Just got back from the Golden 5 minutes ago

[kitty555]

Hi. I will post my review tomorrow. Our flight just got in from San Juan a couple of hours ago. We did the Southern Cruise that went to Barbados, Antigua, St. Lucia, etc...

 

It was a great cruise. We had cabin C752 in the very back of the ship. We completed our 5th cruise this time on Princess so our next cruise we will have free internet access. I can't wait for that.

 

Any questions please ask.

 

This was our 3rd time on the Golden.

[NightOne]

Tell us about the shore excursions you took in each port.

 

Thanks

 

Carl

 

 

Time until Sailing

[pengu1n]

Kitty, I'm waiting anxiously, too, to hear how you enjoyed your cruise. We are going on this same itinerary on 6/13. I can't wait!

Karen

 

Golden Princess 6/13/04

Carnival Paradise 2002

Carnival Inspiration 2001

American Hawaii 1996

American Family 1990

Holland America Monarch Sun 1977

[JanetMarie]

She's a beauty of a ship, isn't she? We cruised her a couple of times, both in B749, and had a marvelous time.

 

OUR NEXT ONWARD JOURNEY!

 

[meyerhaus]

kitty555,

 

If you saved them, I would LOVE to get a copy of your Princess Patters and/or menus for my site. I am taking the asme cruise in July.

 

JON

 

www.geocities.com/pattersandmenus

 

Golden Princess Southern Caribbean-7/11/04

Click to go to the ROLL CALL!

 

Big Red Boat-1993

Celebrity Zenith-1993

 

 

[wolfsnare]

I'm curious about how the first evening on board goes. I know that the muster is at 8p.m. Are there any shows that night or a sail away party? Just wondering since the ship doesn't leave until 11!

 

 

Conquest 4/03

Victory 12/03

Golden Princess 4/04 Golden Princess 6/04

[irbgolfin]

Hi Kitty,

 

Curious about your cabin, we have it booked on B2B trips soon. What furniture on the balcony was provided? Lounge chairs? Did you request them by any chance if they weren't already there? How was the cabin steward?

 

Also interested in what you did at the various ports, as others have requested.

 

Thanks for any info!

[Northender]

Looking forward to your report. Curious about how you would compare this ship to the Grand.

Very interested in the ports you visited and did you have any set backs in arrivals to different ports. Thanks ahead of time.

 

 

 

Grand Princess 4/4/04

 

[kitty555]

SAN JUAN POST CRUISE:

 

Please email me for the Sightseeing Tours available in San Juan at the pier when you complete your cruise. They are cheaper than the tours available from Princess and you don't have to get off the ship as early.

 

We didn't get off the ship until 11:30 yesterday by choice. We were the last call to get off the boat.

 

Our flight wasn't until 4:45 so we wanted to wait as long as possible before we got off.

 

We headed out with our luggage around 11:45 and thought we'd just take the taxi to the airport and wait around for 4.5 hours but there are Sightseeing Tours available right there when you walk out.

 

We got on an air-conditioned bus and took a tour that was around 2 hours long. We were at the airport by 2:15. It was 20 per person.

 

We went to San Christobal Fort (35min) and shopping in old San Juan (45 min) and then headed to the airport.

 

 

pattye111@yahoo.com

 

 

This is the first thing I've scanned so far.

 

Here is a detailed description:

 

Tour A: 20.00 p/p

Historic City Tour

Duration: 2 to 3.5 hours

Visit to El Morro ( we went to the other smaller fort and not this one) He said that they wouldn't let the buses go to the big fort because of construction or parking. We didn't care as we had already been there prior to cruise.

Shopping in Old San Juan and photo opportunity at the Plaza de Armas

Lunch (time allowing/not included in cost)

Arrival to the Luis manoz Marin International Airport two to three hours prior to flight.

 

Tour B: 30.00 P/P

Rain Forrest

Duration: 4.5 hours

Visit El Yunque's Yokahu Tower, Palo Colorado, La Coca Fall.

Stop at Luquillo beach for refreshments or lunch (time allowing /not included in cost)

Arrival to the Luis Manoz Marin International Airport two to three hours prior to flight.

 

Tour C: 25.00 P/P

Historic City/Bacardi Rum Distillery

Duration: 3 to 4 hours

Visit to El Morro

Shopping in Old San Juan and phot opportunity at the plaza de Armas

Lunch (time allowing/not included in cost)

Visit to Bacardi Rum Distillery

Arrival to the Luis Manoz Marin International Airport two to three hours prior to flight.

 

Tour D: Create your own tour

 

Capacity: from 4 to 25 guest

 

 

Princess wanted $39.00 per person for the Bacardi Rum Distillery tour and you had to get off the ship at 8:00/8:30 am.

 

You just have to manage your own time and select the tour that fits your schedule. Allow yourself 2 or 3 hours prior to flight.

 

[This message was edited by kitty555 on 06-07-04 at 11:46 AM.]

[kitty555]

San Juan Airport:

 

My review of this. It was NOT that bad. I expected it to be a nightmare from what I've read on the boards. I've been to the Jamacia airport and that's a lot worse. We flew on Delta which seemed to be the most organized from what I noticed.

 

When you are leaving San Juan and if you are flying on Delta be sure to check in early and IF you want to be wait-listed for an upgrade this seems to be the place to do it.

 

They have more categories available for an upgrade to 1st class if there is room on the flight. It is 150 Per Person.

 

Our flight was sold out but we went ahead and put our name on the upgrade list anyway and got it.

 

Well worth it as I've never been in first class before.

 

The people in San Juan and at the airport are very nice. It was a nice surprise.

 

When we first arrived in San Juan prior to the cruise we rented a car from Hertz. That was also a great experience. You can drop the car rental off at any location in Old San Juan. You don't have to take it back to the airport.

[kitty555]

Northender

 

I like the Grand Princess better but they are both identical pretty much. I think that I really liked the Grand better because that was my first Princess Cruise and it was new back then.

 

I felt like the service was just excellent on the Grand but again, my previous cruises were on Carnival and NCL and some other lines so I was just in shock for my first Princess cruise on the Grand.

 

One thing that did bother me this time that hasn't before on my previous Grand or Golden cruises was that I was unable to stay in Sky Walkers night club because it smelled like smoke too much.

 

We went up to Sky Walkers on the first day of the Cruise during the day when no one was in there and it just smelled of smoke too bad. Also, the Wheelhouse bar smelled like smoke too much too. That gave me a Headache.

 

We went to the Wheelhouse bar during the at sea day because they were having Trivia in there and we couldn't stay longer than 10 minutes because of the smoke smell. And as I recall only one person was smoking at the time. I think I'm just more sensitive to smoke than I use to be.

 

My husband who also used to smoke couldn't take it in the Wheelhouse lounge. The other areas of the ship were fine though for those of you that are sensitive to smoke.

 

The Vista Lounge is a little bad as far as smoke but just sit where there is no one smoking away from the bar area and you'll be ok.

 

Also, by the pool one side of the ship is smoking and the other is not. Just go to the side that doesn't have smoking.

[Northender]

Thanks very much for the info. The Grand was our first cruise this year and notice that next year at the same time it is out of Galveston, Tx. Would rather FLL departure but we will see how the prices go on the other ships. Got spoiled and only want balcony now. 2 chairs and table are fine with overhead. So I will probably stick with Baha deck as that is how it was on the Grand.

 

Sorry to disappoint but when I cruise I drink and when I drink I smoke (not alot - just after dinner). I did notice on the Grand the way it was set up for smokers in the Wheelhouse, you were around to the right. That is the only place (other than my balcony) that I smoked, but didn't notice if you could in other areas or not. My DH does not smoke and he said he didn't think it was that bad. Of course he was drinking too

 

 

 

Grand Princess 4/4/04

 

[kitty555]

I also like the figures of the dolphins at the pool better on the Grand. Everything else is pretty much the same. It's funny because IMO the Coral might have been a prettier ship than the Golden. I don't know... It's really hard to tell.

 

It also looked like they changed the carpet in the Horizon Court areas on the Golden. I liked the little crabs and fish on the carpet.

 

I think the atrium was very pretty on the Coral.

 

The back of the Golden and the Grand though where the aft pool is located is just breath taking.

[kitty555]

Here was the Cruise Itinerary from the first Princess Patter:

 

Day Port Dress Arrival Departure

 

Sunday San Juan Smart Casual --- 11:00 pm

 

Monday At Sea Formal ----- ------

 

Tuesday Barbados Smart Casual 7:00am 6:00pm

 

Wed St. Lucia Smart Casual 7:00am 5:00pm

 

Thurs Antigua Smart Casual 8:00am 6:00pm

 

Friday St. Maarten Formal 8:00am 6:00pm

 

Sat St. Thomas Smart Casual 7:00am 6:00pm

 

Sunday San Juan 6:00am ------

[kitty555]

Mistakes I made that I don't want you to make:

 

 

Don't forget to wear sun screen all the time when you go into the ports. I forgot once. We got burned.

 

Face, shoulders, feet, ears. Don't forget these areas of your body.

 

Oh.... and always wear a hat. I'm not a hat person but I forgot once on a boat tour in St. Lucia. Bad mistake. Getting the top of your head burned does not feel good.

 

I was so busy looking at the beautiful island of St. Lucia on the boat with the nice breeze the top of my head got burned. The sun cuts right though your hair.

 

Bring extra band aids and Moleskin. Moleskin can be purchased at places like Galyans, REI, etc... You walk a lot more than you usually do in the ports and at the airport etc.... Plus going from the beach with sand on your feet and putting your shoes back on you will get blisters. Moleskin and Band-Aids will be your friend.

 

Don't bother to do laundry. Unless you run out of stuff to wear on the cruise.

 

I did this thinking that after I unpacked my suitcase today I would not need to re-wash stuff. You will re-wash everything any way because your suitcase ends up with strange smells in it some how and your clothes get wrinkled. When I was in Alaska last year I had to do laundry on the Coral because we ran out of clean stuff but on this cruise it just wasn't worth it.

 

Ladies: Bring comfortable sun dresses or other dresses/clothes to wear to dinner. The tight/short stuff that you think you might wear you probably won't by the 2nd night. You want to be comfortable while eating dinner.

 

I found that my 2 sun dresses and one old faithful non tight black dress that was not clingy and did not form to my figure was what I wore every night to dinner except the 2 formal nights. You do tend to eat a lot more on these cruises and you don't want to sit there miserable.

 

One item I wish I did bring was an air pillow type cushion to sit on for the chairs on the balcony. The chairs do get a little hard. I had to sit on 2 wrapped up beach towels that they give you. It helped a little. I think you can get these air butt cushions at Wal-greens or some where like CVS etc... I think they usually make them for people that have hemorrhoid surgery. I know it sounds crazy but if you want to sit back and relax in these white plastic chairs on the balcony you might want to consider this purchase.

 

We requested an egg crate mattress as usual for the bed. We did this before we left for our trip by calling Princess and faxing in a sheet of paper that had our names, date of sailing, and cabin number. Don't make your travel agent do this. Just call Princess yourself and ask them where to fax this information if you really want one. It does help to make the bed not as hard if you have back problems. You might be able to get one after you get on the ship by asking your room steward but it's just easier if you make the request before you go.

 

We were very glad we brought our twin bed doubler. I mention this for every cruise review. It really helps to keep the twin beds together. You can look on skymall.com or any where on the internet for this.

 

Zip Lock bags. These really come in handy.

[kitty555]

Pre-Cruise

 

We staid at the Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel. It was pretty nice. The room was very big and the view was great. I would highly recommend staying in this hotel if you are going on Carnival for your Southern Cruise as the ship is located right across the street. I would also recommend this hotel if you want to be located in Old San Juan and have access to a casino.

