Live from the Golden

[psy]

We are on the Golden Princess July 21st cruise. My father brings his 4-lb. laptop, which is very handy for storing and then burning digital photos to a cd for the different (4) parties in our group. I would feel a little insecure in entrusting all of our photos to an iPod, which is too portable and easily lost/stolen.

 

The services offered by the ship are worth doing. If you were on our cruise, I would volunteer to burn photos to a cd--particularly if you would share some of the more generic (non-personal) scenery shots.

[blackegg]

Dear Jack:

 

Yes the missing glasses are with us. I e-m ailed you already but came back as undeliverqaable as your account had too many letters.

 

Please write back to: jimknies@yahoo.com

 

Jim Knies

[June Bug]

Did you all have to turn in your passports to the purser?

If so, do you know the official reason for this procedure, and when do they give them back and HOW?

Thanks for answering this iquisitive person!

June :D

[Bob & Barb]

Yes -- they held everyone's passports. When we approached Amsterdam, they had us all come to the purser's counter (alphabetically) to get our passports back because we were told we had to carry our passports with us when we embarked at Amsterdam. They told us they would be checked when we departed the ship, however, no one ever asked for or checked our passports that day -- either coming or going. And that was the end of it. Why they took them to begin with, I'll never know. :confused:

 

Bob

[June Bug]

I wonder if something was up or is that normal protocol??? I've seen on some cruises that they don't even take up the passports...hmmmmm :confused:

June

[Lindypc]

Hello to the Golden: Isn't there anyone out there that can tell us about your trip. Several of us updated almost daily on the first British Isles Cruise. I'm curious about your tours and the ports we missed. Please fill us in.

 

On our 5/22 sailing, no one even asked to see our passports--ours remained locked in the safe the entire cruise.

Also, if you are worried about getting off the ship early, just keep your luggage with you and get off at 6:00AM like we did. I e-mailed Cheryl the night before debarking asking if our driver could be there earlier and that wonderful Colin was there at 6:25 AM to pick us up. We had no problem getting off the ship. I know it was a nightmare for Beth's 7:30 group but we were extremely lucky. Embarking was also very easy.

[LL-UK]

I have friends who are on her at the moment and this is what they have to say:

 

We're having a great time on board, and will certainly keep an eye on the Princess cruises in future. The interior is really well thought out so that it feels more like half a dozen small cruise ships in one rather than one huge one - well done to the designers for that.

 

So far we've done Dublin, Holyhead and Belfast - today we're in Greenock & are going to hop on the train into Glasgow to look around.

 

Dublin was very polluted & everyone was rushing around the city in a non-stop frenzy of mobile-phone controlled dodgems, we were glad to get off the streets & into a bar - any excuse is a good excuse.

 

In contrast Holyhead is a one horse town, and the horse had gone lame when we were there. The town itself had laid on some activities, but the shuttle 'service' was something to behold - the comedian over ran his show last night due to over a quarter of an hour of shuttle bus passenger stories!!!

 

Then yesterday we had Belfast, as usual we did our own thing & really enjoyed the city, the shuttle buses were clean, friendly, frequent & free. The main thing we did was to tour the City Hall & local government rooms, again free of charge - not too sure how those people who had paid $74 to do the "Tour of the City Hall & drink of Guinness" felt about it, that's a mighty expensive pint.

[gene101]

Thanks for keeping this thread alive!!!!!!!!!!

[calikak]

Lynne, maybe they're too busy seeing all those ports that we missed! Hopefully their internet service isn't down. I'd like to hear how the tours went in Holyhead, just so I can be even more jealous.

[miken]

What a brilliant thread. I will be taking a cruise on the golden in July, first time on this ship and reading through your views and thoughts really helps 1st timers like me get a feeling for the ship and what to expect.

So far I have a problem in that I booked for 3 couples. They are at the very back of the ship, Carib deck and I am 4 cabins from the front.

I have tried to get my cabin changed so that we can holiday together but I am not getting much luck. Tried the TA, tried Princess UK. Running out of ideas now.

Please can someone advise -

Where do you get ice cream from (still a big kid)

What are the desert specialities

Is it best to tip individually or just pay the $10 a day. Do they give you anything to hand to your waiter/steward at the end of the trip.

Any must do's on board (galley visit etc)

Any must avoid's ??

Due to visit Copenhagen, Oslo, Le Harve, etc, any one get suggestions on how to do it alone, there are 6 of us so costs are shared. What should we see, is it easy to get to town etc.

Once again, thanks to you all for a great, informative read.

[calikak]

miken, here's some answers to some of your questions:

 

Ice cream is free in the dining room at meal time and free in the buffet for one our in the afternoons. There's also the not-free ice cream stand on the Lido deck next to one of the pools, where you can get ice cream pretty much anytime but you have to pay for it.

 

I particularly enjoy the chocolate hazelnut souffle served in the dining room on the very first night. And everyone likes the Love Boat Dream (now available any night in the dining room).

 

The $10/day tip is pretty convenient. They automatically split it up between your room steward and your dining room staff. I find that's the easiest way to go, and then if I get above-and-beyond service, I tip extra at the end of the sailing.

