Live from Golden Princess

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, GUT2407 said:

Thus I want to use one of those trackers to check the next day where we have been.

It is easy enough to use when looking at where you have been, not so great at looking at where you are going.

[VK3DQ]

Hi Folks

 

Down to my last 20 mins of internet  so this is the last "live" post .. will have more to add when we arrive home

 

thanks for  watching

 

John

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for all your input John, have really enjoyed it.

[Russell21]

2 hours ago, VK3DQ said:

Hi Folks

 

Down to my last 20 mins of internet  so this is the last "live" post .. will have more to add when we arrive home

 

thanks for  watching

 

John

Many thanks mate, it's been great.

[VK3DQ]

06/11/2018

 

Written whilst on board Golden Princess en route Luganville to Melbourne Australia

 

We are on board Princess cruises Golden Princess towards the end of a fourteen night cruise to the Pacific Islands ex Melbourne Australia, this is our third cruise with Princess cruises and also our third in Golden Princess over a period of approx 3 years

 

We hope to present an accurate description of our cruise experience.

 

Lets start with perhaps the most contentious of issues namely food.

 

On board Golden Princess we rate the food as 3/10.

Both quality and variety of food in ALL venues has declined dramatically to the point that on this issue alone we have decided that we will not in the foreseeable future cruise with Princess.

 

The Main dining room (club class)

 

Breakfast is the best meal on the ship nicely presented with a limited but good selection of all the normal breakfast items

 

Lunch again nicely presented but very limited menu

 

Dinner , somewhat hit and miss , quality not up to standard staff trying their best to compensate for poor quality offerings.

 

 

The Horizon Grill is nothing but a complete shambles serving poor quality items and a very restricted range of food, I'm sorry I cannot express a good word about the quality , presentation and variety of the food in this venue

 

The staff whilst trying were not able to do much here

 

!

The Crown Grill

 

Just dont do it ! Third rate steaks poorly presented

 

 

Trident Grill

Grab a bowl of chips here and forget the rest , you could learn a great deal from McDonalds who's burgers are far superior to those served on board Golden Princess

 

Pizza

 

Just forget it ….total failure you dont have a clue

 

 

International Cafe

 

Reasonable coffee if only one could ever find a seat

 

Room service

 

Rather good prompt service and a reasonable selection

 

 

The Ship

 

The ship is at a stage where is now needs a great deal of attention if it is not to fall into a state of decay

The ships structure in parts is showing extensive rust and if this is not arrested now it will be hard to rectify

Areas of the ship electrical system IE the smoke detecting system on deck nine outside balcony doors has exposed wiring and broken conduit system , the fire suppression system supply lines exhibit extensive corrosion

 

Interior décor of the ship is in some areas beginning to look shabby for instance along the cabin accommodation corridors the laminate lining wall areas is showing its age whilst some carpets are more worn that one would expect to see.

 

Deck chairs on balcony are worn and tarnished and in some cases splotched with white paint

 

Plumbing is working fine no bad smells or blockages shower heads need replacing beds are nice however sofa bed has large split in upholstery

 

large new TV's in rooms

 

public areas are well kept

 

This is however a NOISEY ship the only areas to escape the constant din is in your own cabin or in Skywalkers in the daytime

 

 

 

 

Lifeboats and Tenders were all tested and working .. but ALL of them could do with a good clean inside and out they look downright tatty

 

 

Its a shame that such a nice ship has been allowed to decline she will go to P&O another Old Lady sent down under to work out her remaining years (The tradition continues)

 

Ships Language

 

I wonder what Exactly the regulations say for this British Registered Ship with regards to the ships working language???

 

My observations indicate that many of the ships officers and crew have only a very basic knowledge of English, to me this is a worry

One thing I was alarmed at was the main ships alarm system was very hard to hear in our deck nine stateroom this should be fixed as soon as possible .

 

 

Staff

There was some sort of incident yesterday involving dining room staff I saw a line of staff being “escorted” out of the dining room and at our next meal a large number of faces are missing ????????

 

Cannot get any info on this they have clammed up

 

 

Please dont get us wrong we have enjoyed our cruise , we just note that we think there are better options in todays competitive marketplace

 

Our next cruise is on Ovation of the seas …..is it tooooooo Big??

 

 

Regards

 

John & Jean & Elsie

[getting older slowly]

Thanks for the latest update John , we are boarding Thursday, our last trip was in Feb this year, and all was pretty good with Food and Service.

 

Hoping the food is not that bad, as we are book again on the Golden in Feb 2019

 

As not taking computer and doesn't have a smart phone, I will write comments when we get back.

