Golden Princess review of 8/20/05 Transatlantic

[RnR_Girl76]

In my opinion, you get out of a cruise what you put into it. I took my first cruise on Star Princess last year and had my expectations exceeded to the point I booked my next one within a week of returning home.

 

I was on Golden twice this year and enjoyed myself more on the European one then the Carribbean one. I like the fact that the people especially the ones older then me were not stuffy or stuck up. In fact, I liked some of the older passengers more then I liked the ones that were in my age range (late 20's).

 

I agree that the Horizon buffet needs to be redone but that is extremely hard to do with the itenaries Princess has planned for the ship. I only eat in Horizon for breakfast and the occassional lunch when I wake up too late to get breakfast but prefer the Trident Grill. I guess that is the McDonalds generation in me

[dlp252]

I was also on the August 20 Europe/Transatlantic cruise. My experience was very different. We chose Anytime Dining and had no problem getting a table for two, which we requested each time we dined in a dining room. I noticed no attitude problems with that whatsoever from the staff. I aso requested dressings and sauces on the side and had no problems with that...in fact my friend and I routinely had special requests for dining and the waitstaff was always very nice about it. There was only one time where were were not offered refills of our beverages...all the other times we had excellent service.

 

Our cabin steward was FANTASTIC and seemed to know exactly what we needed when we needed it. It amazed me that when we left our room (there was no sign of him in the halls) and returned, sometimes just 30 minutes later, he had been there and either cleaned the cabin or turned down the beds depending on the time of day.

 

I agree that the Horizon Court could use some reorganization, but generally had no complaints with the food itself. The staff there was VERY helpful and very nice, even for my daily request for sugar-free desserts. I would love to see more tables for two in the buffet dining area though.

 

We didn't see any of the shows or other entertainment on board, so I can't speak about that, but it seems like there were things going on all the time somewhere on the ship.

 

I had a great time on this cruise and wouldn't hesitate to go again. ETA: in fact we booked a future (as yet to be determined) future cruise while on this cruise.

[shecruise]

I have been on the Golden several times. Since I don't eat in the Horizon, I cannot make a statement one way or another but overall, the Golden has been a great cruise ship experience

[luvs2beachit]

Corian asks:

I don't understand - how can one couple have such a bad cruise experience in all areas and several others on the same cruise experience the opposite.

and

Four good cruise experiences to one very bad cruise experience on this thread - what gives? Are there two Golden Princess ships out there runing parrallel?

 

The answer is attitude, attitude and attitude!!!

 

We loved this cruise! Was everything perfect? Of course not but there was nothing that terrible that could ruin the cruise.

As previous posters have stated, the Horizon Court could use some improvement with its traffic patterns, the deserts could be more varied and sometimes the some of the food was not to our taste or as hot as we would have liked it to be, but the wonderful thing about the Horizon is that you can go right back up and select something else. And if you don't see what you want just ask and they will do their best to get if for you. (The food police are not monitoring your behaviors). We have eaten in some of the finest restaurants in NYC and have at times found menu's to be limited a or have had to send items back for the very same reasons we would have on the cruise. Our evening diningroom experience was wonderful. We had traditional late seating and were lucky enough to find ourselves seated with wonderful dinner companions. The wait staff was both efficient and social, often anticipating our needs before we voiced them. Several people at our table requested that dressing etc. be served on the side and there was never a problem. One woman requested fresh blue cheese for spreading on her rolls instead of butter and every night there was a plate of blue cheese on the table. I will admit that the deserts on Celebrity are usually better but that is not a good enough reason to "abandon ship" (Princess). Our cabin stewart was fabulous. We too had requested robes, feather pillows and egg crates for the beds but they were not there when we arrived. A quick chat with the stewart and they were all in place that first night. We also asked him for two lounge chairs for our balcony and 10 minutes later he arrived with them. My husband calls it the "miracle of the waters": ask and you shall receive. It can't get any better than that!!

We didn't take any of the ships tours as we either went on privately arranged ones or off on our own so I can't really comment. However, folks that we spoke with voiced no major complaints with the ships service other than the price.

The quality of the evening entertainment was varied. Some nights were great and others were so so but the good news is we didn't spend $75pp for our tickets either!

