Scott Lamont

Age: 41
Number of Cruises: 4
Occupation: Engineer
Cruise Line: Princess Cruise Line
Ship: Golden Princess
Itinerary: Canda/New England

We recently returned from a very enjoyable cruise aboard the Golden Princess.  The itinerary was Canada/New England. 

Embarkation – We arrived at the pier aprox 12:30 p.m. via a purchased Princess transfer from the Newark Airport.  There was some delay getting off the bus, but it wasn’t bad.  When we got off the bus, we were told to identify our baggage for the Longshoremen, who would see that they got to the room.  We then proceeded to check in.  I would recommend using the express check in.  This is can be done 1 of 2 ways, the Princess web site or Princess will mail you the documents approx a month before sailing.  Since the express check in provides everything in advance, your cruise/identification/on board purchase cards are waiting for you. We were on board very quickly.

The Golden Princess – This ship is awesome.  It is a sight to behold.  It is beautifully decorated in all public areas and there is much attention to detail.  The Lido area is twice the size of any other ship I have been on.

The area next to the Horizon Food court has a removable cover (which stayed closed this time of year) covering a pool and 2 jacuzzis.  There is a second Lido area that has an open deck and jacuzzis as well.  We explored the ships many lounges, shops and public areas. I suggest looking up the deck plans if your going on this ship to get familiar with all there is to see.  This ship has plenty of space, and even though it was full (2600 passengers), it never seemed crowded.  All areas are kept very clean.  Our cabin was an inside unit on the Caribe deck 10.

There was a lot of space to unpack your clothes including a very a nice closet with plenty of hangers.  The bathroom was small, but typical for most rooms in this category.  Lots of mirrors and well lit.  Very nice.

The Food – This is a big part of the cruising experience.  We chose traditional early seating.  The ship offers “Anytime” dining in two of its 3 dining rooms.   Anytime dining, as well as alternate restaurants, seem to be the trend in the cruise industry.  The Golden Princess offers two alternative restaurants, Italian and Mexican cuisine. The problem I have with alternate restaurants is the additional charge ( I think it was $15 per person).  Since you already paid for the great dining experience in the dining room when you booked the cruise,  and  then you pay an additional fee,  you are really paying more than $15.  That’s just my opinion.  Anyway, breakfast in the dining room was good.  Eggs benedict, pancakes, french toast, hash browns, fresh baked pastries, omelets.  Good selection, somewhat formal sitting, and you will be seated with someone you never met (but that is always fun, and you meet nice people).  I never got to eat lunch in the formal dining room, but did eat dinner there each night. There were several selections based on the theme of the night.  There were also “always available” items like Caesar salad, Fettuccini Alfredo, Sirloin Steak or a Chicken Breast.  Of course there were great desserts, ice creams of the day, and coffee, cappuccino, latte (at no additional charge).  Beverages included on the ship are  tea, coffee, milk and juice.  Soft drinks are available for an additional charge.  Princess offers all the soft drinks you care to drink for $12.50/person at the beginning of the cruise.  On the 14^th deck of this ship is the Horizon Court.  The Horizon Court offers two identical serving areas.  This turned out to be my personal favorite dining area.  There are several food serving areas.  An extended selection of prepared salads, a made to order sandwich bar, prepared meats (fish, chicken, shrimp, turkey, and even sushi).  There seamed to be enough variety so everyone would find something good to eat.  And as always.. desserts.  (The desserts here are not as extensive as in the dining room, but very good).  For breakfast, there are made to order omelets, prepared omelets, a variety of scrambled eggs, smoked sausage, turkey sausage, bacon, eggs over-easy or fried.  A large variety of pastries (all made on the ship and are very fresh).  I should also mention on the other side of the Lido deck is a 24-hour pizzeria with a hamburger/hot dog grill that is very good.  I think the food on this ship is excellent, and the Horizon Court is open 24 hours.

The Ports – We went to three ports on this 5-day cruise.

Halifax,  Nova Scotia – We purchased a walking tour of Halifax.  We boarded a bus for a very short ride to the downtown gardens, then walked through the gardens to the Halifax Citadel with a very friendly and knowledgeable tour guide.  The tour lasted two hours and allowed us enough time to shop around and see Halifax.

The people here are very friendly and this is historically beautiful site.  This tour was good, but you probably could see just as much on your own.  The weather this day was very clear, yet cold, but we enjoyed this port.

Bar Harbor, Maine – The ship has to drop anchor for this one, so you have to tender into port.  Here we chose a bus tour of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, which includes a drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain.  Prior to the tour, we did some shopping around the local stores.  Since it was so late in the season, there were some great sales, with most stores selling for 50% off.  We didn’t have enough time to shop as much as we wanted because the tour started at 12:00 noon. We boarded another bus for this tour.  There were a lot of beautiful sights as the leaves were changing and the weather was sunny and clear. The tour got started late, and ended of course late.  Because the tour ran late, we were late for what was said to be the last tender @ 2:30pm.  We arrived back at the pier along with several hundred others trying to get back to the ship for a 3:00 pm departure. Needless to say, this caused some stress, and our ship was approximately an hour late leaving port.  I would recommend anyone who ever tours in port, to do so only if the tour ends with plenty of time to get back to the ship at least an hour before scheduled departure and avoid long lines, especially when more than one ship is in port (2^nd ship, Royal Princess also had folks trying to return to their ship, which seemed to cause some confusion).

Newport, Rhode Island – Once again a tender was required to get to shore.  It was rainy and cool this day, but this is also a very historical and beautiful area.  We did some shopping in the port area.   The deals were not as good as Bar Harbor, but there were a few good finds.  In Newport, we took a bus tour of the historical mansions around the city.  I think my wife enjoyed this better than I , but it was interesting. Back to the ship (earlier this time for a 7:00 p.m. sailing) less stressful since there was much more time in port.

Disembarkation – As with any cruise, you pack your luggage and leave it outside your cabin on the last night.

Be sure to keep the essentials in you carry on luggage, as well as what you are wearing home.  We went to the Explorers Lounge and relaxed with CNN on the big screen until our baggage color was called.  The waiters even served coffee!  This went well and we got our luggage and headed to our bus for the trip back to Newark for our flight home.

Things that I liked:
  Princess served “tea and crumpets” in the waiting lines at Embarkation

  In port, Princess provided hot drinks where we tendered.  This was a nice touch.

         Princess took pictures only at a few occasions.  We never felt pressured to buy drinks or be “nickled and dimed”

  Nice facilities and excellent service

  Piano music played on regular basis in the grand atrium – very nice

  Princess runs a class operation

A few negatives: (if there has to be)
  Felt obligated to tip the Longshoremen at embarkation. (This operation is independent of Princess and probably can’t be avoided. I was just not expecting this, after all, that’s what the transfers are for that I had already paid thru Princess.)

  They didn’t serve lobster (but I found out later they do on 7 day cruises) Poor me! 

Summary –
I would certainly recommend the Golden Princess as well as Princess Cruise Lines.  We had a wonderful vacation, and were treated with lots of kindness and TLC.  I look forward to sailing Princess again!

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