Golden Princess 03 November 07 - Review

[MamaTene]

I forgot to ask the guys to show me their wallets!!!!!!!!

[cricketdog]

NewMexicoNita, No I found the buffet to be above average. They have your basic breakfast items, also lox and all of the fixings. They will fix you a omlet or eggs anyway you want then just ask. You can make any cruise either a good experience or a bad one, just go with the flow. I guess we have been very fournate to have had such a great time and such good service on the Golden. You will have a great time and I wish we were going with you. We were inforned today the we did not get on The Thanksgiving Cruise.

 

Cricketdog

[flamomo]

BOBBY - - You're forgiven! Really!!! I just had to take advantage of an opportunity to harrass you. Don't have a guilt trip! What else but spaced out should a Martian be? I'll think of you as Bobby, the Head Space Cadet.

 

I'm going to Hawaii on the Diamond in mid-March. Anybody else wanna go? Sorry, but, No, I'm not buying.

 

Seems strange to go on the roll call and not have anything going on there, after all these months. I'm gonna miss that.

[newmexicoNita]

NewMexicoNita, No I found the buffet to be above average. They have your basic breakfast items, also lox and all of the fixings. They will fix you a omlet or eggs anyway you want then just ask. You can make any cruise either a good experience or a bad one, just go with the flow. I guess we have been very fournate to have had such a great time and such good service on the Golden. You will have a great time and I wish we were going with you. We were inforned today the we did not get on The Thanksgiving Cruise.

 

Cricketdog

I'm sorry you didn't get on your cruise. I have a client, in fact 2 that are going to be on the Tahiti Princess next week. Lucky them...

[wizard-of-roz]

Okay! I realize this is a "PRIVATE PARTY"....however, if you don't mind....I'd like to "jump" in with my thoughts......

We were on the Golden, on September 30th and will return on November 24th......

There are definitely some things that could use improvement (but, where, in life or on a vacation is that not true?)......The crew tends to be a bit apathedic.....I attribute this to "boredom" and "the same old, same old".....Once I engaged them into conversation and said some pleasantries like "hello", "how are you", "good morning"....(well, you get the drift....), they were much more friendly and seemed to develop personalities!

I don't need to make friends of servers/stewards/or pursers.....I do need friendly service (hopefully) with a smile and a warm welcome!!!!! I appreciate good service and I'm not shy to remind a waiter that I like my glass refilled/my breadbasket full and my untensils to be present.

This ship is no more difficult to manage than any other and we've been on every major line and some upscale, as well! That being said, the Canaletto Dining Room was a challenge....but, once I figuered it out (the first day), it was smooth sailing the rest of the week!

Everything is clean and well maintained....I don't want "signage" on everything...it looks so "Mall-like" when they do that....I like the ship to look more comfortable and "home-like"...(without the beds to make and dirty dishes, in the sink!)

I like the food in the Horizon Court.....the choices are many/tasty and well displayed, as opposed to NCL that lays out their buffet like a school cafeteria. The layout is fine...it allows you to walk around and pick the station that suits you best....

I felt the food in the Dining Room, for Traditional Seating, was a bit boring, for me.......On this trip I wanted "pizzazz" and I didn't get it.....No matter, I had to think out of the box and I ordered a main dish for my appetizer (smaller version) and tried some fish (I don't usually) and it was good.....stepping out of my comfort zone made it better!

All-in-all.....I'm looking forward to re-boarding the Golden and doing some things that we didn't do the first time.....

And, I will definitely be checking my duvet.......if it's not "fresh and clean", I will ask for a new one..........I felt the upkeep on our cabin was excellent!

Hey! It's not the "Four Season's". (Nor, am I paying their price!) And, it's not the "Motel 6!" It's a lovely place inbetween......I can't wait to get back on!!!!!!!!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

It's so unfortunate that Princess doesn't really explain how auto-tipping works. And what happens if you decide to remove the auto-tips. Even if you want to directly reward certain crew members, removing the tips and handing over cash isn't the best way. They are required to hand over any money they are given by passengers and note down the cabin number. This is checked against the list of passengers who did remove the auto-tip. Those crew members who had their tips removed will get a negative comment on their records, unless you inform the passenger services desk otherwise. And any money they receive will be divided among those in the pool. So, they end up receiving only a portion.

 

And yes, they can be fired if they don't pass along their tips to their supervisor until the auto-tip status is checked.

