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

[hopestotravelmore]

Tonight is our second formal night and we were off to the dining room for dinner. I still couldn’t get James to wear his suit. Oh well there is a next time I hope. We began with a cheese platter to share, followed by crayfish for James and pheasant for me. The food and company were wonderful as usual.

 

During our dinner the ships photographer came around our table asking if anyone would like their portrait taken. No takers. I did try my best to get James to have one taken but as usual his answer was NO! Very funny because later on tonight I do get my way once again. Next it was a stroll or should I say a smoke out on the Promenade deck and afterwards we headed to the Explorers Lounge to join in the Trivia - Where in the World. We actually did better this time.

 

We had heard all the great talk around the ship about a Comedian who was appearing tonight. He had already performed once on our cruise and we missed it. So tonight at 8.30pm we caught his show – Comedy Showtime with Scott Williams in the Vista Lounge. Outstanding and very amusing.

 

After watching Williams show we rushed to the Atrium to watch the Princess Cruises 50th Anniversary Balloon Drop Party. We just made it with minutes to spare and we were one of the many lined along the Grand Staircase watching the dancing below in the Piazza. It was exciting to watch the balloons drop.

 

 

 

 

We managed to grab a sit in the Promenade Lounge for a coffee and I noticed passengers lined up at the base of the Grand Staircase getting their photos taken for tonight was Formal Portraits. “Please James,” I begged a number of times until he agreed and we waited in line patiently for our turn. Or should I say I did but James was like a small child getting so restless. He nearly bolted a few times but I held on tight. Smiles.

 

As we watched the Photographer take each couple/family’s picture we noticed how long and how many he took. He actually took about 6 photos of each couple/family. James protested and said No way did he want that many and if I wanted that many I could wait on my own. So I said that we would tell the guy we only wanted one. Spoilt sport the old man is.

 

Finally it was our turn and we told him we only wanted to. He moaned a little and took two. The old man was happy with this.

 

 

Then we returned to the Promenade lounge for a quick drink while deciding what to do next. I made the decision to go to the Princess Theatre and watch the Production Show – British Invasion at 10pm. James decided to head up to MUTS and watch The Martian. I had already seen this enjoyable movie. So once again we went our own way.

 

 

British Invasion is a musical journey of the greatest songs and artists who left the UK and travelled to the US where they made it big time. It was first-class and I knew many of those songs. The Production Show only goes for half an hour, which is a little disappointing. I wish they would actually do a musical perhaps Mamma Mia, The Phantom of the Opera etc. Don’t get me wrong I think the shows were outstanding but I would love to see just one musical on each cruise that went longer.

 

After British Invasion I went to find James. He was not watching the movie but chatting to some guy up on Deck 15 were they were smoking. Cough…Cough. He decided to call it a night but I was not sleepy and elected to go and watch the Scottish One perform in the Promenade Lounge. There was standing room only. I lasted roughly 30 minutes before I too decided to call it a night. The Scottish One is one funny entertaining man.

 

Time Change tonight: Our clocks had to be set one hour back tonight again. We are finally back to the same time as home. OH NO! Home, that means our cruise is almost over…sob…sob.

[Hawka]

that scottish one was a ripper totally awesome as he had a show in the vista lounge one night on my cruise did not miss that at all the lift roulette i stumbled on and played was fun as i think i won it too took a pen and tried to double the rest but lost the rest was fun

[crochetcruise]

Around 5.20 that afternoon, I was sitting in the sun studying my copy of the Princess Patter, which is something I do a lot. I don’t want to miss out on anything you know. I happened to turn it over to the back to have a read when I noticed that the Crab Shack was on tonight from 5.30 to 9.00pm Deck 14 Aft. This was the first and only time the Crab Shack was offered on this cruise. Well the shock it caused me when I saw it was real funny. I yelled out to James, while I punched him in the stomach. Poor guy was asleep and nearly fell off his lounger. The lady next to us couldn’t stop laughing.

 

You see while I was researching all I could on Princess everyone commented on the Crab Shack and said not to miss it. Apparently the meal would be wonderful. So after James snapped at me for hurting him, he told me to see if we can make a booking. I rushed on over and sure enough there was only one table available that night. But the problem was it was only at 5.30pm. And it was now 5.31pm. I told them I would have to go and tell hubby and rush off to our cabin to get changed. He said “why do you need to change. What you are wearing is ok.” So we didn’t have to get all dolled up to go to the Crab Shack which was at the back of the Horizon Court where we have never sat before.

 

 

Once seated, we had a lovely waitress from Russia who looked after us for the evening. The meal was $25 per person and like I said earlier it’s only on for one night on this cruise and there was no advertising for it except on the back of Princess Patter. And it wasn’t really an advertisement just added to the Dining Guide on the back of the Patter.

 

First we started with Popcorn Shrimp and Hush Puppies in a basket with dipping sauce. This tasted OK. 2nd course was Manhattan clam chowder and again this was OK. Main course we chose The Golden Mixed Steamer – two huge and I mean huge bowls of all sorts of seafood such as king crab, crab cluster jumbo shrimp, crab legs, lobster legs, clams, mussels, corn and new potatoes. Again this was OK. Dessert was brought to us on a trolley with a selection of Gateaux and tarts from the Pastry Shop and they were yummy.

 

 

Now I am guessing you are asking why I don’t sound overly wrapped with the food. You see I don’t really like seafood. I will have some flake or fish cooked in batter when we travel to the seaside. But having a whole meal just devoted to seafood is not my cup of tea. On the other hand, dear James loves seafood and every evening we went to the dining room for dinner he had seafood. I knew he would love the Crab Shack. Turns out he did like the seafood but he thought some of it was a bit dry. A man on the table next to us asked us what we thought of the seafood and he also reckoned it was dry. I hate to say something bad about Princess Cruises but I think they need to improve the quality of the seafood they serve at the Crab Shack.

 

Another thing I guess you are asking is why someone who doesn’t like seafood would rush over to the Crab Shack for dinner. Well as the good wifey that I am I did this for James. I knew he would love dinner here.

 

Before we tucked into the main course they brought around aprons for us to wear and then the ships photographers suddenly appeared and guess what? We had to have our photo taken much to James’s horror. Smiles.

 

 

After an alright meal we moved back to the MUTS area and sat around watching the James Bond movie - Spectre

 

When we returned to our cabin we found this waiting for us:

 

 

Night All

 

THANK YOU! I was searching for an Australian price for the Crab Shack. I'm not sure whether it'll be on my 3 night cruise, but thanks to you, I know to have $25 "reserved" ready in case it is offered.

 

Thoroughly enjoying your review and photos. Noted to CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY read my Patter daily!

[Hawka]

All in Australian dollars on golden while she is there

If you go to a specialty restaurant it is $25 fee hope the crab shack is open for you

Edited April 4, 2016 by Hawka

[utahtea]

hopestotravelmore,

 

Thank you for your wonderful pictures & entertaining review of your cruise!

 

Utahtea

[chama463]

I love this review! We just finished our first cruise as well, we were on the Crown Princess 7 night California Coastal Cruise. You're 1st impressions on boarding the Grand were pretty much the same as mine when we boarded the Crown. I plan on writing a review of our trip as soon as I get done planning our next 2 cruises!:)

[hopestotravelmore]

THANK YOU! I was searching for an Australian price for the Crab Shack. I'm not sure whether it'll be on my 3 night cruise, but thanks to you, I know to have $25 "reserved" ready in case it is offered.

 

Thoroughly enjoying your review and photos. Noted to CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY read my Patter daily!

 

Yes please do read your Patter carefully daily or else you could miss out on something like we almost did..lol

[hopestotravelmore]

All in Australian dollars on golden while she is there

If you go to a specialty restaurant it is $25 fee hope the crab shack is open for you

 

The Golden Princess while in Aussie waters will be all in Aussie dollars. Which is great for us Aussies.

