Back from hawaii on the golden

[harlee3]

My wife and i just finished our two week adventure on the golden princess and found the golden a well maintained and very well run ship by a wonderful crew commanded by master "captain" foster and director David Cole and mark turner. all worked very hard for us and and gave us a great adventure to hawaii. our adventure was not the best cruise we have taken but it was a good overall value for the price. for the events and things we could not attend I asked several people who did attend to get an idea of the event to report to you all. We chose to travel by car to the port of Los Angeles so we chose the park and sail at the crown plaza in san pedro and it was only a block from the port. Just about everyone in the hotel went to the green onion restaurant just a short walk away and the prices were good and the Mexican food was not to spicy. on wed morning we were delivered to the port by the hotel shuttle after the free buffet and were dropped off in front of the port. the buffet was not so good but it was free. embarkation was well run and you could tell they have been doing this for a while so it went smoooooth. They took our bags at the curb and we walked into the terminal and after filling out the medical form[asking if you have been sick the the last week] we were directed the only one up elevator, they would not let me up the escalator with my carry on bag,,"for medication and such" as i walk with a Cain, this took 20 minutes to go up one flight..long line.. Deck 14 lido deck buffet was open and we just went up and started our first of many meals on the golden[more on the food later]. We booked a mini suite, D610, the mini suite has no cover over the balcony and there is no privacy if this matters to you you need to book just a balcony on deck 11 or 12. The suite had a nice little couch and a bath tub, yes a bath tub and it was so nice to soak my sore painful back in the tub. if you have been on a carnival, spirit class ship the balcony room with a couch is about the same but the mini suite has a larger bathroom. the beds were two singles placed together and ,yes they were soft with a dent in the middle of each single, the middle of the bed where they were joined was a hard spot so you rolled back to your side if you got to close to the center of the bed. The first night the weather was bad and the sea was severe and you could tell the waves were over 7 to 10+ feet. this caused most of the passengers to stay in there staterooms for the second day as there were so many sea sick folks. remember if you ever complain to any crew member you are sick to your stomach you will get confined to your cabin until you are not. this happened to poor old russ 1gail1 husband. This is a good precaution as they are so careful about norovirus.I will now break it down for you in sections so you can go to the sections you are most interested in.

ENTERTAINMENT.

The golden advertises 35 entertainers,28 musicians. the first week the had two production shows, one welcome show that was your singing and dancing thing, a couple lost dancers, i believe it was the rough water. and another singing dancing review called words and music, there were four featured singer dancers ,two girls and two boys with recorded singing in the background. the audience clapped but i did see people leave during the show, i would have but the wife said no and later said we should have, the production was below average as compared to other shows i have seen on cruise ships, the show was repeated the next day as most of them were and that was it for the production shows for the first week. they even headlined one of the princess singers in his own show one night, He can sing OK and his mother was in the audience so i will not tell you what i thought about the show my wife said he was cute but he was no headliner.There was entertainment in all areas of the ship no matter what type of music you like you can find it someplace, the piano singer next to the martini bar was far better then the princess singers and the band sol play was in the adventurer's lounge, again were better then the production show. comedy was provided by several very good stand ups and a ventriloquist from good old laugh in tv show ,Don Ware was the best thing on the cruise he was so funny but again he toned down the show for the very old groups aboard. As the cruise continued you really understood the cruise was for the over 70 folks. the hula dancers were covered in long colorful Hawaiian dresses from neck to foot and was from a local hula school. if you wanted to see real hula men and woman do the native dances with grass skirts and drums that you are used to at a lou ow you needed to go off the golden to get the Hawaiian entertainment, in honolulu we went off the ship and found hooters was next to a evening dinner boat cruise, there we enjoyed real Hawaiian men and woman and saw a great show put on by professionals. the theater played movies in the theater as well as repeated some of them on the television no r rated movie was repeated on the tv. we only saw one show of the love boat on tv and they never repeated it that i could see.The casino was "tight" i was told by several hundred passengers i spoke to and was told the slot machines payed out very little compared to what went in, we never gambled after hearing all the complaints, i spoke to one "winner" who after thinking about it said he was "even" hummmm one out several hundred was just even, hummmm.To sum it up production shows were few and not so good when they were playing but you could be entertained no matter what type of music you like but if you are over 70 you will love it love it, if you are under 50 you will have to look a little harder, look in the smaller areas of the ship and you will find good bands and professional entertainment to dance and listen to. Congratulations to cruise critic 1gail1 for winning the owners wooden horse race for 300 bucks...go Gail go.

