6nts in London and Golden Princess review Jun 1 -10

Just returned from the family's vacation to London and a 10 night Golden Princess cruise and had a wonderful time. This trip was with my spouse and my inlaws. Here are the details of our adventures.

Air- Virgin Atlantic airlines. Flew direct nonstop from our hometown to Gatwick. Was able to save approx. $100 per person by calling Virgin direct and getting a senior discount for the inlaws. Flight went smoothly.

Gatwick to London - traveled via rail. IMPORTANT: if there are 4 of you travling together you qualify for a 2 for 1 discount. This can only be purchased at a railway ticket counter, not after you board the train. Cost for the 4 of us to London was 24 pounds. It may have been less expensive to book a round trip ticket but we weren't sure if we would take a taxi from London to Gatwick upon return to the states. Took a taxi from Victoria station to our hotel in Mayfair. Again, everything went smoothly.

Hotel: 4 nights at the Sofitel Saint James via Priceline at a rate of $225 night. Not a huge savings vs. the Sofitel direct, we saved $400 total for the 2 rooms. Still spoiled from those $150/nt room rates from 1 year ago but no luck with such a hugely discounted rate this time. Due to schedule changes we booked an additional night (Fri) at the Sofitel and lucked out with a rate of 110 pounds for the single night, almost the same as the Priceline rate that evening only. This hotel is located in the heart of Piccadilly Circus and within a short distance of many theatres, Trafalgar Square, Leichester Square, and lots of great shops.

This was the second time we stayed at the hotel. Rooms are nicely appointed though I had a terrible headache most mornings from the down comforter and pillows as well as the woolen drapes. But heck, I'm in London and I'm so happy to be there!

Upon arrival the first night we walk over to our favorite touristy restaurant in Leicester Square, Fiori Corner for some spaghetti and people watching just across the way from the underground stop in the heart of the square. Dinner for the 4 of us with coke lights and bread cost approx. $110. The weather was excellent, about 80 degrees.

Attractions for the 5 days: Did the Original London Sightseeing Bus. We hopped on and off at many of our favorite sites including St. Paul's Basilica. Also went to the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum (great spy section and so much to learn there about the world wars).

On day 2 we took the rail to Hampton Court Palace from Waterloo station. This was our favorite day. Again, we purchased discounted rail tickets because there were 4 of us and it cost 2.65 pounds per person. Also we picked up a dicount brochure (must do) from the train ticket seller and received 2 for 1 entrance prices into Hampton Court. Spent the day there seeing the estate and gardens and had a ball.

Dining was very expensive. No matter where we went it always seemed to cost us more than $100, even at the inexpensive london chain restaurants such as Bella Pasta or Deep Pan Pizza. For lunch we usually dined at any shop where we can find tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches! Most often we enjoyed cafe Marco? that was next to our hotel. Tasty sandwiches and convenient.

Details on our voyage out of Southampton and The Golden Princess Western European Capitals to follow including Brussels, Oslo, Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Normandy.......

On Wednesday we departed beloved London and headed toward Southampton where we boarded the Golden Princess.

Again, we took the rail from Waterloo to Southampton. The cost round trip with discount for the four of us was 17.65 pounds.

I spent a great deal of time researching a cruise that would take us to great, never before visited places from Southampton and was happy to discover the Golden Princess. We booked this cruise through cruises-n-more.com, and a bid incentive to take this cruise was the discounted cruise vs. land rate was $260/day for a balcony room that included meals. Now shore excursions were another story! Very expensive but well worth it.

Since we were traveling with hubby's elder father we were able to board through the express line for embarkation, the entire process took approx. 40 minutes. Total travel time from London to the ship and checking in luggage took about 3 hours. We were surprised when the cruise line kept our passports. They would hold on to them for 8 days, until we reached Rotterdam. Heightened security measures I guess.

Zebrugge- Took the excursion to Medieval Bruges and Ghent. This was possibly the favorite day of sightseeing. Enjoyed seeing the historic towns, St. Bavo's catherdral, and took a one hour cruise of the canals. Purchased homemade Belgian chocolates and Marzipan which I'm still enjoying now! The people were quite friendly.

Oslo- took a tour of the city and visited Vigeland Sculpture Park. Drove to the ski jump site of Holmenkollen from the 1952 Olympics and got great photos of the town and fjord below. Visited the National Gallery to see my favorite painting "The Scream". This was always one of the things I wanted to do in my life and am so glad to have been able to see one of these remarkable paintings by Munch with my own eyes. Unfortunately it rained all day but I didn't mind it. Cruising out of Oslo looked a lot like Alaska with the rolling green hills and lush landscape.

