Golden Princess Review
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This was my first cruise. Ever. That said, I don't have other boats or cruise lines to compare with my experience on the Golden Princess, but I can now definitely be counted a definite cruise lover. While my family will always enjoy destination-specific vacations via car or plane, now that we've experienced a cruise, we definitely plan to do them again in the future. My primary concern prior to going on the cruise was a worry about feeling claustrophobic due to being confined on a ship with so many other people. Nothing could have been further from the truth. There were so many different places to sit or lounge, that I rarely felt the presence of 3000 other passenger.
We particularly enjoyed hanging out in the Piazza by the International Cafe and Vines Wine Bar (both of which were just a short walk from our room). The decks on the 7th, 14, and 15th floors were terrific for taking in the outdoors with spectacular views. The staff on the Golden were gracious and attentive. We took in an occasional show and they were fun, but spent most of our time engaging in our own activities whether visiting with friends and family in one of the many lounges or sitting with a book and listening to live music in the Piazza. They had a "learning" style lecture at least once a day. These were great and I really wish there had been repeats of the lectures or more planned in a day (as compared to the many shopping or beauty oriented workshops which seemed to be plentiful). I enjoyed my spa massage, but felt I was given a very hard sell at the end of the massage to book another spa treatment and buy products. This left me feeling tense as I left the massage which kind of defeated the purpose. Next time, if I book a massage, I'll do it at the end of the cruise.
Cabin Review
Oceanview
We stayed in a four person cabin (myself, DH, DD 12, DD 9). I was concerned about how the four of us would fit in the room and whether it had been worth it to upgrade to an unobstructed window view. While the cabin was small, there was enough space for the four of us and our belongings. I was very happy with my decision to get a window. It was a treat to be able to see what the weather was like as we were sailing and to watch the Alaskan scenery slide by as I got ready for the day or for dinner. With four people staying in the cabin, the beds were arranged as two twins along the walls with the window in between them and a set of dressers under the window. Then there were two bunk type beds which were folded down by the room steward each evening and folded up out of the way in the morning. The pillows and bedding were clean and comfortable. There was a shelf along the outer wall under the window where we kept our books, glasses, and other items we liked to keep close at hand in the evening. There was space under the beds to slide our smaller suitcases and we used these as our dirty laundry containers.
Across from the window was a small desk, refrigerator and the television. This is where the only outlets were located. There are two sets of outlets (for four plugs), but the television uses one of the plugs. My DH kept the phone charger in the empty slot by the TV and we had brought a 3-1 adapter which we used in the one by the desk. There are three small drawers and several small (maybe 6"x12") shelves on the end of the desk. The closet space is ample with about six drawer-sized shelves and a safe at the back, lots of hanging space and floor space below where we stored our extra suitcases. The bathroom is very small with limited counter space and only a few shelves. There was one very unstable shelf under the sink where we kept our toiletry bag with our infrequently used items packed away.
The room was very quiet. We never heard noise from our neighbors or anything from the floors above or below us. It could get a little warm and stuffy in the room unless we kept the thermostat on its lowest setting. We loved the short walk past the art work in the Art Gallery to get to International Cafe, and the Piazza. If we turned right from our room instead of left, it was a very short walk to the elevators that took the kids straight up to the 15th floor where the Kids Zone was located. The kids loved grabbing snacks at the International Cafe. We did bring several magnets which I found helpful. We used magnets to hang up the daily Patters on the wall, a magnet pen holder for pens, high lighters and sticky pads and magnet hooks for our cruise cards which were attached to lanyards.
I would definitely stay in this cabin again. Next time, I would bring more magnets to hold things (there are all sorts of locker accessories which would work well for the walls of a cruise boat cabin). I would also bring an over the door shoe rack to hold toiletry items for the bathroom.