S
shuweb
Guest
This is our first cruise; we had a wonderful time. We really didn’t know what to expect, so we compared our experience with that of our many resort experiences. You can see photos of our trip online at Shuweb.com; you can also see comments from our recent trips on TripAdvisor under Webbed and Shuweb.
But be warned: I’ve written this as a first time cruiser, and there is a lot of detail here….
Mexican Riviera on the Golden Princess November 24 – December 1, 2007
LAX – 2 days at sea – Puerto Vallarta – Mazatlan – Cabo San Lucas – 1 day at sea – LAX
Embarkation
We arrived at LAX and were greeted at the airport’s luggage area by Princess Cruises shuttle service. As soon as we picked out our luggage from the carousel, the Princess staff loaded our luggage onto a cart. We didn’t have to handle our suitcases at all until we saw them at our stateroom door.
The embarkation process couldn’t be easier. Our room was Aloha 603 (Deck 12). It was an adequate size for the two of us.
Movement
Our boat had over 2,000 guests (the ship holds something like 2,600 passengers) and over 1,000 employees. In fact, we were probably fully occupied.
It’s a larger ship than most. Yet, we felt the ship’s movement over the water. In the exercise room (Deck 15), we felt more of it because it was higher up. We felt the movement below us at Deck 6 (Donatello Dining room) and the atrium area (Decks 5-7). I couldn’t help but wonder if it was my mind playing games, or it was the boat rocking below me. It’s not enough to feel seasick for me, but it’s certainly enough to notice.
I also realized that the closet and bathroom door frame creaked when the waters were a little rougher. In our case, we hit some rain after we left Cabo, and, there was rain for the rest of that night. We felt the ship roll back and forth, and it made for a difficult night to sleep.
So for anyone who says that they don’t feel the rocking in a cruise ship: it’s not true!
The Food
The buffet on Deck 14 was where we had our lunch on arrival. We became familiar with the buffet area very quickly, as this was where we had the majority of our breakfasts, lunches and afternoon snacks. For those like me who have never been on a cruise, you should know that they charge for everything: sodas, mixed drinks and alcohol are charged to the room, whereas coffee and tea are free of charge (juices for breakfast were not charged). The buffet was certainly convenient and the food was pretty good.
We chose Anytime Dining for our meals. It worked well for us, as we tended to have our dinner at around 6pm (Bernini Dining Room opens at5:30; Donatello at 6:00). I did notice that people who came in at around 7pm were waiting at least half an hour. Eating earlier is therefore a good idea for Anytime Diners. Also, one more thing – Anytime Diners are not allowed in the Canaletto Dining room.
It seemed during the Cooking Show (see below), that there was a tremendous amount of loyalty for the Canaletto diners; less so for the Donatello diners and even less so for Bernini (even though the food at the Bernini and Donatello were the same – perhaps there are more fixed time diners at the Donatello than the Bernini).
Tea time – think of it as dim sum with coffee, English tea, cookies, sandwiches and well dressed waiters. If you want to eat and get out, stick with the buffet upstairs.
Desert Rose steakhouse – good, but better can be had elsewhere.
First formal night – the crayfish was really, really good. It was also where we celebrated our tenth anniversary. The waiter offered to give me another plate of dinner, but I declined only because I didn’t want to look like a starving passenger.
Second formal night – it’s more of the same. It was nice.
We met many people; most were retired couples with money to burn during their golden years. The one thing that is nice about sharing tables with new people is that you can meet some interesting people, and if you don’t like them, you’re likely to not eat with them the next time anyway.
Shopping
I could not help but feel that most people who come on the cruise were more interested in jewelry, expensive artwork and night time shows than Mexican culture. There are great deals for jewelry in Mexico, and the cruise lines push this somewhat aggressively. My wife couldn’t help but be engrossed in jewelry shopping excursions at all three ports.
The same could be said on the fitness team. They do evaluations for detoxification for your body, etc., but in the end, the fitness guys pushed a series of Elemis products costing up to $1,200. My wife ended up buying it…
I just bought a couple of T-shirts and a wrestling mask.
