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A/C Problem on Golden this week.

atdahop

By atdahop,
in Princess Cruises

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RickEk

RickEk

Posted
Posted (edited)
Looks like they are still in Port of Los Angeles 7:51 AM west coast time

 

OOPS....look like they just docked in San Diego:D

 

It seems that whoever is in charge of changing the text of the webcam on Golden Princess always seems to do it late... All summer, she'd be in one port, but the webcam would say a different port... :rolleyes:

 

I'm glad the A/C is working fine now... we sail in 10 days!

Edited by RickEk
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HotlantaCruiser

HotlantaCruiser

Posted
Posted

As mentioned up thread, the AC went out due to a Mussel problem in the intake valves (probably a more scientific name)

 

1) Because of Simon, itin was inverted, switching Cabo to the return leg, instead of on the way down the coast. Also swapping Mazatlan for Manzanillo.

2) Sailed around Simon (300 some miles off shore to swing West of Simon

3) Made it to PV with the AC starting to fail during the overnight stay there. Uncomfortable but not horrid

4) Left PV for Mazatlan and the warm waters just kept the mussel problem multiplying. Overnight from PV to Mazatlan was miserable.

 

5) left Mazatlan after 5:00 pm sometime, and headed north. entry to colder waters off Baja tip, and the constant movement had the mussel problem under control shortly there after, and no troubles the remainder of the trip home.

 

6) Mussels on the MDR menu for the last night. Good laugh was had by all.

 

Captain tried to explain the situation early on, but bad speakers, thick accent, etc, and perhaps some initial vagueness made it easy to misunderstand etc. Eventually they came back and CLEARLY stated the problem, compounded by apparently a new rule that bans certain mussel killing chemicals that have been used previously. (?)

 

Princess and the Charter company gave every passenger $500 credit to cover the missed port call and to cover the inconvenience. Yes some still not happy, but experienced Cruise Critic posters know that for 1 night of real inconvenience that it was probably an excessively large amount to give out. Almost $950K in refunds given the approx 1900 pax on board.

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tserface

tserface

Posted
Posted

I also think that $500 credit seems pretty generous. We didn't even get a cool drink discount on the Star when there was no air conditioning and the water was almost too hot to shower. We didn't ask for anything and we didn't miss any ports, but we had a couple of nearly sleepless nights from the heat.

 

Tom

 

Wow the credit seems horribly generous to me. Though I am sure there are plenty who feel it isn't near enough.
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greg_atlanta

greg_atlanta

Posted
Posted

I was on the cruise with the A/C failure (Atlantis Events charter, gay cruise). I think most of the points have been covered, but the ship was docked overnight in Puerto Vallarta and that could have compounded the problem. The captain said the sea temp was about 85-90F instead of the normal 65-70F due to the hurricance.

 

My cabin wasn't that bad (E308) but I heard the A/C was worse in the back on the ship.

 

The $500 per person credit is refundable -- but these cruises have a reputation for hefty bar bills! ;)

 

The communication about the problem was a little slow but once we all got the letter about the $500 most people shut up about it -- and by then A/C was mostly working. We skipped Cabo to keep the ship in "cooler waters" but the Cabo stop was only scheduled 8 am to 1 pm so nobody really minded another sea day.

 

BTW.... most of the passengers on the cruise were not that impressed with Princess overall. Basically Carnival with a little bit better dining room experience.

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alohadan

alohadan

Posted
Posted (edited)

We are having a good experience on the Golden now. As mentioned we are experiencing no a/c issues. We are loving our Emarald deck mini-suite. The weather has been beautiful. The only issue that we have noticed is that the covered pool and jacuzzis have been closed (no water). I was told during the previous cruise that the pool was covered and turned into a dance floor. Whether it is open tomorrow or not is questionable. But again, the weather has been great so not a biggie.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by alohadan
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tserface

tserface

Posted
Posted
We are having a good experience on the Golden now. As mentioned we are experiencing no a/c issues. We are loving our Emarald deck mini-suite. The weather has been beautiful. The only issue that we have noticed is that the covered pool and jacuzzis have been closed (no water). I was told during the previous cruise that the pool was covered and turned into a dance floor. Whether it is open tomorrow or not is questionable. But again, the weather has been great so not a biggie.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Very cool. Have a lovely cruise!

 

Tom

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Ahhh

Ahhh

Posted
Posted
I was on the cruise with the A/C failure (Atlantis Events charter, gay cruise). I think most of the points have been covered, but the ship was docked overnight in Puerto Vallarta and that could have compounded the problem. The captain said the sea temp was about 85-90F instead of the normal 65-70F due to the hurricance.

 

My cabin wasn't that bad (E308) but I heard the A/C was worse in the back on the ship.

 

The $500 per person credit is refundable -- but these cruises have a reputation for hefty bar bills! ;)

 

The communication about the problem was a little slow but once we all got the letter about the $500 most people shut up about it -- and by then A/C was mostly working. We skipped Cabo to keep the ship in "cooler waters" but the Cabo stop was only scheduled 8 am to 1 pm so nobody really minded another sea day.

 

BTW.... most of the passengers on the cruise were not that impressed with Princess overall. Basically Carnival with a little bit better dining room experience.

 

Because it was a full charter, Princess, in colaboration with Atlantis Events, found it appropriate to give us a $500 pp shipboard credit. One must keep in mind that this charter generated a LARGE amount of revenue for Princess. Just as a side note, for Bingo, one afternoon alone, about $8,000 was given out as prizes for 4 games. One can only imagine what was taken in!

