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Golden Princess 03 November 07 - Review

bobbyd6363

By bobbyd6363,
in Princess Cruises

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wizard-of-roz

wizard-of-roz

Posted
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Bobby: I, personally, would not tip for poor service.......There, you're question has been answered! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

I will reiterate....I was on the Golden on Sept. 30th....it was NOT in dis-repair; tattered; worn or falling apart. I did not see crews working to paint/repair/etc.etc. What may have happened between then and now is truly mind boggeling.......

I will enter her again on Saturday. Do I look for all of the above and filthy duvets; misplaced trash cans; empty bread baskets; buffet layouts that can't be managed and poorly cut butter?? :cool: I THINK NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

I will go with the perspective of a "Newbie"....Anything and everything of a positive experience will be expected......

I can't wait to feel this amazing ocean liner moving on the whispy sea, as I'm being lulled off to sleep.....and, not having to answer a phone or make a bed or clean a dish......Awwwwwwww! And, to be entertained by some of the best dancers and funniest people.... and meet other people who are looking for the same kind of fun and relaxation....that's what I'm looking forward to!!!!!!

Anyone who is booked on this ship...remember, there will be things that are not perfect.....just like your home and your life! This is your time off of the "norm!" Have a wonderful cruise. There's lots and lots of fun things to do and in a wonderful environment....

I've had some "bad" experiences on cruises and even on some land based vacation.....I've learned; MOVE ON!!!!!!

And, I've also learned that YOUR "blue" could be MY "grey" and MY "red" could by YOUR "pink!" It's a perception/personal thing....

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DMorris

DMorris

Posted
Posted
I think people need to remember that these reviews are OPINIONS, and no two people will have the same opinion. Unless someone has an opinion that is blatantly false, we should respect each other's right to have and express our opinions, as well as the fact that other people will likely feel differently, without feeling the need to attack people who think other than we do. It's absolutely possible for two people with opposite opinions to both be right -- because it's subjective.

 

 

AMEN... could not have said that any better Dani24

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DMorris

DMorris

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Amazing... some of you ppl still don't get it. Take the good with the bad. We are not complaining; just simply sharing experiences on here. Why is it so hard to believe one experience can be different then someone elses experience???? Answer me that question....

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MamaTene

MamaTene

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For the life of me I cant understand why folks here cannot accept the fact that there will be many varied and at times VASTLY different reviews of the same ship during the same sailing. It has mainly to do with personal expectations and DIFFERENT STAFF members that each of us come into contact with. Our room steward was exceptional while some of the other folks had substandard staff. Friends of ours had great dining room attendants while we had to struggle to find ONE who met our expectations.

The comments and feelings of each poster are valued and TRUE as to their experience and shouldnt be negated by any of us.

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Dani24

Dani24

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I find it ignorant to stop a miniscule $10.50 per day for room and dining tips from being paid to the staff. At a minimum, due to the auto tipping allocation, you are penalizing the entire staff. I imagine that majority of folks who travel on a 7 day cruise spend more than 10 p/d on garbage- the 10 p/d means so much for the staff. I would suggest you complete the survey and include detail regarding your issues.

 

Just to be clear (and I know your post wasn't directed at me), we DID NOT remove our auto-tips, despite our disappointment in certain things. I realize that most of the crew works very hard (and we met many crew members who were fantastic!) and it would be extremely unfair to penalize all of the hard working crew members because a couple of crew members didn't do so great of a job. On a cruise, I feel that special and above average service is worth an extra tip, and a "You Made the Difference" card. On our previous cruise, we handed one of the cards to our cabin steward, and he said that these helped him get more time off the ship (for vacation, I think). On this cruise, we did the Ultimate Balcony Dinner, and the service we had was so good that we made sure to give them a nice cash tip afterwards. And we gave extra tips to other crew members as well who helped us have a memorable experience.

 

I think people should really think hard before removing the auto-tips, because there are a lot of workers you don't see that get a cut of that. So, if you loved your cabin steward and hated your waiter, and took off auto-tips and then just tipped your cabin steward cash, you're also neglecting all of those other workers that you didn't come into direct contact with who did a great job and should have had a share in it. Instead, write a complaint or something so that the person can learn what they're doing wrong and improve it.

