Mark Weber

Age: 53
Occupation: Engineer
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Ship: Golden Princess
Sailing Date: January 5th, 2002
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

I was initially skeptical about the huge Golden Princess, having loved the layout of the not-small Sun Princess class ship. But the Golden grows on you. There is something to be said for variety and space when you are floating on your own private island.

We arrived at the debarkation port of Ft Lauderdale a day early. Highly recommended if weather is a worry. We stayed at the Comfort Suites near the cruise port. Great choice – reasonable rates and the included breakfast, which featured make-your-own waffles, was filling. Their shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, and hotel to the cruise port, worked well. Just remember to sign up for the available slots to the cruise port since the van only holds 10 people at a time. But cab fare is only about $5 because the hotel is so close. We had friends stay at the Ramada Inn. Bad choice – not professionally run or kept up and their shuttle was a disaster.

Embarkation - A breeze, especially if you fill out the paperwork beforehand using Princess’s Internet site. We were on the boat before noon. Let the feasting begin.

But first - the cruise director was Alistair Greener. Not the best we have encountered, but not bad, a very nice guy. He also grows on you – the more you see him, the more you like him. However, this was his last cruise before taking a 2-month vacation. He will return to the Golden and again team up with his side-kick Frankie (the assistant cruise director) for their two-a-day “Big G TV” show. It’s a fun show, and it’s somewhat interactive. You can participate by writing to them, answering quizzes and challenges for prizes, and they will read whatever you put down on paper. Alistair will be leaving the Golden for the new Star Princess when it is launched. This was our second cruise with Frankie. He remembered us and always stopped to talk to us, a nice touch. It’s almost worth booking a cruise based on who the cruise director personnel are.

The entertainment – The shows put on by the ship’s crew were outstanding. The talent brought aboard were a different story. Other than Rick Starr, a comedian, the “professional” entertainers were of the Catskills talent level. There were plenty of bars and music on this ship, and for those who wanted to exercise their intellect also, lots of trivia and group games for prizes such as coffee mugs and umbrellas. If you’re smart, carry an extra handbag to carry these home in.

The Pub Night show is a must see. Non-stop laughing. However, the passenger talent show on the last night which is usually hilarious was a dud because only three people (singers) signed up. Everybody else was probably off the ship on Princess Cays when auditions were held.

The food – The dinners were good, reminiscent of good hotel fare. Our waitress was only too eager to bring seconds and thirds of any course you desired. The water glasses were kept full. Any request was filled within 15 seconds. Even though we chose Personal Choice seating, we ended up eating at 8:30 PM each evening, and had the same wait staff since we asked to be seated at their station. I think next time we will opt for the traditional late seating. That seems to meet our requirements for relaxing before dinner. It also gives you room for those afternoon snacks of pizza, or pasta from the buffet line. Princess has great pasta. Anyway, I hope the service will be as good in traditional seating as it was in Personal Choice seating for us. Note, if you opt for Personal Choice seating and want to have the same personal service as if you were in traditional seating, it is up to you to engage the wait staff in friendly banter. This will make your dinners more than just “dinner out.” Our waitress and assistant were Georgeta and Dumitri in the 5th floor Bernini dining room. Ask for them if you can. Part of our group tried someone else’s station one night, a real bad decision they said.

As far as breakfast goes (not very, looking at the lunchtime crowds), eat at the Horizon Court buffet. Breakfast in the main dining room is not a fun experience nor is the food very good. I mean the buffet had lox omelets that were 10 times better than the dining room’s.

Now the Horizon Court Buffet is constantly slammed in reviews about how it’s lines (or it’s patrons) are disorganized when trying to retrieve food. I’m here to tell you it’s true and I loved every minute of it. Would you rather queue up for 20 minutes while waiting for the “Florida crowd” to decide on each and every food item that was being offered (more on lines later) or would you prefer to just grab and run. As disorganized as it might seem, I saw nobody complaining and everyone was able to get what they wanted, when they wanted it. This planned (I hope) disorganization was just what a large ship needs to get ‘em in and get ‘em out.

We had dinner one night at Sabatini’s, the alternate dining Italian café. Well, the food is not any better than the regular dining room. They also give you too many courses so that by the time you reach your entrée, you are too full to enjoy it. And the staff are not solicitous by any means. It was not friendly service. Wait there’s more. Not only do you have to fork over $15 per head for this, but they expect a tip beyond that. To be fair, we talked to other passengers who said it was so good, they are going back again. However, nine out of ten of our group said don’t bother.

High Tea – Which reminds me, we had one night of whistling wind and high seas, but nothing to cause us to fall over, just gentle rocking. Anyway, I recommend High Tea. Great scones and pastries. Look, it’s free, okay.

And speaking of free, the Laundry Facilities aren’t. The Sun and Dawn Princess ships had free washers and dryers, at least when we were on them. The Golden does not. However, the washer is only a dollar (4 quarters) and the dryer is only 50 cents. Be careful if you get change from the change machine in the laundry room. Check to see if you received any Princess gambling tokens instead of real quarters. You will be hard pressed (no pun intended) to tell the difference, as it was, obviously, for the change machine mechanic.

