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Our spoiled lives aboard the Golden Princess- a detailed review

serenity27

By serenity27,
in Princess Cruises

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serenity27

serenity27

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Before we begin describing our Hawaiian adventure, we have just a few notes: We are a newly married couple in our twenties/ thirties and have been lucky enough to travel extensively both on land and on cruises. My favorite cruise line is Princess and my husband’s is Royal Caribbean. We chose this itinerary because I fly a lot for business and wanted to avoid planes and the friendly TSA officials for our honeymoon. We live about 40 minutes from the San Pedro port, so this was a perfect choice for us. Also, when deciding between the Sapphire and the Golden, we read the wonderful reviews about David Cole and Elua, and that made up our minds.

Since we are coming from LA, I thought we would offer some suggestions on great things to see in So Cal. You really can’t come to LA without seeing our Hollywood Walk of Fame, and you can attend ceremonies which are free and open to the public (check with Hollywood Chamber on schedules and honored celebrities). For Astronomy buffs, check out the Griffith Observatory. Parking and attendance are free; shows have a small entrance free. You can either hike up to the top or park right outside, and from here, you’ll get a great view of the Hollywood Sign. Many studios have complimentary free TV tapings. Universal Studios also does a great back-lot tour. If you stay in a hotel near here, you will be able to walk to Universal City Walk for fun restaurants and touristy shops. The Hollywood Bowl, the largest outdoor amphitheater in the US, host concerts and shows. It’s a perfect place to enjoy our often beautiful weather and you can picnic there during the shows. Attendance prices vary, but parking is usually a nightmare- stacked and costs between $16 and $35. Of course, Rodeo Drive is a perfect picture place, and Venice Beach is a wonderful place to see an eclectic group of Californians. If you head south to Orange County, you can visit Balboa Island. Take the ferry across and you’ll find some cute specialty stores- no chain stores are on Balboa. If you continue south to San Diego, you can check out the world famous San Diego Zoo, or the amazing beaches with stunning weather.

And now…onto our cruise to Hawaii. Our day began around 10 AM, when we were set to leave for my parents’ house. They had planned to drop us off at the port. As I tried to start my car, it made a horrible stuttering noise. It turned out that my beautiful Lexus felt that this was a perfect morning to let its battery die. We didn’t freak out, and instead called AAA to come save us. They did promptly, within 30 minutes, checked the battery, told me it was spilling acid and it was time for a new one. Hussein, our savior, changed the battery quickly and we were on our way to my parents' house, about an hour late.

We arrived at the port around 12:45 PM. Seeing the beautiful Golden Princess was a glorious sight. I was a little star struck. After reading so much about her, it was amazing to finally meet her. I just kept thinking that our stateroom was dressed and ready to meet us, only to be disappointed that we were later than expected.

 

Drop off was efficient, with the porters coming immediately over to our car. The poor guys didn’t know what hit them. My husband's suitcase was of average mass. Mine, um…that’s another story. I intentionally overpacked as I knew we would not be flying and there were no weight limitations when cruising. Our third large suitcase was packed with water and soft drinks, which we were allowed to bring on board. That suitcase weighed approximately 750 pounds and could only be lifted by an Olympic weight lifter. We tipped these guys extra.

 

We were able to use the priority check-in because of my status with Princess, which really didn’t matter because there weren’t many lines for check-in anywhere. We were also ushered into a priority security line. It was fast and effortless, much preferred over airport security. And…even better… no TSA employees for me to fight with.

We followed the herd of people onto the ship, where we took our obligatory embarkation picture (which we later purchased for $19.95). Then we took our security pics. I always hate to see my pics but I’m also a glutten for punishment, so I end up asking to see them, when the laughter from security has died down. My security pictures always make me look like I have a fly up my nose.

The elevators were a little crowded on our way up, which is to be expected considering so many passengers used walkers or wheelchairs. Our room was ready for us, with our view of the Starboard side from our balcony. On the Baja deck, we can see over the balconies two decks below us, which is always entertaining. This is precisely why I chose the Baja deck.

 

We met our room steward, Jose Rodriguez, from Mexico. As soon as we met him, I asked for a top sheet for the bed and an egg crate to make it more comfortable. By the time we went to bed, he had provided all of this for us. The egg crate made a nice difference in the otherwise hard bed. I learned to do this on Cruise Critic! Also, our robes were waiting for us in the room. Jose would remain efficient throughout the cruise.

