Just back from Alaska

[mexicobob]

Returned yesterday from a twelve day cruisetour to Alaska. The ship portion was on the Golden Princess. We are picky people so on a 1-10 scale will only rate the trip about 150. In other words every thing was pretty near perfect. Totally exceeded all expectations and then some. Will be glad to answer any questions.

[biochemgrl02]

What was your room location? Where did you dine? What excursions did you take? So glad to hear you had a great trip.

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

Returned yesterday from a twelve day cruisetour to Alaska. The ship portion was on the Golden Princess. We are picky people so on a 1-10 scale will only rate the trip about 150. In other words every thing was pretty near perfect. Totally exceeded all expectations and then some. Will be glad to answer any questions.

So good to hear, especially with all the negative reports about the Golden.

[kt6453]

Very interested regarding Golden Princess. So many negative reviews recently!!

 

 

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[land lover]

So happy to hear your expectations were exceeded...what did u enjoy most about the land portion?

[jagoffee]

Which land tour did you select? Do you feel you picked the right one?

 

No leaks on the ship?

[idahospud]

 

No leaks on the ship?

We were on the same cruise so I can answer that question. Yes, several drips on our deck (Caribe), one in the buffet near the dessert station, and one near the theater. Sometimes they had buckets, sometimes towels, and sometimes there was nothing (other than the carpet) to catch them. There may have been more but I wasn't looking for them. Didn't impact our cruise, though.

[Poohbeck]

Thank you so much for sending in a positive Golden experience. We will be traveling on her in under 60 days and I was getting concerned. I actually called our AAA travel agent, first time using a TA due to it being a group, and she called Princess and they said they had not had any complaints. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:Anyways, any additional information you can provide would be helpful.

 

Was this Northbound?

If so, which days were the formal nights?

Was there sushi on board?

Were the pools open?

 

Thanks so much!

[jsglow]

We just completed the same 7 day. Sure there were a few leaks. Nothing that we gave a second thought to. Glacier Bay was the highlight. And Golden's top deck is PERFECT for that. We're younger than the typical Princess clientele (at least for Alaska) as I'd peg the average ship age between 65-70. But it was certainly one of our best cruises. There are some things Princess does extremely well. But there are some things where other CCL lines provide a better fit for us. No line can be all things to all people. And we often wonder why some folks never branch out, even a little.

[jsglow]

Thank you so much for sending in a positive Golden experience. We will be traveling on her in under 60 days and I was getting concerned. I actually called our AAA travel agent, first time using a TA due to it being a group, and she called Princess and they said they had not had any complaints. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:Anyways, any additional information you can provide would be helpful.

 

Was this Northbound?

If so, which days were the formal nights?

Was there sushi on board?

Were the pools open?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Southbound with formal on Sunday/Wednesday. Pools, especially the covered, open when they could be.

[jsglow]

One other quick thought. If you go looking for signs of age on the ship, you'll find it. If you go thinking you'll get glassy seas in the north Pacific, you won't. If you don't bring rain gear, you'll anger the gods and get lousy weather. We did and never needed it although Inside Passage sea day was quite wet. Glacier Bay and all our port days were bluebird nice with just the very infrequent passing shower. It's Alaska, not Grand Cayman. Enjoy.

[mexicobob]

Which land tour did you select? Do you feel you picked the right one?

 

No leaks on the ship?

We did the EB4 land tour. Highly recommend it.

 

Did not see any leaks to amount to anything. Guess if you looked hard enough you could find something wrong.

[mexicobob]

So happy to hear your expectations were exceeded...what did u enjoy most about the land portion?

The tour into Denali was hard to beat. Just being in the area was enjoyable. Princess does a very good job on the land tours. We did the short (5 hour) tour into the park and really enjoyed it. Saw 2 brown bears -1 close, dozens of moose, 100's of caribou plus bald eagles, hares, birds. And we saw the Mountain. Highlight of the trip. It was clear while we were there and saw Denali on all 4 days we were in the area. We were lucky to see any of the above as all of the reviews I have read said the short tour was worthless. We totally enjoyed it. Be advised the gravel road on the school bus is rough. Do not think I would have enjoyed a much longer trip.

