Golden Princess New Zealand 11th to 24th February 2016 - Complete Picture Review!

Hello and welcome all to my first cruise review ever here on CC. First off – this is going to be a LONG review. Can’t help that as I have Irish blood flowing through my veins – I have the gift of the gab. ! Once again, this old bird is a virgin - My very first cruise!!!

Melbourne to Melbourne 13-Day Voyage – New Zealand

Thu 11/2 Melbourne

Fri 12/2 At sea

Sat 13/2 At sea

Sun 14/2 At sea

Mon 15/2 Auckland

Tue 16/2 Tauranga

Wed 17/2 Gisborne

Thu 18/2 Wellington

Fri 19/2 Akaroa

Sat 20/2 Dunedin (Port Chalmers)

Sun 21/2 Fiordland National Park (Scenic cruising)

Mon 22/2 At sea

Tue 23/2 At sea

Wed 24/2 Melbourne

I loved this itinerary as it allowed a good mix of sea days and port days. Our total distance travelled will be 3,908 Nautical Miles = 4,496 Statute Miles = 7236 Kilometres. Very smart I am to know this. Not really! Princess supplied a ‘Log of the Cruise’ with this information.

Introducton

To begin with who are we: My name is Maureen (57) and hubby is James (58) and we are Aussie sheep farmers living on our property in the Mallee country in the state of Victoria. We have four children and have just become empty nesters. Another first for us!!! We have travelled a lot around our delightful country. Hubby and I were also given as a gift, a week’s holiday by Motor home in New Zealand (not enough time). And I have explored Italy (another obsession) and journeyed to Singapore and Switzerland.

For roughly three years, I have cruised around Cruise Critic filling my hunger for travel. I have an ache inside me that yearns to travel this beautiful world. That’s something else I can’t help – nursed this hunger since I was a child. Cruising never interested me until I started to explore CC. Who wants to spend days on a boat barely seeing anything of your destination? How wrong I was.

I read many cruise reviews (let’s be honest here – I think I have read 1000’s) from every part of the globe. I examined photos of ancient buildings, snow-capped mountains and magnificent wildlife. I learned that these dazzling boats, or should I say SHIPS, are like small cities where food is available 24 hours a day and I could fulfil another of my favourite interests – people watching. I was hooked! I became obsessed with learning all I could on cruising.

I was driving my family crazy with all this talk on cruising. I grew into a walking encyclopaedia, with all this knowledge I was storing in my head. I knew the difference between traditional and anytime dining, I knew what MUTS and the love boat dream was. They were calling me a bloody show off! I’ll show them I thought and decided to go on a cruise. How easy was this going to be, I thought to myself. Wrong! What a nightmare I had just created. I had two important decisions to reach. 1. Which cruise line was I to sail on? 2. Where in this wonderful world I wanted to go… so many amazing locations to choose from – Mediterranean, Arabic Peninsula, America’s, South Pacific. Where could we go on our first cruise? Then one day I read a cruise review on Alaska and viewed pictures of Glacier Bay and the towns of Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau and I was unable to stop thinking about the 49th state of USA. I had to go!

So why have I cruised to New Zealand you may ask. My hubby could answer that for you, if he could master the computer. Fancy reaching the ripe old age of 58 and unable to use a computer! Since he can’t I will answer for him. Hubby hates the idea of traveling outside of Australia. He likes to think he is a macho man but he is really a big scaredy cat. What’s he afraid of you may ask? -Being blown out of the sky, terrorists storming into his hotel complex and shooting everyone. I shouldn’t laugh as it is a real threat in our modern world, but like I say to him “A plane could drop from the sky and kill us while we sleep or we could burn to death in a house fire, so why not travel.” Morbid lot aren’t we.

After much debating I decided to choose a cruise that left from our home port of Melbourne. This will keep James happy (no being blown out of the sky). There are not too many cruises that leave from Melbourne - New Zealand, South Pacific and Tasmania being the only ones. So the land of the long white cloud it is. I’m happy as I will get to finally cruise. With our destination finally picked I had to decide on the cruise line. Can I please say BLOODY HELL!!!! I was more confused than anything. I read countless reviews on each cruise line and not one cruise line had a 100% happy rating. It was either bloody awful (there’s that word again) or fantastic. I became so disheartened. Why were there so many different ratings for a cruise line? The food was appalling, the entertainment was terrible…I can go on and on. Why do people cruise then, I asked myself? Should I give cruising a go? So after weighing up the facts, I made the decision to ignore all that I had read and to just pick a cruise line that sounded right for us. I selected Princess Cruise Line.