The daily activities offered during the 6 day crossing did seem a bit limited but I don't think that the ship is responsible for entertaining me 24 / 7. I am an adult, I can read, share a cup of coffee with a new friend, go to the casino, sleep late, take a nap, play cards, eat, spend time with my husband, shop, check out the ship again (have cruised on the Golden 3 times and am always amazed at the new places and or things I find that I didn't see before) and do any number of things that I don't have the time to do in the real world.

The ports we visited were wonderful. Even though it did rain several times it did not ruin the day for us. Isn't it suppose to rain in London???

A highlight on one of the sea days was a tour of the bridge and on another day there was a presentation about the history of cruise ships which was wonderful. Both were interesting and informative. Some of the movies offered were good some were not. But again, we didn't pay for tickets and we were free to leave if we wanted.

One thing I would strongly suggest to people planning on cruising in the future is to go to the "Roll Call" section of these boards and join the thread for your ship. It will do several things to enhance your cruise: you will start to meet people, you can learn tons of stuff about the ship, the tours and ports. You can ask questions and I promise you will get an answer or at the very least you will be directed to a site where you can get the information. You can find about about private tours and link up with people to go on private tours. Mostly, what joining does for us is extend the cruise experience. Talking and making plans in the weeks and months before the cruise is just plain fun! On this cruise there were 134 people on the roll call who met for an informal party on the first day and another party sponsored by the ship on a sea day!! It was great! In addition, 10 folks from the roll call met for dinner two months before the cruise and we are planning a "reunion" for sometime in Oct. Talk about extending the cruise experience!!!

So, like I said at the beginning of this message, it's all about attitude. Even if there were some less than perfect experiences they can be turned into humor with the right attitude. We would do this cruise again, on the same ship, in a flash! And yes, we are already booked on another princess cruise for Jan. 06. I guess, as MBMinor states in his review, that will make us bona fided "Mc Donalds Generation" passengers. Does anyone know if this new affiliation entitles us to any additional past passenger benifits????????

Judie

[klr]

I was also on this cruise and I agree with many of the statements in this review.

 

It would be really great it people could post opinions on this board without being attacked.

 

As this was only my 2nd cruise, I can't really compare/contrast Princess with other cruiselines. I have traveled extensively, though and I thought it was great that I got to wake up each day in a new place without the hassle of getting from point A to B, even though I didn't like the short time I spent in each port.

 

The at sea days however, were a different story. You simply cannot coop up 4000 people in a confined space without problems arising. The selfish and nasty behavior of many of the passengers on that trip was exhausting and embarassing. I hope to never again spend a "vacation" listening to non-stop complaining. I sit here 4 days later, bruised from being pushed, stepped on, knocked down and fallen upon. That sea crossing to me was like riding in the back of a pickup truck on a dirt road for a week and the boat is STILL rocking in my head. That cruise was also no fun for people who dislike crowds, standing in lines, cigarette and cigar stench and for those respectful enough to bring Smart Casual and Formal wear because they were adhering to a dress code only to find out it no one cared.

 

I can't really fault Princess as they are trying to appeal to people from all walks of life. Phew, I am sure glad it's not MY job to transport, feed and entertain 4000 people.

 

As I have told everyone who wanted to know, "How was the cruise?", I think a one week cruise with ports would be fine but I wouldn't do a transatlantic crossing again. I wouldn't cruise on a ship that big again. Go expecting everything to be mediocre and nothing more as it is not as "glamourous" as you are expecting or as the cruiseline tries to make it appear.

 

That's my opinion and I am entitled to it.

[melissa_bel]

Hi guys,

It's been a while! Glad to be back.

I read the review... You're being hard on the guy. He tried Princess and didn't like it, that's all.

Apparently, he likes a certain luxury, traditionnal cruising... Princess is not his kind of cruiseline.

 

Although I believe it has one of the best quality-prize on the market.

I never experienced any of his problem, especially with Anytime Dining. My husband and I were able to get a table for 2 every time we wanted to. Perhaps because we were dining later than most people, to be honest.

On our 2 cruises, we found the staff to be more than helpful all through the ship. From the captain to the waiters (we actually had one the best waiter to be found on land or sea in the dining room). The food was excellent... not the greatest but consistently good. There were 3.000 people to feed, considering this...

