Golden Princess reviews?

[vicd1969]

I went on the Southbound Golden Princess on the 7-day June 22 sailing. With Alaska being the destination and not the ship, my summary may be a bit incomplete compared to a normal review. I didn’t spend as much time onboard doing typical cruise ship things. This was my first cruise on Princess, I have done a few on HAL and Celebrity.

 

Embarkation: Fastest embarkation ever, since we stayed in Whittier for a couple of nights before the cruise and got to the terminal around 11:30. Luggage drop off a breeze, zero wait for this non-priority group. I don’t remember a complementary welcome drink but the international cafe was a great first stop right below the guest services desk.

 

Cabin: Smaller than my experiences on HAL and Celebrity. I travelled with my nephew, so space was okay. No couch and only 1.5 outlets, though I was prepared thanks to previous CC discussions. We were port aft, only noise issues were machinery noises related to early morning dockings. Temp control was fine, as was toilet. Shelf space kinda small, fine for a 7-day trip but could be an issue if you didn’t want to hang your shirts and pants. They did have plenty of hangers to use. The open hanger closet could have used some sort of organizer to optimize the space. Cabin Attendant Jaime was terrific.

 

Public spaces: For Alaska, this ship was terrific, so many spots to do viewings. The covered bow was great for wildlife spottings. I liked easy access from buffet to top decks to view scenery, then run back to eat a bite (or two). Never felt really crowded, the kids in our group always were able to find deck chairs to put their stuff when going swimming. Did have to wear 3 or more layers on the promenade deck when the ship was underway, but it was shorts weather when viewing time for glaciers came. Sky walker lounge underutilized during day, nice place to chill for peace and quiet. Using stairs could be a bit confusing with limited access on certain decks depending on where you were. Even this is an old ship, didn’t experience any leaks or creaks.

 

Dining: A mixed bag compared to HAL and Celebrity. Good news: a few theme nights in the MDR like Alaska cuisine night and the first formal night were special. International cafe and later availability of buffet a noted plus. Five of us did the Crab shack dinner since that was a free perk for three of us. The Maitre’D generously applied the child rate to me so it was only $15. Really nice meal with proper tools,  though it’s not all-you can eat.  Buffet wait staff were quick to offer fetching drinks and omelet orders for you. Though we had early fixed dining, we ended up at our official table only 2 nights - it’s Alaska and excursions along with afternoon activities made it difficult for us.  Princess was very accommodating of our crazy schedules.

 

Now the Not-so -good: Buffet choices weren’t as good compared to HAL and Celebrity, especially Breakfast. No smoked salmon most of the mornings, custom omelet was small and used processed egg mixes. Dinner and lunch didn’t provide a “wow” moment, except for one time when sashimi and sushi was offered. Hamburger grill was between HAL’s Dive-In (yummy!) and Celebrity’s patties under a heat lamp experience. A few of us ate in the Crown Grill and didn’t like the Ribeye, though to be fair they should have ordered a different cut for what they wanted as infrequent beef eaters.

 

Activities / Entertainment: With a few kids and most of the adults not into the performing show scene, I can’t comment on entertainment since I didn’t attend any show. We did participate in Trivia a bit when the scheduling allowed. One of the Trivia hosts, Tavo, was an amusing guy. We did win one contest, got a sparkling wine bottle as the prize. The kids loved swimming, and The Golden Princess gets the thumbs up for having 2 decent-sized main pools for kids. Because of the port schedule we had, we didn’t get to do any organized activities during port days. I didn’t get to see much of the CD, however. He was an enigma to me as he didn’t participate on any of the activities I attended. For Alaska, the most important activities person is not the CD but the onboard Naturalist. Dr. Schumann stood out for helping us spot wildlife and view glaciers. We saw quite a few whales, mountain goats, sea lions, etc. during our day in Glacier Bay thanks to her keen eye. Excellent addition to the crew.

 

Internet: the onboard text function worked well. The internet did not. Since I had to connect for work purposes, that meant using the internet at odd hours like 2 AM in the library. Good thing the International Cafe was only a short skip away 😄. Cell data coverage was fine in the ports, best for AT&T then Verizon.

 

Disembarkation: Was organized well,  but we had time to wait it out. Was not a fan of the speakers hissing static loudly after 830, guess they really wanted to kick us off sooner than our scheduled time 😋. Immigration and luggage collection went by very quickly. For those of you who want to drop off luggage and visit the city before catching your flight, I would recommend going to the doorman at the Pan Pacific hotel instead of using the cruise terminal luggage drop off. 

 

Overall, I had a positive experience on the Golden Princess. For what you want to do for an Alaskan cruise, she more than fits your needs. I would be a bit more hesitant to spend a long sea journey on her, however.

