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Golden Princess Southern Caribbean Cruise Review
Part Four - On-Board Activities Review
Welcome to segment four of our Golden Princess
Southern Caribbean cruise review. In
this article we will review some of the amenities and activities.
For those who have not read our previous articles about the
planning of our family cruise vacation, check out our
Caribbean Cruises Articles map.
For those who have read our previous articles about the planning of our
cruise vacation, you will remember that we traveled with our family of
eleven having ages from 26 to 85. We chose the Southern Caribbean cruise
because of the itinerary, and we chose the Princess Cruise Lines ship the
Golden Princess because of their "any time dining" option, the activities
and amenities.
We have broken up our over-all review into a few different segments so that
we can better address the various components of our cruise. For the purposes
of this review, we will compare it to our last two cruise vacations within
the last three years which makes the comparison more pertinent.
On the large floating-resort-style cruise ships, there are a tremendous
number of activities and amenities available for vacationers of all ages.
The Golden Princess is no different. There were plenty of deck and off-deck
activities to keep everyone busy.
The first item to mention regarding deck activities would be the variety of
pools available on the Golden Princess. The two main pools for family use
are located on the lido deck in the middle. Both of these pools - Calypso
Reef and Neptune's Reef - have two hot tubs located next to them and a very
shallow section. These pools are where some of the daily activities take
place.
At the front of the ship in the spa and exercise area is a lap pool with two
spas. At the back of the ship is another pool with two spas overlooking it
from two decks up. These two areas are for adults. There is a kids-only zone
with a splash pool in one section.
On the Sports Deck at the front of Golden Princess, one finds the jogging
track with comfortable walking or jogging surface. Inside the track is a
tennis court under cover as well as the Kids' Zone. At the rear of the ship
there are shuffle board courts on each side.
Moving down to the Sun Deck we find the gymnasium/exercise room and aerobics
gym. There are a large number of free weights and machines to tone your body
or just to help wear off some of the wonderful calories you just can't pass
up. Here too we find the access to the 'Princess Links' a nine hole
mini-golf course. On our Southern Caribbean cruise itinerary it was just too
warm for us to play during the day and the evenings were just too busy!
Inside at the back of the ship on the sun deck we find the golf simulator
and the video arcade. Our group did make use of these facilities as you
could 'golf' in the air-conditioning.
Below the sun deck is the Lido Deck where we find the two family pool areas
as well as the buffet dining, the grill and the pizzeria.
A few levels down we find the Promenade Deck. This walking surface goes
around the ship. To complete a lap though one must go up one level to the
Emerald Deck at the front of the ship.
This ship has a large number of deck chairs and lounges available on the
various decks to simply relax and enjoy the sun. On our cruise, the shaded
areas were among the most sought after.
There are a number of inside activities available as well. Nightly, you can
dance in one of the many bars or lounges. Each night in the Princess
Theater, on-stage entertainment is provided. There are movies, lectures, art
exhibitions and classes.
By way of comparison, the Golden Princess would sit between the Carnival
Legend and the Holland America
Oosterdam. The Legend was and active ship with activities geared to a
younger crowd while the Oosterdam had a more sophisticated atmosphere with
appeal to more mature passengers. Golden Princess had less of a party
atmosphere than did the Legend and did not seem to have the more sedate
nature of the Oosterdam making her the ideal choice for our broad range of
ages - something for everyone and overbearing to none.
With all of the activities listed above, when can you find time to
experience the shore excursions? It's no wonder that we come home from our
cruise vacations exhausted - but strangely enough, relaxed and rejuvenated.
For reviews on other components of our Golden Princess cruise to the
Southern Caribbean including the food and dining options, staterooms (with
balconies), amenities and ports-of-call, check our
Caribbean Cruises Article map often.
Browse through some of the other informative cruise pages. Check out
the great deals from the merchants on our
Discount Cruises page.
Then book your cruise on-line and get excited!.
For more information about cruise specials, discount
cruises, other cruises and products choose from one of the following links:
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