Golden Princess Review - July 24 - 31

Here's my review of our wonderful Alaskan cruise last week on Golden Princess. Photos will be available later this week. ENJOY!

Golden Princess

July 24 – 31, 2010

Cabin D735

Late Traditional Dining

THE TRIP WEST

And so it begins. The start of another cruise. This one is special. Well, they are all special but this one is extra special because we are traveling as a group to raise funds and awareness for pediatric brain cancer through the Payton Wright Foundation. Payton was our 5-year-old neighbor who lost her courageous year-long battle with a rare form of brain cancer three years ago. Her parents, Holly and Patrick, pledged to Payton that they would work to raise awareness, help fund research for a cure and assist other families whose child is battling brain cancer. It is unspeakable pain a family endures going through this process. Working to help others brings joy and hope. So once a year, we cruise because we love vacations at sea and to raise funds to help the foundation meet their mission. This is our second annual cruise and everyone heading west to explore Alaska is very excited.

I selected Princess for this cruise for several reasons. First and foremost, Princess sails to Glacier Bay. This is a spot that I really wanted to see on our previous cruise but didn’t visit. Next, we’ve sailed Princess regularly over the years and know they provide a great product. I know that those traveling in our group will enjoy the amenities Golden Princess has to offer. Finally, Golden was recently retrofitted and I was anxious to see what she looks like after her renovations. I’ve sailed her twice in the past and think the renovations could only improve her.

So after months of planning, here we are, on our flight heading to the Pacific Northwest and the beginning of a wonderful adventure. There are several “newbies” in our group and that is always fun. As a frequent (fortunately) cruiser, I love the excitement of someone going somewhere for the first time. Since we’ve been to Alaska once before, I know the beauty we’re about to see. It’s something you really can’t describe. You have to see it for yourself. I had a great time sending regular updates to our group members with Alaska tips and facts, planning shore excursions, our pre-cruise dinner in Seattle, etc. It just builds the excitement even more.

Our trip from Florida was quiet and uneventful (a good thing). Except that Sharon (a guest flying with us) left hair gel in her carry-on and got stopped at security and had to get rid of it. We laughed and will now have to make our traditional stop at a Walgreens in Seattle to purchase more. It was cheaper than going back to check the luggage and paying the baggage fee J !!! Both flights were on time thus far and we are excited to be halfway across the country! Golden Princess, here we come!

PRE-CRUISE SEATTLE

After spending several days in Portland, OR for business, we arrived on Friday afternoon, July 23, in downtown Seattle. We checked into the Marriott Waterfront Hotel and there were ships everywhere getting ready to depart. Celebrity’s Infinity was docked directly across from the hotel. Always gives you goose bumps to see ships in port (it does for me anyway).

After checking into to the hotel, we walked the five or six blocks to Pike’s Place Market. This is a must-see stop for Seattle visitors. The fruits & vegetables, fresh flowers, fish and meat are a sight to see. We found a wonderful vegan bakery (our daughter has a dairy allergy so vegan bakeries are great) where she purchased cookies for the ship. After wandering for a while, we made our way to Kell’s Irish Pub in Post Alley for our pre-cruise dinner. Everyone but one couple, who were delayed by cancelled flights, made it to dinner. We also had a visit from a dear cruise friend who lives in Seattle so it made for a fun night at Kell’s. IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure that you leave the day before your cruise is set to embark. Far too many flights are cancelled, overbooked, delayed, etc these days. Our delayed couple was lucky they were able to get on a flight to Seattle on Saturday morning and make it to the ship. Missing this cruise would have been awful so if at all possible, get to your embarkation port at least a day early.

EMBARKATION

It was an early morning on Saturday. It’s like Christmas Eve for me the night before getting on a ship. Hard to sleep and up at the crack of dawn. We did walk back to the vegan bakery for our daughter and I went to the French bakery across the street. After a yummy breakfast, we hopped into taxis and arrived at the port at 10:45 AM. Check in was quick and simple and we received priority boarding with our Captain’s Circle elite status. By 11:15, we were called and were among the first five people to board. We were permitted to go to our rooms…a very nice gesture but it seemed to stress out the cabin attendants as some weren’t quite ready for guests. Our cabin was ready and we stopped to drop off our carry-ons before heading out to check out the ship.

