My wife found a great deal on the Golden leaving out of our home base, and jumped on it. We got my sister in Idaho to join us, and it was a party. Embarkation went smoothly, we got to port at 11am and waited about an hour before getting on board by 12:20pm or so. Our balcony Aloha deck was ready and we got settled easily, with luggage unpacked by 2pm. Michael, our cabin stewart was very friendly and helpful, he kept our ice bucket full, and everything clean and fresh. I will say we learned to be careful getting Aloha deck rooms inasmuch as some are below the Windjammer buffet and ours we heard noises from time to time above us, also our bathroom had sounds of water moving constantly in the walls the annoyed me all the time, but fortunately we only heard it in the bathroom. Food was quite good in the dining rooms, the buffet was typical, but we did not eat there much, preferring to eat in the dining rooms, we had my time dining, which worked out well. Only the first night we waited about 20 minutes in line to be seated. We also did not leave port on Friday night until 10:30pm as they are still dealing with the "mussel" issues in the water intake pipes, air conditioning and all systems worked well during our cruise. Weather was great, warm on our sea day and in Ensenada as well. While the Golden is older, she is still looking good overall and her crew is friendly and hard working. Debarkation was a nightmare though, we waited in the lounge for our number to be called, but apparently the "masses" crowded the main deck and the crew "surrendered" and let them off without even starting to call numbers, making many folks angry who were doing as told....customs was inundated with the crowds, it was pure chaos. Aside from that we enjoyed our getaway and will take advantage of them as long as Princess offers them.