FOOD

First don't miss afternoon tea time it is awsome and the coke card was worth 68.00? for me it was judge yourself on how many cokes you drink .We had a sit down dinner time of 5:45 in the Canaletto dinning room and this is located in the back of the ship. we discovered very quickly the service was great, the food in the dinning rooms not so great. variety was wonderful at the buffet but the Canaletto dinning room is in the rear of the ship and the food comes from mid ship so by the time the food gets to your area, plate covered with one of those hospital plastic covers the cold soup is cool and the hot food is warm to cold. taste suffers from the trip and handling, but do not worry we just left quickly and got the same food on the buffet and got it hot and i could pick the piece i wanted. everything except lobster night and crab leg night, all the food could be found on the buffet and the buffet had a better variety with many more choices, and the temperature was far better, so we suggest the buffet and stay away from the sit down rooms as the service is fantastic in the buffet, yes the buffet has great service they have cloth napkins and get your drinks for you, clean up you dirty dish's get you coffee etc. the buffet by far was the best part of the food service on the ship. there are several cost you extra areas on the ship, sabatinies was a delight to eat at wonderful,cost 20.00 usd well worth it to some was told by others not worth the money we tried it but the food it just as good at the buffet so why pay?, desert rose steak house has steak, not so good and our waiter served the salad to my wife as i was eating appetizer so my salad came and she just sat and watched me eat, service was poor and the steak was OK if you compare it to and average steak house. not worth the extra 15usd as the buffet always had a good prime rib or roast or ham on the buffet so stay away from the steak house it isn't worth the money , we even had a pig with an apple in it's mouth on the buffet one night OVERALL the service was awsome but the food is best eaten on the buffet and avoid the dinning rooms if you can,it's the same food and better with more variety on the buffet and the service was just as good if not better in the buffet area the food was wonderful.

EXSCURSIONS:

well we missed Kauai do to wind to high to enter the port and master foster chose safety over docking, it was very windy that day but we did get to drive around the napali coast with a narration from the naturalist that made it very interesting and educational great waterfalls on the coast side very beautiful thing to see.

Maui was very nice we did the iao vally and plantation tour, the plantation gift shop was almost empty as it looks as if they are closing down soon due to the poor economy i asked an employee and they said they were down about 50 percent and have laid off employees. but the tour was fun and the girls showed us how to husk a cocanut so so funny well worth the tour,iao valley is a beautiful spot where the final battle took place to unite the islands under king kamayamaya, Roberts tours did it through the princess ship and was wowrth the 60 each.1gail1 did a snorkel trip and she said it was wonderful she loved the turtules and fish and said it was well worth the cost

HILO was a rental car day and we visited the volcano national park great great park and very nice well worth the visit, we shopped down town at joys gift shop and purchased ukulele's at the best price in town very reasonable and they sound great.wal mart had the best prices on shirts and macadamia nuts best prices in hawaii was wal-mart. did not find anyone who did not like there excursion or think there's was a bad value for the cost.

OAHU great for a big city and remember the hooters across the mall at the port you can watch great Hawaiian entertainment there. we rented a car and drove to the dole plantation and around the island,very nice well worth the cost of the rental car

CREW TRAINING/ SECURITY.

yes they train the crew during the cruise and you can tell they are very good. but, yes the "but" is important, after docking in encinada they announced over the speaker they were going to do drills on the starboard side and you tried to figure out what they were saying over the muffled speakers no one understood, you could not understand much, what they tried to say was the starboard side was closed and off limits to passengers, but this is the smoking area side of the ship, we do not smoke but ,as they drilled we heard them yell time and time again at passengers as they went through he doors on the starboard side to go smoke, they lost at least 30 customers that day they all yelled back and were not happy with the way they were talked to and i don't think they will return to princess, a simple sign on the doors could have saved everyone, it was hard to sit at the martini bar area and watch it all happen. after training was over and it went on for hours while we were in ensenada the room stewards all over the ship stopped smiling and greeting you, it was strange, all the stewards looked shell shocked and very tired and never again that night or next morning at debarkation did they smile at anyone, they were tired and well all looked mad and upset. not a good end for a wonderful cruise adventure.A note on the security staff on the golden princess, when you return to the ship it is not a happy group of fellows that meet you ,they are not well organized and 5 to 6 different times they argued amongst themselves in front of the passengers, this makes for interesting conversation in the elevator as everyone said they hope we don't need the security guys for something important if they they have to work together it was embarrassing to watch them argue with each other.