Golden is in great shape overall. We did a quick walk-around and then I was off to do a couple of things – checking to see that our group was seated together at tables close to each other in the dining room and making reservations at the Crown Grille. I was successful at both so we were off to a great start. Stopped to have a slice of pizza and before we knew it they were calling for muster drill at 3:00 PM. It was short, efficient and over in 15 minutes. Then it was up to sailaway for one of the prettiest departures I can remember. It was sunny and Seattle as well as Mt. Rainier made a beautiful backdrop to the start of a wonderful cruise.

We chose traditional late dining in the Caneletto dining room. The food the first evening was very good. The fettuccine alfredo (I had an appetizer portion for my starter) was excellent. The prime rib was good and everyone at our table enjoyed their dinner. Our head waiter, Valentino, came to our table to review the next night’s menu with our daughter so they could prepare her dairy-free meal. He was wonderful all week long.

AT SEA

I love days at sea and our first one on Golden Princess was perfect. A nice mix of activities (we won morning trivia and took in the guest lecturer, the naturalist from Alaska – Michael Modzelewski. Excellent stuff and an interesting introduction to Alaska.

Our first formal dinner was very nice. Our group enjoyed pre-dinner drinks in the Wheelhouse (our favorite bar on Princess ships). I would say this was probably the least amount of formal wear I’ve seen on a formal night in a long time, but we didn’t care. It was an enjoyable evening.

JUNEAU

I can only describe our day in Juneau with one word: MAJESTIC !!! I realize that few get to enjoy the kind of day we had. It was near 70 and sunny as we headed out with Harv and Marv for an afternoon of whale watching. And what a day it turned out to be. I have done many excursions over the past 17 years of cruising but this was hands down our all time best excursion. We had two top of the line boats for whale watching and were out on the water a good three hours. The scenery combined with the whales, eagles and sea lions we saw combined to make the perfect day. We saw at least ten whales and got great photos. Most of the whales had been named and our captain, Steve, and mate, Hunter, had a photo sheet showing of all the whales’ tales. That is how they are identified. When saw a mamma and baby whale, I asked if the baby had been named yet. When they said no, I asked if we could name the baby “Payton”. Captain Steve thought that was a great idea and he immediately began calling the baby whale “Payton.” We will keep in touch to get updates on how Payton is progressing!!! Both Steve and Hunter on our boat, and Capt. Sean on the other boat provided great information on whales and wildlife. The comfort of the boats (hydraulic leather seats in our boat) made for an extremely smooth trip across the water. After getting off the boats, we made a stop at Mendenhall Glacier. With the sun shining, the photo opportunities were spectacular. Some in our group stopped to taste the ice floating in the lake. It was an absolutely amazing day. Everyone in our group enjoyed it and many said it was the best day of their lives! We will be talking about today for years to come. If you are scheduled to tour with Harv and Marv get ready for a truly magnificent day! www.harvandmarvs.com

SKAGWAY

Arriving in Skagway, the view from our cabin (an aft balcony) when I woke up this morning was incredible, too! Another reminder that Alaska is a marvelous place!

Well, who thought today could be as good as yesterday….but it was. We booked all 16 in our group with Dyea Dave for a day long trip to the Yukon. Becky was our driver and guide for the day and there couldn’t have been a better person to spend the day with us. From the moment we stepped on board the new 16-passenger mini-bus, Becky fit it with our group (and sense of humor) immediately. We were never rushed (like those who were on mega-bus tours who were rounded up by their drivers), stopped at amazing places for as long as we wanted to stay (Spirit Lake was my favorite although the colors of Emerald Lake were mesmerizing, too), had one of those “small world” moments in Carcross (I’ll explain in a moment), had a wonderful lunch at Spirit Lake Lodge and shared laughter all day long. OH, and the weather was again, PERFECT. Warm and sunny after the morning fog burned off. Is this Alaska???

