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Live from the Golden May 16 Alaska

vickie_bernie

By vickie_bernie,
in Princess Cruises

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hansolo

hansolo

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Posted

Hi Vickie, Looks like your having a great time. We're thinking of doing an Alaska with the kids this summer. Can't decide between the Star vs. Golden? Help me decide, which ship has the better kids and teen ctr. The Star's kids area looked pretty big when we saw it a couple weeks ago.

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spingal

spingal

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Hi Vickie, Looks like your having a great time. We're thinking of doing an Alaska with the kids this summer. Can't decide between the Star vs. Golden? Help me decide, which ship has the better kids and teen ctr. The Star's kids area looked pretty big when we saw it a couple weeks ago.

 

I hope it is OK if I jump in here. The Star has a bigger kids area. If you look at the deck plans you will see what I mean. The Star kids area is in the back of the ship -- similar to the other big Princess ships. On the Golden it is in the front of the ship. I had a friend sail on the Golden with her little boy and she commented on how small the kids club was on that ship.

 

Hope this helps.

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Host Carolyn

Host Carolyn

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A few observations, one very disappointing.. NO naturalist narration in cabin TV to hear on balcony during transits of Lynn Canal and Tracy Arm.. Been on Princess to Alaska x 9 and the "feed" didn't work was the excuse today in Tracy Arm. So only narration was on outside decks, Skywalkers, HOrizon Court etc. They advertised it in the Patters, assured us it would be on.. managed to get port talk and "good morning show" on the in-cabin TV but apparently could not switch the feed from Channel 35 to one of them.. Will definitely put on my comment card.. If you haven't been to Tracy Arm or glaciers etc. this is really an essential aspect of the experience IMHO... this is first time in 12 cruises it hasn't been available... so hopefully they will resolve this for the rest of you...

 

Also no bridge cam, navigation, temperature and weather data .. also a "first"

 

International Cafe breakfast and lunch "menu" is complimentary but the Tapas at night are not - $3 a plate (for 3 I believe).

 

CD is great, good variety of activity in the new atrium area on deck 5.. also a wine shop with wine accessories, gift items etc. Not very busy this cruise.

 

Champagne breakfast was delicious.. we got with Princess Rewards points, not sure I would pay $32 for it but it was great to have to nibble on all a.m. during our spectacular a.m. in Tracy Arm.. getting cloudy now but weather has been spectacular and the "never rains on me in Alaska" streak continues.

 

Re Star v. Golden: Kids area is a little bigger on Star but IMHO the port times are better on Golden.. YOu don't have Tracy Arm and Juneau same day, for example.

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vickie_bernie

vickie_bernie

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First sorry everyone, I have tried on many many occasions to post here but either the internet was down or very very slow.

 

So I will post this in a variety of posts to ensure they get added.

 

Hansel - Did Joanne make it back home in one piece? Personally I am preferring the Golden more than the Star because it has all the renos done to it - star doesn't have Crown Grill moved or Casino or new suites.

 

I like the Star's itinerary better as it is in Ketchican a lot longer and then it does Tracey Arm and Juneau in the same day, but in Juneau later.

 

But Tracey Arm is very early!

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wizard-of-roz

wizard-of-roz

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I have found that on this ship it is definately not as formal as all the other cruises I have taken... many people did not dress up and ate at the HC

 

Oh! No! You caught us!!!! This is exactly what we did on our cruise, in April.....It was a delight!

No time to be anywhere; no special clothes to put on; no frill; no fuss......it was a "do as you please" cruise and, we both loved it!

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SFParrtHd

SFParrtHd

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..for the live comments. We will be on the Golden for a b2b NEXT May, so this is getting us excited. Could some of the data problems be due to the drydock? When we were on the Star right out of drydock, there still were a lot of glitches to be worked out.

 

Have a great time on the rest of your cruise and if you run into Marilyn and Pat (mii) tell them we said hello :) Dona

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vickie_bernie

vickie_bernie

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Skagway

 

We got off very early and stopped and got my latte at Starbucks! YES Skagway has a Starbucks.

