Return to the seawitch: Golden 8/10/05 British Isles

[jsea]

Return to the seawitch:

Review of our first Princess cruise after a five-year hiatus

Golden Princess 10-day British Isles

• Wednesday 10 Aug - Southampton, England [embark]
  
• Thursday 11 Aug - at sea
  
• Friday 12 Aug - Dublin, Ireland
  
• Saturday 13 Aug - Holyhead, Wales
  
• Sunday 14 Aug - Belfast, Northern Ireland
  
• Monday 15 Aug - Greenock, Scotland (for Glasgow and Edinburgh Military Tattoo)
  
• Tuesday 16 Aug - at sea
  
• Wednesday 17 Aug - Kirkwall, Orkney Islands
  
• Thursday 18 Aug - South Queensferry, Scotland (for Edinburgh)
  
• Friday 19 Aug - at sea
  
• Saturday 20 Aug - Southampton [disembark]

 

Synopsis

 

• Anytime Dining [dinner in an hour and a half! Incredible!]
  
• Pools (especially swim-against-the-current pool and 24-hour opening times)
  
• Indoor pool very well done
  
• Princess embarkation, boarding, tendering, shorex, people-moving efficiency and skills still top-notch
  
• 24-hour dining
  
• Skywalkers
  
• Fitness Center free weights area [good equipment and three benches]
  
• Internet café
  
• Captain's Circle benefits [way better than RCI or Celebrity]
  
• Room steward efficiency/friendlieness
  
• 'Big ship choice, small ship feel' really true, in my opinion -- ship rarely felt crowded [usually only in the Horizon Court buffet area] and was very easy to get around even with far aft cabin location
  
• Entertainment -- we never went to the production shows but there were three or four comedians featured on our 10-day sailing -- two were very, very good!
  
• Mini-suite and Baja Deck balconies open to the sky
  
• Horizon Court staff friendliness and service
  
• Cabin soundproofing
  
• Overall ship condition
  
• Dublin
  
• Belfast
  
• Edinburgh
  
• Trip overall

 

• Horizon Court service area too small for number of passengers
  
• Is the Lotus Spa supposed to be Asian-themed? I think they threw up a horse and Buddha-esque statue and decided that was enough
  
• Ho-hum interior design
  
• Casino has to be one of the most unimaginative rooms I've seen on a ship
  
  
• Princess Theater bland as anything
  
  
• Why the glass elevators? You look at, what, a metal grille for three decks and then those monumentally cheesy bubble lights -- just awful

  
  

• Elevator lobby planning [better than Sun Class but still could stand some improvement. I think some people could never find Skywalkers because of the terrible design.]
  
• Casino location -- I'd rather be forced through the Casino than the inch-of-gold tables -- should have been given a Promenade Deck 7 address
  
• No MUTS [we really wanted to see what it was like]
  
• Holyhead

 

• Bedding and towels
  
• Doubly-daily public announcements regarding bingo
  
• Auction art cluttering public passages
  
• Inch-of-gold and t-shirt tables congesting main Promenade Deck 7 thoroughfares during peak times
  
• Photo-taking areas congesting main Promenade Deck 7 thoroughfares during peak times
  
• Doubling the size of photos by adding tacky ship facts in order to charge you $17+ for a 4x6
  

 

Introduction

This review will come piecemeal. The following is mainly background so for those of you looking for Golden and/or British Isles information you’re out of luck (for now). The first part is a little self-indulgent reminiscing on my part. Feel free to tell me how boring and/or wrong it is (for you gluttons for punishment who actually read it).

 

We started cruising in the early ‘90s. Princess was our first cruise line and we sailed them exclusively until 1996. We were a part of the unfolding of the ‘revolutionary’ Grand Class Cruising concept onboard Sun Princess’ inaugural in December of 1995. We loved Princess and were excited about the innovative concepts they had promised.

