Golden Review from a Princess Newbie

Hey folks. Just off Golden doing the last Southern Caribbean explorer route until the fall. I'll try to keep it short and if you have any questions, fire away.

First, a loud applause to all those on these message boards who advised us to sail on Golden even though it was not stopping in Caracas (especially Joe and Amelia who also organized a mini "Meet and mingle" get-together on embarkation day). We had a wonderful time. This was only our second cruise (first on Princess) and we truely loved the Golden. We first read messages when we were researching opinions and reviews about Golden. Many, many good reviews and didn't find any negative ones about Golden. Some people had some negative comments about a few things but, since we have nothing to compare our first Princess cruise to, you have our unbiased opinions.

Pre-cruise: Flew in on Saturday and stayed at Radisson Ambassador in Condado. They have a wonderful pre or post cruise package that includes 2 drinks, match and play casino coupons, breakfast and late check-out. Went to the pier at 2:00 pm and we were in our room at 2:30. Everything was well-organized. Big push to sell soda sticker ($25). We sailed at 11 under the fullest moon we ever saw.

Cabin: Spent a lot of time researching cabins (My wife says I'm obsessive. Just trying to enhance the cruising experience).Settled on Baja just aft of midship on the port side. Balcony was smaller than Caribe deck but fully covered. Aloha deck balconies directly overhead. Port side is great because you can see all the islands before docking (except Aruba).We know that everyone has a personal opinion on cabin type and location but we knew before going that if we booked a balcony cabin, we would put it to use and we sure did just that. It was like an extra room but with a view.

MUSTS: Room service on the balcony (especially in the morning), high tea in the dining room from 3:30-4:30, viewing constellations at night, bar-hopping (my wife was so intent on getting the gifts but she managed to have a drink in all of the 14 bars), taking pictures at dawn just before docking.

Dining: Horizon Court is open 24 hours- very good food which changes throughout the day and night. Dining room (we had traditional second seating) was lovely. Great food with themed nights- Caribbean night, English night, Italian night. Two formal nights on Tuesday and Friday. We never went to the alternative restaurants so I can't give an opinion on those. We definitely enjoyed the food.

Service: First rate everywhere. Cabin steward was very attentive and very visible. There was nothing he wouldn't do for us. Same with the dining room wait staff. The attention to disease prevention was everywhere and at the Horizon Court, you are supposed to sanitize your hands (from the dispensers at the entrance) and servers wore gloves. There was evidence of cleanliness throughout the ship.

Ports: On retrospect, we think that 5 ports can get a bit hectic. Everyone at our table agreed that the Saturday at sea was a much needed break along with another wishful sea day. The one port that we thought would be worthless turned out to be one of the best (Isla Margarita). We were there for 5 hours (7-12) but there were shops right outside the ship and a small beach that had chair rentals and Wave runner rentals. This was a great place to relax. They are in the process of building a 21 million dollar terminal closer to La Palomar on the island which has some major shopping. St. Kitts has great flora and a wonderful fort (Brimstone). Our guide on Grenada told us that the island was 60% back but it was apparent that repairs were going slowly. Many schools had no roofs.

Debarkation: Slow but efficient. We were staying in San Juan for a day so we waited but once they call the passengres who have early morning and early afternoon flights, they then call by deck. We were off by 10:30 am and stayed at the San Juan Marriott. A bit pricey but a great pool and beach. My DW managed to win $100 in the casino.

Overall: We had a fantastic time. Golden is a wonderful ship and even though it had 2600 passengers, there were so many places to go that you never felt crowded. Entertainment was very good with shows going on in 3 different places. Can't wait until the next cruise. If you are booked on Golden, we think you will have a great time.

Questions?: fire away.

Again, thanks Princess cruisers who gave their advice, patiently answered questions and were helpful in making our first cruise on Princess a very memorable one.

Thanks for the review!

I'm curious... What gift did your wife get for hitting all the bars?

So glad you enjoyed the Golden - we did too - so much so that we rebooked again for next Jan - alternate itinerary. Thanks for the review - that's the itinerary we will be on next. We booked starboard - I hope we won't be disappointed.

Dreamer,

I don't know what gift they got - but - my husband and I were on the Golden in Jan. and we got really cute, very colorful t-shirts that say 'I completed the Princess Bar Hop'.

I'm curious if it is the same prize. We'll be on the Golden again next Jan. and won't try so hard if it's the same prize every cruise. It really wasn't that hard - it was kind of fun - until we still had 4 bars to hit the last day. On our card we had to get 16 of the 19 bars punched.

Kaye

The bar hopping gift was, indeed, a t-shirt with that message on it. They also included a large Princess plastic drinking cup with a plastic straw.

On my last cruise on the Coral, you had a choice of a bar hopper tee shirt or a baseball cap with Dos XX on it.. I chose the tee

Howlev34 -

Now I'm really jealous - we didn't get any pastic cup with a straw (I think I like the t-shirt better though).

Kaye