Accomodations
I think the next time I am on a cruise, I will at least have a mini-suite. Staterooms are fine (we had a balcony on the right side of the boat, which in itself was nice), but it does feel a little claustrophobic in the bathroom. And I’m not fond of the toilets. The beds are spring coiled, so they can be lumpy. Fortunately, new mattresses were delivered in the middle of the trip, so we had new mattresses by the time we left Mazatlan. All that said, it’s adequate, and our steward tidied up our room twice a day (in the morning after breakfast and again during dinner).
Activities
Puerto Vallarta: we did the horseback riding. It was pretty nice, though most of the people were beginners so we had to go slow. Our guide Murillo guided us across the river a few times, and for the daring, gave people a chance to ride shoulder deep in the river on a bareback horse, if only for a minute. Then, after returning to our ship and changing our clothes, we took a taxi to downtown ($3 per person one way; on the way back, it is $5 per car) to shop for jewelry (by the way, the ship has an awesome resident jewelry shopping expert, Kelvin, who has a presentation on the second day at sea on the various ports of call and all the jewelry stores on each port. You can see the women get charged up and ready to shop for jewelry as soon as they land) and free souvenirs. We also stopped by a Walmart to buy some water for the trip.
Mazatlan: we took the Best of Mazatlan tour. Our guide Armando took us to the famous cathedral, two spots to see cliff divers, to the nice residential homes (I don’t understand why), and finally to the Gold Zone, where the major souvenir shops are. The tour then consisted of a show of local dancers and trapeze artists, lunch at the Hotel Playa Mazatlan, and in the end, we were unleashed for shopping for souvenirs and jewelry on our own in the Gold Zone. This was certainly a good experience, and a better destination than Puerto Vallarta.
Cabo San Lucas: we rode a tender (i.e., a boat) from our ship and floated onto the pier. We then continued to make our trip to the jewelry stores, where we saw alexandrite, tanzanite, blue diamonds, etc. By this time, it was very clear as to why Kelvin (our Princess jewelry expert) stressed everyone to buy from Diamond International. The prices at DI Mazatlan were clearly the best (and by far the biggest in selection). By the way, if you want to buy faceted fire opals, you can only get it on the Princess.
Last day at sea: Our first activity was a visit to the Princess Theater for a class on napkin folding; this then transitioned to a hilarious Cooking Show by the chefs on the ship. The show then ended with a visit down to the Bernini Galley, where we saw the giant kitchen. It was definitely a highlight of our trip, and highly recommended.
Disembarkation
As stated earlier, this was our first cruise. We learned that on the night before the disembarkation, the cruise staff collects our check in luggage. We were also given disembarkation times and locations. My guess is that it is to avoid a huge sea of suitcase toting passengers leaving the ship at once. So, we kept our passports, toiletries and clothing for the next day, and sent away our check in luggage.
On the day of the disembarkation, we were to leave our rooms by 8am. We met at the Explorers Lounge at 8:45am, as instructed; by 9:15 we passed customs and we were shuttle bussed out and in the airport before 10am. Our flight was not until 3pm, so we had a lot of time to kill. I must say, the disembarkation process was very efficient.
Overall Impression
The Golden Princess is a nice cruise ship, especially for spending some lazy down time. I love the fact that the ship’s employees are from all over the world. All the room stewards work extra hard for the guests.
The issue with cruising is that there are time restrictions, whether that be dining (even with Anytime Dining if you want to be seated and served right away), shore excursions or shows.
I think the cruise grew on me over the course of the week. Certainly, resort destinations give us more flexibility and choice (and a car or a driver), but in this case, we really had no idea where in Mexico to go, so a cruise was a good way to see the highlights.
As for the dress code, I appreciate the fact that people have to dress well each night for the dining halls. We didn’t have to worry about anyone coming in sweats or wet swimming trunks and T-shirt for dinner. Everyone looked nice. The only draw back is that I had to bring extra shoes (dress shoes, nice shoes, tennis shoes, shoes for inside the stateroom) and a few extra dress pants (not just jeans). I’ll say that sitting down with different people each time was fun. We met some interesting people.
We met so many people who cruised with Princess a dozen or more times. They are loyal to the cruise line, and claim that Princess is the best. But those who have said this were also older (i.e., retired). I am therefore left to wonder whether a younger, but still non-party crazed cruise line is better for us. And if so, what company would that be?
