Golden Princess NZ 8/11/18

[possum52]

1 hour ago, Docker123 said:

Pretty big storm through Melbourne last night. Would have rocked the cradle a little on the way here.

Actually Docker123, the seas last night were quite calm. We were on our balcony as we came around Wilson's Prom and were watching a thunder storm out to sea from us. The lightning hitting the water was amazing and the thunder was quite loud even though the storm was quite some way from us. Seeing the blue skies this morning it was hard to believe that a storm had hit Melbourne during the night. 

 

Leigh

[possum52]

9 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Good news, it can make for trouble coming into port Phillip bay as well.

Mic,  it was quite calm when we went to bed around 11pm and we weren't woken as we came through the heads so it may not have been too bad.

 

Leigh

[Docker123]

From: Things to do in Melbourne

 

 

[MicCanberra]

30 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Mic,  it was quite calm when we went to bed around 11pm and we weren't woken as we came through the heads so it may not have been too bad.

 

Leigh

It is normally an issue if the wind is coming from the wrong direction which pushes the ship into dangerous shallows.

[MicCanberra]

18 minutes ago, Docker123 said:

From: Things to do in Melbourne

 

 

LOl, I have had that happen.

[getting older slowly]

We were on the same cruise.  Third time on the golden to New Zealand.

Yes the weather was the best of all our trips and the sea was calm most of the trip.

The condition of the Golden about the same as earlier cruise but new carpet and a new sabitini's

 

Also new was strange drops of water from ceilings ie Vista Lounge, deck 7 and a few corridors.

 

Big thing was small fire in AV computer room forward deck 6 at a bit after midnight after leaving Dunedin,

 

this cause smell of smoke in forward section  of ship and took out all TV, internet and MUTS.

All should be fix be now, they jerry rigged the MUTS after a couple of days.

 

Changes we noticed still last cruise

Towel animals seamed to be gone.

Also Club Class dining Shared tables are now special request as they have found most people wist to dine alone ?

Wine list has grown... But only a dining rooms and restaurants.. and bars have limited range of wines like before.

 

Also very mixed crowd on board, old, young, kids and a lot of walkers and scooters.

 

As well as different views a couple of people we met told us the ship was in "appalling condition"  maybe they were in the tenders the whole cruise.

 

The Food was the same as our other cruises, the Crown Grill being the best.

 

The Staff all very good

 

We are looking forward to our next trip of the Golden 25th Feb 2019

 

Cheers Don

 

 

[NSWP]

Thanks for the report young Don.

[MicCanberra]

Cheers for the review, glad you had good weather and a great cruise.

[possum52]

8 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

We were on the same cruise.  Third time on the golden to New Zealand.

Yes the weather was the best of all our trips and the sea was calm most of the trip.

The condition of the Golden about the same as earlier cruise but new carpet and a new sabitini's

 

Also new was strange drops of water from ceilings ie Vista Lounge, deck 7 and a few corridors.

 

Big thing was small fire in AV computer room forward deck 6 at a bit after midnight after leaving Dunedin,

 

this cause smell of smoke in forward section  of ship and took out all TV, internet and MUTS.

All should be fix be now, they jerry rigged the MUTS after a couple of days.

 

Changes we noticed still last cruise

Towel animals seamed to be gone.

Also Club Class dining Shared tables are now special request as they have found most people wist to dine alone ?

Wine list has grown... But only a dining rooms and restaurants.. and bars have limited range of wines like before.

 

Also very mixed crowd on board, old, young, kids and a lot of walkers and scooters.

 

As well as different views a couple of people we met told us the ship was in "appalling condition"  maybe they were in the tenders the whole cruise.

 

The Food was the same as our other cruises, the Crown Grill being the best.

 

The Staff all very good

 

We are looking forward to our next trip of the Golden 25th Feb 2019

 

Cheers Don

 

 

Thanks for your review Don, it is quite similar to what my DH and I thought.

 

Did you do the pub lunch? We went to the first one and were a little disappointed compared to the one we attended in Feb/March. The menu seemed to me to be reduced this time and I didn't really like having it in the Crown Grill. It was quite a rushed meal. 

 

 

Leigh

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by possum52

[getting older slowly]

Hi Leigh

 

Did not go to the pub lunch, the queue was too long into the corridor past the window suites. also looking into the Crown Grill it looked like none to the usual staff were there.

 

So have get to do a pub lunch, on sea day we went to CC which was very good to pub standard 

 

Did go to the Crown Grill for Dinner 3 times and enjoyed it greatly

 

Cheers Don

[MicCanberra]

I have done the pub lunch a couple of times and am not sure it is really worth worrying about if there is a queue.

[possum52]

31 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

Hi Leigh

 

Did not go to the pub lunch, the queue was too long into the corridor past the window suites. also looking into the Crown Grill it looked like none to the usual staff were there.

 

So have get to do a pub lunch, on sea day we went to CC which was very good to pub standard 

 

Did go to the Crown Grill for Dinner 3 times and enjoyed it greatly

 

Cheers Don

We only had to wait a couple of minutes Don or we wouldn't have waited. 

 

Mic, certainly not worth waiting in a queue for much longer than we did. It was probably the only meal I didn't really enjoy. 

 

Leigh

 

 

 

 

[possum52]

Don mentioned Crown Grill, we had one meal there  and thoroughly enjoyed it. Certainly worth the cover charge. The service was excellent and the meals we chose were wonderful.

 

The photos are of my meal: entree - Mediterranean Style Spiny Lobster - so good

                                                  main -   Filet Mignon - cooked exactly as I like it

                                                  dessert - Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar - yum but so rich!

 

Leigh

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Yummo, looks very good indeed.

[getting older slowly]

Oh the fillett migon looks just like mind , had is three times , and even the other half had one but butterflied and well done, ( not for me ) but she enjoyed it. and washed done with a nice red from the Barossa, imported to the US then shipped all the way back, also have the tasting plate for dessert which was great.

 

Cheers Don

 

( now having to cook again )

[GUT2407]

We enjoy the pub lunch for a change of pace, especially on longer cruises, though it can be a bit hit and miss, though to b fair we are find8ng that in most venues the consistency has slipped, more than the quality. You can order the same dish twice and really not recognise them, which to me says that there has probably Been a drop in senior staff who are normally responsible for checking consistency.

[Belmont Babe]

I used to enjoy the chicken curry with all the condiments at the pub lunch but sadly, on the Golden, it is no more. I managed to catch it once in the MDR for lunch, over 32 days, and I checked the menu every day.

 

[MicCanberra]

On a good note, generally the buffet food has improved in both variety and quality over the last few years on most lines.

[GUT2407]

28 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

On a good note, generally the buffet food has improved in both variety and quality over the last few years on most lines.

I enerally agree but again consistency isn’t always their strong suit.

 

one cruise the Hollandaise sauce varied from wonderful to woeful, as just one example. I really don’t care too much about quality, but consistency helps.

[GUT2407]

1 hour ago, Belmont Babe said:

I used to enjoy the chicken curry with all the condiments at the pub lunch but sadly, on the Golden, it is no more. I managed to catch it once in the MDR for lunch, over 32 days, and I checked the menu every day.

 

Can’t recall ever seeing chook curry on the pub lunch menu.

[NSWP]

42 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Can’t recall ever seeing chook curry on the pub lunch menu.

Fish & Chips and Shepherds/Cottage Pie I recollect.   I am sure they had 'Chicken Tikka' which is a chicken curry and almost a national dish in UK, on Royal and Sapphire Princesses in Europe this year, maybe because of many Brits on board.  They even had black pudding for brekkie to please the poms, unusual for Princess.

 

If you want curry at sea go cruise with P&O UK, they have 3 or 4 different wonderful curries on every day, many Indian chefs/cooks on board.  Lubbly Jubbly.

Edited November 23, 2018 by NSWP

[GUT2407]

3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Fish & Chips and Shepherds/Cottage Pie I recollect.   I am sure they had 'Chicken Tikka' which is a chicken curry and almost a national dish in UK, on Royal and Sapphire Princesses in Europe this year, maybe because of many Brits on board.  They even had black pudding for brekkie to please the poms, unusual for Princess.

 

If you want curry at sea go cruise with P&O UK, they have 3 or 4 different wonderful curries on every day, many Indian chefs/cooks on board.  Lubbly Jubbly.

Steak and Kid pup too, but when I asked for mushy peas with it they got all confused, even though they dishes them with the fish and chips??

 

 

[Belmont Babe]

1 hour ago, GUT2407 said:

Can’t recall ever seeing chook curry on the pub lunch menu.

They had curry at the pub lunch every time I've been on the Sun Princess, but then they serve the pub lunch in the MDR on the Sun. Maybe there's a difference when its served in the Crown Grill.

[MicCanberra]

It may vary from ship to ship.

[Hawka]

On 11/22/2018 at 9:51 AM, getting older slowly said:

We were on the same cruise.  Third time on the golden to New Zealand.

Yes the weather was the best of all our trips and the sea was calm most of the trip.

The condition of the Golden about the same as earlier cruise but new carpet and a new sabitini's

 

Also new was strange drops of water from ceilings ie Vista Lounge, deck 7 and a few corridors.

 

Big thing was small fire in AV computer room forward deck 6 at a bit after midnight after leaving Dunedin,

 

this cause smell of smoke in forward section  of ship and took out all TV, internet and MUTS.

All should be fix be now, they jerry rigged the MUTS after a couple of days.

 

Changes we noticed still last cruise

Towel animals seamed to be gone.

Also Club Class dining Shared tables are now special request as they have found most people wist to dine alone ?

Wine list has grown... But only a dining rooms and restaurants.. and bars have limited range of wines like before.

 

Also very mixed crowd on board, old, young, kids and a lot of walkers and scooters.

 

As well as different views a couple of people we met told us the ship was in "appalling condition"  maybe they were in the tenders the whole cruise.

 

The Food was the same as our other cruises, the Crown Grill being the best.

 

The Staff all very good

 

We are looking forward to our next trip of the Golden 25th Feb 2019

 

Cheers Don

 

 

i was on her second cruise to NZ in 2015 didnt have towel animals then i was soooo looking forward to seeing them only for it not to be 😞 maybe my next cruise when i can afford one