Golden Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Warning! This is somewhat long~~~~~ This was a spur of the moment cruise, in as much, as I received the e-mail on Feb. 22, 2013 for a Mini-Suite Sale for a 14 Day Hawaiian Cruise aboard the Golden Princess. The cruise was for March 27, 2013. This gave us just one month to book, plan, and finance, schedule and get to San Pedro, CA from Oklahoma. No Problem!
We discussed the offer and determined that while it was short notice, the deal was just too good to overlook. The savings amounted to just over $1,250 per person savings over the cruise that we were planning to take in the spring of 2014. After a quick check of the financials the booking process got underway.
Since we had just returned from an Alaska Inside Passage in Sept. 2012, we knew what was needed! Clothes were going to be the first issue as the climates of Alaska and Hawaii are somewhat different. (Dont ya think?) What we determined as essential soon became unnecessary or irrelevant. But enough about that, what I want to let you know is how great the Princess Cruise Line (PCL) personnel are. My call connected me with Kimberly Simaha, Consumer Support Personnel representative who answered our questions and handled the basics in one phone call. We even got the area of the ship that we prefer, mid-ship deck 9. The next day I called Sharonda Huff, our normal Cruise Vacation Planner. With her help we completed the little extras that take the cruise one step above the normal.
Cabin Review
S703 S5, CORSICA PENTHOUSE SUITE ! The suite was exactly what we have come to expect of Princess Cruise Lines. It was luxurious, roomy, clean, well appointed and oh so comfortable. The aft location didn't seem to make any difference. However, there were a couple of items that were distractions. Those being: 1. The suite was on Deck 16 - Sun. Not the height but the elevators. Only two of the four aft elevators traversed past deck 14. It took for ever to get an elevator when you were on the 15th. 2. It seems that on Deck 16 just above the suites was a running track which for most of the time didn't matter. Except at 5:30 AM most mornings there was this "heavy footed buffalo" that liked to do his laps! The starboard side suite was exactly what we like and the extra elevation was quite nice for viewing sights while in port. Even with the elevator issue, I would book the suite again if on the Golden Princess.