Short review of 21 day Golden Princess cruise

Just returned from the 21 day Golden Princess cruise Sydney to Hong Kong. Overall the cruise was very good, food and in the dining rooms (anytime) was excellent. Buffet was good for breakfast, average for dinner, ate dinner in the buffet perhaps three times, rarely ate lunch in the buffet. Room service best I ever had, on time and order always correct. Bought the water package prior and worth it as the water in the stateroom had a strange taste. Entertainment was mixed, some very good, others I did not enjoy as much but had a good mix over the 21 days to have something for everyone. Even watched Australian football on the movie under the stars screen, did not understand it much though. Outstanding enrichment lecturer, Andrew, who gave a variety of lectures, even tried to explain Cricket to the few American's onboard. The majority of the passengers were Australian or from New Zealand. Did the crab shack, was impressed but too much food and the ultimate ships tour which I enjoyed.

A few comments about things that could have been better.

Our stateroom, E728, needed some maintenance, carpet was badly stained, some mildew in the bathroom, couch had holes and what looked like cigarette burns, balcony door would not lock and balcony was badly rusted and corroded. Brought the carpet stains to the attention to the cabin steward who said they would replace the carpet during the cruise, this did not happen. I filled out a form that said was from the hotel manager about the issues but nothing was ever corrected. The public areas of the ship were in good condition except doors into the spa pool area were dirty, the bathroom on deck 14 between the pools tiles were loose and most of the Spas (Jacuzzi's) only a few jets worked it any at all. Spas could have used a good cleaning.

Bizarre incident in the dining room, asked for coffee with cream, the cream curdled which resulted in lumps in the coffee. Told the assistant waiter who went into the galley and came back out and said the chef said the cream was good, we juts didn't stir it enough. Asked for a head waiter who also went into the galley and came back out with a small carton and said "see, the cream is within the date, you just didn't stir enough". No evidence that the cream on our table came from this carton or even if the cream in the carton was good. i was expecting new coffee and new cream, not an argument that after 50 plus years of drinking coffee with cream being told I didn't know how to stir the coffee.

Attention to detail, something that bugs me more than most, for example on the Princess app said pool towels in stateroom, they were not but available at pool. Read on the ship postage stamps available at passenger service desk, passenger services gave me a funny look when asked about postage stamps. Patter had incorrect hours for a few things such as the sports deck, patter said until 6 Pm, the sign said until 9 PM, which is it?

Since the Golden Princess was entering Chinese service after this cruise interesting to see signs around the ship going up in Chinese. During the Ultimate Ship's tour met the translator who was translating the Patters and other documents into Chinese each day. Crew were taking Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) lessons.

Overall had a great cruise, just needed a little more spit and polish.

Thank you for your review of the Golden Princess.

Yep, curdled cream in coffee does not fly with me either!

Curdled cream = No freaking way would I put up with it.

Mildew in the bathroom = Complaint at service desk, Complaint to Princess Circle Host, Written Complaint to Princess Customer Service. There is NO excuse at all for this and it should never have occurred. Once it was discovered it should have been remedied immediately. Period.

All of that is very bad for your health!! There's no excuse for it.

Tony

Thank you for posting your review.

Why didn't the waiter bring a new cup of coffee with new pitcher of cream ???

I hope you added info about the carpet and mildew to your post cruise survey from Princess.

Thanks for the report.

Thank you for posting your review.

 

Why didn't the waiter bring a new cup of coffee with new pitcher of cream ???

 

I hope you added info about the carpet and mildew to your post cruise survey from Princess.

This is what i expected but not what happened.

The magic is in the details. It is also where the devil dwells. I can deal with lots of stuff, but curdled cream in my coffee???? Not going to happen...

Odd that you didn't have pool towels. There were two in our cabin, near the lifejackets above the hanging space in the wardrobe area. Anyway there was always plenty available around the pools.

We weren't impressed with the Crab Shack. Most of the food was overcooked to my taste, and very bland. The only thing we enjoyed was the popcorn prawn appetiser.

Very strange behaviour over the coffee and cream. :eek: I did notice that sometimes the milk in the milk jug on the MDR tables at breakfast tasted as if it had been heated at one stage - which I hate. UHT full cream milk alwyas develops a horrible taste when heated (or maybe overheated). I never drink lattes onboard ship for that reason. I stick to plain espressos.

Thanks for your review.

Question for those who were on this cruise ... have your received your post cruise "survey" email yet?

This cruise ended on Wednesday 27 April and it is now Friday 6 May. We haven't received our email yet, nor have several friends who were also on this cruise. :confused:

Just wondering because we were urged frequently to fill this survey in and post it back to Princess during the Wake Show and from many of the crew members also.

No, we haven't received the survey yet.

Our stateroom, E728, needed some maintenance, carpet was badly stained, some mildew in the bathroom, couch had holes and what looked like cigarette burns, balcony door would not lock and balcony was badly rusted and corroded.

 

The public areas of the ship were in good condition except doors into the spa pool area were dirty, the bathroom on deck 14 between the pools tiles were loose and most of the Spas (Jacuzzi's) only a few jets worked it any at all. Spas could have used a good cleaning.

I was on the Golden 3 months ago in February. I agree that the stateroom had a lot of obvious wear & tear, and needed to be refurbished.

As for the jets in the spas, I noticed that they were only working at certain times. Perhaps the pool staff were turning them off when they thought nobody was using them?

Odd that you didn't have pool towels. There were two in our cabin, near the lifejackets above the hanging space in the wardrobe area. Anyway there was always plenty available around the pools.

We had 3 people in our stateroom, but we were only provided 2 pool towels in our wardrobe. As you mentioned, there were plenty available on the pool deck so it's not a major issue.

Thanks for sharing your problems with us. I think all of the cartons should be checked before using them and the cream left in pitchers at the end of the meal be discarded.

Sunday May 8 and no survey yet.

Oh dear!!! Booked into E724 leaving Sydney August 2017. I though The Golden had been refurbished not that long ago. Must have been another Princess ship. A bit of rust does not concern me...it's all that salt. Mildew is another matter, as is stained furnishings. Hope someone has taken notice of your complaints.

Sunday May 8 and no survey yet.

I guess you won't be receiving it anymore. Latest I receive is a day or 2 after. Usually on last day.

We had 3 people in our stateroom, but we were only provided 2 pool towels in our wardrobe. As you mentioned, there were plenty available on the pool deck so it's not a major issue.

You could have just asked your steward for more.

You could have just asked your steward for more.

Even bath towels, we always ask for extra from the steward.

The survey arrived in my email today. I guess they were late sending it out - probably too much other stuff to think about getting the ship properly organized for it's China season.

Question for those who were on this cruise ... have your received your post cruise "survey" email yet?

 

This cruise ended on Wednesday 27 April and it is now Friday 6 May. We haven't received our email yet, nor have several friends who were also on this cruise. :confused:

 

Just wondering because we were urged frequently to fill this survey in and post it back to Princess during the Wake Show and from many of the crew members also.

Also on this cruise, we have not had the survey email, usually arrive a day or so after the cruise ends, very strange.:confused:

The survey arrived in my email today. I guess they were late sending it out - probably too much other stuff to think about getting the ship properly organized for it's China season.

Good then.