livinginyellow

Yes! You just pay the difference. At least that's what happened on my Golden Princess cruise this summer. This is one of my favorite things to do on a cruise, because you can try an expensive glass of wine for "cheap."

I wrote a blog post that breaks this down exactly, including the math (so you don't have to do it!). Includes pricing, pricing by cruise line, and even helps you understand what pricing would look like based on the kind of drinks you enjoy. Take a look: https://www.anyadventurewithyou.com/cruise-drinks-package-should-you-buy-one/

15 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I also did a cruise on the Golden with our grandkids this summer.  This was maybe our 4th or 5th trip to AK counting cruises, cruises w grandkids and land trips.  I will admit that the only reason that we took this specific cruise is because the timing was right for the grandkids as we do not normally cruise on Princess.  However, based on your positive review, we must have been on a different ship.

 

On the positive side, the dinners in the MDR were good and most important the grandkids loved the trip.

 

On the negative side. I felt that the ship was totally over crowded and there was almost no space in the public spaces which were wall-to-wall people.  We typically ate breakfast and lunch in the buffet and the food and food selection at the buffet was the worse of any ship I have ever been on.  Think Denny's or worse quality food.  The port times were awful.  We did not have enough times in the ports and some of the "scenic cruising" might have been scenic except that we went into the scenic areas as the sun was setting and came out when it was almost dark which made it hard to see stuff.

 

I have one more grandchild who is owed an AK cruise.  It will not be on Princess.

 

DON

I'm sorry to hear your experience was so bad! I'm always one to say see if you can try another ship and give it another go, but if you don't, we'd love to hear what other line you pick and how it compares!

13 hours ago, Laurie S. said:

You don't mention karaoke, which is our favorite activity.  Can you say anything about it?  We're going on May 6th to the Mexican Riviera.  Dive, drink, sing!

I don't remember any karaoke! There may have been some, but not often! 

14 minutes ago, 4hunters said:

Thanks very much for the review!  I noticed you didn’t mention the complimentary room service as a late night eating option. Did you not know about it?  

True, I didn't. I ordered from it once, early on in the cruise. It took very long, so much so that I knew I wouldn't stay awake waiting for it (or have the foresight to order it early enough) after a few drinks, so I didn't consider it.

12 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

Thanks for a great review!!! With excellent photos.

Tony

Thank you so much! Hearing that someone enjoyed it makes all the work worth it 🙂 Hopefully it can be helpful to someone sailing on GP! 

I wrote out a review of my family and I's time on the Golden Princess on Alaska over the summer. I plan on doing a comprehensive review of Alaska itself soon, which I will also post here. Please read and let me know if you have any questions. I can answer here on the blog.

https://www.anyadventurewithyou.com/alaska-on-the-golden-princess-a-cruise-review/

Alright - I didn't have any cell service yesterday, so catching up. Here's my review of embarkation:

Day 1 of the cruise is over and I understand now why people love Princess. This ship is beautiful, the food is good, and the service is great. Were enjoying this cruise a lot so far. Before we got on the ship yesterday, we grabbed some dim sum near the cruise port and then walked around a bit to wait until it was time to board. We loved Vancouver and wanted to spend as much time as possible in it.

Unfortunately, in this time we learned that my grandparents missed their (Princess-booked flight) and so now have to meet us in Ketkichan tomorrow 😭 My aunt was flying from a different place so she made it without a problem. When we did board, embarkation was a breeze. It took a long time but I have to say that we never stopped moving and that it was clearly labelled on the walls how many steps we needed to take to get through the process (i.e. number one was drop your luggage off, two was check-in, three was go through customs since the ship is considered in the United States and four is board). It was nice that they labelled each step as it made you feel like the process was very smooth.

Once we got onboard, it was just about 1 p.m. and the rooms were open. So we headed to ours to drop our stuff off and meet our steward. My husband and I like to get the things we need from the steward right away, and we give them a tip off the bat too so that they know we appreciate them. With that being done, we explored the ship until it was time for muster. We stopped in the buffet around 2 p.m. and it was very quiet and empty. Easy to get a seat.

Muster was one of the weirder ones I've gone through. I found it odd that they taught you through a song. If you couldn't hear or see the attendant, you didn't learn anything at all.