Beverages – Back to food. You can now get a soft drink “card” for $17.75 for unlimited soft drinks. They have removed the free liquor from the mini-suites. You can no longer take liquor you have bought on board back to your room. Princess is going all out in reducing room rates following recent events (that’s how we got a mini-suite for less than a Carib deck outside cabin with balcony) and in doing so has tried to make up the difference by selling more “popcorn.” During our snorkel adventure, I was waiting for a fish to come up to me and ask if I wanted something from the sand-bar.

Ice Cream – Back to food (It’s on the pyramid somewhere). More nickel and dime-ing with the Haagen Daz ice cream shop? Maybe, but you can get as much ice cream as you want at dinner and lunch in the dining rooms. And this ice cream is freshly made on the ship and it’s good. So quit complaining.

Exercise – What’s this doing here? For those who want to exercise more than their elbows, my wife says the exercise programs (like yoga) and the gym were good. Just walking around the promenade desk was not half bad. I think 3 complete laps make a mile. We did enjoy ballroom dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar, great band and “standard” type music. For good funky music and a great view (day and night), try the Skywalkers lounge, but bring your own oxygen – you’ll see what I mean.

The Room – Our mini-suite had more than enough space for all our stuff. We actually had empty drawers and shelves. The standard staterooms that some of our group had were adequate. I particularly enjoyed the tub-shower, having remembered what it was like to use the phone booth size showers of the standard stateroom. The sitting area with couch is great for entertaining. The mini-suite is easy to get spoiled over.

There has been a lot of talk about the balconies on the Grand class ships. Ours was exposed, so what. We didn’t feel like we were being spied on at all. It was also plenty large for what it is used for which really wasn’t that much despite our intentions. My wife, Debbie, though, enjoyed breakfast on the balcony and sitting out there in the late afternoon. For me, it was just more convenient eating room service food inside the room. The big plus of having a balcony is all the glass, your window to the outside world. Balconies were great in Alaska, but in the Caribbean, not that useful.

The Pools – My preference was the indoor pool area on deck 14 which is identical to the outdoor area just forward of it, except for the retractable dome of course. The domed pool was more comfortable for me temperature-wise and quieter. This area is where the pizza and burgers stands, and Horizon Court buffet, and bars are located so it was very convenient for meeting our goal of staying stuffed. By the way, you can add “and bars” to any location description on this ship and probably be correct. I’ll bet they have a bar next to the Friends of Bill W. meeting room, seriously.

Land tours – We took the 5-star snorkel trip to St. John’s Trunk bay. That’s 3 hours of boat trip with 1 and ½ hours of snorkeling. Actually, that’s plenty, there’s not that much to see. But the water was great and the beach was nice. The only free refreshment they served on the boat was punch, with or without rum. This trip does not hold a candle to Hawaiian snorkel excursions but that’s another story.

On St. Maarten, we hired our own tour bus. This way we got to tour the island and spend time at Orient Beach (where else!). It’s a great beach, and I don’t mean because it can be clothing optional. Having said that, seeing people naked on the beach is really not that titillating, sometimes, quite the opposite.

Princess’s own island in the Bahamas was a pleasant surprise. The tour staff on the boat kept telling us it was 60 degrees in the water. This seemed plausible for January in the Bahamas. This turned out not to be true however and also caused us to leave late for the island. I mean, what was the point of going. When we got there, we went to the right like all the other reviews said. It was deserted, for good reason. The entertainment was to the left, the food was to the left, the chairs were to the left. The reviews were correct about the chairs and the shade though – if you want them, go early. The burgers at the food hut were good, but the corn was soggy, way soggy. Oh yes, the water was warm enough to be fully immersed and not get chilled when exiting. Not as warm as the Caribbean, but warm enough – so don’t ask, just go.

Well this is “the later” I mentioned earlier. The lunch lines at the BBQ buffet grill on Princess Cays are agonizing. You cannot hit and run but must stand and wait while some of your fellow travelers make retirement projects out of finger food. But maybe I can help here. There are four lines but they are not equal. The food stations are staggered so that lines 2 and 4 are closer to the front than lines 1 and 3. So while all the lines seem to be equal from the outside, lines 2 and 4 are actually quite a bit closer to the booty.

Disembarkation – Don’t believe the stories you’ve read, it went very well. The only hard part was finding your luggage, since everyone now seems to have the same style luggage, but it was nothing to get upset over. The whole process was fast enough even for type A personalities.

Conclusion – Princess has a nice mix of passengers, of all ages. The staff and amenities were up to the standard you would expect on a cruise ship. If any one in our group complained about something, we just accepted it as part of our entertainment, albeit from a passenger instead of the crew. No one on our trip said they would not go again on a Princess cruise.

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