Review/Golden/Alaska, June 14-21

[thegotogirl]

Posted this on our roll call last week, but it was suggested that I also post it here....Nothing new added from the original post, so If you already read it, no need to read it again!!!

 

The cruise was fantastic...on a scale of 1-10, it was a 9.5 I will try to be brief in my assessment, as I can go on and on, but for future cruisers I will spare you, and bullet my points:

Embarkment: Easy, easy. We were told to go later rather than early, but we could only get transport to the ship at 11:45 from the hotel, so we had no choice. You do not have to wait in line if you are willing to pay the porters a few dollars to take your luggage. That totally eliminated our waiting. We were on the ship in less than 45 minutes from the time we got to the dock.

Our Cabin: We were in (mini suite) Dolphin 410, (our friends were in 408, and our other friends were in Emerald 711). Our room was very spacious, storage plentiful, but I am still glad that I took my over-the-door shoe bag. It was great to load all of the gloves, hats, and such. Our carpet was quite worn, and it was not ajar with the balcony door (there was a good 2" of flooring showing). The sofa was stained, and the TVs were not flat screen. It is my understanding that the ship is going into dry dock in a few months, and a face lift is clearly in order, but the bed was very comfortable, bathroom a very good size and balcony a fine size (I will get to the balcony soon). Our friends in 408 definitely had their carpet replaced, as it was clean and new. Other than that, their furniture was equally worn. Our friends in 711 had an obstructed view. One word of caution. If you are in an obstructed view, remember that crew members constantly work on the ship, and one morning my girlfriend opened her curtains, and there was someone painting some of the hardware that was outside her window. She was glad she had closed her curtains before she went to bed!

Our Balcony: As we were side by side in our staterooms, we opened the door on our balcony. There was finally a use for the bungee cords that I bring on each cruise, and that is what held the small door open between the 2 balconies, and kept it from swinging back and forth. If you are in side-by-side cabins and open the doorway, I suggest you "jam" a towel at the top if you open the doors, as there is still some slack, and this prevents the door from banging. This worked well. As far as being in a totally open balcony, for this cruise that worked perfectly. I can see wanting a "roof" when you are in the Caribbean, or other hot weather locations, but in Alaska, the added sun is a gift. When it is raining (which it only rained in Tracy Arm for us.....please don't hate us....we just got lucky) the covered balcony has little more protection, as the rain does not come straight down...remember you are moving. Also, when we looked down from our balcony, we saw the water. Any deck above us, looked down to us!!! It was a bonus to have the completely open balcony.

Our Cabin Steward and room service: As suggested on the boards, I brought little tip envelopes in clear bags with $2.00 and some small chocolates for each time we got room service. It was greatly appreciated. The service was always prompt, and accurate. The day in Tracy Arm, about 2 hours after we received our breakfast, the server came back with a hot pot of coffee (which we did not order), and told us that he thought we might want it as it was so cold outside....not sure, but I think the tip and chocolate assisted in that kind offering! I also (as suggested on the boards) brought a small token for the cabin steward which we gave to him on the day of sailing. It was a t-shirt from our hometown, and a small note saying who we were and where we were from. I also put candy in there. It was just a gesture, and I'm glad I did it. The cabin was always neat and clean, towels always plentiful, and we never saw him. A perfect cabin steward! We left him an additional gratuity at the end.

Dining: For all future cruisers on this itinerary on this ship, I strongly suggest if you are eating in Canaletto (traditional seating) that you request table 257. Kayan is the BEST server that we ever had on any cruise. She is efficient, funny, pleasant, and a joy. A true asset to the experience. The general opinion at our table (of 6...we are all friends) was that the food was only ho-hum. None of us is really picky about the food that we eat, but we enjoy good food. It is not the quantity, but the quality. I personally expected wonderful fish, and it was only fair. Salmon is offered nightly, and I ordered that on several nights. It tasted more frozen than fresh, and it was usually overdone. I did order steamed vegetables nightly, and those were prepared well. The crab legs were good, lobster just OK. I do not eat meat, so I cannot give an accurate report there, although my husband ordered that one night, and said it was overcooked. I understand that cooking for 3K+ is an awesome task, and for me the cruise is not about the food, but that is why the total experience went from a 10.0 to a 9.5. (by the way, the wine list lacked a Pino Gresio)

