Live from Golden Priness San Francisco to Sydney

[long cruiser]

If you get a chance to look at some suites on the golden try to see a window suite on the fiesta deck(6).They are large and hidden from shops on fiesta deck.

long cruiser

[Kinkacruiser]

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.:)

 

Sorry, you're right.:o ...make that our 4th Grand experience..

[cr8tiv1]

If you get a chance to look at some suites on the golden try to see a window suite on the fiesta deck(6).They are large and hidden from shops on fiesta deck.

long cruiser

 

I've been in the Penthouse Suites and Window Suites on the Golden. It is not necessary for me to have a balcony so I really enjoy the Window Suites. Wished more ships had them. Terrific location.

[nreeder]

Aloha from Honolulu!

 

Due to the extremely slow Internet on board, I haven't written anything as a followup. We've spent the 5 days walking the promenade deck, going to the gym, and exploring the ship. There's a Hawaiian couple who sing as entertainment, but also they've been doing lei classes, hula lessons, and Hawaiian lessons too in preparation for our two days in Hawaii.

 

There's also a geologist on board who is retired from the National Earthquake Center in Colorado. He's been doing lectures each afternoon on Volcano's, the "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific, and is going to be following up with Tsunami's and other topics like that. He's been very interesting.

 

We didn't plan any tour for daytime in Honolulu as we have been here a number of times before and taken many previous tours. Tonight though, we do have a sunset catamaran sail that takes off from in front of the Sheraton. It will get us back a little late to clean up for dinner, so we booked the Crown Grill Steakhouse for 8:30 so we can relax before dinner. The ship doesn't leave until 11 pm tonight.

 

We have a table set for 6 in the late seating dining room, but there's only one other couple from Texas with us each evening. Late seating isn't totally full, although there's lots of people eating there. Waiters are good and our cabin steward is excellent. I've never seen such crystal clear glass balcony railings and sliding glass doors.

 

After the first night at sea from San Francisco which was a little rocky, the ocean has been calm and though we've had cloudy weather with brief showers, it's always been in the 70's each day. As we've gone south, it's warmed up two degrees each day and Honolulu is supposed to be 83 today. As we approached Hawaii, we had more blue skies so it looks good.

 

The ship's officers attended the CruiseCritic group reunion the first sea day and that was nice. They've got lots of deck parties planned as we go farther south as the weather will be warmer even in the evening. Usually after dinner each evening we go to the Crooner's piano bar lounge and listen to the young man who plays and sings. He's very entertaining.

 

Tomorrow we will be in Maui so I can use cellular service again to post. Will keep in touch.

Norm

[greenie082756]

Thank you for taking the time to keep us informed on your trip.

DH and I were on the Golden (for the 2nd time) from San Francisco to Alaska and loved it. (One of these days I'll do a review on it).

 

Have a great time!! Aloha!:)

Edited September 24, 2015 by greenie082756

[Gimer]

Aloha Norm, Can you post the Hawaiian couples name. Mahalo....

[shepp]

There's also a geologist on board who is retired from the National Earthquake Center in Colorado. He's been doing lectures each afternoon on Volcano's, the "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific, and is going to be following up with Tsunami's and other topics like that. He's been very interesting.

 

Hey, if you have a chance, tell Dr. Ray that Simon and William say hi.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Thanks for posting your trip report. I'm following it with great interest as we are hoping to do the Sydney to Hong Kong repositioning cruise on Golden next April.

[cruiselvr1]

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:)

We did the BVE on your August 30 cruise. I hope it well.

[nreeder]

Aloha Part 2

 

Yesterday in Honolulu, we docked at Pier 2 which is more in an industrial area than the other Aloha Tower Pier which has a shopping mall in it. We took a bus down Ala Moana Blvd to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, a huge shopping mall with every kind of chain store, low end and high end known to man. Walked around a lot and then went to Islands, a hamburger chain (yes not very creative, we have one of those at home), but it sure tasted good. Maureen had fish tacos and I had a hamburger.

