Golden Princess...what to expect?

[First Time PR]

We are booked on board the Golden Princess for an alaska cruise during June 2014. First time on Princess, first time in Alaska.

 

What can we expect from the boat? Any recommendations, thoughts, experiences?

[Colo Cruiser]

The Golden is excellent, Crown Grill, International Cafe, Skywalkers, and Sabatinis to name a few.

Good choice.

[brentlym]

The Golden is in very good shape considering her age. All Princess ships, to me, have that familiar look and feel, so I think we tend (at least I do) to notice the minor details. It's a bit trivial, but the cabin could have used a bit of a deep cleaning and freshening up, but that's the only negative thing I noticed. Enjoy your cruise!

[pathi]

Expect to have a great time! We did this cruise in September last year and it was my favorite.

 

The itinerary was fun, the food was really good. Entertainment was good also. If you have not done the ultimate ships tour I would recommend it. Very interesting to see behind the scenes.

 

We also spent about an hour on the bridge as part of this tour. Had a good conversation with the Captain about wines we enjoyed.

[skynight]

We are booked on board the Golden Princess for an alaska cruise during June 2014. First time on Princess, first time in Alaska.

 

What can we expect from the boat? Any recommendations, thoughts, experiences?

 

Here is some general information which has been standard for Princess.

Dining Choices @ no extra charge

MDR one open for breakfast each day and lunch on sea days. Open on boarding day from noon to 1:30.

Afternoon tea in one of the DR’s each day.

International Café, open 24 hours, paninis, soup, salads, desserts, cont. breakfast items, late night snacks. One of our favorite spots.

Vines wine bar, no extra charge for sushi and tapas with the purchase of a drink.

Crown Grill, pub lunch on some sea days

Horizon Ct. Buffet, open from 6am until around 11pm. Prego Pizza, Trident Grill, Sundaes Soft Ice Cream Bar, these will open around 11am and close sometime in the evening, maybe 9pm.

 

 

Surcharge Dining includes

Crown Grill, Steak, Chops, Seafood. Sabatini’s Italian. Also the Chef’s Table and a breakfast and dinner balcony dining experience. Some ships no offer the Crab Shack in the evening in the buffet area. Reservation recommended for surcharge dining venues. Make reservation once on board.

 

Boarding: Go directly to your cabin it will be ready. Muster is held in the lounges on decks 7 and 6 and not outside. Carry; don’t wear your life jacket to the drill. You will be instructed to put it on at the drill. If you want a seat arrive 5 to 10 mins early.

 

Evening activities; live music in the lounges, including Explorers Lounge, Wheelhouse Bar, Crooner’s, sometimes the Vista lounge, Skywalker’s will have a DJ starting around 9:30 or 10pm. The cruise staff will also have planned parties, game shows, trivia games, theme nights, karaoke, and all the standard stuff. There will be production shows as well as guest entertainers. Shows will be in both the Theater and the Vista Lounge. You probably will not be able to see them all and still do other things. You will have to select which ones you wish to see. There is also live music in the afternoon and evening in the Piazza.

 

Princess will also have all the standard daytime activities. All activities, as well as dining and bar hours are shown in the Princess Patter.

 

The Golden has an indoor pool, Calypso Reef, with conservatory above which is nice for Alaska.

 

 

 

Best views are up on the open decks.

 

 

Hope this information is helpful. Any specific questions, just ask, someone on CC will know the answer.

[First Time PR]

Here is some general information which has been standard for Princess.

Dining Choices @ no extra charge

MDR one open for breakfast each day and lunch on sea days. Open on boarding day from noon to 1:30.

Afternoon tea in one of the DR’s each day.

International Café, open 24 hours, paninis, soup, salads, desserts, cont. breakfast items, late night snacks. One of our favorite spots.

Vines wine bar, no extra charge for sushi and tapas with the purchase of a drink.

Crown Grill, pub lunch on some sea days

Horizon Ct. Buffet, open from 6am until around 11pm. Prego Pizza, Trident Grill, Sundaes Soft Ice Cream Bar, these will open around 11am and close sometime in the evening, maybe 9pm.

 

 

Surcharge Dining includes

Crown Grill, Steak, Chops, Seafood. Sabatini’s Italian. Also the Chef’s Table and a breakfast and dinner balcony dining experience. Some ships no offer the Crab Shack in the evening in the buffet area. Reservation recommended for surcharge dining venues. Make reservation once on board.

 

Boarding: Go directly to your cabin it will be ready. Muster is held in the lounges on decks 7 and 6 and not outside. Carry; don’t wear your life jacket to the drill. You will be instructed to put it on at the drill. If you want a seat arrive 5 to 10 mins early.

 

Evening activities; live music in the lounges, including Explorers Lounge, Wheelhouse Bar, Crooner’s, sometimes the Vista lounge, Skywalker’s will have a DJ starting around 9:30 or 10pm. The cruise staff will also have planned parties, game shows, trivia games, theme nights, karaoke, and all the standard stuff. There will be production shows as well as guest entertainers. Shows will be in both the Theater and the Vista Lounge. You probably will not be able to see them all and still do other things. You will have to select which ones you wish to see. There is also live music in the afternoon and evening in the Piazza.

 

Princess will also have all the standard daytime activities. All activities, as well as dining and bar hours are shown in the Princess Patter.

 

The Golden has an indoor pool, Calypso Reef, with conservatory above which is nice for Alaska.

 

 

 

Best views are up on the open decks.

 

 

Hope this information is helpful. Any specific questions, just ask, someone on CC will know the answer.

 

 

Thank you!!!! This is fantastic inormation!

 

 

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[First Time PR]

Expect to have a great time! We did this cruise in September last year and it was my favorite.

 

The itinerary was fun, the food was really good. Entertainment was good also. If you have not done the ultimate ships tour I would recommend it. Very interesting to see behind the scenes.

 

We also spent about an hour on the bridge as part of this tour. Had a good conversation with the Captain about wines we enjoyed.

 

 

I hope to have as much fun as you did! I'm on edge about the tour because of the price

 

 

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[First Time PR]

The Golden is in very good shape considering her age. All Princess ships, to me, have that familiar look and feel, so I think we tend (at least I do) to notice the minor details. It's a bit trivial, but the cabin could have used a bit of a deep cleaning and freshening up, but that's the only negative thing I noticed. Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Thanks! Hope our cabin is clean!

 

 

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[First Time PR]

The Golden is excellent, Crown Grill, International Cafe, Skywalkers, and Sabatinis to name a few.

Good choice.

 

 

We got a specialty dinner included in our fare but I believe Princess chooses for us...I'm hoping for the Crown Grill!!

 

 

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[brentlym]

Thanks! Hope our cabin is clean!

 

 

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So sorry. Didn't mean to make you think it wouldn't be clean. :eek: It will be spotless when you arrive. The cabin was just well used and needed a bit of a facelift. It was minor and certainly didn't detract from the cruise.

[KatSt]

Hi Everyone.

 

It's also my first time on Princess and I'll be cruising Alaska with Glacier Bay on the Golden Princess.

 

The search engine isn't working so I have a few questions.

 

What nights will the formal nights be?

Do they server Lobster in the dining room on formal nights?

 

Thanks.

Edited March 5, 2014 by KatSt

[pathi]

I hope to have as much fun as you did! I'm on edge about the tour because of the price

 

 

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Remeber that it comes with a lot of extra's. A robe, princess apron, personalized notepad with your name on it. Several pictures and a really nice picture frame also.

 

Only problem is getting all that stuff in your bag!

[pathi]

Hi Everyone.

 

It's also my first time on Princess and I'll be cruising Alaska with Glacier Bay on the Golden Princess.

 

The search engine isn't working so I have a few questions.

 

What nights will the formal nights be?

Do they server Lobster in the dining room on formal nights?

 

Thanks.

 

on 1 of the formal nights they had the Lobster tails. I think the dish had Jumbo Shrimp and a lobster tail. You can ask for more.