 

It's true that there is always room for improvement but on the whole, I am completely satisfied and would really hesitate sailing an "upper category" cruiseline. To me, it's the perfect mix of relaxed attitude with a touch of tradition.

 

For someone who is really picky and expect a lot, indeed it might not be his cup of tea.

[Hawaiian]

If anyone would like to see my photo's I took during this cruise, here they are.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=227980

 

Aloha!

[Bestbubba]

I know I must have been on this cruise (same date same ship!! ;) ) but not sure after reading the original review!

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion so here's mine for what it's worth.

 

This was our 5th Princess cruise, 13th overall, never cruised Celebrity so can't comment there.

 

Yes the Golden is huge, but I lost count of the times I walked along thinking "Where are the other 2000 something guests?" The only time I didn't feel that way was in the Horizon Court (so THAT'S where they all were ) More on that later.

 

We chose anytime dining and it worked perfectly for us, we were a group of 8 and on most nights arrived at the dining room between 8 and 8.30 and were seated immediately, only on one night (formal, our fault, should have made a reservation) we were handed a beeper and waited 10 minutes.

 

Food is such a personal area I can only say, for myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the 7lbs my scales tell me I bought home!! We had excellent wait staff each evening and I'm afraid our table was the original table from hell, no one EVER seemed to place a straightforward request, mix and match and doubling up was the name of the game (I did mention the 7lbs didn't I?). Only 1 night we had a miserable waiter, he barely greeted us and was very quiet, who knows why, these people also have lives same as us and maybe he had a problem that day. One bad experience out of 14? Not enough to get my panties in a twist.

 

Horizon Court? Room for improvement in the layout certainly - yes I know the idea is you dart from counter to counter but try telling that to the majority of other cruisers who seem intent on forming 1 long queue! Buffets are not my favourite place to eat on any ship though.

 

I did hear complaints about some of the daily activities being oversubscribed especially on the sea days, but for us there was more than enough as we were with friends, I had loads of books and have just discovered Sudoku which kept me out of mischief for hours! There was plenty of trivia, a film every day, lectures, computer classes, dance classes, the usual demos. I know you have to pay for some of these but personally I would rather pay a lower price for my cruise and add my own extras.

 

We found the all staff we met to be friendly and efficient on the whole.

 

We had a problem in our room, a flood in the cabin opposite seeped into ours and the carpets around the door and bathroom got wet. By the end of the day we were in a new cabin and as 3 members of staff were sent to help us move, it was hassle free.

 

I noticed on this cruise at the Pursers Desk they have something called “Let us know “ forms, the idea being if there is anything not quite right or something you would like done, tell them BEFORE you get off the ship, don’t wait till you get home. OK I thought, here goes! I wrote that as I am hearing impaired it would be such a help if some of the films shown were subtitled. As we were on a roll now we filled out another one explaining that on our Sapphire cruise in March all the public bathroom doors were wedged open so that you didn’t have to touch the door handle when you left. (Not everyone follows the “wash your hands golden rule!!).

 

Both these forms were put in the box at approx 2pm. Around 4pm we get a call in the cabin thanking us and assuring us that they would be passed on to the relevant department. Fair enough we thought and promptly forgot about it!! The next day in the Patter was a notice saying that headphones were available for the hearing impaired. We were impressed! We were even more impressed when our steward stopped by to tell us that the Entertainment Guide in our cabin had been updated and EVERY film/programme that had subtitles had been highlighted!! Wow, Princess, that’s what I call service!!

 

Obviously it’s different strokes for different folks and it is terribly disappointing if what you booked doesn’t work out for you. We still laugh at the comment made by our youngest son when he went on his second cruise on the Celebrity Summit after his honeymoon cruise on the Voyager of the Seas. “Mum when we went to the pool it was like a scene from the film Cocoon!!" Oh dear!!

 

No it wasn’t perfect, nothing in life is, but we had a wonderful time, did a future cruise booking whilst on board and are now looking to book our next Princess cruise.

 

Sue

 

PS For those of you who may be wondering,, yes the bathrooms we used for the remainder of the cruise had the door wedged open!!