Ship Experience: We participated in several of the ship activities, but not all. The shows were OK...but we know that it is hard to judge as we live outside of NYC and have access to all of the finest shows in the world. They were (somewhat) entertaining, but more an activity after dinner. The ceramics at sea was a fun way to "eat up" some of the time on board the first day at sea. Which brings me to a little side-note. You MUST bring something to "amuse yourself" on this cruise. You are on the ship for many, many hours, Aside from bringing our dear, dear friends (and we come from different states, so we have lots of face to face talking to catch up on), my husband brought a few good books, I brought a needlepoint and a knitting project. The scenery is always magnificent on this itinerary, so one of my greatest pleasures was to sit in the living room part of our cabin, needlepoint and look at the scenery. I will also suggest here that you bring an IPOD with speakers, as the background music enhanced this (totally) relaxing experience. Remember, unless you want to use the hot tub, or the indoor pool (which is mostly used by the kids), leave your bathing suit home. There is no belly-flop contest or pool games on your cruise to Alaska (thank goodness)! Naturalist Michael Modzelewski gave wonderful presentations, and is a huge asset to the experience. We attended many of his lectures, and found each one engrossing as well as informative (and entertaining). His live commentary on the transit through Tracy Arm was helpful, and if you chose to view it from your balcony, is available on channel 35 on your stateroom TV. The men played some of the trivia games, and enjoyed that. Although I did not pick up my email on board (I refused), 2 of the men in our group did, and found the service to be acceptable. Which brings me to cell service. We all had great reception whenever we were in port. Alaska is in your service plan for AT&T. I do not know about other plans. Victoria is considered out of plan for AT&T. Back to the ship....it was immaculate! There is hand sanitizer all over the ship, and it is 70% alcohol...I checked (65%+ is suggested on most sites regarding the Noro virus), and you see crew members constantly wiping down public areas. It was our understanding that the Noro virus was on another ship in AK, but we were lucky. We were conscious of not holding onto the railings when we used the public stairs. The public bathroom areas were always clean. There is a lot of public seating on the Golden, and that was lovely for sitting in small groups, or for people watching. We did not "shop" on the ship, although if you want t-shirts, they go on sale the last day at sea for 2/$20. Nice enough quality for very little money. The public areas did not look as worn as the stateroom. One last thing. Bravo to Princess for hooking up with Susan G. Komen. The three women in our group signed up for the "on the deck for the cure". We made our donation, got a great hat, and participated in (part of) the walk. It was disappointing that they only raised a little more than $1,000. on our cruise. I hope more folks will participate as we all know someone that has or had breast cancer. I walked in honor of our dog breeder, and gave her the hat when I picked our dog up on Sunday. She was (very) touched.

Ports of Call: We planned most of our excursions through an online tour site and were happy that we did. We never had a large group experience, and spent most of our time with "locals" who enhanced our adventures. In Juneau we took a helicopter to Herbert Glacier, in Skagway we took a small bus (10 passenger) up the White Pass, and the train down, and in the afternoon, we took a float down the river in Dyea. An Ketchikan we took a float plane to Glacier National Monument (we booked that through Princess) and in Victoria we rented a limo (we did this right from the pier when we docked...there are lots of them there) and went to the Butchart Gardens and out for Chinese food. In Juneau we also took the tram to Mt. Roberts which was disappointing as most of the trails were closed due to mud. I suggest that if you chose to take the tram that you inquire about the trails. It was a waste of time and money (although I got a great picture of the ship in port)! We did not do much shopping, not because we don't like to do so, but more because we were very busy with excursions. You can buy all of the souvenirs that you might want anywhere at each of these ports. And, there are many galleries, especially in Ketchikan, but I didn't want to make any costly purchases in limited (pressured) time. I stuck to buying mugs (which I am using now for my coffee), prints for our children, and a few t-shirts for the others that we wanted to bring a small token.

Disembakment: This took a while as customs would not clear our ship. Don't know why, but it held everyone up. We chose to take the transport that the ship offered, and that was a mistake. It held us up (we had a flight at 10:45), as they wait for the bus to be totally full before they head to the airport. Grabbing a cab would have cost the same, and would have taken us right to our part of the terminal. Although not a large airport, we were dropped at one end, and had to get to the totally other end in order to get to our carrier. We opted to "walk-off", and even though we were among the first off of the ship, our luggage was already in the "warehouse", and was easy to find (I also wrapped bright yellow duck-tape on the handles of each piece, making it very easy to identify). Customs barely looked at our passports, so that was quick and easy.

Suggestions: Although we have cruised before (3 times prior to this), I never "surfed" the Cruise Critic boards before this trip. I did this time, and found many useful tips on several threads. Some of the discussions were purely entertaining (whether there should or shouldn't be formal night, and if you decorate your stateroom door), but I did get lots of good information from the threads as well. Many of the threads added to my gaining knowledge and ideas and greatly enhanced my experience. So, as in all experiences, take what you think is good and what will work for you, and go with that, and throw out what won't, but these threads are definitely an asset to anyone who is planning to cruise.

 

Thanks to all who added suggestions to the threads, and to all that we cruised with: It was a perfect week, with perfect weather (how lucky were we)!!!, and I hope if we met, that we had a pleasant conversation, and we shared a smile and good experience. Peace, out!:)

[mii]

Thanks for the well balanced review. Alaska is beautiful isn't it. We just got back from the Coral last month and we always enjoy that cruise very much.

 

Marilyn

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[LARGIN]

Thanks for the review.. We will be on the Golden next year..

[marienbad]

Thanks so much for the excellent review.

We're going on the Golden in two weeks, and we will be in your minisuite, D408.

A couple of questions. Did you make your flight? What time did you get off the ship?

Did you try the buffet for lunch. I hear it's terrible and crowded.

Glad the bed is comfortable. I'd read that they are very hard. They probably changed the matress recently.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks so much for the excellent review.

We're going on the Golden in two weeks, and we will be in your minisuite, D408.

A couple of questions. Did you make your flight? What time did you get off the ship?

Did you try the buffet for lunch. I hear it's terrible and crowded.

Glad the bed is comfortable. I'd read that they are very hard. They probably changed the matress recently.

 

 

Try the dining room for lunch, much more relaxed. ;)

[kenlnh]

I was also on this cruise and would like to add one bit of advice for those traveling in the near future. If you need to get to the Seattle airport after the cruise I would suggest using a taxi. We chose express disembarkation which meant we would carrry ALL of our luggage off the ship. Once we exited the terminal there were signs directing us to the taxi's. It is very easy, the same or cheaper price then using Princess transfers and you will not have to get on a bus with 40 or so other people.

[thegotogirl]

Thanks so much for the excellent review.

We're going on the Golden in two weeks, and we will be in your minisuite, D408.

A couple of questions. Did you make your flight? What time did you get off the ship?

Did you try the buffet for lunch. I hear it's terrible and crowded.

Glad the bed is comfortable. I'd read that they are very hard. They probably changed the matress recently.

 

It was actually our friends that were in 408, we were in 410...but we spent so much time in each other's cabins, that it was hard to tell who went where (until bedtime)!!!

 

We only ate at the buffet when we could not eat in the diningroom. It was very crowded, and I don't really care to look at all of the food just sitting out in the open (personal choice). I love to be served and relax while eating a meal. (seems like I'm the one that does all of the serving at home...it's a nice change). The buffet does not offer that atmosphere, whereas sitting in the diningroom becomes as much the "activity" as it is the meal. (Also...it was really strange, but the napkins in the Horizon Buffet left lint on all of our clothing...it was really weird).

 

The ship docked right on schedule at 7am, and we were all set to walk-off at 7:45. However, as I wrote in my review, customs would not release the ship, and we were told to just sit down, relax, and that it would take a "while". In fact it took about an hour, and then the disembarkment began. By the time the bus was filled, we pulled away from the dock sometime after 9:15. There was a couple in front of us that had a 10:00 flight, and it is unlikely that they made it. We had a 10:30 flight, and had time to purchase a sandwich at the airport for our flight home, however there was not a lot of "wiggle room". If we had been delayed at security at the airport it would have been awfully tight (all due to the delay on the ship).

 

The bed was really comfortable. We sleep in a king at home, and even though the bed on the ship is smaller, it was not an issue. The covers however (no top sheet...a duvet cover over the blanket) is a little on the narrow side (side to side). My DH has a fairly bad back, and generally has an issue with mattresses at hotels, but didn't complain once (and you couldn't feel the crack in the middle either).

 

You have chosen a great location and a great room (and you have the suite as I wrote with the new carpet). You are going to LOVE it!!!

 

Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have. (and don't forget to ask to Kayan if you are doing traditional seating.....then we can really be twins 3 weeks removed)!!!:)

[thegotogirl]

I was also on this cruise and would like to add one bit of advice for those traveling in the near future. If you need to get to the Seattle airport after the cruise I would suggest using a taxi. We chose express disembarkation which meant we would carrry ALL of our luggage off the ship. Once we exited the terminal there were signs directing us to the taxi's. It is very easy, the same or cheaper price then using Princess transfers and you will not have to get on a bus with 40 or so other people.

 

Wish we had done the same. I agree completely. Didn't we have fun???:D