Live from Golden Priness San Francisco to Sydney

[nreeder]

Join us as we embark on our 28 day adventure from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. We are a couple who are retired for 6 years and this is our 3rd 28 day cruise in a row (Buenos Aires to Los Angeles, and Ft. Lauderdale trans Atlantic to the Baltic previous to this). While most all of the ports we will visit are done separately by Princes (Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia), it's only on a re-positioning cruise that all of them come together.

 

There will be lots of sea days on this cruise, so I won't be posting every day as our routine is pretty much the same on those days (walk the promenade deck, go to the gym, go to enrichment lectures etc).

 

We live in Torrance, a suburb of LA, and flew up to San Francisco the day before. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero a few blocks from the new San Francisco cruise pier. Used up expiring Hyatt points to stay and even had enough points to get us the executive lounge at the top which has a 360 degree of the city and the bay bridge. They had a wide selection of appetizers and inexpensive wine during happy hour that night. Walked across the street to One Market Restaurant which has good reviews and had a wonderful dinner.

 

We left for the cruise terminal around 11 am and breezed through security and cabin checkin. We had to wait an hour to board though. They had seating for Elite check-in passengers (this is our 21st Princess cruise), as well as others and they called the Elites first to board.

 

We chose a mini-suite in the back above the Vista lounge and below the Dolphin deck which has the entire deck devoted to mini-suites. The advantage we have is that our balcony is completely covered by the mini-suites above us so we are shaded from the sun and rain. Disadvantage is that we are in the back, but we don't mind that.

 

We left late because they were still bringing on supplies but off we went, right under the Golden Gate bridge. When we got to the open ocean, we could see a number of whales spouting nearby so that was fun. Overnight and today the seas are choppy and the ship is shimmying a little. It's enough that there are "barf bags" attached to all of the trash cans on the public decks!

 

Tonight we will go to Crown Grill which we like better than Sabatini's as we can control our food intake a little better there. We have four days now to Hawaii.

 

Will keep you posted I'm not going to post entertainers or movies as by the time you go on this ship, they will all be different.

 

By the way, Internet speed is terrible. I've had to post this during 5:30 pm dinner hour in order to get it to work. At 2 pm, nothing would work

 

Talk to you later.

 

Norm

[trbarton]

Join us as we embark on our 28 day adventure from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. We are a couple who are retired for 6 years and this is our 3rd 28 day cruise in a row (Buenos Aires to Los Angeles, and Ft. Lauderdale trans Atlantic to the Baltic previous to this). While most all of the ports we will visit are done separately by Princes (Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia), it's only on a re-positioning cruise that all of them come together.

 

There will be lots of sea days on this cruise, so I won't be posting every day as our routine is pretty much the same on those days (walk the promenade deck, go to the gym, go to enrichment lectures etc).

 

We live in Torrance, a suburb of LA, and flew up to San Francisco the day before. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero a few blocks from the new San Francisco cruise pier. Used up expiring Hyatt points to stay and even had enough points to get us the executive lounge at the top which has a 360 degree of the city and the bay bridge. They had a wide selection of appetizers and inexpensive wine during happy hour that night. Walked across the street to One Market Restaurant which has good reviews and had a wonderful dinner.

 

We left for the cruise terminal around 11 am and breezed through security and cabin checkin. We had to wait an hour to board though. They had seating for Elite check-in passengers (this is our 21st Princess cruise), as well as others and they called the Elites first to board.

 

We chose a mini-suite in the back above the Vista lounge and below the Dolphin deck which has the entire deck devoted to mini-suites. The advantage we have is that our balcony is completely covered by the mini-suites above us so we are shaded from the sun and rain. Disadvantage is that we are in the back, but we don't mind that.

 

We left late because they were still bringing on supplies but off we went, right under the Golden Gate bridge. When we got to the open ocean, we could see a number of whales spouting nearby so that was fun. Overnight and today the seas are choppy and the ship is shimmying a little. It's enough that there are "barf bags" attached to all of the trash cans on the public decks!

