Live from golden princess 04/24/13 hawaii sailing

[yseone]

Hello everyone,

 

Almost to the end of our cruise but thought I would let you all know the Golden Princess is still a fantastic ship with a great crew. We have had VERRY smooth seas (the best out of all of our five cruises to Hawaii) and only today have we experienced slightly heavier seas.

 

There are many people who have come down with colds on this trip which could be due to the cold season being much more virulent this year but I also wonder about the CDC green sheet score of 81 that the Golden received in February. They have been very vigilent in the hand sanitizer process outside of the buffet and dining rooms but (of course) some people refuse to honor that system no matter what!

 

There has been rust removal going on for the past few days to get the ship ready for the Alaska season so a bit of banging can be heard about the ship.

 

There was also a scare yesterday when the captain came on and said he was turning the ship around because they had spotted what looked like a life preserver several miles away. It was quite strange to be stopped in the water and then turned toward the West where we had come from to check it out.

All the captain said they saw was some "rubbage" in the water and so we proceed to get back on course about 30 mintues later. The object could have been from the Japanese Tsunami or just trash but we had to check it out and the captain said he would notify the Coast Guard of what had happened.

 

We are now 1 1/2 days from Ensenada and then homeward :(

 

This will be the last trip for the Golden to Hawaii as she will be repositioned after this cruise.

 

All in all a great cruise and a very nice staff who is very accomodating.

 

That's all for now--must go to the Outlet sale happening soon!

 

Cheers!

Yseone :)

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks for your review...don't want to miss the outlet sale...don't know why we keep going but we do!:)

[culvercitycruiser]

When you return will you post your Patters and Menus?

Photos would be great as well.

I love looking at photos.

[PunkiC]

Did you hear anything about passengers being charged a corkage fee when boarding wine to be consumed in their cabins?

[spongerjoe]

We were on the GP to Hawaii sailing that left on April 10th. We brought on 8 bottles of wine by carry on. We were charged $15 for six bottles ($90 total) before boarding. We signed for this at our first dinner. We also went wine tasting in Ensenada and brought on board 3 bottles of wine. We elected to not pay the corkage, instead we opted to have the bottles returned to our cabin on the last day at sea. They were returned early Tuesday morning. I was also fortuante to win a bottle of Stoli at the vodka tasting but that to was not given to us until the last sea day.

[simbasmom]

I'm so glad to hear your positive comments about the staff and crew. Our son is a staff member on the Golden, a ship's musician, for a few more days. I'll be sure to ask him about the life preserver incident.

[PunkiC]

We were on the GP to Hawaii sailing that left on April 10th. We brought on 8 bottles of wine by carry on. We were charged $15 for six bottles ($90 total) before boarding. We signed for this at our first dinner. We also went wine tasting in Ensenada and brought on board 3 bottles of wine. We elected to not pay the corkage, instead we opted to have the bottles returned to our cabin on the last day at sea. They were returned early Tuesday morning. I was also fortuante to win a bottle of Stoli at the vodka tasting but that to was not given to us until the last sea day.

 

Thanks, sponerjoe. That is good information, especially that you can store wine and liquor if you choose. That was the information given to me by Princess corporate but was contrary to the experiences of folks who boarded on March 27, where liquor was destroyed and wine was confiscated.

[BarbaraP]

I wonder why it's just the Golden??? We just got off the Coral April 20th, LA to FLL and had all intentions of paying a corkage fee for our wine, but no signs, no questions, no one even blinked an eye. :confused:

[SoBaycruiser]

 

There was also a scare yesterday when the captain came on and said he was turning the ship around because they had spotted what looked like a life preserver several miles away. It was quite strange to be stopped in the water and then turned toward the West where we had come from to check it out.

All the captain said they saw was some "rubbage" in the water and so we proceed to get back on course about 30 mintues later. The object could have been from the Japanese Tsunami or just trash but we had to check it out and the captain said he would notify the Coast Guard of what had happened.

 

Yseone :)

 

I assume the ship was told to be on the lookout for a 44 ft sailboat boat that was enroute from Hawaii to LA and had missed its 12 hr contact calls since Friday. It was discovered late yesterday with a broken satellite phone.

[yseone]

Hello again!

 

Mostly gray skies but the sun is trying to peek through this morning. Ensenada at 4pm today.

 

Smoothest seas still with just a gentle shake now and then to let you know we are still moving!

 

Simbasmom--the musicians aboard are outstanding and you can tell your son I said so!

 

Everyone on the staff is always so nice and friendly--they are still as happy to say "hi" to you at 6am as they are at 11pm!

 

Love this ship and the crew--gonna miss them all terribly after tomorrow.

 

Not gonna miss the pounds I put on that I will have to work off when I get home--the food has been terrific and the waiters generous as always.

 

I highly recommend this cruise to everyone--of course this is the fifth time we are doing this run which should tell you how much we like it--and we are planning for a sixth already.

 

Will try and post some photos when we return but I am not too good at all that technical stuff.

 

Take care!

Yseone