Aftter muster my husband I rushed up to the nightclub in the aft. It was the highest point in the ship, and my husband and I like to head there to watch sailaway. We ran up there and waited for 45 minutes for the ship to sail off. As soon as it began sailing off, a waiter approached us and said that the nightclub is for suites only.  We were so frustrated because not only was there not a sign when we got there, but they waited 45 minutes to tell us that! We told the waiter that and after a little back and forth we asked if we could stay as long as we didn't eat the food or get the drinks. He said that's fine but only for a little bit. So we hung out there until the ship was past Vancouver and in the open water and then began walking around some more.

The compass on the ship needed to be recalibrated, so we went forward and watched them work on that for a bit. At one point, we did a few 360 degree turns to help recalibrate it. My husband and I then went to our room to unpack and we got a few drinks before dinner.

Dinner was great. For some reason we were the only table in our waiter's section so we got prompt service. I had a crab cake for an appetizer and there was a lot of shell in it, so I didn't get through it all. My entree was mussels and prime rib. After dinner, most of my family was exhausted, so they headed back to bed.

There was a Texas Hold'em demonstration advertised in the patter, so my husband and my dad and I headed there. Unfortunately, they said they weren't doing it that night which again frustrated me. A small crowd had appeared so there should have been someone telling us it wasn't happening so we could go do something else like make the 9 p.m. show.

My husband and I grabbed a few drinks and waited until the yes/no game show at 10 p.m. it was with cruise director Casey and one of his staff - the whole thing was hilarious. The goal of the game is go three minutes without saying yes or no to the questions they were asking you (which were very pointed towards yes/no answers) I was one of the first few people to be picked and got almost two minutes. I won a Princess wine stopper. If you didn't make it very far, you won stickers, or someone won a used battery. Two people made it the whole way, but they kind of purposefully slowed their answers down to make sure they made it. The cruise director said they weren't going to allow that anymore and then no one made it any further. But the winners did get a bottle of champagne! Overall, I was extremely impressed by the CD and how well run the show was. I'm excited to see their other offerings through the week.

It was about 11 p.m. at this point and I was absolutely shocked by how quiet the ship was at this point. Usually on other lines/ships it's absolutely crazy the first night and at only 11 p.m. so we watched the piano player for a bit before trying to find some food. Something that was odd was the pizza wasn't 24 hours. So we kind of wandered the ship looking for the 24 hour food and found it at the international grill on the 5th floor. 

We grabbed some food and headed to bed.

Today is our first sea day. It's gotten considerably colder, so I'm excited to see what it's like when we make it to Ketchikan tomorrow. The biggest change in our itinerary today is our formal night will be spent in the dining room instead of the steak house because my grandparents aren't here and the dinner was for their birthday.

The biggest thing so far today is the naturalist on board had mentioned that you could provably see orcas off of deck 7 at 7:30 this morning. Well my mom and sister got up at 5 to make sure they saw them, and when the naturalist came by around 7, it turned out the ship had to follow the tides and passed by the orca area around 4, so they were bummed.

If you have any questions about the ship or intinerary, let me know!

Hi all! This weekend I am heading out with my family on our very first Alaskan cruise! We will be sailing on the Golden Princess from Vancouver --> Anchorage from June 29 – July 6 on the Golden Princess. Our itinerary is: Vancouver --> Day at Sea --> Ketchikan --> Juneau --> Skagway --> Glacier Bay --> College Fjord --> Whittier. During the trip, we will be doing the following excursions: Snorkeling in Ketchikan (my brother and Dad will be hiking there), Whale Watching and the Yukon train.

My husband and I are traveling with my family and the group consists of my mom and dad, my sister and one of my brothers. My grandparents and aunt are joining us as well but have a different set of excursions, so may not be joining us for anything except for dinner. My husband and I are avid cruisers – we go on at least one cruise a year, which includes getting married on Norwegian Breakaway last year. We are generally Royal Caribbean fans, but have spent the last few years trying out a few different lines (including RC, Carnival and Norwegian). This will be everyone's first time trying Princess.

Most of my group has also only ever done a Caribbean cruise (with the exception of my husband and I, who did a Mediterranean cruise three years ago), so it’ll be interesting to see what the difference is (such as the nature guides on the ship, how slow the ship goes through the glaciers, etc.)

My husband and I just switched to Google Fi, so I’m hoping that I get good international service on the water (we cruised with a friend a few years ago who also had Google Fi and she was getting service in the middle of the Atlantic!) The reason I called this thread semi-live is that I plan on live-blogging what I can on my Instagram stories. However, I will pop on here as I can to share what we did each day, and share cruise-specific discussions such as food, shows, etc. that my may not be interesting on Instagram (But if you want the visual side of things, then checking out my Instagram stories is best!) You can follow along on Instagram here. I will also be covering this in my blog in the weeks afterwards (Link to blog in signature).

