On 29th. January I rejoined
Golden Princess for a fourteen day cruise to the South Pacific and back. Once more, I was very fortunate with
the weather, smooth seas and sunny days throughout. The food and service
on board were excellent, as always. The only disappointment to me is that increasingly over the last couple of years, I've seen that the dress standards around the ships are plummeting. Perhaps it's because I'm old-fashioned but I hate seeing men wearing shorts, singlets, baseball caps or other non-uniform headgear and no shoes and socks in all the lounges in the evenings. This sloppy dress in all the bars and lounges really detracts from the ambience of the ship and, to me, is ignorant and disrespectful to the staff who are always well presented. I think the company should enforce a reasonable dress standard (smart casual) in at least one of the lounges after 6pm. However, a great cruise once more.
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| On this cruise, Lautoka was replaced with Port Denarau. |
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Golden Princess at anchor off Mare.
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| Lifting off Station Pier, from my cabin balcony. |
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| My very comfortable cabin. |
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| A lovely afternoon on the promenade deck. |
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| Sunrise in the tropics. |
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| The adults only Sanctuary with steward service. |
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| Arriving at Vila. The Staff Captain at the port bridge wing controls as the pilot approaches aboard the harbour tug. |
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| Island traders in Vila harbour. |
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| Sailing from Vila. |
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| At anchor off Port Denarau, Fiji. The Officer of the Watch swung the ship at anchor while I performed a magnetic compass adjustment here. |
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| Ship's tenders waiting to take passengers ashore. |
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| The personnel on board display on the bridge. |
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| Compass adjustment and paperwork successfully finished. |
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| The Captain gave me this lovely bottle of wine in appreciation of the compass adjustment - much appreciated! |
