Golden Princess 6/23/12 - review

[IECalCruiser]

Does anyone know if the Golden is offering the wine package being tried out on some of the ships in the fleet?

I believe that Princess confirmed on Facebook that the wine package was only available on cruises of ten days or more. Maybe the Golden will offer on the Hawaiian cruises.

[NRG]

I hope the OP will come back to this thread to continue their review and post the remaining patters....we're waiting for you!

[hansi]

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

 

Just use the zoom control on your computer and you have any size font you want.

[lesharona]

Does anyone remember the name of the comedian that came aboard in Skagway? His show was great!

[piper28]

Does anyone remember the name of the comedian that came aboard in Skagway? His show was great!

 

Rollin Jay Moore, or something like that. He's something of a Princess regular (we've seen him on 2 cruises before, unfortunately, his act doesn't change much over the years.)

[Jasperdo]

Does anyone remember the name of the comedian that came aboard in Skagway? His show was great!

I think you're asking about Steve Hites. He boards all the Princess ships in Skagway and gives a very entertaining "37 and a half" minute salute to the Klondike.

 

Golden Princess - Alaska by Jasperdo, on Flickr

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Where the shops open late in Juneau and Skagway? We are in port late, but our excursions don't return until around 7 in Juneau and probably 5ish in Skagway.

 

No problem with the shops remaining open. They don't close until the ships have left.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

I think you're asking about Steve Hites. He boards all the Princess ships in Skagway and gives a very entertaining "37 and a half" minute salute to the Klondike.

 

Golden Princess - Alaska by Jasperdo, on Flickr

 

He was wonderful. Very entertaining. Get there early as he does a song for the soundcheck.

[IECalCruiser]

Just thought I would bump this thread up. I really enjoyed OP's posts and the Patters :):) Hope they come back to finish the cruise as we will be boarding the Golden in 53 days.

[melsal]

Sorry for the delay in posting. Four days after the cruise we headed out on the road trip to MN to see my parents. My Mom recently moved into a residence home as she has COPD. My nephew and his family came to visit as well. So I have been busy driving from CA to MN and now visiting family. I was able to finish the review this afternoon while all were napping. I will post it day by day.

 

I think most the questions that were asked have been answered. If you have any more just post. I have internet access now.

[melsal]

6/26/12 Skagway

We rented a car from Avis and drove to Emerald Lake. We all thought the drive was very pretty and Emerald Lake beautiful. We saw no wildlife during the drive except two mountain goats. We stopped at the general store in Carcross which we enjoyed shopping in. The workers were friendly and enjoyable to talk to. We also stopped at Caribou Crossing and saw the baby huskies which were so cute. When we got back to Skagway we shopped around town and stopped for the bite to eat at the Red Onion. The food was good. I enjoyed my cocktail. It was long day. Personally, I would not make the drive to Emerald Lake again. It was beautiful but just made for a long, tiring day. Maybe our expectations were too high or it was just that we had an incredible day in Juneau the day before but we were slightly disappointed. That night DH had a headache and I was just plain tired. We ended up staying in our room. DH slept and I watch the movie The Proposal. We did not go down to dinner. It was late afternoon or maybe even early evening when we ate at the Red Onion so neither of us was hungry we when got back onboard anyway. It was about 8:30 when I ventured down to the International Café for some chicken salad and a sandwich. It was a good day just not a great day.

If travelling with children and renting a car with Avis, mark a car seat is needed even if you only need a booster seat. Then in the comments state a booster is actually what is needed. There was a very disappointed family in the Avis rental office due to this. Avis does not have extra booster or car seats available if should forget to indicate one is needed.

6_26 Skagway.pdf

[melsal]

What can I say..Extraordinary beauty, simply gorgeous, awe inspiring, God’s creation at the finest… No words seem to be able to describe this wonderful area. It was a cloudy day and you could see the “blue” ice at its finest. Some calving but not quite as much as we saw in College Fjord a few years ago. Still spectacular though. We viewed from the front of the ship over the bridge (deck 14, I believe) towards the left. Be outside as the sound of the calving is more spectacular then actually seeing it. The Captain turns the ship so at some point you will be in front of the Margerie Glacier. Once we started heading cruising away from the Glacier we went and sat at one of tables by the indoor pool. The staff was setting up for the Taste of Alaska buffet. Once the buffet was opened, we ate lunch. We did not plan this is simply happened. We were the first few people in line so got our food quickly. It did not take long before the lines on both sides were quite long. In fact, if we hadn’t been the first few in line I would not have had the Taste of Alaska buffet but would have opted for the Horizon Court, burger or pizza. I would guess some people stood in line for about 45 minutes. It was good but not that good. I liked the Fish Chowder the best. The shrimp and crab dishes looked good but I can no longer eat shell fish. Somehow about 5 years ago I developed an allergy. We had dinner in the Bernini dining room and found a wonderful wait staff team Natalya and Jose with a table by the window. The remaining nights of the cruise, we requested a table in their section. Very enjoyable dining with wonderful service. We ended the night with the comedy show of Rollin Jay Moore. He was very funny and was enjoyed by our party of 4. I read some where he is a Princess Cruise regular but I had never seen him before so it was all new material to me.

