| Overview
Like her sister the Grand Princess, the Golden Princess is a crowd pleaser, with non-stop indoor and outdoor diversions, decent service, a congenial ambiance and excellent seafaring stability. The ship also boasts some innovative features like a more user-friendly fitness center, an Internet Cafe, a redesigned atrium with two stairwells instead of one, a new decor for the children's and teen center and an expanded wedding chapel.
Dining
Personal Choice Dining departs from the usual shipboard tradition by allowing passengers the freedom to dine when, where and with whom they'd like in a number of settings. Food and service is good throughout the ship. The three European-style dining rooms: Bernini on deck 5, and Donatello and Canaletto on deck 6, are basically the same in size and decor Sabatini's Trattoria has a decent Italian menu with superb risotto and ravioli and a $15 per person surcharge. The southwestern Desert Rose dishes out good Tex-Mex fare along with great margaritas and a delicious pumpkin cheesecake at an $8 per person tab. Other options include snacks, breakfast and luncheon buffets and light dinners at the 24-hour Horizon Court, fresh from the oven pizzas at Prego, hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken burgers at the Trident Grill, Haagen-Dazs ice cream from Sundaes (for a price), afternoon tea served in the Donatello dining room and around the clock room service.
Entertainment
A non-stop, let-us-entertain-you theme prevails through lavish Broadway-style productions in the Princess Theater, with a no smoking/no bar service during performance policy that helps enhance audience appreciation, solo pianists, vocalists, cabaret acts and audience participation games, first run movies, bingo, art auctions, lectures, demonstrations, wine tasting seminars, ping pong, line dancing, shuffleboard, basketball, paddle tennis, golf links or virtual reality games.
Gaming action takes place in the Atlantis Casino on deck 6, which provides a unique, underwater setting enhanced by fish swimming in holographic walls and a specially woven carpet. Late-night dancing can be found in the Skywalkers Disco & Observation Lounge, which is suspended 150 feet above the sea to offer a kaleidoscope of lighting technology, pulsating music and breathtaking views.
Family
The Love Boat Kids program provides fun and games for ages 3-17: toddlers, pre-teen and teens who have their own spaces in the Fun Zone/Off Limits center, a cheery two-deck play area. Teens (ages 13 to 17) can boogie in a private disco located in the F/X Digital Photo Center area while the Virtual Reality Center keeps all ages amused with various video games. There's also pizza parties and after hours programs for teenagers ($5 an hour per child is charged after 10 p.m.), and child-friendly tour excursions if more than 20 children are onboard.
Gratuity
Princess recommends a $3.50 per passenger per day gratuity for cabin stewards, which can be charged to your shipboard account. To cover the entire wait staff, $6.50 per passenger a day is automatically billed to shipboard accounts. A 15% tip is added to all bar and wine tabs.
Fellow Passengers
Shipmates usually average 60 or older and are either retired or small business owners. There are often a few young honeymooners and a sprinkling of 30 and 40-somethings.
Cabins
The Golden Princess creatively compresses 1,301 outside cabins (71l with balconies), 366 inside cabins, 180 mini suites, 25 suites, 1 Grand Suite and 2 Family Suites -- that range in size from 165 to 255 square feet (325 to 800 for suites) -- into one pleasing seagoing package. Staterooms are characterized by soft colors, wood trimmed walls, sitting areas nestled beside a picture window or balcony (in outside cabins), twin beds convertible to queens, ample storage space, safes, hair dryers, mini refrigerators, shower or bath tub/shower combos, shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer, TVs, phones and nightly turndown service complete with chocolates on your pillows. Robes and fresh fruit are furnished only by request except in suites and mini suites, which are the largest, most appealing rooms fitted with walk in closets, bigger bathrooms with tubs (whirlpools in suites), and lighted mirror vanities. Dry cleaning and laundry service are available for a fee and self-service coin-operated laundries are located on each passenger deck.
Dress Code
There are two formal nights per each one-week cruise that require a tuxedo or dark suit for men, long gowns or cocktail dress for women. The rest of the time suggested dress is "Smart Casual." Public Rooms
The three-deck Grand Plaza Atrium rules the ship, with a pair of curving stairways, glassed panoramic elevators and a grand piano. All public rooms are conveniently accessible from the Atrium, including the popular Lobby and Promenade bars. Princess has done an impressive job of breaking up large public spaces into small intimate rooms like the Chapter & Verse reading room, the Writing Room and the Aces Card Room.
The Promenade Deck 7 is the hub of the ship, featuring the Princess Theatre, an imposing room with 748 unobstructed seats, and the new Internet Cafe, one of the largest at sea, equipped with 25 Internet access computer stations (for $30 an hour or $7.50 per 15-minute segment). The Hearts and Minds Wedding Chapel allows couples to tie the knot while a Wedding Cam records the event.
Cozy lounges include the Players sports bar where major athletic events are shown, the Promenade Lounge and Bar serving coffee, pastries, champagne and caviar (for a price of course), the Explorers Lounge with its whimsical Moroccan design, Egyptian artifacts and safari-uniformed bar staff, and the signature Wheelhouse Bar where drinks and music are dished out in a lodge-like setting adorned with maritime memorabilia.
Fitness and Recreation
The Lotus Spa offers the gamut pricey services (the two-hour Asian Lotus Ritual is worth the splurge ($215). There's a changing room, showers and lockers, two steam baths, a sauna and a pool outdoors. There's a $10 fee for Yoga, group cycling or kickboxing, and $75 for an hour of Pilates. Aerobic classes remain free as does use of the 13 bikes, 6 elliptical edge machines, 10 treadmills 2 stair climbers and 10 weight-resistance stations. There are five pools, two jogging tracks, basketball, ping-pong, shuffleboard, paddle tennis and golf putting (there's a small 9-hole putting green). |