One of the favorite things we did on this trip was during stop at Summit Lake. This lake appears as two lakes since one side appears as emerald green while the other is a more typical “blue” lake color. This is caused by glacial water running into one side of the lake. While here, we witnessed many “inukshuit.”

Inukshuk (singular), means "likeness of a person" in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) and is a stone figure made by the Inuit. The plural is inuksuit. The Inuit make inuksuit in different forms and for different purposes: to show directions to travelers, to warn of impending danger, to mark a place of respect, or to act as helpers in the hunting of caribou. We stopped an made our own nukshuk and had a wonderful time doing it. The entire place overlooking Summit Lake had a spiritual feeling to it to begin with (kind of like Garden of the Gods in Lanai if you’ve been there). Members of the Wright family made inukshuit in honor of Payton. We made one and place one of Payton’s bracelets on it. It was one of those spots you didn’t want to leave.

Our “small world” moment happened when we visited Carcross, a very small town in the Yukon. There were two native women from the Tlingit tribe selling handmade jewelry from two tables outside their homes. While I was making a purchase, my husband noticed that the car of one of the ladies was filled with frogs. Frogs covered the steering wheel, the seatbacks, hung from the rear view mirror. This is significant because Payton Wright LOVED frogs (a long story in itself). To travel to the middle of the Yukon and find this vehicle filled with frogs took us all aback. Holly, Payton’s mom, approached Beatrice and asked about her connections with frogs. She explained she is a member of the Frog Clan of the Yukon First Nation. Beatrice took the frog from her window and gave it to Holly and Holly in return gave Beatrice one of Payton’s silver frogs that was given to everyone who attended her funeral. It was a connection that was unexpected and touching.

Back on board, everyone in our group was dining at Crown Grill this evening. I’m sorry to say that Crown Grill was a bit of a disappointment. We were seated at two tables of eight, just like the dining room. On our last Princess cruise last year, Crown Grill was the highlight of our dining experience. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time around.

One person at our table received his entrée 15 minutes after everyone else received theirs (no explanation, just an apology for the delay). The rest of us were almost done eating by the time he received his steak. Two other individuals received the incorrect steaks but neither wanted to make a fuss and ate it anyway (one ordered medium rare; the other medium well). Our waiter was taking care of our table of eight and the eight top to the other side of us (but not the other eight top that was part of our group). He was working both tables by himself….no assistant. It wasn’t possible to keep up. My food was great but the little things made it not so great for others. I was disappointed after telling everyone how much we liked Crown Grill. After years of cruising, though, I know that dining experiences vary from ship to ship and venue to venue, even within the same line.

GLACIER BAY http://www.nps.gov/glba/index.htm

There are no words to describe today. Glacier Bay was the reason I chose this ship and itinerary. It’s hard to believe with two perfect days already that today could possibly compare. But it did. WOW! I can’t adequately describe what it’s like to sail quietly into Glacier Bay. Sights we’ve never seen before and maybe never will again. I was up early and out on deck by 6:00 AM. Our entrance into the area was fog covered so I went to the International Café (a fantastic spot by the way) for a bite to eat and coffee. By 7:00 AM we were in the Calypso Pool area to listen to the US Park Rangers who boarded the ship (interesting people). By 8:00 AM we were back out on deck getting ready to see glaciers. One after the other! Flowing fields of ice. Monsters on the sides of mountains. On the way in, we saw several bears eating off the carcass of a whale on a beach. Puffins, otters and seals could be seen in the water and on ice bergs. But nothing prepares you for the majestic (there’s that “word” again) Margerie Glacier. By the time we spent an hour there, I was ready to book another cruise to come back here. We watched patches of ice calve, listening to the loud cracks before the ice gave way. The glacial blue color sparkles against the white ice. An hour here goes far too quickly. But, not to be disappointed as we left Glacier Bay, we were treated to a series of several different pods of whales throughout the afternoon who played and breached as if they rehearsed their show just for us. I’m not making this stuff up. We saw at least six or seven whale breaches today, including a pod of five that played and breached for fifteen minutes or more. It was an amazing site and made for wonderful photos. Now we are three for three in spectacular days on this cruise.

