Trip Report: Golden Princess August 18-25

[bahacca]

Boarded in Whittier, disembark Vancouver, Canada

Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan

 

All together it was my parents (Mom 69 and my dad turned 68 on the cruise), Myself and my husband (40 and 41) and my daughters (11 and 12/1 week from turning 13)

 

My parents flew into Anch. a few days before and visited Denali. We flew in the 17th from Los Angeles. We stayed at the Comfort Suites Anchorage Int'l Airport. Our room had a king bed in the main area and a separate bed(queen) in another attached room with a door. Breakfast was served every morning and had a great variety of make your own waffles, bacon, eggs, yogurt, cereals, etc. The hotel also had an airport shuttle that ran pretty much around the clock. I think our flight arrived at around 12:30 am. It was nice to just get the shuttle and not have to worry about transportation.

 

My dad rented a mini van to take the 6 of us on the drive from Anch. into Whittier. The drive is beautiful. We stopped at Beluga Point to hopefully see Beluga whales, but it was super windy, so the waters were really choppy. We did catch the train going by.

 

We detoured to a town called Girdwood. Cute little town with nice views and a beautiful hotel. The hotel was having a blueberry festival, so we stopped in for that.

 

We drove a bit more then stopped by a lake near the entrance to "the tunnel".

 

The tunnel. We hit the tunnel at the point when the lady said "You MIGHT still have a green light to go. If you do, go, otherwise you will have a long wait." We hit the green light and had the tunnel all to ourselves! It was a wacky experience going through this tunnel alone, no one in front of us, only red lights behind us. Then we came to the point where the train's headlights were pointing straight at us! We got into Whittier, returned the rental car at the only car rental place(which is literally in a store that is a trailer) and boarded the ship.

 

Boarding was a total breeze. We were the ONLY people in the terminal boarding at the time. We had timed it perfectly so that all people in busses had already boarded and the train was going the opposite direction.

We went up to Lido deck to get some lunch at the buffet and enjoy the views. It was windy and drizzling.

 

My parents stayed in a balcony cabin and we had an inside. D110 and D112. Right across from each other, so rather convenient. Their room had a king bed, sitting area, small bar area, bath tub and shower. Ours had 2 sets of bunk beds and a shower the size of a broom closet. On other cruises we have had a set of bunks and then a king bed, so this was a bit of a surprise. Adults got bottom bunks, kids got top. They say no one under age 9 on the top bunks, so plan accordingly. Storage was ample and we asked our room steward for more hangers for our clothes. This was helpful, as was my trusty over the door shoe organizer. Get a clear shoe organizer. We keep hair brushes, sunscreen, our cruise cards(on lanyards), chap stick, medications, gloves, small hats, other small items in the pockets so people can access them when someone is using the bathroom. These locations were forward Dolphin Deck(9) and we were shaken awake every morning except when in Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay where we didn't dock.

 

Food: My favorite part. I don't have to plan it, shop for it, prep it, cook it or clean it. I just ask and eat it! We have sailed Carnival and Disney, and this was our first Princess cruise. Overall, it was better than Disney, but probably a tie with Carnival, though Carnival and Princess do better in different areas. We were a bit disappointed that some of the dishes had alcohol in them which my girls wanted. They made most of them without it, but in some cases, like the melon with port, the alcohol added so much to the taste of the dish, that it was almost a waste without it. The limonocello sorbet also had alcohol, so my daughter who is lactose intolerant couldn't have her beloved sorbet for dessert that night. It isn't like the kids will get drunk off of it, so leave it to the parents to decide if they want it with or without the teaspoon of alcohol. I cook with wine, port, spirits all the time, so would not care one bit.

My best dish was the Nutella Donut at International Cafe. Honestly, the best donut I have EVER had, land or sea. Their custard filled one was fantastic, too. They also had a chocolate catalan that I had 2 of. I should have had more. THeir cold salads and sandwiches they heat in a press were family favorites for lunch and snack. My youngest loved the chicken sandwich, myself and eldest the mozzerella and tomato. I also enjoyed the Cuban for a tad of spice and the BBQ beef was good, though not heated through the way the press works.