VALUE

Yes the golden princess is a good value for the dollar and David Cole was an awsome cruise director. do you have any questions :confused:about the ship or ports? just ask me:eek:

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review, sorry you did not have a very good time. :o

[harlee3]

hummmm i am sorry if you took it that way i had a great time and enjoyed the cruise but i was honest,i said it well worth the money and a good value but when you review a cruise you should not turn your head and white wash what you see, i have cruised alot so i know how it should be. princess could learn alot from carnival it's owner...

[UTAH]

Sounds like a good trip overall.

 

We'll be sailing the same route on the Golden with friends. It'll be our 3rd Hawaiin cruise leaving out of LA.

 

Looking forward to it. :cool:

 

H & N

[leith]

I want to book a Hawaiin cruise with DH, but am wondering if htere is a better part of the year to go to miss the bumpy waters of the Pacific?

[Cruiser-66]

Harlee3,

Thanks for your review! We will be on the Golden on the 10th. Is Hooters close to the port? What time would you suggest going to see the dancers? Were they at Hooters, or next to Hooters? Sorry your dinning experience wasn't the best. Would it of been possible to switch to anytime dinning and be in a dinning room more mid ship? I've always felt that the buffet would take away from my cruise experience. I use that a lot for breakfast and lunch.

[jlcruiser]

Harlee3,

 

My husband and I enjoyed your good-natured and thorough review so much!

 

We will be boarding the Golden in less than 2 weeks and appreciated all the information that you provided. It sounds like it will be just the type of cruise that we are hoping for.

 

Glad to hear that you had fun times and ate some good food on your cruise. I always enjoy talking about our trips when we get home and plan to do so after we return from the cruise on December 24th.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Jeanie

[Cruisin' Chick]

I want to book a Hawaiin cruise with DH, but am wondering if htere is a better part of the year to go to miss the bumpy waters of the Pacific?

 

You'll be crossing a current that causes the rough seas, so time of year isn't going to matter. But not every sailing has experienced heavy wave action. We had rough seas the first couple of days of our cruise, but some have the condition the last couple of days, and some have relatively smooth sailing the entire cruise.

[Cruisin' Chick]

hummmm i am sorry if you took it that way i had a great time and enjoyed the cruise but i was honest,i said it well worth the money and a good value but when you review a cruise you should not turn your head and white wash what you see, i have cruised alot so i know how it should be. princess could learn alot from carnival it's owner...

 

I think it was more that it was hard to tell. Sorry, but it would be more readable if you had separate paragraphs.

[leechip]

Thank you for the info on your on your cruise. We will be on the 1-7,09 cruise and any info is helpful. Lee

[RickEk]

FOOD

First don't miss afternoon tea time it is awsome and the coke card was worth 68.00? for me it was judge yourself on how many cokes you drink .We had a sit down dinner time of 5:45 in the Canaletto dinning room and this is located in the back of the ship. we discovered very quickly the service was great, the food in the dinning rooms not so great. variety was wonderful at the buffet but the Canaletto dinning room is in the rear of the ship and the food comes from mid ship so by the time the food gets to your area, plate covered with one of those hospital plastic covers the cold soup is cool and the hot food is warm to cold. taste suffers from the trip and handling, but do not worry we just left quickly and got the same food on the buffet and got it hot and i could pick the piece i wanted. everything except lobster night and crab leg night, all the food could be found on the buffet and the buffet had a better variety with many more choices, and the temperature was far better, so we suggest the buffet and stay away from the sit down rooms as the service is fantastic in the buffet, yes the buffet has great service they have cloth napkins and get your drinks for you, clean up you dirty dish's get you coffee etc. the buffet by far was the best part of the food service on the ship. there are several cost you extra areas on the ship, sabatinies was a delight to eat at wonderful,cost 20.00 usd well worth it to some was told by others not worth the money we tried it but the food it just as good at the buffet so why pay?, desert rose steak house has steak, not so good and our waiter served the salad to my wife as i was eating appetizer so my salad came and she just sat and watched me eat, service was poor and the steak was OK if you compare it to and average steak house. not worth the extra 15usd as the buffet always had a good prime rib or roast or ham on the buffet so stay away from the steak house it isn't worth the money , we even had a pig with an apple in it's mouth on the buffet one night OVERALL the service was awsome but the food is best eaten on the buffet and avoid the dinning rooms if you can,it's the same food and better with more variety on the buffet and the service was just as good if not better in the buffet area the food was wonderful.