Now with these two important decisions out of the way, I could concentrate on researching all the ports and the Golden Princess. I was happy once again and what fun I had. Boy! Do I love researching. My laptop became my best friend for many months. I studied the deck plan of the Golden Princess. I admired all the photos of the ship and I hungered over the food **** people added to their cruise reviews. I longed to step foot onto the stunning New Zealand towns I had learnt about. I logged onto the Princess website every day and watched the numbers fade away – 150 days until your next cruise, 110 days, 85 days, 50 days, 25 days, 10 days and then it wasn’t long before I had a week to go. Excitement followed me everywhere.

As usual I made lists. I am extremely content when I get to make lists. LoL! There were lists on what to pack, lists on what to expect on the Golden Princess, lists on tours in each port. AH! I was in list heaven. We decided to book mostly private shore excursions with only two through Princess. I could have chosen to do all the excursions privately but I wanted to see how Princess handled their shore excursions. More on that later.

I began packing 4 weeks before the cruise, that’s how eager I was to get on board. We organized for our daughter to take us to the port of Melbourne and since we live three hours from Melbourne I didn’t want to gamble on anything happening so we arrived at Stacey’s place the night before. She lives one hour from Melbourne. I couldn’t sleep at Stacey’s. I tossed and turned all night. My worst nightmare had happened…I became my hubby. I couldn’t stop worrying about what could go wrong while on the cruise ship. I had visions of the mother of all tidal waves bearing down on the Golden Princess (after all we were heading to an earthquake area). It will be the last thing I see before the ship is turned upside down. I will drown in my stateroom.

Photo credits: https://torrentbutler.eu/503-poseidon

Don’t forget I was a teenager in the 1970’s who had a happy appetite for all those disaster films of the 70’s. Then I worried about seasickness. Would I suffer this? I couldn’t do much about that 100 foot wave but I could pack motion sickness tablets and wrist bands to help.

Then I worried about Norovirus. My fear of being locked in my inside cabin for a few days, crawling around on the floor puking into the toilet was not very appealing.

Thursday, February 11, 2016 - Embarkation day.

Finally the day had arrived and I was so excited but oh so tired. We headed to Station Pier Cruise Terminal around 10.30am. As we crossed the Westgate Bridge, I got my first sight of our ship. Boy! She is a big ship. Eager to get on board, I dragged everyone (daughter number three came along to) towards the ship that we would call home for the next 13 days – The Golden Princess

We could start boarding at 11.45am. Waving good bye to the girls at 12.15, James and I were through customs and on the ship by 12.45. It was easy. When we arrived at the desk to show our cruise tickets, we were given a letter explaining about a change to our scheduled itinerary. Because of two developing tropical low-pressure systems to the north of Vanuatu, one of which has been upgraded to a Tropical Cyclone (struck Fiji on February 20 and 21). So for the safety of guest and crew, the captain adjusted the order of our ports of call. So we will be dong the cruse in reverse, beginning with Fordland National Park. At first this didn’t worry me because who wants to sail into rough weather. Not me! But then I remembered our private excursions. I would have to inform them of the change of direction and days.

Because of the Captains decision we had amazing sea conditions and weather and we never missed a port. As we headed towards the gang way, I dragged James over kicking and screaming to get our embankment photo taken. Don’t forget it’s my first cruise so gotta get our photos taken.

Next up Our first few hours on board the Golden Princess

P.S. Sorry this review is so long, but I did warn you!

You picked a good ship for your first cruise. The Golden is missed back here in the Americas. :(

"First off – this is going to be a LONG review. Can’t help that as I have Irish blood flowing through my veins – I have the gift of the gab. !"

LOL, BTW, if you haven't already, you should meet Norris, AKA Bimmer09:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2317130

So delightful! This is one of my bucket list cruises & can't wait to read

it all - especially in your story telling way:)

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.....:):):)

Bob

Following! Can't wait for more!

Ar150 You can't have her back, she's ours now and have read Bimmers. Love his reviews.

Unc84 This cruise wasn't on our bucket list but I am glad we did do New Zealand. Such stunning views.

Thanks Woobstr and Tigerlily

Can you imagine what it must be like for a first timer to step on board one of these gigantic ships? Of course you can as 90% of you have been where I was on that day. I was so eager and thrilled to take that first step off the gangway onto my ship. LOL

I could barely breathe, and I am sure I nearly purred with pleasure like my cat does. When I look back at that first day, I was all wound up, saying silly things and sweating like a pig. Do pigs sweat? Anyway it took me a couple of hours to calm down. And in those hours I explored most of the ships 16 floors. First up was our cabin. There was no wait to get our cabin B325 interior.

