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Golden Princess 6/23/12 - review

melsal

By melsal,
in Princess Cruises

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melsal

melsal

Posted
Posted

Here is my review of the Golden Princess RT Seattle Alaskan Cruise departing on 6/23/12. My DH and I cruised with friends celebrating their 25th anniversary. We are all in our mid to late 40’s. Okay, I will admit it I am now 50 and we threw that into the celebration as well. This is the 4th Princess cruise for DH and I. We have previously cruised Carnival (8), Royal Caribbean (1) and Disney (1).

Embark: Saturday 6/23/12 – We flew the morning of the cruise with our flight leaving the Bay Area at 9:30 am and arriving Seattle 11:30 am. Rather uneventful flight except we arrived early, had to wait for a gate and then another plane had a medical emergency so they got the gate we were waiting for. I hope whoever had the emergency is now feeling much better and doing fine. So we ended up late to the gate at Seattle. No worries though as we had a few hours before all aboard the ship. We gathered our luggage, walked over to the town car area and hired a town car to take us to the Pier 91. We decided on getting a town car over the taxi because of the flat fee of $60.00 once we heard there was a marathon on the 23th. Thanks for the heads up other Cruise Critic members!! Traffic was horrible and it took us about a 1 ½ hour for the usual ½ hour ride. There was a line in the terminal both for security and check in. The line moved quickly and we on board around 2:30. We did not want the chaos of Embarkation Day at the Horizon court so we opted for the International Café to try the Chicken Salad that many rave about. I too will now rave. It was very tasty. This was a great choice for all of us.

Our cruise cards were scanned at the Muster Drill and you had to take your life jacket. Our muster location was in the Casino and it was taken seriously.

We had anytime dining. The first night we did care for our wait staff. The service was fine but the up sell was very annoying. I do not mind be asked if I would like to do the wine tasting etc. while dining but once no thank you is stated, the asking should cease. DH and I signed up for the wine tasting but our friends did not. The waiter kept on and on about it. They must get some sort of bonus based on many persons they sign up. It was too much and we never sat in that section again. The food was good as it was throughout the cruise. No complaints from us.

After dinner, we went to the welcome aboard show. It was good not great.

6/24/12 will be forthcoming.

I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

I scanned the patters but the file is too big to post. I will try again latter.

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ladyco4

ladyco4

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Thank you for the review. I look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip. My family and I are on the September 15 sailing and I am very interested in hearing how everyone's cruise before us was.

 

Ruth

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slomotion

slomotion

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Thank you for your review. I have one request, could you please make the font a little larger. Oh and Happy Birthday!

 

If you'd like the font to be a little larger & you are using a PC, try pressing & holding the control key and then tap the "+" Key (use the Contol "-" key to make font smaller)

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CruiseAdict218

CruiseAdict218

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Thanks for the review and Patters. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

Was staggered boarding in effect or was everyone just boarding as they arrived?

Did you bring any alcohol on board? Any problems with that?

 

That's something I want to know as well, and thank you OP for the review and the patters.

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antmaril

antmaril

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That's something I want to know as well, and thank you OP for the review and the patters.

 

I am not the OP, but I was on this cruise. It looked like everyone was boarding as they arrived at the Pier. It was a bit chaotic and the weather was dreadful -- cold and raining. Nobody checked to see if we had arrived at the assigned time. We were advised to arrive at 1:30, but got there about 12:30. No problem.

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melsal

melsal

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Thank you for the review and patters...please continue. How was the weather?

 

It rained most days and was in the 50's. However the day of Glacier Bay was only cloudly. No rain for the glacier viewing. It was spectacular. :)

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melsal

melsal

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Thanks for the review and Patters. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

Was staggered boarding in effect or was everyone just boarding as they arrived?

Did you bring any alcohol on board? Any problems with that?

 

Since we got stuck in traffic, we arrived at the port around our staggered boarding time. However, no one was checking so I am guessing it was not really in effect. I did receive a notice from Princess prior to the cruise stating suggested arrival times. Key word is "suggested".

 

We did not try to bring alcohol on board. Princess alcohol prices are typical bar prices (at least for the Bay Area). In fact, the martini prices are lower than my local home town restaurant.

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melsal

melsal

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I, too, was on this cruise. I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

Please feel free to add your thoughts as well. I realize everyone's cruise experience can and will be different.

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melsal

melsal

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I just jumped in quickly before going to work to answer a few questions. I will continue posting my daily review but for now must go to work to pay for the next cruise. :D

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sherryf

sherryf

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Looking through the Patters, it appears that the Sail Away Party was held on deck, rather than in the Piazza as reported from another recent cruiser. This is a big relief! I'm also glad that staggered boarding was not enforced... not that I was planning to follow it anyway! :cool:

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