Copenhgagen - visited Frederiksborg Castle. I had no idea just how breathtaking this visit would be. Exploring castles while on holiday is one of my favorite pastimes and this spot is among my favorites. The ballroom was so colorful and opulent but at the same time cosy and welcoming, as is the rest of the palace. It's great to daydream about what it may have been like living in those times. Frederiksborg dates from the 16th century.

Hamburg - traveled to the town of Schwerin and visited Schwerin Castle. Another lovely visit. Enjoyed lunch at the estate and walked around the grounds. Stopped for photos of Rathaus and picked up some souvenirs.

Rotterdam, Le Havre (Normandy), and London to be continued....

Rotterdam - took a trip to Amsterdam and cruised the canals. Definitely need to revisit Amsterdam! Only got to see the famous red light district from a tour bus but we did have a woman that flashed us from her apartment ....saw a houseboat growing lots of ganja from the windows and cruised past Anne Frank's home. Went to a wooden shoe factory and picked up a few pairs of clogs for memories.

Le Havre (Normandy) - really wanted to visit Versailles but will save for another trip when we have more time in France. FIL is a vet and he wanted to visit the Normandy landing beaches. Was very surprised to see all the resident's French AND American flags. Felt good to break away from the stereotypes. The American Cementary was very touching and I am so glad we took the time to see the important spots of WWII.

After the cruise we headed back to London for one final day of sightseeing. Took the hop on hop off bus one more time, later that day we went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith at the Odeon theatres in Leicester Square. Shockingly, we spent $120 for the 4 of us to see the movies, grabbing a bag of popcorn and colas. We misread the cost, tickets were 11.50 pounds vs. the 7 pounds per person we thought we'd be paying for an early viewing. Enjoyed the movie, very entertaining.

Our final night's lodging was at the Thistle Charing Cross via Priceline at a rate of $105/nt. The rooms were newly referbished and nicely decorated in modern style. Great location in Charing Cross tube/rail station with several shops inside. Beautiful historic building and again in walking distance of Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, and Piccadilly Circus.

We regretfully headed home the following morning again via rail promising to return to England and the rest of Europe soon. We were able to pay for an upgrade to Premium Economy on the Virgin flight home. Meals and such were the same, we just got the business class seats.

In all, this ranks as one of our best vacations, yea!!!!! I admit I do like to stay in historic hotels in Europe vs. cruising but we were extremely happy with our voyage. I thought I'd gain weight on a 10 night cruise for certain, but only gained 1 1/2 pounds to date, hopefully that will slip away in a few days.....We were able to get more value for our money by cruising, and felt the pinch in London due to the weak dollar. Would this ever stop us....no way! We tried to dine less expensively and traveled rail vs. taxi whenever possible. All the Europeans were so friendly, had many pleasant conversations with locals.

Golden Princess, the ship:

This was our 4th Princess cruise. After extensive searching we were able to book a Mini Suite for approx. $1700 pp with $400 cabin credit with each room through cruises-n-more.com.

Only a few minor complaints and the overwhelming positives:

Embarkation: Please see above section 2, after departing London.

Entertainment: The production show was pretty bad (in our opinion only) the second night, it kind of turned us off from seeing the shows the rest of the trip. The comedian was terrific, discussed relationships and male/female differences. We were laughing so hard! Also saw the hypnotist. I admit, I'm skeptical, and did have a few chuckles during our time there. The shows were entirely too late (starting at 8:00pm onwards on 2 nights) when all the ship's passengers likely had 7:30 excursions on the nights before Amsterdam (comedian's final show at 10:45 pm) and Le Havre.

Food: Was very good in the dining rooms as always. The menu did have some more European type items, I think they were special for this cruise. The buffet was also very good and served the formal night menus including the lobster tails. The desserts are a weak point, though. They were often bland and tasteless. The homemade chocolate chip cookies are good though!

Room: Our cabin steward, Danny from the Phillipenes was great, so friendly and helpful. The heater was not working correctly so a service person came promptly to make repairs and get the heat going again

The ship is definitely showing sighs of wear and tear, but nothing major, everything was spotless and clean as always.

