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OMG - What has happened to the Golden Princess?

bandmp

By bandmp,
in Princess Cruises

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bandmp

bandmp

Posted
Posted

We sailed on the Golden Oct. 30 - Nov.3, and were shocked at the lack of service! We were asked to vacate our table on the first evening - we were visiting over coffee. Our reservation at the Crown Grill was "lost" when I phoned to confirm, and we were unable to book another any evening. The water in our cabin smelled of sulfur - was repaired twice to no avail. The first AM we were told that no oranges were available from room service - then they became available for the remainder of the cruise. Another AM room service explained there was no cream for coffee - they had not supplied since they left Seattle 5 weeks ago.

The service was terrible, and there was general apathy among the staff. If this were our 1st cruise it would have been our last. Mary

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RJ2002

RJ2002

Posted
Posted
We sailed on the Golden Oct. 30 - Nov.3, and were shocked at the lack of service! We were asked to vacate our table on the first evening - we were visiting over coffee. Our reservation at the Crown Grill was "lost" when I phoned to confirm, and we were unable to book another any evening. The water in our cabin smelled of sulfur - was repaired twice to no avail. The first AM we were told that no oranges were available from room service - then they became available for the remainder of the cruise. Another AM room service explained there was no cream for coffee - they had not supplied since they left Seattle 5 weeks ago.

The service was terrible, and there was general apathy among the staff. If this were our 1st cruise it would have been our last. Mary

 

Sorry to hear about the many issues you experienced. Hopefully it is not a trend.

 

I can comment on the issue of no oranges on your first morning. Often times it takes some time to restock the ship's stores after provisioning at the start of a new cruise.

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triple7tahoe

triple7tahoe

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We were on the same cruise and now wonder how we missed all this bad stuff:confused: The wait staff we encountered was cheerful; Room steward was among best we've had. Many of the crew are leaving as this is about the last time Princess will have this year to get them home. Early December seems to be a deadline and from what I heard it is because of the higher airfares nearer the Holiday season. We were on for 6 cruises (B2B) and found all staff that we encountered to be very upbeat. Even when two of those cruises were over the weekend and became "Booze Cruises".

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RickEk

RickEk

Posted
Posted
We sailed on the Golden Oct. 30 - Nov.3, and were shocked at the lack of service! We were asked to vacate our table on the first evening - we were visiting over coffee. Our reservation at the Crown Grill was "lost" when I phoned to confirm, and we were unable to book another any evening. The water in our cabin smelled of sulfur - was repaired twice to no avail. The first AM we were told that no oranges were available from room service - then they became available for the remainder of the cruise. Another AM room service explained there was no cream for coffee - they had not supplied since they left Seattle 5 weeks ago.

The service was terrible, and there was general apathy among the staff. If this were our 1st cruise it would have been our last. Mary

 

I was on Golden Princess a week before you and had no problems... we had great service. My only complaint was that breakfast was a bit slow in the dining room. Lot's of large family groups, but dinner was fine.

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cr8tiv1 Holiday Sharing Rare

cr8tiv1

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Thank you for sharing. I was on the cruise just before you. The only problem I encountered was at anytime dining on the second night. Dinner took 2.5 hours. We waited for 25 minutes for the rest of the table to fill and could not catch anyone's attention to get started. Room service was fantastic. I had more issues with the rude and disrespectful passengers on my weekday cruise.

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bandmp

bandmp

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Glad to hear that others have had better experiences - we had been on the Golden before and have had a great time.

We did learn that we should have contacted the Captain Circle representative much sooner than we did, and I think we would have gotten some resolution. Mary

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miagirl

miagirl

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I guess this just shows that any given trip can be cursed for some and not for others. We were also on the same trip and could not have had a nicer time. Every encounter with cruise staff was extremely pleasant. We had no wait at all for a table for 2 in anytime dining. Dined one night at the Crab Shack. No weird smelly water in our cabin. Always had cream for my coffee. I didn't order oranges for the cabin so I can't really comment.