Gee! I was surprised at how much storage there was in the cabin. People often say on CC to take one of those shoe things that hang over the door for extra storage, but in my opinion it’s unneeded. We had too much storage space.

After opening every drawer in our room and with our blue cruise cards around our necks, we headed out to discover what would be our home for the next 2 weeks.

The Piazza, my favourite place aboard the Golden was where James would find me in the mornings either trying to read a book on my iPad or people watching. I became its happy prisoner unable to leave at times. Most afternoons James and I would have our afternoon tea here - the aroma of cookies and coffee was divine.

Did I tell you that I ate 3 or 4 of those yummy cookies every day! Shame on me but they were lip-smacking delicious.

Ar150 You can't have her back, she's ours now and have read Bimmers. Love his reviews.

 

Unc84 This cruise wasn't on our bucket list but I am glad we did do New Zealand. Such stunning views.

 

Thanks Woobstr and Tigerlily

We will have her back for a very short period of time when she does the Circle the Pacific Voyage. There are many of us that are waiting for her return. You can enjoy here while she is "visiting" your fair country. I feel she is the best of the Grand Class ships. Glad you had a great voyage and look forward to "seeing" her again through your eyes.

Thank you

Cr8tivI Yes she is a beautiful ship. I loved being on her.

Forgot to mention but look what was waiting for us in our room. Wonderful children aren’t they. The little darlings also gave us 110 minutes of internet. I have always stressed to our kids that they must ring us when they arrive at their destination so we know they have gotten there safely. They still do this as adults. They range in age from 30 to 20. So the old folks had strict instructions to only use the internet package to keep in contact with the kids while at sea. They wanted to know what us oldies where up to. As if we would get up to any mischief at our age. Wink Wink! Oh and they also gave us a Godiva Chocolates 14-piece Heart Box. Did I tell you I love my kids? They were very yummy and the chocolates didn’t last long.

Thanks for sharing, I am enjoying the review so far. You are lucky to have such thoughtful children.:D

Ar150 You can't have her back, she's ours now and have read Bimmers. Love his reviews.

 

Unc84 This cruise wasn't on our bucket list but I am glad we did do New Zealand. Such stunning views.

 

Thanks Woobstr and Tigerlily

agree she cant go back till i get to go on her again shes huge and i loved my trip on her in oct/nov last yr awesome as

Glad you're loving the Golden Princess. We had 31 days in an inside cabin on her 15 months ago (L/A to Rio) and loved every minute of it, especially the International Cafe. When it came into Sydney a month or so ago we actually went down to Circluar Quay to take another look. Hope to be on her again in 2017. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks.:)

Ar150 You can't have her back, she's ours now and have read Bimmers. Love his reviews.

 

Definitely needs to stay for a few more seasons.:D

Glad you're loving the Golden Princess. We had 31 days in an inside cabin on her 15 months ago (L/A to Rio) and loved every minute of it, especially the International Cafe. When it came into Sydney a month or so ago we actually went down to Circluar Quay to take another look. Hope to be on her again in 2017. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks.:)

Do it, we will get onto her in November for our taste of the Golden life.:D

Great review so far. Maureen, thanks for taking the trouble to post. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

LOL similar scenario for me - first cruise, literally dragged hubby kicking and screaming (err, well not quite) onboard the Sun Princess a couple of years ago. We are now preparing for our 4th cruise which will be on the Golden Princess next month. Very interested to read your thoughts on her.

Incidentally, LOL, after 3 cruises, my hubby now can't wait to board ... what did your hubby think of the cruise experience?

Enjoying the review.

Great posts. Enjoying them.

Keith

Great review so far. Maureen, thanks for taking the trouble to post. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

 

LOL similar scenario for me - first cruise, literally dragged hubby kicking and screaming (err, well not quite) onboard the Sun Princess a couple of years ago. We are now preparing for our 4th cruise which will be on the Golden Princess next month. Very interested to read your thoughts on her.

 

Incidentally, LOL, after 3 cruises, my hubby now can't wait to board ... what did your hubby think of the cruise experience?

LC1950 I will tell all later.

So on that first day we got to know the ship. I must say she is a magnificent vessel. I read somewhere once that some elderly lady lived on a cruise ship full time, travelling from port to port. What a way to live those few remaining golden years. If only I could have my fur baby, I would do the same thing.

Our captain, Heikki Laakkonen was born in Finland and we only saw him once. We were out on the Promenade deck one evening, I wish I could say having a romantic stroll but no instead hubby was having an unhealthy cigarette and I was standing next to him breathing in his harmful smoke - naughty boy! I don’t smoke. James began a conversation with a man in a white uniform. Funny that, there were many men with white uniforms. James was asking him about something that was announced over the speakers??? And he told James he was the captain. Where we impressed? Not really. I was hoping he left someone in charge on the bridge who knew how to steer the ship.

