OMG - What has happened to the Golden Princess?

[RickEk]

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.

 

Sorry, only had breakfast in the MDR the one morning and it was the Lumberjack one... steak and eggs.

Edited November 8, 2014 by RickEk

[SadieN]

Sounds like the 'Case of the Cursed File.'

 

In the office no problems with many of the client's files but there's that 'one' where whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Whether it's a timing issue or a copier issue it's always happening to 'that' one file.

 

OP sorry you were that file on your cruise.

[geoherb]

The good news from the OP's post is that she isn't giving up on taking cruises. Things like this happen. I had problems on two of the Princess cruises we took in the past year. I am about to book two more. We keep taking cruises because they're still fun, even when little thing go wrong.

[Woobstr112G]

Apparently, oranges and cream are for full suites. Minisuites have to make do with apple skins and store-brand Coffeemate.

 

Now that is funny.....:D:D:D

 

I hope the OP has a great cruise the next time around.

 

Bob

Edited November 8, 2014 by Woobstr112G

[Momma Mojito]

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.

 

Even though we enjoy meeting and talking to fellow passengers we too have encountered long wait times for tablemates. This is why we ask for a table for two.

[Treven]

Even though we enjoy meeting and talking to fellow passengers we too have encountered long wait times for tablemates. This is why we ask for a table for two.

This is one of the reasons I too get a table for two.

[Bruin Steve]

I'll be onboard in about two weeks...

I'm hoping I won't notice any major problems...

 

Of course, everybody has different criteria, different standards, different expectations...

 

My expectations for this cruise just aren't all that high...

I was on the same basic sailing last November...and sort of know what to expect...

We usually take much longer cruises and have much greater expectations when sailing on those. For a cheap, quickie three night cruise, we're not expecting quite the same levels of service and such...The waiters will not really get to know us...We're not expecting lobster...etc.

 

As long as we have nice dinners, a relaxing cruise, the cabin gets cleaned and there's enough to do onboard, we will be happy...I won't get bummed out over lack of oranges or cream...I can substitute other stuff and be fine with that...I can brush my teeth with bottled water.

 

The only thing that will bum me out...and something I find to be the case with Princess in general, is the possibility of long waits for dinner seating in Anytime Dining...I've watched this on every Princess cruise...and I'm convinced it's largely just mismanagement...Anytime works much better on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Oceania--other cruise lines where we've used the option...But, again, I don't think that's just the Golden...AND, after seeing it in action last year on the Golden and on a prior Princess cruise on the Sapphire, I am sort of prepared for it...and can, maybe, deal with it for three nights...

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...The only thing that will bum me out...and something I find to be the case with Princess in general, is the possibility of long waits for dinner seating in Anytime Dining...I've watched this on every Princess cruise...and I'm convinced it's largely just mismanagement...

 

I have experienced this also. I booked late on my recent 4-nighter on the Golden, so had no choice but ATD. I sailed solo on this trip, and didn't relish the though of having to sit in the MDR waiting for a table of strangers to fill up before dining.

 

I was told there were no reservations being taken for ATD on that cruise, so I went early each night and asked for a solo table if available. My backup plan was to move on to the HC for dinner if no solo table was available. The MDR was always able to accommodate me, seating me right away, but I suspect it was only b/c I went early. There was always a long line on my way out after dinner.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Ryndam2002
clarity

[lynwar]

I hope the poster with the bad cruise will try the Golden Princess again. We were first on her in 2001 and that experience set the standard for future cruises and we're up to #10 on Princess. We were thrilled with that cruise, were given a wonderful upgraded cabin (pat door A303 for me as you go by, please. :) ) which we learned we had when we arrived, and really enjoyed ourselves. We had no major complaints. I learned my way around all future ships from her-the cabin was at the forward lifts.

 

Maybe we will consider visiting her again, like we've just done with the Caribbean Princess, if she ever comes back to Ft. Lauderdale. We've enjoyed the ships from the Sun Princess to the Royal Princess.

