The Golden Princess, which entered service in May 2001, is a twin to the Grand Princess. At 109,000 tons, the Golden Princess falls roughly between Carnival's 102,000-ton Carnival Destiny class and Royal Caribbean's 138,000 Voyager of the Seas class. With a service speed of 22.5 knots and an overall length of 935 ft, the Golden Princess is huge, and the long treks between cabin, lounges, restaurants and outside decks constantly remind one of her mass. Yet within she seems smaller, because the scale of public rooms aims not to overwhelm. This ship, registered in Bermuda, is crewed with British and Italian officers and an international staff, largely European and Filipino.
Princess Cruises got its start in 1965, merged with Sitmar Cruises, and then became part of the Carnival Corporation. The company has been expanding rapidly to include a fleet of 16 ships, both mega and midsize.
The 2,600-plus passengers hail mostly from North America with a growing number coming from Britain to cruise. Tips are added to passengers' bills.
In summer, the Golden Princess is based in Seattle for 7-day roundtrips to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria and Tracy Arm Fjord. Before and after Alaska, she makes 14-day spring and fall cruises from Los Angeles to four Hawaiian ports and return. These cruises have four sea days between California and the islands of Hawaii, Kauai and Maui. In winter, she is also based in Los Angeles for 7-day Mexican Riviera cruises. While deployed in South America, Golden Princess has several spectacular excursions, a champagne flight and landing in Antarctica, a three night overland tour of Macchu Picchu, and a fly over of the Plains of Nazca.
Unless you delight in bounding up and down scores of steps, the elevators linking the 14 passenger decks will see lots of use, and it is worth experimenting to find the best routes to avoid lengthy waits. The elegant and understated three-story atrium has attractive metal work covering the lift shafts and balconies for looking into the well and enjoying the quartet that fills the void with music.
The three main restaurants, named after Bernini, Donatello, and Canaletto, offer both traditional reserved tables at two sittings and restaurant-style seating where at dinner passengers may request a table between 5:30 pm and midnight. Some passengers come aboard with specific dining reservations, then decide to switch to open seating part way into the cruise. Some confusion and a wait may result at peak hours between 7:30 and 8:30 pm. At Sabatini's, the multicourse Italian tasting menu includes eight antipasti, pizza, minestrone, salad, three pastas, a choice of six entrees, and four desserts. Reservations are required, and the $15 extra charge is well worth the outlay. The Desert Rose, a walk-through lunch and dinner venue, has a southwestern Tex-Mex design and food such as tequila chicken fajitas, white-bean enchilada and chili and cumin-rubbed catfish, four tasty courses for an $8 moderate charge. Casual and low-key, it's worth a return visit. High up on Lido Deck 14, Horizon Court is open 24 hours, and late at night a section becomes a wait-served bistro, a feature on all Princess ships. The pool area has a grill for hamburgers and hot dogs and a second counter for pizza by the slice. Sundaes and scoops of ice cream come with land-side prices.
Three entertainment lounges include the two-level Princess Theater for the lavish shows, the smaller Vista Showlounge for singers, comedians and lecturers and Explorers, featuring a band playing amidst Egyptian, Moroccan and wild animals of the jungle tropical decor. Clubby and sedate, the dark-paneled Wheelhouse Bar is a pre-dinner gathering place enveloped in maritime art, ship models and photographs, an attractive collection touting the company's 172-year history trading to the British Empire, carrying immigrants, colonial servants, travelers, and troops and offering leisurely cruises. Other public spaces include the vast Atlantis Casino, attractive open-plan lounge bars facing the atrium, and of course, that high-up perch in the sky. Skywalkers, a lofty lounge ensconced within a tubular glass pod suspended 155 ft above the foaming wake, provides a quiet lounge during the day and a pulsating disco at night. By swiveling 180 degrees, you can see the entire length of the Golden Princess stretching away toward the horizon. A travelator (a moving walkway) slopes upward from the deck below. One of four widely separated main pools, helping to distribute the masses of sun worshippers, is positioned under an all-weather retractable glass roof and a second features a mildly strong current to pretend one is swimming mightily against. Three have flanking whirlpools, social centers for all ages all day and into the night. The large-windowed spa is sited forward on Sun Deck 15 and offers aerobics, steam rooms, saunas, massage, a beauty parlor, and the full range of treatments, plus a moderate-size gym. Some say it could be larger. For active out-of-doors types, there is a golf simulator, 9-hole miniature golf course, paddle tennis court, basketball and volleyball. Constitutional walkers can completely circumnavigate the ship from the pointy end to the flat transom. For circumnavigators, at the forward end of the Promenade Deck, steps lead up to Emerald Deck and a covered walkway located below the mooring deck. By standing at the very bow, you can be the first to arrive in port, and the first to leave.
The Internet Center has 25 computers. An art gallery hosts auctions, and the huge high-tech, virtual-reality game room, Voyage of Discovery, creatively entertains the young and young at heart. Children, numbering in the hundreds during holidays, have excellent age-specific programs throughout the day. Harder-to-please teenagers have their own area called Off Limits, a private disco lounge, a patch of open deck and small spa. The British captain renews vows and marries passengers in a wedding chapel As with the entire Princess fleet, the ship's doctors are linked to shoreside hospitals, and in the case of the Golden Princess, to the University of Texas Medical Center with onboard facilities to send digital x-rays, live videos and voice communication for immediate assistance.
Of the 1,300 earth-tone paneled and light-hued cabins, 710 have private verandas, and outside rooms with balconies measure 215 to 255 sq ft. Standard outside cabins measure 165 to 210 sq ft and inside rooms 160. The lounge sections have only a desk-cum-vanity and chair and, curiously, no room for a sofa. The tiered balcony design allows those above to lord over their neighbors dwelling below. All cabins have refrigerators, TVs that bring in CNN, ESPN, TNT, and the BBC. Standard appointments are phones, safes, hair dryers, cloth robes, and adequate storage in open closets. The 25 suites and 180 mini-suites have sitting areas with sofa beds, two TVs, and tubs, with whirlpools added to the full suite accommodations. Many cabins on Emerald Deck 8 have views blocked by lifeboats, and these are marked on the plans. Among the cabins, 28 (18 outside and 10 inside) are wheelchair-accessible.
The Golden Princess offers a big-ship cruise for those who want their conveyance to be a destination at least equal to the ports of call. But megaship size does not necessarily mean being part of the crowd. Passengers are well distributed, and quiet retreats may be found all over the ship.