 

Hmmmm... I'm aghast :eek:.

 

I've sailed on the Golden, dined in the Canaletto Dining Room and from what I understand (and can determine from the deck plan), the galley is between the Canaletto and Donatello dining rooms. There is NO long trip from midships. The galley is behind those revolving doors at the end of the dining room. Also, all meals come covered by the plastic covers... how else would they be able to carry more than a couple of plates? IMHO, the food in the buffet cannot, repeat, cannot compare with the dining room food. Is there more variety? I suppose so, but that doesn't mean that it's better quality, especially considering that it comes from a completely different and smaller galley.

 

It is, of course, your choice to spend your entire cruise going to the buffet, but I think it's a disservice to condemn the dining rooms on only one visit...

 

Whew...let me get down off this soapbox... :rolleyes:

 

But, I am glad that you enjoyed most of your cruise. I hope to do this itinerary in the future... and will be taking all my evening meals in the dining room.:p

[LARGIN]

Any problems with the location of D610? My wife is hoping for smooth sailing on our Hawaii cruise. :D

[SFParrtHd]

Thanks for the review.

 

How were the chicken wings at Hooters?:D (Sorry, that is what I hear is the real reason to go there:D)

[JWJs]

Enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for posting. Sounds like over all you had a good cruise.

[Devil Dog]

Harlee I really enjoyed your spelling errors. I think LOU OW is my favorite. I feel sorry for a person who takes a 14 day cruise and writes up all the negative things he noticed. I really laughed at how you asked others what they did and you wrote about thier awful experience. I was puzzled how you can say a dinner at Sabatinis is not worth the money it's only 20 bucks and the steakhouse is only 15. Yeah I know you already paid. :D

[harlee3]

well lets see here, the Canaletto is the rear of the ship ,most of the tables around me were never occupied or full most of the time because the food was,,,well better in the buffet, yes i found all the food on the menu at the dinner table on the buffet except the crab legs and lobster both were on formal night and at the end of the cruise.sabatinies was worth the money and a great time, steak house was a waist of time and money but it was quiet and secluded for a quiet dinner, the buffet had things like squid, octopus,ham carved right behind the head of a pig"with apple in mouth", freaked the wife out to see the food look back at you,,,so so funny. anytime dining would be great, then you could get whats on the menu there and head for the buffet for the extra fancy cheese's deserts or even a different main coarse, the food was awsome, just in the rear of the ship at the dinner table sit down it must have been sitting around in a warmer or something, i don't know ,,i do know the buffet food was fresher,,that's all i know for a fact the buffet food was in fact fresher and tasted better. lou ow was a joke fool.lighten up. we had a great time and the cruise was well worth the money paid, i am glad rickek has had such a great time on the golden ,,so did i ...have you been on it this season in hawaii,,hummmm....no? then you don't know or you live in the crew area of the ship. any way the food in the dinning was the same food!!! matter of fact we always found the same main coarse on the same day or a day before or after it was on the menu. ps the last day we were introduced to the head chef,,,he was also in charge of the ...yes ...buffet....silly me our head waiter was also in charge of the buffet at lunch..yes...same white jacket and he told me after i commented on how good the food was on the buffet that...it was the same food....hummmmm even out of the mouth of the employees....silly me.. well guys after you park at Honolulu when you get done with the island in the early evening walk across the plaza center next to the ship east of the port entrance,next to hooters is a little dock that a evening dinner cruise uses, for about an hour as the patrons load there is a great group of professionals doing hula and singing and dancing,,,it's great just buy a beer and enjoy, true professionals not a hula school. ps. the service on the buffet was at times better then the dinning room. the buffet was awsome and the food fresh and temperature always correct. all i can talk about is this cruise 11-12 2008 on the golden not how it was in 2002, remember the cooks all have a 6 or 10 month contract, then they leave. i did go to the dinning room when one of the elevators was working, they were broken a lot there were only two elevators that go down to level five in the rear of the ship and twice both were broken, i dont do stairs going up, walk with a cain so i missed two nights because of the elevators but it was the dinning room on formal night the main coarse was always special and not found on the buffet, lobster crab legs ect. loved the trip worth the money.

