Just back from my first Princess Cruise - here's my review for Golden Princess

[FunforGin]

This has been posted in the review forum, but wanted to share it with other Princess cruisers:)

 

Myself and two friends (also newbies) just finished a four day re-positioning cruise Melbourne to Auckland.

 

EMBARKATION

 

Embarkation went very smoothly and we were on board pretty quickly. The only issue we had was one Princess Cruises staff member saw our blue cards (newbies) and told us to take a seat and wait to board. He failed to see we were staying in a suite and were entitled to priority boarding. However, we asked the lady sitting next to us if she had priority boarding and she said no, so we promptly got up and when through immigration and were on-board in no time.

 

ACCOMMODATION:

 

Stayed in Grenada suite on Sun Deck 15 S707 twin beds and fold-away couch.

 

The suite was beautiful - with a lot of the finishes in elegant wood grain throughout and marble floors and counters in the bathroom.

 

The beds were brand new but my two friends like soft beds and found them to be a little bit too hard, so they asked for a mattress topper to be put on and they found the beds super comfortable after that. I slept on the fold-away bed and I was sooooo comfortable. I prefer a firm mattress so this suited me well. It was probably the most comfortable fold-away bed I have ever slept on.

 

The suite had everything we needed and it was nice to have space to move around. Our sailing experienced very bad weather throughout the entire journey so were virtually unable to use the balcony at all, which was disappointing as the balcony is a good size and it would have doubled our 'living' space.

 

THE WEATHER

 

I wanted to include comments about the weather and the effect it had on our overall cruise experience. The ship had to take a wide diversion from the planned route to avoid the worst of the storm (hence our very late arrival into Auckland) but even with that diversion we still experienced 5 metre swells and 130km/hour winds. The ship handled the high seas well given the severe conditions.

 

Princess Cruises can't control the weather and I have to say, all of the crew were amazing and worked hard to ensure we still had a great experience. Many of them were suffering with sea sickness along with the passengers. The difference was they still had to work, and in spite of their own discomfort, they really pushed through to provide a high level of care, attention and service throughout the cruise.

 

The high winds blowing right onto our side of the ship had a really bad effect on the balcony doors as the wind howled day and night and there was no way to dull the sound of it until evening when the curtains were drawn which helped just a little bit. As soon as the wind direction changed, the howling wind sounds dissipated quickly.

 

The location of our suite on (aft on deck 15) also meant that the lurching and extreme bumping was more pronounced than if we had been on a lower deck. One of my friends felt quite under the weather for about 36 hours but gradually recovered. I'm one of those fortunate people who doesn't experience sea sickness so that was probably a good thing.

 

When venturing down to lower levels where most of the activities were happening the movement of the ship was much less noticeable and being closer to water level, it was quite amazing to see how big the swells were and just how well the Golden Princess handled the rough weather....incredible!

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

There was a vast array of entertainment available onboard and we were never bored even though we couldn't do any of the outside activities due to the extremely bad weather.

 

SERVICE

 

The service from all levels of staff was excellent throughout the ship. Smiling, friendly and helpful. Their ability to manage and anticipate the expectations of their guests is pretty awesome. One can have the best of accommodations, best of foods, best of entertainment, but if the staff aren't amazing, then it doesn't matter how great the rest of it is. People are the key, and it is evident Princess Cruises understand that and also ensure that their staff have ongoing training so they can deliver their best.

 

Our room steward Jalena and her assistant Windy were just lovely people and really looked after us supremely. It is the little things that count isn't it? For example, I like to have the mattress slightly raised up under my head and so I had put small cushions under the mattress. The next evening when I returned to the suite to go to bed, I found that they had put the small cushions back under the mattress for me, how cool is that?

 

In particular, we found the staff at Sabatini's (specialty restaurant) to be pretty amazing. Led by Kim, with his team - Marko, Bobby, Pravin and others, sorry I couldn't remember all of your names guys! They all worked hard to make a visit to their restaurant a special and memorable event - their quick wit and unobtrusive service was great!

 

We dined there on our first night on-board, and as we were suite guests, we were able to have a very special breakfast there each morning. I had read in other reviews that this was a favourite perk of suite guests and now I understand why. Actually it would be fair to say that the most enjoyable mealtimes for us were the breakfasts at Sabatinis as the guys were just so friendly and funny whilst remaining professional at all times - not an easy thing to balance in the service industry:)

 

FOOD

 

I had heard that the food was really great on Princess Cruise ships and that's exactly what we found on the Golden Princess.

 

Freshly baked breads, cakes and pastries, sauces cooked from 'scratch'. That is what you expect to experience in a restaurant right? But when you think about the sheer volume of food required for 2,600 people for just one meal in multiple venues on-board the ship, then extrapolate that into three meals a day; the fact that they can still do it all from 'scratch' is pretty amazing.

 

The temptation would be (I'm sure) to use pre-prepared sauces, par-baked breads etc when catering to those numbers but it's clear that Princess doesn't approach their food from a 'catering' stance, but rather from a 'restaurant' stance and that's what makes the difference. I have read other comments here on this forum that the quality of food has dropped, but IMHO it's still pretty good!

 

We dined in both specialty restaurants - Sabatinis and Crown Grill. Simply beautiful food presented well and full of complex flavours. Very tender meats, full flavoured sauces - yum! There were comments around the table at the Crown Grill that it was the best steak they had ever eaten.

 

DEBARKATION

 

This was a disappointment. Primarily because there were only around 274 people getting off the ship in Auckland and 274 getting on - it was a shambles. I shudder to think what it would have been like if all 2600 passengers were getting off the ship.

 

We were informed that we would be debarking at 6.30pm. We eventually got off the ship at about 7.20pm, once outside the arrival terminal, we boarded the princess transfer coach to go to the airport. However, because of the messy debarkation, two of the booked passengers for the transfer were missing. We had to wait another 30 minutes before they finally showed up. Not their fault, but very frustrating anyway.

 

WOULD I CRUISE AGAIN?

 

Absolutely.

 

I probably won't do a trans-tasman cruise again though, it's a bit of a gamble - that stretch of water is notorious; it can be calm as glass or stormy and wild and you never know what you're going to get.

 

WOULD I CHOOSE PRINCESS CRUISES AGAIN?

 

In a heartbeat.

 

In fact, I've already booked a cruise with a friend for January 2018 on Golden Princess, in a suite again - I'm spoilt now, can't even imagine cruising any other way.

 

And.....I've also purchased a $100 future cruise deposit for a Princess cruise in 2019 with an aunty (just waiting for itineraries to come out for 2019)

 

And.....my two friends I cruised with this time, are up for another cruise with me in 2020.

 

As you may have guessed, I'm a planner:)

Ginny

 

PS: There had been some discussions on the forums here that the first night's complimentary speciality dining for suite guests was no longer available for cruises under 7 days but when we arrived in the suite, we found a letter inviting us to take advantage of that offer - which we did! I was so pleased to see that we were offered that. We were also given the blue princess tote bags, which were apparently not being given out on all Princess cruises.

[socaljo]

Thanks for taking the time to let us all know about your cruise! So glad you enjoyed it! And spoiling yourself with a suite for the 1st time! WOW! ;p I can't imagine how great that must have been! I'll find out next year--we've booked our first suite for a 14n to Hawaii!! :D

[FunforGin]

Yep, felt a bit guilty splashing out but seriously, I would rather go without plenty of things at home to do one short cruise a year in a suite. Something special to look forward to:)

You must be excited to be looking forward to 14 nights in a suite - how awesome is that? :)

[sewgood]

So glad you enjoyed your first cruise under difficult weather conditions.

We have cruised 13 times and have only experienced 5 meters swells once. That was down to Tassie.

I hope next time you cruise you will be able to enjoy all the outside activities on the ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review!

 

Your suite and several other cabins as well as the chapel were added to the Golden in a major dry dock in May 2009.

It is a great location.

[wishfulone]

Thanks for your review!

 

Your suite and several other cabins as well as the chapel were added to the Golden in a major dry dock in May 2009.

