Golden Princess 6/30-7/7 Review

[jeaniust]

Hi All!

Just came back from my first cruise ever on the Golden Princess! I had a really good time and really appreciated reading everyone else's review before going on the Golden so I figured I'd give a quick review! This may not be super helpful for the seasoned cruisers out there but if you are a first timer like I was this might be helpful!

 

THE VERY GOOD:

-THE FOOD: Really enjoyed having breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the dining room as often as we could as per recommendation of CC users. We were scheduled for the 8:15 seating but once on board I realize they've changed it to 7:45 which was perfect for us. Our waiters were Arthur and Dan and they were a riot! Fun and almost over-the-top but still provided professional service. We only ate in the buffet once and I think people who ate there all the time might find it to be not very tasty or exciting but why eat there when you can go to the dining room and get great service?! LOVED getting sandwiches and soup and desserts galore at the International cafe too and even thought the selections didn't change very much they were all very good. Had the pizza and the burger from the grill by the pool once - didn't love it but it was convenient when you are taking a dip in the tub or the pool.

-THE LIVE MUSIC: String quartet, a piano singer, the Golden Princess Orchestra (AKA the resident band), and 2 other small bands were all very solid musicians. For me it was heaven to have various live music/dancing options in the different venues every night until at least 11:30pm!

-THE JOURNEY: Alaska is beautiful. Honestly I think I have now been completely spoiled by the scenery on this trip. I don't think any other destination will offer such breath-taking views on a DAILY basis! We saw whales, dolphins, eagles, waterfalls, glaciers...the list goes on and on!

-MENDENHALL GLACIER CANOE EXCURSION: Agreed by everyone in our party to be the highlight of our trip. You get a little exercisin' in and it's the closest I think you can get to a glacier without forking out over $300 for the helicopter trip. Highly recommend!

 

THE GOOD:

-THE SHIP: Yes it is an older ship. I've never been on another cruise ship but I totally can see what other people meant. There were some rusts, paint chips, stains but really there were all outside (i.e. balcony, open decks). There were 4 pools and 8 tubs and all heated and we used most of them. The piazza was smaller than what I imagined but nevertheless beautiful. All the public spaces were very well maintained. The only disappointment was the "Princess Links" - it was so small it made me feel claustrophobic :eek:

-THE SERVICE: We got great service in the Piazza, in the dining room, from our room stewardess, and at all the lounges/bars. They were always polite and helpful. There were couple of less-than-enthusiastic crew members but they are far and few in between and specifically were some of the food service people (at the pizza/burger place, sometimes the coffee place). For the most part I was amazed and how nice everyone was considering they work REALLY long hours.

 

THE OK:

-ENTERTAINMENT: So I knew before going on board that I can't expect Broadway caliber show. I think the base of good shows are there but the execution was poor. Sound was always a little off, spotlight not always on the singers, and only average singers. But by the second production show I knew what to expect so really I still enjoyed myself and tried to be the best audience I could be. The comedian Sarge was very good like everyone else said and I laughed so hard :)

 

THE NOT-SO-GOOD:

-I am claustrophobic and so we purposely booked a balcony room. I think my only complaint is that the bathroom was sooo tiny!! Imagine an airplane lavatory and just add in a coffin-sized shower. And I defintely don't think I could've done an inside room - I peeked in one and it just freaked me out. I guess this is what you learn as a first timer!

-Sea sickness: I get motion sickness easily. Everyone told me before hand that Alaska inside passage is one of the smoothest rides. I just have to say that having sea bands saved my life. I still felt dizzy especially when we were on open sea but at least I didn't puke. Now if you are sensitive but didn't pack remedies they do sell them on board and for the a reasonable price (I got mine at Target for $7 and they were $9 on the ship).

 

Well, I think that about sums it up. Sorry not as short as I thought it was gonna be :D But thank you everyone on CC for giving me invaluable tips and thank you Princess for making me a fan of cruises!

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write and post your review.

 

Keith

[dforeigner]

Thanks for the review.

[northwestbear]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on the Golden to Alaska in September. Not our first trip, but first time on that ship, so I love seeing what others think of her.

 

 

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[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info .

[jean s]

Thanks for the very nice review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[peachykiehn]

Thanks for taking the time to review. We leave on the Golden next week and it s always nice to read impressions of the cruise. Nice job for your first review.

[BlueEyesMI]

Thanks! We're on the Golden in a few weeks. Can you tell me about disembarkation? How long did it take, what time were you off the ship? (Or what time did they kick you off?

[sept10dsm]

Thanks! Glad you had a nice trip.

[jeaniust]

Thanks! We're on the Golden in a few weeks. Can you tell me about disembarkation? How long did it take, what time were you off the ship? (Or what time did they kick you off?

