Late 30's Cruisers just off the Golden to Alaska

[olozbal]

Pasting the review I wrote for the cruise I just got off of this morning. We cruised Golden Princess to Alaska. I used this site so much in my planning I figured I'd put my review out there and answer any questions you have about my experience to help you plan yours. In re reading it I feel it's got a negative tone and I do want to stress we had fun on this cruise but some of the Princess stuff bothered us enough to deter us booking again but that's just us and our one experience. Here goes:

 

We sailed on the Golden in late May 2011 to Alaska. A little about us; we're late 30's active adults who have one prior cruise under our belt with Disney the year before with our young kids. Disney was unbelievable and set the bar incredibly high. This year we left our young kids with our parents for a week so we could do an active trip and get some alone time. Even though Disney did so well before, since we were without kids this time (and Disney prices were through the roof for Alaska) we went with Princess. We're pretty laid back but our focus was on the ports. After reading multiple message boards the consensus seems to be to choose the ship mainly for the port schedule and whether they were cruising Glacier Bay or not. So we picked the Golden Princess out of Seattle (a few hour drive for us) because it had a few more hours in each of the main ports plus had a day in Glacier Bay.

 

The good news is the Golden Princess was exactly what I was expecting after reading the reviews. It's a pretty straightforward cruise ship. Nice and simple decor inside and the ship was in pretty good shape.

 

The demographic of the cruise (in my non scientific judgment) was 80% your typical 50-60 year old couple who recently retired which was no shock. The remainder was large groups of families from the Orient, younger folks like us, and some pretty old folks driving those electric carts everywhere. Accordingly the activities are geared pretty much towards them. As we have kids and weren't sure about how they'd enjoy Alaska being so young we were on the lookout for parents who brought their kids. There were probably only 10 couples I bet with kids. As the cruise was geared towards the 50-60 year old the music, the activities, and such were geared towards them. Think lots of bingo, Karaoke, Art Sales, and lots and lots of food.

 

We got upgraded, surprisingly, from a balcony cabin to a Mini Suite D615 on the Starboard side. I had picked the port side when booking because the boards said port is best entering Glacier Bay (which it is) but it really didn't matter in the end. I think we did as well or better view wise on the starboard. While the upgrade was nice in that we got a real shower with the mini suite and some more room, we also got the annoying balcony that everyone can look down on you from the above decks which is all along the Dolphin deck. Kind of annoying but we got used to it. My wife is social enough to where she'd be talking with people routinely above us. The room was clean and kept up well. Annoyances included the TV remote which took 9.4 years to change channels and the remote had to be raised above your head to work it. But overall a pretty good room.

 

The food is average. You eat off these giant plates which remove all will power and you end up eating a lot which for most is fine. I thought the food was fine. Nothing was horrible, I'd say it was like a high end "Golden Corral" restaurant level most days. The dining room meals were fine, about the same quality I've had at every wedding I've ever been at. We did the anytime dining which was fine. We never had much problems eating but skipped quite a few of the meals or ate early due to port schedules and such. Service at the buffet tables was pretty scarce. For some reason they bridge the line between it being truly self serve (get your own silverware and drinks) and full serve in an annoying way. Meaning we'd often just go get our own silverware and drinks because there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to your service. At the main dining rooms our servers were mostly good and nice people who made good recommendations and were fairly attentive. We ate dinner one night at Sabatini's (the premium Italian place with a fixed 17 course meal) and it was ok, nothing special frankly just a lot of different food than we were not used to.

 

We skipped a lot of the shows. The comedian was fine. I couldn't stand him but I seemed to be alone in that opinion. Due to the type of audience he was very "safe" in his jokes - your standard observations about husband and wives and such. I like more edgy stuff. We saw the naturalist talk about Alaska which was really good and gets you in the mood for what's coming. We skipped any stage shows figuring they'd be cheesy, saw a few people doing karaoke which mostly was bad singers singing old show tunes, and did bingo which I need that hour of my life back because it was like being in an old folks' home. Lots of lounge singer type bands and such around playing around the ship playing your standard hits that appeal to 50 and 60 year olds.

