Golden Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Great itinerary sailing from Tianjin to Melbourne however the overall cruise experience was poor.
Much of the entertainment was in the Piazza which was too small to view the action plus the noise generated made it impossible to deal with the pursers office. Entertainment in the Piazza that I could see was quite good. The production shows were also good and a significant improvement on a previous Princess cruise. There were a couple of good shows in the theatre but the rest were mostly average with a couple being poor. Around the ship a great pianist A J Clarke boarded in Osaka replacing a pianist was VERY ordinary. AJ was fantastic. The initial houseband was great however they disembarked in Hongkong and the replacement tried hard but were only average. During the day the staples of Bingo and Trivia were offered most days however over 28 days this became tedious. Apart from 1 day entertainment was not offered during the day other than in the Piazza and this was a real oversight.
The cruise directors team did try hard and Victoria's effort with the choir was outstanding whilst Ken and Raven's efforts in particular were also great. The Cruise director Tim however did very little to make this a good cruise with his jokes being tired.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Cabin was comfortable and loved walk in robe however the lack of a seatee as we have had on other ships was a downside. TV was however old and had limited programming. Bathroom was typical tho of lower quality than we had found on other ships
Port Reviews
Beijing
Never having been to Beijing before I did so with some trepidation however it was such an easy city to get around with so many great sights to see. Got to the port via train to Yujiapui and then cab and would recommend it.
Osaka
Great place to visit. Port so convenient
Taipei (Keelung)
Easy to get around and transport easy to use. Port so convenient
Hong Kong
Port has no public transport and shuttle bus didn't work well. Was great however to sail after dark and get a great view of the city lights
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Free Shuttle bus to local town rather than 2 hour trip to Saigon. Was interesting to get a non tourist view
Bali
Needed to take tender to shore which took 30 minutes in baking sun. Port not near anything and no public transport. Traffic was appalling
Darwin
Port so convenient to town and area around port fantastic with own swimming area and great area to laze about
Brisbane
Docked at cargo port due to size of boat. No public transport and expensive taxi's. $24 return for shuttle to town.
Sydney (Australia)
So convenient to be docked at Circular Quay. Downside was trying to use ticketing system in Sydney