In the main dining rooms, the breakfast french toast with the corn flake coating was SUPER good. The goat cheese souffle was also delicious, and something I would not have ordered if not for seeing it mentioned here. We would fight over the white rolls and the ones with the sesame seeds each night at dinner. We had anytime dining as opposed to a set time, otherwise we would have certainly had a basket with only those breads each night. As for anytime dining-I liked not being tied to a time. We would have missed seeing a pod of orcas had we had the 6:30 dining time. We had to wait about 5 minutes one time, otherwise we got right in. I DID however miss the attention to detail that having the same servers affords you. Things like them knowing you only like 2 of the bread choices and lemon in your water and that the youngest orders shrimp cocktail every single night. Other notable dishes were the pistachio dome, melon with port, the salmon that is offered nightly, the fish that starts with a b-baramundi???, and the stuffed chicken breast on Italian night.

 

I will cover entertainment next.

[BabsinTX]

We're doing this same cruise next year. Glad to hear your positive reactions so far!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review.

Confused at your alcohol in the food comment though. :confused:

[bahacca]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review.

Confused at your alcohol in the food comment though. :confused:

Certain dishes have alcohol in them, and they do not allow kids to have them. Some they were able tohave without the alcohol added, but others, like the sorbet, were simply not allowed to be had by kids. Another is the cold soups that have prosecco in them. I'd like the option of my kids having the dish with the alcohol since there is barely any in it, and in most cases, adds to the flavor of the dish.

[Colo Cruiser]

Certain dishes have alcohol in them, and they do not allow kids to have them. Some they were able tohave without the alcohol added, but others, like the sorbet, were simply not allowed to be had by kids. Another is the cold soups that have prosecco in them. I'd like the option of my kids having the dish with the alcohol since there is barely any in it, and in most cases, adds to the flavor of the dish.

 

 

Interesting....I have not heard that before. We have had kids with us on past cruises and never had that issue.

I agree it does affect the taste and is prepared that way as part of the recipe.

Thanks for the explanation.

Edited August 28, 2018 by Colo Cruiser

[moki'smommy]

Sorry we didn't meet you. We were on the same cruise as the second leg of a B2B.

[bahacca]

ENTERTAINMENT:

I have been on several Carnival cruises and one Disney cruise prior to this one. Disney's production shows win hands down for everything from talent, production, costumes, music, but that is to be expected. IMO and the opinions of my kids, husband and parents, Carnival is second, Princess 3rd. This is for production shows and for general games, entertainment on the ship.

Production shows: The dancers were good on Princess, but it seemed like on Carnival they tended to hire "triple threats" which made each person have different roles throughout the cruise. Princess had 4 singers and then dancers. Dancers sang little back up roles, but never had any other role. We met a dancer in the buffet who was super nice, spoke to my daughter about ballet, and invited us to the shows. We did do the stage tour and were able to ask questions, and that was a highlight for my girls. Seeing the costumes, backstage areas, etc. was fun.

We felt the production quality was simply lacking on Princess compared to Carnival. Carnival made better use of the technology they had, tended to have more variety of music, costumes were more imaginative, etc. Princess wasn't awful, and was enjoyable, but it wasn't up to par withCarnival and certainly not Disney.