 

We had arranged to rent a car prior to our arrival from Sourdough Car Rentals -- we got a van that accommodated all six of us very nicely. We drove into B.C. (even got stamps for our passport) and the Yukon. We drove all the way to Emerald Lake, well worth the drive. We stopped in many pull outs along the way for photo ops. We stopped in Carcross and this other roadside Yukon Experience touristy thing. There were like 8 buses there and it was full of tourist that had booked an excursion from the ship. We did not enter but got ice cream and got back on the road.

 

We saw tons of wildlife -- eagles, mountain goats, marmots etc.

 

We then visited Dyea townsite and cemetary and the lookout above the town.

 

After returning the car we walked around town but it was so crowded with four ships in port.

 

Many people took the train excursion, and even though it looked like a lot of fun we were surprised to see that it only takes you to the border and then you bus back. Seems kind of a short trip for the money they are charging.

 

In all we were gone from 9 am to 4 pm and we were beat! We returned to the ship.

 

That night we ate dinner in Sabatinis and we had a lovely dinner, one of the better meals we have had there.

 

There is not a lot going on that night with regards to entertainment, but that is okay we are tired. And it is an early start tomorrow for Tracey Arm.

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vickie_bernie

vickie_bernie

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Oh! No! You caught us!!!! This is exactly what we did on our cruise, in April.....It was a delight!

 

No time to be anywhere; no special clothes to put on; no frill; no fuss......it was a "do as you please" cruise and, we both loved it!

 

 

we definately didn't want to wear suites and fancy dress - so I just wore a nice simple dress but to make it special I purchase five feather boas at the dollar store and handed them out to our friends we were having dinner with, it was a hoot! Everyone turned their heads when we walked by... we laughed all night. We have a great group photo of our table with the boas all around the table encircling us.

 

The formal photos were done that night at the table and we all posed with the person beside us (but not our spouse) I am sure the roll call is wondering :D but it was a good laugh.

 

 

Re the interenet connection -- I don't believe it has anything to do with teh drydock it has to do with the location of the ship - while in Tracey ARm the signal was poor and today in Ketchican same problem. But no issue now.

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wizard-of-roz

wizard-of-roz

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we definately didn't want to wear suites and fancy dress - so I just wore a nice simple dress but to make it special I purchase five feather boas at the dollar store and handed them out to our friends we were having dinner with, it was a hoot! Everyone turned their heads when we walked by... we laughed all night. We have a great group photo of our table with the boas all around the table encircling us.

 

The formal photos were done that night at the table and we all posed with the person beside us (but not our spouse) I am sure the roll call is wondering :D but it was a good laugh.

 

 

Re the interenet connection -- I don't believe it has anything to do with teh drydock it has to do with the location of the ship - while in Tracey ARm the signal was poor and today in Ketchican same problem. But no issue now.

 

The boa's are a wonderful and very clever idea......where did you buy them? If you don't mind I'm going to copy the idea!!!!!

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vickie_bernie

vickie_bernie

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Tracey Arm

 

We entered the channel around 7 am and all I can say was WOW - now living in Vancouver I've seen my share of mountains, but to be so close to the glaciers from the sea was amazing.

 

And the weather!! So hot that no jacket was needed for us. In fact no scarf or gloves either. Yes there were some that were covered head to toe but it was lovely out in fact the naturalist kept commenting about the beautiful weather and how rare it is.

 

We passed the Star in the Arm and it was neat to take pictures of our sister ship.

 

They served hot chocolate and of course served special coffees too! We sipped hot chocolate and bailey with Peppermint schnapps. We lounged on a lounge chair and relaxed watching the view. We couldn't of planned for better weather.

 

Last night we were invited by the Passenger Service Director Claudio to Vines for a drink and sushi. Love the Vines on this ship, very bright and open compared to the Emerald which is very dark. We also got to meet the Food And Beverage manager Roy Kelly and the Matre D'Hotel too.

 

Word is that the Crown Grill should be ready by the end of the next cruise, but they have set up a steakhouse in the back of the HC which I have heard is very good.

 

Dinner last night was the Chef's Dinner - we also pre ordered escargot! YUMMY.

 

Service is top notch!

 

Things we have noticed:

 

- TV reception is very poor (but not a deal breaker we are on a cruise afterall)

- No TV guide (keep getting different answers)

- Purser's desk staff are so patient and helpful - a job I could not do.