We then went to eat the Horizon Court buffet, taking a variety of foods. They were tasty, nothing special but it was fine for us. It was our first meal on our honeymoon. After lunch, we went to find out how to change our seating for the dining room. We were told to meet with the Maitre d' in the Main Dining Room on Deck 6. We were given a number, and ushered inside. It was empty, except for a table in the far back where two people sat, in the glow of sunshine but also partly in shadow. We assumed correctly that one of them was the Maitre d' himself, who was surrounded by files and paperwork, and his loyal assistant. As we approached, he didn’t even look up, and his assistant asked us what they could do for us. It was very mafia-like, where my husband and I both felt like we were asking the Don for something very important. We asked him for a table for two after he informed us that we were assigned a table for 10! Without looking up at us, he instructed his assistant to give us Table 240. We thanked both of them, nearly bowing down to him (he is the Don, after all) and wished the next people in line the same luck with him. The entire experience was like a scene out of the Godfather.

We then took a tour of the Spa, and booked massages for both of us. Then, the Muster Drill was about to begin (not to be confused with the Mustard Drill, which we enjoyed earlier in the buffet), so we grabbed our life jackets and went to our location- the Explorers Lounge on Deck 7. We sat for a while, waiting for the drill to start, and inevitably some passengers put on their life jackets even though they are told not to. We took the traditional life jacket picture when the drill was over. I always found it funny that the life jackets used to say “Princess Cruises” on them. I don’t think that’s the kind of publicity they would want! They have since changed them for this sailing.

We then went back to our room, to relax and sail away from LA Port. In the water, a crazy (and probably drunk) girl in a boat yelled up to us, and the elderly men next to our balcony yelled, “Take your pants off!” We then saw many seals and porpoises playing in the water- quite a beautiful sight! At a restaurant along the port, someone got on the loud speaker and said, “Hello Golden Princess! We hope you’ll come eat at our restaurant on your way back!”

We sat on the balcony for a while, and then left to tour the ship. We got ice cream cones, as it had been a whole two hours since we had last eaten. We found the mini golf court, and shuffleboard, both of which we plan to do.

We went to the Welcome Aboard “One Night Only” show. We really liked the comedians, Alfred and Seymour, who hassled certain audience members. We looked forward to seeing them more on the cruise.

We went to dinner, at our table for two, and met our Waitress, Natalie, from South Africa, and our Assistant Waiter, Gene, from the Philippines, who are both wonderful. We had a three course dinner- I had spring rolls with peanut sauce, a spinach soup, a pina colada “soup” which is actually served like a cocktail, and a fish dish which I barely ate. For dessert, I had ice cream. Both Gene and Natalie have smiles that could make the Grinch love Christmas. They are genuine, and not there with the mentality of “I’m here because I need a job and I’m going to smile because that leads to tips.” Instead, they are there because they genuinely love what they do- meeting people and traveling.

One of my favorite things on cruises is getting to know the crew. In such a tremendously large world, cruising really makes it a little smaller and a little more intimate. In what other way can we meet so many diverse people from such different backgrounds?

We then went to the casino to play blackjack, and ended up winning $55! That would be the last time we would make money in the casino.

We returned to the room to get ready for bed. We'll write about Day Two a little later.

Here are two pics- one of the trail the Golden has left behind, with a lighthouse that we passed on the breakwater at Long Beach Harbor, and the other is of our view of the balconies below (we made sure to take it when nobody else was on their balconies):

 

 

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wilfros

wilfros

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Really looking forward to your review. This is the ship and itinerary we were supposed to take March 2nd but had to cancel due to illness with our travelling companions.

 

We will be sailing Golden to Hawaii this fall or winter.

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serenity27

serenity27

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Thank you for posting the first part of your review.

Sorry that you experienced such a rude Maitre d'.

 

I should clarify. I didn't mean to imply that he was rude. We're really so grateful that he gave me us such a perfect table. We totally respect his difficult job of making all of us hungry people happy- and he did! We had interactions with him later in the cruise and he turned out to be a very nice man. I think on this day, he just had so much work to attend to and therefore was all business-minded. :)

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serenity27

serenity27

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Do you know if formal attire was required in the pay restaurants?

 

We went to the Crowne Grille and Sabatini's on non-formal nights, but from what I heard, the cruise-casual attire was acceptable there on formal nights. "Don" Luigi seemed to be flexible on the formal attire.

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serenity27

serenity27

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Really looking forward to your review. This is the ship and itinerary we were supposed to take March 2nd but had to cancel due to illness with our travelling companions.