 

If you did not removed the tips, the extra money is returned to the crew member.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We've been on two MR cruises and three Baja cruises...unfortunately, it's not many choices for those of us who live in Southern California. When our final Hawaiian port got cancelled due to high waves on the Island Princess a couple of years ago, and the captain announced that we would have a full day in Ensenada, there was a collective moan onboard from all the Californians who've been there, done that in Ensenada too many times.

[Purple Passion]

Steve--Please don't sell me your wallet!!!!

 

Betsy, It's empty!:eek:

[Purple Passion]

Steve--Lets go to Hawaii--no damn vendors!

 

Betsy, U buyin we flyin!

[newmexicoNita]

It's so unfortunate that Princess doesn't really explain how auto-tipping works. And what happens if you decide to remove the auto-tips. Even if you want to directly reward certain crew members' date=' removing the tips and handing over cash isn't the best way. They are required to hand over any money they are given by passengers and note down the cabin number. This is checked against the list of passengers who did remove the auto-tip. Those crew members who had their tips removed will get a negative comment on their records, unless you inform the passenger services desk otherwise. And any money they receive will be divided among those in the pool. So, they end up receiving only a portion.

 

And yes, they can be fired if they don't pass along their tips to their supervisor until the auto-tip status is checked.

 

If you did not removed the tips, the extra money is returned to the crew member.[/quote']chuck, I don't know if it is true they can be fired, but I have read similar reports from other lines, like NCL that do the auto tips the same way. I would guess there is some valifity to the story.

 

Nita

[wizard-of-roz]

jlp20:...good responses....just hard to differentiate between the poster and your comments.

Bottom line and you are correct.....the choices to choose the ports is up to the cruiser and what goes on in these ports is not Princess's fault or duty to change!

I think "Bobby" and his "gang" were more than a bit negative about their review of a beautiful ship. I, realize that they turned their lemon cruise into lemonade and that's always a good thing.......

I hope they have better cruises, in the future, on a different ship....

I, personally expect to have a fabulous cruise on the 24th and love the crew, as I did on September 30th.

[bobbyd6363]

I think "Bobby" and his "gang" were more than a bit negative about their review of a beautiful ship. I, realize that they turned their lemon cruise into lemonade and that's always a good thing.......

 

I hope they have better cruises, in the future, on a different ship....

 

I, personally expect to have a fabulous cruise on the 24th and love the crew, as I did on September 30th.

 

roz - yes we did make our cruise enjoyable by being together as a group and having fun. The ship and all that stuff are totally superfluous to us all being together. You have the same attitude as we do and that is to have a good time regardless! We didn’t sit around moaning and whining about the small details! We had a great time! Yes we were disappointed at times but after 26 cruises, one does come to expect certain things. With that much cruise history under your belt it is inevitable that some things will get a critical eye cast upon them if something is found lacking.

[Scotto97]

Bobby - I thank you for an honest review of your cruise on the Golden Princess. I've cruised on her twice before and she's my favorite Grand Class ship. One question - was this cruise within the first four sailings from LA this season? I've learned to not take one of the first few from a change of embarkation port. We had a terrible cruise on the Grand's first cruise out of Galveston in November 05 due to this. Too many changes of personel and suppliers.

 

jlp20 - I think you should cut bobbyd6363 some slack. Everyone is entitled to post their experiences here, otherwise we'll learn nothing.

[bobbyd6363]

Bobby - I thank you for an honest review of your cruise on the Golden Princess. I've cruised on her twice before and she's my favorite Grand Class ship. One question - was this cruise within the first four sailings from LA this season? I've learned to not take one of the first few from a change of embarkation port. We had a terrible cruise on the Grand's first cruise out of Galveston in November 05 due to this. Too many changes of personel and suppliers.

 

Scott - as a matter of fact this was the 5th (week) sailing for the Golden Princess out of LA. The assistant cruise director (Ryan) told me they had just transitioned from Alaska.

[DMorris]

Life Boat Drill…..The recorded announcement stated that Princess has a sophisticated means of determining whether or not everyone was at their lifeboat station. Yeah right! LOL!

 

Hate to ruin your laughter, but yes, Princess has got this down to a science. Just what do you think all those stewards, waiters and drink runners are doing for those 20 minutes? Rather than a roll call, every cabins is checked as well as all public areas.

We were expecting to leave port during the life boat drill but too many people were late so the ship was held up for half an hour and we finally left port around 5PM.

 

Ship Details…cannot tell you how many times I got lost….I must be getting old!

 

OK

 

The pools were ok……I found the hot tubs aft on Sports deck aft by the oasis bar were typically adults only.