Given our good experience, it’s definitely worth returning to Princess, perhaps in the Caribbean islands or Alaska. Apparently, there are perks with being return guests.
But be warned: I’ve written this as a first time cruiser, and there is a lot of detail here….
Mexican Riviera on the Golden Princess November 24 – December 1, 2007
LAX – 2 days at sea – Puerto Vallarta – Mazatlan – Cabo San Lucas – 1 day at sea – LAX
Embarkation
We arrived at LAX and were greeted at the airport’s luggage area by Princess Cruises shuttle service. As soon as we picked out our luggage from the carousel, the Princess staff loaded our luggage onto a cart. We didn’t have to handle our suitcases at all until we saw them at our stateroom door.
The embarkation process couldn’t be easier. Our room was Aloha 603 (Deck 12). It was an adequate size for the two of us.
Movement
Our boat had over 2,000 guests (the ship holds something like 2,600 passengers) and over 1,000 employees. In fact, we were probably fully occupied.
It’s a larger ship than most. Yet, we felt the ship’s movement over the water. In the exercise room (Deck 15), we felt more of it because it was higher up. We felt the movement below us at Deck 6 (Donatello Dining room) and the atrium area (Decks 5-7). I couldn’t help but wonder if it was my mind playing games, or it was the boat rocking below me. It’s not enough to feel seasick for me, but it’s certainly enough to notice.
I also realized that the closet and bathroom door frame creaked when the waters were a little rougher. In our case, we hit some rain after we left Cabo, and, there was rain for the rest of that night. We felt the ship roll back and forth, and it made for a difficult night to sleep.
So for anyone who says that they don’t feel the rocking in a cruise ship: it’s not true!
The Food
The buffet on Deck 14 was where we had our lunch on arrival. We became familiar with the buffet area very quickly, as this was where we had the majority of our breakfasts, lunches and afternoon snacks. For those like me who have never been on a cruise, you should know that they charge for everything: sodas, mixed drinks and alcohol are charged to the room, whereas coffee and tea are free of charge (juices for breakfast were not charged). The buffet was certainly convenient and the food was pretty good.
We chose Anytime Dining for our meals. It worked well for us, as we tended to have our dinner at around 6pm (Bernini Dining Room opens at5:30; Donatello at 6:00). I did notice that people who came in at around 7pm were waiting at least half an hour. Eating earlier is therefore a good idea for Anytime Diners. Also, one more thing – Anytime Diners are not allowed in the Canaletto Dining room.
It seemed during the Cooking Show (see below), that there was a tremendous amount of loyalty for the Canaletto diners; less so for the Donatello diners and even less so for Bernini (even though the food at the Bernini and Donatello were the same – perhaps there are more fixed time diners at the Donatello than the Bernini).
Tea time – think of it as dim sum with coffee, English tea, cookies, sandwiches and well dressed waiters. If you want to eat and get out, stick with the buffet upstairs.
Desert Rose steakhouse – good, but better can be had elsewhere.
First formal night – the crayfish was really, really good. It was also where we celebrated our tenth anniversary. The waiter offered to give me another plate of dinner, but I declined only because I didn’t want to look like a starving passenger.
Second formal night – it’s more of the same. It was nice.
We met many people; most were retired couples with money to burn during their golden years. The one thing that is nice about sharing tables with new people is that you can meet some interesting people, and if you don’t like them, you’re likely to not eat with them the next time anyway.
Shopping
I could not help but feel that most people who come on the cruise were more interested in jewelry, expensive artwork and night time shows than Mexican culture. There are great deals for jewelry in Mexico, and the cruise lines push this somewhat aggressively. My wife couldn’t help but be engrossed in jewelry shopping excursions at all three ports.
The same could be said on the fitness team. They do evaluations for detoxification for your body, etc., but in the end, the fitness guys pushed a series of Elemis products costing up to $1,200. My wife ended up buying it…
I just bought a couple of T-shirts and a wrestling mask.
Accomodations
I think the next time I am on a cruise, I will at least have a mini-suite. Staterooms are fine (we had a balcony on the right side of the boat, which in itself was nice), but it does feel a little claustrophobic in the bathroom. And I’m not fond of the toilets. The beds are spring coiled, so they can be lumpy. Fortunately, new mattresses were delivered in the middle of the trip, so we had new mattresses by the time we left Mazatlan. All that said, it’s adequate, and our steward tidied up our room twice a day (in the morning after breakfast and again during dinner).