It is a great location.

 

Love the Golden and it's so good to hear how well she's going. Thanks for your review.

[easyboy]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Thanks for your feedback.

[LovetheSea]

Sorry you had bad seas. But I enjoyed hearing about your cruise. My niece is in the band on the Golden right now. She is the red haired trumpet player.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing.

Tony

[FunforGin]

Yeah, loved the views and it was quiet up there. It did take me a while to learn which elevators to get into to get us to where we needed to go LOL!!

I really loved the Golden Princess and there was a couple on the cruise who love the ship so much, they choose to cruise on her wherever she is going even if they've cruised to that destination before so they've done the NZ cruise five times already!

My next cruise booked to Tasmania and Adelaide early January 2018 is on the Golden; looking forward to being on her again, hopefully without the 5 metre swells! This time will be in an aft suite on dolphin deck:)

[nanabananna]

Enjoyed reading your review.

 

Golden Princess was my first cruise ship! It really spoiled me to cruising!

 

Glad your trip was enjoyable even with the rough seas.

 

Sandra :)

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. What a great attitude you have!! There are people who will complain because they can't get something they want at 2:00 am or a bartender didn't smile at them.

[notentirelynormal]

Thank you for such a nice balanced review. Enjoyed the read.

[FunforGin]

Gee you guys are so encouraging, thanks:)

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Credit 00]

Thanks for the extensive review, glad you enjoyed your trip. I have been on the Golden once in 2016 for 25 nights, Beijing to Sydney. I now look for the Golden and have been lucky to sign up for another trip in the same room. It's getting on a little but what a fantastic ship, I could sit literally for hours in the horizon court gazing through those full ceiling to floor windows without a care in the world. I believe it's being updated in October this year so I look forward to seeing whats new then.

[FunforGin]

I totally forgot to mention in my review, how fabulous the new pillows were in the suite. Princess had installed the new beds in the suites and along with that were their premium pillows - OMG how amazingly comfortable are those pillows?!!!

 

The three of us wanted to buy them, I didn't think they would be available, but after returning checked on Princess website and I see you can buy their standard and premium pillows along with the linens. Am definitely going to buy some:)

[notentirelynormal]

I totally forgot to mention in my review, how fabulous the new pillows were in the suite. Princess had installed the new beds in the suites and along with that were their premium pillows - OMG how amazingly comfortable are those pillows?!!!

 

The three of us wanted to buy them, I didn't think they would be available, but after returning checked on Princess website and I see you can buy their standard and premium pillows along with the linens. Am definitely going to buy some:)

 

Interesting. Can you post the link. I don't think I've ever seen that.

[FunforGin]

Sure, here it is:)

https://www.princessluxurybed.com/pillows-comforters/

[GUT2407]

Thanks for giving us your opinions.

[G&Gcruisers]

Very nice informative review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite the bad weather.

[harbourside]

Yeah, loved the views and it was quiet up there. It did take me a while to learn which elevators to get into to get us to where we needed to go LOL!!

I really loved the Golden Princess and there was a couple on the cruise who love the ship so much, they choose to cruise on her wherever she is going even if they've cruised to that destination before so they've done the NZ cruise five times already!

My next cruise booked to Tasmania and Adelaide early January 2018 is on the Golden; looking forward to being on her again, hopefully without the 5 metre swells! This time will be in an aft suite on dolphin deck:)

 

I will be on this cruise if it is the January 3rd departure. This will be my first ocean cruise, I have only previously done river cruises. I can no longer stand the long flights to Europe from New Zealand. Trying this cruise to Tasmania as a tester , to see if I get sea sick. Should be a baptism of fire, starting out with a trip across the Bass Strait. I will be in the Window Suites, as I wanted to be on a lower deck for my first cruise.. Still get full suite perks.

[FunforGin]

Yep its the same one! Im believing it will be smooth sailing (she said hopefully!)

[mrs and mrs]

Cheers for your thoughts and esp the link to the pillows. Will be buying some of these omg, they are glourious.:)