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bobbyd6363

bobbyd6363

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I think people should really think hard before removing the auto-tips, because there are a lot of workers you don't see that get a cut of that. So, if you loved your cabin steward and hated your waiter, and took off auto-tips and then just tipped your cabin steward cash, you're also neglecting all of those other workers that you didn't come into direct contact with who did a great job and should have had a share in it. Instead, write a complaint or something so that the person can learn what they're doing wrong and improve it.

 

I don’t want to turn this thread into an "automatic tipping" debate. However, does anyone remember traditional tipping? The tips were given by us (the cruiser) to our dining room waiter and assistant waiter and cabin attendant. NOT the rest of the ship. My point here is tipping IS a personal thing. TIPS are for service above the expected/ordinary expected service.

Do we know who else onboard gets the tips distributed from the automatic tips? I have a serious problem tipping the engineers that keep the propellers turning. DONT FLAME ME ON THAT COMMENT! JEEZ I was making a generalization. I recall a CC thread a while back about auto-tipping and I have to say I have trouble augmenting the salaries of people I don’t get service from.

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Dani24

Dani24

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Dani24 - thanks for posting your Golden Princess comments! Did you get a chance to read my review BEFORE you sailed?

 

I didn't read your review before we left. By the time you had posted it, I was already on the ship. Just saw it yesterday!

 

I too thought the ship looked a little worn on the edges but that was constantly being worked while we were aboard too. Always saw fresh paint signs as well as fresh varnish could be smelled everywhere! Interestingly, I had a chat with one of the cruise staff and learned that the Golden Princess actually skipped some dry dock time this year and has adopted a Carnival tactic of working on the ship while it is underway WITH PASSENGERS ONBOARD. There were 15 contractor groups onboard during our sailing doing everything from cabin revamps to replacing entire hallways of carpet.

 

Yeah, I'm certainly not complaining about the wear and tear, because I understand that she's an older ship, and she's seen a LOT of passengers over the years. I did appreciate that they were constantly working on her (although, a few times some of the flickering light bulbs in public areas went unfixed for longer than perhaps they should have).

 

I totally agree with your statement above in regards to food presentation. If you go back to where my thesis was edited you will note I got flamed for bashing the food on the GP. I stated that refills were non-existent and we NEVER saw another basket of bread even after asking for them! The food was NOT good IMHO and just like you said – two years ago on another Princess ship the food was great. I wonder what has happened to Princess over the past two years since we sailed with them?

 

Agreed. People forget that in culinary schools, they put a MASSIVE stress on food presentation, because the way food is presented has a big impact on how the food is experienced (including taste, because the visual image influences the perception of the taste). Presentation wasn't always off, and there were times when I saw remnants of the presentation I was impressed by two years ago. But when it wasn't there, I certainly missed it.

 

You must go back and read the comments Mamatene and ISC have had about that “girl” on the phone taking dining room reservations! I found her to be severely cold and impersonal. Ice princess is probably her title. She was very rude to some of my friends to the point of badgering them into thinking they didn’t even make dinner reservations! Chris/Lorraine you guys should weigh in here and re-relate your dining room story dealing with the ICE PRINCESS OF RESERVATIONS!

 

I'm glad to know it wasn't just me. I was always very friendly to her on the phone, but she seemed like she was bothered whenever I'd ask her a question, or to make a slight modification to what she suggested. Granted, she generally accommodated my requests, but her demeanor throughout the call was less than professional.

 

Actually... I noticed quite a few crew members on this cruise whose attitudes seemed a little "off". I don't know if they're being overworked, or mistreated, or if there's something else causing that (and if it is, I hope that all gets corrected). But, I certainly picked up on it from more than one person, which is unfortunate.

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Dani24

Dani24

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I will reiterate....I was on the Golden on Sept. 30th....it was NOT in dis-repair; tattered; worn or falling apart. I did not see crews working to paint/repair/etc.etc. What may have happened between then and now is truly mind boggeling.......