[sailinsal]

Hi, we were on the 10/29 cruise and we had a most fantastic time..............I have written much on this cruise on other threads. I just had to say that we were of family of four and had a terrific table nitely in the Donnatello Dining Room Each nite we were given by the head waiter a special food.............presented by him to the four of us...................the pasta special dish from the galley just for us, plate of bruschetta, additional desserts not ordered just sent from the kitchen............special bread basket,,,,,,,,,,,we are elite and I introduced myself on day of debarking and told how we were celebrating............had a special cake made(I paid) and we did Sabatini's as well as Chef's table and we very rarely went up to the buffet..............but overall the dining in the dining room breakfast, lunch and dinner was always OVER THE TOP...........we were always seated at my request next to a window. It also helped that my husband speaks ITALIAN to the head folks and we have sailed over 21 times now............and we are always as nice and pleasant as possible. This makes a fabulous cruise..................which it was HAWAII WAS PARADISE..........saillinsal

[RickEk]

Hi, we were on the 10/29 cruise and we had a most fantastic time..............I have written much on this cruise on other threads. I just had to say that we were of family of four and had a terrific table nitely in the Donnatello Dining Room Each nite we were given by the head waiter a special food.............presented by him to the four of us...................the pasta special dish from the galley just for us, plate of bruschetta, additional desserts not ordered just sent from the kitchen............special bread basket,,,,,,,,,,,we are elite and I introduced myself on day of debarking and told how we were celebrating............had a special cake made(I paid) and we did Sabatini's as well as Chef's table and we very rarely went up to the buffet..............but overall the dining in the dining room breakfast, lunch and dinner was always OVER THE TOP...........we were always seated at my request next to a window. It also helped that my husband speaks ITALIAN to the head folks and we have sailed over 21 times now............and we are always as nice and pleasant as possible. This makes a fabulous cruise..................which it was HAWAII WAS PARADISE..........saillinsal

 

Thank you SailinSal for confirming my feelings concerning the main dining rooms. As you say, OVER THE TOP!

 

While I may not have sailed onboard the Golden in 3 years, I'm pretty familiar with the way that Princess manages their food service. Of course, the food is the "same" as the food in the buffet. It comes from the same storage facilities. :rolleyes: And the head chef is the head chef. He is in charge of all the eateries on the ship, including the poolside grill, the pizzeria, the dining rooms and the buffet. And the evening waitstaff is routinely utilized in other venues during the day...

 

I guess food cooked to my order, elegant presentation, familiar waiters, a table shared with newfound friends in a beautiful dining room vs. serve-yourself food, a find-your-own table, possibly the same waiters in a crowded buffet, is more my cup of tea. To each their own. I'm sure most of the folks on this board would probably agree with me.

 

And I am happy that the OP had a great cruise, I just disagree on this one issue... but it is his opinion and I respect that.

[R&MTHETRAVELERS]

My Wife & I cruised with SailinSal on the Golden & I have to agree with her that the food in the dinning room she mentioned was over the top. We never had a problem with getting a good table or with getting what ever we wanted to eat. Some time even if it was not on the menu. We also ate at the buffet & found the food there to be just as good. Maybe not presented as nice but prepared as well & as fresh & I enjoyed eating there & meeting different people each time. You get a person in a different frame of mind at the Buffet than in the Dinning rooms & you can get to know them a little more that way. You also have the chance to kid around with the wait staff that have to be a little stiffer at night. If you smoose a little with the service people & let them know you are just a little person like them & are just trying to have a good time & put them at ease they go a little further to be helpful.When you see them again at night they are a little looser & remember you are nice & smile & keep up the good service. Remember, be nice, be nice, be nice & it can rub off. Good Cruiseing

[ucscottb4u]

