Beware of Golden Princess - Poor dining service

[debsand]

Folks, I just returned from a 7-day cruise on the Golden Princess and IT WAS TERRIBLE. I should have read the reviews before we booked, but I used to agree that only the people who complain post comments and I figured it wouldn't tell me much. WHAT A MISTAKE. I am not someone who normally complains and I've been on many cruises. I usually cruise on Royal Caribbean so I know what EXCELLENT service is like. I'm sorry to say that Princess and the Golden Princess fall very short. The dining room service is very slow. If you choose Anytime Dining you'll wait 45 minutes to get a table. If you choose Traditional dining, you'll wait 10 to 15 minutes between courses. On 2 nights at dinner, the waiter completelly forgot to bring my drink and never filled our water glasses. They were completely empty and he never noticed. I get better service at my local Mexican restaurant! The dining room food was served lukewarm too. I don't think it's being picky to ask for hot food and your water glass refilled. I will NEVER cruise on Princess again, but if you think I'm a whiner and my complaints are not important to you then by all means, go on Princess. I'll wave to you from my lovely Royal Caribbean cabin. [/font]

[chrysalis]

Did you have anytime dining or traditional dining?

[debsand]

We had Anytime Dining, which was probably the big mistake! We will stick with Traditional dining next time (on another cruise line.)

[debsand]

Did you just get back from Golden Princess too? We sailed April 5 - April 12.

[chrysalis]

Did you just get back from Golden Princess too? We sailed April 5 - April 12.

 

no, I was just curious how you knew about wait times for both kinds of dining.

[BJS]

If you choose Anytime Dining you'll wait 45 minutes to get a table. If you choose Traditional dining, you'll wait 10 to 15 minutes between courses. On 2 nights at dinner, the waiter completelly forgot to bring my drink and never filled our water glasses. They were completely empty and he never noticed. I get better service at my local Mexican restaurant! The dining room food was served lukewarm too.

 

Very, very unusual to ever have to wait 45 minutes and certainly not for 7 nights in a row. Sounds like you chose to go to the Anytime dining room at the busiest time? Are you saying that every night you had to wait 45 minutes for a table? Did you check both of the Anytime dining rooms to see if your wait time would be shorter at the other? Did you agree to join others? Did you ever try calling for a reservation? Did you ever try going earlier or later?

 

How do you know how much time is between courses in the Traditional dining room if you had Anytime dining?

 

I agree good service does mean having these things done without asking but..

Did you remind your waiter that you had not received your drink?

Did you ask to have your water glass filled?

When you received lukewarm food did you tell the waiter and request that he bring you hot food?

 

We will know you are the one waving.;)

 

.

[bdjam]

Ten to fifteen minutes between courses is a normal leisurely meal. I wouldn't mind that at all - I don't expect the plate from one course to be put down immediately after the plate from the previous course was picked up...how do you digest that way? If I wanted fast food, I'd go to McDonalds.

 

Sorry the experience wasn't good for you - for the most part I've found Princess dining room service to be excellent. There have been a few times when I was disappointed, but certainly not enough to switch cruise lines.

[lannp]

Who was the Maitre'd? That can make a difference.

[2Oregonians]

You had Anytime dining - where the waiter does not get to know you. Not that filling a water glass comes with getting to know you, but I'm just making a point. Sounds like you would've enjoyed Traditional where the waiter learns your particular preferences. Last time we cruised it was with my parents, and my father told the waiter on the first night that he liked his coffee right away, as soon as we sit down. So from then on (12 night cruise) he had Dad's coffee right there at his spot at the table. As far as your water glasses not being filled, I've been in classy restaurants where they were a little lax in filling mine, and all it took was to catch the waiter's eye or to ask him when he came to our table. It wasn't hard to ask.

 

How do you know how long it took between courses at the Traditional Dining room if you had Anytime? Just asking! I've cruised the Sun Princess twice and was VERY impressed with my dining experience. Also, I've read lots of posts on here from people who chose Anytime and didn't wait more than 5 minutes, if at all, for their table. Depends on what time you go.

 

Sorry your experience was less than you expected, but don't write off a whole cruiseline because of one waiter's inability to please you. You didn't mention how anything else was. Your cabin? Your steward? The activities and entertainment? The pool, spa, library, casino, lounges? Upkeep on the ship? Etc. etc. There's much more to a cruise than water in your glass.

[2Oregonians]

Wow, from BJS to mine, the posts were made simultaneously!! None of those were there when I posted mine. Weird!! Hot thread here!!

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

We have cruised the Golden twice. Never waited for a table for two in anytime dining(but we tend to eat early) and service was always good. One time, I will admit, that when sitting with a group of six we did wait longer between courses, but nothing that disrupted the good conversation.

[cricketdog]

So sorry that you did not enjoy your Golden Princess cruise Dining service. We cruised on the Golden 3 times last year and enjoyed it each and every time so much that we are leaving on April 19th again. Our Dining service (anytime) has always been top notch, cannot say anything about traditional though.

Cricketdog

[Toto2Kansas]

Sorry you had a bad dining experience onboard, but do you really think this deserved a POLL?