6_27 Glacier Bay.pdf

[melsal]

Can we say rain? Yes it rained and at times very hard. None the less, it did not stop us from having a good time. We got up early, had coffee and light breakfast at the International Café. The guys went salmon fishing through Ketchikan Charter Boats. They had a good time but did not catch anything. This was all their time in Ketchikan. The gals went shopping to finish getting souvenirs for folks back home and then went on the duck tour. The duck tour guide was from Ketchikan. It is always nice to get a local guide and hear some interesting facts about the place being visited. An enjoyable time for a short port of call. Once back onboard we got cleaned up and went to the dining room for lunch. A nice relaxing lunch followed by a nice relaxing afternoon of reading and napping. Later we got ready for the Captain’s Circle party and dinner. It was the last formal night. I was floored by how few people were at the party and the number of days for the most travelled which if memory serves me correctly was only about 400. Of course, that is much more than my 34 days at sea with Princess. We made our way to the dining room and requested our favorite wait team Natalya and Jose. We had to wait and went over to the wine bar. We waited longer than we needed to as the pager did not work across the Piazza area. Not sure how much time had passed but eventually we went to check how much longer and were told our pager had already been lit. No worries though they seated us in “our section”. Another good meal was had. During dinner we discussed going to see British Invasion or back to see Rollin Jay Moore. DH and I had seen British Invasion on our last cruise. It is an entertaining show but we decided on laughter and went back to see Rollin Jay Moore. Still funny but the first night was funnier.

6_28 Ketchikan.pdf

[melsal]

Since we did not arrive in port until 7:00 pm we had another relaxing day of reading, watching movies and napping. Plus, we packed as this was the final day. We put most our luggage out prior to leaving for shore and the final suitcase before going to bed. Natalya had given us the heads up that people arrived for dining early prior to getting into port. We did the same and decided to make reservations for 5:30 pm that evening. We were going to watch ½ hour of the Princess Pop Star but the lounge was crowded and we could not find seats. So we decided to just go to the wine bar for a pre-dinner drink. Dinner was good and we said our farewells to Natalya and Jose who served us well. We departed the ship and there were 2 others in port as well. So it was crowded leaving the port area. We took a taxi to the Empress Hotel where we walked the grounds and then to the marina walk. We stopped and watch a street performer. She was okay but way to over top in stating that this was her job and we should pay well. Plus the show in my opinion was too long for a street performer. This tourist was short entertaining performances with not the big push for money. The best tip (payment) I ever gave was to the bushman in SF. Just a guy with a bush hiding in a bush scaring people as they walked by. He got me once while looking for him. That’s street performing entertainment. Oh well, off that. We watched the street performer which was a waste but we kept thinking there was going to be a big finale. It never happened. We continued our walked and went to the night market. After which we decided to go back to the ship and watch the movie The Descendants. The movie was good but not a very uplifting way to end the cruise.

6_29 Victoria.pdf

[NRG]

Thank you for the patters and review......very helpful!

[mreasier]

Thank you for the great review. We too were on this cruise. We booked it at the last minute – only 2 weeks before sailing. We have sailed many times on Princess (we are Elite) and found it to be one of our most relaxing and enjoyable cruises. We agree with everything you have said here and would like to add a few of items. Someone asked if there was any problem with bringing wine on board. We embarked in Seattle with 2 bottles and brought 2 more bottles on in Juneau – no problem. We thought that the dancers and singers for the production shows were the best we have seen. We normally avoid those shows, but after we saw the end of the Motown show we were hooked. The house band (can’t remember their name) was also very good. In general, the food and entertainment was excellent. On the negative side, the wine tasting (fortunately free for us) was awful. We met some nice people, but the sommelier was hard to understand and did not offer much information. They did not even give the complimentary commemorative glass. Our other disappointment was the Crown Grill. We have been to the Crown Grill many times and have always found it to be well worth the extra charge. We ordered our usual – my wife ordered the filet and I ordered the New York Strip. We both ordered baked potatoes. My steak was tough, fatty, and flavorless. My wife’s was similar, except it was not fatty. The baked potatoes were barely warm. For one of the 1st times in our lives, we rejected our meals. The replacements were acceptable, but not up to expectations and not what we expected. The service, as usual, was excellent. We did also go to Sabatini’s and it was GREAT.