well lets see here, the Canaletto is the rear of the ship ,most of the tables around me were never occupied or full most of the time because the food was,,,well better in the buffet, yes i found all the food on the menu at the dinner table on the buffet except the crab legs and lobster both were on formal night and at the end of the cruise.sabatinies was worth the money and a great time, steak house was a waist of time and money but it was quiet and secluded for a quiet dinner, the buffet had things like squid, octopus,ham carved right behind the head of a pig"with apple in mouth", freaked the wife out to see the food look back at you,,,so so funny. anytime dining would be great, then you could get whats on the menu there and head for the buffet for the extra fancy cheese's deserts or even a different main coarse, the food was awsome, just in the rear of the ship at the dinner table sit down it must have been sitting around in a warmer or something, i don't know ,,i do know the buffet food was fresher,,that's all i know for a fact the buffet food was in fact fresher and tasted better. lou ow was a joke fool.lighten up. we had a great time and the cruise was well worth the money paid, i am glad rickek has had such a great time on the golden ,,so did i ...have you been on it this season in hawaii,,hummmm....no? then you don't know or you live in the crew area of the ship. any way the food in the dinning was the same food!!! matter of fact we always found the same main coarse on the same day or a day before or after it was on the menu. ps the last day we were introduced to the head chef,,,he was also in charge of the ...yes ...buffet....silly me our head waiter was also in charge of the buffet at lunch..yes...same white jacket and he told me after i commented on how good the food was on the buffet that...it was the same food....hummmmm even out of the mouth of the employees....silly me.. well guys after you park at Honolulu when you get done with the island in the early evening walk across the plaza center next to the ship east of the port entrance,next to hooters is a little dock that a evening dinner cruise uses, for about an hour as the patrons load there is a great group of professionals doing hula and singing and dancing,,,it's great just buy a beer and enjoy, true professionals not a hula school. ps. the service on the buffet was at times better then the dinning room. the buffet was awsome and the food fresh and temperature always correct. all i can talk about is this cruise 11-12 2008 on the golden not how it was in 2002, remember the cooks all have a 6 or 10 month contract, then they leave. i did go to the dinning room when one of the elevators was working, they were broken a lot there were only two elevators that go down to level five in the rear of the ship and twice both were broken, i dont do stairs going up, walk with a cain so i missed two nights because of the elevators but it was the dinning room on formal night the main coarse was always special and not found on the buffet, lobster crab legs ect. loved the trip worth the money.

 

Have to chime in. I was also on this particular sailing of the Golden Princess. And I have to disagree. The food in the buffet IMHO was not nearly as good as the food in the main dinning rooms (we ate in the Donatello dinning room most nights). My wife had identical meals in buffet and dinning room in fact. Specifically a Mexican omelet which was most certainly not the same each time. Nor was ANY of the food at the buffet as fresh as in the dinning room.

I would most certainly agree that Sabatini’s was well worth it. Delicious and tons of food. Great service to boot. However we both enjoyed the desert rose. The food was excellent as was the service. I had Filet Mignon there and in the main dining room. And the one in the Desert Rose was on significantly better (mainly in size though, much bigger in Desert Rose). While it didn’t quite come to the quality of a steakhouse on shore, it wasn’t far off.

Actually my biggest criticism of the cruise was the oddness of the maintance crews timing. They were varnishing the railings in the explorer lounge just prior to activities going on. Seemed like a very odd time to do that. Esp since according to talk Cruise Director David Cole gave, the ship is going into Dry Dock in April for overhaul.

[queenofdnile]

Hi Shipmate,

We will be on the Dec. 10th cruise also.

Cheers

johanna

[bmct]

Can anyone tell me if lunch is served in the dining room on embarkation day on the Golden Princess? And if so, which dining room.

 

We have with us a 95 year old aunt who does not do well in buffet situations, (she uses a walker), so would like to avoid the Horizon Court if possible.

 

We are on the Jan 21st Hawaii cruise.

 

Thanks

[Mythros]

Can anyone tell me if lunch is served in the dining room on embarkation day on the Golden Princess? And if so, which dining room.

 

We have with us a 95 year old aunt who does not do well in buffet situations, (she uses a walker), so would like to avoid the Horizon Court if possible.

 

We are on the Jan 21st Hawaii cruise.

 

Thanks

 

 

The dining room was not open when we tried on the 10/29 cruise. However, to avoid the buffet, we went to the pool deck and tried the grill. The burgers and and dogs - while not dining room classy - were really very good. The pizza was also excellent - and you don't have the crowds that are normally found in the buffet.

[bmct]

Thank you for the information about the dining room not being open for lunch on embarkation day. Yes the Grill, or the pizza station were going to be my "Plan B".

 

I wish that Princess would do like HAL and have the dining room open. It makes it much easier for people that have limitations.

 

Again, thanks

[flamomo]

........ "wondering if htere is a better part of the year to go to miss the bumpy waters of the Pacific?"

 

We've taken this cruise twice and did not have any rough water traveling in either direction. So, as Cruisin Chick said, it can go either way.