 

We came to Alaska for the ports and not the ship. We spent more on our shore excursions than on the cruise itself. We did the Helicopter Glacier Trek in Juneau (the one where you land on the glacier, strap on crampons and an ice axe and climb things) and went whale watching with Harv & Marv which was awesome (a cruise critical referral - top notch guy). Both were great. In Skagway we did two helicopters in one day - the heli hike where you fly to a remote area and hike five miles, then get picked up by the train for an hour ride back, and the dog sledding camp one with a helo. We fished with Northern Lights fishing in Ketchikan and Ken did a great job. We skipped Victoria due to it only being four hours and we were exhausted. Out of all of them the only thing I'd say was the best was the helicopter stuff. Taking a helo flight in Alaska I would consider mandatory, the view is unbelievable. If you do it do it out of Skagway as it's more dramatic. Juneau not so much but still good. Glacier bay was cool, but after all the cool stuff we did in the ports I wouldn't call it mandatory.

 

Now the gripes: A couple of things will keep me from sailing Princess again. Veteran cruisers may say this is common but I really got tired of the nickel diming throughout the cruise. You get small cups of water, tea, or milk with your meals slowly refilled or you can pay $2 for a Coke. I drink a lot of liquid during the day and it got annoying having to work so hard to get a drink of anything. At nights a gin and tonic was about 8 bucks when the automatically added tips are done. $20 to play bingo and $2 for the thing to mark the squares with. Lots of art auctions, and lectures advertised about how to lose weight or something that was obviously an upsell thing. I just felt like I was on the defensive the entire time to try and not pay out the nose for things. On Disney they did that too but it felt like they were selling you a "want" item like a big alcoholic drink in a special glass by the pool on a hot day, where Princess seemed to be selling you "needs" like a simple bottle of water or a soda.

 

Service: This is a generalization because 90% of the crew we dealt with was nice and professional but there was a fairly common vibe among the crew that the customers were slightly annoying. It may have been the younger staff versus the older demographic onboard in that my wife phrased it that the crew were like the young dancers from the movie "Dirty Dancing" that are paid to dance with the old people and only half heartedly fake enjoying it. We just got a lot of disinterest from the crew. Nobody seems to love working for them, or at least seemed able to fake it. A common quote on the cruise was that we'd find ourselves saying "Disney wouldn't do that".

 

Other minor things that begun to add up: Anniversary balloons on the door on my wife's birthday, getting upgraded to a nicer room but not being told about it until check in so our bags went to the wrong room, room stewards all hanging around in public on the stairs in a group joking around, one crewman saw my wife carrying fruit to the room and said that it was "sexy" which she wasn't sure if he was trying to be funny or creepy.

 

In summary, the cruise turned out exactly like I thought it would in most cases but I underestimated my ability to ride through some of it. In the future I'll go back to Disney or perhaps find a cruise line where I pay more up front and there's less cheap nickel diming onboard. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews or posted on the boards as it helped me plan. It was still a good vacation because it's hard to make Alaska not a great place to visit.

[DesertDaisy]

Thank you for your review. We started cruising in our early 40's. We are now in our mid 60's. I remember thinking the music was more suited to our parents taste than ours. We have cruised many different lines. I think you might like Royal Carribean better. They are no longer our cup of tea. As time passed, Princess made us comfortable, and we fit. I can't agree with you about the lack of young families. You choose a cruise in May, children are still in school. We have been on many cruises with Princess with over 700 children, and they do a very good job keeping them entertained. I'm glad you enjoyed Alaska, it is very special. I have a suggestion, when we were young we always traveled with other couples. We made our own fun. Give Princess another try in about 10 years. Happy Cruising!

[olozbal]

Thank you for your review. We started cruising in our early 40's. We are now in our mid 60's. I remember thinking the music was more suited to our parents taste than ours. We have cruised many different lines. I think you might like Royal Carribean better. They are no longer our cup of tea. As time passed, Princess made us comfortable, and we fit. I can't agree with you about the lack of young families. You choose a cruise in May, children are still in school. We have been on many cruises with Princess with over 700 children, and they do a very good job keeping them entertained. I'm glad you enjoyed Alaska, it is very special. I have a suggestion, when we were young we always traveled with other couples. We made our own fun. Give Princess another try in about 10 years. Happy Cruising!

 

Thanks for the reply. Agree on the couples thing. We often cruise with friends which often makes it more fun. This time our usual friends couldn't make it. We were more focused on the lack of kids mainly because we had a lot of debate in our family over whether 5 and 7 year old boys would enjoy Alaska since a lot of the excursions we did would have been too old for them. So we ended up cruising without them this time. Always nice sometimes to realize you're married and get to know your spouse again. Thanks again.

[DesertDaisy]

What a very nice reply. I agree with you 5 and 7 would have changed the whole vibe of your cruise. With the children Disney is your best bet for the next 5 years. After they turn 12 not so much. You made be giggle, yes, re-discovering your spouse is very special. This past December we finally took our children and their spouses on a cruise. Left the grandkids at home. Our children are 43, 40, and 35! Go a little easy on us old folks. Last year we went zip-linning in Costa Rica, and Kaying in the ocean in Mexico. Life is short! We figure we have maybe 10 years of good health left, then we will stay home, in a blink of an eye, you will be where we are! Happy cruising!

[iluvcruzin]

We were on the cruise before yours. Unfortunately you picked the wrong time to go. Families generally wait until school is out and you would have found more people your age. Bingo Karaoke and Art shows are not for those in their 50's. I just entered that age bracket. Actually they are cheezy things found on about every cruiseline (and I've been on most of the major ones) and have been standard activities for the last 20+ years. You might not find it on Disney but count on finding it on others.

 

We went with my daughter and her BF who were in their late 20's. We skipped most of the entertainment as we cruise quite often and know the routine. We did have a large population of Asian onboard as well. I would say a good 35%. It could be due to being on the west coast. I don't know but noticed it as well.

 

The food in the horizion court - good description on Golden Corral. There are other lines that do a better job in that area.

 

Since you are parents I think it's wise to stick with Disney for now. I would call you "young" but late 30's thinking that 50's is retirement age. Better save up quick. LOL

[tubasteve]

Sounds like you should have paid the money to cruise disney. Youre not cash strapped if you took 2 helicopter excursions in 1 day. Then you wouldnt have been saying "disney wouldnt do that". :p

[addicted2cruizin]

Thanks for your review. As others have said, the time of year plays a major factor in some of the activities offered onboard. Once school is out, there are more activities geared towards families/younger passengers. The "nickel & diming" is not unique to Princess. I have been on most of the main stream lines and have experienced it on all of them.

[olozbal]

Sounds like you should have paid the money to cruise disney. Youre not cash strapped if you took 2 helicopter excursions in 1 day. Then you wouldnt have been saying "disney wouldnt do that". :p

 

Probably, but as it says in my review we did this without kids so couldn't justify the extra few thousand dollars to cruise Disney especially considering it was their first Alaska year. But in hindsight you're probably right.

[4cats4me]

I had to laugh when you compared Princess crew to the staff in the movie Dirty Dancing:D compared to the patrons! We had that experience on only one Princess cruise, and it was at a time when kids were still in school. However, on our last Alaskan cruise on Princess a few years ago, we had over 500 kids on board. We've never had a dull vibe on any Princess cruise except for the one in early December out of Ft. Lauderdale. LOL

 

We will be on the Golden in just about a month, so I appreciate your review. Yes, I complained on the last survey about Princess's increasing nickel and diming with each successive cruise. I am okay with a little bit of upselling, but on the last cruise we'd felt it had gotten out of hand. It used to be that they'd ask you once on embarkation day if you wanted:

A coffee card, a coke card and/or a wine tasting, and when you said no, they'd leave you alone. Now they ask us multiple times, and you're right, we were pretty annoyed by 3:30 on embarkation day with all the upsell,

and then it progressed to the main dining room. That's why I complained to corporate. I feel they need to leave the upselling out of the main dining room when I want to enjoy my dinner --

It used to be Limoncello after dinner, we'd give a polite no thank you, but it seemed on several nights our poor waiter or his assistant were put in the uncomfortable position of trying to sell us a 3-pack of wine, sparkling water, limoncello, and there was one other thing that escapes me.

When we said no thank you, they accepted that politely, but I resented this new upselling of Princess's in the MDR, and truthfully, if it should occur on next month's cruise, my husband and I might reconsider going on another Princess cruise. When we sailed on RCCL a few months ago, there was very, very little upselling. At Princess it's gotten pretty "in your face".

 

On our last Alaskan cruise I do remember one Princess employee, the bartender, telling me that she was unhappy with the Alaskan run since not as many people drink alcohol compared to the hot weather cruises, and she personally hated the cold weather. So basically, maybe the crew isn't as happy because they know they're not going to get as much money in tips? Who knows. That said, we still had wonderful service. We've never had bad service on a Princess cruise, now that I think of it, but if they could only relax their upsells, then it would be great

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Thanks for your review. Sorry you had some negative experiences on Princess. I think every line has upselling; it really doesn't bother me if I'm asked a couple of times. I've even had waiters appologize to me for the upselling, explaining that they were just following orders.....:):):)

 

Bob

[better at sea]

Thanks for the review. We will be on that cruise in 2 weeks. My DH and I are both in our 30’s (37 &34) with a son (14) and have been on almost all the major cruise lines (missing HAL) and I have to agree the shows are geared for the older age bracket. We think that is part of the fun. If our son isn’t with us then we enjoy meeting people of all ages. This last cruise we took on Princess in Oct we befriended a couple in their mid-60’s that ran laps around us. We started to wonder who the old couple was. We have found out of all the lines we like Princess the most if we were comparing. In our opinion their itinerary and amenities outweigh what issues would occur.

[oregonweim]

Thanks for the review, I'm in my late 30s (just sans kids) embarking on my first cruise (PCL, Sea Princess) in two months. It seems the theme of upselling on Princess comes up a lot so its good to prepare myself. Loved your Dirty Dancing reference, I'll have to keep an eye out for "Baby" while I'm on board.

[azdmelani]

Thanks for your review. My friend and I are in our early 30s and will be on the Golden at the end of August. We are signed up for Harv and Marv, so Im glad to hear you enjoyed it.

[willysgrandma]

I was on the Golden on the May 14 cruise - count your lucky stars you weren't on that one, as you would have had more issues than you had!

 

There was also a high Oriental population on our cruise as well.

 

I agree with your assessment of the food and entertainment. One day they had BLT sandwiches in the buffet and I was so happy to find a choice I liked. he bright side was that I didn't gain any weight on this cruise so there is a bright side to everything.

 

But we also skipped many of the shows too. I think some of our problem was that we have sailed on the Oasis and Allure of the Seas and the NCL Epic and after the entertainment on those ships, EVERYTHING seems like a high school production.

 

However, if you've only sailed Disney, then you don't know that Princess doesn't nickle and dime you more than any other cruise line. Disney is the only main stream cruise line that includes soda in it's prices. But you could have just brought your own soda and put it in your refrigerator. Bingo on NCL cost $29 and up - so $20 is a bargain!

[bhopal21]

What brand of gin do you drink? A Sapphire and tonic on the Golden was only $6.61 a few months ago including the 15% gratuity.

 

I have always found the liquor drinks to be very reasonably priced on Princess.

 

Mike:)

[olozbal]

What brand of gin do you drink? A Sapphire and tonic on the Golden was only $6.61 a few months ago including the 15% gratuity.

 

I have always found the liquor drinks to be very reasonably priced on Princess.

 

Mike:)

 

I drink as cheap as possible, which was Bombay in this case. I believe they were about eight bucks after all said and done.

[olozbal]

I was on the Golden on the May 14 cruise - count your lucky stars you weren't on that one, as you would have had more issues than you had!

 

There was also a high Oriental population on our cruise as well.

 

I agree with your assessment of the food and entertainment. One day they had BLT sandwiches in the buffet and I was so happy to find a choice I liked. he bright side was that I didn't gain any weight on this cruise so there is a bright side to everything.

 

But we also skipped many of the shows too. I think some of our problem was that we have sailed on the Oasis and Allure of the Seas and the NCL Epic and after the entertainment on those ships, EVERYTHING seems like a high school production.

 

However, if you've only sailed Disney, then you don't know that Princess doesn't nickle and dime you more than any other cruise line. Disney is the only main stream cruise line that includes soda in it's prices. But you could have just brought your own soda and put it in your refrigerator. Bingo on NCL cost $29 and up - so $20 is a bargain!

 

Thanks for the reply. I did bring on sodas but frankly I drink a lot of drinks at home, maybe 2-3 sodas a day on top of other stuff. That 12 pack I bought was gone in a few days.

[shepp]

I have to agree the shows are geared for the older age bracket.

 

I guess I'm an atypical mid-60s cruiser as far as musical tastes go: give me the Decemberists and Nick Cave over Josh Groban and Vic Damone any day. But what irritated me about the musical performers on the last cruise wasn't their selection, which admittedly pleased the crowd. It was that a couple of them boasted - to general acclaim - that they were sticking to stuff that was at least 30 years old. You know, back when music was real music. With tunes and lyrics. I would have thought that at least throwing a little Leonard Cohen in amongst the pap might have broadened people's horizons, but no, we got "The Candy Man" instead.

[bhopal21]

I drink as cheap as possible, which was Bombay in this case. I believe they were about eight bucks after all said and done.

 

I think if you check your onboard account printout you might find otherwise.

 

No reason for regular Bombay to be $8 when Bombay Sapphire is only $5.65 + the 15% gratuity.

 

Mike:)