Let me preface this review by saying my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our cruise aboard the Golden Princess (4/1 4/8). She is a gorgeous ship and the itinerary is great if you prefer port days to days spent at sea, as we do. This was my third cruise, so I am not as experienced at cruising as some. However, I am well traveled and know what to expect as far as entertainment, service, etc. while vacationing. Though the few minuses we experienced were far outweighed by the plusses, I will include the bad along with the good.
Embarkation: San Juan airport is not as bad as youd think. Ive traveled through this airport MANY times, and believe me&for a Caribbean airport, it is quite good. Keep in mind, you are NOT in the states anymore&dont expect ATL or IAD and youll be fine! We got our luggage and went to ground transportation, and we were in a cab within 10 minutes and on our way to the pier for a mere $20.50! As I glanced at the 150-200 people waiting in the PRINCESS TRANSFER area for their bus, I was thankful we chose the taxi option. We arrived at the pier at approximately 2:30 pm and the lines were VERY long to check in. We waited for about 1 to 1.5 hours just to reach the check in attendant. Once through the line, it was smooth sailing. We were on the ship quickly and we really appreciated the Princess personnel and their friendly assistance in locating our stateroom.
Ship: Beautiful and very clean. I never saw anything that appeared unclean. Pools, decks, lounges&EVERYTHING was very neat and clean. Ship personnel were EXTREMELY friendly and helpful. Every interaction I had, from dining staff to room attendant to casino staff, was a friendly and helpful one. One minus: the elevator system&.a bit confusing (not all elevators go up to all floors, etc.), and a bit unreliable. At any given time there was at least one elevator out of order. And a woman actually got stuck in an elevator between floors. We were the ones who heard cries of Help&Help coming from the elevator. We summoned crew members to the scene, and it took around 45 minutes to free the poor woman from the elevator. I was a bit nervous from that point on whenever I was in ANY of the elevators, which, on a ship of this size, is quite frequently.