 

Have a great trip!

[blackpool belle]

Are you on the 11th or 31st July sailing?

 

If you are on the 11th perhaps you would like to join us on our roll call thread?

 

So far there is approx 60 of us meeting up for a pre-sail drink/party:D

[AJY46]

Mikem

 

If you are sailing on the 31st, there is Roll Call for this cruise on the Roll Call boards.

[kguth125]

Just wanted to take a moment and pass on that this has been a fanatastic cruise! We just got through with the second formal night and really had a great time (4 lobsters at dinner). The weather has been wonderful and the Princess crew has met all my expectations. We had about 50 Cruise Critic folks at our initial get together and we are having another get together tomorrow after the Kirkwall visit. Will post many more details when I get home.

 

 

KG in Tennessee

[calikak]

KG, glad you're having a great time!

[DrFUN]

Thanks to those keeping this thread alive! Those of us on the July 1-11/British Isles are DESPERATE to hear from you--especially about the ports, in terms of weather and independent or ship's excursions.

 

Smooth sailing to all,

Mary-Lou

("DrFUN")

:)

Phoenix, AZ

[chefajax]

Hi to All....

And please tell us where to get the best whiskey too;)....Dennis

[Suitedreamer]

Hi to All....

And please tell us where to get the best whiskey too;)....Dennis

 

Dennis:

Just saw the repeat of the travel show that talked about scotch whisky. If spelled "whiskey", it can come from anywhere. If spelled "whisky", it is from Scotland. Now isn't that a wealth of information! Sally

[fsdorado]

Can anyone onboard the Golden right now post a list of TV channels available? We'll be on the July 11th Western Capitals sailing. Thanks!!

 

 

Frederick

[hobein]

hi everyone, I just got back last night from the British Isles tour. I didn't have free internet and it was just too slow to get in all the info I wanted to post to your all. Here it goes!

 

We flew into Southamton Regional Airport and had a 20 minute tranfer to the port. The taxi company Airportcarz kept us waiting an hour, which was ok since we had arrived at 8 am from Germany (we had to wait to board anyway so it didn't matter where we waited). The transfer price was 14 GBP. Some of you that will be in europe pre-cruise might want to consider using this airport instead of Heathrow or Gatwick. We got to the cruise terminal at 10:45. The luggage was accepted at 11:00. We checked in and went to the waiting area until about noon. We were in our stateroom D-724 by 12:30. There was a cruise critic get together after the lifeboat drill in the wheelhouse bar. It was great putting faces to the names I had been seeing online.

 

The sea day was great for getting to know the ship. My husband and I enjoyed the lecture by an economist who discussed investments and income alternatives. It was informative and interesting. There were two lecture per sea day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Candy, the computer course teacher offered complementary info classes. I signed up for a few of the Photo editing classes that were held on sea days and learned alot.

 

The first port was Dublin. Princess offered a transfer for $4 per peson into town. The dropoff/pickup point was on Kildare Road (street?) close to Trinity College. We went right to the college and saw the Book of Kells exibition and the Library first thing to aviod the crowds. We then got on the hop-on hop-off bus using the Dublin Tour busses. The Dublin Tour goes to Kilmainhon Gaul which the City Tour busses don't include. If you are not interested in the Gaul, use the City Tour as they seemed to run more frequently. We went to the Guiness Brewery Tour which was interesting, the highpoint being the bar at the top where you get your free pint. The view was fantastic, we could even see the Golden in the distance. We had lunch in their restaurant, it was ok. The Gaul was a history lesson in Irelands fight for independence. Well done. The highlight was the main cell-section that has been used for many a movie. We then went back into town to walk Grafton Streed and brouse the area. The sun was shining, it was a wonderful day. We went back to the ship at about 6 pm. We didn't sail until 12.30am so there were people coming into town as we were leaving to do the pub scene in Tempel Bar. We went to the show that evening were they had Irish music and dancers.

 

The next port was Holyhead. We had no problems with the tenders, calm seas and clear skies. We did a ships tour here, I didn't want to have cancellation problems if the port had been cancelled. Snowdowia Mountains and Carnefeon Castle. It was good.

 

I will continue the post, I am running out of room here......

[Roo]

Thank you so much for your post. We leave on the July 1st sailing and I am looking forward to the rest of your diary.;)

[hobein]

one thing I forgot to mention about Holyhead, the tender service back to the ship at the end of the day was terrible. Dozens of busses arrived together and everyone had to wait about at least 45 minutes to get back onboard. I still don't know why they didn't use more tenders. I hope they do a better job for you there.

