Golden Princess Review 4 03 04

[rmharvey8]

My Wife and I were on the "other" boat to leave Lauderdale on 4/3. What a delightfull time we had on this cruise. For any one who is sailing on her last Eastern trip before Drydock - you are in for a treat.

 

Here are some random thoughts....

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We got there at our usual time 11:30 A.M. We were at the other terminal as CP had the THE Princess terminal for the big day. We were worried when we saw a line outside but shortly after noon we started to move. Check in took maybe 90 seconds then thru security and onto the ship. Stewards were at each floor to quide you in the right direction - very helpfull.

 

By one P.M. we were in our swim suits and at the pool relaxing.This was much better than exploring the ship - there is plenty of time for that.

 

Around three we had our first lunch in the Horizon Court.

 

We had our luggage before muster.

 

Speaking of Horizon Court. The food is excellent. And the selection is varied and wide. Lots of seafood during the week. Yum. I dare say it is every bit as good as the dining room - just presented differently. They were more than willing to prepare your eggs for breakfast any way you wanted them - just ask. My only complaint would be no lemonade or fruit punch. I liked the coffee. But then I buy a lot of coffee out of a machine.

 

Personal Choice Dining - We tried it for the first time. I will stick with traditional. The good thing is you can vary your dinner time if you want to. We had no trouble being seated at 7:00 p.M. They did get quite busy later. I tried to make a phone reservation but they closed that down at 11:00 A.M. The last two nights we ate traditional thanks to a delightfull family we met thru a Cruise Critic Roll Call get togther. They had had two no shows at their table. Immediately we felt like part of a family for a week with the waiter. It was just great.

 

The Desert Rose was a good idea that just didn't work.

 

THe ship was in fantastic shape.

 

We had Brian Seymour as cruise director. Simply one of the best in the business. He will be moving to CP soon. What a riot.

 

We were blessed with fantastic weather. I finally saw a cloud Monday afternoon.

 

We rented a car on St Martin. Worked fine but don't pay the first price they offer. Orient Beach is a beatifull beach. We were at the North end. But don't be surprised at what you see. I Not Impressed with Marigot at all.

 

Not much reason to fight the crowd downtown in St Thomas if you've been there. Havensight had everthing we needed. We really like St Thomas as there is a lot of places to go, see, do. This time it was golf.

 

Princess Cays is a very nice beach day without any of the hassles. I liked the fact that the captain stayed there longer than he had to. Again this was a sign that every one on the Golden had it very together,

 

Disembarkation: Painless. We had a 12 o'clock flight and left the ship too early.

 

Final thoughts: This was the best cruise yet.(better than Celebrity!) The Golden has set a high standard for CP to strive for.We put a deposit down on another Princess cruise before we got off the ship. I guess that's the highest praise I can give.

 

Bob H

[CruiseFever]

Thanks Bob, I couldn't agree more

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Carnival Victory 12/19/04

Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

 

[starsjohn]

Sounds like our trip on the Dawn. Paradise remains paradise no matter how you spell it. I went into St. Tomas with friends who were into electronic toys, so we had a blast. I did not buy anything but alcohol to feed my brain. I did buy several CDs of socae, reggae and parrothead suitable tunes.

 

John