Golden Princess to Mexican Riviera - DONE

Okay, just got in, thought I would do this while it's still fresh.

I have done a dozen or so Mexican Riviera cruises ( I live close enough to drive to the Port), this one is in the top 5. Some good, some not so good.

As far as the ports go, Sorry, but "been there - done that". Got off the ship for about 45 minutes in Puerto Vallarta, otherwise we stayed on board.

The Golden Princess is a beautiful ship, well maintained, nicely laid out, and too big. But that's just my opinion.

The wheelchair accessible balcony stateroom was very nice, roomy, good bathroom, and reasonably accessible. A few odd things as far as wheelchair access, typical of ships her age - at the front door, the floor is built up an inch or so, to allow easy roll in - but only from the hall going in. Apparently no one realized that wheelchairs must eventually come out, so there is a 1" lip on the inside. Navigable, but one of those things, that if you don't hit it at just the right angle, can bring you to a screeching halt.

Also, there is a 3-4 lip to the balcony, each direction, but only one (portable) steel ramp, so no matter which side you put in on, it is a tricky manuever to go out to the balcony.

There are also excessively high lips at every door on the Promenade deck, and the doorway leading from the Lido deck (where the pools, buffet, ice cream parlor, pizzeria and the grill are located), forward, out to the pool area is just a mess, with steep ramps that have a lip, to a door jamb with a lip, to a steep ramp back down. So, if you lift the front of the chair to clear the lip on the ramp, you plant the tire between the ramp and the doorway. The only way to get thru is backwards, basically, but that requires turning around in a narrow hall, and backing thru two sets of doors. The alternative is to use the mid-ship elevators to access the Lido deck, but of course, these days the Stewards' carts are pretty much a permanent fixture of the hallways. I long for the days when Stewards did not have carts, and vacuums were never just left out in the hall.

On the plus side, the layout of the ship is easy - most of your outdoor activities are on the Lido Deck, or the Sports Deck, up one. Most of the other venues are immediately adjacent to the Atrium: Deck 5 has a restaurant, a couple bars, Library, etc. Deck 6 another restaurant, some bars, shops and the Casino, and the entire length of Deck 7, the Promenade Deck, is public space, from the Princess Theatre, forward to the Vista Lounge, aft. Most of the public spaces are very nice, and well suited to the various events.

I must say, though, the Princess Theatre is rather small for a ship this size, and from the limited wheelchair areas (all the way back, and to each side of the technicians) the roof is very low, making it appear even smaller. I know Princess has chosen to have more, smaller entertainment venues, to break up the crowd, but it doesn't really work, and there were always lots of irate people who couldn't get in to see the main show in the Princess Theatre, because they only showed up 10-15 minutes before showtime.

The restaurants were great, with good to excellent food. We never waited more than a couple of minutes to be seated. I like the Anytime Dining, overall. The downside is that you don't get the personal touch from the servers that you get with Traditional. On the plus side, we sat with a different group every night, so we got to meet and talk to more people than with the Traditional.

While the ship itself was fine, overall, to my mind Princess service is what sets them apart from other mass market lines. This cruise was no exception. From the moment I pulled up to the curb to drop my Mother and Brother, a porter helped me grab the bags, and an attendant practically grabbed my Brothers wheelchair and off they went. By the time I parked the car and walked into the terminal, they were done checking in, and we went on board, where another attendant took over the wheelchair and took us straight to our staterooms.

Likewise our Steward was perfect. I never saw him unless I needed him, and the rooms were maintained perfectly.

The Waiters were all good, with the exception of the last night when Mary from Grenada and Vineta from Macedonia were, simply, awesome. They were really fabulous, talkative, helpful and efficient.

I would also like to say the Casino Staff (we spend way too much time in the Casino) were excellent, friendly and eager to help.

The entertainment was okay, with a pretty good magician, an average production show, one okay stand up comedian, and one really great stand up comedy/music act by Steve Moris. He is really kind of corny, but you can't help but laugh. He was definitely the highlight of the week.

A couple of glitches did occur during the week. The second night out, while we were having dinner, a series of power outages took place. The Captain announced the problem was something to do with the power management computers, and eventually he decided to shut down the engines whilst everything got fixed. We sat, dead in the water, for an hour or so, with minimal lighting from emergency power. No big deal, except the elevators were not working, so my brother was stuck in the Atrium with the wheelchair. I did notice there was sufficient power to operate every cash register at every bar, and every slot machine in the casino, so I am pretty sure they could have left one elevator operating, even if they had to restrict it to mobility impaired passengers only. Just in case you were wondering whether a cruise line would allow safety to trump revenue, I think there's your answer.

Also, the following night, after falling into bed at 1 am, I was awakened by the telephone, at a little after 4 am. A voice came on and told me there was a fire in my area, and to report to my muster station immediately. After finding a light switch, pulling a shirt on, digging that other shoe out from under the desk, and wondering if I needed a Passport to enter the country by lifeboat, I was just going out the door, to figure out what to do with my brother and his chair. The phone rang again, and it was the bridge, telling me the smoke alarm in my room had gone off. He then asked me if everything was okay. I assured him that, apart from the damn phone ringing, and recorded messages guaranteed to stop your heart, I was just dandy.

Apparently, just another little computer glitch, but one I would not like to repeat.

All in all, I would give this one, oh, say an "8" on a 1-10 scale.