Golden B2B, 10-27 to 10-30 and 10-30 to 11-3, a few notes.

[ar1950]

Just back from a B2B westcoast getaway on the Golden Princess. A three day, 10-27 to 10-30, and a four day, 10-30 to 11-3. Here are a few thoughts about the trip in no particular order. No in-depth review here, just notes.

 

Arrived at San Pedro around 12:15 pm, got cruise cards and priority boarding slips. Waited about 15 minutes and our group was called for boarding. Up to the cabin to drop off carry-ons and then down to the dining room for lunch. Pretty full there, by the way. Apparently more people are aware of the availability. Excellent lunch.

 

Checked out the ship a little bit, seemed to be in excellent shape. Back to the cabin, met out room steward Romulo who turned out to be the best we have ever had. Always on top of things and always smiling. BTW, most all of the crew members that we encountered were pretty energetic, cheery and smiling (we always smiled at them and said “hello” as well).

 

We ate in the main dining room during the first three days and every meal was great. Did not attend any shows and did not do many activities. This was a great opportunity to catch up on some reading and just enjoy being on a cruise with a balcony cabin. And, yes, I know the balcony furniture is not the most comfortable, but, even with my sketchy back it was not a problem. We saw a couple of entertainers in the piazza who were very good (an 8 piece New Orleans jazz group and also a smaller ensemble, sorry don’t remember the names and our efficient (maybe too much so) cabin steward cleaned out our clutter which included the first three Patters during our transition to the next cruise.

 

Won some money at the casino for a change. That was memorable.

 

Went downtown in Ensenada and bought a bottle of Kahula for what we considered a really good price. Everything about Ensenada that we remembered from our last stop there was just the same so we went back to the ship. BTW, the shuttle bus guy was telling us that they had a tour that was just the same as the blow hole tour and the downtown tour with the wineries that Princess offers separately. He said the combined was like $25.00 or at least 1/4 of the price that Princess sells the two tours for if you bought both. No endorsement (we didn’t do it), just a heads up if you want to check it out.

And at the end of the first leg we actually had a few bucks from the OBC special that was offered for our booking left over which rolled over to the next cruise. Thanks Princess!

 

Turn around day. Got our info and our in transit passes. We could have waited until 11:30 am and got off with the group, but, instead left around 10:00 am and walked over to the battle ship Iowa and did the tour. Got a great deal on the admission. Being on the cruise was one discount, and being over 62 was another. If you spend the time to immerse yourself in the history and the exhibits that they have it is well worth the retail cost of the admission. The non-profit group that has set this up has done a great job of restoration with more to come. A really interesting and informative piece of history. Glad that we did it.

 

More to follow.

[victory2020]

Do you remember if cod was on the embarkation lunch menu? Last year we had it & it was fantastic!. Will be back on in 11 days.

[ar1950]

Do you remember if cod was on the embarkation lunch menu? Last year we had it & it was fantastic!. Will be back on in 11 days.

 

OK, that is something that I was going to mention anyway. The first embarkation menu was what we were used to. Several choices, including the cod (and wife says it was great) as well as the "always available" choices. Second embarkation lunch was a very limited menu, only a few choices as others have mentioned (a real surprise to see so few choices and to be told you can't even order a hamburger). Maybe this is Princess' way of countering the increasing attendance at the main dining room on embarkation day.(?????:confused:). I suppose what your choices are will depend on which menu is offered on the cruise that you are on.

[victory2020]

Interesting that they had different menus for different cruises. Was it like that for dinner also?

[ar1950]

Interesting that they had different menus for different cruises. Was it like that for dinner also?

 

On the four day cruise three of the dinner menus were the same as the three day cruise and they also added a forth one for the extra day. Don't remember for certain which day the "new menu" was done on the four day. I can say that a couple of the dishes served on the four day were not as good as they were on the three day. I would say that the people that complain about the food based on these short cruises may have a point. Over all, we felt the food was very good, but, there where some hiccups when comparing one cruise to the other as far as the food went. Yes, food is subjective, however, we did notice a difference from one cruise to the next (this time a lot more so than our last B2B).

[cr8tiv1]

Thanks for posting your thoughts. Good to see the both of you at the outlet sale (of all places to run into someone). I found the staff and crew to be energetic and very friendly considering the short turn around times they experience.

 

I did make money at the casino too...what a fluke.

 

Wondering if you had the same encounters we had? Ran across a higher percentage of really grouchy, mean, and inconsiderate passengers on my 3 day cruise than usual. Most were fine. I understand that there were over 1000 blue cards and just 100 elite passengers.

 

I did the same as you. I took time to watch the vegetable and ice carving demonstrations. Did things I've not done in a really long time. I think the couple in the Piazza was Adagio.

 

Hope to see you on another cruise. Please stop me again because my "aging" brain just doesn't remember.

[triple7tahoe]

OK, that is something that I was going to mention anyway. The first embarkation menu was what we were used to. Several choices, including the cod (and wife says it was great) as well as the "always available" choices. Second embarkation lunch was a very limited menu, only a few choices as others have mentioned (a real surprise to see so few choices and to be told you can't even order a hamburger). Maybe this is Princess' way of countering the increasing attendance at the main dining room on embarkation day.(?????:confused:). I suppose what your choices are will depend on which menu is offered on the cruise that you are on.

We were on for these and 4 more prior. Lunch was the same on the first 5 but on the 6th, as mentioned, it was different. We were told by Bepe that it was because there were a large number of travel agents on board and it would be back to usual for the next cruises.

[victory2020]

We were on for these and 4 more prior. Lunch was the same on the first 5 but on the 6th, as mentioned, it was different. We were told by Bepe that it was because there were a large number of travel agents on board and it would be back to usual for the next cruises.

 

That's good to know. Did you happen to go to breakfast in the dining room?

I was wondering if they had a special of the day that was a mushroom omlette with polenta, Italian sausage & focaccia. They didn't have it on the Crown a few weeks ago. Waiter said they had gotten complaints & had stopped serving it.

[ar1950]

That's good to know. Did you happen to go to breakfast in the dining room?

I was wondering if they had a special of the day that was a mushroom omlette with polenta, Italian sausage & focaccia. They didn't have it on the Crown a few weeks ago. Waiter said they had gotten complaints & had stopped serving it.

 

It seems that we saw that on one of the breakfast menus, but, if it was there we didn't order it. We ate breakfast in the main dining room on all of the days on the 3 day (including disembarkation day) and only twice on the four day.

[ar1950]

Thanks for posting your thoughts. Good to see the both of you at the outlet sale (of all places to run into someone).........

 

Hope to see you on another cruise. Please stop me again because my "aging" brain just doesn't remember.

 

Nice to have seen you as well. It was easy for us to remember you because of all of the helpful advice you gave on the Hawaii cruise roll call (thanks for that, btw). Please let us know how the Mexican Riviera cruise went.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your report.

[dchip]

That's good to know. Did you happen to go to breakfast in the dining room?

I was wondering if they had a special of the day that was a mushroom omlette with polenta, Italian sausage & focaccia. They didn't have it on the Crown a few weeks ago. Waiter said they had gotten complaints & had stopped serving it.

 

They had it on the Star the first two weeks of October. My favorite breakfast that lasts until dinner!

 

Cheers, Denise

[victory2020]

They had it on the Star the first two weeks of October. My favorite breakfast that lasts until dinner!

 

Cheers, Denise

 

Thanks so much. I've tried to duplicate it at home - got pretty close.

Probably better when someone else prepares it!

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for posting your thoughts. In just a little over a week I will be on my 3 day Golden cruise.:):):)