Golden Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Princess vs. Royal Caribbean Cruiseline

Review for Alaska Cruise on Golden Princess
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csmith_44
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jun 2016

Our travel agent told us Princess was the best cruise line for a trip to Alaska. The ship was nice, but there were a few problems that will likely cause us to go with a different cruise line next time. Our first cruise to the Caribbean was with Royal Caribbean and we fully expected the Princess cruise to be at least equal in every way, but it was not. Our biggest complaint was with the buffet food. The selection and quality of the food was "cafeteria" style. There was nothing special or unique about it like what we had experienced on Royal Caribbean, which was excellent. Some food was overcooked and most breads and pastries were dry and stale tasting. Even the watermelon was soft and old tasting. The Dining Room food was much better and enjoyable. No complaints there. Another disappointment was with the drink policy. On the first evening of the cruise, I asked for a soft drink with my dinner and was told that it would be an additional cost. The only way to have soft drinks or something other than tea, coffee, water, or lemonade was to purchase a beverage package for the entire week of the cruise, which was about $7.50 per day (for nonalcoholic drinks). In addition, I would still have to pay for the day of embarkment even though the day was about over. On Royal Caribbean, we could go to any soft drink dispenser and serve ourselves. All Coke products, hot chocolate, milk, and even soft-serve ice cream, whenever we wanted, at no additional charge. As a result of Princess drink policy, we ended up purchasing one beverage package ($56) and my husband and I shared it for the week. Technically we should have purchased two packages, but we had not intended to spend an additional $112 for the food on our cruise. Anytime we wanted something to drink we had to have a drink server take our order and then wait until he/she brought it to our table, sometimes several minutes later and after we had finished our meal. Several times when I ordered a glass of milk, it was lukewarm rather than cold, ugh! We went on 1-2 excursions at every port. They were all good, although very overpriced. One that had been suggested by a couple of friends prior to the cruise was the Juneau Helicopter Tour to Mendenhall Glacier. It cost $359 per person. Unfortunately it did not prove to be worth the price. The helicopter ride was fine, but we spent only 30 minutes on the glacier and didn't really see or do much except take a picture and then got back on the helicopter to return back. The guide was nice, but we left feeling like, "is that all?" and have regretted spending $700 for this excursion. Our favorite excursion was with a private company, Southeast Aviation, in Ketchikan, where we took a seaplane ride over the Misty Fjords. Our pilot was excellent and there were only four passengers in the plane. My husband rode next to the pilot. We spent at least an hour flying over the fjords and seeing spectacular views. Our pilot even spotted a mother brown bear and her cub on a shoreline and landed the plane in the water, turned the engine off so as not to disturb the bears, and then let it coast-float near enough to get some awesome videos and pictures. He let us step out on the pontoon so we could get the best view. Had we chosen the same Princess excursion, I'm positive we would not have had this unique experience. Plus, there would have been several more passengers in the plane.

Overall, we enjoyed our Alaskan Cruise, mainly because of the excursions, but next time we cruise, we will choose Royal Caribbean or cruise line that has similar food and policies. One positive about Princess is that the ENTERTAINMENT WAS EXCELLENT! No complaints there. On Royal Caribbean, it was so-so. Princess could have had more onboard activities for those who don't do excursions. There weren't a lot of choices compared to Royal Caribbean. One other side note: The first two days of the cruise when we were at sea, the captain decided to travel quite a ways out to sea where the water was extremely rough. It was very windy and the swells were so huge that most of the passengers on the ship were quite seasick, including myself (I had no problem with this on our previous cruise!). Once we got to port, and for the rest of the cruise, all was well. I later heard from someone on ship that the reason for this was so the Casinos could be open during that time. It was unfortunate that given the fact that so many passengers were suffering, the captain couldn't have moved closer inland to avoid the extreme water conditions. During dinner that evening, half of the passengers were too sick to eat.

Cabin Review

We requested an upper deck so we'd be able to get out quickly in case there were any whale sightings. There was a deck at the front of the ship where our cabin was located on the Lido deck, but it was so windy and cold most of the time, we chose to go to a lower deck. Also, the ship would close the doors to this deck off and on, so we couldn't go out even if we wanted to. When the water was rough, I couldn't stand to be in our room for long because it seemed to feel most of the ship's movement. On our next cruise, I will request a room closer to mid-ship and maybe not on the top deck!

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