Golden Princess Facts and Figures
Gross tonnage: 108,865 tons; Length: 950 feet; Beam: 118 feet
Maximum Passengers: 3100
Our Itinerary
Embarkation Day
Our room at the Best Western Plus was very nice with very comfortable beds. The problem with the room was the noisy plumbing – fortunately, that noise was handled pretty well with earplugs. So, a pretty good night’s sleep.
The breakfast at the hotel was pretty good – cereal, make your own waffles, scrambled eggs (reconstituted maybe), and good coffee. Not overly crowded or noisy.
We stayed in our room until checkout at Noon, then drove a short distance to the Enterprise office downtown. After checking the car in, the Enterprise people took us to the pier (along with other passengers). We were a bit hurried and didn’t stop for gas – we will do that next time.
Check in was quick and we were assigned crew cabin 6029. Before getting lunch, we went looking for the room. The room was deep in the crew section and as far forward on Deck 6 as you can go. Two crew members had to help us get there and since there was no direct access from the passenger area of Deck 6, you could only get to the room from Deck 12 or 7. Our keys did not work so we would need to take care of that later. We were really in the working section of the ship. (We had a chance to hear what the thrusters sounded like at the level of the room – a little like an angry T. Rex.)
We had lunch in the Horizon Court Buffet – salad, salmon salad sandwiches, and pizza from Trident Grill. It was raining out on the open decks but I did some pictures of the San Pedro pier area.
Pier and Vincent Thomas Bridge
The Movie Screen on Deck 14
The USS Iowa and Museum complex
Rainy and Gloomy San Pedro Pier
The afternoon was spent trying to get our room straightened out and attending the lifeboat drill.
I should mention that Sammi Baker is the Cruise Director on this ship – we worked together last in 2009 on the Pacific Princess (Grand Panama Canal Cruise). The Deputy Cruise Director is Matias from Argentina. We accidentally ran into him and told him about the issues with room. He took us to Guest Relations and took our keys to the back of the office. He emerged a few minutes later and had new keys for us for Plaza 327 – a nice passenger stateroom just off the International Cafe and Atrium Area on Deck 5. Almost perfectly mid ship in both directions. Our bags were somewhere in the crew area and Matias said he would run them down and have them delivered to our new room.
Long Story Short – I found my bag after the show was over and Ellen’s bag arrived around 10 PM. At least, we had clothes to wear on this voyage.
The Sail Away in the dark was nicer than the last time (in the day) – maybe it was the lights of the harbor area that made it look more interesting.
On Deck during Sail Away
Clearly visible on the starboard side during the sail out was the USS Iowa. The rest of the harbor was all lit up as the Golden Princess made its way out to open sea.
Sail Away – San Pedro
We had dinner in the “Dine Anytime” restaurant, the Bernini Room (yes the same Bernini of “Angels and Demons” fame). Veggie spring rolls (really good), mushroom soup (very good); ricotta tart with ratatouille (OK). We got a nice table (#58).
Between the shows, we spent quiet time reading in the walkway between the two theaters. I had just finished “Kill Artist” by Daniel Silva (Palestinian terrorists vs Israeli Intelligence in the Yasir Arafat era); my new book is “Driftnet” by Lin Anderson (novel in the Rhona McLeod series about a forensic scientist for the Glasgow Police).
The Welcome Aboard show was pretty typical – an intro to the singers and dancers; Sammi introduced the Entertainment Staff; and the Hawley Magic act followed (husband and wife duo). Some of the tricks we had seen.
Back to the room after the show; clocks move forward tonight.
Seas are smooth…room is relatively quiet (except for ship noises).
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