Review of Golden Princess Cruise to Inside Passage-Alaska, May, 2013

[lovelearnteach]

yup. and we can go shoe shopping. :)

 

thank you for taking us all along on your holiday.

:eek: Sweet revenge, now I'm the one being teased, I love to go shoe shopping, but I have big feet is my problem. I can usually squeeze into a 14 but 15, 16 are more comfortable for me and on rare occasion I can squeeze into a 13, 12, but if I'm gonna pay $150 or more for a pair of shoes they better be comfortable.

[lovelearnteach]

This is my grandniece with the stuffed moose I got her from our Alaskan vacation.

 

 

[lovelearnteach]

I've been asked a lot if I want to cruise to Alaska again. The answer is yes, but not the same cruise. If I ever get the chance to cruise Alaska again, I want one that goes to Glacier Bay. I would also like to start/end in Whittier/Anchorage, and have some time for Denali. The next cruise we are considering is to the Bahama's, on Carnival for a Christmas cruise. A friend of ours is already booked and wants us to go. With all the bad publicity lately, it's dirt cheap for a holiday cruise. A holiday cruise is on our bucket list, although way down low on the list. I was hoping to go to Hawaii or Bermuda first. I'm also unsure of Carnival and the itinerary. I did sail Carnival 20 years ago and loved it then, but oh how times have changed. My biggest fear is horrible food, I can take just about anything but that. I saw that CNN was going to have a report on last night about the "Dangers of Cruise Ships", did anyone see it, I missed it?

[lovelearnteach]

I've been reading a review from the Coral, and I think if I ever sail in Alaska again this will be the ship. One of our Princess bucket list items is to eat at all the specialty dinning venues, we have Bayou and Sterling still left to try. Has anyone ate at all the specialty dinning venues with Princess?

[wonderingnana]

Thank you very much for the wonderful, informative Alaska information. You have made making plans for 2014 very easy.

I was on Carnival last year, the food was better than Princess! Hard to believe, but true.

[lovelearnteach]

Thank you very much for the wonderful, informative Alaska information. You have made making plans for 2014 very easy.

I was on Carnival last year, the food was better than Princess! Hard to believe, but true.

Thank-you for the support :)! Enjoy your time in Alaska next year!

 

:eek: That is hard to believe, :D. I'm not sure yet on weather to try the Chef's Table or the specialty restaurant. We only do one extra dinning thing per cruise.

[chris2597]

We sailed on the May 26 Golden. Loved the cruise. but also noticed that our soap, shampoo, lotion and most importantly the TP were not replaced enough. She finally brought extra TP but never replaced the other bathroom items. Good thing I had a small bottle of my own. The room was adequately cleaned but nothing special. I don't think she cleaned the carpet everyday. There were no towel animals at all. We have sailed 11 times and always have found cute towel creations made for us. I think we only saw our stewards once all week. I wonder if we had the same attendant?

We had great service in the Anytime Dining, but I felt the Crown Grill servers were not very friendly. They provided good service but did not seem interested in engaging in any conversation past taking the order. The restaurant was very slow. We encountered a couple of not so engaged servers in other areas but felt that they might be on the last leg of their contract and were tired and ready to go home.

 

 

 

Hello everyone it's me, Ken, again. We got a last minute deal on this cruise that we could not resist and decided to scratch Alaska off the bucket list :). So if you've read either of my other reviews you know it takes a minute, but I will give a quick review for those that don't want to read on.

 

The Golden is a typical Princess ship, we enjoyed sailing on her immensely, with a few minor incidents. One being our cabin steward, we are used to being treated extra special on other ships because we are so easy. First thing the beds are together, when I've already requested separate beds. No soap, shampoo, conditioner replaced when used, no second roll of toilet paper many days, dirty carpet or some weird fuzz on carpet several days. Issues with filling the ice bucket. Nothing life shattering, but added up a little annoying, especially since we are used to being spoiled :p. The 2nd issue was at lunch one day, a waiter got snippy with an elderly passenger. She asked about looking at the menu for dessert as we had been sitting for close to 10 minutes after finishing our main course. Well some waiters at lunch take your whole order including dessert because it's all on one menu for lunch, well this waiter didn't. When I started to say he said no I'll bring the menus back and take your dessert order. So after she asks he says kinda snippy we're clearing the table right now I'm getting the menus in a moment. I would have been 100% on his side if it was some fussy old women who thought she should snap her fingers and have everyone jump, but this was not the case. She asked very kindly as we had already been sitting for close to 10 min., he should have said yes madame and gotten the menus. Wouldn't it have made more sense to let us look while you cleared, instead of making us wait for you to clear. Again not earth-shattering, but I didn't like his attitude. Out of the 4 Princess ships I've sailed on, the Emerald Princess has been my favorite so far. We had great food, in all the venues we ate. For those of you who know me, your asking how was the fresh fruit, it was really good on the Golden, had it every day and was never disappointed in either the dinning room or the buffet.

 

So if you don't want tor read on, now would be a good place to bail thanks for stopping by :). If you have any specific questions please feel free to ask. For those that want to see pix and hear details, hang-in there with me.

[sazzifrazz]

Im considering this ship for next summer. How does princess compare to other cruise lines, in your opinion? food? entertainment? over all ship?

[whynotnow50]

We are on the Star in August, so enjoyed your report very much. I must say, I checked the results on your poll and I do not understand how anyone could have voted for any of the answers below the top two. Just know that it was an enjoyable and informative read.

 

Thanks again.

[Anniesails]

Hi Ken,

Just read your review and thank you immensely for your dedication and time for writing it so indepth. I will be taking the South American itinerary aboard the Golden this coming February and was looking for a review of the Golden Princess. I was a little concerned as it seems to be an older ship but you made it sound very nice. thanks again.

[bhopal21]

Hi Ken,

Just read your review and thank you immensely for your dedication and time for writing it so indepth. I will be taking the South American itinerary aboard the Golden this coming February and was looking for a review of the Golden Princess. I was a little concerned as it seems to be an older ship but you made it sound very nice. thanks again.

 

We just disembarked The Golden two weeks ago and she is is excellent shape. I was somewhat surprised to find everything in very good shape.

 

Mike:)