Golden Princess Review
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Let me preface this review by saying that some people are built for longer cruises and some people are not. Personally, I like a cruise that is 10 days maximum. I have friends who are looking forward to cruising the planet and I envy them, but I know it's not for me. I'm just not the type of person who can do nothing for so many days at a time. I like relaxing sea days, but I also like more invigorating days. Therefore, 17 days on a ship, especially one with activities geared toward the octogenarian set, was just too long for me. That being said...
About the cruise line: This was my first cruise on Princess. Customer service prior to the cruise was top notch. Embarkation was odd because I was dropped off late by a tour, so I was swept aboard quickly and didn't go through the usual process. Debarkation was awful, but I don't think I can fault the cruise line. We visited many countries and (from what I heard) it was US customs that caused the mess. I got off the ship about two hours later than expected.
About the ship: The Golden Princess was nice. I really liked that she had self-service landromats! Very handy for a longer cruise. The ship was always spotless (bonus points), but there were some areas of carpet that were pulled up/worn (tripping hazard) and some draperies falling down. One complaint was that they were constantly varnishing and painting, which made for a lot of unpleasant fumes (including an area near my cabin, which irked me). I don't understand why they would be varnishing railings on a ship while so many older people were aboard (people who tend to need to use railings). Once I grabbed a railing that was not properly labeled with a caution and I got varnish all over my hand. Yuck. The ship's layout was decent and I liked very much that you couldn't smell the casino before you got to it (butts). The ship had great wifi; easily accessed and reasonably priced. I paid $99 for 120 minutes. Another thing I really appreciated was that they didn't have thumping music playing everywhere, so there were plenty of quiet spaces to read or nap.