 

Well, our Sun Princess cruise left a little to be desired. After sailing the original Sky, original Star, Royal and Regal, something about ‘Grand Class Cruising’ didn’t seem to fit the ‘original’ Princess concept. Or, at least what was original to us. I think that a part of the problem was that we had become accustomed to what Princess was in the early ‘90s and were unable to adjust to the ways in which the line was changing in order to meet the demands of the market. I have to say that Princess seems to have planned well, designing Sun Class ships to accommodate Anytime Dining five years before the debut of the concept. The Princess which was party composed of the remnants of Sitmar was the Princess we liked best. Princess was a ‘premium mainstream’ line, a step above RCI and a couple above Carnival. Service levels were high and the staff was incredibly friendly. Cruising was more all-inclusive at the time. Advertising on board was kept to a lower level.

 

Ironically, our favorite ship, Star, wasn’t even a Princess design. Star Class vessels (Star, Crown, Regal) featured very roomy 180 square feet standard staterooms, an incredible Promenade Deck with high ceilings, very appropriate, elegant atriums, three elevator lobbies (and elevator groupings which made sense), along with other design features that really made the ships shine for their time.

 

Sun Princess came along, and, in our opinion, was a lot of hype about little special. She was much ballyhooed; including her pool ‘suspended’ between decks (riiiiight), two main showlounges, and her status as the then largest cruise ship afloat. We eagerly anticipated her debut and booked her inaugural a few days after returning from a very nice 1994/1995 New Year’s sailing on Regal. She was proceeding along so well in the shipyard that they tacked on two extra sailings (how often does that happen these days?). Our Christmas sailing came and we had a good time, but it was apparent that Sun Princess wasn’t designed like the Princess ships of the past (not surprising, I guess, considering that the Princess ships of the past weren’t Princess’ own). Standard sized rooms were tiny, albeit well designed. To get a room bigger than a closet you had to get a mini-suite, a jump from 150 square feet to 450+. Sure, there were a lot of balconies, but tiny ones cut out of the space from tiny rooms. Sun Princess had only two main elevator lobbies, a poor design choice in our opinion. Furthermore, the forward lobby design and layout was idiotic. I am not sure if Princess has remedied this yet, but if I recall correctly, the six forward elevators ran off of THREE call buttons. Due to this, elevator wait times were awful. People would press all two or more buttons in order to get a lift, only to slow down the process as multiple elevators were constantly being dispatched to the same level. I still want to know what designer thought this was a good idea.

 

To its credit, Sun Princess had a lot of great features, including a very usable wrap-around promenade, innovative 24-hour Horizon Court with buffet stations instead of lines, and finally, a fitness center with decent views.

 

After our Sun Princess cruise we strayed… Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Crystal, etc. Then came a very nice looking Panama Canal itinerary on Princess, Costa Rica to San Juan, on Sun Princess. We really weren’t hot to sail a Sun Class ship again, but the itinerary was of keen interest to us so we decided we’d try again. This was a 2000/2001 New Year’s sailing. At that point Princess still hadn’t unveiled Anytime Dining / Personal Choice Cruising, but it was well on its way with Dawn, Sea, Ocean and Grand having joined the fleet. By that point, the ‘premium’ Princess experience was gone. Extra charges were abundant and the gimmicky art auctions, etc., were becoming omnipresent. Now, many of the other lines are succumbing to this as well, and I certainly don’t blame them given price levels, but it came to a shock to us that Princess had strayed so much from its ‘core’ values (or, better said, values which we valued and not necessarily what the market wanted).

 

After that it was back to Celebrity and RCI. Then, when it came time to plan this summer’s vacation, we wanted to try something different. So we booked a Greek Isles cruise on Radisson. Unfortunately our ship was sold off and we had to look for alternate plans. We reluctantly booked a Viking river cruise on the Danube. After a couple months of thinking, we decided a river cruise was not for us and began a frantic last-minute search for other options. We were very keen on one of Pacific Princess’ summer Asian itineraries, but at 16-days it was impossible to get our seven different schedules to mesh. Most of the European sailings were sold out at that time. Then we stumbled across Golden Princess’ British Isles itinerary which featured many new ports for us. Desperate, we booked.

 

And here’s what happened…

 

 

Pre-cruise and embarkation

As usual, Princess is great with the shoreside, organizational stuff. Easy to fill-out online documents translated into no work once our paper docs arrived. Booking tours, filling out preferences, etc., was all a piece of cake. This was our first cruise with Princess under the new Captain’s Circle scheme so all the benefits were new to us.