- Captain Circle party is tonight (just over 700 repeat guests onboard)

- construction is still going on where the Crown Grill is and the suites on deck 6

- Motor City was shown last night in the Vista - three different shows, highly recommend the last show

- FCC host is a little bit moody! And not too helpful - when our friends asked about using one credit for a cabin only instead of two he commented that Princess was going to change that because people were abusing it - she responded well Princess allows it so how can it be abusing. If they want everyone to have their own credit they should say that. Maybe he was having a bad day.

- Library is very well stocked - better than some of the ships I have seen

- CAbin is great, steward is almost never seen and we are not use to that, but he is doing a great job so no complaints.

- Morning show is very funny and love the comments from the passengers

- photo boards seem to be falling apart adn away from the wall? Thought those were repaired during drydock?

- The naturalist is very informative but man is he ever expressive, it is almost comical. But he was helpful while sailing thru tracey arm... so sad to hear Caroline that they didn't pipe it into the rooms

- Rich and his assistant CD are great and very personable.

- One thing I would like to see changed is that they had the hot chocolate dispensers up on deck for Tracey Arm but they were located on the smoking side!

- Hamburger/Pizza bar close at 7 pm -- miss it being open so late like other ships.

- wool blankets are handed out if needed on deck

 

okay that is all I can think of... sailing to Victoria in beautiful sunny weather. Note it did rain a bit in Ketchican this morning (living up to it's reputation). But is very sunny now.

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vickie_bernie

vickie_bernie

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The boa's are a wonderful and very clever idea......where did you buy them? If you don't mind I'm going to copy the idea!!!!!

 

thanks - i like to have fun on the trip as you may have noticed... the boas made our less than formal outfits pop! We just bought them at a dollar store for under $5 each - did check out Michaels but they were pricey but my boas may not last the trip seemed to loose more feathers than keep. We left a trail.

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

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Thanks Vickie,

 

I have not met an FCC host that has been pleasant yet!! :rolleyes:

 

How do you abuse the Future Cruise Credits, they have been saying for years now that they would do away with using 1 FCC per cabin.

I really believe they hate their jobs. Just reminds me to order my FCC's and stay away like I always do. :mad:

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chamima

chamima

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Hi Vickie

We're loving reading your posts and "cruising" along with you.

If the Maitre D' is Angelo Balbiani (Balbiano?) tell him hello from Allan and me.

We sailed with him on the Golden to Hawaii in Feb and he spent a lot of time at our table, with us trying to entice him to try our wine. (It was Feb, 18 -Mar. 4 and the Noro broke out near the end of our cruise) Also would you ask him how Fernando's leg is? (Fernando was the head waiter in our section -if he's still there find him. He's Italian and ......;)

Enjoy and keep writing!

Karen

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Lynda90

Lynda90

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Thanks Vickie,

 

I have not met an FCC host that has been pleasant yet!! :rolleyes:

 

How do you abuse the Future Cruise Credits, they have been saying for years now that they would do away with using 1 FCC per cabin.

I really believe they hate their jobs. Just reminds me to order my FCC's and stay away like I always do. :mad:

Just off the Star and there was a nasty FCC lady on that ship too. Was very huffy about people using one FCC per cabin. Insisted that TA's were breaking all the rules by doing that and that it was going to be stopped immediately! Why do they even care???

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

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Just off the Star and there was a nasty FCC lady on that ship too. Was very huffy about people using one FCC per cabin. Insisted that TA's were breaking all the rules by doing that and that it was going to be stopped immediately! Why do they even care???

 

 

Yeah right, breaking the rules and I guessed they forced Princess to charge the $100 to a CC. :rolleyes:

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chris2597

chris2597

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Thanks Vickie,

 

I have not met an FCC host that has been pleasant yet!! :rolleyes:

 

How do you abuse the Future Cruise Credits, they have been saying for years now that they would do away with using 1 FCC per cabin.

I really believe they hate their jobs. Just reminds me to order my FCC's and stay away like I always do. :mad:

 

 

I have encountered the exact same thing on Princess, not so much on RCCL. I can't figure it out...it seems like a really cushy job.

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