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Princess Cruise Line

MS Golden Princess

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Pierre Paradis
# previous cruises: 4
Date of Trip: January 26, 2002
Itinerary: Caribbean - Eastern

This is a beautiful ship. And you will like it if you like class, good food and space. There were 2800 passengers on board and we were often wondering where everyone was. You may be disappointed however if you did cruise previously and expect everything as before. We felt that entertainment for example really went one step down. Also, it was difficult to relax in the dining room as service was rushed. And never before were we solicited as we were in various lounges while watching an entertainer or listening to music.

Everything is great at this level. We never had any problem to find space around any pool, in any spa or on any deck or lounge. A word of warning however regarding showrooms. Better be there at least 30 minutes in advance or you won't find any seat left. Our cruise director was nice enough to tell us about this on the very first night and we never had any problems for the remaining of the cruise.

There were many places to relax. Our favorite was in the Promenade lounge where we could enjoy "Maurizio" music. We also enjoyed the Explorer's lounge on those evenings where "Maurizio" was performing. He provided the best dance music of the week.

As far as we're concerned, food was excellent. We like fish and seafood and we were not disappointed. On the other hand, we were terribly disappointed with this feeling of rush you feel every night while trying to enjoy your dinner. Our waiter and his assistant were excellent and did their best to provide us with the very best service. But since time was limited, you had to hurry to eat your soup because your main dish was coming rapidly. Forget about relaxing in front of a cup of coffee or chatting with your waiter. Princess should seriously consider opening the dining room a little earlier, mostly for the first seating.

Also, forget it if you did enjoy "Grand buffet" on the last formal night on previous cruises. You won't find any midnight buffet on the Golden as the Horizon court on deck 14 is always open. Food is always available but without the flavor of those earlier cruises buffet.

Finally, we were visited directly at our table by a wine connoisseur on previous cruises. On the Golden, you have to select your wine in advance at a special table. So, this is annoying when you don't know in advance what you're gonna eat.

Since we do not spend lot of time in our cabins, we always opt for an inside cabin. We found Golden Princess cabins smaller than on Carnival ships. But they were extremely comfortable. Our reservation was for a cabin on the Plaza deck. We ended on the Caribe deck. This was an excellent surprise

I already mentioned this was a disappointment for us and here is why. Princess certainly invested a lot of money on the first part of the "Welcome aboard" show on the very first night, and on the shows titled "Lights camera action" and "Words and music". Beside this, you had two not so hilarious comedians, a joke competition, a passenger talent show, real cowboy style line dancing with the staff, some karaoke with passengers etc. What happened to the "Mystique" show we saw on the Star Princess? Why didn't we see more well known singers? We would like to mention also that we are ballroom dancers. We were really looking for good music on a Princess ship. Normal ballroom music should include latin music as chacha, rumba, mambo, samba, merengue, And standard music as fox-trot, waltz, tango, triple swing and quickstep. There was definitely lot of swing. And more swing. And very seldom, a real old chacha or an even older waltz. Musicians on board have definitely no idea how fast a normal chacha should be played.

Princess should seriously consider hiring a ballroom DJ with up to date music to provide a minimum of decent music to future ballroom dancers who will sail on their ships. We belong to the largest ballroom school of the area where we live and we already started suggesting other members of our school to stay away from Princess ships if they expect some good dance music during their vacations. One final note: on day 4 of our cruise, there was a Tropical Island Night deck party. This was great but where was the Tropical Islands music? This party was more a disco party than a Tropical Island party. Here's a suggestion for Princess - How many passengers really participated in the party? Probably not more than 100. This is approximately 2 to 3% of the passengers on board. Now, what is the average age of their passengers? Above 50? I would guess so. Why can't we find any romance under the stars on their ships? I'm 56 and my wife is 55. We would certainly enjoy a romantic night with romantic music under the stars to the disco party offered that night.

We were looking for a relaxing cruise. With three days at sea and one day at Princess Cay, this cruise was definitely relaxing. We also spent half a day on Orient beach and another half a day at Trunk Bay. We were with a ship's tour for this visit to St-John island and we were happy we did it. Everything was excellent at this level.

I met people from almost everywhere and of all ages. We made new friends and we are already looking for their first emails. Since I can't write it anywhere else, let me conclude with a final note. Don't bring your own liquor on board. Princess will confiscate it before your board the ship. Some may agree with this policy. I found it irritating because as long as I can remember, passengers were always allowed to drink their own liquor inside of their cabins. Also, you may have received coupons for free 5 X 7" pictures. Guess what? Most of the pictures taken by Princess photographs are larger than 5 X 7". So, forget the free pictures. This may not be a major issue for most passengers but may be another reason why you will walk out of the Golden Princess one day with mixed feelings. I guess it's time for me to try another Cruise line.