 

We arrived at the pier around 10:45 in the morning (I can't remember ever getting to a ship so early -- our driver was topping 90 MPH on the way to So'ton -- only took an hour and a half). There were no lines at check-in. We signed the ‘no diarrhea’ form and inquired about upgrading one of our cabins but they said the ship was full. Not that we didn’t believe them, but a day and a half before the cruise we were told that there were open insides, minis and full suites. We went through security and were given boarding cards. We joined a group of probably 100 to 150 passengers seated in a waiting area. The demographics were definitely on the 60+ side. No more than two minutes later they called Platinum boarding and I’d guess that half the room got up. There was a couple in front of us pretty upset at the boarding agent as she said they did not have any wheelchairs as of yet and if they didn’t want to walk aboard that they’d have to wait. They grumbled for a while… I don’t know what they ended up doing.

 

Walking outside to the gangway we were required to get squirted with some hand sanitizer. That was the first time I had seen hand sanitizer used pre-boarding. A good idea, I guess, but why not at all ports? Why they wanted our hands nice and clean just on the first day didn’t make sense to me. For example, when we returned from the Edinburgh Military Tattoo tour where many passengers used filthy Port-A-Potties there was no hand sanitizer pre-boarding. To me, that would’ve been the time to clean us up good. Oh well.

 

We easily found our way to our cabins.

 

 

Staterooms

We had a couple balcony staterooms and a mini-suite for our family. While small, the balcony cabins were at least a bit bigger than the postage stamp-sized rooms on Sun Class vessels. Our Baja deck balcony was huge, a bit larger than the mini-suite balcony and partially covered. On Grand Class vessels Princess has smartly (in my opinion) returned to having a partial walk-in closet/passageway to the bathroom instead of a closet along the entranceway. This is much better than the Sun Class set up where the cabin door is often opened and banged against open closet doors. The bathroom was tiny. No surprise.

 

The mini-suite was nicely proportioned and had a decent-sized bathroom. The balcony was very nice. Other than that, the room was very, very bland. Typical, I guess, of the current Princess interior design school. I think there were two pieces of art for the walls. Several huge expanses of blank wall space could’ve used some sprucing up. Mirrors, art, anything. Celebrity and RCI do a much better job in this category, in my opinion. The bathroom could’ve used some brighter and better lighting.

 

The sheets, bedspread, towels, pillows and mattress were terrible. I am so glad that Princess is upgrading them soon. They really, really need it. Threadbare is the descriptive word. At the end of the cruise we got a survey on the mattress and bedding. I told them that they should apply this fleet-wide, and not just in mini-suite and suite accommodations. It’s really strange that Carnival is getting their Comfort Bed Sleep System fleet wide while the supposedly more upscale Princess is trudging along with threadbare sheets in standard accommodations. Regardless, we slept well, as we always seem to do at sea.

 

***

That's it for now... more to come soon.

[bdjam]

I’m reading your report with interest…looking forward to more…

[GottoCruise]

JSEA - Did you even bother to join in with the other (100+) CC posters onboard?? We had an interesting and diverse group aboard.....of course the itinerary was so Port intensive there really was no time to socialize......

Reading your review with interest....So far agree with everythig written! - Most comments have been argued here in depth - but it's conclusive that no other mass/intrmediate line does any better...in fact Princess seems to give more "bang for the buck" (especially if you're Elite) than the others...We can grouse all we like - it's not gonna change the way the mass market cruise industry is going....just too bad those of us "old cruisers" have so much to compare to..... I remember gas at 99c per gallon too.......

More?? Renee

[Coral]

Hi Jsea!

 

I have read more about bedding on this sailing than I have on any other sailing. It must have made a huge impact.

 

I am also anxiously waiting for the next chapter :)

 

theresa

[mii]

Very interesting review so far. Am anxiously waiting for more. Am sailing the Golden in 2007 so I am very much interested in the ship.

 

marilyn

[Coolmama_1]

We loved the Golden! Can't wait to hear more, especially about the Tattoo!

[jsea]

Sorry for the delay in adding to the review, I had to go out of town at the last minute yesterday but I'm back now and have a few sections which follow.

