Golden Princess Comments . . .

[DrivesLikeMario]

I can't agree with your comments about the ship needing a facelift. We were just on the Golden last month and I looked pretty critically at the ship because of a few other negative comments I had heard. I thought the ship looked very good to excellent considering her age.

 

Glad we didn't have Anytime Dining. Those are the same bad experiences we've had when we've had it on the Grand and the Diamond.

[CruiseObssessed]

WHY do we get such conflicting reports?? Is it the difference in peoples expectations or is there really a parrallel world??

 

Ron

 

I'm suspecting it's a time/size of table/who and how many you are with thing. If you eat at 5:30, show up as 2 adults, reserve a spot and don't care about the size of the table, there's probably never a wait.

 

The OP mentioned they had a 2 year old in the party. They avoid seating people with toddlers with other guests whenever possible because not all people like eating with kids in a formal room. Don't bash me for that, I love kids, but they do often tend to have a short attention span. Also, they didn't mention what time they came to dinner or with how many people. If their party was large, they showed up at 7 or 7:30 without a reservation and with a small child in tow, it would be the perfect storm for a wait.

 

I think Princess does a good job overall trying to accomodate everyone's dining preferences, but there's only so much they can do.

[LARGIN]

Brian and Karen.. Welcome back.. Glad you had a great cruise. The Golden Hawaii is on our short list for 2009. Glad you said that she is still in great shape..

[azbaby8062]

We sailed our first Princess Cruise in October to the Mexican Riviera, we had many nights where there was a wait in both rooms. There were even people who split up to see who was going to be seated first. It was hit and miss with the wait staff, some were good and some were like you were asking for the moon.

 

Overall, I loved the cruise. I really enjoyed the room and the balcony. I think the ship is in great shape. My son really enjoyed the kids program.

 

We are sailing on the Carnival Miracle in a month :D . It will be our first time with Carnival. (Like my sister said, any cruise is better than staying home and a cruise is as only good as YOU make it) I had wanted to sail on another Princess ship but found choices limited in June unless I wanted Alaska. There prices were also much higher.

[Cruisin' Chick]

with traditional. We just got off the Golden 5/3 and had late traditional dining. Part of cruising for us is to have our waiter/asst. "know" our wants and needs and accommodate us each evening. The service on the Golden was the best we have had on five previous Princess ships. We attempted anytime dining two years ago and sure wished we hadn't chosen that option. Fortunately around the 3rd night we found a table and waiters that we enjoyed and got a standing reservation for 8:15 pm for the rest of the cruise -- so why not go traditional? (As an aside during conversations with our waiter we asked if he got moved around between anytime and traditional and he stated not any longer as Princess prefers the "long time/more experienced" waiters placed in traditional).

 

Can't stand waiting for a restaurant seat here in the U.S. and certainly don't want to wait while on a cruise ship. No more anytime for us.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our Golden cruise -- thought the service was excellent wherever you were. One day after getting a couple pieces of pizza, glass of ice, and soda can and on my way back to the aft adult pool, I had "two" people ask if they could carry it for me. Never had that happen before.

 

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth...

 

Jo in AZ

 

Personally I feel the same way about traditional. In fact, today while hubby was checking out the latest Princess brochure we've gotten, I said I couldn't understand the purpose of going with anytime, if you end up making a reservation anyway. Just like with NCL's freestyle, the idea of having to decide in the morning when you want to dine and where for dinner in "a freestyle" system seems to be oxymoronic. Hubby agreed.

[bdjam]

Brian and Karen.. Welcome back.. Glad you had a great cruise. The Golden Hawaii is on our short list for 2009. Glad you said that she is still in great shape..

Thanks, Larry...book her! :D