 

 

[sandseeker3]

On July 6, 2019 at 7:27 PM, vicd1969 said:

I went on the Southbound Golden Princess on the 7-day June 22 sailing. With Alaska being the destination and not the ship, my summary may be a bit incomplete compared to a normal review. I didn’t spend as much time onboard doing typical cruise ship things. This was my first cruise on Princess, I have done a few on HAL and Celebrity.

 

Embarkation: Fastest embarkation ever, since we stayed in Whittier for a couple of nights before the cruise and got to the terminal around 11:30. Luggage drop off a breeze, zero wait for this non-priority group. I don’t remember a complementary welcome drink but the international cafe was a great first stop right below the guest services desk.

 

Cabin: Smaller than my experiences on HAL and Celebrity. I travelled with my nephew, so space was okay. No couch and only 1.5 outlets, though I was prepared thanks to previous CC discussions. We were port aft, only noise issues were machinery noises related to early morning dockings. Temp control was fine, as was toilet. Shelf space kinda small, fine for a 7-day trip but could be an issue if you didn’t want to hang your shirts and pants. They did have plenty of hangers to use. The open hanger closet could have used some sort of organizer to optimize the space. Cabin Attendant Jaime was terrific.

 

Public spaces: For Alaska, this ship was terrific, so many spots to do viewings. The covered bow was great for wildlife spottings. I liked easy access from buffet to top decks to view scenery, then run back to eat a bite (or two). Never felt really crowded, the kids in our group always were able to find deck chairs to put their stuff when going swimming. Did have to wear 3 or more layers on the promenade deck when the ship was underway, but it was shorts weather when viewing time for glaciers came. Sky walker lounge underutilized during day, nice place to chill for peace and quiet. Using stairs could be a bit confusing with limited access on certain decks depending on where you were. Even this is an old ship, didn’t experience any leaks or creaks.

 

Dining: A mixed bag compared to HAL and Celebrity. Good news: a few theme nights in the MDR like Alaska cuisine night and the first formal night were special. International cafe and later availability of buffet a noted plus. Five of us did the Crab shack dinner since that was a free perk for three of us. The Maitre’D generously applied the child rate to me so it was only $15. Really nice meal with proper tools,  though it’s not all-you can eat.  Buffet wait staff were quick to offer fetching drinks and omelet orders for you. Though we had early fixed dining, we ended up at our official table only 2 nights - it’s Alaska and excursions along with afternoon activities made it difficult for us.  Princess was very accommodating of our crazy schedules.

 

Now the Not-so -good: Buffet choices weren’t as good compared to HAL and Celebrity, especially Breakfast. No smoked salmon most of the mornings, custom omelet was small and used processed egg mixes. Dinner and lunch didn’t provide a “wow” moment, except for one time when sashimi and sushi was offered. Hamburger grill was between HAL’s Dive-In (yummy!) and Celebrity’s patties under a heat lamp experience. A few of us ate in the Crown Grill and didn’t like the Ribeye, though to be fair they should have ordered a different cut for what they wanted as infrequent beef eaters.

 

Activities / Entertainment: With a few kids and most of the adults not into the performing show scene, I can’t comment on entertainment since I didn’t attend any show. We did participate in Trivia a bit when the scheduling allowed. One of the Trivia hosts, Tavo, was an amusing guy. We did win one contest, got a sparkling wine bottle as the prize. The kids loved swimming, and The Golden Princess gets the thumbs up for having 2 decent-sized main pools for kids. Because of the port schedule we had, we didn’t get to do any organized activities during port days. I didn’t get to see much of the CD, however. He was an enigma to me as he didn’t participate on any of the activities I attended. For Alaska, the most important activities person is not the CD but the onboard Naturalist. Dr. Schumann stood out for helping us spot wildlife and view glaciers. We saw quite a few whales, mountain goats, sea lions, etc. during our day in Glacier Bay thanks to her keen eye. Excellent addition to the crew.

 

Internet: the onboard text function worked well. The internet did not. Since I had to connect for work purposes, that meant using the internet at odd hours like 2 AM in the library. Good thing the International Cafe was only a short skip away 😄. Cell data coverage was fine in the ports, best for AT&T then Verizon.

 

Disembarkation: Was organized well,  but we had time to wait it out. Was not a fan of the speakers hissing static loudly after 830, guess they really wanted to kick us off sooner than our scheduled time 😋. Immigration and luggage collection went by very quickly. For those of you who want to drop off luggage and visit the city before catching your flight, I would recommend going to the doorman at the Pan Pacific hotel instead of using the cruise terminal luggage drop off. 

 

Overall, I had a positive experience on the Golden Princess. For what you want to do for an Alaskan cruise, she more than fits your needs. I would be a bit more hesitant to spend a long sea journey on her, however.

 

 

 

Thanks for the review and the comparison to other lines.  I'm glad your overall experience was good!