Live from the Golden May 16 Alaska

[vickie_bernie]

Friday

 

I got to sleep in, the clocks went forward an hour to put us back on Pacific time. I did try to get a latte that morning but it was so busy around the coffee bar that I just gave up. But those who know me, know that I am not into lines, so I usually leave and come back.

 

Internet is up, but the place is full, not a seat to be had. Many people are complaining about the slow service - and the signal being dropped especially after they type a long email and it can't get thru. However there is a notice upon entering the internet cafe about the poor service no one reads it.

 

I would recommend that the ship do up some signs for each station that shows people how to create an account, the costs and if there is a problem with the signal it could be put at each station. The Grand has this at every station and it works well.

 

Last night there was some kind of flood near our room, about four cabins away. We found out thru our steward that someone left their tap running and flooded out five cabins (not sure how much of that is true or not) but all cabins had to be vacated and the people moved. The carpets had to pulled up and the furniture removed and they had the blowers going to dry up the areas.

 

I wanted to take part in Scategories but once again it was held in Wheelhouse bar in the smoking section (although they don't have anyone smoking while the game is going on - the smoke residue is horrible and very noticeable) so I just stopped in and then left.

 

We did play morning trivia and we won two Princess tote bags that came in handy during disembarkation.

 

The Port and Shopping Guides on board are Kevin and DaVette, they are the best guides we have ever met, they are very visable and always helpful with any questions even if it is just about "where can I find a good coffee place in town". Good luck to them both on their upcoming wedding.

 

Bernie attended a game in teh Vista Lounge called Movie Mania II and he loved it, they divided the entire lounge into two everyone got to partake. He said it was a lot of fun.

[vickie_bernie]

We were in a couple of ports with you on the Zuiderdam. We looked longingly at Golden wanting to jump ship ;)

 

how was your trip? Why did you want to jump ship?

 

It was fun traveling along side you the entire time. How did you find the Seattle port today at Pier 91?

[vickie_bernie]

Sorry Back to friday - got a little off track on earlier post.

 

We had dinner in the HC - same food as the dining room but just didn't want to dress up.

 

Had to get our suitcases ready before dinner and we put them out just before we went ashore in Victoria.

 

We docked just before 7 pm, the atrium was packed with people trying to get off the ship. But I was quite impressed with one of the Purser's staff (Marco) quickly dirrected people to the other gangway and cleared the area in about 10 minutes.

 

We met up with our friends (six of them all American) and we were very proud to show them around our Province.

 

We walked to the main harbour about 20 min, but a nice walk. I showed them the Provinical Parliment building - the Empress (disappointed that they moved the lobby to one side - now there is a restaurant where the lobby use to be but you can still sneak in and see).

 

We then walked around Government Street and the water and them stopped at a local pub for some local beer! :D

 

We were back on the ship at 11 pm and we set sail just before midnight.

[Cruise Junky]

how was your trip? Why did you want to jump ship?

 

It was fun traveling along side you the entire time. How did you find the Seattle port today at Pier 91?

 

We came back into Vancouver, home by 9:30 am, got to love that :) We found out we're much more Princess people than HAL Got some great shots of you and Diamond being b2b in Skagway.

[vickie_bernie]

We did encounter one problem that at first was minor but it kept happening and started to get a little frustrating.

 

We were wrongly charged for a bar charge on the second day, I did go to the purser's desk and get it credited after they pulled the receipts and saw it was not signed and the other one was definately not my signature.

 

Then again on Thursday we were charge $14 for drinks in the Promenade bar. I did have a drink at that time and was charge correctly for that one but the second charge one minute later was not mine. Again I waited in the Purser's line and they pulled the bill and saw it was definately not my signature in fact it was a guy by the name of Bill.

 

Then today we got our final bill and low and behold there is another charge (but on Bernie's card) from Skywalkers last night at 10:50 for just over $15. Funny we weren't even on board yet. So down to the Purser's desk and waited in line for over 20 minutes. They pulled the bill and again it was someone elses' signature. They gave Bernie the cash and a receipt.

 

Now sure this can happen but three times. Obviously the waiters are writting our folio number mixed up with someone elses.

 

I had spoken to the Bar Manager at our meet and greet about this problem on Friday and commented that we have never had this problem so frequently before. Of course this should be a concern to Princess as they are not able to track down the correct folio to charge these drinks to.

 

In total we had 3 errors on our bill with a total of just over $60 -- about an hour of our vacation was spent correcting the problems too. So make sure you go over your bills.