 

The wear and tear I saw was certainly not excessive, and I wouldn't say that the ship was "falling apart." But I did notice many instances of wear and tear that are certainly to be expected for a ship carrying 2600 different passengers every week. I also noticed a lot of "wet paint" signs around the ship all week, and saw them cleaning and repainting and doing other repair work while we were docked at ports.

 

I'm not suggesting that the ship was horrible looking. It was fine, and we had a pleasant time. But myself and my fiance (who is a total neat freak, and prone to noticing such things) saw many things throughout the cruise that highlighted the ship's age.

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Clutterlady

Clutterlady

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Gosh, why is everyone making it sound as though the Golden Princess is ready for the scrap heap???? The last couple of ships I have been on always had some painting, varnishing, replacing going on. It's normal with cruise ships!! If you look hard enough, you can always find some flaws which seem to bother some:confused:

 

I honestly respect everyone's opinions and respect their observations, but some of the comments really boggle my mind. I mean the shape of butter or a trash can that wasn't in the right spot...really not understanding any of this??

 

I really believe people love to come on here just to get a reaction with such nit-picky observations:mad:

 

My opinion:D

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Dani24

Dani24

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I honestly respect everyone's opinions and respect their observations, but some of the comments really boggle my mind. I mean the shape of butter or a trash can that wasn't in the right spot...really not understanding any of this??

 

I only mentioned those things as examples of the general lack of attention to detail I noticed on the ship. They aren't things that are a big deal at all. And honestly, I'd normally overlook them, but there were so many little things that were a bit "off" for me on the cruise that I started to notice. Will it stop me from cruising again? No way. Did they make my trip miserable? Absolutely not. But did they, in some way, affect the experience I had? Yes, a little bit.

 

I think the problem is that you're taking my mentioning of those things as full blown complaints, when they aren't. They're mostly just observations. And I'm only sharing those observations with others. People can do whatever they want with them (or ignore them if they like). It's merely information.

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bobbyd6363

bobbyd6363

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I honestly respect everyone's opinions and respect their observations, but some of the comments really boggle my mind. I mean the shape of butter or a trash can that wasn't in the right spot...really not understanding any of this??

 

I really believe people love to come on here just to get a reaction with such nit-picky observations:mad:

 

My opinion:D

 

I guess you need to be on more than a few cruises to appreciate the "nit picky" things. Jeez!! Just how many cruises have you been on that validates your ability to call our comments nit picky? HMM? Please stun me with your diary of sailings! I am sick up and fed with you people!

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bobbyd6363

bobbyd6363

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People how the world did we get to the point where we blindly accept crap from service people!! WHAT HAPPENED TO US!?!?!! Someone explain to me how in the world we got to the point where we accept crappy service and still automatically tip the whole crew?!!

 

Someone also explain to me how we started accepting this when I do recall that my mother would throw a drink on you if it wasn't done correctly!

 

PLEASE PEOPLE WAKE UP!!!!!!! Don't you see what has happened? We are automatically tipping for "SERVICE" that we aren't getting. Again I tell you one thing, if you go out to dinner tonight and you get bad service you wont leave a tip! Unless you have become a total puppet and leave the automatic 15% because the poor thing is underpaid! SAD SAD SAD

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DMorris

DMorris

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Posted
Gosh, why is everyone making it sound as though the Golden Princess is ready for the scrap heap???? The last couple of ships I have been on always had some painting, varnishing, replacing going on. It's normal with cruise ships!! If you look hard enough, you can always find some flaws which seem to bother some:confused:

 

I honestly respect everyone's opinions and respect their observations, but some of the comments really boggle my mind. I mean the shape of butter or a trash can that wasn't in the right spot...really not understanding any of this??

 

I really believe people love to come on here just to get a reaction with such nit-picky observations:mad:

 

My opinion:D

 

Where did anyone say it was ready for the scrap yards????!!!! You all are taking our observations way to literally... they are just that observations. No one said it was horrible or in bad shape... just wear and tear here and there...

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