Golden Princess Review Nov 3-10 Sailing

[lsc]

Member Reviews

Home > Member Reviews > Golden Princess

 

Princess Cruises

Golden Princess

Member Name: lsc

Cruise Date: November 2007

Embarkation: Los Angeles

Destination: Mexican Riviera

Cabin Category: D

Cabin Number: 722

Booking Method: Local Travel Agency

lsc's Rating

Overall

Dining

Public Rooms

Cabins

Entertainment Not Rated

Spa & Fitness Not Rated

Family & Children Not Rated

Shore Excursions Not Rated

Embarkation

Service

Rates

 

 

 

 

 

Cruise Critic's Golden Princess review

See all Golden Princess Member Reviews

See all Princess Member Reviews

Princess Cruises Message Board

See all Golden Princess Ratings

Sponsored Links:

Princess Last Minute Close-out deals

Princess: Book online for our guaranteed low rates!

 

 

 

Pre-Cruise - We stayed at the Westin Long Beach the day prior to our departure. It was a very nice hotel with very comfortable beds.

Embarkation - We headed to the port around 10:45 a.m. As soon as our entire group arrived, we went on in and did the paper work for our Sign & Sale cards. Because one of the couples in our group were Preferred Princess members, my husband and I were allowed to wait in a special area with them and enjoyed coffee and small pastries. After a short wait, we boarded the ship. We were aboard and in our cabins by 11:30. We decided to go to the buffet to eat before it got crowded.

 

This was my 10th cruise. I found the Golden Princess relatively easy to find my way around compared some of the other ships I've been on. The pools were good and seems to have plenty of seating. The Vista Lounge and the Princess Theatre were nice for shows; however, we only saw two of the comedians that were on board who were quite good. We did not see any of the Princess productions themselves.

 

Our room steward was Ricardo. He was quite good. Everytime we asked for anything, he got it. Considering he was responsible for 17 cabins, he always took care of our needs. He got us robes the first day. The 2nd day I requested an egg crate and top sheet as the bed only had a duvet on it which was too hot. By night I had both. On the third day, I requested new mattresses as I felt we were sleeping in a hammock. The mattresses definitely need replaced. Ricardo told me he would only be able to get me another mattress, hopefully, one less worn, as new ones are on order. The bed was a little better, but not a whole lot. It felt good to get back in my own bed!! Aside from the bed, the room was good sized with plenty of closet space for clothes and luggage; and the bathrooms were not the tiny ones we had on other cruises where they are no bigger than a large linen closet.

 

The food at the buffet was pretty good; but the flow of line at the buffet left an awful lot to be desired. The one thing I missed which would have made things nicer for everyone was to have servers pouring coffee, tea or water or at least refills for these beverages. I've been on other Princess ships that have done this and it makes it less congested at the coffee area and your food doesn't get cold while you're trying to get your beverage. Don't know if this is just a niche to the Golden Princess or whether this is a cutback for Princess across the board.

 

We had Anytime Dining and I'm sorry we did. In passed cruises we were able to reserve a table in the anytime dining room for around 7:00. However, the hostess in the Donatello Dining told us we had to call for reservations each day. Therefore, because we had such a large group (2 tables of 8) we found we had to go to dinner by 6:00-6:30. It became a fiasco that we ended breaking up into different groups. On Thursday, my husband and I had made special arrangements for a specific table earlier in the day for six. We and another couple were celebrating our 25th anniversary. When we arrived we were told by Zoytiana, the hostess, that the table we requested was not available and that a mistake had been made by the reservationist on the phone. As it turned out, we only needed a table for four. At this point, we still wanted a table in the section I had originally requested since the service we had received all week in the other sections had not been good. The Hostess refused to listen to us and tried to seat us somewhere else. It wasn't until we raised our voices some more and made it clear we wanted to sit no where else, that the table we wanted became available.

 

By this time in the week, we had had enough of the attitude from the hostesses of not being customer friendly or willing to make everyone satisfied. Between the ordeal with Zoytiana and the other hostess earlier in the week telling us we had to call for reservations daily, we thought they could more congenial. After dinner Thursday, we found out from some of our group who at in the Benini dining room that night, that they had a great wait staff for a table of ten and reserved the same table for Friday night right then and there. That made we question, what the heck is wrong with the hostesses in the Donatello room?

 

As for the wait staff in general, it was felt that most of the staff did not go out of their way to provide top notch service that we used to get when we first started cruising. (1) I think the automatic tips do not provide incentive for the staff to work harder. (2) and the staff is not as happy and it reflects in their work and customer service.

 

One thing that I didn't like was when you purchase a beverage, you do not get a copy of the bill. You have no idea how expensive any of the drinks are and this ship does have the capability of TV Screen access of your account like some cruise lines do. Therefore, you have to be careful or you could be in for a surprise. I did have a question on my bill, that the receipt from the store ship didn't match by ship bill. When I ask about it at the Purser's Desk, the guy there asked "did you check at the store?" with an attitude like I new that's where I would have to start to get my charge corrected.

 

Excursions - We didn't do any of the ship excursions. For Puerto Vallarta, our group had contacted El Eden Zipline tour on line. This was a great trip for those who can climb lots of hills and steps. It was a lot of fun. We booked a tour in Mazatlan with Mazatlan Frank. It was a great tour that encompassed a lot of the ship tours. He took us to old and new Mazatlan, El Cid where the more expensive homes are, we saw cliff divers, and the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. We went shopping and then to a resort for a full lunch and swim in the 3 pools and ocean. Also went to a Tequila distillery. Well worth the price of $55 plus tip. Cabo - since we didn't have much time there, we just went in to the docks and shopped for some t-shirts. Just didn't feel there was time to enjoy an excursion since we were there for such a short time. (Just a note - the RCCL Vision of the Seas ship had the same cruise in reversed, same number of days, but had a full day in Cabo as well as the other ports.)

 

Debarkation took about the same amount of times as usual for us. We went directly to the airport without incident.

 

As stated before, this was my 10th cruise (3rd on a Princess ship). My girlfriend had been on the Golden and Grand before and spoke very highly of the ship. Therefore my expectations were high. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find the service not up to service received on previous cruises and the beds being as uncomfortable as they were. Since some of their other services do not seem to be up to par, I doubt that I'll be cruising on Princess again. I'd rather go on Royal Caribbean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Publication Date: 11/19/07

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review thanks. :)

[MamaTene]

Second time sailing her for us as we were first aboard in 2001. Course that was her inaugural year and I failed to realize that when we booked again this year. All I can say is big difference in the 6 year span as to service and quality of food. Can understand the wear and tear on the ship but they did do the best they could to always be cleaning, varnishing, repairing etc.

Really enjoyed the Desert Rose Steakhouse as the food and service reminded us of how cruising USE TO BE! Now it seems you pay extra for that level of service.

Did breakfast and one lunch in the dining room....very good!

PC dining left much to be desired to say the least. Food and service way below par.

Loved the burgers, fries, pizza and hot dogs by the pool. Very yummy and always served hot!

Great comedian Keven Hughes on board --both shows were very good.

Caught a couple of movies in the Princess Theatre during the afternoon.

Our cabin was very nice...minisuite with lots of rooms and storage space. Great cabin attendant who was quick to respond to any and all requests we had.

On a scale of 1-10 I would give this cruise a 6

[Purple Passion]

Test

[MamaTene]

Go on and do your thing!

[newmexicoNita]

Second time sailing her for us as we were first aboard in 2001. Course that was her inaugural year and I failed to realize that when we booked again this year. All I can say is big difference in the 6 year span as to service and quality of food. Can understand the wear and tear on the ship but they did do the best they could to always be cleaning, varnishing, repairing etc.

Really enjoyed the Desert Rose Steakhouse as the food and service reminded us of how cruising USE TO BE! Now it seems you pay extra for that level of service.

Did breakfast and one lunch in the dining room....very good!

PC dining left much to be desired to say the least. Food and service way below par.

Loved the burgers, fries, pizza and hot dogs by the pool. Very yummy and always served hot!

Great comedian Keven Hughes on board --both shows were very good.

Caught a couple of movies in the Princess Theatre during the afternoon.

Our cabin was very nice...minisuite with lots of rooms and storage space. Great cabin attendant who was quick to respond to any and all requests we had.

On a scale of 1-10 I would give this cruise a 6

Not just Princess butr all lines have changed in the past 5 years. I don't know abou service but food quality and quanity are way down. Many of us forget the price of cruising has hardly increased but the price of food in some cases has doubled. Something has to give.

 

Nita

[DMorris]

Great review Lorraine

[wizard-of-roz]

Thanks for sharing your experiences......We will be on the Golden, on Saturday.....I look forward to an enjoyable week!

You gave me a good idea about asking for a top sheet, on the bed.....I hadn't thought of that....I will do it!!!!

And, I happen to like the beds....the harder the better....however, if the bed moves around on the floor like a cot.....then I'm upset!!!!!

Princess beds remind me of those "corner groups" of yesteryear! I actually liked sleeping on them then and I like the feel of them now!....You can't call me a "Princess!";)

[jagmanss1]

Here is my opinion on this cruise 11/03/07 - 11/10/107

My wife and I were on this same sailing as Isc and agree with her assessment and have comments of my own....

