GOLDEN PRINCESS REVIEW - ALASKAN CRUISE 6/11 to 6/18

[Janet Foster]

What a great revue!!! Thanks so much for posting it.

 

Your pictures made it all come alive.

Thank you... thank you.... I am glad you enjoyed..

[Janet Foster]

Let's see now. All of the above and then some! I just love your sense of humor too. Alot like mine. So glad you got the upgrade and you sound very worthy. ;)

Oh thank you.... Have a great time on your cruise. I am still laughing at all the fun things we did. Hope you have great weather too!! Post when you return!

[Janet Foster]

Wow! Your review was very helpful. Thank you.

My husband plays guitar and sings in a band here (NOT his day job, ha ha), so I know how it is to have a music "critic" along when taking in bands, shows, etc.

I KNOW we'll hit that Jimi Hendrix museum.

I'm going to check out the company that you used to transfer from airport to hotel to ship. Thanks for the link!

Romy

Thank you. Oh Shuttle Express was great. We were very happy with them.

 

Have a good time visiting the Jimi Hendrix exhibit.. they have a whole guitar exhibit also that your husband will love. My husband was all excited seeing a 1952 GIBSON LES PAUL GOLDEN TOP..... WHATEVER.... LOL...

[ruskatab]

Yall look like so much fun to cruise with!! Hubby and I grew up in Colleyville/Southlake area. Loved the theme parties and loved the review!!! We did Carnival Spirit out of Vancouver in May and loved our Alaska cruise. Thanks for bringing back good memories with your pictures!!

[Janet Foster]

Yall look like so much fun to cruise with!! Hubby and I grew up in Colleyville/Southlake area. Loved the theme parties and loved the review!!! We did Carnival Spirit out of Vancouver in May and loved our Alaska cruise. Thanks for bringing back good memories with your pictures!!

You are welcome... Glad you liked the review and our themed parties.. We plan our parties all year long doing our best to keep the details secret from the other. So when each couple has their party we are all so excited.. HAAAA Like a bunch of kids...

 

Alaska was quite refreshing compared to this hot Texas heat....

[Querkyquilter]

Glad the drill went great for you. Ours did also but the ship(Golden) left before the drill was over:( However that would not keep us from going on Princess again. We will return to AK in May 2012. this time we are doing the Vancouver to Whitter. Thanks for all of the great pixs and reminders of why we want to return.

[Janet Foster]

Oh anything to relive the memories!!! Thanks!

[westcoastvecs]

Janet,

thank you so much -your review was awesome!

you said that you wouldn't have gotten up at 6am for Glacier Bay day because at that point they were only picking up the rangers-what time do you recommend getting out on deck, what time do you actually get into Glacier Bay and start seeing ice, glaciers, etc?

Thank you!

:)

Robin

[jeromep]

Janet,

 

Between this review, the Patters you scanned and posted to CC, and your postings about the Ultimate Ship Tour, your info has been both great to read, and most helpful.

 

My wife and I are on the Golden in about 2 weeks with a bunch of other friends and all of the information you have posted, especially the Patters, has been really helpful in getting a sense of what is happening on board and what we can expect in the ports.

 

Thanks so much.

[Janet Foster]

Janet,

 

Between this review, the Patters you scanned and posted to CC, and your postings about the Ultimate Ship Tour, your info has been both great to read, and most helpful.

 

My wife and I are on the Golden in about 2 weeks with a bunch of other friends and all of the information you have posted, especially the Patters, has been really helpful in getting a sense of what is happening on board and what we can expect in the ports.

 

Thanks so much.

Oh I hope you have a great time we sure did!! I am all about sharing the fun and making things a bit easier for everyone. Wish I had all this info prior to our cruise.

 

Can't wait to hear about your fun!!!

 

Janet~

[homeinboca]

Janet,

 

Thanks for the great review and pics. You look like you had an amazing time, Thanks for sharing. You are an inspiration to newby posters like me.

 

RC

[Janet Foster]

Janet,

 

Thanks for the great review and pics. You look like you had an amazing time, Thanks for sharing. You are an inspiration to newby posters like me.

 

RC

Awwww. Thank you so much. We all were newbie posters once!!

[tootsie7]

Great review and photos. Our cruise is in Sept on the Golden and I have really enjoyed reading your posts and made lots of notes. It will be nice to escape the Texas heat for a while.

[flashdog_1]

Janet I just read another review of Golden, and she had photos attached. I cannot figure out where a sort of bridge looking place is, indoors, but on either side of the "hall" you can see the glacier. Here is the link. Hope you can see it. Thanks

 

It is early on in the slideshow. #2 Is it the walkway to Skywalkers?

 

http://www.cig.usa.canon.com/ph/OPA/VisitorThumbnailListEntrance.do?vsmi=216181309858661217

Edited July 5, 2011 by flashdog_1

[Janet Foster]

Janet I just read another review of Golden, and she had photos attached. I cannot figure out where a sort of bridge looking place is, indoors, but on either side of the "hall" you can see the glacier. Here is the link. Hope you can see it. Thanks

 

It is early on in the slideshow. #2 Is it the walkway to Skywalkers?

 

http://www.cig.usa.canon.com/ph/OPA/VisitorThumbnailListEntrance.do?vsmi=216181309858661217

Phyllis.. I wasn't able to get in the picture but from what you described, it does sound like the walkway to SKYWALKERS LOUNGE..

 

Have a great time on your cruise... I bet you are so excited!!!

[michca53]

Golden Princess

June 11th - 18th

Alaskan Inside Passage from Seattle

We sailed with a group of 10 people. All in our 50’s.

Coming from: Nevada, Colorado, Texas and Oregon

Cabins: C401, C409, C415 and C421 - DECK 10 CARIBE

Cabin: E401 – DECK 8 EMERALD

 

This has taken me awhile to do but here it is~

I like to use my pictures as my visuals in my review so this will be long but hopefully fun!

 

We (I) had made our reservations direct with Princess back in May 2010 when the book was first open so that we could get cabins all in a row. We had selected Mini-Suites AA Category - D501, D503, D505, D509 and D517 (Inside Category J) . About 10 days before we sailed, Princess called me to offer our group all upgrades. The AA Category Mini-Suites were upgraded to PENTHOUSE Category PH Full Suites and the couple with the inside cabin were upgraded to OUTSIDE STATEROOM category E. Needless to say we were all thrilled.

 

SEATTLE

Most of us got to Seattle on Thursday pre-cruise so that we could have some sightseeing time and pre-cruise excitement. We all stayed at the HAMPTON INN – DOWNTOWN. http://www.hamptoninnseattle.com/images/hampton_seattle.pdf

 

 

 

The location was perfect, right by the SPACE NEEDLE and SEATTLE CENTER.

 

 

The monorail was accessible to take you to PIKE PLACE MARKET if you wanted to go. $2 pp each way. There also was a great 24-hour grocery store one block over called QFC which had great deli and a Starbucks. We stopped in here frequently for items and picked up a case of water to take on the ship.

 

 

We used SHUTTLE EXPRESS , http://shuttleexpress.com/seatac-airport/cruise-transfers/default

For our mode of transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to Pier 91. They were reliable and we booked early in February. This is their check in desk at the airport.

 

 

 

 

The hotel was going through renovations and I found this out about a month before our stay. I really didn’t think it would be a big deal but really, I was surprised they didn’t start their renovations process prior to cruise season. They temporarily discontinued their full breakfast, which we were not aware of, because of the renovations (had a very weak continental breakfast) and there was a smell of caulking and cement. Construction was limited to the hours of 9:30 to 4:30pm. Hard to describe but I had a room freshener that served its purposes. The room was clean and the linens were comfortable, the towels were thin. Walking the streets around the hotel were easy and we felt very safe. The rooms were not ready when the rest of our friend arrived on Thursday. My husband and I had arrived the night before so our room would be the luggage drop off location for everyone. Not sure if it was due to the construction or not but it did seem a bit chaotic at the front desk and the rooms would not be available until after 3pm. We later found there were some high school graduations at nearby Memorial Field which made the hotel busy.

 

Thursday afternoon we strolled over to the EMP Museum, about a seven minute walk. http://www.empmuseum.org/index.asp

 

 

This was something my husband really enjoyed. Me, not so much. It was a museum of rock and roll named for the band of native son Jimi Hendrix. I did enjoy the Jimi Hendrix exhibit.

 

 

 

 

 

CONTINUED

 

Thanks for sharing Janet. I have gained so much knowledge from your posts and reviews. I can't wait to go on my first cruise. I know I will be prepared after reading all your posts as well as the advise from so many other CCr's. Glad you had a wonderful time.

[mngazer]

Thank you so much for posting the review and I loved the pictures! We are traveling on Sept 17th and just cannot wait! Thanks for the suggestions which I am sure will be helpful! Can't believe they just let you take a case of water on board! We will definately do that!

Susan

[juliebug52]

I love your review!

[katdy]

Really enjoying what you have written and the great pics. Sounds like you all had a great time. Have you ever thought of being a comic? Soooooooooooooo funny!:D:D:D

[nwwinelady]

Thank you for your review. We love Alaska and the Golden and will be on her again in 2012 with friends. :D

[GweninTX]

I LOVED your pics and review! I want to join your cruise group - you all know how to have a good time! We live North of Dallas on Lake Texoma and I sing with the Rich-Tone Sweet Adeline chorus (5 gold medals) so I understand and sympathize with your husband as I find it hard to enjoy some production shows too! We are going on the Princess Coral in August and cannot wait to escape this Texas heat! If you need another fun loving couple let us know! Our group has side by side balconies booked and I hope the suite fairy calls on us too!

[tennesseejoy]

Janet,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to gather all of this information. It is terrific! Especially the Princess Patters....knowing ahead of time about the spa specials will save me a lot of $$.

 

We are sailing on the Golden September 3rd - our 9th Princess Cruise, but first to Alaska. We sailed on the Golden two years ago just after it was redone and really enjoyed the ship.

 

Again, thanks so much for the information. Extremely helpful.

 

Diane

[Love2CruiseMore]

Janet, I'm sooooo happy to have stumbled onto this review! Thank you so much for all your time and effort! :D

[many cruises]

Loved your review...if ever your group is looking for others to share your next cruise...call on us!! You all looked like you had a wonderful time & I loved your themed cocktail parties. :)

[LuvinDisCruiser]

Fantastic review, loved it !

 

Question: we are going to do anytime dining also on the star princess in July.

Is there not formal nights for anytime dining ?

 

Thanks for taking the time on this very informative review !