Wonderful with Perfect Weather and Sea Conditions

Item: Golden Princess
Rating: 4.8
Author: LesleyJB

Golden Princess Cruise Review to South Pacific - Australia

LesleyJB

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 3

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5

13 Night New Zealand (Melbourne Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 22, 2018

Ship: Golden Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: C226

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Wonderful cruise to New Zealand. Perfect sea and weather conditions! Only one "rough-ish" night at sea when crossing Tasman/Pacific meeting point.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Wheelhouse Bar

3 out of 5

Not as good as the other bar/lounge areas. Small and rather dark.

Ice Cream Bar

4 out of 5

Beautiful vanilla and chocolate soft serve ice cream. However needs more staff.

Horizon Court

4 out of 5

Buffet meals area. Plastic plates and cups (understandably). Not enough seating.

Explorer's Lounge

5 out of 5

Great fun area.

Dining Room

5 out of 5

Canaletto Dining Room - perfect service from Raju and Nemasio! Great ambience.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Photo Gallery

4 out of 5

Very hard to find "your" pictures but otherwise very well thought out.

Medical Center

5 out of 5

Looked after wonderfully by the South African medical team.

Casino

1 out of 5

Awful. Had to walk through it every time I was on deck 7 to get to other end of ship. Just dreadful.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

The only bad "entertainer" was Jon Bennett - a so-called comedian. His very dark and spurious "comedy" was just dreadful. Many people left the performances (2).

Princess Theater

5 out of 5

Lovely venue. Lots of seating but GET THERE EARLY for the early shows.

Atrium

5 out of 5

Wonderful area. Gorgeous Christmas and New Year decorations. Functional and fun area.

Children's Programs

I travelled alone

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Great size, very clean and good layout. Had bed made up as Queen.

Ship tip

Dreadful casino (I don't gamble) and it is right in the centre of a thoroughfare deck so you HAVE to walk through it.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Melbourne, Australia Did not visit port

I live here

Thumbs Up 0

Cruise Fjordland National Park

5 out of 5

Scenic cruising at its bet.

Thumbs Up 0

Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand

5 out of 5

Did the wildlife cruise on the harbour. Wonderful! Rate the MV Monarch as a really good little boat. Crew were wonderful.

Thumbs Up 0

Akaroa, New Zealand

5 out of 5

Swimming with dolphins. This is an OPEN WATER swim and you must be a VERY GOOD swimmer. NOT recommended for children/young teenagers.

Thumbs Up 2

Wellington, New Zealand Did not visit port

I was ill and stayed aboard the ship.

Thumbs Up 0

Gisborne, New Zealand

5 out of 5

Went out to the Maori Matea for cultural experience! Just brilliant! Extremely hospitable.

Thumbs Up 1

Tauranga, New Zealand Did not visit port

I was ill and stayed aboard the ship.

Thumbs Up 0

Auckland, New Zealand

5 out of 5

Hop-on hop-off bus around two loops of Auckland. Fantastic!

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

I disembarked only to re-board for South Australian 6-day cruise.

2 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe 3 months ago

Thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

melzie82 5 years ago

Hmm, you do know that there are 2 entrances to the princess theatre 6 and 7th floor... so you DONT have to walk through the so called bad casino... that no one is making you play as you walk through.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

first cruise and was amazed with food and service.

Just didn’t feel the ‘wow’ factor