 

Next port was Belfast. We booked an independent tour with Caroline at Mini-Coach. After a bit of a late start (the bus was different from the description given to us) the tour was good. It was raining and very foggy at the Carrick-Rope-Bridge. My husband had a cold already so we nursed it at the cafe there. Alot of our tour crossed the bridge. The driver gave us an hour so that everyone that wanted to could. It wasn't just a photo-stop. We continued on to have lunch at a local pub. This was very well oganized. We had a menu onboard the bus, the driver ordered while we were at Carrick... so everything was ready as we arrived. There were great soup and sandwichs, fish and chips and the like. We went on to Giant's Causeway. There is a large visitor's center with a film, a few stores, tea/coffee shop and best of all a bus that continuely goes from the top down to the beach where you see the causeway. We walked down, it is beautiful and easy downhill march. We took the bus back up and that was the best 1,60 GBP we spent! Some of the passengers asked to go to the Bushmills distilary that was close by. The driver make a short stop. The bus had electrical problems so there was no ac or windshild wipers which had me worried. The condensation on the windshild was a bit much but the driver got us back to Belfast safely. The bus was switched so that those who wished, could continue on the tour of Belfast. Rolf and I just went back to the ship. I had had enough. I guess that problems like this can happen anywhere and if it hadn't happened the tour would have gotten 4 stars.

I will write more later...

[Lane40]

Did you all have to turn in your passports to the purser?

If so, do you know the official reason for this procedure, and when do they give them back and HOW?

Thanks for answering this iquisitive person!

June :D

 

June

 

Just getting back from the June 11th British Isles cruise and we kept out passports locked away the entire cruise.

[hobein]

Sorry that this is coming in bits and pieces, I just can't find the time to do it all at once.

 

The next port was Greenock. Rolf and I were in Scotland two years ago and spent time in the Loch Lomand region witch is defitely worth seeing. We did not want to go again so we enquired about the Inverclyde Tourist Board that I had read about on the boards. They offered three tours of the Inverclyde local area. We signed up for all three. The first started at 9.15am going to Newark Castle and the Port Glasgow area. Newark castle is a real "hands on" castle. After an info talk about the history of the place you could explore it on your own. There are signs telling you what the room was for with all kinds of little details. There is little to no furniture so if you are looking for fancy furnishings, go to one of the two castle tours offered by the ship. There were at Newark Castle however, lots of tidbits that let you know how life really was back then. This was definely the best of the three tours. The second tour we took with them was of Greenock. there is a lookout point above the city with a great view. We went to city hall witch was very impressive but most impressive was that we met the city provost (mayor)!!! He is a very personably guy, talked to us for about 15 minutes about the city. We were given a booklet about the city with a leather bookmark as a remembrance. The third tour was the city of Gourock. The guide pointed out a haunted hause, told us about the terrible storms etc... we went by a lighthouse but it was raining so we did not get out of the bus. We went by an estate but could not get close to the house. It was nice and interesting but the first two were defitely better. One note about the group: the tours are FREE!!! the guides are all retired/semi-retired townspeople who do this because they love the area, they are not paid. At the end of each tour they will ask for a donation to help keep the group going. They are not pushy about it, I think everyone onboard donated, these people are worth it!!

 

We had a sea day next and we needed it! Being on vacation can be exhausting ;) We went to the economics lectures, I went for computer classes and we played bingo. At the formal nights dinner, my waiter brought me 3 lobster tails, he said that they looked to be a bit small so he had them put an extra on. The desserts are wonderful. I especially love the souffles in any form they offered. Be sure to try at least one.

 

The next day we were in Kirkwall. There were no problems tendering in. We had booked the private tour with the Orkney and Shetland Touring Co. with Helen Snookes. There were 11 of us in a van. We got to see all the highlights. We left the group at the cathedral in Kirkwall and walked down to the dock area through a beautiful shop lined street. Very nice. That evening the CD had a cruise critic party for us in the Wheelhouse Bar. There was a great turnout! I did not know there were that many of us onboard! There was an open bar, canapes and a gift certificate for a travel bag. The ship photographer took a picture of the group on the stairs in the Atrium. The CD, Richard Joseph did a great job with it, the party couldn't have been better.

 

South Queensferry was next. We planned to do it on our own. When we reached port, a fellow cruise critic called over that she had room in her taxi for us so we joined them and got to Edinburgh Castle for 10GBP. Tip: have the taxi bring you to the castle first. After your visit, work your way down the royal mile downhill. We went into Gladstones Land, a house kept in the style of yesteryear. We had a nice lunch in "The Filling Station" restaurant on the Royal mile. We did the Mary King's Close tour (opposite St Giles Cathedral) after that. It was late afternoon by then so we got a taxi back to S. Queensferry for 20 GBP (18 + tip). There is a pub across the street at the tender pier. We went in to have a pint to round up the day. It was a good one!

 

The final sea day was similar to the others except for the fact that we had to pack. Dembarkation went smoothly. Our flight didn't go out until 4:35 pm so we had a gentelman from Allstar Travel do a day tour with us. We went to The New Forest area, Salisbury, Stonehenge and to Winchester before we were dropped off at the airport. They have a website if anyone is interested, it cost 150 GBP for the day for the two of us. Really great, I reccomend them.

 

That's (finally)the end of my report. I got so much info from the boards that helped me, I hope that I was able to in return, help any of you. I will try to answer an questions (I haven't read the thread since returning).

Happy Cruising!!!

[GottoCruise]

Thanks to all for keeping this thread alive.

 

We have a ways to go - not boarding until July 31 for b2b - but love reading everyone's reports!!!

 

XX00 GotToCruise (aka )Renee