This cruise was a pleasant add-on to a visit to the West Coast. The Golden Princess looked good after its dry dock refurbishing in San Francisco. The Horizon Court sparkled with new tables, chairs, carpeting, and table ware. The food was exactly what you expect from Princess - good variety and well prepared. Not as good as you would get at a high priced chop house or a gourmet restaurant, but then again you're not paying those high prices.
Our big beef was embarkation in Vancouver. Three ships were in port and the Vancouver port authorities were clearly not up to the job. It should not take two hours or more to board a ship when you show up at the specified boarding times, but it did for us. We had to endure long lines, being crammed into a convention center hall for an hour with near constant annoying announcements, and, in general, being treated as cattle to the slaughter. The pinch point for the Golden Princess passengers was only three security screening lines for the 3,000+ passengers. It was even worse for the passengers on the other two ships, since they also had to go through US customs. We will avoid ever embarking in Vancouver. Disembarkation in San Francisco was very smooth in comparison.
Our cabin had four beds. Two were foldaways that extended into the cabin, restricting the cabin's already limited space. We were not told that we were being booked into a cabin with four beds and would have appreciated that information before we accepted the cabin.
We toured Victoria on our own. I went to the Royal BC Museum and my wife toured the city and shops. Since we were only in port for the morning, we didn't have time to truly experience Victoria.
We stayed in Vancouver before the cruise. It was our third time in Vancouver and we've enjoyed each stay. We enjoyed meals at the Italian Village, Joe Forte's, and Purebread. We recommend them all.