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Golden Princess Southern Caribbean Cruise Review
Part Five - Amenities
Welcome to page five of our Golden Princess Southern
Caribbean cruise review. In this article we will review some of the
amenities.
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 Line 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.
In the previous pages, we have reviewed the staterooms, dining options and
activities. The Golden Princess has some fantastic public areas and fabulous
amenities.
As we discussed in an earlier page, there are nine different dining options
from traditional fixed seating dining rooms to personal choice dining rooms
to optional dining rooms, the buffet, grill and pizzeria. As well, Golden
Princess offers cruise passengers other options for culinary enjoyment. The
Wine and Caviar Bar, Lobby Bar and Patisserie, and Sundaes Ice Cream Bar are
examples. As well, you can of course order room service and enjoy an
intimate dinner on your balcony or in your stateroom.
On our cruise, as you may remember, we had a birthday. In the late
afternoon, we had room service supply their fare to our deck for a family
gathering of eleven. We ordered two veggie trays with dip, nachos and dip,
crackers and cheese, chips, nuts, two bottles of wine and a six pack of
beer. Everything was great. The ample room on our deck and the fresh
vegetables made for a very festive occasion.
In terms of cruise ship entertainment, the Golden Princess should not
disappoint. The Princess Theater provides the venue for the main acts each
night with two shows nightly to accommodate the fixed dining schedule. The
Vista Show Lounge is a movie theater-type set-up complete with movie screen.
Other entertainment is offered here as well as movies. The Explorer's Lounge
offered nightclub-style performances and this is where the ship band Liquid
Blue usually performed a set or two. (The band is slated to start a tour of
China where their music is apparently quite popular.)
The Atlantis Casino is one of the largest afloat and is certainly the
largest that we have had the pleasure to enjoy. For an hour or two each
evening we would wander through the dazzling room playing the odd slot. Our
son who is engaged to be married this August actually won one of the
jackpots at a slot machine which was enough to pay for his honeymoon. The
manager of the casino said that he had paid-out a jackpot worth $20,000.00
this year. (I don't know why it doesn't happen to me!?)
For those looking for more music and nightlife, Golden Princes has much to
offer. Topping the list (and the ship) is Skywalkers Nightclub, a unique
lounge at the top and back of the ship. Accessible only by a 'skywalk' - an
enclosed walkway high above the decks below - Skywalkers gives a magnificent
viewpoint during the day as well.
Other lounges you may wish to enjoy are the Wheelhouse Bar, Player's Cigar
Bar, and the Promenade Lounge and Bar. During the day, there are various bar
spotted around the lounging and pool deck areas for refreshments.
The Lotus Spa, gym and fitness area is well equipped and ready to serve.
There is a large gym area for aerobics classes etc. The fitness area is
equipped with ample free-weights as well as a number of weight machines,
treadmills and exercise bikes. The spa itself has a vast array of services
ready to be provided - aroma therapy, massages, pedicures, manicures,
facials, hair dressing - you name it.
Hearts and Minds Wedding Chapel is a quiet spot for contemplation - until a
wedding party arrives! This is a small are tastefully decorated but from my
observances, seldom used.
The main staircase, two sweeping flights which was open for three floors was
something to behold. Descending the stairs gave one the feeling of elegant
stardom. The white grand piano at the bottom was the finishing touch.
The on-board shops offer cruise passengers deals on designer clothing and
gifts. There are usually tables set up with special offers in the common
areas outside of the actual shops. And the purchases are duty free.
The internet and library areas we never even had time to visit with so much
going on so I can't comment on the areas. In passing though, it appeared
that internet area was quite busy.
The public washroom areas were for the most part well kept and cleaned. The
deck areas and pool areas were well looked after as well. In all, the ship's
public areas offered passengers ample space for entertainment, relaxation
and contemplation.
For more reviews on other components of our Golden Princess cruise including
the trip to the cruise port including embarkation, stateroom, food, dining
options, activities and ports-of-call, check our
Caribbean Cruises Articles 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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and many other topics!
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