[IECalCruiser]

Sorry for the delay in posting. Four days after the cruise we headed out on the road trip to MN to see my parents. My Mom recently moved into a residence home as she has COPD. My nephew and his family came to visit as well. So I have been busy driving from CA to MN and now visiting family. I was able to finish the review this afternoon while all were napping. I will post it day by day.

 

I think most the questions that were asked have been answered. If you have any more just post. I have internet access now.

Thank you so very much. Family obviously comes before CC. I appreciate your taking the time to complete the review :):)

[melsal]

We got up, left the room at 8:00 am, went to the dining room and then down to our meeting area. We embarked around 9:30, gathered our luggage and called the car to pick us up. We had arranged with the driver of town car who took us to the cruise port to also pick up us and take us around Seattle. After being picked up from the cruise port we went the Pike’s Market for a few hours, lunch at Ivar’s and then to the airport. It was a good way to end our vacation but all four of us were ready to go home.

[melsal]

Food: Enjoyed our meals both in the dining room and at the buffet. Not all dishes great but all were good. The fettuccine alfredo on Princess is my favorite. It was my first time cruising on a ship with the International Café and I loved it. The chicken salad was great!! I was not disappointed after hearing all the rave reviews. Plus the desserts were tasty. There were long lines at the specialty buffets and one morning at the Horizon Court.

Entertainment: Other than the welcome aboard show, we did go to any productions shows. We enjoyed the Princess Pop Star session we saw and the comedian. I liked the naturalist presentation I saw. Unfortunately, the timing of other presentations and the Princess Pop Star session did not meet with our schedule. Too cold during this cruise for me to enjoy MUTS. I enjoy MUTS on warm weather cruises.

Scenery: Alaska is simply beautiful. Many hours were spent just looking at it as we cruised along.

Ports:

Juneau-my favorite long time in port enabling one to do more than one excursion. Highly recommend Harv & Marv’s for whale watching. Captain Russell was our caption. He is a wonderful young man who is very knowledgeable about whales and able to spot them from a distance.

Skagway-I liked the town area. Our drive was beautiful but I would not drive out to Emerald Lake on future visits. Time in port long enough to do two excursions. Personally, I think too much time is spent in this small town. We drove to Emerald Lake, shopped around town, ate a meal, and were still back on the ship a couple of hours before sailing. Missed Steve Hites who I heard put on a good show. I will make sure to make his show a priority if I am ever blessed again to visit Skagway.

Ketchikan-Too short of time in port and too early. Some of the stores were still closed when we walked to Creek Street. A good place for shopping for souvenirs. Enjoyed the Duck Tour and guys enjoyed their fishing trip.

Victoria-DH and I love Victoria. Just did not feel the time in port was long enough for a trip to the gardens. We looked at the excursion list and once you got to the gardens there was only about two hours to enjoy them. Simply not enough time in our opinion.

Ship: I like the Golden. The ship was clean. Other than the over the top upsell waiter on the first night the staff was excellent. The Piazza area was a great meeting place and the indoor pool area was nice place to read. It had an outdoor feel without being cold.

Overall a great vacation with friends. DH and I did not do some of the typical things we do while cruising but let our friends lead the way. No pub lunch, specialty restaurant, casino or bingo this trip. Just a nice relaxing time enjoying the scenery of Alaska.

[caribill]

On the negative side, the wine tasting (fortunately free for us) was awful....They did not even give the complimentary commemorative glass.

 

Another cost saving cutback?

 

What did they serve the dessert wine in, a regular wine glass?

[celestialcruiser]

. We continued our walked and went to the night market.

 

I have not heard mention of this before. What is the night market?

 

And thanks for the review and for posting all the Patters. I can now obsess over them before our sailing :)

[mreasier]

Another cost saving cutback?

 

What did they serve the dessert wine in, a regular wine glass?

No dessert wine - just some unremarkable sparkling wine in a champagne glass. They also did not hand out the glossy wine pamphlet.

[mkerner]

Thanks for the review and the Patters. We leave August 18 and cannot wait!

[Vanilla]

Thank you for taking the time to post all the Patters - and great review!

 

Golden - here we come... August 18! (36 days)