 

We will be sailing Golden to Hawaii this fall or winter.

 

I hope you're feeling better! If your schedule allows, I would confirm when David Cole is the CD. I have heard decent things about the others, but to me, there is nobody who will do this sailing better. I'll go into details later in the review.

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serenity27

serenity27

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Thank you to everybody for your encouragement! By the way, I should add that we took this cruise from March 30-April 13. I had planned to do a "Live From" but we all know the ship's internet is unpredictable, so I decided to wait until we got home.

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serenity27

serenity27

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We woke up this morning around 8 AM. I had wanted to get a lei-making ticket, but the class conflicted with our massages in the afternoon. They give out a certain number of tickets in the morning for the classes to ensure that they have enough materials for everybody. If anybody who had a ticket does not show, they let in those people on the waiting list.

 

After we left the room, we ate at the International Café, a new addition to the Princess fleet. They have different pastries and breakfast desserts for free, and specialty coffees for a fee. My husband, whom we will call Mr. Serenity, got some doughnuts and pastries and ordered the soda card. With that, he received a Princess tumbler. It was our first souvenir on this trip, but certainly not our last. I ordered a yogurt with granola and berries mixed in. We sat at the bar nearby as all seating areas were taken. What I love about the Piazza is that Princess has so cleverly designed it so we can socialize, relax and be entertained in it. The Purser’s Desk, where a few cranky passengers can complain, is located upstairs, away from the fun and enjoyment. The business stuff is upstairs. The happy deck is number six.

 

After breakfast, we headed up to the spa, as they were doing a raffle for spa credit. We entered it yesterday when we took the tour but they were doing the drawing this morning. They had four prizes, but we didn’t win any of them. The prizes were spa credits for $200 and three credits for $100. Of course, we had to sit through the sales pitch before the drawing.

 

After this massive disappointment, we went to Bingo. We both came very close to winning but never did. There are different levels of Bingo cards to purchase, depending on how many cards you want. Most people purchased six cards for $30, which was the best deal. They also sell the Bingo marker for $1.50. We just brought our own pens to do the marking. Bingo was held in the Vista Lounge, which is the alternative to the Princess Theatre. The room was packed and we could just feel the excitement in the air! Who knew Bingo was so fun?

 

After Bingo, we tried to find some sun, swim and tan. I had read that the first two days out to Hawaii were cold and dark, and they were. Mr. Serenity went in the pool for a little bit, but I didn’t. It was way too cold (I am a California girl!). We later went down to the ukulele lessons, which turned out to be a ton of fun. Mr. Serenity is a natural. We learned four different chords. It was cool to watch people who had never played an instrument before. Because of the instruction, mostly everybody was able to play the chords by the end of class. Dave, part of the duo from the Hawaiian band, Elua, taught today’s class. Tomorrow the cruise director, David Cole, will be teaching them.

 

We then went up to the buffet to eat, and I had chicken creamy broth soup, cheese quesadilla, a nice salad and pineapple for dessert. We just enjoyed our time together then.

 

Afterward, we headed up to the Skywalkers Lounge, which is 17 decks above the water. Our Cruise Critic group met there. There were 92 of us who signed up online, and I would say about 2/3 of that group showed up. Everybody was really nice! The big discussion of the day was our fellow Roll Call member, Don, who a) told his wife that she was going on a one-week Mexican cruise instead of the two-week Hawaii cruise and b) was assigned to jury duty right before the cruise, and narrowly avoided having to miss the cruise when the two parties settled his case. Before the cruise had even started, he kept us all on the edges of our seats! We were happy for him that he was able to enjoy the cruise with us.

 

An officer from the bridge (whose name I did not get but he was very enthusiastic about answering our questions) and Cruise Director David Cole showed up. We played an ice breaker, where we all had to find someone who had certain qualities (has lived in another country, someone who has green eyes, etc). It was a nice way to get to know people. Thank you to Avis and Solon to arranging this!

 

The group gave David Cole a Pittsburgh Stealers bag filled with gummy bears and rubber ducks. Someone started a rumor on Cruise Critic that Dave liked gummy bears, rubber ducks and the Stealers, so we all contributed to the surprise. Many members of our Cruise Critic group celebrated anniversaries while on board. I calculated that our group totaled over 650 years of wedded bliss. We truly did sail on “The Love Boat!”

 

After our CC get together, Mr. Serenity and I left to go to the spa. During the tour yesterday, we booked Hot Stone Massages, as well as a Seaweed Wrap Massage. They had a promotion if we purchased more than three treatments, we would get certain percentages off- 10% off the first, 20% off the second, 30% off the third, then 10% off the first, etc. I know that the spa on the ship is much more expensive than those on land, but getting these massages was one of Mr. Serenity's biggest wishes on our Honeymoon, so I happily went along with it.

 

We came back from the massages feeling like jello. They started both of our appointments late, which was fine because they made up for it in the end. The massage itself wasn’t the best I have ever had, but I enjoyed the hot stones and appreciated the fact that my therapist did not try to sell me anything. I even had to ask my therapist to let me tip her. She was very unassuming.

 

After the massages, we came back to the room to get ready for dinner. Our table in the dining room was #240, and it was just in front of us when we entered the dining room. It’s a great location. Several of the tables surrounding us were either empty or missing a couple people. I think that more people chose Anytime Dining and there was just one dining room reserved for Traditional Dining. My meal consisted of pineapple slices with margarita sauce, a soup, a strawberry smoothie (which is called a soup but is served like a smoothie) and a bean chili for the main course. By this point, I was already full, but I really enjoyed the chili. For dessert, I sampled a pecan tart and a Dolce de Leche ice cream, which was really rich. A table next to us caught on to ordering as much as they wanted, and we started to see them with multiple desserts. Natalie and Gene were again amazing. Gene even started to do magic tricks for us after the meal. Dinner and a show- what more could we ask for?

 

After dinner, we hung out in the room for a little bit before heading out to the Princess Theatre to see the Production Show, “Stardust," which included songs from the 30s and 40s. There were four headline singers, and they were among the best I have seen on Princess. We had late traditional dining, so we attended the 10:30 PM shows. The theatre was busy, but not packed. Most passengers attended the earlier show, which worked great for us because we did not have to worry about seating.

 

After the show, we went back to the room to go to sleep. We both slept very well with the egg crate on the bed. This was important because Friday, April 1 was a very busy day!

 

I am attaching a few pics of our CC meet and greet, where Avis, our MC, is welcoming us and where Dave Cole is opening his surprise gift. Natalie, our waitress, gave us the menus of each night's dinner to take home as souvenirs, so I will scan and post those later.

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

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I had thought to go see "The Don" on our cruise as we were given "anytime dining" and we're dedicated traditional diners. But I didn't want to spend the first afternoon on the Golden waiting in line (during the course of the cruise I should have tried to switch anyway as we didn't care for AT).

 

We loved the International Cafe, and I'm jonesing for those chocolate chip cookies right now.

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erewhon Holiday Sharing Rare

erewhon

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I should clarify. I didn't mean to imply that he was rude. We're really so grateful that he gave me us such a perfect table. We totally respect his difficult job of making all of us hungry people happy- and he did! We had interactions with him later in the cruise and he turned out to be a very nice man. I think on this day, he just had so much work to attend to and therefore was all business-minded. :)

 

Thank you for this explanation.

It must be difficult to try and grant all dining requests on embarkation day.

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serenity27

serenity27

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Thank you for this wonderful and detailed review! I can't wait for the next installment.

 

Can you comment on how the seas were crossing over to Hawaii and back?

 

Thanks! Katherine

 

Hi Katherine,

For the first two days out to Hawaii, the seas were pretty rough. I couldn't tell if people were drunk or if it was just the ship's movement. :) If you don't usually suffer from seasickness, you should be okay. During our CC Meet & Greet on the first at-sea day, a few people were getting a little sick. We were in Skywalker's, which is high above the water, but they said they were surprised it was rough throughout the ship. On the way back, it was also a little jumpy, but our captain had to accelerate because of some passengers' medical emergencies. The seas were relatively rough during this passage as well. It calmed down, though. It seemed that for two days each way, it would get rough, and then calm down. I hope this helps!

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Whitnee1

Whitnee1

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I really have a bit of a hard time with the AT dining. I just sailed on my one and only RCCI and their My Time you were able to go on line, ahead of time, and reserve a table for any time every night. The last Princess cruise I had you could only reserve at 5:30 or 8:30. On prior Princess cruise we were always able to reserve the first night the same table every night. I understand the concept of AT and for those who want to treat it like a restaurant, and show up at anytime, fine but like a restaurant I believe you should be able to reserve a table at anytime of the evening just like any other restaurant. My understanding of the AT is to give you flexability from the two fixed seating times but still be able to reserve a time.

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