Review: Golden Princess Around the Horn 2/15-3/1

[Cauzneffct]

Background:

 

My wife and I are in our early thirties. This was our third Princess cruise together. We got engaged on our first (Alaska) and our second was our honeymoon (Baltic Sea).

 

Travel/Embarkation:

 

We used Princess Air and had no problems. Due to work commitments, we had to fly out on 2/14 and arrived in Santiago on 2/15, the morning of departure. We had set up a transfer tour through South Excursions which took us on a quick tour of Santiago, stopped at Bodegas RE winery in the Casablanca Valley, and then to lunch in Vina del Mar. Traffic was a bit heavy heading to the coast, so we only had a quick walk through upper Valparaiso and were at embarkation around 4. Zero problems checking in and our late(ish) arrival meant we didn't have any lines.

 

Alcohol Policy Enforcement:

 

We bought a couple of bottles of wine at the winery en route which we intended to (and did) take back home with us, and I was curious if they would offer to store them, if I could take them on w/o fees, or if I would be assessed the $15 corkage on the second bottle (I was carrying both to see what they'd do; had they asked for corkage we would have just split them between us). In the end, they didn't bat an eye. I don't think that they even looked at the screen when the bags went through the scanner.

 

I bought a 4-pack and a 3-pack of Austral and Hernando de Magellenes beer in Punta Arenas (again to take home) which were logged and returned to us the last night. The woman behind us brought a bottle of wine on board and was referred to the alcohol table. I'm not sure if she was able to convince them that wine was ok or not.

 

I bought a 3-pack of Beagle beer in Ushuaia and we bought 5 bottles of wine in Uruguay and these were let through no questions asked.

 

In short, it seems that enforcement is uneven even within the trip itself.

 

State Of The Ship:

 

Nothing major. They replaced the carpet in some of the elevators during the trip. Many of the tables in the HC were cracked, but it wasn't a big deal to us. Some wear and tear, but overall we thought she looked great.

 

Dining:

 

We'd done traditional dining in the past and this was our first time using anytime. Without the "pressure" (or "motivation") of Traditional, we ended up only going to the dining room once and just used the buffet, or pizza, or IC, or room service for most of our meals. We did try the Crab Shack and Crown Grill both of which were very good and worth the surcharge. We also did the pub lunch a couple days.

 

Weather:

 

Pretty good., Most port days were at least partly sunny and while it was cool/cold/rainy the further south we went, we had packed accordingly. The seas weren't to bad either, never getting above "moderate" if memory serves, even around the Horn. By the time we made it up to Puerto Madryn, I was back in shorts.

 

Entertainment:

 

We went to two shows: a comedy show (in the Vista Lounge) and the magician (in the Theater). Both were good. We did trivia a couple of times, watched a couple of MUTS (Captain Phillips and Gravity) and had a good time keeping busy. I will say that there must have been something wrong with the casino since I ended up losing about $100 at craps.

 

Debarkation/Travel:

 

We did a debark tour and had no problems getting off the ship and our bags met us at the airport. Our flight was cancelled, but we were able to re-route and made it back home on time.

 

Overall:

 

We really enjoyed ourselves. The only nit-picky negatives were that the Patter didn't have the opening times for many of the bars (only those on 5-7 and Outriggers, and the latter's times didn't seem to always be accurate), so if we were in Skywalkers reading during the day and wanted a drink, it was hit or miss as to what was open. Also, I found the bartenders' desire to build rapport through up-selling or deal-searching to be a bit much. If I ask for a beer or a scotch, give me what I ask for, don't try and figure out if there's a way to get me a double for $2 more or try to convince me that I should get a bucket of beers. Again, very minor stuff that didn't impact our cruise.

 

 

If people have questions about what we did in the specific ports, I'd be happy to answer them.

[TracieABD]

Thank you for the review! I did this cruise last year and it was one of my all time favorites.

 

Did you make it to the Falklands?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your comments.

[Cauzneffct]

Thank you for the review! I did this cruise last year and it was one of my all time favorites.

 

Did you make it to the Falklands?

 

We did! We went up to Volunteer Point with Patrick Watts to see the penguins and it was pretty remarkable.

[gingera]

Thanks for posting your comments!

[Mekamax]

Been looking at this cruise for awhile and would love to hear what you thought in the sense of was it worth it? Was going around the Horn as cool as it sounds? Did they do the ceremony that they do for those that go around the Horn? How were the Chilian Fords and the glaciers?

[Mekamax]

Also what would your thoughts be on adding the days to make it a full trip around from Ft. Lauderdale to LA?

[Cauzneffct]

Been looking at this cruise for awhile and would love to hear what you thought in the sense of was it worth it? Was going around the Horn as cool as it sounds? Did they do the ceremony that they do for those that go around the Horn? How were the Chilian Fords and the glaciers?

 

Going around the horn was pretty neat. They gave us certificates stating that we had gone round.

 

It was foggy/raining when we went through the fjords to Amalia Glacier (as well as through Beagle Channel). It was still impressive, but I would suggest Alaska if glaciers are what you're looking for.

 

As far as whether its worth it, it was for us. We had signed up for the Antarctica Landing excursion which was cancelled a couple of days before the trip due to lack of interest, and that was a bummer. We also had signed up for a private tour in Puerto Madryn where we were going to snorkel with the sea lions a Punta Tomba, but the tides and waves forced the company to cancel. So that was a bummer as well. But we still really enjoyed ourselves. We did the ship's excursion to the Osorno Volcano and it was one of the more remarkable experiences I've had. It was overcast and when we broke through the clouds and could look down at the sea of clouds covering Lake Llanquihue, it was amazing. The penguins on the Falklands were great. We did a private wine tour in Montevideo which was a lot of fun, and had great time bumming around Buenos Aires on our own.

 

We lucked out with the weather being pretty good generally, and we made all the ports, both of which are iffy on this itinerary.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Cauzneffct

[Cauzneffct]

Also what would your thoughts be on adding the days to make it a full trip around from Ft. Lauderdale to LA?

 

If you've got the $ and the time, go for it. If we'd had the time, I think we would have tacked on a couple of days on either end, either to do something like Machu Picchu or Iguazu, but we had to get back to work.

 

We had an inside cabin which was fine for the two of us for the 14 days. Im not sure if we would feel the same way if we'd gone from Ft. Lauderdale to LA.

[Mekamax]

Going around the horn was pretty neat. They gave us certificates stating that we had gone round.

 

It was foggy/raining when we went through the fjords to Amalia Glacier (as well as through Beagle Channel). It was still impressive, but I would suggest Alaska if glaciers are what you're looking for.

 

As far as whether its worth it, it was for us. We had signed up for the Antarctica Landing excursion which was cancelled a couple of days before the trip due to lack of interest, and that was a bummer. We also had signed up for a private tour in Puerto Madryn where we were going to snorkel with the sea lions a Punta Tomba, but the tides and waves forced the company to cancel. So that was a bummer as well. But we still really enjoyed ourselves. We did the ship's excursion to the Osorno Volcano and it was one of the more remarkable experiences I've had. It was overcast and when we broke through the clouds and could look down at the sea of clouds covering Lake Llanquihue, it was amazing. The penguins on the Falklands were great. We did a private wine tour in Montevideo which was a lot of fun, and had great time bumming around Buenos Aires on our own.

 

We lucked out with the weather being pretty good generally, and we made all the ports, both of which are iffy on this itinerary.

 

 

Did they do a ceremony along with giving the certificates when you went around the Horn?

 

The private wine tour in Montevideo sounds very interesting. Would you recommend it and the tour operators?

 

I want to make a list of your recommendations as I start putting this trip together. Any tips you can give would be great!

 

Think it would be fun to do this trip round trip US. Also the cost of the air would almost make it a wash... :eek:

 

Thanks!

[Mekamax]

If you've got the $ and the time, go for it. If we'd had the time, I think we would have tacked on a couple of days on either end, either to do something like Machu Picchu or Iguazu, but we had to get back to work.

 

We had an inside cabin which was fine for the two of us for the 14 days. Im not sure if we would feel the same way if we'd gone from Ft. Lauderdale to LA.

 

 

Were the seas rough to the point a cabin to the front of the ship might be too much?? Depending on cost it would probably be an inside or obstructed view Outside. Thought about an inside on Lido but they are at the very front of the ship. What do you think???

[Psychedout]

Thanks for the review, glad you had a great time. Our first cruise was on the Golden to Alaska and we have not stopped since :D

 

Hugh

[Cauzneffct]

Were the seas rough to the point a cabin to the front of the ship might be too much?? Depending on cost it would probably be an inside or obstructed view Outside. Thought about an inside on Lido but they are at the very front of the ship. What do you think???

 

We lucked out and the seas were pretty calm throughout. My wife got a little queasy between Puerto Montt and the fjords but was fine with some OTC meds from the on-board shop.

 

We were in Dolphin 717, so we were on 9 back of the aft elevators, and didn't notice much movement aside from a gentle rocking.

[Cauzneffct]

Did they do a ceremony along with giving the certificates when you went around the Horn?

 

The private wine tour in Montevideo sounds very interesting. Would you recommend it and the tour operators?

 

I want to make a list of your recommendations as I start putting this trip together. Any tips you can give would be great!

 

Think it would be fun to do this trip round trip US. Also the cost of the air would almost make it a wash... :eek:

 

Thanks!

 

The port guide had commentary as we went around the Horn, but there wasn't any ceremony that I recall. The certificates were in our mailbox later that afternoon.

 

The wine tour was with Ryan Hamilton who runs The Wine Experience. He offers several different tours, and we did The Wine Experience which started at around 8:30 am, went to 2 different wineries, and brought us back to port around 1pm, so we still had time to explore Montevideo. We really enjoyed it. Not only were the wines great, but we got to interact with the owners, which was really interesting. Highly recommended.

 

We did the Volunteer Point tour on the Falkland Islands through Patrick Watts, which was awesome. Highly recommended.

 

The sea lion snorkeling which was cancelled was through Lobo Larsen.

 

We did the wine transfer tour between Santiago and Valparaiso through South Excursions, which was also great. Our driver had been a limo driver in NYC for 20 years before heading home to Chile, so it was nice to have his commentary as well as the tour guide's.