 

[CruiseAholic]

KLR - response to your comments, RESEARCH, what did you think was going to go on during the sea days.....give me many of them, 6 days in a row with nothing to do - HEAVEN !

[lolane1]

I, too, was on this cruise and am a veteren Celebrity cruiser. This was my first Princess cruise, and generally, I quite enjoyed it. I have already booked my February cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

 

Now, I do agree with many of the positives and negatives that have been posted. However, attitude and level of tolerance make the difference. It is true that MY dining room service was disorganized and waiters seemed overburdened with the number of tables they had to service. We had traditional dining and this was the worst service I had on over 14 cruises representing many lines. But this was my experience and all my table mates due to our particular wait staff , but we didn't care just as long as we got fed. And the food was generally really good. The one night I really wanted to change a meal, we couldn't get a hold of the waiter in time before they started to clear plates. But, never mind, there was a meal waiting somewhere 15 minutes later. Ha, ha.

 

There was a problem getting a table for 2 at breakfast and lunch because they were recarpeting the Bernini dining room. So, they had to feed a huge amount of people in limited space. Service, unfortunately, was rushed at times when lots of people showed up for lunch. Thank God for the the head waiter, Paolo. He was amazing; usually we never see this guy on Celebrity ships. He took one look at our faces and just knew we couldn't talk to people that early in the morning as was soooo accommodating. We love you Paolo.

 

I thought the ship was really beautiful and classically designed. If you took the time to smell the roses, you could appreciate the extended use of marble and beautiful mosaic designs. Low keyed, no neon, except in skywalkers which was fantastic. Just like Celebrity, people were polishing brass, cleaning windows and carpets all the time.

 

We had a minisuite on Dolphin deck. Loved the room, loved the tub, loved the balcony. Due to weather, we only really used it on the transatlantic portion. Here's a hint, if you are doing a transatlantic from Europe to US, you need to be on the PORT side. This way you have sun all day long because you will be facing south. One day we passed a whale that was rather close to the ship.

 

I thought the Bridge and Galley tours were great. We even sprung for the cookbook.

 

Here is the BEST thing about Princess. They let you order bottles of alcohol to your room. Now, I am not a big drinker but I found a little french wine on board, Pouilley Fume, that was wonderful. So, here I am, on my wonderful balcony having a glass of wine, soaking in the sun, chilling out, with a front row seat to the edge of the world. Life could not be more beautiful. Sadly, this was terribly contrasted to the tragedy in New Orleans which happened during this cruise. Gives one a dose of reality and sense of gratefulness for your present position, on the water, not in it.

 

We did not make use of many of the ship's activities because we were so happy in the room. CNN coverage of New Orleans kept me glued to the TV. Movies, I thought, were great. One of the TV's in the room was set with subtitles for everything, including the news. You should have had this TV, Sue. The remote was scaled down with only volume and channel controls so you couldn't access a main menu. Who cares. I had my little bottle of wine.

 

Now, don't kill me, - I think the beds and pillows need a major overhaul. My bed, foam, had little plastic toggles all over, that were damned annoying. Unlike the ship, I am not a princess, and just dealt with it. My daughter was smarter and got a foam topper. Oh, princess, please replace those pillows! We did get additional pillows from our amazing cabin steward, and btw, he provided the best service I have ever had on any ship.

 

Yes, desserts were lack luster on the Horizon buffet. Saved me 3 additional pounds. Thank you, Princess. I did notice there was a hugh amount of shellfish onboad primarily because I have a shellfish allergy. But I always found something delicious to eat, perhaps not a great varitey of things because of my allergy but what I did select was good.

 

As a final note, there is great variation on ships even within the same line. While Celebrity's smaller ships have food that is amazing, the food on the megaships, Millenium and Costellation was awful. Golden Princess wins that one. RCI's Serenade, 2 thumbs up, Adventure of the Seas, 2 thumbs down.

 

Cruising is all what you make it. Another hint, roll with the waves and you'll be happy. Lois

:)

[whiterose]

Hi Sueredland

Sorry we didn't meet on board since it sounds like we were on the same mission. Wish I'd seen those "let us know" forms at the Purser's desk since I had a boatload of stuff I wanted to let them know.

