Golden Princess Review 10/10-10/17 Part 1

[AlexsDogPound]

wow wow wow

 

Just had to start my review with exactly how I feel about our cruise aboard the Golden.

 

We flew into San Juan on Friday morning for some pre-cruise r&r at the San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino. We were very fortunate to be checked in by Norma who was only employed one week ago. After explaining we were celebrating my 40th B-day and our 10th Anniversary, Norma gave out her first upgrade, an oceanfront suite. Now that's the way to start out a vacation. We spent Friday afternoon touring El Morro Fort and Old San Juan. The fort was neat, OSJ was only so so. We felt there would be better shopping than there was. Got back to the hotel where we went poolside for some cocktails while watching the baseball game waiting for the buffet to open. Bad Mistake--Do Not Eat The Buffet, imo we felt it was very second rate. Saturday we woke up to a very beautiful sunrise on our balcony and went right to the beach. Awesome doesn't describe how fun the beach was. Very clean, warm water, even if it was saltwater, and huge waves. Very fun to body surf or you can borrow boogy boards free of charge. Lots of towels and beach chairs were available. Mid afternoon we moved from the beach to the pool area. Very nice, lots of room, lots of palm trees for shade. Oh yeah, it has one great water slide. Overall the hotel was very nice, there was entertainment in the lobby every night, good location, we heard from fellow travelers the Italian Restaurant is very good there, just don't do the buffet.

For those who want an authentic Puerto Rican meal we went to Ajilli Mojilli right down the street and had a excellent meal. Now onto the main event....

 

Embarkation-- Even though we paid for Princess transfers we couldn't wait until 1:15 so we took a taxi to the Pan American Pier after leaving our bags at the hotel for transfer to the Golden. We arrived at the pier at 11:30 and embarkation began exactly at 11:45 just as was posted. It was an absolute breeze, we boarded and were in our room at 12:15. We were in cabin C624 portside on the Caribe deck. I was very impressed with how the room was laid out with every available space used efficiently. Plenty of storage with drawers, shelves, and a huge closet especially for us overpackers. I also was suprised with the size of the balcony, estimating I would guess 10x8. We had two lounge chairs, two other chairs and a table on the balcony. It was at this time we met a very special person crucial to our happiness, our room steward Maria. Through all the various posts and hints here on CC, the most important one I picked up was to tip Maria upfront. Maria greeted us by name as if we were lifetime friends. She also proceeded to tell us her schedule for the week, how to contact her when she was not available, and asked us if we had any special requests. I had faxed Princess 2 weeks prior about an eggshell mattress and Maria had already put it on the bed before we boarded. She also made sure for the entire week that we had 6 bath towels and 6 beach towels at all times. I did notice that even with the air set at the lowest level, it was still quite warm in the cabin. I asked Maria about this and she said she would be right back. 10 minutes later she brought us an oscillating fan that she took from her bosses office which she said we could use for the entire cruise. I was ready to book another Princess cruise right then and there. I'll continue when I get home later tonight.

[melissa_bel]

Alex,

That's a great start! Can't wait to read the rest.

[ernstbass]

Was on golden 10/3 and I agree about the temps in the cabins being a bit warm even with a/c on lowest steeing. I thought we had a great steward, but yours was really a gem!!! Very smart of you to ask for extra beach towels- we really needed at least 2 per person per day.

[nhcruiser]

Would like to hear your take on the portd of call. Great beginning!

[DoreenD]

Love the beginning of thie review as I am on the Golden for Christmas and have also planned a Friday arrival with a precruise stay at the Marriott Stellaris Resort. Can't wait to hear the rest of your review! By the way, which airline did you fly down on? We are also living in MI (Marysville) and are flying on Spirit.

 

nhcruiser, we just moved here to MI from Manchester, NH and I miss it so much! I guess I'm definitely not cut out for the midwest. . .I'm an east coast girl at heart!

[cruise182]

Nice!!!

[AlexsDogPound]

Thanks for being patient, the rest of the review will be posted this evening. :cool: