Beware of Golden Princess - Poor dining service

[coiran]

We had Traditional Dining 2nd seating which is what we have done on every cruise and it was very bad service. The food courses did not flow at all. I ordered two appetizers instead of ordering one and a salad (not a salad person) and they brought them to me at the same time instead of one at a time or one when everyone else got appetizers and one when the others got their salads. I have done this many times on different cruises and never had a problem I never had them placed in front of me both at the same time WEIRD! Also after twelve cruises we have always marveled at how the different cruiselines have been able to find us such wonderful tablemates as we always request 8-10 person tables. This time they gave us a table for 6 so only 2 other couples to converse with and we had nothing in common with them at all - we are barely in our 40's and they were both late 60's or more discussing retirement in Florida! Not fun conversation for us nor did they have much for personalities which we always take into consideration over age. We discussed wanting to change tables with the maitre'd and were told the room was booked and would have to do Anytime Dining if we were not happy. So we tried that - that was just as bad. Did find one waiter that was great, Jerry, but his station was booked due to him being so good I am guessing, and the others we encountered there had NO PERSONALITY! My husband and I are very fun and always greet our waiters and servers with smiles and how are you's etc. and barely ever got any response back. When we ordered our dinners on lobster night we told the waiter we would be wanting a second tail as did a couple of others at our table, which the waiter acknowledged. Well after we were done with our plates he just picked them all up and never brought any extra tails back for any of us, just brought the dessert menu! At that point we just ordered dessert as we were over our whole dining experience.

 

I will say we LOVED Sterling's Steakhouse and would even consider just booking there most every night if we could, it is worth the $30 per couple but only with one waiter (I am so sorry I did not get his name but he was from Eastern Europe) that worked the very front tables to the left as you walked in, he was wonderful and we made sure his maitre'd knew that we thought so. We both got the filet and both were cooked perfect and served with some sarcasm from the waiter - finally some fun attitude while on vacation what a concept!

 

This years lack of service in the dining room as well as last years issues - wouldn't give my husband plain old shrimp cocktail in the Crown Room specialty restaurant even though it is served every night in every other dining room and the fact the waiter kept trying to talk me out of the Maine lobster I ordered, and go with the Austrailian lobster tail instead during this same meal - have now put the nail in the coffin as we will not go back to Princess for a cruise again, no matter how good the price may be.

 

I don't know of any cruiseline that does a "personality or compatibility check'" on their pax when they make seating arrangements. This would add a great cost to the cruise. Why don't you try anytime dining. Oh - sorry - you have given up on Princess.

Ron

[bdjam]

Also after twelve cruises we have always marveled at how the different cruiselines have been able to find us such wonderful tablemates as we always request 8-10 person tables. This time they gave us a table for 6 so only 2 other couples to converse with and we had nothing in common with them at all - we are barely in our 40's and they were both late 60's or more discussing retirement in Florida! Not fun conversation for us nor did they have much for personalities which we always take into consideration over age.

So do you now expect that the cruise line should be responsible for finding table mates that meet your expectations in the personality department?

[newmexicoNita]

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]

I hate to see someone judge a cruise by one bad part. That being said and I hate to be the complainer as well, we share your view on the service. We did not wait 45 minutes except the first night, we were willing to sit with others. yes, the service was slow and it seemed the wait staff was kept so busy they didn't have time to even ask us how our meal was. The worst we had was breakfast. The first time we ate in the dining room the whites of my eggs were still clear, not even firmed up and the spinish was cold. I would have sent it back, but everyone else including DH was almost through when I finally got my meal. I just didn't eat it. As for dinner, I do not remember getting food that was cold. I am sorry you had such a bad experience you will never sail Princess again. We had bad service several years ago on RCI, but it didn't stop us from giving them another try. Obviously if you look at the results of this poll you will see we are in the minority.

 

Nita

[Perki]

So do you now expect that the cruise line should be responsible for finding table mates that meet your expectations in the personality department?

 

Well yes every other cruiseline had done a marvelous job prior to this cruise and I have been told by TA that they do take age and region of living, etc into account usually therefore more closely matching personalities of sorts. Maybe they do not do this on Princess, too time consuming for them, but there again that goes to show SERVICE again, maybe they just don't go as far as say Royal or Celebrity in trying to make sure their guests have an overall enjoyable experience.

[Toto2Kansas]

WOW! I am amazed. How lucky can one passenger get that found tablemates for 12 past cruises who were interesting and they had a lot in common with? I am so jealous, as the cruise line does not do personality profiles on passengers to decide where they will be seated and with who for dinner. Very lucky indeed. ;)

 

I have watched them do the seating chart on B2B cruises and talked to them while they are assinging seating for the next group of passengers to board. They do not get any info on the passengers just the names and ages.

 

One Celebrity cruise we were seated with a couple who spoke no English at all, so I guess Celebrity flubbed up that seating arrangement.

 

Another cruise on RCI we were seated with several couples traveling together who also spoke not one word of English.

 

I think we must have missed the boat (pun intended) with all that special treatment for seating in the diningroom. ;)

[Cruisin' Chick]

Gosh, I haven't really had a bad waitstaff on the three Princess cruises I've taken. We were even happy to see that our asst. waiter Christina on our first cruise end up as our waiter on our second cruise.

[newmexicoNita]

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.

I think you have thought this out and are about right. Too often cruisers are so accustom to one line they do have their minds made up ahead of time and just expect everything to be like their last cruise. Also interesting the 2 new posters are exactly the same age. What do you know?

 

Nita

[livsea2]

What are you calling as you see em?? We have been on 23 Princess cruises on various ships, including the Golden. Over 225 days and have had only one isolated experience on slow wait staff on the Emerald. However, it was not the wait staff but the manner in which the head waiter filled the table. Wait staffs have always been "on the ball". But then we have never cruised RCCL and don't want to if we have to get all of our dining courses at once - We can do that in the buffet which we never participate in.

 

I also disagree that it is due to the autotip.

 

Ron

 

Ron

 

Sorry that you have no frame of reference, you say you've no other cruise experience to draw from. That said how do you know the wait staff has always been " on the ball" ? I have sailed on other lines and can say "NO they are not usually on the ball" At least in MY experience on the ships I Have sailed on, Princess wait staff misses the mark. Water glasses unattended, bread baskets left empty, long awkward waits between courses. Oh never mind, the princess ( anything princess does is okay because princess is MY cruise line) princess ZOMBIES are poised for attack! How dare I question any aspect of MY personal cruise experience. Shame on me!

[coiran]

Sorry that you have no frame of reference, you say you've no other cruise experience to draw from. That said how do you know the wait staff has always been " on the ball" ? I have sailed on other lines and can say "NO they are not usually on the ball" At least in MY experience on the ships I Have sailed on, Princess wait staff misses the mark. Water glasses unattended, bread baskets left empty, long awkward waits between courses. Oh never mind, the princess ( anything princess does is okay because princess is MY cruise line) princess ZOMBIES are poised for attack! How dare I question any aspect of MY personal cruise experience. Shame on me!

 

Never had any of those problems - sorry to disapoint you! Wait staff have always been friendly and attentive - I guess we have just been lucky - or - we live in the "positive" parrallel world.

Ron

[Toto2Kansas]

We sail strictly with Princess now as we have sailed on most of the other cruiselines and found Princess dining to be across the board some of the best of them all and normally consistant.

 

Agreed, on RCI the waiters are very playful and friendly, sometimes too friendly. On Celebrity they were OK, but nothing to write home about. On HAL, we had one of the worst waiters in the history of cruising (he was replaced on the second night he was so terrible).

So we have lots to compare it to.

 

Any of the mainstream cruise lines you will have different experiences, it is never all bad or all good. IMHO of coarse!

[GoodAsGold]

I remember you, Nita! I'm trying to think what cruise we might have in common. I noticed you sailed on NCL in 2005. Same here. The Star to Alaska. Now THAT'S a ship with poor dining service! Among other things. :eek: Anyway, I hope I can recall how I happened to "know you" here. :)

 

I hate to see someone judge a cruise by one bad part. That being said and I hate to be the complainer as well, we share your view on the service. We did not wait 45 minutes except the first night, we were willing to sit with others. yes, the service was slow and it seemed the wait staff was kept so busy they didn't have time to even ask us how our meal was. The worst we had was breakfast. The first time we ate in the dining room the whites of my eggs were still clear, not even firmed up and the spinish was cold. I would have sent it back, but everyone else including DH was almost through when I finally got my meal. I just didn't eat it. As for dinner, I do not remember getting food that was cold. I am sorry you had such a bad experience you will never sail Princess again. We had bad service several years ago on RCI, but it didn't stop us from giving them another try. Obviously if you look at the results of this poll you will see we are in the minority.

 

Nita

[bdjam]

Well yes every other cruiseline had done a marvelous job prior to this cruise and I have been told by TA that they do take age and region of living, etc into account usually therefore more closely matching personalities of sorts. Maybe they do not do this on Princess, too time consuming for them, but there again that goes to show SERVICE again, maybe they just don't go as far as say Royal or Celebrity in trying to make sure their guests have an overall enjoyable experience.

Princess is not RCI or Celebrity – as you well know. Neither is their passenger mix as much as people would like to think they are. Perhaps you couldn’t find compatible tablemates because you didn’t fit the Princess demographic. As a 40-something myself, I think it unfortunate that some people our age can’t find something to talk about with those who have gone before us.

 

But whatever, I don’t think it appropriate to suggest that Princess doesn’t do their job when it comes to ensuring their passengers have an enjoyable experience just because you didn’t get along with your tablemates. Most of Princess’ passengers come away from their cruises satisfied…it’s just a matter of knowing the product that is offered and not expecting it to be something else. Those who aren’t satisfied are right to find another product that will satisfy them.

[debsand]

Never had any of those problems - sorry to disapoint you! Wait staff have always been friendly and attentive - I guess we have just been lucky - or - we live in the "positive" parrallel world.

 

Ron

 

Ron, I have to believe you get better service based on the fact you're a frequent and loyal Princess customer. And frankly, I'd expect that to be the case if I'd traveled on as many cruises as you have. :) Yes, we must live in parrallel worlds on Princess, because I swear to you, not everyone gets the same friendly attentive treatment that you've enjoyed.

[bdjam]

Oh never mind, the princess ( anything princess does is okay because princess is MY cruise line) princess ZOMBIES are poised for attack! How dare I question any aspect of MY personal cruise experience. Shame on me!

As I said before, sometimes it's the attitude of the passenger that dictates the level of service they receive. There’s only so much staff and crew are willing to do for tips, you know. I used to work in the service industry and no tip was worth being denigrated by the customer. If you treated them like you treat others on this board, it all makes sense.

[coiran]

Ron, I have to believe you get better service based on the fact you're a frequent and loyal Princess customer. And frankly, I'd expect that to be the case if I'd traveled on as many cruises as you have. :) Yes, we must live in parrallel worlds on Princess, because I swear to you, not everyone gets the same friendly attentive treatment that you've enjoyed.

 

How much does RCCL pay their cheerleaders to come on the Princess CC board and complain about Princess? - I would like to get in on the action!

BTW - I am a Princess cheerleader!!!

Ron

[bdjam]

Ron, I have to believe you get better service based on the fact you're a frequent and loyal Princess customer. And frankly, I'd expect that to be the case if I'd traveled on as many cruises as you have. :) Yes, we must live in parrallel worlds on Princess, because I swear to you, not everyone gets the same friendly attentive treatment that you've enjoyed.

So are you inferring that Princess picks and chooses who gets the attentive, friendly service? While I will agree that those of us with black cards are subtly treated with thanks for our continued loyalty, I have never seen anyone with a blue card treated with any less respect. Why would Princess want to scare off a potential long-term customer? That makes no business sense and Princess wouldn't be in business for 40 plus years if they didn't have business sense.

 

And to reiterate a question I asked earlier, did you remove your auto tip because of the poor service you received?

[zanoon]

How much does RCCL pay their cheerleaders to come on the Princess CC board and complain about Princess? - I would like to get in on the action!

 

BTW - I am a Princess cheerleader!!!

 

Ron

 

Have you ever sailed on a different cruise line or just Princess? Would be good to know so we can put your comments in perspective. You don't know what you don't know....and if you've only sailed on Princess, well, that is a big clue. :cool:

[coiran]

So are you inferring that Princess picks and chooses who gets the attentive, friendly service? While I will agree that those of us with black cards are subtly treated with thanks for our continued loyalty, I have never seen anyone with a blue card treated with any less respect. Why would Princess want to scare off a potential long-term customer? That makes no business sense and Princess wouldn't be in business for 40 plus years if they didn't have business sense.

 

And to reiterate a question I asked earlier, did you remove your auto tip because of the poor service you received?

 

We have been Blue, Gold, Platinum and black anf the level of service has remained the same, however, we do often get "nice to see you back" from some of the staff.

Ron

[debsand]

And to reiterate a question I asked earlier, did you remove your auto tip because of the poor service you received?

 

No, I did not remove my auto tip. I traveled with a party of six and I paid for everyone's auto tip, to the tune of $450~. I've worked in restaurants before and I realize that poor service isn't a reflection on just the wait staff. It's not their fault the food is lukewarm, there's something else going wrong in the kitchen with the entire process. I watched our dining waiters carefully (had to catch their attention to ask for a water refill or my glass of wine that was never delivered) and I could tell they were working hard. From what I could tell, they had too many tables, didn't have help from a wine steward and basically seemed like very junior employees who were still learning the dining room routine. Our waiter and assistant honestly thought they were delivering good service because they specifically asked us to complete our Princess surveys that night. I heard a rumor on-board that if Princess employees (and RCCL too) get two negative surveys where they are mentioned by name, they are fired. So I completed my survey that evening but didn't mention our wait staff by name. The problem is not with the wait staff, it's with Princess dining management that believes it's okay to assign too many tables, eliminate the wine stewards and basically run their wait staff into the ground with too many responsibilities they can't handle the basics like getting the food on the table while it's still warm.

 

So, no, I didn't remove the auto tips. I paid them. My satisfaction is not in penalizing the wait staff for poor Princess management, but in getting the word out about Princess dining room problems so others can beware....or at least cruise more informed. ;)

[LARGIN]

No, I did not remove my auto tip. I traveled with a party of six and I paid for everyone's auto tip, to the tune of $450~. I've worked in restaurants before and I realize that poor service isn't a reflection on just the wait staff. It's not their fault the food is lukewarm, there's something else going wrong in the kitchen with the entire process. I watched our dining waiters carefully (had to catch their attention to ask for a water refill or my glass of wine that was never delivered) and I could tell they were working hard. From what I could tell, they had too many tables, didn't have help from a wine steward and basically seemed like very junior employees who were still learning the dining room routine. Our waiter and assistant honestly thought they were delivering good service because they specifically asked us to complete our Princess surveys that night. I heard a rumor on-board that if Princess employees (and RCCL too) get two negative surveys where they are mentioned by name, they are fired. So I completed my survey that evening but didn't mention our wait staff by name. The problem is not with the wait staff, it's with Princess dining management that believes it's okay to assign too many tables, eliminate the wine stewards and basically run their wait staff into the ground with too many responsibilities they can't handle the basics like getting the food on the table while it's still warm.

 

So, no, I didn't remove the auto tips. I paid them. My satisfaction is not in penalizing the wait staff for poor Princess management, but in getting the word out about Princess dining room problems so others can beware....or at least cruise more informed. ;)

 

I like this response much better than your original post and wonder if this was the first, would the subsequent comments been different.

[bdjam]

Have you ever sailed on a different cruise line or just Princess? Would be good to know so we can put your comments in perspective. You don't know what you don't know....and if you've only sailed on Princess, well, that is a big clue. :cool:

A big clue about what? Why does someone have to sail multiple cruise lines to recognize good service? What did trying a different cruise line get you? A lousy dining room experience in your opinion.

 

If someone is happy with a product, why try something else? Some of us aren’t wasting money and trying to find ways to be MORE happy – the happy we have is enough. The petty issues that have been mentioned here can certainly be realized whether someone chooses to cruise only on RCI or on multiple cruise lines. If someone is seriously watching the bread basket to see how long it’s empty during their dining experience, they’re missing more than bread sticks.

[quincytoo]

I like this response much better than your original post and wonder if this was the first, would the subsequent comments been different.

 

I agree with that wholeheartly!!!

[bdjam]

So, no, I didn't remove the auto tips. I paid them. My satisfaction is not in penalizing the wait staff for poor Princess management, but in getting the word out about Princess dining room problems so others can beware....or at least cruise more informed.

Like Largin said.

 

Thanks for spreading the word so that cruisers can be more informed. I think the number of complements on the dining rooms on Princess ships vs. the complaints tell the informed story.

[caribill]

On every Princess cruise I have been on, when dining in traditional seating the headwaiter would pass by our table every evening and ask how things were.

 

This should also be true for you, and if service is not up to par, say so. Then those empty water glasses WILL get filled, the empty bread baskets WILL get replaced, etc.

 

If you are receiving poor service and do not speak up (nicely, of course), then continued poor service is your fault.

[BJS]

On every Princess cruise I have been on, when dining in traditional seating the headwaiter would pass by our table every evening and ask how things were.

 

This should also be true for you, and if service is not up to par, say so. Then those empty water glasses WILL get filled, the empty bread baskets WILL get replaced, etc.

 

If you are receiving poor service and do not speak up (nicely, of course), then continued poor service is your fault.

 

They also pass by in the Anytime dining room to ask.

 

.