We just got back from our 14 day Hawaii cruise on the Golden. It was a great cruise with only a couple of things that aren't even worth griping about.
The one question that I had was, Has anybody else here been on the Golden lately and did there cabin creak and moan like and old wooden ship! I haven't been on a wooden ship but I can just imagine what it would sound like.
Our cabin creaked with every movment of the ship.
The ceiling moved and creaked, the walls made noise, the door moaned all night long.
Just wondering if anybody else had this problem.
I just don't remember my other cruises to have cabin noise like this. ??
EB

We were on the NCL Star a year or so ago and it too creaked and groaned, (at least in our cabin) made it worse if the balcony door was open. It actually was quite relaxing, felt like some of the old tubs I had to work on. The Golden and the Star were both built in the same year I think.

We found that if we kept the door open so we could hear the ocean it muted the creaking. We were on the Star to Alaska about 1-1/2 years ago and did not notice this. Other than that the cruise was great.
It also was the first time we dined at Sabatinis at it was worth every penny {dollar} we spent. I will always do that in the future.
EB

Eek! It was haunted!

Well......it was during Halloween!

We had that problem on the Grand Princess one time (sister to Golden Princess). I put post-it notes on the spots where the creaking seemed to be coming from and contacted the Passenger Services Desk. A worker came in and put shims in the joints that were creaking and by the second night, it was gone.

Eb, did they have the Crown Grill on board, too? I liked the Crown better than Sabatini's. The food was excellent in Sabatini's, but there was just so MUCH of it. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat, but just can't eat that much at one time. Now, given all day, I could have handled it without a problem But, in the Crown Grill, they had the Black and Blue onion soup. It was fantastic!

Which island was your favorite? Did the itinerary give you enough time in each port to take in the beauty of the Hawaiian islands? We've just been there on land vacations and my hubby used to live on Maui, so we've been able to visit some surreal areas. My favorite though, was taking a helicopter tour. That was breath-taking.

I wish I would have called them to work on it but it looked like they had tried many times to fix it. The ceiling panels were all scratched and bent and there was paper stuffed in the cracks, so I thought that they had done what they could.

As for the Crown Grill, I think it was on the Grand but not sure. We will try that next time.
No, there was not enough time to do what we wanted to do. We are planning a future trip to stay on Maui so we can explore.
It was a great trip but I was ready to get home after 14 days.
EB

The scratches and stuffed paper was most likely from previous passengers trying to fix it themselves; that's not the way Princess fixes things :-)

Maui is a great island to explore, beautiful scenery. I'd like to go back to the big island one day. I loved the different colored beaches. I'd also like to revisit Molokai.

F-mattox, you're right, Princess doesn't fix things that way.

Your right, I don't think that is the way Princess fixes things. Next time which will be to Alaska again we will ask them to fix it. 14 days of the creaking was too much.
We love Princess and I do not mean this as a slam, only to find out what to do and now I know.
We will be planning a Hawaii trip just to stay on Maui and visit Kuaui for a couple of days.
The cruise does not give you enough time to explore and get lost a little, so next time no ship.
The next trip will be Alaska!
EB

We're booked on same cruise in January. Did you take the ship's excursions or did you do your own. We usually get private guides which we share with another couple or two. Any recommendations about guides?

Did you go on any of the ship's excursions? We're on same ship in January. We usually like to hire private guides with another couple or two. But so far, don't know anyone else on this cruise. Glad you had a great cruise. We look forward to it too.

Hi LV Trapper, welcome to Cruise-Chat. If you'll look a little further down on our main page, you will see a Roll Call section heading. You can check there to see if your cruise is listed. If it is, simply click on reply to add your name. If it isn't, click on reply and add your cruise. I'm not sure what excursions eb took. Since it is Hawaii, you won't have to worry about a language barrier, so it might be easier to find an independent tour. My suggestion would be to google your islands and find tour operators if you don't want to do the ship's excursions. Just remember to plan for plenty of time to get back to the ship. If you're doing an independent tour, the ship will not wait if you're late. It will then be your responsibility to catch up to the ship. Best wishes and congratulations on your up-coming cruise! You're going to love Princess.

LV,
We used the ship excursion to go to the Arizona. It included a bus tour around the city that was great. It cost $79 and worth it. On the other islands we did it on our own.
We heard from many of the people on board that they thought that the excursions were too expensive and too long. Many times that we took off on our own and rented a car we saw the same people as if we went on the trip with them. What we liked is we left when we wanted to and not set on the bus waiting for that one or two couples that,(I don't know how} did not hear what time to be back to the bus. That happened to us at the Arizona.
It is a personal choice but I think that the ship leans on the phrase, "if you miss the ship" to get you scared into taking the ship excursions. I can see it in a country that you have never been to or a trip that is too far or hard to find. Hawaii was not like that. Driving around there was no problem.
At most ports there were many private operators and nobody had any problem with them from what I heard.
Nobody was left behind!
We had a great time but next time will do a land trip to spend more time on one island.
EB

So would you suggest not doing a Hawaiian cruise if someone wanted to see Hawaii?

I think a cruise to Hawaii is no different from a cruise to anyplace else: it is a good way to sample a place, to get a feel for it. Then you have an idea where you would like to go back and really spend some time and explore.

If you really want to "see" Hawaii, you have to spend some time there. But for me, a cruise to Hawaii is as much about the relaxing days at sea as it is about the Islands themselves.

I've been to Hawaii and would love to return. I heard someone talking about their Hawaiian cruise and they said it was four days at sea to reach Hawaii.

I think I'd probably want to stay longer in the ports than the ship allows so when I'll save my cruises for other places.

Maurine,
We saw a NCL ship while on our cruise and I was told you fly to Hawaii and get on that ship and they stay two days in each port then you fly back. That would have been a real help. When you can only stay maybe 8 hrs and the excursion takes 5-6 hrs. plus waiting around time, you don't have much time to explore the islands.
We will go back and stay on an island rather than cruise there again.
The four and a half days going was enough sea days for me.
The food got to tasting all the same after 10 days, so the last four days coming back I could have done without plus the stop in Mexico was a waste.
EB

quote:

The food got to tasting all the same after 10 days

My Panama Canal cruise was 15 days and I was tired of the food too.

The NCL sounds better-with two days in each port. I know when I visited Hawaii I could have spent two days at the Polynesian Cultural Center alone.

And while I like sea days, 4 days at a stretch seems like a lot. There would have to be a lot of activities to keep the fun going.

I hope you had nice weather at least.