 

Disembarkation was very quick and smooth. I think the last scheduled group met at 9:15 to leave the ship. We left at 8:25 but I did check the "would like to leave between 8-9 am box". There was a "would like to leave at 9-10 box" too. We needed to clear the room by 8 but still had time to eat in the dining room before disembarking. From the time the assigned group gathered to leave the ship to the time we grabbed luggage at port took no more than 15 minutes. Hope this helps!

 

 

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[sept10dsm]

Did you lose air conditioning? In another they say for 3 days no air.

[robynmark]

Thanks for your review. I agree with the entertainment. I loved the illusionist. Did you see him. We did walk about of one of the evening shows. British Invastion was excellent I thought. The food was fabulous as well. We did not enjoy the buffet so we also ate in the dining room most of the time. Only one side of the boat was without air for the 3 days not the entire ship. I do have one complaint that the bathrooms by the dining room were always out of service and you had to walk to the other side of the ship to use them. Otherwise I agree a fantastic cruise. Sorry I didn't meet you.

 

Robyn

[beshears]

Thank you for your review of the Golden. We are to be on it the 26th of September for a short cruise, so this sort of gives us an idea of what it is all about.

 

You said in entertainment, there were two small bands. Was one of the bands, Phoenix Rising, or do you know? We seen them (4 piece) a couple years ago, and they were pretty good.

 

You mentioned about the toilet. Is it really as small as the airplanes? That is really BAD.:mad:

 

I believe you said you had a balcony, and that is what we are to have. What deck were you on, and were you happy there? We are to be on Baja, deck 11.

[jeaniust]

Did you lose air conditioning? In another they say for 3 days no air.

 

We were lucky enough to have no problems with our air conditioning at all. And I suppose even if we had no air conditioning we had a balcony all we had to do was open the sliding door :-)

 

 

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[jeaniust]

Thank you for your review of the Golden. We are to be on it the 26th of September for a short cruise, so this sort of gives us an idea of what it is all about.

 

You said in entertainment, there were two small bands. Was one of the bands, Phoenix Rising, or do you know? We seen them (4 piece) a couple years ago, and they were pretty good.

 

You mentioned about the toilet. Is it really as small as the airplanes? That is really BAD.:mad:

 

I believe you said you had a balcony, and that is what we are to have. What deck were you on, and were you happy there? We are to be on Baja, deck 11.

 

Yes Phoenix Rising was one of the bands and we enjoyed them!

 

The bathroom for our balcony room was pretty small...but it's completely tolerable even for a claustrophobic like myself. You can't have two people in there at the same time for sure.

 

We were on Aloha deck 12 Aft and directly below Horizon and loved it. Easy to get to lido deck and it was nice to have a balcony for sure. When you go through Tracy Arms its just great to sit on your own balcony. We were port side and the only gripe I have is everything seemed to happen on the starboard side! (Whales, glaciers, etc)

 

 

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[NSWP]

Thanks for your review, we are on Golden for 31 nights next March, BA to LA. We have an aft balcony cabin on Aloha Deck.

[sept10dsm]

We were lucky enough to have no problems with our air conditioning at all. And I suppose even if we had no air conditioning we had a balcony all we had to do was open the sliding door :-)

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

That's good.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for your review. It sounds like you had a great first cruise.:)

[vent1020]

We will be on the Golden in Nov. I appreciate your review!

[Sale Away]

Appreciate hearing current reviews since I've never been on the Golden Princess. Or any Princess ship for that matter!

 

I like to try and bring my room steward some goodies when I sail. Do you happen to know what nationality the room stewards on this ship are? When I used to sail on HAL, it seemed like they were all Indonesian. I thought I'd heard that most of the room stewards on Princess were from the Philippines though but I wasn't sure.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Appreciate hearing current reviews since I've never been on the Golden Princess. Or any Princess ship for that matter!

 

I like to try and bring my room steward some goodies when I sail. Do you happen to know what nationality the room stewards on this ship are? When I used to sail on HAL, it seemed like they were all Indonesian. I thought I'd heard that most of the room stewards on Princess were from the Philippines though but I wasn't sure.

 

The cabin stewards on Princess are from a variety of nationalities. In the past, we've had stewards from Thailand, Romania, Mexico, for example.

 

I would be careful about bringing goodies as you never know what their dietary concerns are, and they have so little room in their shared quarters, from what I understand.

 

Was glad to hear the OP enjoyed the Golden. We were on that ship twice, but on the Hawaii itinerary. The last time we were in an aft inside on the Aloha deck and we find it convenient for breakfast and lunch in the Horizon.

[SilverEyes]

Thank you for your review! We just booked our Alaskan Cruise on the Golden Princess for July 2014, so I am just getting started on the planning, really appreciate it :-)

[Blue Line]

Thank you for the review... We are considering a west coast/Mexico cruise on Golden in November.