This was our first time cruising on a Princess ship and we were very impressed overall. Having sailed with RCCL, HAL MSC and several others over the past 16 years we decided that the crew members on the Golden Princess were the friendliest we have ever encountered. It seemed that each and every crew member we had contact with had a genuine smile and a gracious "hello" for us every time they saw us.

EMBARKATION: This was the only bad part of our entire experience. Leaving from the Poland Terrace dock was a mess. The entire procedure was held in a tent, it was hot and muggy and the process took a long time. There was absolutely no direction from the staff and the lines for checking in and security became intermingled at one point making the process even longer.

THE SHIP: Once onboard we made our way to our cabin which was on the Aloha Deck towards the stern. Even though we were situated towards the rear of the ship, we were surprised that the ship's movement and vibrations were very minimal in our cabin. The ship itself was showing some age but otherwise was very clean and comfortable. There was a very good mix of ages among the passengers on our cruise and everyone we spoke with seemed to be very pleased with their own experiences onboard. One nice feature I'd like to mention which we especially enjoyed was the cell phone service that Princess provided to the cabin areas. It was fun calling our friends back home and more or less "rubbing it in" about the wonderful time we were having. Read more