We have been planning this trip since last August. One of my brothers, who isn’t coming with us, went with his girlfriend on an Alaskan cruise last summer and raved about it. This convinced my Mom, which convinced my sister, which convinced us, and it turned into a family affair. Some other details about our trip: We have a 7:15 p.m. seating, which is a different pace for me and my husband. We usually prefer Any Time Dining. Other than that, what I am looking forward to most is trying the Crown Grill on our second night, where we plan on celebrating my grandfather’s recent 90th birthday. (My husband and I got engaged on Independence of the Seas and went to RC's steak restaurant that night and it was truly one of the best meals I have ever had. We have been meaning to try another cruise line's steak restaurant).

We decided to make the most of our first visit to the PNW/Canada, so we stopped in Seattle earlier this week before traveling from Seattle to Vancouver this morning. Therefore, our pre-cruise itinerary looked as such: travel to Seattle (Wednesday), explored Seattle (Thursday), took a train from Seattle to Vancouver (Friday morning). Now, we are going to explore Vancouver (Friday afternoon/night) and then embark on the boat as soon as we can Friday morning. If anyone is interested, I’ll share my thoughts on Seattle/the train to Vancouver, etc. Otherwise, I will start sharing updates when we embark tomorrow. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want. Can’t wait! :) 

Just a quick note because I've heard a bit of negativity and I was a little afraid that our 4th time on this ship would disappoint .

 

First off, we once again were in a Haven Spa suite. And we've done this category 4 times. So my experience only applies to the Haven really. And because of the layout of the ship, I understand that if you stay outside the Haven , it can feel crowded at times.

 

I would say this was our best experience to date. Patrick , the concierge is not only helpful but has a really nice genuine way about him. The wait staff in the Haven dining room was great. Its funny how each time has been different in the dining room , never bad, just different personalities to make our cruise fun. As usual , handling any special requests(cherry pie, banana egg pancakes, dinner items for lunch etc)without hesitation.

 

Kumar - and the other bartenders - fantastic. Listed to my margarita recipe and made them that way the whole week.

 

Our room steward Margherita was also excellent. Never saw her unless we needed her and she kept our stateroom spotless.

 

Our Butler was new(first cruise) and pretty certain it was her first time as a butler. She contacted us at 9:00pm on Embarkation day and told us she had training and orientation that day otherwise she would have checked in earlier. We had her deliver pizza one night and it arrived cold which was pretty surprising. Im thinking delivery hot food is a priority - maybe it was her timing, not sure. But her attitude was great and I think she will improve.

 

The Thermal Spa , to me , is one of the best at sea in terms of size and options. (EPIC is also great) We used it every day and I would recommend.

 

The condition of the ship is surprisingly good everywhere we saw. As it's approaching its 5 yr mark , it still feels current. My wife and I agreed that the Spa Suite is a very comfortable set up with ample storage and a great bed. We cruised in a Crown Loft suite on Oasis of the Seas in November. Although the two floor setup up is very nice, it lacked the warmth and the bed wasn't even close to NCL's in terms of comfort. RCCL ,in my opinion, is still playing catch up to the haven experience on the Royal side of things. We've done suites on Anthem and although Coastal Kitchen is nice , the Haven concept just works better.

 

We were also pleasantly surprised with the people on our cruise. There were families in the Haven and for the most part the kids were well behaved and the parents did a good job parenting. We met some nice friendly people and I think everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We did pick this week because it's in between college spring breaks and high school breaks - so it was probably quieter than the prior two weeks and the following two weeks.

 

 

GSC was another no show due to wind but they refunded 27.00 pp and we overnighted in Nassau. We don't book this cruise for the Itinerary but if people did they would be bummed as the weather in Florida was torrential rain and GSC was a bust. That being said - Nassau had great weather.

 

Moderno and Le Bistro did not disappoint. Typically we have a hard time eating outside the Haven Restaurant because the quality and service are very good. We used out platinum coupons for both restaurants and enjoyed the food. The service was good too , but you get spoiled in the Haven because they get to know you and it becomes a personalized dining experience.

 

We were off the ship at 7:45 and home by 9am (Jersey Shore). We will miss Breakaway but am looking forward to Escape and Bliss:)

Got married on this cruise and mainly booked it for itinerary! Not upset, just bummed. I have most people in my group who will NEVER sail Norwegian again, for many reasons. Im so glad you had a wonderful time.