On board entertainment: This is where Princess suffered a huge blow compared to the others. Carnival has a huge variety of things to DO-games, comedians, karaoke, fun contests, huge audience participation for games. We did a 7 day Carnival in Mexico and we played battle of the sexes, I won the bartender competition, they had drawings for free excursions and we won a free dinner at the "upgrade" restaurant, my parents were on the Love and Marriage game. We saw comedians, the big productions shows, watched and cringed at karaoke. On the 7-day to Alaska on Princess, it was a let down. The production shows were interspersed with a comedian (who we did enjoy) and a solo singer. We opted not to go to the show for the single singer. We instead went to a smaller lounge one night and listened to a sub-par piano singer. My dad went to hear a piano player one evening and left after 10 minutes, stating he had friends in college who played better. All of the "games" that are played in the common area of the ship (Deck 5) had NO DESCRIPTION of what the game even was. How do you know if you want to play if you have no idea what it is?? My family showed up at Pictionary and it was the 4 of us and only 4 other people. We only did 2 rounds, the "host" allowed basically a combo of charades and pictionary. It was like 15 minutes, then we had to leave. I played a game called "Coke, Fanta, Soda". It was literally a taped line on the floor. When he called coke, go to the left. Fanta, right. Soda, one foot on either side. To eliminate people, he called faster and added gin, vodka and red bull, all with different actions. One action the last person and I had was "red bull" which was to hook arms and go in a circle. I skipped around happily, and the host told me "No dancing. You have to walk." I said, "I'm just having fun!" "I know it is fun to dance, but this is my game, so you need to walk.":o:o I play a game and am told not to have fun??? Another game we attended was called something "Liar". A word was read and 3 of the Princess entertainment staff each gave an explanation of the definition. All the audience got to do was put a card in front of the person they thought was right. It would have been a lot more fun had they chosen people from the audience to make up the definitions. Finally, I wasted an hour of my time seeing the maitre'd and head chef goof off and play dumb during what I thought would be a great presentation on how they feed so many people. On Carnival, they have a similar event where they actually prepare food and have tasters for everyone. I guess Princess doesn't do it this way because they did it on a sea day when nothing else even remotely interesting was going on, so all of the huge theater was packed. Instead I got the maitre'd tossing all sorts of food into the dishes, making them inedible, and the chef never even gave out a single usable recipe. At the end it was all a plug to sell the cookbook. The place was so packed, and they had 2 people to lead a galley tour. By then I felt I had wasted so much time, I didn't even go on the tour. Do yourself a favor-skip the show, wait until about 45 minutes after the start, find the huge line of people in the halls, join them and go see the galley.

The entertainment that we found to be fantastic were the guest speakers-the naturalist spoke a couple times and was super interesting. The park rangers who spoke were also really incredible. My kids are pretty up to snuff on their nature, so they were bored stiff in their kid presentation. If you child is above age 8 and knows quite a bit of natural info already, take them to the adult presentation. Another highlight was the first woman who won the Iditarod. Her story was fantastic.

If you like being goofy, laughing, acting a fool and watching others do so, do not expect this at all on Princess. Take a Carnival cruise. If you might want to see one show while on board, sit and read or sip coffee, go to a spa, maybe play ping pong once or twice, go on Princess. I get that many people do not want to act a fool and want a slower pace while cruising...we just are not one of those families. We were never BORED, but we did struggle to find things to do and entertainment that was fun for us.

[voljeep]

Hey, Thrak and Pia - nevermind...;p

[JF - retired RRT]

ENTERTAINMENT:On board entertainment: This is where Princess suffered a huge blow compared to the others. On the 7-day to Alaska on Princess, it was a let down. The production shows were interspersed with a comedian (who we did enjoy) and a solo singer. We opted not to go to the show for the single singer. We instead went to a smaller lounge one night and listened to a sub-par piano singer. My dad went to hear a piano player one evening and left after 10 minutes, stating he had friends in college who played better. All of the "games" that are played in the common area of the ship (Deck 5) had NO DESCRIPTION of what the game even was. How do you know if you want to play if you have no idea what it is?? Those problems are the fault of the Entertainment Director. Some do a good job with a lot of the games you mentioned that Carnival has...some don't seem to care and don't schedule anything that makes work for them.