 

Ship Condition

Quite frankly, I was surprised by Golden’s condition. I am what you would call anal-retentive and I notice pretty much any wear and/or tear, even the really minor stuff. Compared to our 2000 cruise on the then five-year-old Sun Princess, the four-year-old Golden Princess appeared to be in much better repair. Cabin furnishings were clean, corridor carpeting was not noticeably worn, exterior paintwork was, for the most part, excellent, very little rust, and there wasn’t ugly grouting or tile issues around the pool. Because of my nit-picking nature, we always try to sail on very new ships. 4-years-old for us is actually pretty old, and even though it borders on illogical/unhealthy, we avoid ‘old’ ships as best we can. I’d much rather deal with early-on technical teething issues than be on a ship that’s obviously worn and in need of a lot of work. I know I need help. That being said, Golden was in great shape and she didn’t feel ‘old’ at all (I hesitate to refer to Golden as old because I know that probably peeves some readers). The carpeting in our hallway was changed out midway through the voyage. What puzzled me was that they replaced the standard port side red with a mainly-blue (still some touches of red) starboard side carpeting. The portions of the carpet which run along the wall for a few inches remained red. I have no idea why they did this as I didn't think the carpet looked worn in the first place. I also did not understand why they used primarily blue carpeting on a port corridor. Maybe they were out of red...

 

Bingo, announcements, tacky revenue streams, etc.

The twice-a-day bingo announcements while at sea were maddening. Sure, all the bingo players are subsidizing my next cruise, but almost all passengers are perfectly capable of reading the Patter! I’d be happy if they raised drink prices a buck or two (I had forgotten how cheap Princess’ drink prices are compared to many other lines) and eliminated all ‘sales’ public announcements. Heck, raise fares $100 across the board and get rid of auction art in the hallways, sales tables in the atrium, etc. I’m assuming that would not be a popular option.

 

Let me emphasize that I am not upset with Princess for succumbing to such mass market forces, but rather, sad that the market has ended up in this situation where tacky sales offers and propositions are needed on cruises in order to compensate for low fares.

 

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Certainly a highlight of the trip was the Tattoo. It was the one Princess tour for which we signed up due to the difficulty in securing tickets on our own and the logistics of getting to Edinburgh from Greenock and back at such a late hour. Due to our stupidity, we had it set in our minds that the Tattoo was to be attended during our last port-of-call, South Queensferry. The morning we arrived in Greenock we disembarked early and trained into Glasgow. We spent the morning as a familial unit, doing a bit of a walking tour and having lunch. While dining someone mentioned that he had talked to several people who were doing the Tattoo that night. I thought that was strange, as I was sure that, again, the port for the Tattoo was South Queensferry. We leisurely dined, assured that we had no tour later that evening. After lunch we split into four groups. Two for a little bit of shopping in Glasgow, two for who knows what, and two brothers who each went on their own.

 

I’m on the train back to Greenock and my cell phone starts vibrating. I answer the call.

 

“The Tattoo’s tonight!”

“What?!”

“Tonight! 4:30! Princess Theatre!”

“Where are you?”

“On the train.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Uhh… Glasgow.”

 

I looked at my watch. It was 3:40. I frantically began dialing. The party you are trying to reach is not available.

 

I hurriedly pecked out a text message.

 

Tattoo tonight. Return to pier ASAP. 5 o’clock no later.

 

I made it back onboard around 4:10 after a bit of the dust had settled. Everyone had been contacted but the last one to leave the city was on a 4:05 train. With stops, it takes around 40-45 minutes to reach the train station in Greenock. Then you have to make it to the pier.

 

We rushed down to the Princess Theatre and requested to be on the very last bus to leave, trying to overlook the fact that we couldn’t read our tour tickets with the date, time and port very clearly printed on them. We were given stickers for K19, the last bus, supposedly. By the time we were seated in the Theatre it was half-empty. They were on K12. Every few minutes a new bus was called. K13, K14, K15, K16. Uh oh. It’s 4:45. One of us got in a taxi and waited at the train station in order to rush the last family member back to the pier. K17, K18. At about that time, the tour coordinator came over and requested our K19 stickers back. Huh? “You’re now on K2,” she said. I looked at my cell phone. No service! Doh! I high-tailed it out of the Theatre and dialed.