 

Maybe that’s because they ARE ADULT ONLY AREAS

 

….Pretty much everything else about this ship is forgettable…..

 

I will agree to this statement only because all the Princess ships use the same carpet, furniture and paint. I could blindfold someone and put them down in Explores Lounge and ask which of 10 ships they were on. No way to tell.

 

Dining….The service in Donatello and Bernini dining rooms were horrible. For example, we were seated in Donatello at 615PM and our order wasn’t taken until 7PM! If this were a “real world” restaurant, they wouldn’t be in business very long…

 

You do not say if the delay was due to lack of waiters or if you were waiting for your table to fill with people..

 

…I honestly think that the “automatic tipping” is creating a very lazy service staff…..we could clearly hear the waiter one table over complaining that he hadn’t gotten tipped by a single passenger….

 

Not quite right, the PC dinning is the cause. Traditional, you have the same waiter for the cruise. With PC you have 7. Will I leave a couple of dollars at each meal, no. Might I drop a 5 or 10 if the wait staff do something at my request, yes. Waiters like all the other positions start at the bottom and work up the food chain. The top of the food chain is the tradition dinning room, the bottom start clearing tables on Lido.

 

….As always I expect my sheets to be changed daily….my duvet was dirty and smelled like dirty socks….While I waited for clean sheets and duvet I took a pen and wrote the date on them and did so every day until FINALLY on day five they were changed except the duvet.

 

Maybe you haven’t seen the news segment they do once a year. 98% of all hotels don’t wash the duvet between guests. We have found sheets are changed 2 or 3 times during a cruise. As far as that smelly duvet, it’s off the bed and put away when they do the turn down.

 

I found out that my cabin attendant was responsible for seventeen cabins! SEVENTEEN….didn’t get a break ….I also found out she was never allowed off the ship and the only thing she got for her efforts was that she got to eat in the Horizon Court. ….

 

Can anyone say “fishing for tips”.

 

Entertainment

I can’t really speak for the shows because I never saw one while onboard. However, I did see the comedian (forgot his name) and he was pretty darn funny…

 

If you can’t remember his name, how good was he?

 

Casino….When I couldn’t sign my name the same way on these checks the casino cage attendant asked me “if you can’t sign your name correctly every time, then why do you use traveler’s checks?”! Umm, I didn’t know it was the cruise line’s casino personnel’s job to tell ME how and what I should use for travel cash! That was the ultimate in rude to me and unforgivable….

You do realize that because of the problem of the signatures, they should have refused to cash them in the first place. Was the employee trying to save you a great deal of embracement and trouble? Just what would you do if you find yourself in a foreign country without access to any of your money. This is the 21 st Century, you have heard of credit cards and debit cards, which can have even more protection than the traveler’s cheque which will soon go the way of the Doo Doo bird.

 

Purser’s Desk

Purser’s Desk service was pretty darn cold and impersonal….Not even a hello or how are you! These people ARE the front line faces for Princess Cruises. Don’t you think they should give “EXCELLENT” service? Morticians are warmer.

 

First, you mention a lack of service but don’t back it up.

You then point out lack of personality, which I will agree with. But then have you spent anytime “watching” what goes on at the Purser’s area. Complaints and demands are just the beginning. We have gone to the Purser’s desk at least twice on every cruise to get a printout of our account. Much easier to deal with any problem before the last day. Anyway, we have experienced the same dull expression from the staff behind the desk. But once they learned of our request, they brightened up and were quite obliging.

 

Cabo San Lucas

….Caribe or Dolphin deck mid-ships you will get a very rude awakening with they lower those tenders!! The davits are right below those cabins and are very loud!

 

My big complaint about Cabo is that you have to tender into port and the ship was only in Cabo from 7AM to 1PM and you have to catch the last tender back to the ship at 1230. Pretty much nothing opens in Cabo until 11AM. Not to mention Cabo has some of the most aggressive street vendors I have ever seen….

 

I assume you choose your cabin, It’s also common knowledge that all ships use tenders in Cabo and hours in port are listed for every cruise before you book. Why are you complaining about YOUR choices? As far as vendors in Cabo, I feel Mazatlan is far worse, but then how is this the cruise line’s concern.

 

jlp20... I was also on this cruise with Bobbyd6363 (my best friend). How dare you question his opinion. He is not trying to sway anybody one way or another. He was just writing a review about our experiences. Like he said it was INFORMATIONAL ONLY!!! He never said that his opinion was the only opinion nor did he say he was right and everyone else is wrong. It is just our opinions. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am glad you loved or love the Mexican Riviera... we just didn't care for it. We also didn't care for the golden because it left a bad taste in our mouths. Enjoy your next mexican riviera cruise.