 

I wish we would have staid at the Caribe Hilton for 2 reasons. It had a little beach area and was a little closer to the cruise ship. I didn’t realize though that we could have staid at the brand new Embassy Suites towards the airport or in the Condado area and have been very close to the ship too. Really any where in that area is probably only a 10 dollar cab ride.

 

Another reason I wish we would have staid at the Caribe Hilton was this was the location we dropped off our Hertz rental car. We rented a car at the airport on Saturday but you can drop off at any location. The Hertz locations in the Condado area I think give you a free ride to the port but not at the Caribe Hilton. It was only an 8 dollar cab ride so not a big deal from the Caribe Hilton.

 

We rented a car the day before our cruise as I said above from Hertz. Driving was not a big deal in San Juan. We drove all over old San Juan and drove to the Rain Forest to see the water fall. That was about all we had time to see. Another reason I liked renting the car was that we got to leave the hotel and put our luggage in our car and go over to the forts of Old San Juan the Sunday of our cruise. Just make sure to lock the doors. It seemed to be pretty safe over there and there were a couple of guys there that we gave 2 dollars to watch our luggage in the car. Probably not necessary. Like I said, it seemed pretty safe near the forts and touristy. It is 5.00 I think to get into the Forts of Old San Juan. We had our National Park Pass and they worked for us so it was free.

 

We had dinner Saturday night in Old San Juan at a French restaurant. It was $$$ but very good. The French Onion Soup was the best I’ve ever had. There are so many unusual restaurants in Old San Juan.

 

Before we took our rental car to the Caribe Hilton to drop off we dropped off our luggage at the ship. We just handed the porters our luggage and told them we were coming back later. We saw the long line you had to stand in and we weren’t ready for that yet.

 

Embarkation is a little hectic in San Juan. You first give your luggage to the porter and then you go to the back of the line and stand there to get into the building. The wait outside was about 15 minutes. It is hot so wear shorts and a light colored shirt. After you get inside they have several rows of chairs that you sit in and wait to be called to stand in the line to get checked in. They seemed pretty efficient calling rows one by one. I thought it was nice of them to have seats for you so you wouldn’t have to stand in a rat maze for 30 minutes. They also have cold water available for you inside while you wait. There are also free samples of rum that you can get while you wait for your row to be called that is provided by the liquor store in the terminal building.

 

The liquor store had liquor, water, soft drinks, etc…. We purchased a few mini bottles of bailey’s etc… that they did not take from us and a bottle of Asti Spumante. The Asti Spumante in the liquor store at the port of San Juan was about 7 or 8 dollars I think. On the ship they want 20 a bottle if I remember correctly. This is considered wine/champagne so you can bring it on the ship no problems. It does not require a bottle opener. I love that stuff. It’s a sweet sparkling wine. We put it on ice in our cabin and drank it on the balcony.

 

After your row is called to get in the line to check in the wait is not more than 10 minutes. There is no Express Check In. I really didn’t think it was all that bad and was pretty efficient for what they have to work with at this location.

[cruisinfirst]

My mother and I are going on the same cruise the end of October. Would love info on any shore excursions. I am concerned about her having to walk a lot and appreciate any feedback you can provide.

 

Thanks and welcome home!

[raydon]

Meyerhaus....I have the Patters from the Golden 5/23, opposite itinerary but no scanner....would be happy to mail them to you if you don't have them.

 

Sounds like another great Southern Carribean cruise on the Golden. We sure enjoyed ours.

 

Princess could easily become our favorite line..we have favored HAL in the past for the great service staff but I think after a Grand and a Golden sailing the service is as good on Princess. A couple of the nice touches of HAL aren't there but the entertainment and the music is more to our liking. HAL is a little too quiet at night at times.

 

I felt like the smoke smell was bad in the casino, the wheelhouse and skywalkers also. Everywhere else was pretty much non smoking which was nice. If you want to smell smoke stop in Players! Even the crew hate working there. Oh well, I used to smoke so I just try to avoid it. I think now that all bars and restuarants are smoke free in FL where we live and in NY where we visit a lot, we have become less tolerant.