 

I'm also very hard of hearing but I knew in advance that the Golden has Assistive Listening Systems for the Princess Theater and Vista Lounge. Folk at the Purser's Desk had no idea what I was talking about so I went to the sound booth in the Princess Theater and talked to them and a very nice man Mark from Australia found a headset for me and a patch cord so I could plug it into my cochlear implant - used it for all the shows. When Richard James CD came to the Cruise Critic party I asked him to get a sign telling other hard of hearing passengers that they had at least 20 headsets hidden behind the door in the sound booth. He said it would be hard to get permission for a sign but he did keep his promise to put something in the Princess Patter.

 

The Purser's desk told me that all the TV shows and movies are closed captioned - wrong wrong. Until we got close enough to the US to pick up CNN USA none of the TV shows were captioned and less than 15% of the movies were captioned. I asked the Purser's Desk to find out which movies were captioned and they said they did not know. So I insisted that someone on the ship did know (whoever had charge of the videos) and sure enough a nice technician came to my cabin and marked the TV guide for me. Probably same guy who helped you!

 

The average age on this cruise was over 65 so we all know that there were lots of hard of hearing passengers and I bet many of them would have loved the headsets if they knew about them.

[debbiecape]

I was a solo traveler on the Golden Transatlantic- previous Celebrity and NCL cruiser, first time on Princess. Let me start by saying I had a good time- loved the ports (and did all ship tours except Dublin as I was traveling alone and felt 'safer' with the ship tours). Would have liked more time in each port of course! Passengers- given that this was a 14 day end of summer cruise the mix was decidedly older than any other cruise I've been on. The only issue I had was that the walking tours were clearly stated to be somewhat strenuous over cobblestones, etc. and it was clear that many people had difficulty walking and keeping up. Some of the tours did not cover all the places we were scheduled to see as the pace was too slow - additionally, the people who would have preferred a more leisurely stroll complained about the pace, complained about the lack of time in each spot, complained about the guide,etc. I wish they had chosen tours more suited to their taste and ability- they were very upset and would have been more comfortable perhaps on a driven tour. Other than that the itinerary was great! I found that the majority of passengers were beautifully dressed for Formal nights with lots of tuxes and most dressed appropriately for the other nights.

Food- for me personally, I found the Horizon Court food very bland with the exception of some of the ethnic dishes such as samosas and curries. I agree with fellow posters about the chaos of the layout/lines. I chose Anytime Dining and also encountered a problem when asking to dine alone- if the Maitre'D was there he was very quick to make adjustments and seat me alone but if was not there, the staff embarrassed me several times by taking me to tables with others after I had clearly stated I wished to dine alone (I then had to apologize to the table explaining that I really wanted to read that evening,etc.). On the evenings that I ate at Bernini or Donatellos' I found the food to be good- not fine dining but good. The shrimp cocktail left a lot to be desired however as they served very small shrimp with an ok sauce. Service was adequate- neither great nor bad- just adequate. I also ate at Sabatini's- great presentation , food good but not spectacular. Good for a 'night out'. Really liked Desert Rose- the steaks were delicious (as was the shrimp cocktail!) and the manager was outstanding.

Crew- my cabin steward was wonderful as were the waitresses at the coffee bar. The rest of the crew ranged from adequate to not very happy.

Beds- very, very lumpy and hard! Cabin- very nice and bigger thane xpected with good closet layout; shower was tiny. OVerall, very good.

Entertainment- not nealy enough on sea days (would have loved some lectures- history, port talks, world affairs); movies were fine; would have loved a sing along bar- would have loved some British/Irish/French music-the classical music was delightful in the Atium- the rest of the bar entertainment was too 'old' for my taste. Princess production shows were good- one comedian was good the other was horrible and the juggler was terrible. Didn't go the nightclub.

Embarkation-disembarkation- the best I've experienced.

Overall comparsion- I loved Celebrity for it's service, excellent staff, food, and style; Norwegian for it's Freestyle Dining with multiple restaurant choices and it's entertainment- much more of a fun ship; Princess was a good value with a good itinerary. I am booked on a back to back on the Norwegian Jewel for January- would choose Princess again for reasons of itinerary and price.

[coiran]

Are you folks sure you were on the same Golden Princess as MbMinr was??

