Suggestions Please Golden Princess

[nhaone]

We are trying to decide between 2 cruises on Golden Princess and have the following quesitons?

1. Classic or Explorer which one is best?

2. How is cruising out of San Juan? Airport etc.

3. Best Southern Carib port of call

4. Do you recommend flying in the night before and if so, suggestions for hotel

This will be our first Princess cruise, have sailed Carnival before.

 

Thanks in advance

[AZPam]

We have booked the Golden for March 11, 2006. I believe that is the

"Explorer" cruise. We have done a few of these islands before, but it's been a few years.

 

We LOVE leaving out of San Juan! It's such a great area that we will travel in on March 9 so that we have a full day to enjoy. There is a lot to do and see if you've never been there before. Our favorite trip so far was a private tour up to the rain forest and a stop on the beach. The tour guide made it so interesting and we had a wide range of ages, from about 8 to 65. The airport is rather small, so very easy to get around. Only real complaint is the price of air fare and hotels. Rather pricey. We stayed at a Marriot on the beach last time and current prices are $395 a night! We are looking into something else for now. Depends on where you are flying from, but we always come in at least one day early. That way we can get on the ship well rested and no worries about delayed flights or missing luggage.

 

As for favorite port of call, they are all so different, it just depends on what you want to do. St Thomas is always great for shopping. Last time to St Kitts we did a catamaran trip to Nevis that was a real high light, so this time we will check out St Kitts more. Isla Margarita is a very short stop, but last time it was a full day and we did a jeep 4x4 off road thing that was a blast. Never been to Aruba or Greneda, so looking forward to some new stops.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either cruise, so I guess it just really depends on what you want to do and see. I haven't been on Carnival, but I think you will like Princess too.

 

Pam

[sunprincess]

This past March did B2B on the Golden with both cruises. Fabulous cruise.

As far as leaving from San Juan, no troubles. I did not fly in a day ahead this time. One couple in our group did as they are from Canada & had some weather concerns.

I always enjoy St. Thomas. That is usually my shopping day.

The call to Grenada this time was sad due to the extensive hurricane damage that still exisits there.

Isla Margarita is a short port of call. But we enjoyed it very much. Walked to a beach near the ship & then shopped along the local stands along the pier.

Aruba has had some hard times lately. I am wondering if their recent crime increase will continue ?? Always love walking along the shops there.

St.Kitts we toured the island. The monkeys are so cute.

St.Lucia is a lovely island. We enjoyed our day there doing an island tour - the waterfalls & Pitons.

St.Maarten is another great shopping port. We did some serious damage there with our group. Also had some good beach time.

Antigua we hit the beach.

Barbados we went downtown , saw the highlights.

 

To name one favorite port of call, that's tough. I enjoy them all so much for different reasons. But, if I had to say my all time #1 - ??? St.Thomas.

 

Good luck with your decisions.

 

I also have some pics on webshots that you can view:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/sunprincess8

 

ENJOY!!

[cynbar]

We did the Explorer cruise this past April, and we loved it. To us, it seemed to have the best variety of islands and also had some new stops for us. Another plus was that the sea day was at the end instead of the beginning, giving us a chance to recuperate and pack before heading back to Boston. This itinerary started off in St Thomas, which is the most congested but has great shopping and beaches and sightseeing -- a great way to start our week. Then it was off to 2 more unspoiled islands, St Kitts and Grenada -- these were new for us and we did island tours on both. Next we had a half day at Isla Margarita, really a nice beach morning with the beach and some shopping huts right at the pier. Our last port was Aruba -- we had been there before and rented a car, very easy right at the pier, and were able to find a quiet beach and go sightseeing for our very enjoyable day. Flying in and out of San Juan was quite easy for us, we were able to book direct flights at convenient times. We always try to fly down a day before to minimize the stress -- this time we stayed at the Caribe Hilton and loved it, it's an older hotel but nicely renovated, with a beach and great pool area and several restaurants right there. Here's a link to our webshots: http://community.webshots.com/user/cynbar101.

[Coolmama_1]

We also did the Explorer because the sea day was at the end. It is port intensive and by the time we got to Aruba on Friday, our butts were dragging:D It was nice to have Saturday to relax before the end of the cruise.

 

Either way, enjoy your cruise!:)

[GoJackets24]

We cruised the explorer route last June. It was wonderful. We flew down a day early to see San Juan. We booked and stayed at the Marriott through Priincess. It was nice, but rather expensive. I wish we had flew down a couple of days earlier and stayed at a cheaper hotel.

 

Flying in and out of San Juan was fine.

 

We went in June and there were a lot of unsupervised children, especially in the forward spa pool. They seemed to think the swim against the currect machine was a toy to hang onto.

 

My favorite ports were St. Thomas and Aruba. In St. Thomas we took the ferry to St. John's and snorkeled. It was great. The last time we went to Magen's Bay which is also awesome. The views and shopping are hard to beat in the USVI. In Aruba we did the Sea and See tour in the morning and then took the bus to the beach in the afternoon. There are some cute shops at the pier to get cheap souvenirs.

 

GoJackets24

 

2001 Grand Princess - Western Caribbean

2002 Grand Princess - Eastern Caribbean

2004 Golden Princess - Southern Caribbean

2005 Caribbean Princess - Western Caribbean

[Northender]

cynbar - how did you find the weather in April. I'm not talking rain, but was it very hot. We are interested in doing this cruise either late March or early April 2006. Just have to figure out when spring break is so we can book before or after. TIA

[cynbar]

It's hard to say about the weather, it was hot but it didn't really bother us --- I really don't find a lot of differences, month to month, in the Caribbean. We sailed the Eastern Caribbean route in August of 2003 and it seemed just about the same as our other cruises. One thing I have to say for the end of April, however, is that it was dry every day (we only saw a couple of passing showers.) We sailed one November when it rained every day, and other passengers were saying that April and May are usually dry months in the Caribbean. And I must say, it was nice to come back this time to spring weather -- well, as much as we got in Massachusetts this year!!

[lgt]

It's funny, we were just discussing our last fall B2B Golden Cruise last night at dinner. We loved both, but we did the Explorer first, the the Classic (should have done the other way around). We decided if we did either of these cruises again we would stay over when we got back until Monday because the airport was terrible. Crowded, unorganized, long lines and not enough places to even sit. Too many cruise ships at the same time for this small airport. Also that way we can relax for a day before heading back. We went down 3 days early and stayed at the Westin. Beautiful place. Got it for 85/nite on Sky Auction.com. Wish we could go again this year, but sadly, its not to be. Linda I forgot, fav island - Barbados- did a private catamaran for the day. Fantastic.

[nhaone]

Thank you to all who posted! I love these boards and once again Im addicted:)

 

I have decidied on Princess and the one to Aruba, cant remember which one though. Now checking on past guest discounts. Any suggestions?

 

Also, need pre-cruise hotel suggestions.

 

Again, thanks and the pix were great