 

We had dinner in the Crown Grill 1 night and I think the lobster there was much better. I think it was a few bucks extra to add the lobster.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes lobster on one of the formal nights.

[skynight]

We got a specialty dinner included in our fare but I believe Princess chooses for us...I'm hoping for the Crown Grill!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yes, that is what it says on my booking also. But, I believe if you don't like what they select you could call the dine line or see the Head Waiter to arrange for the different time/place. Keep that in mind.

[Gunner22aa]

You can expect:

 

good food

great service

spectacular scenery

 

I board the Golden in 27 days and spend 31 days on her.

[sherryf]

Hi Everyone.

 

It's also my first time on Princess and I'll be cruising Alaska with Glacier Bay on the Golden Princess.

 

The search engine isn't working so I have a few questions.

 

What nights will the formal nights be?

Do they server Lobster in the dining room on formal nights?

 

Thanks.

 

Your formal nights will be on the first sea day (2nd night) and the day you leave Ketchikan (6th night). Lobster will be served the 2nd formal night.

[Paula_MacFan]

Remeber that it comes with a lot of extra's. A robe, princess apron, personalized notepad with your name on it. Several pictures and a really nice picture frame also.

 

Only problem is getting all that stuff in your bag!

 

You're not kidding!! We did the tour last year and it's a good thing we were driving home from port and not flying. We got 2 robes, 2 HUGE frames (I think 16x20, packed in boxes), 2 aprons, and assorted other goodies. There is no way we would have fit the robes and frames in our suitcases with the weight limits imposed by the airlines.

 

But the tour was so fun and totally worth it!

[First Time PR]

Hi Everyone.

 

It's also my first time on Princess and I'll be cruising Alaska with Glacier Bay on the Golden Princess.

 

The search engine isn't working so I have a few questions.

 

What nights will the formal nights be?

Do they server Lobster in the dining room on formal nights?

 

Thanks.

 

 

When are you cruising? We are on the June 14 sailing.

 

 

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[Cruisin' Chick]

We were on the Golden Princess our last two cruises: the two week RTs from LA to Hawaii.

 

As stated above, when you first get on board, you'll be directed to your cabin. You can check out the Patter (the daily newsletter; the first day's will list the order of the formal/smart casual dinners, give a summary of some of the entertainment and movies on the MUTS screen -- hopefully you'll get a chance to snuggle under a blanket on deck on watch. Remember that it'll get dark later on so you might get some nice weather while the sun is still up).

 

The one piece of info to look for right away is when the muster drill will take place. If you're exploring the ship in the meantime, you'll need to return to your cabin and retrieve your life jackets. Those get carried to your station (which will be in one of the lounges or theaters), your cabin card gets scanned, and hopefully you'll find seats.

 

After that, return the jackets to your cabin, and the cruise begins in earnest.

 

Your dining info (if you got a specialty restaurant as part of your booking), should be on the desk.

 

If you find a large drawing of the Golden, please try to take a photo and note where you found it. On my last cruise, I presented a drawing, made by a young man who's currently studying for a maritime career in England, but he has been drawing ships for the past few years and gotten online friends to present to the captain.

 

Here's the presentation to the captain, which will give you an idea of how large the drawing is:

 

I was told a frame was going to made for the drawing and it will be displayed on the ship. So I'm curious to know if it is visible to passengers and where it ended up.

 

As for Alaska (we did the RT from Seattle on the Sapphire), make sure to set your alarm early for the glacial cruising. You'll won't want to miss any of this. There will be a naturalist on board narrating what you can see. Many will be on an open deck, while those with balconies might be on theirs (but I'm not sure you can hear the narration).

 

Be sure to check out the International Cafe. It's not enclosed, but a set of display cases on the Piazza, which is the bottom of the Grand Atrium (Plaza deck). A good place for a quick nibble or a yummy dessert (I love the chocolate chip cookies).

[Colo Cruiser]

Wow what a cool drawing!

[KatSt]

Thanks for everyone's responses. I'm really looking forward to Alaska.