Weather: we did have a bit of a cold front this time, it seemed to follow is wherever we sailed! Hit rough seas on the 2nd sea day (before Hamburg) in the North Sea and FIL got sea sick and had to visit the ship's doctor for a shot. This was surprising because Dad was in the navy and sailed for may years! As soon as he was treated he slept for a few hours and was fine for the rest of the cruise and he did take pills for the remainder of the voyage.

Princess' employees were great! At Frederiksborg we dined with a Princess employee from the UK and we learned lots of ship secrets, so interresting!

Can't wait for our next European voyage! Any questions be sure to ask! Happy sailings all :)

Thanks so much for your help! I am glad that you had a great cruise. I do have a question and hope that you do not mind, it may be a repeat of something someone else has asked. I am really trying to plan for packing. What is the dress for most of the ports? Did a lot of people wear jeans ( not going with that in the dining room:rolleyes: contoversy) but I mean was it more casual or do women wear skirts and sweaters and men gold shirts and dockers? We have not been to Europe before and have heard two sides to this story. I would really appreciate your advice.

Also, was the comedian Kevin Hughes? We saw him on the Sapphire last summer and if it was him, you are so right, we laughed so hard. He was so popular, they had to do two shows. My DH and I actually got to talk with him a little at breakfast one morning, he is a very lovely and nice man. Sorry that the entertainment was not that great.

Thanks so much again for posting. It helps more than you know:)

Linda

Wow - that sounds wonderful. I'd love to try a european trip or mediteranian. Thanks for the information.

Hi Linda, most people wore jeans or whatever was comfortable during the day. There were quite a few people wearing jeans in the Personal choice dining rooms whenever we ate in there (Bernini early). However people really dressed up for formal night, more so than any of our other Princess cruises. A surprising number of gents wore tuxes and some of the women looked really beautiful in ball gowns. In the dining room there were also quite a few women that wore dress pants (more so than skirts) and men that wore dockers. In all, this ship has been the dressiest of our 4 other Princess cruises but at the same time I still noticed some in jeans on smart casual nights, all ages.

Yes, the comedian was Kevin Hughes! He was the funniest Princess comedian so far.

And the captain is Bernard Warner, he was our captain when we did the Diamond in Dec. His family is now sailing with him for the summer. He is a very personable Captain. From what I understand from crew members one of Princess' most respected chefs (the Italian gent, sorry I can't remember name) is heading up the ship this summer and started with our cruise I believe. Known to be a perfectionist. We watched the culinary demonstration... mmmm good. I have heard the assistant chefs are working from 6am to 11pm so far this leg. Hopefully things will get running more smoothly and they can get more free time soon:)

I wanted to add we did hit rough water the day after Brussels as mentioned above, with 50 mph winds and 12 foot swells. This was our rockiest sailing so far! We laid in bed and watched tv after dad in law was taken care of. Things started to get smoother around 3pm. The first sea day the waters were as smooth as glass, as well as smooth waters our day at sea after Hamburg. Do be sure to stand outside after departing Oslo to view the scenery as mentioned earlier.

And I forgot to mention that the firemen of Amsterdam dressed up in traditional uniform with clogs and sang to us upon our departure from Rotterdam. Do be sure to catch their singing of old sailor's songs. It brought tears to my eyes, and made us feel really welcome in their lovely country.

Have a wonderful time!

The ship is definitely showing sighs of wear and tear, but nothing major, everything was spotless and clean as always.

 

Hi there, I loved your whole report, very informative and I am glad you had a nice holiday :)

Could you be more specific about 'wear and tear' showing? Thanks

Thanks so much for your trip report, I loved it. We're heading off to London ourselves in July and then sailing on the July 11 voyage on the Golden going to the same ports that you visited.

Thanks also for the info on the dress code. We saw quite a few people wearing jeans when we cruised in October aboard the Golden so I guess they don't really enforce the dress code as much on this particular ship.

If she's showing some wear I guess it came after our sailing in late October as we didn't notice any then.

I'm glad to see that the food is good, the new Italian chef must be the reason for that!

Again thanks so much, your report was wonderful!

Hi Casshew, yes, by wear and tear I just mean that the common area carpets were faded a bit from all the passengers:) The room comforters seemed a little worn too, kinda wearing thin but it didn't make a big difference. I would say these areas could use a little refirbishment but it wasn't in dire straits or anything. The Player's bar could use some general sprucing up, seemed a little dark. Everything was very spotless and clean. These are just minor things I noticed and MIL commented also but it did not in any way change our enjoyment of the ship:)

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the report and wish you all many happy cruises in the future:D

Everything was very spotless and clean. These are just minor things I noticed and MIL commented also but it did not in any way change our enjoyment of the ship

Thank you very much for the info:)

Thank you cnmiranda. Funny, I read my question to you again, I meant to write golf shirts......long day:o I think that we have sailed with Captain Warner before,he sounds great and the Italian chef,super! We have heard that Richard Joseph is great as well, it should be a terrific cruise. I am not looking forward to the trip across the North Sea though, I hope that it calms down.