 

“So sorry, didn’t realize I had no reception! Did you guys make it?”

“We’re on the pier. I’ve been trying to call you for the last five minutes.”

 

It all worked out so well. We were put on a bus for passengers needing wheelchairs and were fortunate to get special priorities at the Tattoo. We were bussed past thousands of attendees waiting along the Royal Mile and elsewhere in Edinburgh until the gates to the Esplanade and Castle opened for the event. We saw many Princess tour stickers affixed to the jackets of people lined up as we drove by. We pulled right into the Esplanade, just feet from our seats, and were let in before anyone else. We were also given seating in very good location.

 

I guess it goes to show that a little incompetence from time to time does pay off. :D

 

The drive to Edinburgh from Greenock took a couple of hours with a bathroom break along the way. Facilities at the event are extremely limited (a few Port-A-Potties that are biohazards by the end of the night). The tour was advertised as featuring no facilities so for those in the Small Bladder Club, fear not. You will be able to use the bathroom during the 8-hour excursion.

 

Driving into Edinburgh around sunset was incredible. The city has one of the most stunning collections of architecturally-significant structures that I’ve seen. The cityscape is almost as if it was taken from someone’s imagination.

 

Picture credit: Geographic Guide Europe

 

The Tattoo itself lasted around an hour and fifteen minutes (I think). Basically it was lots of military pageantry from across the globe. Lots of marching, music, etc., but also some surprises (for us, at least) like a children’s motorcycle stunt squad (called the Imps) and a fake jewel heist which spurns a Royal Marines shootout. The Imps were as young as four if I recall correctly, and they did some things I would certainly never let my four-year-old do! They formed a human pyramid braced across five child motorcycle drivers, did very close high speed motorcycle figure eights, and other stunts that were very impressive and entertaining to watch. But if I was a parent I certainly couldn’t watch my kid do that! :D

 

These aren’t the Imps, but it gives you an idea:

 

 

Before the event actually got underway there were a lot of announcements, including one which mentioned the 900 Golden Princess passengers in attendance (out of 9000 total). I heard one Princess employee mention as we were leaving the ship that this was the largest tour they had ever undertaken. Whether that is factual, I don't know, but Princess certainly handled the 900 guests very well and efficiently. I'd expect nothing less from Princess. They have always handled large groups well.

 

Along with the specific group callings, the announcer also went around the globe naming countries and/or geographic areas to see who was represented in the crowd. I don't know if I expected anything negative or not (especially considering this was a military event), but there was no booing and only applause/cheering when they called on the United States. I figured that with 9000 people there would at least be some sort of U.S. negativity, but I was very happy to see I was wrong. The whole event had a very convivial feeling to it.

 

In our opinion the guard from Norway was the most impressive. But all of the countries represented were interesting to watch. There were also some decent fireworks.

 

Here is a good overview shot of the event (photo from 2004 Tattoo – this and motorcycle photo above taken from the

official Tattoo website):

 

 

The disadvantage to being on the first bus in meant we were on the last bus out, as everyone had to clear out before our driver could get up to the Esplanade. That being said, he hauled back to the ship and we ended up being one of the first busses to arrive (we passed many on the way). Princess had dinner waiting in Horizon Court (although I think they have dinner up until 3 or 4 in the morning regardless, right?) and we fortunately had an at sea day following the Tattoo.

 

We initially went in to the Tattoo thinking we would either hate it or love it. We left having enjoyed the spectacle, very glad to have experienced it, but it’s not something we would do again unless we happened to be in Edinburgh for say ten days plus and had nothing else to do. For us, it was a one-time thing. Again, very glad to have seen it, but now that we have we wouldn’t need to see it again.

 

If anyone has any specific questions regarding the Tattoo (or anything else for that matter), please ask. There are several people other than me on this thread who are probably a lot more knowledgeable about the event.