 

Perhaps waiters should have to say when they give you the bill to sign "here is your bill Miss Vickie" and then it may help eliviate any problems.

[morriscats]

Vicki, that is a good idea about the waiters saying your name when they hand back the receipt. Did you get a print-out each day to check for errors. I think that is what we will do. Thanks for the reviews of your trip. Although we will be sailing to Hawaii instead of Alaska, learning about the new and improved Golden was great.

[vickie_bernie]

:) I don't like to complain so I don't want my posts to end on a negative note, but a positive one.

 

We have now done 14 sailings with Princess. We love their product, their ships, their itineraries but ulitmately their staff. From the top officers to the crew working behind the scenes we notice how much they truely care. Every cruise we walk away with new friends in the staff.

 

I just hope that we were able to make their work days brighter.

 

A special thank you goes out to the following for making our trip GREAT.

 

- Captain Foster for getting us so close to the Glacier

- Passenger Serivces Director Claudio Mazzoni for the great staff that report to him - it shows in every department what a great job you are doing. Also thanks for the laughs and the get together.

- First Purser Food & Beverage Roy Kelly - man you made us laugh! I can proudly report that I gainned five pounds! The food and drinks were top notch (and I don't mind the butter being cold :D) Loved VINES

- Maitre d'Hotel Angelo Balbiani, appreciate all that you did for us and our group

- Rich Joseph our Cruise Direct and of course Adam - really enjoyed getting to know you and your crew, entertainment was fabulous - don't loose that boa, I think you should wear it on the morning show. It truely makes all the difference when the cruise staff is happy.

- Jose - head waiter in Donatello Dining Room - all your assistance with so many things from Wine choices, entres, helping our friend with her food allergies to all the cute jokes you told us. It was great sailing with you for 28 days in Jan, but it was even better getting to know you over the last 7

 

Keep up the great work Golden Princess.

 

If you would like to reach me privately with a question, direct it to vickie_bernie@hotmail.com

[Shelly97060]

Vicki - thanks for the great thread. I will be on Golden in June and it was great hearing about your trip.

 

Can you tell me who the naturalist was? I am wondering if it is still Michael Modeleski ( not sure of spelling).

 

Thanks - Shelly

[vickie_bernie]

Vicki - thanks for the great thread. I will be on Golden in June and it was great hearing about your trip.

 

Can you tell me who the naturalist was? I am wondering if it is still Michael Modeleski ( not sure of spelling).

 

Thanks - Shelly

 

Yes it is the person you are thinking of his name is Michael Modzelewski - very very expressive when he talks - loved his comentary going thru Tracey Arm

[FathomOfTheOpera]

Hi Vickie,

 

Thanks for the link to this thread. Nice to meet you and Bernie in person.

 

Do you think it is OK to post the pics I took during the CC meeting/gift exchange? I am not sure if everyone is OK with it or not.

 

 

-Wayne

[sonnenschein]

Hi Vicki and Berni, I am always happy when I come across one of your posts. Last Thanksgiving we were on the Emerald on an b2b over thanksgiving and you gave me a lot of helpful advise about where to find a drugstore and liquer store close to the Ft. Lauderdale port. It made my flight from the westcoast so much easier since I did'nt have to pack all that cosmetic stuff and Brandy and wine I smuggelt on board.

 

We will be on the GoldenP. in November for our 3rd 14 day Hawaiien cruise and looking forward to all the great improvements that have been done to the ship. In the meantime we are taking a 10 day roundtrip to Alaska inside passage over my B'day the end of June on the Sea p. from San francisco. I am happy to read you had a great time and the weathergoods were good to you. Thanks again for your helpful advise last year, it is wonderful to meet nice people like you on these CC boards. Gloria from Sacramento PS: I love your home town ;)

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vicki and Berni, I am always happy when I come across one of your posts. Last Thanksgiving we were on the Emerald on an b2b over thanksgiving and you gave me a lot of helpful advise about where to find a drugstore and liquer store close to the Ft. Lauderdale port. It made my flight from the westcoast so much easier since I did'nt have to pack all that cosmetic stuff and Brandy and wine I smuggelt on board.