 

If you are a first time Princess cruiser the Horizon court may look somewhat chaotic - that's because most folk don't know how to use it. It is set up with each island serving a particular course: salads, breads, cold entrees, hot entrees, deserts, etc. The objective is - get your salad and eat it - go back for each individual course - most people treat it like a normal buffet and try to get all the courses on one plate at the same time - this combined with folks that are using it as intended make for a somewhat chaotic scene.

Ron

[Richard Stein]

My next Princess cruise will be better having everyone that was on this cruise but MBMiner on board. I enjoy sea days and attitude is everything. Some people are determined to have a bad time and then they do.

[Flyingfish]

We more or less agree with much of what has been posted. And yes, attitude is a major regarding cruising. We had a very enjoyable cruise. However, we're still trying to figure out what the secret was in opening those Horizon Court milk containers??? (the one's with the straws were easy)

And I must mention, our CD Richard and his crew the VERY BEST we've ever sailed with!

[dawcruiser]

My wife and I sailed 8/20 to 9/3 on the Golden. She is 52 I am 58 we both loved our cruise. This was our first Princess Cruise. From my signature you can see we have sail almost all the other mass market ships except Celebrity.

 

We really had a good time. Not great but really good. I actually bought a tux for the sailing. I am now glad I did everyone at our table of eight dressed to the nines all the men wore tuxedo.

 

We had fixed 2nd seating dinner. Food was good, shrimp were small but I always got a double shrimp cocktail. Beef was really good. Veggies were run of the mill cruiseline veggies. Salads came already dressed. Desserts were good, cookies we exceptional. I normally got cheese cake. Coffee was excellant. Can't understand why people complain about the coffee.

 

Horizon cafe was a different story. I didn't like it at all. I was reminded of a Morrison's Cafaretia. Food was cold and poorly displayed. Very confussing layout. Lunches in dining room were great. Veal was best I have had in years.

 

I found the servers in the dining rooms great always wanted to please us. Horizon was different, it seemed the servers were only there for one of two reasons; give you a plate and sliverware or clean up your table. Toast was always cold. Once we started eating breakfast in the dining room the food and service got a lot better.

 

Cabin was very adequate. We always book a higher cat. inside. We had A-417 which a II cabin. Shower was like all other showers, cramped and small. Best area we have ever had for hanging clothing though. Storage was very adequate. I really like the safe being eye-level. I did as always give the steward a tip at the beginning of the cruise. It got me my mini-bar removed, an always full ice bucket, and two feather pillows. I was told on this board robes are in all cabins. We didn't have any and didn't ask for any. We had plenty of storage for our 4 suit cases, 1 in a corner for dirty clothes three under the bed.

 

Layout of the ship was easy to learn. Lounges were nice. We had a full ship, 2634 passengers if I remember correctly and we never felt crowded. Ship full is 2600.

 

Show rooms were adequate. Only problem was fixed 2nd seating missed about half the shows. They began at 9:30. We never finished dinner till 10:00 or later. Once Pricess Theater had standing room only. Entertainment was far inferior to other ships I have been on. I didn't see one singer nor did I see any production shows. But all the other entertainment was poor except Duncan Tuck a singer who was one of the best I have ever heard on a ship.

 

Here are a few problems my wife and I think need to be corrected and soon. My wife remarked more than once if we hadn't been seasoned cruiser we would of been lost. There were three annoncement a day that we heard. One stating we were in port, one starting bingo and a report from ther bridge at noon. The Patter, the cruiseline daily was poorly laid out. Very little information. Never had a lecture on the next port to be visited. They need to provide more activity on sea days.

 

Here are my conclusions. I have cruised numerous times. Princess is no better than nor no worst than most ships I have sailed. I did find the age to be slightly older on Princess. I would guess low to mid 50's as an average age. I saw very few chuildren and the one we saw were very well behaved. Most of the passengers I spoke to had cruised 5 or more time. About 1/2 of the folks I spoke to said this was their first Princess Cruise. The price was great. $999 pp for an inside. Air from Nashville TN to London and from NYC back to Nashville was $679.