[jsea]

I'm lifting this post of mine from the roll call thread regarding this cruise:

 

Dining room brawl

Did anyone hear about the fistfight in the dining room? Supposedly two women duked it out - started over a Russian complaining about a boisterous American table..security escorted someone to the ship's padded jail cell! Or is this not true..any DETAILS?

Just curious, which dining room and what sitting did all of the above happen?

Bernini, late, around 9 or 9:30. I can't remember the day... maybe the third or fourth night before the end of the cruise?

 

We were also nearby, a few tables away. It was quite a brawl. The whole dining room came to a standstill as people's jaws dropped in utter disbelief. The wait staff all stood around like deer caught in the headlights (not that I blame them). While I agree with Kevin that it was over pretty quickly, I feel that it went on far too long without any intervention by ship personnel. It was broken up by others, including some friendly Spaniards from the Canaries. At one point during the two-minute scuffle (I think it was around two minutes) a whistle sounded. I thought it was security. Wrong. It was a waiter blowing some whistle I guess he had found. It did nothing.

 

After things calmed down a bit, the wives (?) went at it! Quite a sight. Lots of screeching and hair-pulling.

 

As Kevin said, security took a while. I was actually a little disturbed by the response time. It makes me wonder if they can respond appropriately when a real security problem occurs. I assumed that a staff member would have called/radioed security and a team would have been deployed ASAP. Far from it. Two men (only one appearing to be a fabled Nepalese guard) strolled in 15 minutes after everything had settled down. We left during the 'questioning'.

 

One of the men involved in the fight did not look like someone I would want to mess with. Very 'Tony Soprano' like. Gold chain necklace, black tee with blazer, big guy. We wondered if the other man involved quietly got off the ship the next day... ;)

[jsea]

JSEA - Did you even bother to join in with the other (100+) CC posters onboard?? We had an interesting and diverse group aboard.....of course the itinerary was so Port intensive there really was no time to socialize......

Hi, Renee. Sorry for the lag in responding. I assume you've read my post on the roll call thread, but just in case, the reason why we didn't join up with the CCers was because of, as you mention, the port-intensive nature of the itinerary and also because we tend to stick to just the family when on vacation as it's one of the few times during the year when we can all be together without our seven different schedules pulling us in seven different directions. I did notice CC paraphernalia on a cabin door in our hallway. Strange to think that all the usernames on CC actually are attached to real people. ;)

 

Reading your review with interest....So far agree with everythig written! - Most comments have been argued here in depth - but it's conclusive that no other mass/intrmediate line does any better...in fact Princess seems to give more "bang for the buck" (especially if you're Elite) than the others...We can grouse all we like - it's not gonna change the way the mass market cruise industry is going....just too bad those of us "old cruisers" have so much to compare to..... I remember gas at 99c per gallon too.......

I agree that Princess offers a lot for the money (yes, the Elite perks are great), but, I think we'd now be happy on RCI, Celebrity or Princess. They all have their plusses and minuses. So I take that means you don't want to grouse with me? Why can't I accept the truth of mass marketdom? :D I still want to try Radisson at some point. If only they wouldn't sell the ship after we book a sailing. Tossing around ideas for next year we keep coming back to a river cruise down the Yangtze. Sure, we got cold feet on the Viking river cruise down the Danube, but China's just a whole other ball game (at least for us). Plus, the ships Viking has in China are far more advanced and 'cruise ship-like' than the ones they have in Europe.

 

 

Very interesting review so far. Am anxiously waiting for more. Am sailing the Golden in 2007 so I am very much interested in the ship.

Please let me know if you have any specific questions you would like me to try to answer.

 

 

I have read more about bedding on this sailing than I have on any other sailing. It must have made a huge impact.

Ah, the bedding and towels! Very poor indeed. I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night and it had better towels than our mini-suite on Golden. So that was about the only thing better (aside from the free, in-room high-speed Internet), but I'm glad to see that Princess recognizes that they can do better and are implementing changes (at least for mini- and full suites).

 

 

We loved the Golden! Can't wait to hear more, especially about the Tattoo!

Hoped what I posted was helpful. Again, let me and the others who went if there are any questions we can attempt to answer.

