Indoor Pools...Golden & Infinity ??

[GATOR MOM]

Can anyone give me advice re Golden Princess vs. Celebrity Infinity. I am thinking of an Alaskan cruise & want to know if both ships have indoor pools ( I know Infinity does). I feel an indoor pool is needed when cruising Alaska. Thx for advice :)

[goldenprincess53]

As you can see by my name, I travelled on the Golden Princess - which is a beautiful ship. We also just returned last week from the Infinity (Alaska).

 

The only drawback I could see on the Celebrity Infinity was the pool - the outdoor pool area was small. They do have an indoor therapudic pool which was very nice and no children are allowed in the area. You wouldn't want to spend too much time in that pool as it is similar to a hot tub in that it has hot water but not as hot as the hot tub, and it is bubbling all the time. It is very relaxing though.

 

The Goldenprincess has much nicer pool areas, especially the pool at the front of the ship, beautiful setting and adult oriented; and night clubs are a little more flashing - not saying Celebrity's aren't as nice.......they are just a bit more traditonal.

 

Look at the itinerary both offer and go with that I am a fan of both lines now.

[GATOR MOM]

Thx for your quick reply...I have sailed the Coral Princess & loved the indoor pool on her. It sounds like the Golden may be just as nice. Lucky you...just back from Infinity Alaska...I was booked on the canceled Sept 13 cruise!!! So now thinking of an ALaskan cruise for next year. Decisions to make:confused:

[goldenprincess53]

Sorry to hear about your cancelled cruise......however it may be a blessing in disguise right now with the ship at its best (mechanical that is).

 

As you have seen over the summer, there have been several problems with the pod on the Infinity. Our cruise was affected by the ports being changed up (Sitka and Ketchican dates reversed) which meant the times we arrived at these two ports changed, arriving later rather than first thing in the morning; arriving in Ketchican at 2 pm and tendering which was not originally planned for.

 

We had an aft cabin on the back so were able to see the wake from the pods - one was definitely not running at full capacity.

 

I know it is disappointing but with advance notice you can plan accordingly for next year rather than chance having to miss a port (like what happened in July) or leaving a day later.

 

It was a wonderful cruise experience regardless of the weather - scenery and activities were great and we even saw whales and dolphins alongside the ship between Vancouver Island and the mainland (northern part).

[goldenprincess53]

when I said blessing in disguise, I meant it is best to go when the ship is running in "tip top shape". I must admit that each morning when I would wake up, I would check out the wake and check the TV to see where we were to make sure we were still on track.

[motherchic]

i have never been on Princess but i love the Thallo pool on the M class ships. I spend hour in that water. Its very pretty, very relaxing ( and for me the temp was just right ) Also very nice lounge chairs in the spa ( thallo pool area ) and very good spa cuisine.

Its awful, i like the area sooo much-i cant seem to even try other ships-i always go towards the M class. The Princess sounds lovely- sounds like you cannot go wrong. Enjoy your cruise

Nadine

[GATOR MOM]

To Mother Chic...I also like those warm M class pools!!! Seems I can only enter an outside pool in VERY hot weather.

 

To Golden Princess...I am new to these boards...so sorry if I post funny. It sounds like you had a great cruise to Alaska even with the pod problems. But...your delays must of caused havic for shore tours! At the moment...we are now looking at RT on Golden from Seattle...she looks like a beautiful ship...your namesake??? :)

[Welshlady]

We did a Caribbean cruise on GP 2 years ago and she is beautiful! The pools are lovely, large ones and small heated pools, and open all night too! Nothing like a dip late at night after dinner when there's nobody else around! The food is also very good with plenty of choice - put the Infinity buffet to shame. GP is definitely a very well laid out ship too for sightseeing. We found Infinity very restrictive especially at the Hubbard Glacier when everybody was out on deck -not so on GP - plenty of viewing areas and walking areas. Shops too were better on GP.

[2ladies]

Just come off the Golden - good trip which included the Edinburgh Tattoo.

 

The drawback was the indoor pool area - I had assumed this would be warm - it wasn't!! I complained but was told nothing could be done. Staff were wearing jackets!! The pool and hot tubs were warm - surrounding indoor area, for some reason, not!!! Maybe saving gas.