 

Thanks again for the great review!

 

Radiance of the Seas

[kitty555]

wolfsnare

 

 

The Emergency Drill is at 8:00 pm. Late seating is always at 8:30 pm every night. The emergency drill only took about 15/20 minutes. Enough time to make it to dinner if you have late seating. You can also do it on Monday at 9:00 am if you miss the 8pm one.

 

The Entertainment the first night is:

 

Princess Theater:

Brian Cross and the Golden Princesss Dancers

Plus Comedian Sarge

 

M.C.: Cruise Director Gavin Chandler

 

Show Time: 10:15 PM Decks 6 & 7 Forward

 

Explorer's Lounge:

Promendade Deck 7

9:15pm Till Close

 

Dance Time with Marathon 9:30

 

Meet the Cruise Staff and Join In on the Fun, Dancing, Prize Giveaways and More

Singles- This is the Place to Meet

Join Kimberly from the Cruise Staff at the Bar for a glass of complentary Champagne

Music by Marathon

 

Vista Lounge:

Promenade Deck 7 aft

 

Movie Time: 9:45pm

 

Tonight at the movies: Something's Gotta Give starring Jack Nicholson & Dianie Keaton rated PG13

 

Wheelhouse Lounge

Deck 7 Aft 5:30 to 9:15

Dance to the music of Bolero Y Mas

 

9:30 onwards Dancing to the musical variety of The Kyler Schogen Band

 

Promenade Lounge

Deck 7 Midship

9:15pm till Midnight

Pianist Lee Reed

 

SkyWalkers Nightclub

Deck 17 AFT

From 10:00 pm till Late

Welcome Aboard Dance Party

 

Player's Bar

Fiesta Deck 6 Fwd

Opens at 5:30pm

The Cigar and Cognac Bar featuring the latest sporting action from ESPN

 

Boutiques on Board open for an hour after sailing at 11pm

 

 

Don't forget to sign up for the wine tasting on your first day in San Juan. The wine tasting is on Monday 'At Sea' day. It is 7.50 per person and you get refunded 5 dollars if you buy a bottle of wine. Since there was 2 of us and we bought 2 bottles of wine we got refunded 10.00 for the wine tasting. Even if you don't buy any wine it is a fun way to start your cruise.

This was at 3:15 pm on the At Sea Day (Monday) in the Bernini Dining Room. Deck 5 Midship.

 

Fountain Soda Program is pushed hard the first day in San Juan when you board. It is 22.50 including a Coca Cola Mug and Gratutity. I think it's worth it. Just lay out your cruise card when you're in the Horizon court on the table at the end of the table while you're sitting there and they will know to come by and ask you if you want a coke or something.

 

There is water and ice tea available for free. Water taste fine to me and I always drink bottled water.

[surfnsun]

kitty555 - did you get that spa treatment you were considering?

[kitty555]

I didn't get any spa treatments. I felt like on this cruise I didn't have much time for anything like that. Every day you're in a port except the one at sea day. The at Sea day was our first day and all I really wanted to do this day was rest, walk around the ship, and go to the wine tasting and dinner.

 

We woke up every day by 6:30 am while in port days to hurry up and get off the ship to do as much as we could do while we were there.

 

When we got back from our long port days shopping for t-shirts, driving around, and going scuba diving we were so tired. We would have just about an hour before we'd have to shower and get ready for late seating dinner at 8:30. Dinner always lasted until about 10:15.

 

This was the most busy cruise I've been on. Not much time for relaxing to tell you the truth. By the last day in St. Thomas I was worn out. I wanted to go to the spa but I had a sun burn so I messed that up for myself.

 

That's why I can't stress enough to wear sun screen. I didn't think I would get burned but boy I did.

[kitty555]

Dinner and Food Review:

 

We had the best table mates we've ever had on a cruise this time. Everyone seemed to get along well and the conversation was good. My husband does a lot of talking so most of the time I'm just listening to him entertain people. We sat with 2 couples from England and one couple and their son from Florida. It was very nice.