 

Take care, and happy cruising. Lynne

[Kinkacruiser]

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Edited November 8, 2014 by Kinkacruiser

[cvpends]

I noticed a decrease in service in two areas in my previous two Princess cruises (Crown and Star):

 

Horizon Court: The tables weren't set and you had to go pick up your omelet rather than having it delivered to you.

 

MUTS: No cookies, milk, hot chocolate, or popcorn was brought to us.

 

I had come to expect these things from my Sapphire and two Golden experiences.

 

I am hoping these cuts in service aren't a trend. I will find out by evaluating these services on my three upcoming Princess cruises, on Golden (November), Crown (December) and Ruby (March.) I enjoy most things about Princess and will learn to adjust my expectations if need be, but will miss these nice services in HC and MUTS.

 

Regarding the MDR, I agree with others that while it is enjoyable to meet new people, having a large table with several other parties greatly slows down the dining experience. Especially on the short cruises where there are lots of new cruisers trying to squeeze every penny of value out of their cruise by ordering every single item on the menu :eek: For this reason we generally ask for a table for two or at most four when dining ATD.

[PunkiC]

We have sailed on the Golden more than on any other ship and have always loved it except for the first cruise after it came out of dry dock. That was a mess, but talking with the Captain and Cruise Director, they said that first sailing are always a bit of a mess. We sailed her again a few months later and all of the bugs had been worked out. We were at a table for ten and one night we all ordered halibut and it was delivered perfectly cooked for all of us. That was pretty amazing. Timing the cooking and service of ten servings of halibut to perfection is a feat that even DH (an amazing grill master) has trouble achieving at home.

[firefall]

We just got off of the Golden yesterday. All in all a nice time. We expect a few things to be different with the short coastal cruises. Dress codes for one...and, oh man, was it ever bad. It was expected so we just had a laugh and moved on. We found the service to be very good. Wait times were not bad for the ATD. They did a good job with that. Food was quite good in the DR. Now the buffet was another story...cold, bland and greasy. We ate one breakfast there and never went back. International Cafe was good, also. And on Deck 14...some of the best pizza yet! Crown Grill was just ok...not sure we'd pay for it again. DH's steak was tough and my seafood was quite bland. The service was prompt but we were never offered any sides. If we were new we wouldn't have known to ask for the yummy side dishes that are included with the meal. I agree with the bar service...could definitely use some improvement. The crew were great. Great cabin steward and smiles from all. Had an issue with our cabin and Customer Service found us another one...4 helped us move...terrific service! The one thing that bothered us is that all the nice, comfy loungers in the Calypso Pool area have been removed. They have been replaced with the new, blue, uncomfortable ones and only a few at that. None on starboard (only tables). So disappointing. Sure do hope this is only the Golden and not fleet wide.

 

The Golden does need a bit of TLC (we heard dry dock is scheduled) but she's still a great ship.

[caribill]

Regarding the MDR, I agree with others that while it is enjoyable to meet new people, having a large table with several other parties greatly slows down the dining experience. Especially on the short cruises where there are lots of new cruisers trying to squeeze every penny of value out of their cruise by ordering every single item on the menu :eek:

 

In this situation I ask the waitstaff to please serve us when we are ready for the next course, not when the entire table is ready. This allows us to eat in a reasonable amount of time.

[cvpends]

In this situation I ask the waitstaff to please serve us when we are ready for the next course, not when the entire table is ready. This allows us to eat in a reasonable amount of time.

 

Good tip, I will do that next time.

[Liz54]

We have sailed on the Golden more than on any other ship and have always loved it except for the first cruise after it came out of dry dock. That was a mess, but talking with the Captain and Cruise Director, they said that first sailing are always a bit of a mess. We sailed her again a few months later and all of the bugs had been worked out. We were at a table for ten and one night we all ordered halibut and it was delivered perfectly cooked for all of us. That was pretty amazing. Timing the cooking and service of ten servings of halibut to perfection is a feat that even DH (an amazing grill master) has trouble achieving at home.

 

So funny you should say that. We get great halibut in Nova Scotia where we spend half the year. Ordered it once and it was terrible (Emerald, I think). At the time I thought it was just stupid to order anything as tricky as halibut on a big ship. One second its underdone and the next its shoe leather! We are having dinner tomorrow with a blind friend who wants me to "show" her how to cook it! Performance anxiety here!