Dinner tonight in the dining room was great and we are enjoying our time onboard immensely. Our waiters are pleasant and our head waiter, Valentino, has visited frequently. We were also visited by the sommelier, Christopher, who was surprisingly from the USA. He’s recently joined the crew and is training waiters about wine, conducting wine tastings, and visiting with guests in the dining room. We chatted about how rare it is to see an American working on board and even rarer to see them in the food and beverage department. Chris was definitely a bright spot each evening in the dining room and I commend him for putting in the long work hours required to work on a ship. His positive attitude and concern for customers was greatly appreciated. Kudos to Princess for hiring him! He’s a definite plus for the cruise line.

We did encounter one extremely rude crew member last night. We were walking through the photo gallery about five minutes prior to their closing time. We stopped to look for one of our photos from earlier in the day when a photographer walked in front of us and slammed the door shut on the photos we were looking at saying in a very unpleasant manner: “We’re closed. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.” Stunned, we all looked at each other at a loss for words. Every other photo stand in the gallery was still open. She certainly could have started closing those first and she could certainly have been more pleasant about the way she approached us. A kind “we’re about to close for the evening. We’d appreciate it if you could stop back tomorrow” would have gone a long way. I have to say in 15+ years we’ve been cruising, I’d never seen a crew member treat passengers this way. Consequently, we didn’t purchase a single photo. We took plenty of great shots ourselves.

KETCHIKAN

Our daughter loves salmon so we decided that Ketchikan would be our fishing day. I chose to go with Capt. Ken and Northern Lights Fishing - http://ketchikanfishing.net/. When Ken met us on the pier, I told him he had a tall order to compete with the previous three days that were all fantastic. Well, we did it again. For a fourth straight day, we had an amazing time. This is a short stop so we were on the boat for just about three hours. But we made the most of it. Five of us fished and caught 23 pink salmon. Additionally, we watched as bald eagles perched in trees to scout for fish. We got some fantastic photos as they swoop in and snag a salmon out of the water. Like the whales and the glaciers, taking in the eagles was something that words can’t describe. After arriving back at the dock, we had Ken take the fish to a processor who would filet, freeze and ship the salmon home for us. Can’t wait to get home and try some.

We are all still trying to determine why the day here is so short. I know we have to make a stop in a foreign port (Victoria) to meet the Jones Act regulations, but they should either stay in Ketchikan four or five hours longer and make Victoria a quick pit stop, or skip Ketchikan and spend an entire day in Victoria. The short time in each port makes it difficult to really enjoy either of these stops.

The rest of the day was spent on board relaxing. We enjoyed afternoon trivia, coffee in the International Café, downloading photos (I took about 2,500 for the week) and just relaxing. It was a bit cold when the ship was moving so we avoided the pools although all were heated and used by some. With the busy days on shore excursions, we were pretty tired in the evening and mostly enjoyed pre-dinner drinks with our group in the Wheelhouse followed by dinner.

VICTORIA

We pulled into Victoria at 7:00 PM on Friday evening. While everyone in our group stayed on board, many seemed to get off as was witnessed by a mostly empty dining room. It was an odd feeling for the last night of a cruise. Kind of had an anti-climatic feeling. Most of the day before our arrival was filled with normal sea day activities…eating, trivia, eating, packing, eating! J Just teasing. I even got out on the promenade and did a nice long walk between eating!

We didn’t attend any of the evening shows in the theater so I can’t comment on how good they were. The entertainers in the lounges and the piazza were all very good and there were some themed evenings (50s sock hop; country night) but it was kind of strange. They lasted about 45 minutes in the Explorer’s lounge and typically started at 9:30 during our dinner so it was tough to take in any of these as well. The cruise staff (cruise director and his staff) were all very good – friendly and made events a lot of fun.

Regarding things that people always ask:

Dress code: This was a pretty relaxed cruise. Formal nights were a bit less formal than a typical cruise but our group cleaned up pretty well and looked great!

Tipping: $10.50 per person is automatically posted to your shipboard account each day. One thing I noticed that seemed very strange on the last night, our waiters barely said good-bye (they did a nice job and we wanted to thank them) and our head waiter was gone before I could give him a little extra something for taking care of our daughter throughout the cruise. It was the strangest last night in the dining room I can recall.