 

Food: Food was good as usual. My favorite thing was the Chicken that was stuffed with herbs and butter. I can't remember what night that was. The Lobster as also good. The Lobster Bisque soup was not as good as I remembered. The rolls were also not as good as I remembered either but I still ate them. They were at times a little dry and hard.

 

All of the prime rib dinners and steaks were very good. The Love Boat dream was not as good as it use to be. But if you just order it with a side of ice cream it cuts down the coco taste a little and makes it better. The Fettuccini was much better this time than it was on our last cruise. This is on the always available list on the dinner menu.

 

I thought every night had a good selection. We didn't need to eat at the alternative dining any nights on this cruise. I always found something good in the regular dining rooms. This helps too with the cost of the cruise. You always just about have a stroke when you get your bill at the end so any little bit helps by not eating at the Steak house place etc... Now I'm not saying that Sabatini's isn't worth it though. That is an experience in itself. If you've never done it you should do it once.

 

Horizon Court was the same as it always is. Good. The first day on the ship in San Juan they didn't serve us but the rest of the days they made you sanitize your hands and served you everything. The Sanitize machines are a little tricky at times but the stuff eventually comes out.

 

I noticed at dinner in the dining rooms that this little sanitize machine slowed down the line of getting in the dinning room a lot. It takes a few seconds for each person to put their hands under this thing to get the stuff to come out and then rub their hands and walk away.

 

We did personal choice 2 nights. One night on Lobster night because my husband wanted to eat twice and one night because we over slept. Personal choice was good. The service was good and we got a table for 2. If you go early around 5:30 there doesn't seem to be a wait at all.

 

I still like Traditional better but it's kind of a toss up. They are both good.

[kitty555]

San Juan- I told you what we did here already. We staid at the Old San Juan Wynham hotel one night, rented a car for Saturday and Sunday (1 day rental). Went to the water fall at the rain forest and drove to the forts in Old San Juan

 

At Sea- We were at sea. We went to the wine tasting. Tried to sleep in late as we knew this would be our only day to rest on this trip. We went to the wine tasting for 7.50 per person at 3:15 pm. We went to the Vista Lounge at 10:45 to watch the Comedian Sarge. It was good. Sat on the balcony for a little while and went to bed.

 

Barbados-

Rented a mini moke from Drive-A-Matic Car Rental. This is Automatic/ open air vehicle with no windows and no air-conditioner. Do not rent one of these. Just a little tiny car with a front and back seat. Enough for 4 people. It's basically a Flintstone car.

 

My husband made it through the town of Barbados and to a KFC before he got tired of hearing me complain about the carbon monoxide fumes and the little ants/spiders crawling all over the floor and seats before he turned around and took the thing back. This wasted about an hour and a half of our day. We went back to the dock where the ship was and turned in the mini moke. By luck the guy gave us our money back Thank GOD. He was nice.

 

We were going to take a taxi tour but that seemed pretty lame. They wanted 20 dollars per hour and they didn't seem to want to take us where we wanted to go... So what did we do in Barbados?

We ended up renting a very nice Toyota car with Air-Conditioner from Stoutes Car Rental.

We got lost. Barbados IMHO is hard to navigate. It is probably, no it WAS the hardest to find your way around of any island we've been to. But after a while you get use to it. We got lost and ended up at the far north end of Barbados (North Point) and found what is called the 'Animal Flower Garden'. This was the nicest spot on Barbados and trust me no cab driver will take you there without putting up a fuss. It took about 45 minutes to get there. You just drive up the coast all the way to the top. I can't go on and on enough about this Animal Flower Cave. Go to it. You won't be sorry.

After that we went to Farley Hill National Park (we just drove by and thought we stop) and we're glad we did. It had a great view of the ocean.

Then we drove to Bashiba. This is where the big giant boulder rocks are on the beach. It was very nice but again.. not as nice as the animal flower cave place. Bashiba (sp?) is where all the pictures are taken of Barbados. Very cool beach. Another must go to.