 

Came home and then took off for our Sunset Catamaran Sail that leaves from the Sheraton Waikiki beach. Was a lot of fun with free drinks and a wonderful sunset. As we came back all of the lights came on on the hotels and towers so it was very pretty.

 

This morning we arrived in Lahaina (or off Lahaina), Maui as there is no dock here so we used the ships tenders to get ashore. Again we wandered around the shops and galleries and then had lunch at Kimo's which has good food and a great view. We toyed with "Cheeseburgers in Paradise", but both the TripAdvisor and Yelp reviews say the view is everything and the food and service leave a lot to be desired.

 

We are now back on the ship and we leave in an hour. It will be another 5 days to Tahiti so it's time to hit the gym and walk the deck again. Maureen was very happy when she weighed herself in Honolulu and found that she hadn't gained anything. So we are going to have to work on that.

 

I got our shrimps from the International Cafe and went up and got chips and guacamole and salsa for our happy hour tonight.

 

Talk to you later if we can get the Internet on board to work.

 

Norm

[waltd]

Norm keep the reviews coming. Enjoy reading them. Thanks

[Hobart18]

Hi Norm,

I have been following your posts. I have been following her on her journey down to Oz. I have been watching the webcams, she has just set sail from Lahaina about 5 minutes ago according to the website. Enjoy your journey to Tahiti, our weather is picking up now in Australia.

 

Regards :):)

[aussiewoman]

Than the sun princess, went on th sun to the Sth pacific, staff and crew was a complete let down, they didn't seem to want to be there, and I wasn't impressed with the ship either, p & o so far win my vote, no sail away parties, no interaction with the staff, crappy music, and even the entertainment wasn't that good... So here's hoping and praying that the golden will b up there like p & o

Just hope we don't get run over again by oldies in there motorised scooters or walkers with no manners!!!!

[nreeder]

Days at Sea (again!)

 

Ok in reviewing my last post, I forgot to mention that after we had lunch in Lahaina, we did a catamaran sail on the Trilogy. This was a Princess Ship Tour. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. They sailed south from Lahaina, and we could see the mountains of Maui as well as Molokai across the water. They had free beer and mixed drinks and very nice appetizers which we mostly didn't eat because we had just had lunch.

 

Yesterday was the first of 5 sea days. At the CruiseCritic party the first sea day after leaving San Francisco, the organizer asked the Captain if they could arrange tours of the ship's bridge for us. He agreed and indicated that it would have to be in groups of less than 20. So we got an invitation for 9 am yesterday and we got to see all of the computerized navigation equipment and learn how they steer and maneuver the ship. The wings of the bridge extend out probably 20 feet from the superstructure and you can see all of the way back as you are standing above open water there.

 

Last night was the "Ultimate Deck Party" which we went to for a little while. It's very comfortable outdoors at night now as we are in the tropics. They dance band was up there and a large crowd attended.

 

Today, our second sea day, was the Crossing the Equator Ceremony. This is always a comical farce where selected passengers (4) and probably 20 crew are made fun of by "King Neptune", and covered with whipped egg whites and gelatin over their hair and faces. They have a rhyming script which they follow with all kinds of silly jokes. This is very much a tradition of the sea.

 

For Princess cruise fans, I have a bit of news that I don't recall having seen any announcement about. We usually take our lunch out from the Lido buffet and eat it on the outdoor terrace in the back. This has a large covered area with tables and chairs as well as a bar. During the last few days a crew has been installing 16 square granite topped tables with cut outs in the center that look something like a possible "teppan" grill. Most of the wait staff seem not to know much about them. Currently they are just mounting them into the deck. I overheard one of the workers say that they will need to have electricity brought to them to make them work and it wasn't clear whether this will be completed by the end of this cruise.

 

We do know from earlier Princess announcements that the Australian Chef Curtis Stone is now consulting for Princess and will have menu items on board (probably after we arrive in Sydney as we haven't seen anything on the menus so far.) Golden Princess will be in Australia until after next April and will operate as an Australian ship with an Australian wine list and the ships charges will be in Australian dollars. After Australia, the ship is re-positioning to China and will serve the Chinese market. So I don't know whether the cooking tables are for either or both markets!

 

Will keep in touch

 

Norm

[JF - retired RRT]

Golden Princess will be in Australia until after next April and will operate as an Australian ship with an Australian wine list and the ships charges will be in Australian dollars. After Australia, the ship is re-positioning to China and will serve the Chinese market.

Wow!! The Sapphire must be doing really great business.

But we are losing all of the ships that "we" love:(

[cr8tiv1]

Wow!! The Sapphire must be doing really great business.

But we are losing all of the ships that "we" love:(

 

I absolutely agree with this statement. Why don't they send one of their "big" ships over and bring back our Golden?

[dickinson]

I absolutely agree with this statement. Why don't they send one of their "big" ships over and bring back our Golden?

 

I LOVED the Royal but I also love the Window Suites. Wish the Golden was back!

[nreeder]

Mystery Solved!

 

This morning we met with the Maitre'D in preparation for the Chef's Table dinner two nights from now. He told us what is happening back on the Horizon Terrace. These new tables will be Korean BBQ tables, but will not be fully implemented for a while.

 

Golden Princess will be in the Australian market for most of 2016 he indicated and in 2017 it will go into dry dock in Singapore and be prepared for the Chinese market. The BBQ stations will be made operational then.

 

So it looks like it's a feature for China, maybe not the rest of the fleet.

 

Just FYI to the comment above. The third ship in the Royal, Regal series to come out in 2016 will go straight to China as a Chinese ship, so Princess obviously believe the market is growing there.

 

Norm

[cr8tiv1]

I LOVED the Royal but I also love the Window Suites. Wish the Golden was back!

 

Hello dickinson,

 

I'll fight you for my window suite but would you like to tag along when I book the China cruise? I'll let you know after I book my suite.

 

I'll even provide you with room and board in transit to China to pick up the cruise.

[rkmw]

i think the Golden Princess could be in Australian waters for a while because its doing the 75 nighter from Sydney in may 2017

[Hobart18]

i think the Golden Princess could be in Australian waters for a while because its doing the 75 nighter from Sydney in may 2017

 

Hi,

The Golden Princess is listed on the Port of Melbourne Corporation Cruise Ship Dockings until 2019, she is apparently deployed to Australia and Asia for that period of time.

To the cruisers from the other side of the equator who don't like the idea that we are taking all their ships away from them. It is really only one that is being deployed to Australia/Asia for a longer period of time.

It is about time that we got some updated ships down under.

We could loan or even give them to you the 3 P & O ships that we have been sailing on for years.

P & O are putting on 2 newer ships from this season but they are still much smaller class ships. I have been told that your fares are a lot cheaper from the other side of the world. The cruise industry according to the papers on the weekend said that we are the 3rd highest cruisers now as we are an untapped market. We are taking a lot of family groups on our cruises instead of just the retirees as was in the past. The young people that I have spoken to say they just love that way of life that gives them a break from their school studies and a breather until they start their university studies.

 

Regards, :):)

[dickinson]

Hello dickinson,

 

I'll fight you for my window suite but would you like to tag along when I book the China cruise? I'll let you know after I book my suite.

 

I'll even provide you with room and board in transit to China to pick up the cruise.

 

Haha!!! Thanks for the offer of room and board though!

[cr8tiv1]

Hi,

The Golden Princess is listed on the Port of Melbourne Corporation Cruise Ship Dockings until 2019, she is apparently deployed to Australia and Asia for that period of time.

To the cruisers from the other side of the equator who don't like the idea that we are taking all their ships away from them. It is really only one that is being deployed to Australia/Asia for a longer period of time.

It is about time that we got some updated ships down under.

We could loan or even give them to you the 3 P & O ships that we have been sailing on for years.

P & O are putting on 2 newer ships from this season but they are still much smaller class ships. I have been told that your fares are a lot cheaper from the other side of the world. The cruise industry according to the papers on the weekend said that we are the 3rd highest cruisers now as we are an untapped market. We are taking a lot of family groups on our cruises instead of just the retirees as was in the past. The young people that I have spoken to say they just love that way of life that gives them a break from their school studies and a breather until they start their university studies.

 

Regards, :):)

 

Well, Since you put it so nicely, thank you for sharing, but I will just wait my turn. I would love to visit your fair country. Someday.

 

Please take really good care of my Golden Princess until she returns. She is very special and a wonderful ship.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Please take really good care of my Golden Princess until she returns. She is very special and a wonderful ship.

 

We might like her so much that we'll keep her down here. ;)

 

Fingers crossed I might get to sail on her next April. :)

Edited September 30, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[nreeder]

Today we had our second CruiseCritic meeting up in Skywalker's. At this one everyone got a chance to introduce themselves and we had lots of Australians, a few from Canada and of course most from the States. After that, we went on the "cabin crawl" which lets us see all of the different types of cabins in the ship. We had volunteers arranged ahead of time that would allow us to see their cabins. We started with a standard inside, went to an obstructed view (window looks out over the lifeboats), an obstructed view handicapped cabin which was about 1 and 1/2 cabins wide with a very large bathroom, a standard balcony cabin, two mini-suites, and a full suite on the Caribe Deck with it's very large balcony.

 

This ship and it's sisters (Grand and Golden) pretty much introduced the standard Princess cabin arrangements that remained until Royal and Regal were built. Those two have all of these and two more--a sideways inside cabin, and a deluxe balcony with a small love-seat.

 

Since Maureen and I were very lucky on the last cruise on the Regal to be offered an "upsell" to a suite, it was interesting to me to see the suite on this ship. People had complained that on the Regal/Royal the suites seemed small. However, I didn't think the inside of the full suite was much larger than the one we had on the Regal. That being said, the balcony was very much larger than any of the ones on the Regal including the back ones.

 

Maureen and I are very happy with the mini-suite we chose in the back on the Emerald Deck. We do hear a little of the loudspeaker noise from the Vista Lounge in the daytime when they are doing bingo etc, but it's muted. Since we have late seating dinner and usually go to the Promenade Bar for the piano singer afterward, we are back to the room late and it's quiet. We have the large overhang above our balcony that fully protects us from rain and some sun. Last night it was grey and cloudy with rain showers when we were to have "happy hour", but it was still 80 degrees outside. We sat outside with our wine and slice of pizza of the day and while the balcony railing got wet, we didn't.

 

For those of you who will sail on her later in Australia and China, I think the ship is in very good shape. Nothing looks worn like it needs replacing. There is constant cleaning and painting going on outside and inside. The public rooms all look as they were built yesterday. So you all have something to look forward to.

 

I don't know whether this is one of the reasons Princess chose Golden to go to Australia and China, but there are probably more full suites on this ship than most of this size. It didn't start out that way, but when they built Crown Grill on the floor below the Promenade Deck where the casino used to be, they added a short row of "window" suites which have no balconies but are a full size suite layout. In addition, they created another set of suites above the Horizon Court up by the smokestack. So she has suites on Caribe with large balconies, a number facing the back end of the ship, and these other two sets too. Just FYI, Princess never puts the suites on sale and they are expensive. On most cruises they are double what a mini-suite costs. So for instance on this 28 day cruise a mini-suite was roughly $5,000 per person. A full suite was almost $11,000 per person for the basic ones and there's one really big one on the back and I don't remember what that one costs.

 

Norm