 

Tonight we will go to Crown Grill which we like better than Sabatini's as we can control our food intake a little better there. We have four days now to Hawaii.

 

Will keep you posted I'm not going to post entertainers or movies as by the time you go on this ship, they will all be different.

 

By the way, Internet speed is terrible. I've had to post this during 5:30 pm dinner hour in order to get it to work. At 2 pm, nothing would work

 

Talk to you later.

 

Norm

 

Thanks for the live. We were on the Golden on the August 30th Alaska cruise. On that cruise there was an Princess entertainer vocalist/dancer, Bret Bell, who we had met on our Panama Canal Cruise last fall on the Island. He remember both of us and stayed after one of there performances in the Atrium celebrating Princess 50th Anniversary. He stayed after there performance to talk to us or a few minutes and to autograph our photo we had of him from our Panama Canal cruise..

 

Here's 2 photos of Bret.

 

 

If you happen to see him say help from Tom & Becky who were on the August 30th cruise to Alaska.

 

Enjoy your cruise and thanks for posting you review of the repositioning cruise.

 

Tom:)

[Colo Cruiser]

Bon Voyage!! Love that trip! :)

[cr8tiv1]

I am so envious. Love the Golden and am sad to see her leave the west coast. I will be following your thread with a bit of "homesickness" as you take her across the Pacific (through Hawaii/my "other" home).

 

Enjoy her extra for me. And if you see Headwaiter Prashant in the dining room or Horizon court, please give him my aloha (from Ms. Renee). These friend requests will keep you busy during the many sea days.

 

She was sold out before I could book my cabin. Yes, when they attach little white bags to the elevator receptacles, you know they are anticipating a rough night.

 

Bon Voyage and safe crossing. Thank you for taking the time to share this voyage with us.

Edited September 21, 2015 by cr8tiv1

[waltd]

Norm thanks for posting. Will look forward to your reviews.

Joe

[ar1950]

I am so envious. Love the Golden and am sad to see her leave the west coast........................ Thank you for taking the time to share this voyage with us.

 

Big dittos to that sentiment Renee. Would have loved to be on this cruise. Looking forward to more from the OP and glad they are doing this live-from. Big thanks for that!! :cool:

[LasMa]

I'll be following with interest too. We just disembarked the Golden yesterday, at the end of her final 10-day Alaska cruise of the season. She was good to us. :)

[Izabelle]

Really looking forward to following along as you bring the Golden to Sydney Harbour when it will be our turn to board for her first cruise out of Australia, hope the seas improve a bit for you and you have a wonderful voyage across the Pacific.

[MargoK]

I too will be following your posts with interest as we are sailing on the Golden for Christmas and New Year.

 

We have a cabin booked on E deck also - E716, so will be interested to know if you will experience noise issues from the Vista Lounge the deck below.

 

Happy cruising

[joybook]

Thank you and have a great cruise. Wife and I were on the Golden -31 days last December - LA to Rio and had a great time. As we live only 30 minutes out of Sydney we are hoping to get down to the Overseas Passenger Terminal when it arrives in the hope we may see some of the crew, especially those who were in the dining room and also around the International Cafe. We would love to be on it again.:)

[Aussie FF]

Following, as we board when she gets to Melbourne.:D:D

in 39 days. :)

Edited September 21, 2015 by Aussie FF

[manunia]

Norm and Maureen,

 

looking forward to your review.

 

Marina

[dickinson]

Enjoy your cruise! I will be following along wishing I was there. We loved the Golden. It was our first Princess cruise. :)

[goinsoon]

Will read with anticipation as this is on my bucket list. Waiting till retirement to take this cruise though! Thanks for doing this.

[cr8tiv1]

Will read with anticipation as this is on my bucket list. Waiting till retirement to take this cruise though! Thanks for doing this.