Cabin: We had an aft cabin on deck 9. For the two of us it was plenty roomy. Not big by any means but fine for us. Three people in this cabin would be tight, though (third bed comes from the ceiling. The balcony was huge and would be great in the Caribbean but was underused here due to the cold. The only downside to the cabin is the extremely small bathroom. The shower is probably the smallest of any ship we’ve been on. Makes you miss the roomy bathrooms on the Solstice class ships. Our cabin attendant did a nice job and was pleasant.

Food: Overall, I’d give the food (remember you are on a ship and you’re not going to get gourmet food on a mass market ship) a B+ to an A. The Horizon Court is a downside on this ship. Poorly designed and always overcrowded, we ate here only once. The dining room is a much better option, even for breakfast and lunch. The pizza is great and the burgers/hot dog grill were OK.

The best food in my opinion is the pastas in the dining room. We’d order an appetizer portion each evening before our entrée. They were all delicious. Entrees in the dining room were generally very good as well.

The International Café on deck 5 is also a highlight. While you pay for coffee drinks here, the sandwiches, quiche and pastries were all delicious. And there are great ocean views here as well.

Outstanding staff: There were several outstanding crew members that helped make this one of our most memorable cruises ever: James in the Wheelhouse; our server in the International Café (and I’m so sorry I didn’t get her name); Garrett from the cruise staff (maybe next year will be the Leafs year J); Edgar in the Promenade bar; Valentino, our head waiter; and Christopher, our sommelier.

DISEMBARKATION

This was probably the quickest disembarkation ever. Since we were staying in Seattle overnight, we waiting until they gave the “everyone off the ship” announcement (we were scheduled in the second to last group anyway). When we got to the baggage area, our luggage was easy to spot as it was just about the only luggage left. We grabbed a porter, went through Customs in about two minutes and were at the curb loading our taxi (we pre-arranged for the taxi that took us to the ship to come pick us up). I’d say it took less than 15 minutes from the time we were in the Martini Bar (NO, we didn’t have a farewell martini) to the time we were in the taxi heading back to town and the Marriott Courtyard (our stay for the night). We enjoyed another relaxing day in Seattle before heading back east on Sunday morning. Our flight home was delayed and we missed our connection, causing us to spend the night in Atlanta, but you don’t want to hear about that. The cruise was fantastic!

Finally, we were all very grateful for the spectacular weather, scenery and people we encountered along the way. We know how very fortunate we were to share such a special week together. It was a celebration of Payton, a little girl who was taken from us far too soon, and a reminder of how precious every day is. Wishing everyone a wonderful visit to Alaska and remember to enjoy each and every day.

Thanks for the review. We met Valentino and Christopher on our b2b this past May and are looking forward to seeing them next month when we return to the Golden.

Thank you Anne for your great review! The story about the frogs put a smile on my face:)

Sounds like you had a great cruise, and Ken did you good.

We had Cedar Plank King Salmon just last night from our Alaskan fishing trip with Ken, yum :D

Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the review.

The salmon arrives today. You are ALL invited over for a cookout if you can make your way to Florida! Can't wait to eat some! :) Glad everyone enjoyed the review. I'd love to be back there now!

Anne, thank you for sharing your review and for being fair and equitable.

Also, thank you for sharing Payton's story. We also have a dear little friend who lost her battle with brain cancer. How you honored Payton on this voyage was very moving.

We, too, loved our journey to Alaska onboard the Golden. Different than you, we found the Horizon Court to be wonderful and easy to access. DH loves dining in this area and the food, on our voyage, was some of the best we've enjoyed onboard Princess.

THANK YOU Anne for the review of the cruise that we planned and had to cancel earlier this year.

Snowbird

Nice review, and I agree with you on the pastas. I did learn to ask for extra sauce though. I found that adding that additional sauce really takes it to the next level. Good stuff:D

Thanks for the great review. We can't wait! Forgive me if I missed this in your earlier posts. I'm organizing our Meet-and-Greet for our Aug 21 Golden cruise. Did you catch the names of any of the officers that I might invite? Did you guys have a Meet-and-Greet, and did any ship's officers make an appearance? Thanks.

