We have just returned from a fantastic holiday cruise to Hawaii on the Golden Princess. I'm not sure some recent reviewers were on the same ship as us, as their opinions differ so strongly from ours.

This was #18 on Princess for us, and our third time doing the LA-Hawaii-LA run, so we knew exactly what we were getting into with both the cruise line and the number of days at sea. We hadn't done a Christmas cruise in 15 years and were excited to take our 8 year old DD on this trip. We had also been to Hawaii many, many times before, so the destinations were a bonus but not the purpose of going.

Embarkation... We were dropped off at the port by a friend, as we live fairly close. We are Elite passengers now, so the check in process was very easy and we were on the ship within minutes of arriving at the port. We were in a mini-suite near the Forward elevators and were very happy with our cabin and location. Our cabin steward was excellent. The bed was fine! I've read so many bad things about the beds on the Golden, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, IMHO. The ship was beautifully, but tastefully decorated for the holidays, staff were wearing Santa hats and the mood was very upbeat and pleasant. After a while, all these Princess ships begin to look alike, which is both good and bad, but overall, there is a comfort level with Princess that never varies, no matter what ship you're on. This is a well-oiled machine, with competent, well-trained, happy staff members who consistently smile and make eye contact. Read more