[Bucky3]

LOLOL :D I didn't quite get the mini-suite comment either. Maybe that poster will come back and explain. :confused:

 

I'm guessing the poster meant to say "mini-cruise" rather than mini-suite.

[Talisker92]

We were on a 31 day cruise on the Golden in March. We enjoyed it thoroughly, other than some issues with shore excursions.

We had a fantastic steward, no problems with room service,loved the IC,

had a bunch of tapas and such at Vines. Ordered fresh flowers for my wife.

The only issue we had with the food (please do not flame me) was we felt the seasonings were "dumbed down" for the meat and potatoes people. The quantities were ample, and the presentations were good.

The best seasoned food that we ate were the fish tacos and salsa on shore in Cabo San Lucas

[cactusrose]

We were on six B2B and we also had the funky smell in the bathroom sink water. We thought it smelled a bit like sewer gas but now that the OP said it smelled like sulfur I'll go with that. Unfortunately it's probably the same thing. This is the first time that we would not drink the water from the sink and had to use bottled water to brush our teeth. We didn't have the same issue in the shower but we did had to call four times to have someone work on the toilet because it would stop flushing. We found the dinning rooms very noisy but that's probably due to a lot of partying on these shorter cruises. Other than that we had a nice cruise. Not the best but nice enough. I will definitely make sure I bring bottled water on cruises in the future, just in case.

[SapphireHoneymoon]

I noticed a decrease in service in two areas in my previous two Princess cruises (Crown and Star):

 

 

 

Horizon Court: The tables weren't set and you had to go pick up your omelet rather than having it delivered to you.

 

 

 

MUTS: No cookies, milk, hot chocolate, or popcorn was brought to us.

 

 

 

I had come to expect these things from my Sapphire and two Golden experiences.

 

 

We were on the Sapphire last December for our first cruise. We experienced no long wait for ATD and we went all different times. MUTS also had cookies and milk. Don't remember popcorn though.

 

My wife ordered an omelette and it was delivered to our table. Sure hope service hasn't changed so drastically in less than a year.

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruis

[ar1950]

We were on six B2B and we also had the funky smell in the bathroom sink water. We thought it smelled a bit like sewer gas but now that the OP said it smelled like sulfur I'll go with that. Unfortunately it's probably the same thing. ............

 

Not sulfur and not a sewer smell. It was chlorine. We have experienced it on other cruises.

 

We were on the Sapphire last December for our first cruise. We experienced no long wait for ATD and we went all different times. MUTS also had cookies and milk. Don't remember popcorn though.

 

My wife ordered an omelet and it was delivered to our table. Sure hope service hasn't changed so drastically in less than a year.

 

No real waits to speak of in the ATD.

 

No milk and cookies or popcorn at MUTS on this cruise.

 

Omelets were delivered to the table in the Horizon Court. No change in service there.

[PathfinderEss]

Sorry OP that your cruise did not go very well.

[satxdiver]

We were on the Golden for a short cruise two weeks ago. We did not have any problems. Our stateroom attendant did a fine job per usual and the water was as always. We did have problems with the toilet not flushing - when the button was pushed nothing happened - so I called guest services and they fixed it fairly quickly. Problem was in the system and they never came to our stateroom. They served hot cookies and milk in the afternoon at least down in the IC area on our only sea day. The HC tables were always set and they delivered the omelets to the table. We always do ATD and had no problems but we always ask for a larger table (4 top or 6 top). We had one breakfast (sea day), one lunch and all the dinners in the MTD.

 

The Golden is going to South America the first of December and I believe that some crew is going to change. That may be why several are leaving the ship at that time in San Pedro. We will be boarding the Golden again in South America the first part of next year.

[shepp]

No oranges the first morning? Good lord! I hope there wasn't a pea under your mattress, too.

[UpcountryTravelers]

....

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.... .

 

Why would you complain about that? 15-20 minutes is normal in the bar for every ship we have been on, if you were at a table, and not "belly up to the bar".