 

This charter, as well as the previous 3 day charter, generated MUCH MORE in bar revenue, than the typical cruise.

 

Yes, the Calipso (indooor) Pool, was completely covered by thick plywood, so as to be used as an outdoor dance venue (with the roof completely open). It worked out great. This, in addition to the aft (Terrace Pool) were covered and used as dance floors for most of the week.

 

There were issues with getting problems resolved quickly, which is one reason why some guests were not impressed with Princess. When told that someone would be to their cabin to fix an issue, it took much longer than expected, IF they showed up at all!

 

There were others who felt that the food on Princess, as compared to RCI and Celebrity, was boring and tastless in comparison. I cannot argue that point. Although I enjoyed my meals, most were non-memorable.

 

That would make sense. Seems like a public relations nightmare if only a select group got the refund.

 

It was a full ship charter, just like the 3-day charter, just before it.

 

It's unclear to me whether the OBC was extended to everyone or just some charter group. (Atlantis Events?)

 

It was extended to everyone, as it as a "Full Ship Charter".

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greg_atlanta

greg_atlanta

Posted
Posted
The only issue that we have noticed is that the covered pool and jacuzzis have been closed (no water). I was told during the previous cruise that the pool was covered and turned into a dance floor.

 

Only the indoor pool (calypso?) was covered for the full week. The pool in the back was covered for the 2nd day of the cruise but open for swimming the rest of the cruise.

 

If all the pools are closed now, maybe they're still having problems with the water intake system?

 

I noticed all the pools were fresh water with some chemicals (not too bad). I'd gotten used to salt water pools on other cruises.

 

It was also interesting that the pool temperature varied widely day to day.

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bluechip508

bluechip508

Posted
Posted (edited)

I, too, was on the Atlantis charter on the Golden Princess from Oct 5-13. Just to add to what has already been explained, this year is the first time the government has banned a chemical previously used to remove mussels that accumulate on the hulls of cruise ships during the Alaska season. Princess should have anticipated the problem with dying mussels being sucked into the intake valves and clogging their filters for a/c compressors and water production when they were docking in warm water ports where the water temps were higher than normal this year. This problem reached critical mass during the overnight in Puerto Vallarta. Returning to the ship on the second day in Puerto Vallarta, there was an intense fish smell on the lower deck where we boarded. We didn't know it at the time, but the smell was from the mussels. Some staterooms had no a/c, and others had little a/c. I was in an ocean view stateroom that had limited a/c, and it was pretty uncomfortable. The temp and humidity in Puerto Vallarta was very high, so even those with balconies did not get any relief by leaving their doors open. Some public rooms were very uncomfortable. I thought it was wrong to cut off a/c to the crew quarters. The crew on this ship had gone through hell with the previous 3day Groove Cruise charter with out of control, abusive passengers who were trashing the ship. I was told Princess had to bring on a professional cleaning crew to supplement the crew to clean the ship after the Groove Cruise charter, and apparently 15 people from the Groove Cruise charter were arrested upon return to San Pedro on Oct 5. The crew said they enjoyed the Atlantis charter so much more than the Groove Cruise crowd. Anyone complaining about the Princess crew on the Atlantis charter needs to remember what they went through on the Groove Cruise and what they endured without a/c in their quarters. I found the crew to be responsive and friendly in all my encounters. The reason the Atlantis charter passengers received such a generous credit is because Rich Campbell, the president of Atlantis Events, was on the charter and was a strong advocate for his clients. Kudos to Rich and the entire Atlantis team for taking extremely good care of their clients. Atlantis and its subsidiary RSVP Vacations do a lot of business with Carnival Corporation brands, so passengers benefited from this relationship.

Edited by bluechip508
Typo
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satxdiver

satxdiver

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the report on the Golden. We board it next Monday and will keep in mind the experiences the crew has had to deal with prior to our boarding. From what I have been told is that the crew likes for the Atlantis group to be on board. Welcome home.

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avery66

avery66

Posted
Posted (edited)

We were on the Golden Sept 21-28 (back-to-back Vancouver to LA 3-day, then LA r/t 4-day Getaway) and while we didn't have any A/C issues in our cabin on the Dolphin deck or in the public areas, we know that large sections of passenger cabins on other decks did experience A/C problems. We first heard about this when we got to LA.

Edited by avery66
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bluechip508

bluechip508

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the report on the Golden. We board it next Monday and will keep in mind the experiences the crew has had to deal with prior to our boarding. From what I have been told is that the crew likes for the Atlantis group to be on board. Welcome home.

 

Just to clarify, the problems that stressed the Golden Princess crew were from the Groove Cruise prior to the Atlantis charter. The Atlantis charter had none of the problems with bad behavior and destruction of property that were seen by the crew on the Groove Cruise.

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SoCal Cruiser78

SoCal Cruiser78

Posted
Posted
No, it's apparently a dance music cruise... bordering on a rave at sea.

 

http://thegroovecruise.com/

 

I was on the cruise just before it, and some staff were already concerned about it. At the risk of being flamed, I am surprised that Princess booked this charter. It wasn't consistent with their image. Carnival does the same ports, so I'm surprised they went with Princess.

 

Perhaps Princess is trying to cultivate a non-traditional demographic for charters if they can't get them on regular cruises?

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