After walking on the beach there for a while and taking pictures we went to Harrison's Cave. The tour started at 3:00 and lasted 30 minutes. It was 15 or 16 dollars per person to get into Harrison's Cave.

After Harrison's cave it was around 3:45 and we headed back to the ship. We dropped off the car and then walked around the shops and bought a couple of rum cakes from Calypso Island Bakery located in the cruise ship terminal building and got a couple of T-shirts. The good T-shirts were about 20 dollars per shirt.

My recommendation is not to rent a car in Barbados unless you are very good with reading a map. I'm not but thank God my husband is.

There aren't a whole lot of street signs there and there are a few round a bouts.

 

St. Lucia-

We took a Princess Scuba Tour this day. You must be certified to scuba dive. The first dive was in between the Pitons. Very deep dive. I accidentally got to 100 feet without knowing it. Not good. The 2nd dive was good. I like the dives that don't go as deep. St. Lucia was so beautiful. Very green and mountainous. I would go back there again. I would not however go back to Barbados. It was nice to see once.

 

Antigua-

Princess canceled our scuba tour so we went Scuba Diving with Dive Antigua located at Rex Halcion Resort (sp?). This was GREAT. I thought the diving at St. Lucia was good, but this was even better. Our guide told us everything we were seeing under the water and even told jokes under water on his slate.

After that we took a taxi back to where the ship was docked. Bought 2 t shirts. Again, t shirts are around 20 dollars for the good quality T-shirts. There are a ton of stray dogs lying around in Antigua. I felt sooooo sorry for them. I wanted to feed all of them but I couldn't. I also didn't pet them because you know...you never know if they might have something.

 

St. Maarten-

We've been here 4 or 5 times. We rented a car as this is the easiest of all islands to drive. We rented from Hertz. It was a fairly new Toyota with Air Conditioner. They remind you NOT to leave anything in your car or trunk because it's not safe in there. We didn't. We went to the Butterfly farm. This was very nice. I enjoyed it. We went to Orient Beach for a few minutes. It's a beautiful beach. We just walked around for about 15 minutes there as I'm not much into a big crowded beach.

We went to a grocery store called RAMS as they had the cheapest price on alcohol. 13 dollars for a big bottle of bailey's. 14.95 on the ship. We also drove to the top of a mountain in St. Maarten and walked around. It was nice. Shopped for an hour or so at the terminal. They've really fixed up this port. It looks very nice.

 

St. Thomas-

We rented a jeep from Budget. It's right across the street from the pier. We got off the ship right around 7:45 and then we were off to the car rental and then over to Red Hook to catch the car ferry to St. John. We drove all around St. John. We stopped at the beach we got married on (Hawk's nest) and took pictures, went swimming, etc... It's a very nice beach and semi private.

Then off to Trunk Bay. The beaches and views of the water in St. John are the BEST. This is the bluest water and one of the prettiest islands in my opinion. Also very very easy to drive. You can also just take the passenger ferry here and then rent a car when you get to St. John.

My only advice is to NOT take the road that goes through Bordeaux Mountain. I can't remember the road number.. maybe 108 or 10 something... Don't take this road. All other roads are great.

 

San Juan-

Back in San Juan. We were the last ones to get off the ship around 11:30. Took a bus tour on our own for 20 per person. We were returned to the airport at 2:15. Our flight left at 4:45.

 

A couple at dinner told us that the Whale/Dolphin Watching tour in St. Lucia was GREAT and highly recommended this trip.

 

Any questions please feel free to ask.

[kitty555]

meyerhaus

 

I have 7 days worth of patters. It would take me a while to scan all the pages in. I'll try to do it this week or you can email me and I'll mail you a copy to your home.

[CruiserGreg]

Kitty555,

 

We are sailing on the Golden in December, and will also be in C752. So what did you think of this aft cabin compared to other balcony locations?

 

Greg

 

 

Golden Princess half a hundred birthday cruise.