Anyway that was the only time we saw him. But we did hear his voice often informing us of the weather conditions regards the cyclone. James was a good boy and stopped whatever he was doing to listen to these announcements. Me, I kept talking through them and a few times he told me rather rudely to shut up, he was trying to listen to the captain.

Another thing I did while exploring the ship was to head to Sabatini’s and book dinner for the first night on board. Thank you all at Cruise Critic for that tip. I booked this for 8.30pm rather late I know but I thought with Sail away and everything, we would be rather busy so I told James to eat up during the day so he wouldn’t be hungry as back home we always have dinner at 6pm. Big mistake on my part, but I will tell you about that later. The staff at Sabatini let me use the phone to ring the Crown Grill and I booked dinner there on the second last sea day.

I had planned on booking a day at the Sanctuary, the chef’s table and Ultimate Ships Tour when we first stepped on board, as I wanted to participate in the whole package. But someone on a Princess cruise lovers Facebook page that I belong to gave me some good advice. And surprise, surprise, I listened. She said to take things easy, relax and try not to do everything on your first cruise. Good advice were I am concerned and hubby though so to.

Anyhow, back to our first day. We were extremely tired but the day was still fun. We ate, walked around, ate, lazed on the lounges up on deck 14, ate, drank, ate, unpacked, ate…You get what I mean. We ate that much food on that first day. Had to try out International Café, the Horizon Court, Sundaes Ice Cream Bar. What happened to that good advice I was given about taking it easy. It went straight out the window on that first day and onto my hips. Not used to having food available 24 hours a day without having to prepare it.

We also, or rather, I got personal with Princess at Sea Messenger App. What a great little app. I developed a little crush on this app. So easy to use. James finally sent a message (his first on day 9) to me…his words “deck 15” a man of few words! It has the events for the day, (like the ones on your princess patter) so you didn’t have to carry around your paper copy. You could check your state room account; there was the deck plan map, a messenger service where we could talk to each other. Also port guides, same as the paper copies. Such a handy app. Oh and you can also log into the ships satellite internet. Being the technology lover I am, I just adored it. James hated it…surprise, surprise!

I was very impressed with the Satellite Internet through Princess. We could even use it while in the middle of the Tasman Sea. The delay with the web browser opening was like 2 minutes and as I use Messenger (facebook) chat with the kids it was almost instant. Loved being able to keep in touch with my kids.

Below pictures of Princess at Sea

Doing our planning, I brought a Café Select coffee card for James $39 AUD and a Unlimited Soda and More Package for me - $7.00 per day. Both cards were great value. James card allowed him to have his (15) cappuccinos, lattes, hot chocolates and specialities pots of teas that we shared. My soda card allowed me unlimited soft drink, mock cocktails, hot chocolates, juices.

At 3.30 we went to the Passenger Muster Drill in the Casino. Our life jackets had to come with us and at one stage we had to put it on. Then after the Muster Drill over 2,600 passengers all wanted to head to their rooms. Oh boy, this caused a traffic jam at the elevators. It became quicker to climb the stairs but climbing from deck 4 to deck 14 was not much fun on the old knees. I learnt to hate those stairs by the end of the cruise.

After the muster drill, we headed up onto Deck 14 to gather for Sail Away party. We stood by the rails and watched the Golden leave Melbourne and sail down the channel out of Port Phillip Bay.

Goodbye Melbourne – See you in 13 days.

Later we headed to the Promenade Deck outside area and watched the Peninsula pass by. 25 years ago we lived on the Mornington Peninsula so knew the area well. I was worried at one stage when we headed towards the heads, which is the narrow entrance into the bay which we call the Rip. It’s a dangerous stretch for ships and you could see where the rip started but we passed through safely and headed out into Bass Strait and on our way to New Zealand.

Then we took that romantic walk around the Promenade Deck. We promised ourselves that we would do this walk every day. Did we keep that promise? No, we only managed to complete the walk twice again. We even took our first selfie to send to the kids. They thought Mum and Dad were rather childish. See kids, the old folks can have fun too!

Sounds as though you guys may be ready for a second cruise after only the first day.......:D

And, yeah, us old folks can have fun. Glad you let those young whippersnappers know. :cool:

I'm loving your review especially as we're boarding Golden in just over a month for her repositioning cruise to Hong Kong. Can't wait!

Thanks for the update, Loving it.:D

Great review. I really enjoyed the Golden Princess.