Activities
Puerto Vallarta: we did the horseback riding. It was pretty nice, though most of the people were beginners so we had to go slow. Our guide Murillo guided us across the river a few times, and for the daring, gave people a chance to ride shoulder deep in the river on a bareback horse, if only for a minute. Then, after returning to our ship and changing our clothes, we took a taxi to downtown ($3 per person one way; on the way back, it is $5 per car) to shop for jewelry (by the way, the ship has an awesome resident jewelry shopping expert, Kelvin, who has a presentation on the second day at sea on the various ports of call and all the jewelry stores on each port. You can see the women get charged up and ready to shop for jewelry as soon as they land) and free souvenirs. We also stopped by a Walmart to buy some water for the trip.
Mazatlan: we took the Best of Mazatlan tour. Our guide Armando took us to the famous cathedral, two spots to see cliff divers, to the nice residential homes (I don’t understand why), and finally to the Gold Zone, where the major souvenir shops are. The tour then consisted of a show of local dancers and trapeze artists, lunch at the Hotel Playa Mazatlan, and in the end, we were unleashed for shopping for souvenirs and jewelry on our own in the Gold Zone. This was certainly a good experience, and a better destination than Puerto Vallarta.
Cabo San Lucas: we rode a tender (i.e., a boat) from our ship and floated onto the pier. We then continued to make our trip to the jewelry stores, where we saw alexandrite, tanzanite, blue diamonds, etc. By this time, it was very clear as to why Kelvin (our Princess jewelry expert) stressed everyone to buy from Diamond International. The prices at DI Mazatlan were clearly the best (and by far the biggest in selection). By the way, if you want to buy faceted fire opals, you can only get it on the Princess.
Last day at sea: Our first activity was a visit to the Princess Theater for a class on napkin folding; this then transitioned to a hilarious Cooking Show by the chefs on the ship. The show then ended with a visit down to the Bernini Galley, where we saw the giant kitchen. It was definitely a highlight of our trip, and highly recommended.
Disembarkation
As stated earlier, this was our first cruise. We learned that on the night before the disembarkation, the cruise staff collects our check in luggage. We were also given disembarkation times and locations. My guess is that it is to avoid a huge sea of suitcase toting passengers leaving the ship at once. So, we kept our passports, toiletries and clothing for the next day, and sent away our check in luggage.
On the day of the disembarkation, we were to leave our rooms by 8am. We met at the Explorers Lounge at 8:45am, as instructed; by 9:15 we passed customs and we were shuttle bussed out and in the airport before 10am. Our flight was not until 3pm, so we had a lot of time to kill. I must say, the disembarkation process was very efficient.
Overall Impression
The Golden Princess is a nice cruise ship, especially for spending some lazy down time. I love the fact that the ship’s employees are from all over the world. All the room stewards work extra hard for the guests.
The issue with cruising is that there are time restrictions, whether that be dining (even with Anytime Dining if you want to be seated and served right away), shore excursions or shows.
I think the cruise grew on me over the course of the week. Certainly, resort destinations give us more flexibility and choice (and a car or a driver), but in this case, we really had no idea where in Mexico to go, so a cruise was a good way to see the highlights.
As for the dress code, I appreciate the fact that people have to dress well each night for the dining halls. We didn’t have to worry about anyone coming in sweats or wet swimming trunks and T-shirt for dinner. Everyone looked nice. The only draw back is that I had to bring extra shoes (dress shoes, nice shoes, tennis shoes, shoes for inside the stateroom) and a few extra dress pants (not just jeans). I’ll say that sitting down with different people each time was fun. We met some interesting people.
We met so many people who cruised with Princess a dozen or more times. They are loyal to the cruise line, and claim that Princess is the best. But those who have said this were also older (i.e., retired). I am therefore left to wonder whether a younger, but still non-party crazed cruise line is better for us. And if so, what company would that be?
Given our good experience, it’s definitely worth returning to Princess, perhaps in the Caribbean islands or Alaska. Apparently, there are perks with being return guests.
looks nice and detailed thanks 