[hopestotravelmore]

hopestotravelmore,

 

Thank you for your wonderful pictures & entertaining review of your cruise!

 

Utahtea

 

Thank you Utahtea for your kind words. I see in your sig that you have been to Alaska twice. I want to go to Alaska so much.

[hopestotravelmore]

I love this review! We just finished our first cruise as well, we were on the Crown Princess 7 night California Coastal Cruise. You're 1st impressions on boarding the Grand were pretty much the same as mine when we boarded the Crown. I plan on writing a review of our trip as soon as I get done planning our next 2 cruises!:)

 

Thank you Chama for your kind words. I cant wait to read your review. It was amazing stepping on the ship for the first time wasn't it.

[hopestotravelmore]

Hi All. Sorry I took so long to finish my review. Have been very busy at work and here on the farm. So here is the rest of my review.

 

Tuesday Feb. 23rd Todays Weather 24 –At Sea

 

Speed 20.1 Knots Slight seas with short/low NW’ly swell

 

Throughout the day, the Golden Princess will remain on a westerly course, across the Tasman Sea towards Melbourne.

 

Our last full day on board the Golden Princess found us simply relaxing by the pool on Deck 14 on this beautiful sea day. At one stage, I took myself away from Neptune’s Reef and pool and revisited every public place on board to capture a photo or two, plus I needed to memorize every inch of this wonderful ship so in years to come I can recall my very first cruise. I found many of these areas quiet and not a soul around like The Wedding Chapel – Hearts and Minds below:

 

 

What a charming place to renew your vows or to get married. I swallowed a sigh as I took my pictures of the chapel and realized that this would be my last visit.

 

More pictures from my last walk around the Golden Princess

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a miserable heart, I took a seat in the Piazza and enjoyed a pot of tea for the last time. Unable to read, I simply sat, aiming once again to absorb as much of the Piazza’s charm into my memory. Smell, taste, hearing, sight, touch– all my senses came into being. I inhaled deeply as the aroma of those freshly baked goodies and coffee from the International Café caused me to become hungry. For the last time, I ate a chocolate chip cookie - heavenly.

 

Closing my eyes, I listened to the sounds all around me. Divine music filled my ears from the Rhapsody Strings performance. Eavesdropping to the conversations taking place around me as peopled mingled. Were there any passengers upset like me, knowing that tomorrow we would have to disembark the ship. My hands stroked the arm of my chair, the railing of the staircase. I needed to feel her one last time. My favourite place on the Golden Princess will remain in my heart forever as I yearned for more time on her, just another week, perhaps a month and then I would be happy, I told myself.

[hopestotravelmore]

In my last post, I left you feeling all sad and down in the dumps, so what does a woman do to cheer up when she feels this way – HEAD TO THE SHOPS AND SPEND MONEY!

 

 

Around the Atrium on Decks 5, 6 and 7 you will find duty and tax free boutiques.

 

 

Essence offered fragrance and cosmetics for sale.

 

 

Facet sold fine jewellery and watches.

Meridian Bay stocked fashion, Jewellery, accessories and gifts.

 

 

 

And my favourite Calypso Cove carried liquor, sundries, logo and fashion apparel.

 

Throughout the cruise, I did visit these boutiques (manly Calypso Cove) a few times and brought a little chocolate, some Princess Souvenirs such as a Golden Princess Ship that sits at my desk, a Golden Princess mug, a couple of tops to wear over my bathers, a book, a CD of Rhapsody Strings. The Calypso Cove also stocked a small supple of things like toothpaste and toothbrushes, travel goods, Panadol, etc - things that you might have forgotten. Oh and I also brought a lovely sparkly lanyard to wear around my neck to hold my cruise card.

 

Today there were a couple of tables set up near the Casino - a large sale of jewellery taking place. I brought a bracelet, an ankle bracelet and a watch.

