Careg]

I just wanted to say that we met some wonderful new friends on the Golden Princess during this cruise. It started when we met a group at the Doubletree Hotel before going on board and the bond just grew. My new Husband John and I learned so much from the CruiseCritics and plan on many more cruises to come. Thanks for making our honeymoon cruise a memory we will cherrish because of all of you that cruised the Golden Princess to Hawaii on November 10th. Happy Holidays. Brenda and John

 

Hi Brenda and John, Dont forget to check out our roll call board. Lots of great photos up.

You guys made us think we need a second honeymoon.. Glad you made it home safe and sound, Hope to see you on the boards.

[mycruz]

Thanks for the review, this was probably one of my most relaxing cruises of all! Just love all those sea days!

 

Welcome home, and Happy Cruising!