Finally, I wasted an hour of my time seeing the maitre'd and head chef goof off and play dumb during what I thought would be a great presentation on how they feed so many people. Again, some of the cooking shows are very informative and sometimes the maitre d' and head chef think they're being funny.

see comments in red. :)

[bahacca]

Scenic Cruising: Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay

We lucked out big time with beautiful weather both days. Hubbard was HUGE and calved several times. Glacier Bay, compared to Hubbard, was a bit of a let down. I had heard that you HAD TO do Glacier Bay if you were cruising Alaska. We had a super clear day, and it was beautiful, but Majorie Glacier and the other glaciers were not calving, so perhaps that led to some of the "letdown." If Hubbard is on the itinerary and not Glacier Bay, I would cruise that itinerary no problem. Best part about Glacier Bay was seeing the forest service people come aboard and then leave, as well as their talks and information.

 

Skagway: We woke up early and took a free tour through the parks service about the history of the area. It was super interesting, entertaining and was a walking tour. Weather that morning was great. We ate at a crab shack that is basically a trailor that my dad had found good reviews for on yelp. The crab was delicious. Only downer was that night on the ship they had crab legs! For those with a naughty humor like we have, be sure to look for the Morningwood Hotel and, next door, the Happy Endings Saloon! We boarded the ship to get ready for our excursion and it was WINDY. It later began to rain. It rained during our excursion to the dog sleds. My dad booked individually through their website, not through Princess. Be careful when doing this. Some idiot on our excursion was on the van back and started freaking out because her friend called asking where they were since the ship was leaving in 10 minutes. We were 15 minutes away. I asked the guy and he said "Well, this is running late." "Umm. No. It says it is 3 hours and 15 minutes and that is about how long it will have been once we get back." So don't be THAT GUY. Also, don't be the guy who DROPPED THE PUPPY at the sled dog facility. And for crying out loud, have some remorse and pick up the poor puppy when you drop it! My husband had to scoop the poor puppy off the ground and hand it to a worker there.

The sled dog excursion was really fun, but also felt a bit rushed. The drive there was AMAZING scenery. When you get there, you get out of the van and head to the unimog. Drive the unimog and immediately go on your ride. Get off, pet the dogs for a minute, then go for a talk. Then you get 15-20 minutes to hold the puppies, see some other dogs, etc, then back down to the van. When we returned to the docks, it was super windy and rainy. I would advise people bring rain coats, NOT umbrellas. Many were struggling with umbrellas here.

 

Juneau-We didn't book an excursion and it was rainy. Had it been clear, we MIGHT have paid to go on the ride up the mountain, but it seemed really overpriced for a day you wouldn't see much of anything. We saw 2 bald eagles near the docks. Did some shopping and enjoyed some time on board with few people.

 

Ketchikan-The highlight of our trip. We booked a flight seeing tour to Traitor's Cove. We used Island Wings. Only a few places are able to actually use the bear platform, so be sure if you book that they are one of the approved ones. I was worried we wouldn't see any bear since a report a few weeks prior said they were lucky to see one. We saw about 8! First of all, the float plane experience was top notch. Super fun and I loved spending the whole flight low enough to see things. We saw eagles flying below us and spotted a humpback whale from the air. You get off on a dock, then walk up to load into vans. There is one toilet that is a pit toilet. For those who do not camp, it has a regular toilet seat, but is a huge pit. Porta Potties smell like 50x worse. We got out to see a beautiful lake, then got back in the van to take a hike in to the bear viewing platform. There were 2 bears there when we arrived. Then more came and went during our time there. We got amazing pictures with our 40x zoom camera I bought before the trip. We got video of a bear stealing a fish from another and of a bald eagle catching a fish. It was a super expensive excursion, but so worth it for a once in a lifetime trip.

[cruzsnooze]

You say you had King beds but I have never seen anything but Queen beds. I'm in a suite on the Golden next week and only Queens were listed as an option.

[bahacca]

You say you had King beds but I have never seen anything but Queen beds. I'm in a suite on the Golden next week and only Queens were listed as an option.

Perhaps my parents did have a queen bed. I will change that. I just know it was bigger than my twin bunk!;p;p;p;p OK-Anyone know how o go to the top and edit? It is only allowing me to edit this post, not the first one.

[Colo Cruiser]

You say you had King beds but I have never seen anything but Queen beds. I'm in a suite on the Golden next week and only Queens were listed as an option.