[junglejane]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We were on the Golden Princess March 8-15 and had Anytime Dining. We had 12 in our group and never had to wait. We called ahead for reservations and were willing to eat at 6 pm. With a few minor exceptions, we were very pleased with our food and service. You can read my review at: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=39396. We would gladly cruise on the Golden again.

 

--Junglejane

[custompcsys]

Folks, I just returned from a 7-day cruise on the Golden Princess and IT WAS TERRIBLE. I should have read the reviews before we booked, but I used to agree that only the people who complain post comments and I figured it wouldn't tell me much. WHAT A MISTAKE. I am not someone who normally complains and I've been on many cruises. I usually cruise on Royal Caribbean so I know what EXCELLENT service is like. I'm sorry to say that Princess and the Golden Princess fall very short. The dining room service is very slow. If you choose Anytime Dining you'll wait 45 minutes to get a table. If you choose Traditional dining, you'll wait 10 to 15 minutes between courses. On 2 nights at dinner, the waiter completelly forgot to bring my drink and never filled our water glasses. They were completely empty and he never noticed. I get better service at my local Mexican restaurant! The dining room food was served lukewarm too. I don't think it's being picky to ask for hot food and your water glass refilled. I will NEVER cruise on Princess again, but if you think I'm a whiner and my complaints are not important to you then by all means, go on Princess. I'll wave to you from my lovely Royal Caribbean cabin. [/font]

 

Wow, thanks for the warning....I will immediately cancel all my reservations on Princess and never cruise them again! :rolleyes:

 

And no, I don't think you're a whiner...what I think is that if you really were on this cruise at all that you went in with the attitude that nothing could ever live up to the EXCELLENT service you received on RCCL and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Also, since this is so out of line with the numerous reviews that have been posted on CC about the Golden, I think you may be exaggerating your time frames just a tad.

[bhopal21]

Sounds like a different ship than the one we sailed mid-February.:rolleyes:

 

We also had anytime dining and our group of four never waited more than 2 minutes to be seated.

 

We had a great waiter named Jimmy (from the Philippines) who went out of his way to entertain and overfeed us by often bringing unordered entrees by the table and saying "just try this." After we lucked up and got him the second time, we would ask for one of his tables when we entered the dining room.

 

We really like everything about The Golden.

 

Mike

[Clutterlady]

Not sure why a poll either?? Anyway loved the food and service on the Golden. Only time we had to wait for a table was on the first formal night and then only about 15 to 20 min. The 6 of us usually went to dinner between 6:30 and 8:00 with hardly any wait time!

[ginagirl]

I would rather wait and have lukewarm food on Princess than the horrible food we had on the Radiance of the Seas to Hawaii less than a year ago.:rolleyes:

[dlp252]

I voted that I was pleased. We were on Golden in October/November for the Mexican riviera. We'd sailed on Golden before and were pleased both times. That's not to say everything was perfect, but what in life is?

[Travelrd]

I liked everything about the dining on the Golden. Are you sure you were on the Golden Princess or the Golden Hind? But I have to admit one thing, there is no finer pizza than on Princess!

[rs12065]

Not a cheerleader here. we have been on the Golden twice, the Star and the Crown once each. We had anytime dining evertytime. Never had to wait more than 15 minutes (usually showed up around 7:00 pm), and that was a great opportunity to sit with a glass of wine or a martini and discuss the days events with our trravelling companions. My wife is very easy when it comes to waiting too long, and I am usually the difficult one. However, we have never had an Anytime Dining experience on Princess that was less than acceptable, and more usually it was superb. And of the couples we sailed with, 2 who are incredibly demanding and anal, not a word of dissatisfaction was heard. So, the original posters complaints I do not understand.

Dr. Bob

[Colo Cruiser]

Wow, thanks for the warning....I will immediately cancel all my reservations on Princess and never cruise them again! :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Couldn't you keep at least 1??? :rolleyes:

[coiran]

Wow, from BJS to mine, the posts were made simultaneously!! None of those were there when I posted mine. Weird!! Hot thread here!!

 

 

Wave as you pass by - we will stick with Princess - never had any of the problems you speak of.

 

Ron

[dreamtravel]

I just got back from the Golden. We tried the Bernini Dining room on the first Formal Night. I was surprised we got a table right away. But it was a table for 2. I was a bit disappointed. I was looking forward to sitting with others. Anyway, we had fast service but it was just too fast for me. I didn't really get to enjoy my dinner. I felt like they were trying to get rid of us. The food was not that great either. So that was our first and only time using the dining room service. I liked the buffet a lot beter. There were more options. And we could take our time with eating our dinner. :)

[zanoon]

We talked to a few passengers who had Traditional dining and they said the wait times between courses was too long. We told them it couldn't be any worse than Anytime Dining where you waited 45 minutes before they took your order! And if your drink arrived before dinner was over, count yourself lucky. It sounds like you've had success with Princess, but as a first time Princess passenger I was sorely disappointed and seriously, I'm not that picky. Maybe I just had a bad dining room waiter and it was simply bad luck. I know cruises are usually known for fine service, so I'm truly shocked it was so bad for us.:mad: