Quick Golden Princess Review - Seattle to Alaska

[RickEk]

I always tell myself that I'll write a review after a cruise, but life intrudes and I don't get around to it. So, this time I thought I'd write a short but sweet review of our recent Alaskan cruise on the Golden Princess roundtrip from Seattle. We sailed on June 2... We picked this itinerary because it was sailing from Seattle and was going to Tracy Arm Fjord. Last time we sailed to Alaska was on the Sea Princess and we saw Glacier Bay on that cruise.

 

Pre-cruise: We flew in from Los Angeles the evening before and stayed at the Fairfield Inn near Sea-Tac. Accommodations were fine and they had a shuttle to/from the airport, local restaurants and the Sounder light-rail.

 

Embarkation: We had Princess transfers so we caught an early shuttle back to the airport, met one of the myriad of Princess/HAL representatives that were wandering the baggage area and we were directed to Door 00 and joined a line of other travelers. In short order, we were on the bus and headed to the pier. In about 30 minutes, we were there! We met up with some friends who had flown in a couple of days earlier. They had to join a line to drop off their luggage, but once we got upstairs we sped through the line. My companion is Elite and I'm Platinum and our friends were Gold and Blue. They joined us and we were directed to another door where we basically skirted the long line of folks that were boarding. Very nice. And there was NO sign of staggered boarding. btw, the Westerdam was docked next to us and there was an NCL ship at the other cruise terminal.

 

Muster: Our muster station was the casino and the canned speech did seem a bit longer than before. Everyone seemed very attentive and those that were talking to each other during the speech were shushed by folks around them.

 

Cabin: We had Aloha 320 which was an inside cabin. There were four of us in the cabin. It was a bit cramped, but we really had no problems. Our room steward was Alberto and except for the first day, we rarely saw him. Our cabin was cleaned satisfactorily and my friend was happy with the Elite laundry service.

 

Ship: For a ship that was just out of drydock, I was a bit disappointed. It was still beautiful, the carpets seemed to be new, but there were niggling things like painter's tape hanging off of windows on Plaza deck. Contrary to previous speculation, Alfredo's was not added and the moving walkway to Skywalkers was not removed.

 

Sailaway: Because of some local regulations, sailaway is "silent" with no band allowed on deck. It was a beautiful day in Seattle and we got many photos of the Space Needle and the Seattle skyline. The Westerdam departed first (and would shadow us to most of the ports) and we left shortly after.

 

Itinerary: We had an initial sea day, followed by Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord, Ketchikan and Victoria.

 

Ports:

 

Juneau was beautiful with the temp in the low 70's. No rain at all. (The locals said that we had the best weather in a month!) We took the Blue Bus to Mendenhall Glacier and hiked to the waterfall. Very beautiful. Afterward, we rode the tram up to Mt. Roberts, but the trails were closed because of snow and mud. We had a couple of pints at the Red Dog Saloon and enjoyed the entertainment.

 

In Skagway, we just explored the town, while our friends took a bus that paralleled the train journey.

 

Tracy Arm Fjord was spectacular. Truly amazing. The weather was chilly and I parked myself at the bow on Emerald deck. We met Star Princess coming out of the fjord and were able to make it to the bend with the island before we had to turn around because of ice. We could see Sawyer Glacier in the distance, but the ice was too thick to attempt an approach. We did see many seals and a few bears. The fjord was amazing with many, many waterfalls and there was still a significant amount of snow on the peaks.

 

In Ketchikan, we walked around town and our friends went on the Bering Sea Crab excursion (we did that one last time around).

 

In Victoria, we took a cab into town and walked around on an impromptu pub crawl. We had a good time.

 

Naturalist: Our naturalist was Michael Modzelewski who was very good and knowledgeable but a bit dramatic.

 

Shows: We didn't really go to any of the production shows, but did catch the International Crew Show which was fun. In a twist, they started off with the "If I were not upon the sea" number and ended with a very funny "Fountains" number. Hilarious.

 

Food: We had late seating in the Canaletto dining room. Our waiters were efficient and the food was good. We didn't send anything back and enjoyed every meal. We ate in the buffet only twice, much preferring to grab a snack from the International Cafe. We also did Pub Lunch on the first sea day.

 

Platinum/Elite lounge: We made a point of making the lounge every evening and enjoyed the appetizers and drinks.

 

Most Traveled Cocktail Party: My partner was invited to the Cocktail Party (he was middle of the pack with about 250 days!) and invited me. The food was great and the free drinks were nicer! :p We did spend some time talking with Sammi the CD (she said that she's retiring soon), Rosie the Captain's Circle Host and Captain Calabrese. It was very nice.

 

Disembarkation: Quick and efficient. We had transfers back to the airport and were off the ship by 9am.

 

Post-cruise: We booked a room at the Coast Gateway at Sea-Tac and once we got back to the airport, took their free shuttle to the hotel. It was a good hotel and was just a few blocks from the Sounder light-rail station. We were really impressed by the ease by which we could get around in Seattle. The light-rail went all the way from the airport, past the stadiums and into downtown. (For someone from Los Angeles where you can basically do none of that, it was amazing. :) ) We got a CityPass and actually got to all six venues (Argosy harbor cruise, Space Needle, Experience Music Project, Seattle Aquarium, Science Museum and Museum of Flight) that were offered in the next three days. We had fun and it was great to explore a new town. We also rode the monorail, ate at the Pike Place Market and walked around town. The weather was perfect and only rained a bit on our last day.

 

All in all, it was a great vacation. Questions, concerns? Let me know. I'm still uploading pictures to Flickr and will post a few here in the next few days.

[CruiseAdict218]

Awesome review, I've been dying to see a review for this ship for days now, lol. Other than a bit of tape, how was her condition?

[Jasperdo]

Thanks for the nice review. We did this cruise on the Golden last year, except that it went to Glacier Bay. We did go to Tracy Arm on the Star a few years ago, and I thought it was spectacular as well. It's quite a different experience from Glacier Bay. But I enjoyed it just as much. It's amazing that a large cruise ship can travel up that winding, narrow fjord.

 

I have to agree with you about the naturalist. We had Michael last year. He was very knowledgeable and interesting. But he had a style of talking that irritated me after awhile.

 

Glad to hear that staggered boarding was not enforced in Seattle. You really lucked into good weather. The weather here now is back to what we call Juneuary. Today was cloudy and in the 50's. And the reason the sailaway is silent is because the people who live up on the hill from Pier 91 complained about all the noise the cruise ships were making.

[PathfinderEss]

Nice review, thanks for posting.

[RickEk]

Awesome review, I've been dying to see a review for this ship for days now, lol. Other than a bit of tape, how was her condition?

 

Well, overall, her condition was great considering her age. There were just minor things like the tape, some rust here and there, a ceiling panel missing here and there. Really, just normal wear and tear that maybe they didn't have time to work on during the drydock. On the plus side, the crew was constantly maintaining the ship... rails were being varnished, balconies were being washed down, the hull was being painted, windows were being cleaned, etc.

 

Thanks for the nice review. We did this cruise on the Golden last year, except that it went to Glacier Bay. We did go to Tracy Arm on the Star a few years ago, and I thought it was spectacular as well. It's quite a different experience from Glacier Bay. But I enjoyed it just as much. It's amazing that a large cruise ship can travel up that winding, narrow fjord.

 

I have to agree with you about the naturalist. We had Michael last year. He was very knowledgeable and interesting. But he had a style of talking that irritated me after awhile.

 

Glad to hear that staggered boarding was not enforced in Seattle. You really lucked into good weather. The weather here now is back to what we call Juneuary. Today was cloudy and in the 50's. And the reason the sailaway is silent is because the people who live up on the hill from Pier 91 complained about all the noise the cruise ships were making.

 

Yeah, Tracy Arm was really spectacular. When Star Princess came around the bend, it put the whole thing into perspective. Those giant ships were tiny compared to the fjord walls. Amazing.

 

I know what you mean about Michael. He really worked the ... ... ... dramatic pause. :)

 

And yeah, I've heard about the folks above Pier 91...

 

Oh, and one other thing that I wanted to mention is that there was live music everywhere on the ship. Sometimes there was a jazz combo in the Piazza, sometimes just a pianist. The bands were okay in Explorers and better in the Wheelhouse. 'Twas fun to stumble upon a great performance...

[vivavegas]

Nice review! Glad you had a great cruise!

[caribill]

 

Shows: We didn't really go to any of the production shows, but did catch the International Crew Show which was fun. In a twist, they started off with the "If I were not upon the sea" number and ended with a very funny "Fountains" number. Hilarious.

 

 

Yes, the "Fountains" is hilarious and a nice change from the "If I Were Not Upon the Sea" which you saw also.

 

I think Sammi's staff thought this one up for the first time on the Star in March. Glad she has introduced it to another ship.

[JWJs]

I enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for posting. :)

[erewhon]

Great review, which I enjoyed reading.

Thank you.

[Vanilla]

Thank you for posting your review. We will be on the Golden in August.

[antmaril]

Thanks for your review. It was very interesting to me, since I will be on the Golden next Saturday.

[OperaJoe]

Many thanks for the very nice review! We were on the Golden last September for the same cruise, except we went to Glacier Bay National Park instead of Tracy Arm Fjord. Which one do you prefer? Your experience was very similar to ours last fall, but you had nicer weather! Our Sept. trip had periodic rain, sometimes quite heavy, particularly on the Glacier Bay Scenic Cruising. Also saw the international show and enjoyed it enormously.....

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

I leaVe Sunday on the star. I am excited to see Tracy arm again. I am bummed we don't get Michael. He is my favorite. Sunday can't get here fast enough.

[stellalimelight]

Since I live in Seattle, I will tell you that it was definitely the people that live in Magnolia neighborhood overlooking the pier that complained about the sail-away noise. If they had their way, they wouldn't want the ships to leave from Pier 91 at all. They tried to get them to let them only start the sail-away music for only 1 hour before the ship left, but they would not even agree to that. So now they wait until the are around the bend before they start up the music, if they even do that anymore.

[Cruiserkenn]

Thanks for your review. Your thoughts are always appreciated.

 

Special thanks for mentioning that there was no sign of staggered boarding. Fantastic!

 

Thanks again.

[Ship Dude]

Thanks for the review. Questions - what time did you get on the Blue Bus? How long were you at the Glacier? How long is the hikle to the Waterfall? And, what time did you leave the Glacier?

[hogwildcruzers]

Hi Rick!....nice review and glad y'all had a great time, we will be on the Golden late August doing the same itinerary, Karen and Nelson from our Sapphire cruise will be joining us.....one question about the light rail into town, how far from the airport do you have to go to catch it?.......also, what is the price?

[TracieABD]

I loved this cruise on the Golden when I did it two years ago!

Great review!, Thanks, Rick. :)

[RickEk]

Since I live in Seattle, I will tell you that it was definitely the people that live in Magnolia neighborhood overlooking the pier that complained about the sail-away noise. If they had their way, they wouldn't want the ships to leave from Pier 91 at all. They tried to get them to let them only start the sail-away music for only 1 hour before the ship left, but they would not even agree to that. So now they wait until the are around the bend before they start up the music, if they even do that anymore.

 

No, completely silent sailaway. They held the party downstairs in the Piazza.

 

Thanks for the review. Questions - what time did you get on the Blue Bus? How long were you at the Glacier? How long is the hikle to the Waterfall? And, what time did you leave the Glacier?

 

We arrived at twelve and we were off the ship around 1pm. There are kiosks at the dock where you can buy a ticket for the Blue (or White) bus. The hike to the waterfall from the Visitor's Center is about 20 minutes or so. The trails were in better shape than when we were there 2 years ago. Be aware that the trail we took was only to the waterfall. There is a much longer trail that goes up and around to the Glacier itself (or so I assume). We took a couple of other trails that started in the parking lot too. All very scenic. All told, we spent about 3 hours walking around.

 

Hi Rick!....nice review and glad y'all had a great time, we will be on the Golden late August doing the same itinerary, Karen and Nelson from our Sapphire cruise will be joining us.....one question about the light rail into town, how far from the airport do you have to go to catch it?.......also, what is the price?

 

Hey there! How y'all doing?! :) The light rail begins at Sea-Tac. You can walk to it from within the airport. It was $2.75 one way from Sea-Tac to the end at Westlake station which is in the heart of downtown. Have a great cruise!

[bdjam]

Thanks for the review - will be doing the Glacier Bay version of the cruise in August. Nice to hear about Golden Princess - but - any pictures? :)

[sherryf]

No, completely silent sailaway. They held the party downstairs in the Piazza.

 

What?! Was it raining hard enough that they took the party indoors?? :eek:

 

I have been on the Star and Golden out of Pier 91 the past 3 summers, and they have always had the sailaway party on deck. They have started the music when we are a little way from shore, usually starting with Orinoco Flow by Enya. I really hope they won't be doing the party in the Piazza this year. What's the point of that when you can't even see where you are going?! I will be on deck, party or not!

[highheel girl]

What?! Was it raining hard enough that they took the party indoors?? :eek:

 

I have been on the Star and Golden out of Pier 91 the past 3 summers, and they have always had the sailaway party on deck. They have started the music when we are a little way from shore, usually starting with Orinoco Flow by Enya. I really hope they won't be doing the party in the Piazza this year. What's the point of that when you can't even see where you are going?! I will be on deck, party or not!

 

It was quiet on the Star last week. :(

[lovevacadays]

Nice to hear you had a great cruise!

[RickEk]

Many thanks for the very nice review! We were on the Golden last September for the same cruise, except we went to Glacier Bay National Park instead of Tracy Arm Fjord. Which one do you prefer? Your experience was very similar to ours last fall, but you had nicer weather! Our Sept. trip had periodic rain, sometimes quite heavy, particularly on the Glacier Bay Scenic Cruising. Also saw the international show and enjoyed it enormously.....

 

Well, now that we've seen both, I'd have to say that Glacier Bay was a bit more spectacular because we were able to get right up next to Marjorie Glacier. Maybe if we'd gone later in the season this year, we would have made it to Sawyer Glacier. But don't get me wrong, the fjord is amazing!

 

Thanks for the review - will be doing the Glacier Bay version of the cruise in August. Nice to hear about Golden Princess - but - any pictures? :)

 

Still uploading pictures... I ended up taking thousands of photos and some vids.

 

What?! Was it raining hard enough that they took the party indoors?? :eek:

 

I have been on the Star and Golden out of Pier 91 the past 3 summers, and they have always had the sailaway party on deck. They have started the music when we are a little way from shore, usually starting with Orinoco Flow by Enya. I really hope they won't be doing the party in the Piazza this year. What's the point of that when you can't even see where you are going?! I will be on deck, party or not!

 

No rain at all in Seattle. 'Twas a beautiful day, but the band was downstairs. I stayed upstairs for awhile waiting for the party to start once we had sailed away, but nothing. Had to rush downstairs to put my treasure hunt card in the hopper just as they were starting the draw. (One of our party did win a free Reflections DVD!).

[sherryf]

No rain at all in Seattle. 'Twas a beautiful day, but the band was downstairs. I stayed upstairs for awhile waiting for the party to start once we had sailed away, but nothing. Had to rush downstairs to put my treasure hunt card in the hopper just as they were starting the draw. (One of our party did win a free Reflections DVD!).

 

That is seriously disappointing! I will skip the party and be on deck anyway. The whole point is to watch as the ship sails out of port. I don't want to be inside!