 

[hopestotravelmore]

And I wasn’t the only one doing all the spending. James went to Vines Shop and brought 10 packets of cigarettes for $10 each. Back home he pays $25+ for a packet. As he was only allowed to buy 5 packets he brought the other 5 in my name. Bad boy! He also brought 3 bottles of whisky for gifts.

 

 

 

That day was an expensive day as we spent quite a bit of money on the Golden. I also visited Photo –Video Galley and checked out all the photos and brought some more of our professional portraits. I noticed a table by Sabatini’s with lots of black and white and coloured photographs taken of our New Zealand ports and the Golden Princess herself. These were all professional standard and I brought six of them. I hope to frame them one day and display them in my study. They are beautiful photographs.

 

 

Below is the Vines Wine Bar

 

[Hawka]

The Golden Princess while in Aussie waters will be all in Aussie dollars. Which is great for us Aussies.

 

yes great for us aussies :-) think you meant to quote one i had quoted and answered some how but all good :)

[hopestotravelmore]

Because we had around $225NZ currency still left and didn’t wish to take it home with us, we decided to visit the Passenger Service Desk and see if they would accept this cash as a payment towards our stateroom account. Princess added the money to our account as a cash payment/deposit and it was taken off the total.

 

I found the cashless system on the ship a little nerve racking at first. James and I kept checking our Stateroom Account each time we spent money on the Princess at Sea App. We talked to one man who had spent more than $2,000 on his alcohol drinks. WOW! And I was worried. Smiles!! Our two cruise excursions were added to the account – over $600. I had hoped to pay these online before our cruise but forgot about it until two days before we sailed and by then I was unable to pay them online. I did buy around $250 online credit before we sailed plus our $110 credit from Princess but this was not enough to cover our bill. It would have been almost if I had paid the excursions in time before we left Australia.

 

Our biggest expensive after the excursions were the photographs ($120) I had to have…smiles! Next would have been the internet use that I added to once I ran out of the internet gift the kids gave us. I brought two $69.00 worth of internet. We also had two specially restaurants at $25pp (Sabatini’s and the Crab Shack).Plus a wine tasting for me, gifts, souvenirs, wine, beer and smokes. We spent just over $1,100.00. So after taking out the excursions we roughly spent a little over $400 on the Golden Princess for the two weeks. Not bad I guess. But what the heck we were on holidays and we wanted to enjoy ourselves.

 

One night, while James was watching TV in bed, I decided to check the Laundry out. It was around 9.45pm No one was there so I went back to our cabin and collected the little washing we had accumulated and decided to do a load of washing. The laundry does not take money; you use your card and buy the tokens to use. It was $3 a token for a washing machine or dryer.

 

 

With the laundry in the machine I headed back to our room to watch an episode of the Love Boat. At 10.20pm I returned to the laundry and found the door locked. What? Silly me hadn’t read the sign on the door stating that the Laundry closed at 10pm. So now I had to leave my washing in the machine overnight. LOL. The next morning the first thing I did was head to the laundry and collect our washing. Won’t do that again. Here are the prices for the laundry service for your room. We didn’t do this.

 

 

On our Patter today was Most travelled Passengers on board The Golden where a couple who have sailed 1014 days with Princess. WOW! Is all I can say.

 

Today, we also received our disembarkation Information Sheet and a few days earlier our Disembarkation Questionnaire which I forgot to read and fill out regards your disembarking arrangements when you arrive in Melbourne and what time you would like to disembark the ship. Stupid me didn’t read this until today. There were two assigned times for independent passengers to disembark the ship:

1. Early group between 7.30- 8.45am

2. Main group after 8.45-9.45am

 

 

And because we didn’t fill out our questionnaire, we were assigned the early independent group at 7.30am. This didn’t work for us as our daughter had to travel from Ballarat, so I headed down to the Passenger Service desk and asked for the main independent group – 8.45 -9.45am. It was very easy to change.

 

On our last sea day, we made sure we set some time aside for organizing for our departure. Packing in the afternoon was not a happy time for me, but it had to be done. I think James was enjoying packing. I wonder why?

In the evening, we went to the Princess Theater for the last time and saw a Comedy Variety show starring Pearson and Harvey from “The Four Kinsmen”. It was a very funny act.

 

 

Afterwards we headed to MUTS on Deck 16. We wanted to enjoy our Movie Under The Stars experience one last time. But 15 minutes into the movie – Age of Ultron, it began to rain and sadly we left MUTS and decided to go back to our stateroom and just watch TV. I was not my normal cheerful self that last night. I guess no one really is cheery when their vacation is about to end and they have to go back to daily life such as work. I guess James was the only one happy that night.

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by hopestotravelmore

[hopestotravelmore]

I have attached the Lotus Spa Favourites price list. In my planning, I could never find any prices to the Lotus Spa. Hope this helps someone.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by hopestotravelmore

[hopestotravelmore]

 

 

 

[hopestotravelmore]

Below is the little pocket Map thing they give you on your first day. As you can see ours was well used. Its a great idea.

 

 

 

 

[hopestotravelmore]

Looking back on my journal I kept while on this cruise, I noticed that I wrote a few times “eat, eat, eat that is all us passengers seem to do all day.” Which is so true, but I am pleased to say I never put any weight on this cruise.

 

Talking about food, I am happy to report that the Fettuccine Alfredo was delicious. I had read here on CC how yummy it was and it’s all true. And what they all say about Princess Pizzas is all true to - lip-smacking good.

 

Princess food was scrumptious. I cannot understand why some people here on CC complain about the food. We loved it all. You would never go hungry, and there is so much variety. We never brought any bottles of water. There were always jugs full of iced water in the Horizon Court, which I used to fill our bottles up with before we went ashore. And the waiters in the Horizon Court or anywhere for that matter always brought you water if you asked. The only thing we found is always ask for just the plain water from the jug when in the dining room for the waiters always bring around bottled water and there is a charge to drink that.

 

We chose anytime dining and we never had to wait to be seated. We usually went to the dining room between 6pm and 7.30pm and were asked if we would like a table for two or were we happy to share. The people who wanted a table for two usually had to wait but if you share with others there was never a wait.

 

I wish I could say we ate lots of the Norman Love Chocolate Journey desserts. We only tried these desserts one night and found them luscious but far too rich for us. At the Captain’s Cocktail Reception we got to taste the chocolate love pops. Ok I guess.

 

The waiters and drink staff were fantastic and always ready to please you. We never had to wait for a waiter to come around on the pool deck and ask us if we would like a drink. They were always there.

 

 

 

 

[hopestotravelmore]

 

 

 

[hopestotravelmore]

 

 

 

[hopestotravelmore]

Our interior stateroom was great. We only ever slept in our stateroom so being inside was ok for us. There was plenty of room for the two of us. And I was amazed at how much storage there was in our room and the bathroom. The way the designers placed the wardrobe was wonderful and there was plenty of hanging space and bench space. Our three cases even stored up on the top shelf of the wardrobe. The shower was plenty big enough also and we never wrestled with the shower curtain. Water pressure was great and our toilet never got blocked. The corridor was always quiet and we never heard anyone at night. Our stateroom was simply wonderful.

 

Our room steward – Gary was a delight and so friendly, he always had a smile and greeted us every time he saw us. On the last day, I went searching for Gary and thanked him and gave him a cuddle and his well-deserved tip. The bed mattress was very hard and we are not used to hard mattresses. This is our only complaint with Princess Cruises but I believe they are replacing the beds throughout their fleet and the Golden’s turn is not until the end of the year. Bummer on our part. Gary did get me a egg crate thingy when I mentioned to him that I didn’t have a good night’s sleep on the first night due to the mattress.

 

Oh and one more thing I was disappointed in. We never ever had a towel animal greeting us in our room at night. For some reason Gary didn’t do this.

 

Here are the professional photos I brought at the Photo Galley desk on the last sea day of our cruise. I love them.

 

 

 

 

[hopestotravelmore]

Forgot to mention that there were never any real long queues in the Horizon Court. What took the longest were James and I deciding what to eat. There was just too much choices.

 

We found the entertainment fantastic and plentiful. MUTS was our favourite. Back here in Australia, we live 300kms from the nearest picture theatre. So as you can imagine we don’t go to the movies a lot. It was great to be able to go every night if we chose to while on the Golden.

 

We found the ship itself – breath-taking; astonishing; magnificent. I guess you get the idea of how we felt about our ship. Lol I am glad we chose Princess Cruises.

 

All the staff aboard the Golden were always a pleasure to deal with and always had a smile on their faces.

 

Here are some pictures of our favourite lounge and bar - the Promenade Lounge and Bar.

 

 

 

 

 

[hopestotravelmore]

Disembarkation - Wednesday 24th February – Melbourne

 

 

 

Wednesday 24th February – Melbourne

 

 

During the early hours of the morning the Golden Princess began her final approach into Port Phillip Bay. 2.45am the Golden picked up its pilot and then made its approach towards its berth. When we headed up to Deck 16 she was already alongside Station Pier. We were home!

 

 

Breakfast was offered in the Horizon Court 5am-9.30am and Bernini Dining Room 6.30-8.30am and of course we had breakfast in the Horizon Court. Then we went back to our room and grabbed our things as we had to vacate our stateroom by 8.30am. Our bags had to be outside our stateroom last night. Afterwards we went to the Piazza for a cup of tea and waited for our time to disembark. We were Red 4 independent arrangement and we had to meet in the Donatello Dining Room at 8.55am. The International Café was still serving drinks and food.

 

Because I had already pre-registered credit card for express check-out we could still use our card for on board charges while waiting to disembark. We didn’t have to visit Passenger Service Desk to settle our account.

While drinking our tea, we phoned our daughter and she said she was already at the port waiting for us.

 

Disembarking the Golden was very easy and there was no waiting. We were hugging both our daughters within 20 minutes of leaving the Donatello Dining Room.

 

So we have been home for a couple of months now and for the first two weeks I was depressed and sad. Princess have this slogan that says: “Come back New”

 

It doesn’t work for me. I had the post- cruise blues so bad that I found it hard to get back into the swing of things back home. I have been told that the only way to escape this miserable time is to plan your next cruise and I have been doing this.

 

Now did my dear farmer enjoy our cruise? NO! He hated it. James said we were too old for this sort of holiday. Mind you he will be turning 60 next year. I am sorry for all you oldies here on CC but that is what he said. I told him that I picked this time of year because I didn’t want 700 kids running around. I would rather travel with the mature age person.

 

James said he loved the ship, but hated the age group of the passengers. Too many in wheelchairs and walkers for him. Bloody snob he is…lol

 

Me! as you can tell loved the cruise and I am going on another one next year to Asia. Will I take James? Probably not. A girl friend said she would come with me or one of my darling daughters. I wouldn’t mind going on my own either. James can stay home and look after the farm.

 

Thankyou Princess Cruises for a fabulous 13 Day cruise to New Zealand and I will be back on board one of your fantastic ships real soon.

 

So that’s the end of my cruise review. I am so sorry I took so long to finish it but work commitments have taken up so much of my time as well as our farm.

 

Oh and thankyou everyone here at Cruise Critic for all your valuable information I received while doing all my searching. I still visit CC every few days. And now that I have another cruise to plan I will visit this site much more.

Bye until the next cruise review.

Edited April 16, 2016 by hopestotravelmore

[hopestotravelmore]

Sorry I made a mistake in the last post and CC wont let me change it.

 

James said we were too old for this sort of holiday."

 

It should have read...

James said we were too young for this sort of holiday.

 

Sorry