Golden Princess, Seattle - Glacier Bay Round Trip, Patters & Menus

[SusieO]

Thanks for taking time to post; we are on the Golden August 4 in

WS #301.

[Mercruiser]

Good Evening Cruise Critic members. I have an iPhone on the Verizon system with unlimited data. It was really fast in Seattle. Now I am trying it in Juneau and it is slower than a Glacier. There is no way I will be able to upload 2 MB Patter scans. I will upload the Patters and menus from home next weekend.

 

I have had much better luck using the Wordpress app on my iPhone to upload some text and pictures to my blog. I will continue to upload text and pictures as long as this works. Check them out. I have pictures from the Seattle sail away, Juneua whale watching trip, and Mendenhall Glacier. See them at http://goldenalaska.wordpress.com/

 

Q and A

RickEk

Q) Very nice...did you bring a scanner?! On our recent cruise on the Golden, Internet access was a bit spotty. I tried to upload one picture (about 4.5mbs) and after about 20 minutes, I gave up.

A) I am using a Fujitsu ScanSanp S1300. It's relatively portable and scans two sides at once. I drove to the cruise terminal from home, so I brought some extra toys like this that I would not bring if flying. The software makes searchable PDFs meaning you can use the search for words and it will find them in the scanned document. I used Verizon 3G in Seattle for the upload using iPhones "Personal Hotspot" feature. It is really to slow to use in Juneau.

NRG - Enjoy the free Internet access in your window seat. There has been lots of talk on CC about this being eliminated in the future.

 

[bab10]

We will be on this same boat, itinerary starting 9/1/2012. Are you doing traditional or anytime dining? If Anytime, can you make reservations for dinner? I hear differing opinions so would love to know what is going on with this ship!

 

Thanks!

[Mercruiser]

Just arrived in Skagway. See blog for photos.

[Mercruiser]

We are doing anytime dining. Traditional works fine for us too. We usually eat around 6.

With anytime, you can make a reservation on the phone as early as 8 am for the same day. Or you can walk up, and wait for a table, like any restaurant on land.

Busy time is around 700 pm - longer waits then. Easy to get in before 6 or after 8.

[Mercruiser]

I am getting pictures of all the dinner menus. Comparing the new to the old, I see they have eliminated the King Crab appetizer from the Alaska Dinner. Prices on King Crab are sky high this year.

[Vanilla]

I guess there are no posts from NRG nor mercruiser cause they are having a blast on their cruise....

[NRG]

Today we are at glacier bay and it is fantastic. *The weather could not be better, bright sunshine for most of the day and even when it was chilly this morning the views were fantastic. *We have seen whales off both sides of the ship, the naturalist said this was their best sightings all season.

 

We still love our window suite.....it stopped creaking after the first night and I really can't think of one negative. *The views from the windows are better than a balcony, I think, except for taking photos. *Still no smoking odors although you definitely smell it outside of the theater it stays out of our hallway. *Internet is fast early in the morning and spotty at other hours. *

 

That's all for now*

[calcruise88]

I was in the neptune pool with my daughters at the time of the incident and the first trying to get the boy out.

He was stuck on a pool outlet where the protective cover was missing.

No skin was cut or arm cut off, but the suction on the outlet was strong enough that I could not get the boy to the surface by myself.

I am sure the incident had nothing to do with the boy not being able to swim well enough. He was likely just playing and diving in the pool and had no chance to free himself once he got too close to the opening.

 

Even without the cover there has to be other safety equipment in place to prevent suction from building up that could trap somebody under water. None of this was in place or it was not functioning.

I had talked to the safety officer on board the next day and he assumed some kids had removed the cover of the outlet. That already should not have possible. It cant be that hard to make a cover that can only be removed with special tools and not by a kids under water.

I have since contacted Princess Cruises via their customerrelations email contact stating the safety concerns. I have not heard back from them yet.

Also when disembarking from the cruise i saw coast guard officers looking at the emptied pool. They had been notified of the incident and are investigating.

[Mercruiser]

As previously mentioned, we had a great day in Glacier Bay. See my impressions on my blog at:

http://goldenalaska.wordpress.com/

 

Today, we are going on a Misty Fjords flightseeing trip.

[Mercruiser]

I guess there are no posts from NRG nor mercruiser cause they are having a blast on their cruise....

 

Very true. My wife and I spent 9 hours outside on deck while in GB. That didn't leave any time for CC.

[Mercruiser]

I have a couple of new posts on my blog including Patters and menus for Saturday and Sunday. See them at:

http://goldenalaska.wordpress.com/

 

More to come.

 

[Mercruiser]

I have added the Patter, menu, and pictures for July 23 in Juneau. Be sure to check out the picture of whales bubble net feeding. I have also started a Google map showing the cruise route, using data from my GPS.

 

See it at http://goldenalaska.wordpress.com/

[Mercruiser]

I have added the Patter, menu, and pictures for July 24 in Skagway and the Yukon. I updated the Google map to show the cruise route from Juneau to Skagway.

 

See it at http://goldenalaska.wordpress.com/

[IECalCruiser]

I have added the Patter, menu, and pictures for July 24 in Skagway and the Yukon. I updated the Google map to show the cruise route from Juneau to Skagway.

 

See it at http://goldenalaska.wordpress.com/

I have been following your posts and thank you. We will be boarding the Golden in a month and am enjoying the anticipation reading what you have posted. You have spend a significant amount of time providing such complete information for the future cruisers.

[chensuu]

I have added the Patter, menu, and pictures for July 24 in Skagway and the Yukon. I updated the Google map to show the cruise route from Juneau to Skagway.

 

See it at http://goldenalaska.wordpress.com/

 

These are all so fantastic. I'm planning an Alaskan cruise for sometime next year and I'm having a great time reading through all your adventures.

 

Thank you.

[celestialcruiser]

Leaving for our cruise in a month and the patters and menu are great appreciated. My OCD thanks you :)

[Arizona-Cruising]

Yes I recieve email updates as you add new information.

Your Blog has helped us expain how great our trip was and has provided friends and family with information for their future cruises for their selves.

Again thanks for all your time and efforts.

[Lopear1]

Thanks so much for all of these wonderful reviews, Patters, and especially the menus! ;)We have not been on an Alaskan cruise since 2003, and we are using your information to prepare for our September voyage. The menus will help us decide which nights to book the specialty restaurants!

 

Thanks again!! :D

[bonnyprince93]

Love your pictures and thank you, thank you for the idea about renting the 100-400m lens. We have the canon t2i and will be sailing on the Golden in Sept.:)

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

Sounds like a great cruise. Thanks for taking the time to post.....:):):)

Bob

[nitewarrior]

Thank you we will be on the golden in a couple weeks

[Mercruiser]

Love your pictures and thank you, thank you for the idea about renting the 100-400m lens. We have the canon t2i and will be sailing on the Golden in Sept.:)

 

Thanks. I used the 100-400 lens extensively for the Juneau whale watching trip and in Glacier Bay. All of the other pictures were taken with a Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. I am really happy with the 15-85. It's a lot heftier than the inexpensive kit lenses. But it has much better image quality. The 15-85 mm zoom range is perfect for the T2i 1.6X crop factor.

 

I rented the 100-400 lens from lensrentals dot com. It was brand new. I would rent from them again.

[Mercruiser]

IECalCruiser, chensuu, celestialcruiser, Arizona-Cruising, Lopear1, bonnyprince93, Woobstr112G, and nitewarrior:

 

Thanks for your comments about the blog. It is great to know that this is useful to you in planning your upcoming Alaska cruises.

 

I have added the Patter and pictures for July 25 in Glacier Bay. Unfortunately, I got so wrapped up in GB photography that I forgot to take a picture of the Chef's Dinner menu :o. I updated the Google map to show the cruise route from Skagway to GB and on to Ketchikan.

[celestialcruiser]

Did you happen to eat in Crown Grill? I just saw on the Patter that it has "theater style kitchen." I haven't heard that before. Wondering if it is sort of like a chef's table at some restaurants where you can watch them cook.