Review Golden to Alaska Aug 30-Sept 6, 2014

[jsiegel]

This was my fifth cruise to Alaska. I was traveling with friends from high school who were celebrating a milestone birthday this year. This was a seven night round trip from Seattle.

 

I flew into Seattle the morning of the cruise. I had pre-booked a shared shuttle from the airport to the pier with Shuttle Express ($22 plus tip). Following their directions to their service desk, I was whisked away in a large comfortable van within minutes of arriving. After a brief stop to let off passengers at Pier 66, we were on to Pier 91. The van arrived at the cruise terminal a little after 11 a.m. I dropped off my luggage at the security scanners inside and then backtracked to the check-in lines. I had Priority Check-in so was able to bypass the line that was already forming. After filling out the health form I was directed to the priority check-in line where I waited less than a minute for an agent. I overheard the agents telling passengers that they could have lunch in the Horizon Court. No mention was made of lunch in the main dining room.

 

They began boarding the ship at around 11:40 a.m. I ran into a few other people in my party and we agreed to meeting for lunch in the main dining room at 12:30. We had a lovely lunch in the sparsely filled Donatello dining room (deck 6 mid-ship.)

 

Cabin - I had booked an inside cabin but five days before sailing I was upgraded to an obstructed oceanview handicap cabin. The cabin is very spacious with lots of storage space. The shower is very large. The location on Emerald deck was great, close to practically every place I wanted to be. It was right across from the forward elevators so at times I could hear people talking, but my sleep was never disturbed. I did have to try to remember to go mid-ship before going down to the Promenade deck to avoid going through the smoky casino.

 

Dining -

 

I’ve now been on enough Princess cruises that I know what to expect in the dining room and which dishes I enjoy. I had no disappointments with appetizers or entrees. I enjoyed most of my dessert choices too but the ice cream has changed. I don’t know if it was just this ship or new recipes fleet-wide but every flavor I ordered was white and just plain sweet. Espresso; white and sweet, no coffee flavor at all. Nectarine; white and sweet, no fruit flavor at all. I was very disappointed in the ice creams and gave up ordering them.

 

Horizon Court - other than a quick entry to get a container of yogurt and a banana for breakfast, I only ate lunch there once, on a port day. It was very congested so I only got a serving of curry. The far corner usually has Indian food so isn’t as crowded. Good thing I like curries. The Horizon Court really needs to be remodeled to add a dessert station outside of the main area.

 

One of our party took a Princess fishing excursion and caught a salmon. He was given the option of having the fish delivered to the ship and prepared for dinner in the dining room. He selected “chef’s choice” as the preparation method. Phenomenal. The whole fish was roasted with vegetables and presented on a huge platter. The head waiter carefully deboned and served our table. That dinner was quite a delicious event.

 

Chocolate Journeys - I had two opportunities to try the new Chocolate Journeys by Chef Norman Love. One for dessert at the Crown Grill and the other on the second formal night. Both were beautiful to look at but not all that special to eat. I guess I was expecting a dessert more sophisticated than peanut butter and chocolate

 

Juneau - Many of my friends went on a whale watch excursion and saw a lot of whales. Even though it was raining, I decided to walk to the Last Chance Mining Museum, 2.42 miles one way from ship. Admission to this small mining museum is only $5. While interesting, it is not necessarily a must-see museum unless you have an interest in the gold mining industry in Alaska. The museum was not very well curated, there were not many signs explaining the artifacts there.

 

Skagway - We were in port all day. Most of the people in my group took the train and enjoyed it but were disappointed that it was cloudy so the scenery not visible. I took a naturalist’s (from another cruise) recommendation and walked to the Gold Rush Cemetery and Lower Reid falls, 2.69 miles one way from ship. The walk was mostly flat and worth it. The falls are very nice. I also stopped at many of the landmarks in town following an historic walking tour. I found the tour online.

 

Glacier Bay - there was not much calving but the weather was perfect for viewing glaciers. We saw many sea otters in the bay.

 

Ketchikan - I did the “Newtown and West End Walking Tour.” You can pick up the brochure at the Visitors Center on the pier. The brochure is produced by Historic Ketchikan Inc. and also contains a Downtown Walking Tour. I had done the downtown tour (recommended) on an earlier trip so concentrated on the Newtown/West End Tour this time. After going through the tunnel I was immediately away from all the cruise ship passengers and amongst the locals.

 

Victoria - we arrived around 7 p.m. and it was already getting dusky outside. Some of my friends took the double decker bus tour and were disappointed that they could not see much once the sun went down.

 

Returning from the pier to the airport I used Seattle Express for $12 plus tip. They are not allowed to pick up at the airport, else I would have used them to the pier. A shuttle was waiting when I approached shuttle stop R and I was one of the last people to board the comfortable van.

 

Jackie

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your comments.

[zephyrella14]

Thank you for the review! I'm so excited for my trip next summer. Its great the chefs cooked your salmon and served it too! My husband would love that. What excursion was it and how does that work? If you catch it, they cook it?

[jsiegel]

Thank you for the review! I'm so excited for my trip next summer. Its great the chefs cooked your salmon and served it too! My husband would love that. What excursion was it and how does that work? If you catch it, they cook it?

 

He was on the Salmon Sportfishing Expedition in Ketchikan (KTN550). The description says "Your catch can be processed locally and shipped to your home for an additional charge, or cooked on board for dinner (limit one fish per person) - it's your choice"

[shredie]

The salmon thing sounds like an excellent idea. I had wondered what people did with the fish they caught on those excursions.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your thought on your recent journey. Sounds like it was a great cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for posting your review.

 

I think I am confused about the Norman Love chocolate experience. I didn't realize the Golden already had these chocolate treats available. I thought it was just rolled out to the Regal and would be rolled out to other ships next year. Most likely it is my bad memory.

 

I hope I will be able to try his chocolates on my Golden cruise in November.

[jsiegel]

Thank you for posting your review.

 

I think I am confused about the Norman Love chocolate experience. I didn't realize the Golden already had these chocolate treats available. I thought it was just rolled out to the Regal and would be rolled out to other ships next year. Most likely it is my bad memory.

 

I hope I will be able to try his chocolates on my Golden cruise in November.

 

I didn't expect the new Norman Love chocolate creations on this cruise either but they were prominently noted as being part of the "Chocolate Journeys" Since they were printed on the menus, I imagine you'll have an opportunity to try them in November.

[DVCTiff]

Thanks for your review as we'll be taking similar cruise next summer but on the Ruby.

 

If this was your only trip to Alaska, which excursions would you choose?