 

Would I sail Princess again? Certainly. Did I like the Golden Princess? Yes it was a very nice ship. Was it as beautiful as some think it is? No, the Costa Atlantic is just as beautiful. Actually I liked the Costa Atlantic better overall. But I did a 7 day Western Carribbean on the Atlantic not a 14 day Western Europe and Trans-Atlantic. I did enjoy the 6 days of the atlantic crossing. Got much needed rest.

 

Any questions email me. pv86@bellsouth.net

 

Don

[Mary Ann 2]

We just booked yesterday the Golden transatlantic next May. I have a question for those of you just returning or anyone who sailed over last May. We booked a back balcony cabin which we have had before and loved in the Caribbean, but my TA said that she has had people say that it was so rough back there on the transatlantic that they were thrown out of bed. Anyone have a back balcony room? How rough were the seas? Will it be different in May?

[Budd]

Hello Mary Ann 2,

 

I had an aft balcony cabin # C753. As far as we were concerned it was very smooth sailing. We had 2 days crossing the Atlantic where the seas were somewhat rough, but the ship handled it very well. Enjoy your aft balcony cabin on the Golden. I was on the Aug.20th-Sept. 3rd cruise. I can't tell you about the weather in May. Sorry.

[Richard Stein]

We were on a BA toward the back of the ship in May and had no problems. It was smooth sailing.

[makeup face]

MbMinr

 

Thank you for staying with Celebrity.... What a piece of work you are :eek:

[Mary Ann 2]

Thanks Budd and Richard for the good reports. C753 is the room we reserved! Did you have any problems with cross winds? We did D734 last time and it was so recessed it didn't have any wind problems, but then you couldn't see the side like it seems C753 will allow so C753 seemed better for seeing as you were coming into ports.

[coiran]

MbMinr

 

Thank you for staying with Celebrity.... What a piece of work you are :eek:

 

Celebrity deserves him/her!!

 

Ron

[Budd]

No. We had no wind at all while we were sailing. All the wind is blocked by the rest of the ship. However, you will see great sunrises & sunsets if you get up early enough. Coming into NY habor was beautiful even though it was still dark. We docked around 6 AM. There is plenty of storage space especially for hanging clothes. The bathroom is small as is the shower. Make sure you request the egg crate for the mattress. Also, we had 2 lounge chairs & 4 regular chairs on the balcony as well as a small table. Edwardo, the cabin steward was excellent even though we hardly ever saw him. He promptly filled all requests. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. My major problem on the Golden was getting around from deck 6. I either was using a cane or a wheelchair & had to use an elevator to get from the dining room on deck 6 to go forward. You cannot go from the restaurant on deck 6 forward without going up 1 deck, walking forward, then taking another elevator back down to deck 6. My wife got her exercise pushing me around, although she claims she didn't mind. By the way, you must use only the 2 end elevators at the rear, not the center ones to go to the dining room. That is, if you have the traditional seating. I hope that wasn't too confusing.

[PescadoAmarillo]

While the OP may have stated some views that are controversial, the name of this board is CRUISE CRITIC, and he is certainly entitled to his opinion. Furthermore, several other people who posted comments here agreed with the OPs views, at least in part...although I don't believe that we want to get in the habit of needing a majority vote to validate opinions on this board.

 

And I will edit out the other things I would love to say to certain posters on this thread in the interest of peace and kumbaya.

[makeup face]

JMB410

 

I don’t know about anyone else but……. I don’t have a problem with the OP review of his/her cruise……I had a problem with the arrogant tone of his/her “evaluation of folks who chose to cruise on Princess!!

 

“Princess seems to have attracted the type of passenger who insists on dressing as they please without regard to the dress code, and who feel no reluctance to disregard most other rules imposed for the cruise. Although I try to enjoy the cruise without regard to the actions of other passengers, it is difficult to ignore when it is so widespread”

 

“the obvious attempt to appeal to the less sophisticated cruise passenger, the “McDonalds-generation” passenger, with low expectations, little experience in finer dining and proper food preparation, and one who is happy with the cruise as long as he can heap the food on his plate in the buffet on a 24-hour basis.”

 

Maybe if he/she would have taken their nose out the air….just maybe they would have seen the cruise more in tune with the others who were on the ship at the same time. Although I find it really funny he/she spent so much time on the food :) :D