[spongerob]

Thanks, Jsea. You really missed out on the experience of being propelled up the Royal Mile in a sea of humanity. At times things got a little too close and I got to know some people much more intimately than I would ordinarily like, but overall it was very orderly. I thought the show was fantastic, but I've got Scottish blood in me and I've marched with the pipes playing behind me. They always get me. At least the weather cleared up and we were treated to a great evening.

 

The photographers got some fantastic pictures that evening, and later had an incredible deal where you could get 30 4X6 photos and an album for $40. I was first in line for that one.

 

My comments on the bedding questionnaire were not very complimentary! Towels and linens were clearly past their prime - clean, but in need of replacement.

 

It's too bad we didn't know you were on board. I've read your posts here and always enjoy your comments.

[Coral]

I am very much enjoying this review - thank you so much!

 

Thank you also for the pictures of the Tattoo!

 

Theresa

[GottoCruise]

JSEA -

We were on the same bus to the Tattoo! Oh My - I laughed at your mixup of times and scurrying to get on the bus! Thank goodness you all made it - I think we were on the lucky bus! We waved at the hordes waiting in line as we drove by right up to the entrance....(Weren't we BAD???)

I'm really enjoying your review and thank you for taking the time writing everything down so well. It is a very big help to those coming after and is appreciated I'm sure.

Sorry I never got the chance to put the name to the face - maybe on another cruise!

Renee

[jsea]

You really missed out on the experience of being propelled up the Royal Mile in a sea of humanity. At times things got a little too close and I got to know some people much more intimately than I would ordinarily like...

Now, don't make me wish we didn't get put on bus 2! :D

 

Your post reminds me of something I wanted to say about the Tattoo for future cruisers. The seating is very tight, as there is limited space up on the Esplanade and obviously they want to fit in a lot of people. I'm a little over 6' and with two 6 footers on either side of me we sort of got into turf wars for our knees. If you're much over 6', expect to have your knees in the hair of the people in the row in front of you. The seats are also not very wide. But it was perfectly manageable for the time we were there. You soon forget about being cramped as you are too caught up in the show.

 

 

I thought the show was fantastic, but I've got Scottish blood in me and I've marched with the pipes playing behind me. They always get me. At least the weather cleared up and we were treated to a great evening.

Yes, we really lucked out with the weather. It wasn't raining, nor cloudy, not even that cold. I kept thinking the whole cruise how fortunate we were. Sure, we got some sprinkles, but the skies never really dumped rain on us.

 

 

It's too bad we didn't know you were on board. I've read your posts here and always enjoy your comments.

I appreciate it. Maybe next time we won't be so recluse-like.

 

 

We were on the same bus to the Tattoo! Oh My - I laughed at your mixup of times and scurrying to get on the bus! Thank goodness you all made it - I think we were on the lucky bus! We waved at the hordes waiting in line as we drove by right up to the entrance....(Weren't we BAD???)

You know, I sort of never believed our tour guide when she kept saying that we would drive by everyone right up the Mile. And when we did I thought, "she wasn't kidding." I think I was in too much shock to wave. I kept thinking, "how did our stupidity land us here?" How did you end up on bus 2? Was that just the bus you were assigned to when you arrived at the Theatre?

 

 

Sorry I never got the chance to put the name to the face - maybe on another cruise!

That would be good. Do you have your next cruise planned already? I saw on the roll call you mentioning a trip on Jewel (she looks like a great ship), what about your next Princess voyage? By the way, how do you like NCL's Freestyle Dining? We were surprised how much we liked Anytime Dining as we had only done traditional, fixed dining up to that point.

[GottoCruise]

You know, I sort of never believed our tour guide when she kept saying that we would drive by everyone right up the Mile. And when we did I thought, "she wasn't kidding." I think I was in too much shock to wave. I kept thinking, "how did our stupidity land us here?" How did you end up on bus 2? Was that just the bus you were assigned to when you arrived at the Theatre?

 

 

That would be good. Do you have your next cruise planned already? I saw on the roll call you mentioning a trip on Jewel (she looks like a great ship), what about your next Princess voyage? By the way, how do you like NCL's Freestyle Dining? We were surprised how much we liked Anytime Dining as we had only done traditional, fixed dining up to that point.