I just booked a mini suit, large balcony, deck 8 on the Breakaway. If you have stayed in one of these cabins before, please share with me what you liked about it. It will be my first time in a mini suite - first time on N L.

Stayed in 8734 (March 18-25, got married on the cruise). TBH the location was the best part. Could leave the bars and just travel right to the room - no stairs, no elevators, etc. That was the best part!

We just booked our wedding for August 2019 on the escape having a legal at sea ceremony.

Where on the ship are you having your wedding? We have been assigned amanat from royal events.

 

I would also refuse an 11am wedding.....I want late afternoon.

Hi! So, my wedding was on the Breakaway last week (eek!) and I have the plans to sit down and write a full review but I wanted to pop in and say: be insistent about where you want your wedding and when. Like I said: they wanted me to have a wedding at my time in the room I didn’t want, or earlier and in the room I wanted. I was (nicely) extremely insistent and I’m so glad I was - I ended up getting the Manhattan Room at 2pm and it was everything I wanted.

I saw the other bride on my ship later in the week who I’m pretty sure just took what they gave her and she had a 4pm ceremony in a very dark room. Definitely not what I would have wanted. I was SO glad I’m that moment I (nicely) insisted. (Let me insist on being nice...I’m pretty sure that was a big reason why we got what we wanted)

This is partially because I talked to someone else later in the week and guess what ended up getting moved out of my room at my time? A meet and greet! Not saying anything bad about those at all but I’ll be a little selfish and say that my wedding was more memorable and a tiny bit more important in terms of time and timing.

Additionally for anyone who reads this between now and when I write my review: don’t worry about the person who you talk to on the phone. It’s the onboard coordinator who will make or break your day (and they’ll sit with you beforehand to talk about it). Of course make the reservations you need to, but don’t stress about details until you meet with your onboard coordinator. Mine was AMAZING (more on exactly why later) and it almost didn’t matter what I talked about with the Royal Events coordinator with on the phone - since my onboard coordinator knew the ship better she had AMAZING recommendations I didn’t think of and she really knocked it out of the park. So don’t stress too much about that! It’s what happens onboard that matters!

Hey fellow brides!!

 

I am getting married on NCL Dawn out of Boston in September 2018 and am having concerns regarding hair/makeup day of (mostly makeup). Have you guys had any concerns regarding wedding makeup or am I the only completely vain person haha. :)

 

I am working with Tiffany as well, she has been wonderful :)

What do you mean? The application part of the makeup or having the ship do it?

I am having my MOH do my makeup, but the ship do my hair. The way I'm approaching it is I am print a LOT of photos of what I want for my hair and bringing them to help them out. But I'm not worried. Most of Norwegian has been amazing, so I'm sure it'll carry over.

I'd talk with Tiffany if you have any concerns. I've been working with Jade and she's been great at abating any fears and answering any questions pretty quickly.

I’m getting married on the Escape on the 10/21/18 sailing and would love feedback on how your ceremony is! We are doing the “legal” wedding here and the symbolic ceremony on the first sea day!

Happy to! Just an update since I last posted about it: I LOVE Royal Ocean Events so far. I was having some issues where they were only offering me an 11 a.m. ceremony (which I really didn't want). We ended up talking to them and explaining how important it was and they moved mountains to get us an early afternoon ceremony. It was amazing.

I will also say that you get a day-of coordinator with your package and that is amazing as well. It's as simple as giving them a document with the timings that you want, the things that you want, etc. on your wedding day and they handle it ALL for you! I had no clue that the service would be that in depth and it's making me that much more excited.

We sail in just about two months so I'll be sure to give an update afterwards :) Happy planning to you all!

Congrats on your special occassion.

 

But, what new menu ?? Not when NCL is rumored to be ending and shutting down this venue anytime in the near future - the shorten menu was previously posted, not sure if it's posted on beyondship's website. The place was dead at lunch time last November when open for $$ business - practically empty with just 2 tables and maybe 5 guests.

 

Discuss and ask your planner - ship liaison for your needs, maybe they can come up with something even better. Gratuity/service fee is now 20% added automatically.

Ok. I don't want to go anywhere else, whether its dead or closing or not. And I would love to see any menu whether its drinks or new or old or shortened. I apologize for saying the word new. I'll be bringing 20+ guests in so a dead bar would actually be kind of fun especially to start our bachelorette night out. We can talk easily.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience but please don't rain on my parade even if it's not what you'd prefer.