 

This is a repositioning cruise. Not sure if Princess will offer it again after you retire. They had the Golden scheduled to return to the West Coast and that cruise sold out quickly. Only to have Princess change their mind and keep the Golden on that side of the world for the Asian Market. Our loss, their gain.

[dchip]

This is a repositioning cruise. Not sure if Princess will offer it again after you retire. They had the Golden scheduled to return to the West Coast and that cruise sold out quickly. Only to have Princess change their mind and keep the Golden on that side of the world for the Asian Market. Our loss, their gain.

 

We were booked on the return to the West Coast for our 50th anniversary cruise. Sadly it was cancelled.

 

Have a lovely cruise. Enjoy every moment. We will be looking forward to any and all posts!!

 

Cheers, Denise

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your Live From thread. I'm looking forward to reading it. Have a great cruise. :):):)

[Hobart Hurricane]

Subscribing as we are on the Jan 3rd sailing from Melbourne. Hopefully I can ask a few questions along the way :)

[By The Bay]

G'day Norm and Maureen,

I am looking forward to your trip report as you make your way to OZ. I will use it as a countdown, as we will be boarding the Golden Princess after you arrive in Sydney.:D

[Hobart18]

Hi Norm and Maureen,

Thank you for such good reading, we here in Australia can't wait to cruise on the Golden Princess. After reading all the posts in the last few months about all who have cruised on her we can't wait to have the same great time as all of you have had on her. I know you are sad that she is leaving your shores for quite a while but we can't wait to see her come in to Sydney Harbor. I hope they give her the same entrance as they did with Carnival Spirit when she first came to our shores to live and work in our region.

After reading your previous cruises that you have been on, it appears that you haven't cruised into our neck of the woods before.

If this is your first time to Australia and New Zealand I hope you both enjoy both of these great countries. When we first heard we were getting a bigger and better ship to cruise on a lot of the cruises were booked very early. It was over a year ago that I booked my next 2 cruises and now we are on the final countdown. I will now have to start thinking about what to pack and I am sure I will have to pack and re pack and then wonder why I packed so much in the first place which I never wore on the cruise, but it is fun. I wish you all a great cruise, be assured that we will take very good care of her.

 

Regards, :):)

[Kinkacruiser]

Many thanks for posting and sharing your wonderful 28 days on the Golden.

Australians are excited about another grand class ship arriving for the summer.

Our first taste was the Diamond, now the Golden is on her way and in the 2016 summer we'll have the Emerald.:)

Edited September 22, 2015 by Kinkacruiser

[joybook]

While I am not trying to be smart, I think the first may have been the Sapphire Princess as we did our first cruise when she was in Australia for the cruising season 2007/2008 - our cruise was in January, 2008 Sydney to Melbourne, Hobart and then New Zealand ports. I think this was actually her first cruise after arriving in Australia.:)

[trbarton]

Thanks for the live. We were on the Golden on the August 30th Alaska cruise. On that cruise there was an Princess entertainer vocalist/dancer, Bret Bell, who we had met on our Panama Canal Cruise last fall on the Island. He remember both of us and stayed after one of there performances in the Atrium celebrating Princess 50th Anniversary. He stayed after there performance to talk to us or a few minutes and to autograph our photo we had of him from our Panama Canal cruise..

 

Here's 2 photos of Bret.

 

 

If you happen to see him say hello from Tom & Becky who were on the August 30th cruise to Alaska.

 

Enjoy your cruise and thanks for posting you review of the repositioning cruise.

 

Tom:)

 

See above my correction. Tom:)

[critterchick]

'Bye, Golden. Hope to see you back here some day in the not too distant future. We had a great time on our 8 sailings on her while she was in the LA/SF market.:( I'll follow your voyage with nostalgia.

Edited September 23, 2015 by critterchick

[satxdiver]

We were last on the Golden earlier this year when we sailed around the tip of South America. Have fun on your fantastic trip to down under. We will anxiously await your reports. We had trouble with the internet but I attributed that more to where on the earth we were located.