 

I couldn't believe it either! We were late getting to the Theatre - most had left for the busses already....and as we had 6 in our 'party' I guess it was just good 'dumb luck' :D

 

Anytime dining worked out well for us (with our kids along) on the Aug. 10 leg - we had Traditional Late on the July 31 leg - I think it depends on the itinerary- when it's very Port intensive I prefer Anytime - but with some leisure time, I prefer fixed seating. Haven't been on NCL for a while so I will hold judgement on their Freesyle. We have some time until our April 14, Diamond cruise (SYD/SFO) .... then Alaska in July, - not booked yet, but we will probably go with HAL for a change. (We'll be cruising with a daughter & son-in-law from Phila. for their 25th Anniversary).

[CarolC]

JSEA

Thank you so much for your detailed and interesting report. We are planning that cruise for 2006 and are doing so specifically to attend the Tattoo. Your description is very helpful and I thoroughly enjoyed your account of your family's saga getting to the bus.

Because my husband has difficulty walking, I'm wondering if we can plan for the " #2" bus in advance? The walk and the standing in line have been his concern all along. However, we are traveling with a group and would like to attend together. I doubt that we could be so fortunate as to have the 10 of us end up on the same bus.

It is a long trip and you have helped us put it in perspective.

I am researching to see if there are private tour alternatives but worry that we would be out of luck if we did not arrive back at the ship on time. Obviously that is an advantage of going with Princess.

We have time to sort this out but I appreciate the insight of those who have experienced this tour.

[jsea]

Hi, Carol.

 

Regarding the fabled bus #2, I don't know how you could specifically request it, because, quite frankly, it appeared that basically everyone on it (including our party) could walk fine. I may be wrong, but I think there was only one person in a wheelchair. There was another bus from Princess (if I recall correctly) that had more wheelchair-using passengers. I saw many people arrive later who had difficulty walking, used a cane, etc., and felt that bus #2 would be better utilized filling up with these folks first, instead of parties like mine which had no trouble walking or standing for long periods.

 

Surprisingly our bus left with half a dozen empty seats.

 

So, in sum, I think the best way to go about getting on bus #2 is requesting in advance, perhaps at the Shore Excursions desk a day or so after boarding. Because they really, in my opinion, should fill it up with the people who need the service most and not those who don't. If the Shore Excursions desk cannot help you secure seats, I would arrive very early to the Princess Theatre on the day of the tour and ask the staff running the operation if you can secure seats for your party.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

I'm still working on finishing my review... hopefully soon... but we'll see.

[CarolC]

JSEA...thanks for your response. I'll take your suggestions. I'm the planner for our group so I don't want to steer them wrong by suggesting we go to the Tatto but I think it is something to experience once.

[samoyed]

I was also on the August 10 Golden Princess British Isles cruise. I am glad to hear that Princess had a bus for wheel chairs and accommodated physically challenged passengers. It was also nice that the buses all stopped for rest room breaks.

 

Did anyone who pre-booked the Edinburgh Tattoo excursion receive the letter in their cabin that stated there would not be ANY restroom stops and that the excursion was NOT recommended for wheelchair passenger? This was my first Princess cruise and I never experienced a tour/excursion department like this one. Did everyone receive this letter? If so, what did the experienced Princess cruisers do, ignore the letter? My wife cancelled the excursion because she took them at their word, both verbally at the excursion desk and as written in the letter.

[jsea]

Did anyone who pre-booked the Edinburgh Tattoo excursion receive the letter in their cabin that stated there would not be ANY restroom stops and that the excursion was NOT recommended for wheelchair passenger? This was my first Princess cruise and I never experienced a tour/excursion department like this one. Did everyone receive this letter? If so, what did the experienced Princess cruisers do, ignore the letter? My wife cancelled the excursion because she took them at their word, both verbally at the excursion desk and as written in the letter.

We pre-reserved the tour and got the letter... one person in our party was worried, but we told her she could bring along a bottle in case things got rough. :D

 

We knew if we had to go to the bathroom that we might have to do a little exploring to find facilities, and that the facilities might not be the cleanest, but we figured we could handle it.

 

So sorry to hear you cancelled the excursion. I agree that Princess could have handled this better.