Live from the Golden, Alaska SB, May 26-June 2

[ColoradoMom!!]

CONGRATULATIONS on the big WIN!! :D

 

I have enjoyed your posts and blog so VERY much!

 

Thank you

[Coral]

Last sea day Patter and info has been posted, including a pic of my hand pay win on a slot machine. Woo hoo!

 

Thank you. I appreciated your comments today. You and your husband are amazing people!

 

I think your big win should go towards that next cruise!

[kt6453]

I have enjoyed your blog and updates so much this week. Thank you!!

 

 

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[casavaha]

Idahospud: I have really enjoyed your posts. You said you might be in Rome in the

Fall. I hope you are on the Crown, transatlantic. I am sure your husband would enjoy

transatlantics.

 

 

Greg

[idahospud]

Idahospud: I have really enjoyed your posts. You said you might be in Rome in the

Fall. I hope you are on the Crown, transatlantic. I am sure your husband would enjoy

transatlantics.

 

 

Greg

Thanks. Yep, that's the one! He really wants to go to Rome a few days ahead of time to sightsee there first but I'm not sure what he'll be able to get to see with his mobility issues. Any suggestions?

[Wpooh1968]

We are headed Golden NB in August and loved your posts. THANK YOU for everything from ports to excursions to attire to laundry! We have 12 cruises on NCL, but first Princess.

[biochemgrl02]

Thanks so much for your daily posts! I loved reading them and examining the Patters. We will be on the ship in a week from today when it gets back to Whittier. I’m hoping for some great entertainment opportunities and nice-ish weather.

I’ve been to Rome a couple of times and I remember a lot of walking so I’ll have to think about what to do with mobility issues.

 

 

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[idahospud]

Log of the Cruise and the Disembarkartion schedule has been posted on the blog. Also the details of the almost seven and a half hour trip from the ship in Vancouver to the Seattle airport using the Princess transfer. Ugh.

[BuckeyeMark]

Thanks - you do a great job with your blog and writing!

[EastBay Cruisers]

Thanks so much for all the excellent details of your cruise ! Alaska is such a beautiful place !. Much appreciated, from EBC

[idahospud]

Thank you all for the kind comments about the live from and about the blog. Good to know I'm not the only one reading it! While my live from posts are done for now, I still post cruise and travel things on the blog when I'm home. I do travel posts on Wednesdays (my Wanderlust Wednesdays) and cruise posts on Saturdays (my Cruise Ship Saturdays).

 

Bon Voyage to all who are sailing soon. I'll be sure to read your life from, too!

[BuckeyeMark]

Can you tell me more about Skywalkers? We are a big group and we're supposed to have some group meetings there, but the Youtube tours I've seen make it look like it's multi-leveled and kind of broken up into some areas. Maybe not so suitable for a group. Your comments please?

[idahospud]

Can you tell me more about Skywalkers? We are a big group and we're supposed to have some group meetings there, but the Youtube tours I've seen make it look like it's multi-leveled and kind of broken up into some areas. Maybe not so suitable for a group. Your comments please?

How big is your group? It's a large area, but on the Golden you're correct that it is broken up a bit with a few stairs here and there. We had probably more than 50 or so folks at the most traveled passenger party up there and we only took about half of the upper level. There's lots of seating - some chairs, some couches, and some padded benches along the window - making its set-up great for small group conversations but probably not the best if everyone is needing to pay attention to a speaker the whole time.

[laughing husky]

Regretfully, our cruise on the Golden Princess to Alaska (arrive May 12) was a huge disappointment. Ship is old and tired and trending toward shabby; it will be out of the inventory soon. Many areas of rust, chipped surfaces, shredding, unraveling, frayed, faded upholstery, screws missing. In Donatello, above tables 175-176, there is a long stretch of scabby, rusty area that could ruin your appetite. Supply shortages: Crown Grill was out of ribeye steak; only 3 of 14 red wines on the menu were available throughout the ship. Hopefully the ship was replenished out of Anchorage. From Singapore, water leaks were found in many places, making that part feel like a shakedown cruise. As usual, the satellite internet is very, very poor, despite the wide availability of much better technology. We cancelled a cruise on the sister ship, Star Princess.

The good news: Staff were great; presentations by "Alaskan Crab Captain Lethin" were terrific, as was much of the entertainment.

 

I was on the cruising coming over from Japan. There were leaks galore, buckets were everywhere. I ended up with a heck of an allergic reaction that ended up in the doc's office for several hours...I Have never had anything like that, but they were still changing the carpet in the rooms and the halls, and I suspect it was from that. It was pretty bad..On top of that, the water from the shower head had a leak and it was running down inside the walls of the cabin...I can only imagine the mold....Maybe that was the cause of my attack. I have no idea. The staff lost a bottle of wine that we had, and it ended up with the staff being rude, and basically accusing us of not telling the truth. We have some 30 odd cruises on Princess....I was upset to say the least. I will cruise with them again, but I will think about the ship...This time we both like the itinerary and the sea days...but I will also look at some other lines in the future.

[laughing husky]

That said, the cabin staff was wonderful, and the girl who delivered room service one day went way far out of her way to help us. Our steward was wonderful. They did run out of a bit of food on the way over, but their was plenty to eat, and it was fine. The Crown Grill had steaks..:) and it was great....Just not the things that should have been done, when it was in dry dock.

[DisneyMaleficent50]

Deb thank you so much for the trip report!!! It answered so many of my questions!!!

[idahospud]

Deb thank you so much for the trip report!!! It answered so many of my questions!!!

You are welcome. Have a great trip!

[Traveling Man !]

Quick question... I am booked on the Golden next year to Alaska,when I have read recent posts on the Golden all I read is it smells "like a septic tank" and looks tired, rusty, etc despite recent refurbishment... your thoughts please??

[idahospud]

Quick question... I am booked on the Golden next year to Alaska,when I have read recent posts on the Golden all I read is it smells "like a septic tank" and looks tired, rusty, etc despite recent refurbishment... your thoughts please??

There were some drips from ceiling I came across, but I didn't see tired or rusty. (Although I wasn't looking specifically for it.) As for the septic tank smell, I didn't come across that either. Sometimes you get a whiff of something stinky on different parts of any ship. Any smell on the Golden wasn't any different than what I've occasionally experienced on my other 60 Princess cruises. I wouldn't hesitate sailing on the ship again.

[Traveling Man !]

Thanks Deb !!

I thought I had a good land tour and cabin picked out, but reading those other threads makes you doubt yourself a bit. Thanks for the info, had a hard time thinking that Princess would just let the Golden fall apart at this point before P & O gets her.

[Traveling Man !]

Hi Deb and fellow cruisers

Just wanted to say Thank You to all of you for the info and details... I am so glad I finally got on this site!