[jlp20]

Jlp20 - umm I am going respond to your comments but you know what - my review was informational ONLY......

 

Not a defense, but I read your posting in total before replying. I took your entire review as being negative. At no time did I mean to make comment on writing skills, just content

 

Sorry, but comments like had to wait, smelly linen, bad service, load noises and so on tend make one believe you were complaining about factors you had control of.

[shawilson]

We were on Golden in April. This was only our second cruise. There were a lot of things I liked about it. Love muster drill in a show lounge. As for the buffet, I thought it was good. For breakfast, the omlette person will make any kind of eggs you want, to order. Yes, they do have loxs and any kind of breakfast meat you want. I really like how the buffet is set up. There is no line, just stations of like food, i.e., salads, breads, juices, desserts, main courses, etc. If you don't want one of the "food groups", just skip it and go to what you want. Don't forget the free ice cream every afternoon in the buffet. They have about 4 different kinds that are wonderful. It is only for a short time (don't recall, maybe an hour) and don't go right when it opens, as the "me first, little piggies" will trample you.

 

Golden Princess is a very nice ship. I would gladly sail her again.

[newmexicoNita]

roz - yes we did make our cruise enjoyable by being together as a group and having fun. The ship and all that stuff are totally superfluous to us all being together. You have the same attitude as we do and that is to have a good time regardless! We didn’t sit around moaning and whining about the small details! We had a great time! Yes we were disappointed at times but after 26 cruises, one does come to expect certain things. With that much cruise history under your belt it is inevitable that some things will get a critical eye cast upon them if something is found lacking.

 

bobby, you were pretty negative, but now, it seems you didn't have a bad cruise afterall. You know I think you hit the nail on the head: the more we cruise, vacation, do Vegas, whatever the more critical we get. Little things we didn't notice when we were still in awe of the whole experience bother us today. I love to cruise, will always consider it the number one way to vacation but I also pick things apart more than I did 20 years ago. Of course some of this is the change in the industry, more, I think it is the newest and thrill is gone.

 

Nita

[SingerEsq]

Cessna140 - typically what happens is the Golden Princess will hold the muster drill at 430PM and while the muster drill is going on, the ship will leave the dock. Note: we were delayed in departing San Pedro so we were already finished with the muster drill by the time we left port. Also, there is a sail away party up on deck after the muster drill is over.

 

Actually, the Golden sails at 4 p.m., unless there is a delay for late arrivals. On the 10/27 cruise, muster was at 3:30 and was over by 3:45. We had more than enough time to return to our cabins and be up on deck for sailaway. I suppose if you stood around or dawdled with a large group, you would have trouble making on deck for sailway. Our group of 5 had no problem. So the comments regarding sailway being scheduled during muster are not necessarily correct.

 

As for navigating the ship, there is a mini-deck plan in your cabin and you can always stop by the purser and get one. Keep it in your pocket and you will have no trouble navigating the ship. It is laid out comparably with the CB (actually, almost identically) and isn't that far off from the Island and Coral, IMO.

 

All in all, the review was in depth, and I appreciate that, but it reflects this person's experience. I do think you have to be prepared for lesser service on a 7 day cruise on a much larger ship, than a 2 week cruise with almost 1/2 the passengers on say the Island. We have found that the shorter cruises lack the extra touch the longer cruises have, since the crew really gets a chance to know you and you them.

[director]

I read your review and it was well written and stated clearly the exact same experience that we had on a South America cruise on the Golden last January. I could not have said it any better and we experienced everything that you did on our cruise.

 

We too felt it that the service and food in the specialty dining was always a no miss, but why should we have to PAY to get a decent meal and service. Your description of the main dining room's food as being below airline food quality hits the nail on the head.

 

I tried to write a coherent and detailed letter to Princess about what we had experienced and what we felt about the Golden, since we had been on 10 other Princess cruises with 120 days on board. Their response basically read like a form letter and was not encouraging that anything would be done.

 

Looks like nothing has changed at all and that is sad. We are going back on the Sapphire for the second time in a couple of weeks. Hope this kind of bad food and service has not infected the whole fleet. This is definitely a management issue.

 

Customer service from Princess now is almost non-existent, so it seems. What ever happened to taking a luxury cruise on the Love Boat?