 

We will be on the GoldenP. in November for our 3rd 14 day Hawaiien cruise and looking forward to all the great improvements that have been done to the ship. In the meantime we are taking a 10 day roundtrip to Alaska inside passage over my B'day the end of June on the Sea p. from San francisco. I am happy to read you had a great time and the weathergoods were good to you. Thanks again for your helpful advise last year, it is wonderful to meet nice people like you on these CC boards. Gloria from Sacramento PS: I love your home town ;)

 

well thanks Gloria, I am glad I was able to help you with your "needs" in FLL in fact I was given that exact info when I was sailing on the Emerald by someone on the cc boards.

 

Have a great cruise to Hawaii - that is on my to do list

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vickie,

 

Thanks for the link to this thread. Nice to meet you and Bernie in person.

 

Do you think it is OK to post the pics I took during the CC meeting/gift exchange? I am not sure if everyone is OK with it or not.

 

 

-Wayne

 

 

Hi Wayne, it is hard to post pics here on the threads but what I do is post them on a shared site online like Flicker or Facebook and then post the link here and on the roll call. I don't think people will have trouble with it, I know I won't and would love to see the pictures.

[FathomOfTheOpera]

Hi Wayne, it is hard to post pics here on the threads but what I do is post them on a shared site online like Flicker or Facebook and then post the link here and on the roll call. I don't think people will have trouble with it, I know I won't and would love to see the pictures.

 

Hi Vickie,

 

I really did mean to say "post a link" to a shared site. Thanks for catching that. :)

 

OK, but be patient with me....the picture count is 937 which is almost 11GB (each photo avg about 12 MB)

 

BTW, to answer the question you asked in the roll call thread: Disembarkation wasn't too bad, except that they were running a little late, but all in all, it went pretty smoothly.

[Tinknock50]

Okay, now I need to vent --

 

WARNING -- the port is still a mess. Please be careful if you have booked an early flight. There was one couple on our shuttle that missed their 11:30 flight, and another couple we met that was waiting for a taxi and was still waiting when we got on our shuttle after an hour in the line.

 

This is NOT princess' fault - there were two ships in port. We got off at 9:45, disembarkation was smooth we retrieved our luggage quickly, went thru customs and them WHAM it was like a huge parking lot packed with cars, buses, shuttles, people, suitcases, limos, wheelchairs and semi trailers (that come from the port and enter the area at the top end near the exit)

 

Now many of you may allready know but we arrived here at the port on May 10th after a cruise and it was a disaster then. We noticed how quiet the pier was when we boarded this cruise on the 16th and thought great things have all been straightened out. Well we were wrong. Yes some things have improved, there seems to be more signs directing you.

 

The taxi lines were long, I would guess with over 200 people in them. We had heard from many drivers of buses and taxis (from our hotel prior to our cruise) that many taxis were refusing to even go to the pier unless they had a fare to the pier. Otherwise they just stayed away.

 

Shuttles are great and plentiful but get stuck in all the traffic getting to the pier.

 

The stagging area for people to wait for their rides, shuttles or buses is not big enough because the groups keep getting bigger while the wait continues.

 

Our shuttle was a half hour late getting there. But the driver was very patient with all the passengers and handled the situation very well. We will definatley use that shuttle company again, especially at their low price of $12 pp.

 

But ultimately we have to face the facts that Seattle is not ready for the pier yet, hopefully they will fix the access to and from the pier to help expediate the transfers.

 

Which shuttle company did you use?

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vickie,

 

I really did mean to say "post a link" to a shared site. Thanks for catching that. :)

 

OK, but be patient with me....the picture count is 937 which is almost 11GB (each photo avg about 12 MB)

 

BTW, to answer the question you asked in the roll call thread: Disembarkation wasn't too bad, except that they were running a little late, but all in all, it went pretty smoothly.

 

oh I am so glad - a friend of mine had to go to the parking area, the shuttle to the parking lot only allowed him to go get the car then he had to come back and pick up everyone else and the bags...

 

Yes I hear you about the picture count, haven't even pulled out the memory card, will do soon though.

 

didn't see you at the officer meet and greet on Friday.

[vickie_bernie]

Which shuttle company did you use?

 

We used Seattle Express but there is also Shuttle Express too -- I think they are $13 pp both are good

[Tinknock50]

We used Seattle Express but there is also Shuttle Express too -- I think they are $13 pp both are good

 

Thanks!

 

We were thinking of using Gray Line because all of them have wheelcahir lifts and I need that for Mom. They are also $12 I think.

[vickie_bernie]

Thanks!

 

We were thinking of using Gray Line because all of them have wheelcahir lifts and I need that for Mom. They are also $12 I think.