 

the Main thing is we plan to enjoy ourselves no matter what.

 

Cheers Don

 

ps this will be our third cruise on the golden with princess in two years

Edited November 6, 2018 by getting older slowly
add a ps

[possum52]

Thanks for your review John.

 

We are boarding Thursday so hopefully we find no problems. Like Don, we found the food quite good in the MDR when we cruised in Feb and March, we could always find something on the menu we enjoyed so hope that is the same this coming cruise. 

 

If I get a chance to post while away I will but if not, will post a review when we return.

 

Leigh

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for your thoughts John, sorry to hear the food was so bad.

rest assured, the Ovation has a wow factor, even if you don't want to try all the special activities, it is much newer and and IMO, the service and the food, especially in the specialty restaurants is right up there.

[MicCanberra]

5 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Thanks for your review John.

 

We are boarding Thursday so hopefully we find no problems. Like Don, we found the food quite good in the MDR when we cruised in Feb and March, we could always find something on the menu we enjoyed so hope that is the same this coming cruise. 

 

If I get a chance to post while away I will but if not, will post a review when we return.

 

Leigh

I look forward to hearing your thoughts as well.

[LC1950]

A question for the OP ... John, could you advise who was the head chef on your cruise?  Reason I ask is that I've done 3 cruises on the Golden and found the food not up to par on the first 2 cruises (same head chef unfortunately) but on the 3rd cruise (a different head chef) the quality of the food offerings was much improved and most enjoyable. 

 

I've found that whoever is in charge in the galley has an enormous influence on the quality of the food offerings.

Edited November 6, 2018 by LC1950
Spelling.

[GUT2407]

Thanks John have enjoyed following along.

[NSWP]

Thanks for your comments, does not sound too good.  Changed since we were on Golden for 30 days in 2014, Buenos Aires to LA.  I really do think Princess cut the budget when they operate in OZ.

[MicCanberra]

No pillow chocs either I suppose.

[VK3DQ]

We are home

 

Station pier was not too bad , they ran a shuttle form ship to ca park but it would not have been good in the rain

 

We had a good time despite a few moans and groans.... but price cutting was evident

 

PS the Bingo went off at $60075 .00   the bad news is we did not win

 

 

More later

 

Regards

 

John   PS some good photos of Wilsons Prom to come 

[VK3DQ]

20 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

No pillow chocs either I suppose.

yep we got chokkies

 

[GUT2407]

34 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

We are home

 

Station pier was not too bad , they ran a shuttle form ship to ca park but it would not have been good in the rain

 

We had a good time despite a few moans and groans.... but price cutting was evident

 

PS the Bingo went off at $60075 .00   the bad news is we did not win

 

 

More later

 

Regards

 

John   PS some good photos of Wilsons Prom to come 

Glad your home safe, never seen a shuttle there, could be handy.

[GUT2407]

2 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

yep we got chokkies

 

Last Princess Cruise we got a biscuit.

 

wasnt happy, after all there’s never anything to eat on a cruise.

[VK3DQ]

Stewardess was going on leave today.. 3 months unpaid and thence to Star princess  .....

Spending Christmas with family  

 

Many crew supporting familys at home

 

 

Now WE find my laptop in still in the  hire car bringing it back tonight

[GUT2407]

3 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

Stewardess was going on leave today.. 3 months unpaid and thence to Star princess  .....

Spending Christmas with family  

 

Many crew supporting familys at home

 

 

Now WE find my laptop in still in the  hire car bringing it back tonight

Great service from the hire car driver.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, VK3DQ said:

We are home

 

Station pier was not too bad , they ran a shuttle form ship to ca park but it would not have been good in the rain

 

We had a good time despite a few moans and groans.... but price cutting was evident

 

PS the Bingo went off at $60075 .00   the bad news is we did not win

 

 

More later

 

Regards

 

John   PS some good photos of Wilsons Prom to come 

Unlucky for you, I suppose someone is happy.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, VK3DQ said:

yep we got chokkies

 

Every night or just formal?

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, VK3DQ said:

Stewardess was going on leave today.. 3 months unpaid and thence to Star princess  .....

Spending Christmas with family  

 

Many crew supporting familys at home

 

 

Now WE find my laptop in still in the  hire car bringing it back tonight

Lucky it was in the car and not left elsewhere.

[VK3DQ]

img-181108122525.pdf

[VK3DQ]

sorry try again

[VK3DQ]

Oh dear hickups

img-181108122525.pdf

Edited November 8, 2018 by VK3DQ