[mexicobob]

So happy to hear your expectations were exceeded...what did u enjoy most about the land portion?

We did the land tour EB4. Highly recommend it. Does the train back to Whittier. Princess does a good job on the land tours.

We did the short (5 hour) tour into Denali and saw two brown bear, one close, dozens of moose, hundreds of caribou, hares, birds and saw Denali. We were lucky as the weather was clear while we were there and we saw Denali on all 4 days we were there.

All reviews I have read said the short tour was worthless. We enjoyed it and really do not think I would want to ride on the school bus on that gravel road for much longer.

[neverbeenhere]

Sorry to hear you had such a bad time. I hope you will have a chance to return.

 

;p

[DisneyMaleficent50]

Did you post a trip report?

[svcalum07]

There were also reports of sewage smell in the forward, AC/heat not working, and plumbing issues. Anything to report on those??

[jsglow]

There were also reports of sewage smell in the forward, AC/heat not working, and plumbing issues. Anything to report on those??

 

Not issues I experienced. Again, the ship was in very good condition. Are there some signs of wear? Yes. But not anything to be in any way concerned about. If the issues immediately following drydock were problematic, my experience is that they've resolved the vast majority. Enjoy.

[Pierlesscruisers]

Returned yesterday from a twelve day cruisetour to Alaska. The ship portion was on the Golden Princess. We are picky people so on a 1-10 scale will only rate the trip about 150. In other words every thing was pretty near perfect. Totally exceeded all expectations and then some. Will be glad to answer any questions.

 

Yep, I'd have to say that a score of 150 on a 1-10 scale would have to be pretty good! ;p

 

Tom

[svcalum07]

Not issues I experienced. Again, the ship was in very good condition. Are there some signs of wear? Yes. But not anything to be in any way concerned about. If the issues immediately following drydock were problematic, my experience is that they've resolved the vast majority. Enjoy.

 

Thank you! 10 days until we sail..printed all of my travel documents today!

[biochemgrl02]

Thank you! 10 days until we sail..printed all of my travel documents today!

 

 

 

We will be getting off the ship when you board! I will try to post some patters and other useful information for you but no guarantees. I only turned on texting and calling on my phone for the cruise.

 

 

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[mexicobob]

There were also reports of sewage smell in the forward, AC/heat not working, and plumbing issues. Anything to report on those??

We were a group of 12 and nobody reported any problems with anything, anywhere.

[mexicobob]

What excursions did you do? Favorite?

Favorite excursion...…..In Ketchikan we did a float plane trip to Misty Fjords Monument with a private vendor. Plane held six people. Flew over snow capped mountains into some of the most beautiful scenery that exists on this earth. Swooped down dramatically onto a small stream that fed into a small lake and landed. We stopped about 200 feet from the shore and got out on the pontoons and watched a mama grisly bear and a good size cub on the shore for about 30 minutes. They were eating the grass on the shore. Incredibly enough there was a large bald eagle perched on a tree above them that eventually flew off to another tree. Totally incredible experience. We were very lucky to have good weather and the bear being there. My only regret is that I did not go immediately to the casino and place large bets as my luck could not have been better that day, on excursions at least.

[XBGuy]

Favorite excursion...…..In Ketchikan we did a float plane trip to Misty Fjords Monument with a private vendor. Plane held six people. Flew over snow capped mountains into some of the most beautiful scenery that exists on this earth. Swooped down dramatically onto a small stream that fed into a small lake and landed. We stopped about 200 feet from the shore and got out on the pontoons and watched a mama grisly bear and a good size cub on the shore for about 30 minutes. They were eating the grass on the shore. Incredibly enough there was a large bald eagle perched on a tree above them that eventually flew off to another tree. Totally incredible experience. We were very lucky to have good weather and the bear being there. My only regret is that I did not go immediately to the casino and place large bets as my luck could not have been better that day, on excursions at least.

 

That is a completely amazing story.