History
The trip from San Francisco is 10 days on the ship. It is important to get a great room so that the trip will not be insufferable. Our first Alaskan cruise adventure from San Francisco included passage on a very small ship. The company was not sure that there would be a significant demand for tickets and the small ship was a shot across the bow. Princess had purchased a couple of ships from companies that had gone out of business. One of them was a former Renaissance Cruise Line that they dubbed the new Pacific Princess. The Alaskan adventure exceeded expectations and the 10 day cruise replaced a 665 passenger ship with one that could take 2500 passengers. It was the Regal Princesses. Our last cruise from San Francisco was on the Star Princess. Princess has embarked on a policy to leave a ship at these "home ports" and allow all cruises from that port to be from that ship. As San Francisco has developed their cruise ship facilities, bigger ships are now docked there as their "home" port. The Golden Princess is one of the bigger ships in their fleet and reflects the both the increased market of San Francisco and its accommodations at the peir. The Golden Princess is a really spectacular ship. It can move 3500 passengers 28 miles an hour with complete comfort. It has wonderful stabilizers to keep the ship from swaying back and forth too much and amazing passenger amenities. We have taken this ship twice to Hawaii from LA and back in 15 day cruises.
Planning
Cruising is as big a time commitment as it is a financial commitment. 10 days of your life will be spent away from your ordinary existence. Really, no cell phones no significant internet... just you and 3100 new friends on the open ocean. A few timely tips may make it more comfortable and enjoyable.
An Alaskan trip is lots of fun and can be enjoyed on many different levels. Some people see it as a big party time. They are living the life large in a moveable Las Vegas. There are amazing ways to enjoy the ship as a mini Las Vegas. These is a large casino on every ship (except for Disney). There are nightly shows that you may not want to miss. If you plan to use this trip with this as your major plan you are probably on the wrong cruise line and should play to fly to Vancover and get on the Carnival cruise which is centered on this agenda. Carnival is less expensive than Princess and tends to attract a younger crowd which includes many more families with kids.
An Alaskan cruise with the crowd that is very modulated will enjoy themselves more on the Holland America cruises. My friends who have taken both support this thought and have had a great time on Holland but understand that the energy for daily activity is more centered on personal service rather than shipboard activities.
Norwegian is another cruise line that haunts the Alaskan waters. It sends some nice sized ships up into the same area as Princess. They do not have any seating times for dinner and this allows for passengers to come into the dinning room anytime during the hours they are open and eat. They also promote more outside dinning in their specialty restaurants. These are all for an additional charge. All the other cruise lines have these too and have modified their choices so that you may also do some dining with other friends then ones selected by the company. A smaller dining room is selected for this and there may be a wait of 10 to 20 minutes to be seated. There are also alternative choices or at a steakhouse, an Italian or French restaurant for an additional charge of 15 to 25 dollars per person. These require a reservation sometimes a couple of days ahead. Since you have already spent a good fee for the nightly dinner and they are amazing in every respect, these places are not entirely required unless you are celebrating a particular occasion or you have a particular interest. One of my daughters and I shared a saddle of veal in the French bistro one night on board a Norwegian ship headed for Mexico that was certainly spectacular. Norwegian was lacking however, in its menu for lunch. It served the same lunch entrees throughout the cruise in its dinning room. Norwegian cruises out of Vancouver, British Columbia this summer.
My wife and I have always chosen Princess for our Alaskan trips because leaving out of San Francisco is so much less of a hassle than to get to an airport and get on a plane two hours early and then get to a ship from a plane after flying a couple of hours. I know people do this all this time... but there has to be more compelling reason than more choice to make this happen. Princess and Celeberty curise lines are only viable options out of San Francisco and this year. Celebrity is a bit more expensive and offers fewer trips overall. Princess Cruises as the choice is very palatable. You get three more days on the ship leaving from San Francisco. As my father said, any day on the ship is a luxury. He is right.
Where on the Ship?
On our Alaskan trips Sue and I have always with the exception of the first one have chosen an interior room. One of the reasons is that they usually are more handicapped accessible. They are also cheaper. If you are even a little claustrophobic, you may consider an obstructed view cabin. These cabins are generally on the level that the tenders are hung and include a porthole. The porthole does not open but is does provide light and most of the view out of the porthole is not obstructed by the tenders in our experience. Most of your time you will spend in public areas.Many people like to use a travel agent to get a cruise booked. They are sponsored by the cruise lines to make sure that you have someone to explain all the different booking options. They are also the agents for added services. A cruise consultant, another name for an agent that knows their way around the booking process, may be able to add on a bus link up from your home city to the dock and back so that you will not have to use your car to get you to the dock. One of my friends who is cruising this summer is using this service with an additional cost of 80 dollars each to do just that. He and his wife will be picked up in Merced and dropped off on time at the dock in San Francisco to catch their Alaskan cruise.
If your departure date is within 90days of your investigation, you may be best served in the ticker section of Vacations to Go.com on the web. Things get a little desperate in the cruise industry when the departure is close at hand an a certain percentage of cabins have not been sold. Prices for cabin often drop significantly at this time. It can be sort of a risk too. Some people sign on early for a cruise and hope that they will be upgraded before this rush occurs within the last 90 days.
The following paragraphs relate to the Golden Princess and other sister ships such as the Grand Princess:
Our favorite stateroom location is on the Lido Deck. It is on the same deck as the pools and the buffet. The Buffet is located on the other side of the ship and passengers with staterooms on this deck need to consider that they must walk to the other side of the ship for food service. For some this is no small task as the ship is pretty long. Our pathway extended past both pools, the outdoor pool and the indoor pool before coming into the buffet doors. With all the excitement you would expect, this stateroom is fairly quiet. At times when exercise classes are in progress you may hear some thumping on the ceiling but outside of that it is fairly quiet.
A big part of the ship's entertainment occurs in the center plaza area on this ship. The center plaza areas have a 24hour European style small plate serving area and bakery. The Starbucks style coffee is located there. Service is provided at your table for the fancy coffee. The wine cellar/tasking is there also. Access to the internet and the library is located in this hub. Our cabin had access to this area through the elevator that dropped five floors to the art gallery. an easy walk through the art gallery opened to the plaza. Mini concerts and trio type entertainment was programed often at the plaza too. Our assigned dining area was a little problematic. It was across the ship and down 6 decks. The last deck could only be accessed by going the the 5th deck down and changing to a particular elevator that was for special needs. Everyone else spread across the staircase prior to dinner between the 5th deck down the the 6th.
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