 

I'm really sorry that you didn't enjoy your trip when ours was so perfect. :(

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Working 2 Cruise

Working 2 Cruise

Posted
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Sounds like such minor issues... you have to remember that those are really mini-suites and, as such, the crew is even more rushed and overwhelmed than usual.

 

I never had issues on my four day cruise in January though, but then I'm not demanding... No oranges or cream? Fine, I'll get something else! I wouldn't let things like that ruin my cruise!

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ar1950

ar1950

Posted
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On the same cruise and had none of those issues. Room steward was the best (thanks Romulo !). Passengers with the Blue cards (lots) were more of an issue. They didn't seem to care about the "rules", ie: dress code for diner, no smoking on the balcony, line for anything (What line?). Overall staff was more than great for us and always a smile from everyone we met in the hallways (of course we smiled at them as well!). Had a great time.

 

BTW, the Halloween festivities were really fun!

Edited by ar1950
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Starfish10

Starfish10

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Mary, So sorry for your bad cruise. I was on that same cruise and I have to say it was wonderful. The food and service was close to pretty much great. I'm happy to say that I have many wonderful memories from this cruise. I hope that your future cruises will be less stressful and more enjoyable.

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2 to cruise

2 to cruise

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I was on the same cruise with 5 other women who had never cruised Princess before. They were very impressed with the food in the dining room and the Crown Grill as was I. The crew we ran into in the halls and other areas were very friendly.

 

Only complaint we had was service in the various bars was not that great. When you did want a drink it took between 15-20 minutes to get it and that's when it wasn't busy. Must have had some "newbies" on board as there was also some language barriers.

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bhopal21

bhopal21

Posted
Posted
We sailed on the Golden Oct. 30 - Nov.3, and were shocked at the lack of service! We were asked to vacate our table on the first evening - we were visiting over coffee. Our reservation at the Crown Grill was "lost" when I phoned to confirm, and we were unable to book another any evening. The water in our cabin smelled of sulfur - was repaired twice to no avail. The first AM we were told that no oranges were available from room service - then they became available for the remainder of the cruise. Another AM room service explained there was no cream for coffee - they had not supplied since they left Seattle 5 weeks ago.

The service was terrible, and there was general apathy among the staff. If this were our 1st cruise it would have been our last. Mary

 

If you were "visiting over coffee" at a dining room table you should have been asked to move as there were probably many waiting to be seated for a meal.

 

Mike:)

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victory2020

victory2020

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I was on Golden Princess a week before you and had no problems... we had great service. My only complaint was that breakfast was a bit slow in the dining room. Lot's of large family groups, but dinner was fine.

 

Petty question, but did you remember a breakfast special of the day that consisted of a mushroom & provolone omlette with Italian sausage & polenta? It was fantastic & I hope to get it next week on the Golden. Didn't serve it on the Crown last month.

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shredie

shredie

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I had a co-worker on her in September and she was not a happy camper.

 

You know, I wonder if the number of complaints is the same as any other cruise but magnified because there are more people involved with these short cruises. With a two-week cruise, there might be one person who didn't like room service, but when multiplied by four, the number of short cruises in a two week period, you would have four people who didn't like room service. Or something. I notice there have been more complainers than usual on the board, and most (?) seem to be from the shorter cruises.

 

I did two of them last month. Had a great time both times.

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Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

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You know, I wonder if the number of complaints is the same as any other cruise but magnified because there are more people involved with these short cruises. With a two-week cruise, there might be one person who didn't like room service, but when multiplied by four, the number of short cruises in a two week period, you would have four people who didn't like room service. Or something. I notice there have been more complainers than usual on the board, and most (?) seem to be from the shorter cruises.

 

I did two of them last month. Had a great time both times.

 

Could be. She does lots of coastals though and a lot of them are on Princess. Was surprised when she pulled a face when I asked her how it was.

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