UpcountryTravelers Posted November 9, 2014 #1 Share Posted November 9, 2014 We are considering a cruise on Golden Princess, but have seen some very negative reviews on other sites. For the more objective and experienced cruisers on THIS site, does anyone have some recent info for us?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shredie Posted November 9, 2014 #2 Share Posted November 9, 2014 There are several current threads talking about the Golden. Scroll through the threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Patches Posted November 9, 2014 #3 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Sailed on the Golden earlier this year and had a wonderful cruise. Service and food were great. What specifically are you worried about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpcountryTravelers Posted November 9, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Sailed on the Golden earlier this year and had a wonderful cruise. Service and food were great. What specifically are you worried about? Just a new ship for us. We've been on a number of Princess ships (as you can see below), but not Golden. Just looking for recent info. Other sites have people saying some really terrible things, like poor service, unfriendly crew, poor condition of ship, etc. Not what I am used to on Princess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shredie Posted November 9, 2014 #5 Share Posted November 9, 2014 (edited) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2124408 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2124522 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2116305 Edited November 9, 2014 by shredie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickEk Posted November 9, 2014 #6 Share Posted November 9, 2014 We did a 3-day cruise on the Golden a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time, food was good, service at night was fine. We did have one issue at breakfast where service was a bit slow, but hey, we weren't going anywhere so it was fine. We saw the magic show, it was good. The biggest problem was that it was only 3 days... :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff in Torrance Posted November 9, 2014 #7 Share Posted November 9, 2014 We did a 4-day cruise a couple of weeks ago, and had a very good experience. Good food, great entertainment, very good service, etc. No complaints whatsoever. It was the 4th or 5th trip for us on the Golden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Patches Posted November 10, 2014 #8 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Just a new ship for us. We've been on a number of Princess ships (as you can see below), but not Golden. Just looking for recent info. Other sites have people saying some really terrible things, like poor service, unfriendly crew, poor condition of ship, etc. Not what I am used to on Princess. I would not worry. I have not found anything different about the quality of my cruises on the Golden from any of the other Princess ships I have sailed on in the past year. The service was excellent and the crew very friendly. Princess maintains all of their ships beautifully and the Golden is no exception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarateMan Posted November 10, 2014 #9 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Outstanding ship and in excellent condition. In March I did the 31 night South America cruise from Buenos Aires to Los Angeles. I could not fault the ship at all and had a fantastic time. I cant explain bad reviews, perhaps some people are so far up themselves that they see the need to big-note their life and elude to the fact that they are used to having better. Some people are never happy unless they are criticising things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar1950 Posted November 10, 2014 #10 Share Posted November 10, 2014 So far, in the last year, every bad review of the three ships that we sailed on (Golden included) had pretty much no resemblance to our experience. I think that there are some folks that expect more than most and that is their prerogative. A lot of times there are glitches, but, even with that said, we find that the cruise tends to be what you make of it. Overall, the Golden was fine.:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coveguy4 Posted November 10, 2014 #11 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The ship is constantly maintained, has a little wear and tear here and there, but overall a proud lady. Service has been very good which reflects a happy crew. I was on her in Sept, and going again next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtogo Posted November 10, 2014 #12 Share Posted November 10, 2014 We were on the Golden to Hawaii. I loved the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 to cruise Posted November 10, 2014 #13 Share Posted November 10, 2014 My husband and I were on the Golden in late September for a short 4 day cruise for our Anniversary - crew, service, food all was top notch. We had not been on the Golden before but it was great. I just came back Monday from the same 4 day cruise with "the girls." We had a fabulous time. Our room steward was great, food was wonderful, we found some of the crew actually singing as we went by them.:) Not a problem at all.............have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papakaiser Posted November 10, 2014 #14 Share Posted November 10, 2014 WE sailed on Golden princess in may to Alaska. Food was good. Service was very good. Ship was in great shape. I would go back on her in a minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Kinkacruiser Posted November 10, 2014 #15 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I wonder why would one Princess ship be any different to any other? I've only had experience with a handful, but enjoy each cruise and ship equally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satxdiver Posted November 10, 2014 #16 Share Posted November 10, 2014 We were on the Golden two weeks ago for a 4 day cruise. We had previously been on the Golden for a cruise out of Seattle to Alaska. Both times we have found the Golden to be just like the other grand class ships we have sailed. The food was good both in the MDR and HC, the entertainment was good as usual and the room steward did a really good job. We had a really nice cruise but as one pointed out already, our only complaint was that it was ONLY 4 days! We will be on the Golden again the first part of 2015 in South America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COMBOY Posted November 10, 2014 #17 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Just a new ship for us. We've been on a number of Princess ships (as you can see below), but not Golden. Just looking for recent info. Other sites have people saying some really terrible things, like poor service, unfriendly crew, poor condition of ship, etc. Not what I am used to on Princess. I sailed on the Golden P from Oct 5-13 and I didn't see anything like what you are saying. Princess is a mass market upscale cruise line. No it's not deluxe 5 star, but it does offers a relatively nice cruise experience. Food was typical cruise ship food. I found the service very good to outstanding. You can find bad reviews on every ship. According to Cruisecritic 78% loved the ship and 22% did not for whatever reasons. I found the interiors of the ship quite beautiful. Everything look nice and clean and new looking. Food is too subjective for comment, but I never went hungry. I always found something good to eat and I'm very picky. Remember - reviews are highly subjective and represent a small fraction of those who had actually sailed on the Golden P. Would I recommend the Golden P? - Yes. I'd give it a solid B+ score. It wasn't the best cruise I've been on, but certainly not the worst. The only thing negative I would say about the Golden P is that the outer deck areas looked a little worn and dirty. I think with all the passengers, weather, hot sun and wind these areas take a real beating. The problem is everyone has a different set of standards and IMO I think people tend to over exaggerate issues/problems a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critterchick Posted November 10, 2014 #18 Share Posted November 10, 2014 We're just off our second weekend getaway on Golden in the past 2 weeks. Our cabin (WS) is gorgeous, but it's also newer than most. The other cabins that I saw are in need of some freshening up - everything works, but they looked a little worn out. The public areas are gorgeous. On our sea day Saturday there was a parade of workers taking chairs along the Promenade Deck, presumably to be worked on somehow, so they are maintaining the public areas, at least. The ship is having surgery today - she has a problem with one of her thrusters, and will be departing LA late, perhaps even not until tomorrow. It had no impact on our cruise (it's not that far to Ensenada), but my port contact did mention that she has a lot of issues (he didn't elaborate). How often does Princess drydock their ships? I thought that Golden was lastdone up in 2009, which means that she should be due shortly, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuneauWhatIMean Posted November 10, 2014 #19 Share Posted November 10, 2014 DH and I sailed on her last week, S.D-Ensenada. We had a great time and yesterday I booked a 3-dayer for later this month. :) We're big fans of NCL and Celebrity but man, Princess sure runs a smooth operation. :cool: The only things we didn't like were the cold temperatures of the food in the buffet and the waaaaay over-salted seafood in the Crab Shack. (It was inedible and the manager couldn't have cared less. But he did remove the charge, so kudos for that.) Food in the MDR and Crown Grill was good to excellent. I did hear some strange grinding noises in the middle of the night a few times. We were in the BE forward section on the Caribe Deck and I thought it was the thrusters. It only lasted for a few seconds but definitely out of the ordinary. Now the good news- Mattresses were stacked up on the dock in San Pedro! (I know that a lot of people complain about the beds.) Our bed was firm, soft, and fluffy. Two pillows were med-firm and two were fluffy artificial down. I believe everything was new and the bed was heavenly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdjam Posted November 10, 2014 #20 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) for the more objective and experienced cruisers on this site, does anyone have some recent info for us?? ha ha ha ha ha :D:D:D:D Edited November 10, 2014 by bdjam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuneauWhatIMean Posted November 11, 2014 #21 Share Posted November 11, 2014 ha ha ha ha ha :D:D:D:D Well done. :p;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisin' Chick Posted November 11, 2014 #22 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Usually people with negative experiences will be more likely to go through the trouble of posting a review than someone who had a good experience. To me, often some of the comments that I see on these reviews on the main page or on reports in the forum just aren't relevant to me. I can see if you have physical problems with a cabin that can't be fixed (or if it takes several trips to the passenger services desk to get some action), for example. But often I see the most ridiculous comments. Before my most recent cruise (which was my second on the Golden), I decided to check out the recent reviews. One person obviously had listed the wrong ship! (was talking about a Med cruise and the Golden has been on the West Coast for some years...so I wrote to the administrators to point this out and the review got removed) Another review complained about the Hawaiian music. Had to :rolleyes: over this as it was a Hawaiian cruise, and most people who have taken this cruise absolutely gush over the musical duo who perform (on our two cruises with Elua on board, we tried to catch as many of their performances as possible). On a previous Hawaiian cruise, someone from my roll call complained that the rinds on the pineapple slices in the Horizon were removed. Another :rolleyes:. You can either cut it off or be like me and hold it by the rind while enjoying the fruit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shredie Posted November 11, 2014 #23 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Another review complained about the Hawaiian music. Had to :rolleyes: over this as it was a Hawaiian cruise' date=' and most people who have taken this cruise absolutely gush over the musical duo who perform (on our two cruises with Elua on board, we tried to catch as many of their performances as possible). [/quote'] That one is funny! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miagirl Posted November 11, 2014 #24 Share Posted November 11, 2014 We're just back from a 4 day on the Golden and LOVED every minute. We've sailed her a number of times and think she's a beautiful ship. I saw no indications of any "run down" conditions. The food and service was on par of what we expect - in other words excellent. :D The next time I have time and the Golden is going somewhere I want to go, we'll be back on her without a moment's hesitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpcountryTravelers Posted November 12, 2014 Author #25 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Great info, folks. We had already booked our 14th, 15th and 16th cruises with Princess before considering the Golden, so it is good to know that we will continue to receive the wonderful experience we are used to on the 17th cruise. :) Thanks to everyone for their comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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