 

Steph

[DMorris]

bobby, you were pretty negative, but now, it seems you didn't have a bad cruise afterall. You know I think you hit the nail on the head: the more we cruise, vacation, do Vegas, whatever the more critical we get. Little things we didn't notice when we were still in awe of the whole experience bother us today. I love to cruise, will always consider it the number one way to vacation but I also pick things apart more than I did 20 years ago. Of course some of this is the change in the industry, more, I think it is the newest and thrill is gone.

 

Nita

 

Nita... bobby didn't say we had a bad cruise at all. We had a great cruise, but we always have a great cruise. Our group has fun wherever we go. All he was writing about was the service level keeps diminishing year after year. Any cruise is a good cruise, better then being at work any day of the week. All the poster are focusing on the negative comments he made and aren't noticing any of the positive comments he made... we enjoyed the comedian, we enjoyed the great people we encountered, etc.

[chisoxfan]

My wife and I had a great time on the Golden and this was our first cruise in ten years since cruising on the NCL Norway. This 'modern' cruise experience is certainly different and we enjoyed the space and location of our mini suite and the anytime dining worked well for us. We were impressed with the overall ambience of the Golden and had absolutely no problem finding our way around after the first day. The food was certainly acceptable. I can't imagine going on a cruise and expecting a truly fine dining experience-it just isn't possible with the volume of meals being served. We ate at the main dining rooms (Bernini and Donatello) most evenings and tried Sabbatini's (the food here was the poorest in my opinion) and Desert Rose (not a bad steak). I travel quite a bit and have eaten at many of the best restaraunts in the country but the food met my expectations nicely. I mean a nice place in a big city is going to cost 120 for two for dinner and the cruise pricing just does not allow for this quality.

My only criticisms: the staff was not always as friendly as I would have liked / the shopping in the Mexican Riviera was dissapointing/ I would agree that the "upselling" of cookbooks, photos, wine tastings, etc. was overdone/ it seemed that asking for a table for two was unpopular with the Maitre D's at busy times.

I am a very finicky traveler but didn't let these 'minor' issues bug me and I enjoyed myself greatly. I was there to spend time with my wife so I really didn't care to get friendly with the waitstaff. I much prefered eating at a different table every night.

Overall we are looking forward to cruising again and would not be opposed to being on the Golden again.

[SeansMommy]

We just returned; had a great time. By day one my 12 year old had the ship layout down. There as maps everywhere. Do not understand why this would be confusing to anyone.

[leeuwarden]

im going on the golden in 2 weeks and i am looking forward to it, no matter how much peopple complain, why do all this complaining, find another ship if you dont like it, lots of upscale cruise ship nowadays

[bobbyd6363]

My wife and I had a great time on the Golden and this was our first cruise in ten years since cruising on the NCL Norway. This 'modern' cruise experience is certainly different and we enjoyed the space and location of our mini suite and the anytime dining worked well for us. I can't imagine going on a cruise and expecting a truly fine dining experience-it just isn't possible with the volume of meals being served. We ate at the main dining rooms (Bernini and Donatello) most evenings and tried Sabbatini's (the food here was the poorest in my opinion) and Desert Rose (not a bad steak). I travel quite a bit and have eaten at many of the best restaraunts in the country but the food met my expectations nicely. I mean a nice place in a big city is going to cost 120 for two for dinner and the cruise pricing just does not allow for this quality.

My only criticisms: the staff was not always as friendly as I would have liked / the shopping in the Mexican Riviera was dissapointing/ I would agree that the "upselling" of cookbooks, photos, wine tastings, etc. was overdone/ it seemed that asking for a table for two was unpopular with the Maitre D's at busy times.

I am a very finicky traveler but didn't let these 'minor' issues bug me and I enjoyed myself greatly. I was there to spend time with my wife so I really didn't care to get friendly with the waitstaff. I much prefered eating at a different table every night.

Overall we are looking forward to cruising again and would not be opposed to being on the Golden again.

 

chisoxfan - what is your opinion of the food quality today for the "modern" cruise experience? I have sailed on the SS Norway many many times and find the food "back then" compared to the food you get these days on a cruise marekdly different! The Norway - in her day, had fine dining and I have heard the food on the original Norway was called "almost" gormet. Nowadays, the food aboard cruise ships is so forgettable. I too dont let the small things bother me but I DO let it be known that poor service is unacceptable.

 

Everybody - open question to you all. Do you honestly spend lots of money in a resraurant and simply accept it, excuse it and still tip the servers etc? Cmon be honest.