Aboard the new 'Golden Princess' - Brief Article

My wife and I and my son, his wife and their three sons took a cruise on the new Golden Princess, June 20-July 4, '01. For just my wife and me, the total fare for the cabin was approximately $10,000, including air transportation to Barcelona, Spain, and return air from Istanbul, Turkey.

When boarding the Golden Princess in Barcelona, it was a new experience to see passengers still disembarking from the previous cruise. Our cabins were not ready and we had to find someplace to sit until they were.

Our cabin on deck 12 was very nice and roomy and had a balcony. The bath was the typical cruise-ship type, adequate, with shower. Our cabin steward was outstanding.

We chose the personal-choice dining, which meant we showed up at either the Bernini or the Donatello dining room and were seated. With the exception of the evenings on which we sat with our family, we sat with someone different each time. We decided later that we preferred the assigned-seating scheme.

There were three other restaurants: one for assigned seating and two themed ones. These had cover charges, something we had not experienced before. The food, although good, was not outstanding. The waiters were attentive, but some did not speak English well and this caused for some confusion. As this cruise was during the Golden Princess' inaugural year, I believe that those kinks will be worked out.

I should mention room service. We had breakfast most mornings on the balcony and the food arrived right on time or even before the requested hour.

The ship itself is beautiful, with the grand staircase most impressive. The shops were numerous and the prices high. The library was small and attended just a few hours during the day.

The evening shows that we saw were very good. Princess show rooms are among the best in this size that enables them to put on Broadway-type productions. Most of the entertainment was aimed at the younger set of which there were a great many. We met several family groups.

We had shore excursions in Barcelona, Monaco, three places in Italy, Athens, Kusadasi and Istanbul. These were well organized and varied. We did not take advantage of all of them, and my wife, who has trouble walking, only took those that were mostly on buses.

The ship holds 2,600 and was completely full. This large crowd added some problems for the tours. In Ephesus there were 26 buses on our tour alone.

It was the return trip by World Airways that left us with a negative impression of the entire cruise, however. We were to leave the ship at 7 a.m. to catch a 9:45 a.m. plane to New York. This meant getting up quite early in order to have breakfast and prepare for disembarkation.

We then were informed by loud speaker that the plane had been delayed and we would not leave until 11 a.m. Actually, we left at noon. The plane, in truth, was seven hours late leaving Istanbul, two hours of which were spent on the runway due to mechanical difficulty.

This was probably the worst airplane we have ever been on. The seats were very, narrow and it appeared that extra seat had been added to the rows. The seat in front of me was bolted to the floor with a brace. This made it impossible for me to put my carry-on under it.

We felt the food was less than palatable and that the overall condition of the plane was not good. I have written to Princess Cruises about this, stating that if the word "charter" appears in literature about future cruises or tours I will not take them.

I must hasten to say that Princess was prepared for us when we got to JFK in New York. It was a long process getting our luggage and standing in a long line to board buses to the hotel. It was only here that there was confusion: a large number of people crashed the line and. occupied the bus while we waited. The Princess staff eventually stopped this but not before at least one bus was fully taken.

At the hotel we were given our room keys, chits for a full breakfast the next morning and information on our ongoing flights and when we would be picked up at the hotel to go to LaGuardia. We finally got to our room at 1:30 a.m., more than 24 hours after getting up in Istanbul.

We have taken many cruises, and I would rate this one a B except for the return flight. It seemed to me that, for what we were paying, we should have been on scheduled airlines. The cruise industry may become its own worst enemy.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Martin Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group