 

 

:rolleyes: :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Mibele]

It is always luck of the draw on the glaciers calving. When I was in GB at the beginning of June, Marjorie Glacier calved almost the entire time we were there. Five minutes before we left a GIGANTIC section in the middle fell - it was like a fireworks finale. The entire ship cheered. It was amazing! We didn't go to Hubbard Glacier on that trip, so I have something to look forward to on my next trip to Alaska :-)

 

Scenic Cruising: Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay

We lucked out big time with beautiful weather both days. Hubbard was HUGE and calved several times. Glacier Bay, compared to Hubbard, was a bit of a let down. I had heard that you HAD TO do Glacier Bay if you were cruising Alaska. We had a super clear day, and it was beautiful, but Majorie Glacier and the other glaciers were not calving, so perhaps that led to some of the "letdown." If Hubbard is on the itinerary and not Glacier Bay, I would cruise that itinerary no problem. Best part about Glacier Bay was seeing the forest service people come aboard and then leave, as well as their talks and information.

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[BrennerM]

I was also on this cruise so thought I’d add my thoughts. This was our 6th Princess cruise and this one had the least guest participation in trivia/game shows/etc of any we’ve done. So those ended up being less fun than usual.

 

The weather we got along the Mount Saint Elias range was the highlight of the trip. That area is overcast about 95% of the time so to get to see it in sunshine was incredible. We did this cruise 5 years ago and couldn’t see any of the mountains at all. Glacier Bay was beautiful but as mentioned Margerie was definitely not very active. I only saw 1 small calving plus 1 pretty big one just when we arrived at the Glacier, and then nothing for the next hour that we were there.

 

We also did whale watching in Juneau and saw a few humpback whales, saw a mama bear and her two cubs at the Mendenhall Glacier boardwalk (they were chilling out just 20 feet from the people!) and while sailing on the last day in the Inside Passage there were two pods of Orcas in the water, plus a pod of about 20 Pacific White-Sided Dolphins that swam and jumped right by the ship.

 

So nature was definitely the highlight of our cruise, by far.

[moki'smommy]

I was on the cruise also and totally agree that the entertainment was generally poor. The only person we really liked was the pianist who played in the atrium. He was the first pianist on Princess who met with my daughter's approval (she studied classical piano for 14 years before her disease made a professional career impossible).

[gbolton]

You say you had King beds but I have never seen anything but Queen beds. I'm in a suite on the Golden next week and only Queens were listed as an option.

They put the two twins together and call them a Queen bed but it is definitely bigger (wider) than our Queen bed at home. Very comfy!

[BrennerM]

They put the two twins together and call them a Queen bed but it is definitely bigger (wider) than our Queen bed at home. Very comfy!

 

I agree, it is called a Queen by Princess but it is slightly larger than a traditional Queen yet slightly smaller than a King. They are very comfortable beds IMO.

[Akaicb]

Looking forward to the rest of your report, I am doing this exact sailing next year in May.

[IECalCruiser]

A standard U.S. twin bed is 38”x75” and an XL twin is 38”x80”. If the twins are U.S. twins then placed together they would be 76” wide. A U.S. queen is 60”x80”and a king is 76”x80”. I will need to measure the exact size when we board the Golden in a little over three weeks.

 

 

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[Bubbs33]

A standard U.S. twin bed is 38”x75” and an XL twin is 38”x80”. If the twins are U.S. twins then placed together they would be 76” wide. A U.S. queen is 60”x80”and a king is 76”x80”. I will need to measure the exact size when we board the Golden in a little over three weeks.

 

 

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Would be interested to know. Thx

[moki'smommy]

The "twin" on the ship is not as wide as the twin in my daughter's guest room. Bottom line--both of them work, but the one on the ship is a little skimpy.

[msled]

We are sailing on the Golden to Alaska next week. Does she still have BOGO? Video on Demand on the cabin TVs?

 

Thanks

[Thrak]

Hey, Thrak and Pia - nevermind...;p

 

????? :confused: