Have you been on the cruise ship Golden Princess and how was it?

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Fuzzywuzzy

I've been on this ship and it is going through a major renovation so it'll be nice and fresh. The ship is big and stable. I've been on 3 Princess cruises, 1 Royal Caribean, and 1 Carnival cruise in the last 2 years. Princess is much more luxurious and a lot less party than the others and we prefer it that way. (I'm 34 and my girlfriend is 27, but we were 32 and 25 when we started our latest cruise adventures.) My advice to you is that the cruise is what you make of it. If you're the party type then you'll enjoy the club at the back of the ship. If you're the active type, bring your workout clothes and make the most of the time in ports. You can be as active or as sedentary as you want to be. With so many days at sea, the older crowd may not be as fun, but plan your days out and enjoy yourselves!

hdmshort@sbcglobal.net

Been on several Princess ships and enjoyed them all. There are many different ages of people on crusie ships so don't worry about seniors, some of them are real cool. You will be one someday. Many are very nice and interesting You may even learn something. You have no choice who you dine with but can avoid others.
Have your doctor prescribe some patches.
Have fun!!!!
Harry

Michael

I found this review via http://www.ucruiser.com/. Hope it is useful for you.

This was a rather inexpensive last-minute cruise for us, but we would not do it again.It was our first cruise on the Golden which we find too big, too crowded, very noisy (even in the library) and above all far too cold, we felt we were in a meat-locker. Going to Hawaii, we had packed a light windbreaker and sweater/jacket each. We wore them every single day and needed fleece in the public rooms.

Our "fully obstructed oceanview" cabin was great. The bottom of our large window looked over the top of the lifeboat below, so we had plenty of view and daylight. It was also the only place where we could control the temperature and be comfortable. Emerald Deck amidships was an ideal location on this rather rough and rocky trip, we wonder how much the balconies higher up actually got used. Since we'd been to Hawaii four times before and in fact got married there 22 years ago, we'd hoped for some warm weather but the highest temp we ever reached was 74. It was mostly overcast or cloudy and rained in Maui.

Back to the basics. The food in the dining room ranged from wonderful to inedible, but the service in the Bernini Anytime Dining Room was excellent, although it slipped during the last couple of days. I had requested low-fat/low-cholesterol, but after the first 3 days the head-waiter became unavailable and I was left to my own decisions and that was fine. There was plenty to choose from, I used good judgment and portion-control and neither DH nor I gained an ounce, in fact we lost a couple of pounds, even after the gargantuan feast in Sabatini's.

The shore excursions turned out to be a mixed bunch. The one we on the Big Island visited nice scenery, but the best part was going back to the black sand beach we visited 22 years ago. It's now covered 20 ft deep in glossy lava. The Back Roads of Oahu excursion was the worst. The North Shore was pretty, but a doughnut and a salad served in a styrofoam box for $119 a person (??!!). The guide was not too good either. Kauai was our favorite, as usual, even with partly cloudy weather. We took the Wailua River and Fern Grotto excursion. The river cruise was nice, but the grotto has very few ferns left and the grotto, which had wonderful acoustics in the past has been blocked by a large wooden platform where our boat-load assembled. The Hawaiian Wedding Song was sung, then we went back down to the river boat via a different path. Next load! It had all the romance of a conveyer belt! Maui dawned grey and foggy. The Maui Ocean Center was the best and least expensive of the excursions. Definitely recommended!

The return trip across the Pacific got rougher and even colder. People sat by the sloshing pool, wrapped in their beach towels, shivering. Grey skies day after day and two days before Ensenada the wind reached Gale Force 9 (according to the report from the bridge). By then, construction had begun in various areas of the ship. We were above the wedding chapel, listening to saws, grinding and hammering and when we tried to practice some dance steps on the small floor in the steakhouse, we had to dodge large sheets of plywood being brought through into the now gutted wedding chapel. The casino closed several days early, making gamblers unhappy. We love dancing on cruises, but were not too excited by the bands, although the Canby Trio really made an effort to please the few dancers on their small floor.

The last two days were the rockiest, waves splashing as high as Deck 7. Sleeping was a challenge, what with rolling into the night tables and hangers in the closet banging.

Disembarkation was not great, especially compared with the smooth process of previous Princess cruises we've taken. First, we got the very last disembarkation color tags for an 11:45 am flight (huh?). Got that changed to Orange #2, one of the earlier ones. It was hard to hear colors and numbers being announced over the general loud talking in the lounges. When we finally got off the ship over an hour late, our one suitcase was nowhere. We found it another 45 minutes later in the "late disembarkation" area, under the wrong color and the wrong number. Next time, if there is a next time, we'll do "walk off". Even though we had transfers, we took a taxi to LAX which got us there in less than 30 minutes. We decided enough had gone wrong and wanted to be on our way home ASAP.

-Michael

writerchick3

My husband and I cruise with Princess and we're 23. Yes, there are some older folks, but we still really enjoyed it. There is tons to do, so you'll never be bored. I've never been on the Golden Princess, but I hope you enjoy it!

All the best.

Lew

I have sailed three times with Princess Cruises, once on the Golden Princess and its a very nice ship although we have never been on that cruise.
In the past, the cruising fraternity used to be of the older age group because they were the only ones who had enough cash to be able to afford cruising. This is no longer true. On board cruise ships you will find all age groups.
The Golden Princess is quite a large ship and if you do happen to be accosted by an old codger in a bath chair and a hearing trumpet, don't worry, you'll probably never bump into him again on board, unless you want too.
There is plenty of entertainment on board, if you want it. If you don't, there are many area's where you can have peace and quiet and chill out. It's your cruise. you can do as much, or as little, as you want.
The Club at the rear of the ship is a good place to be for a drink and a great view of your destination when leaving port.
I am sure that you will have a great time on board, enjoy your cruise.

Time travler

I have been on this exact cruise last October on the Golden Princess and let me tell you it was the best. First, Princess is NOT the old people cruise even though I am old(almost 60). We joined up with many cruise critic people and they were all ages from early 20;s to old. This is a fabulous cruise. The sea days are great. They have lei making classes(3 different kinds). hula lessons, Hawaiian lectures(several different kinds). I hope you have Hawaii Bob on your cruise. If so do not miss his lectures. The cruise director is David Cole and is the best cruise director I have seen. They have a late night luau complete with the pig(really yummy). They did survivor and amazing race games. They had Hawaiian food galore and so much more then you can imagine. This was my second favorite cruise with an Alaskan cruise/tour as my most favorite. All I can say is you will absolutely LOVE this cruise. Do hook up with cruise critic so you can get to know your fellow passengers way before the cruise. Sign up, then go to boards, then to roll call, then Princess, then to the golden and finally to the sailing date. Joining cruise critic is really fun and the tips you get are priceless. BTW, your ship, the Golden is right now undergoing a complete makeover, so when you go it will be like a new ship with a movie under the stars. new carpet and upholstery, new floors and on and on. You can see the Progress of the makeover on Princess.com. E-mail me if you want more info. I found what Michael said about Hawaii weather to be an extreme. I have been to Hawaii at least 8 times and it was always warm even in December. My cruise last October 29th was as smooth as glass.

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