Enjoy your trip to Alaska. We loved our cruise last August, the weather was spectacular. Thanks again for your help.:D

Linda

Thanks for this- very useful! We are doing the same itinerary at the end of July. Interesting comments on the dress code- my 13 year old will be happy as she wants to be able to wear jeans with a dressy top in the evenings.

Do you know if anyone did the Ghent and Chocolate making tour? Was it worth it?

What about the National Gallery in Oslo? Was the painting an original as I thought that The Scream had been stolen some time ago. I'd also love to see it.

Anne

Was the hypnotist Alexander? His show are amoung the best I have ever seen on a cruise ship. I still have a tape of one of his shows where my DW was hypnotized.

and I agree with cnmiranda. We noticed minor signs of wear around the ship, but everything was quite clean and this did not have any effect on our enjoyment either. We had a great time on the cruise and have already booked our 2006 European cruise while onboard. I was traveling with my mom who has Elite Captain's Circle status (this was my first time as Platinum). This was our first time on Princess since they instituted the Elite status and it was very nice. We had the heavy robes waiting in the cabin rather than the lighterweight ones we saw on others and our cabin steward also brought us slippers. Minibar setup was in the room when we arrived (two Perriers,two bottles of water, two beers, two coke, two sprite, two tonics, two vodka, two brandy, two gin, and two whiskey). We had no trouble switching out the gin for vodka and the coke, sprite and tonic for diet coke. We came back from the Cruise Critic get together after the lifeboat drill to find a plate of 15 canapes and 8 chocolate dipped strawberries had been delivered. Also got them on both formal nights, though in smaller quantities. My mom got a rose corsage on the first formal night as well. Of course the free internet that comes with the platinum and elite levels is great to have especially since I had to keep in touch with my husband and kids back home. We had booked an AD minisuite guarantee and were assigned an AA mini - cabin D425 which was in a great location, perfectly midship. As soon as the seas started looking rough when we left Copenhagen I took a bonine, so I had no problems with seasickness. We had a very nice Cruise Critic get together on one of the sea days which was compliments of the CD, Richard Joseph and his staff. Drinks and hors d'oerves included as well as a coupon for a free Princess tote bag from the shops. Speaking of Richard Joseph, I highly recommend attending his talk on cruise ships of the past, present and future. It was very good (though he admitted that he hates the CC term "MUTS"!). We had arranged for a taxi to take us to Bruges (found others through this board to share the cost) and did a walking tour with a group from CC, but otherwise we stuck with ship tours. Berlin was great... a very long day but very worthwhile. Our only complaint on that was being stuck in a compartment on the train home with an 8 month old baby who cried alot and also another family that was quite loud and obnoxious. Made the ride back seem twice as long as it really was. And despite some horror stories about embarkation, we arrived at the terminal around 10:45am, checked right in and only waited for 20-30 minutes before they started embarkation. We were on the ship within 5-10 minutes. My advice to future travellers this season is to arrive early if possible. All in all, it was a very enjoyable cruise and now has me looking forward to the Baltics on Star Princess in a month and a half.

Can you please tell me who you arranged your taxi with for Brugge? I've been trying to arrange for a taxi for the same purpose and have had no luck getting a response so far.

Thanks.

Hi Cathy, so nice to hear your report! You really got lucky with your cabin. At the last minute our ta was able to get cabins for the inlaws and us next to each other, but it was at the very end of the ship, D725 and 727. I think the location contributed to Dad's seasickeness on the 2nd sea day, we really felt the rocking. We spent much of the day on deck 5 midship. The cc party sounds like a fun time! And the cruise director really took care of everyone! That's great! I also look forward to another European cruise next year, it's so great to visit all the countries and only unpack once. You are so lucky to be going to the Baltics soon! Have a wonderful voyage!