 

saw lots of their buses there today.. neither of the shuttles I recommended were wheelchair accessible so yours sounds like the best option.

[Tinknock50]

saw lots of their buses there today.. neither of the shuttles I recommended were wheelchair accessible so yours sounds like the best option.

 

Your info has been very helpful! Our plane doesn't leave until 2:55 so we will have time to be stuck in traffic.

 

Thanks again!

[mii]

I was also on this cruise along with Vickie. I just read her "Live" from just now as I do not go into the Internet Cafe when I am on a cruise because I spend so much time on here when I am not cruising.:D As Vickie said the weather was spectacular. This was our 7th trip there and I have never seen such good weather, well maybe that brief shower in Ketchican.

 

I found out about the gelato machine and why it is not on the Star or the Golden or any future ships. We were talking to a man who is the manager of the Piazza area. He said that on the Ruby, Emerald and the Crown the gelato machine area was designed for those ships and had the room for it. But when it came time to put it in the Star there was frankly no room. The same thing also on the Golden but he did say that the gelato would be served at Sundaes up on the Lido deck. He also said that it may not be served everyday. Now what that means, who knows but that is what he told me.

 

Now comments on the embarkation and disembarkation. On May 16th our group got there arouond 10:30a.m. Because they were still disembarking people from previous cruise there was no porters to take our luggage so we hauled them into the terminal where they were taken quickly and efficiently. We then checked in and frankly we were on board by 11:30a.m. I also discovered there is an area where Elite, Platinum and Suites people can sit and we were the first to board the ship. There was some confusion about that becaue one of our group was told that we had to sit in the main area but after contacting a supervisor it was straightened out. It is a HUGE terminal, plenty of room and the views from the terminal overlooking the bay is spectacular.

 

Disembarkation was delayed due to Customs and Immigration(what else is new) We were suppposed to leave at 8:45 but were not called until 9:20. There were lots of taxi's out there at that time and loads of busses, shuttles etc. We had reserved a shuttle and we were on the road by 10a.m. If you have a flight before nooon I would try to make other arrangements. Our flight was not until 4p.m. so had tons of time. By the way finding our luggage was a piece of cake. They had them lined up by color code was a breeze for my DH to find the luggage so we had no problems at all.

 

We had a very active roll call and 55 of us met at Skwalkers for our first Meet and Greet. Then Princess and the Cruise Director gave us another chance to meet again along with the Captain, the Passenger Service Director and the Food and Beverage Director as Vickie mentioned above.

 

As mentioned by Caroline when we first started the cruise to Tracy Arm the web cam was not working as we could not hear the naturalist but a call to the Pursers Desk said they were fixing it and they did. Soon all was well and got to hear the commentary. I should mention that were on a cruise 6 years ago in Tracy Arm and we could not even get near the glaciers because of the ice but this time even though there was ice we got a lot closer and had spectacular views.

 

It was so good to finally meet the roll call people and put names to faces. Overall had a dandy time as I always say there is never a bad cruise. Some are better and some so-so but the people we met on board and especially our roll call people made our cruise special.

 

Marilyn

[retiring soon]

Hi Vickie, Enjoyed your live posts. I'm hoping to go to Alaska next year & have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering please.

Was Alaska as fabulous as everybody says, in other words will you do it again?

Did you see much wildlife?

Is the Chef's Table available on Alaska cruises? Thanks.

~Jo~ :)

[mii]

Hi Vickie, Enjoyed your live posts. I'm hoping to go to Alaska next year & have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering please.

Was Alaska as fabulous as everybody says, in other words will you do it again?

Did you see much wildlife?

Is the Chef's Table available on Alaska cruises? Thanks.

~Jo~ :)

 

I was also on this cruise and in my opinion I think Alaska is fabulous. This was my 7th time there so hopefully that answers that question.:D As for wildlife it certainly depends on what time you go and where you go in alaska. If you also do a inland tour you will see more animals. On a Inside Passage cruise like this one we saw whales from the ship(just the fins) eagles, all sorts of birds, etc. As for bears it is too early for them in May but it really depends on the month you go. Check out the Ports of Call board for Alaska. a wealth of info there.

 

Yes the Chefs table is offered on the Golden.

 

Marilyn

[cruznon]

Vicki,

Welcome home!

Thank you for sharing your cruise with all of us. Thanks also for the shuttle info.

[Colo Cruiser]

Hi Marilyn, glad to hear the trip was excellent. :)