Does anyone have the new menu? Or even the drink menu? I am having my wedding on the BA in March and am going to do a bachelorette type thing the night before that starts here (I love margaritas!)

I'm not sure what "a bit" is, but you are likely going to pay at least $1,500-$2,000 for an upgrade to a Breakaway suite.

That's fine. Still cheaper than $5k a person.

I asked for an upgrade and got it. It doesn't hurt to ask.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

How/Where did you ask?

Just trying to realistic and not a "jerk".

 

The ship will have lots of people that just got married, are having an anniversary, special trip, etc. They do not just give away upgrades, even though a thousand people onboard will have a reason and desire to get one. That is why they price them higher and now do the upgrade program.

 

With that said, if you are truly with a group of 60 people, there might be a chance. I did not see how or where you booked this group or if there is already extra stuff you are doing onboard. That MIGHT get you something.

 

Again, there are easily 1,000 other people that want to get in the haven right along with you.

 

As to the person that says they just asked and got it - there usually is a bit more than just asking.

I'm not implying that they are going to give away anything because I am getting married on the ship. I am willing to pay. (that being said - we booked through NCL directly for our 60 people and are actually GETTING married on the Monday of our cruise)

Hello!

My fiancé and I are getting married on the Norwegian Breakaway in the spring! (less then six months! eek!) I am very excited, but am working on figuring everything out since we are new to NCL (usually a RCL sailer).

My fiancé and I very much want a suite for our wedding cruise (we have ~60 people coming with us, so it'll be nice to get away to the Haven just the two of us, as well as having the room to hang out/meet up in our suite). We are currently booked into a balcony. Is there any way to ASK to bid for an upgrade? We're willing to pay (at least a bit) but we can't afford the whole price (because we're getting married/trying to save some money for a house after we're married).

Thank you in advance!!

Hope your planning is going well! We chose NCL out of NYC as well for our wedding next year. Have you worked out the logistics of getting married yet? We are actually planning on getting married in a private civil ceremony before the sailing but we did consider doing everything together.

Yes! This is exactly what we're doing. A *real* ceremony beforehand and the ceremony onboard being in name only, really. We have LOVED Royal Ocean events and we're excited for the symbolic ceremony.

When's your wedding date?

Personally I would choose Le Bistro over Cagney's, especially because of the more romantic ambiance there. But, if it was my wedding, I don't think I would enjoy having the wedding dinner at a restaurant on board where half of the guests would be guests to the wedding and the other half just "random" fellow cruise passengers.... I have not been on Breakaway myself, but I do now from experience that on most NCL ships they do have a part of the MDR that is usually closed off to the general public, so my tip would be to try to book a "secret" venue like that for your wedding dinner - as it would be more private. And I can't see why the menus from Le Bistro or Cagney's wouldn't be possible to book from there as well - as long as they know it in advance (and for a special event like a wedding, I am also pretty certain that the executive chef on board would overlook the preparations of that dinner himself.... At least it wouldn't hurt to ask...

It's SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper to just do a dinner in the restaurant than in MDR or at a typical reception. We will just pay the cover charge per person where if we do a wedding-based dinner anywhere else on ship, it comes with a flat fee that is more than the cover charge. We've considered many options and this is the cheapest.

Very interesting. Never heard of them.

 

http://www.royalwed.com/norwegian-cruise-line-weddings/

I LOVE them so far!! They're so good!! I highly recommend them to anyone who may be thinking of a NCL wedding

Personally, I would choose Le Bistro. Steak eaters will enjoy the filet mignon there. We prefer it over Cagney's. LaCucina is my least favorite of the three.

 

I'm going to hazard a guess that they will open up one of the extra seating spaces for your group. Or, perhaps seat you in a private area in the MDR and offer the menus for the specialty restaurant of your choice.

 

Best of luck!

Good guess but I'm 99% sure we are just going to be in the restaurant!! Definitely not in the MDR. But thank you for your advice

My wife and I have dined many times at Cagney's, Le Bistro, and La Cucina. Le Bistro would be our first choice followed by Cagney's. That having been said, it is unlikely that they will accommodate 50 to 60 people without special arrangements. Even the MDR would be hard pressed to seat a group that size. If you call them they may reserve one of these venues for your party or find you a meeting area that can be set up to cater just your group.

We are working with Royal Ocean events which has guaranteed that they can accommodate a group of this size at any of these theee restaurants.