Sad Golden Princess!

[Colo Cruiser]

ColoCruiser:D :D :D Thanks for encouraging us to take the earlier 1020 flight. We were at LAX at our gate at 0815.

 

We were in the first 10 to get off the ship at 725 and had no problems at all grabbing a van and getting to LAX.

 

Thanks again,

 

Mike:)

 

 

It is sure nice to be off early and on a plane early, your welcome. ;)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I agree about different expectations. I have never been on Cunard, and while I'm sure it is lovely. at this time in my life I have no desire to spend the $$$ necessary to travel that line. That may change later. Right now I'd rather save for retirement and spend a little less to enjoy more cruises. Different lives, different circumstances.;)

 

I agree that the Golden Princess has some of the prettiest interiors I have seen on a ship. I have usually sailed RCI. While there are some things I may prefer about RCI, there were also things I preferred about Princess, too. I do like the shopping better on RCI, but never felt the least bit pressured to buy anything I didn't want on Princess. I must say that I had a wonderful massage on the Golden and was pleasantly surprised to not even be offered any additional expensive products afterwards. What a nice change!:)

 

My expectation every time I get on a ship is that it is my hard earned vacation and I am going to enjoy every minute. I've never yet been disappointed!:D

[AZPam]

As much as I love Princess, I will agree with others that the spa has just gotten to darn expensive and I totally hate the sales pitch all the time. It's one area that I totally avoid whenever we cruise anymore. I would rather spend half the money and get myself beautiful and relaxed BEFORE I leave for a cruise now.

 

It's too bad the OP couldn't just enjoy their vacation instead of worrying about the small stuff. At least it's small stuff to me.

[preteristbrd]

I too just stepped off the Golden. My staterooms, on Aloha deck were near-new. The public areas were for the most part well maintained. I did notice the hallway on Lido deck, from the forward elevators to the Pool were a bit banged up, but this is a very high traffic area, and the crew was up there as I was leaving, shampooing the carpet and such.

 

As far as sales pressure, I never seem to have a problem with this. There were a dozen stations were they were selling soda cards at embarkation, but they were much less obnoxious than the kids selling cell phones in my local mall. By the end of the first day, all the waiters around the pools seem to know I don't drink. I was never approached by anyone else to buy anything, not a massage, not an excursion, not a specialty restaurant, not an internet package, nothing. And when all the tables full of stuff are out in the Atrium, I usually just keep walking.....

 

And when I think Princess is not as good as Cunard, I just remind myself that 75 bucks a day for a balcony is not the same as 150 a day for an inside. hmmm, imagine that.

 

A balcony for $75 a day, where, where?

 

BD

[coiran]

There you go!! Parrallel Worlds do Exist!!!

Ron

[coiran]

There you go!! Parrallel Worlds do Exist!!!

Ron

[newmexicoNita]

We thought the Golden was perhaps the prettiest ship we have cruised and I have been on all mass marketed lines, many more than once. As for the cabin decor, we were on Plaza deck (which is about as low as you can get) our cabin had not been refurnbished at all, I am sure. That being said, the colors were light and we had no serious complaints about the cabin condition. We did miss, no coffee pots.

 

Nita

[laemerald]

We are sailing on march 1st on the golden Hope its not too sad One thing that would be great to know is this for us canadians Do they make bloody ceasars not bloody marys which are vodka and tomato juice a ceasar is made with clamato juice Please does anyone know or I will be hauling my clamato juice on board my poor little sad Golden Princess

[bdjam]

In looking at your other posts it appears that most of your cruises in the past have been with Cunard so I was just curious if you think some of your disappointment might be because you are used to a different style of cruising? I always find it interesting to compare lines as it seems most people settle on a particular line that seems to suit them best. I'm just wondering if perhaps you were more critical in your situation than others might be because of your affinity for Cunard.

I haven't taken the time to explore the original poster's cruising history, but until QM2 and Queen Victoria, some of those Cunard ships were a heck of a lot older than Golden Princess. And isn't it interesting that when Cunard was unable to deliver acceptable levels of service on QM2 when she first entered service, they brought on staff and crew members from ... Princess ... to help them effectively run a large ship?

[PescadoAmarillo]

A balcony for $75 a day, where, where?

 

BD

The people across the hall from us on Baja deck said they were crusing for $500 pp for a balcony cabin, so it's definitely possible.

 

Can't comment on the PARALLEL world thing.

[bhopal21]

We are sailing on march 1st on the golden Hope its not too sad One thing that would be great to know is this for us canadians Do they make bloody ceasars not bloody marys which are vodka and tomato juice a ceasar is made with clamato juice Please does anyone know or I will be hauling my clamato juice on board my poor little sad Golden Princess

 

You bet they do! I had Charlie (the bartender at outriggers on Lido deck) make me one on two occasions. I spotted that bottle of Clamato behind the bar and asked.

 

Mike:)

[laemerald]

Wow Bopal thanks for the quick response.I will now unpack all that juice .Its our first princess cruise and now that we canadians can drink our ceasars. I so far love Princess:) :p :p ;)

[cdnguy]

Yes, nothing like a ceasar. Let's keep it a secret. Available on every Princess ship we've been on.:)

[starsjohn]

We were on the same cruise on the Golden and our formal review is coming up soon. We disagree with the original OP findings as all went very well for us. We had no complaints with any area of the ship or its operations. We were going to rebook another trip in a few weeks, but have to stay home and make money for the Alaska trip on the Tahitian Princess. That will be our first trip as elite passengers. We have told all of our FOD friends about our fine trip on the Golden, so next year there will many more of us.

 

John

[ShareViews]

From reading these threads, I sometimes wonder what is the mindset that would cause someone to go on a cruise and report only negative experiences. Is this how they conduct their daily lives?

 

I too was on the Golden Princess February 2-9, and the only truly negative part was having breakfast and lunch in the Horizon Court. If one goes there early or late for each meal, there is not much of a problem; otherwise, it is quite difficult to get to food selections as well as avoiding bumping into others. The area seems to have been poorly planned and not as easy to navigate as the Windjammer Cafe on a Royal Caribbean ship.

 

That aside, it was a quite fabulous cruise. Embarkation and debarkation was efficient. Entertainment was very good and much better than my experiences on the Dawn & Diamond Princess. Fortunately, I had good tablemates in the Canaletto Dining Room; the waiters were new at the task but nevertheless quite helpful and polite. Cabin steward was efficient. Yes, the ship's staff greeted me everywhere I go, but that's how they have been trained and it's better that way than being ignored. I noticed that photographers accepted my "No" without pushing me.

 

As for shopping, etc, neither my wife nor myself ever do any amount of onboard shopping so we are never bothered by their displays or advertisements. And it's not that the vendors are in your face. Poor quality of the items? Me thinks the fellow shops in Rodeo Drive.

 

I have never had to use a masseuse and I do wonder why the girls would be giggling at TMCAUBAN?

 

ATOMICA has done another thread on the same trip. That seems more sensible. More human. More real.

[bhopal21]

[quote name='starsjohn']We were on the same cruise on the Golden and our formal review is coming up soon. We disagree with the original OP findings as all went very well for us. We had no complaints with any area of the ship or its operations. We were going to rebook another trip in a few weeks, but have to stay home and make money for the Alaska trip on the Tahitian Princess. That will be our first trip as elite passengers. We have told all of our FOD friends about our fine trip on the Golden, so next year there will many more of us.

John[/QUOTE]

Did you attend the FOD meetings? I am trying to place you.

Juan was a great host, and even furnished the champagne at all three ship sponsored get togethers.:)

Mike:)