Hi Harry, the hypnotist was Steve Rayner. An enjoyable show, a few seemed to be really under.:)

Hi Anne, We did speak to someone that did the Ghent and chocolate tour. They enjoyed it immensely and they got to watch the chocolate being made as well as sampled several different types of chocolate that was included in the tour. Ghent was lovely, and a highlight of our visit. It's really beautiful there. Regarding the National Gallery, here is the info about the stolen paintings. Actually, there are a few copies of the Scream, one was stolen from the Munch Museum and not yet recovered regretfully. The National Gallery version was retrieved a few months later.....

"On 12 February 1994 the National Gallery's Scream was stolen. Initially the theft was linked to various anti-abortion groups active in Norway, but this turned out to be false. After three months, the painting was offered back to the Norwegian government for a ransom of USD $1 million. The ransom was refused, but the painting was nevertheless recovered on 7 May, following a sting operation organised by the Norwegian police with assistance from the British Police and the Getty Museum.

On August 22, 2004, the Munch Museum's Scream was stolen at gunpoint, along with Munch's Madonna. Museum officials expressed hope that they would see the painting again, theorizing that perhaps the thieves would seek ransom money. The paintings are still missing. On April 8, 2005, Norwegian police arrested a suspect in connection with the theft. On April 28, 2005, it was rumoured that the two paintings had been burnt by the thieves to conceal evidence. On June 1, 2005, the City Government of Oslo offered a reward of 2 million Norwegian kroner (about $320,000) for information that could help locate the paintings."

Cjskids, we took the ship's tour. Unfortunately I don't know hot to arrange a taxi, perhaps someone else does?:confused:

Thank you for sharing, Miranda! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, especially since we had booked the same itin. for July but eventually had to cancel due to DH's work schedule. Now, we're going to Paris for 4 days and then taking the EuroStar over to London for 5 days instead.

I've heard the warnings about the price of food and I know London is now ranking as the #1 Most Expensive City in the World, so I'm prepared. Hopefully, it'll be worth the experience though. Did you happen to go on the London Eye or to Maddame Tussaud's?

Hi Lady Jag, did not do the London Eye though we walked by it a few times along that tourist row by Big Ben and the Thames River. Was pretty busy. I guess you can purchase vip tickets so the lines aren't as large, but sorry I don't know where to get them.

Went to Madame Tussauds a few years ago and enjoyed it, heard it's supposed to be even better now. You can also purchase line passes for that too, a must as lines can be very long. Can purchase those vip tickets at various touristy shops next to the museum.

Did the Eurostar once from London to France and really enjoyed it.... love seeing the countryside though I did get scared when we went under water:eek: but it is the best way to travel!

Have a wonderful vacation!:D

We used Brugse Taxi Service (Note the unusual spelling). They charged 42 Euros each way and the van held 8 passengers. Here is their website:

http://www.brugsetaxiservice.com/eng.html

There were also taxis lined up at the pier to take passengers to Bruges. They were charging 45 Euros each way.

I dealt with Freddy at Brugse Taxi by e-mail. Hope this helps.

We used Brugse Taxi Service (Note the unusual spelling). They charged 42 Euros each way and the van held 8 passengers. Here is their website:

 

http://www.brugsetaxiservice.com/eng.html

 

There were also taxis lined up at the pier to take passengers to Bruges. They were charging 45 Euros each way.

 

I dealt with Freddy at Brugse Taxi by e-mail. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for your help. This is the company that I've emailed but they don't ever respond! I also called there an dthey told me to email them with my reservation info but I never received a response again!

Can I ask you how far in advance you emailed them and how long they took to respond to you? Did you have to pay ahead of time?

Thanks again!!

Carolyn

Great review,..I'm salivating now!

We did arrange with Freddy at Brugge taxi service already and they will be waiting at the pier for us when we disembark to take us to Brugge and return on our own schedule.

Lady Jag, we did the Londong Eye two years ago and it was wonderful...very good view around the city (kinda like the Eiffel Tower or Sears Tower) and really a great ride for the money!

Can786, we're monitoring your board...just signed up for the Baltics next summer...must have something to look forward to! :rolleyes:

Jeani

Great review,..I'm salivating now!

We did arrange with Freddy at Brugge taxi service already and they will be waiting at the pier for us when we disembark to take us to Brugge and return on our own schedule.

Lady Jag, we did the Londong Eye two years ago and it was wonderful...very good view around the city (kinda like the Eiffel Tower or Sears Tower) and really a great ride for the money!

Can786, we're monitoring your board...just signed up for the Baltics next summer...must have something to look forward to! :rolleyes:

Jeani

Jeani, how did you get them to answer you? I don't know if for some reason the email just doesn't get to them or back to me as I"m on aol or what the problem is.