Hugh ~ I'm sorry but I don't recall the names of the officers. Since we had a group on board, we did almost everything together as a group. I only went to on Capt Circle event and just for a short period of time. Ana is the Captain Circle hostess. Perhaps if you visit with her when you board, she can help you out. We had a very quiet roll call and did not have a meet and greet. I know you will have a FANTASTIC cruise. I'll have to stop by your roll call and say hello :)

Forgot to include this in the previous post. Here's a link to my Alaska photo album on Shutterfly: http://alaskasailawayforacure2010.shutterfly.com/

Click on Pictures and Videos and then ALL to bring up a complete list of photos.

ENJOY!

Forgot to include this in the previous post. Here's a link to my Alaska photo album on Shutterfly: http://alaskasailawayforacure2010.shutterfly.com/

 

Click on Pictures and Videos and then ALL to bring up a complete list of photos.

 

ENJOY!

Wow.....the photos are beautiful!!!!!!! Thank you.

Thank you for the great review, Anne.

You mentioned in your answer to Hugh's post that you would drop by his roll call. Since I'm in the same roll call, I'll look forward to that.

The link to our roll call for the August 21st sailing is:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1003784

Hugh ~ I'm sorry but I don't recall the names of the officers. Since we had a group on board, we did almost everything together as a group. I only went to on Capt Circle event and just for a short period of time. Ana is the Captain Circle hostess. Perhaps if you visit with her when you board, she can help you out. We had a very quiet roll call and did not have a meet and greet. I know you will have a FANTASTIC cruise. I'll have to stop by your roll call and say hello :)

Great review, Anne.

I'm on the same roll call as Hugh, so I'll be anticipating your dropping in on our roll call.

Here's the link to our roll call for August 21st (which gets closer every day).

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1003784

Hugh ~ I'm sorry but I don't recall the names of the officers. Since we had a group on board, we did almost everything together as a group. I only went to on Capt Circle event and just for a short period of time. Ana is the Captain Circle hostess. Perhaps if you visit with her when you board, she can help you out. We had a very quiet roll call and did not have a meet and greet. I know you will have a FANTASTIC cruise. I'll have to stop by your roll call and say hello :)

Hugh ~ 25 - 30 for a meet and greet is wonderful! No matter how many show up, you'll have a great time! Wish we were going back with you. I've heard the cruise this week is having wonderful weather, too. Hoping it continues!!!!

What kind of camera did you use?

They are fantastic photos.

Colo ~ thank you so much! My camera is an Olympus E620...brand new. I've only had it for a couple of weeks and it made me nervous to switch cameras so close to the cruise. But I was very happy with the results. I'm still learning.

One piece of advice for those who like to take a lot of photos. I wish I had taken my old camera, too so I had two DSLRs ready to go - one with my telephoto lens and the other with my 35 - 70 mm lens. Would have made getting the shots of breaching whale much easier as I was switching lens alot. Just a thought. It's a pain to take two cameras but when we go back, I'll be taking two the next time!

Colo ~ thank you so much! My camera is an Olympus E620...brand new. I've only had it for a couple of weeks and it made me nervous to switch cameras so close to the cruise. But I was very happy with the results. I'm still learning.

 

One piece of advice for those who like to take a lot of photos. I wish I had taken my old camera, too so I had two DSLRs ready to go - one with my telephoto lens and the other with my 35 - 70 mm lens. Would have made getting the shots of breaching whale much easier as I was switching lens alot. Just a thought. It's a pain to take two cameras but when we go back, I'll be taking two the next time!

You did good! :D

I want to go back and see if I can do better !!!! :)

I really enjoyed your review; what a magical trip you guys had. Thanks for sharing it with us. So, have you tried the salmon yet?!

Thanks so much, rdsqrl. Salmon BBQ dinner is Sunday evening so those who live close that cruised with us can join us. Anyone in the area is welcome! Can't wait!

Your review and pictures are wonderful. We are going on this cruise next month, and I was already impatient. Now I am REALLY anxious to go! Thanks for taking the time to post.