 

Pre-Cruise

We also stayed at the Westin Long Beach and although it was in a great location and nice area within walking distance to all Restuarants, We didn't really care for it. If we had not gotten such A good rate I would not stay again. I felt the room to be your standard 2 double bed and nothing special, No fan in bathroom, No balconies, No free shuttle service, They charge hotel guests a parking fee and not even A continental breakfast.... The pool area run down and this is billed to be A 5 star Hotel.... If big beutiful atriums and decor of the commom areas are your thing than this is the place...

 

We stayed at the Quality Inn orlando Airport the night before our flight to LAX and they were clean and had 2 queen beds, Nicley landscaped pool area, balonies, free continental breakfast in an open seating area, Free shuttle service to the area and airport, Free parking of our car for 8 days.... Now this is my kinda place for only $69 per night.... Hey!! We only need to sleep there.... But the little extras are nice....

 

Embarkation

We had friends of ours take us to the port around noon and there were hardley any lines and were on within 10 min...

Side Note: To those wondering if you can bring beer onboard.... I tested what I have read on these boards... I bought an 18 pack of Bud cans and put A luggage tag on it and asked the porter if this can get to my cabin and he said no problem, I tipped him and went on my way thinking yeah that will be the last I see of that... Not so... To my amazement it not only arrived But was the first piece of luggage that arrived Nice!!!

 

Ship Details

Found this ship hard to navigate... We were on the Island Princess 2 yrs ago and thought this would be about the same... Not even close.... We found that our favorite spot to go for pre-Dinner drinks was the Martini bar on deck 7 which is really called the promanade bar on the deck plans and still don't really know what it is called, But they made the best lemon drop martini's on the ship... We found nothing was ever clearly marked as to what loung you were at.... we looked on the side of the doors,Behind the doors and found no signs ever... Hmm.. Maybe I'm going blind...

Dining

We also chose anytime dining and we did like it.... We never really had A problem getting A drink order before dinner, But they never really asked if I needed another either and that empty glass would sit there for 1/2 the meal, Never on any cruise have I had this happen.... The food is very subjective as on any line and thought it was good.. The prime rib on the 1st night I thought was excellent as was the escargot, Beef Wellington, lobster tails and prawns... The problem here stemed from service... The waiters would take our order from around the table and would forget who orderd what... ok is that not what they make A pen and pencil for? Even when they wrote it down they got it wrong... Example of many: My wife and I both orderd 2 Escargot a piece and only received 1 and the waiter wrote it down ....

 

There were times where I got the crap scared out of me and the waiters hand would come over my shoulder and grab A plate without even an excuse me or any word or warning... Throughout the cruise I anticipated this move and trust me it happend alot and kept my eye on them only to be outwitted during mid conversation...

 

Smiles!! everyone Smiles!!! Not really... Some did some didn't... Not even A greeting at times.... They would come up take the napkin put it on your lap and hand you A menu....

We got really lucky on the 6th night of our cruise by finding Jorge and Leo (table 61) in the Donatello dining room. They were awesome! These two pulled it together and provided us service that had been sorely missing all week! We were so thrilled we immediately reserved their table for the next night too! Jorge sang to us and made jokes. He even teamed up with several of Our group to play a joke our friend and another of our party! My hat is off to Jorge and Leo for saving our cruise!

 

Horizon Court .... This seemed to be bottle necked and from what I observed most people thought there was A Line, But really was not.... There were 2 entrances into the buffet stations that were not clearly marked.. Most times I would just skip getting in line for A plate and mill about to see if I wanted someting 1st...My wife did find and have some good selections of food including the smoked fish that was excellent along with the Ribs... We skipped out on the dining room one night and ate here and thought the food was good not excellent but ok..... Again service came into play... no smiles no greeting....

 

Pizza... As always the Pizza on Princess is the best and looked foward to it and on the most part was very good, But found it to be inconsistent unlike the Island princess there were times it was under cooked and unedible and the same person was always baking it on the most part and had to throw it away and wait and go back and it was very good again.....

 

Desert Rose... We ate here with several other couples and the food and service were awesome for $15pp can not be missed the 10oz filet was done to perfection the prawns (giant shrimp) Biggest I ever saw were excellent.. Service.... Outstanding with smiles and greetings.... I also I find it sad that you have to pay to get great service that has in all previous cruises been there throught the ship.... Enough on dining... any questins ask

 

 

Entertainment

The comedian kevin Hughs is not to be missied, His show is called Relationships and is in 2 parts and is the funniest comedian I have seen in A long time...

We went to a ventriloquist show and thought it was hokey and not very good besides the lights being brought up and stayed on blinding you for all the late straglers was annoying as were the people coming in 1/2 hour late and so we decided to leave....

 

The pool area band was ok, but I guess I'm not into mexican music.... Thought the pipied in top 20's was way better and when the band came on we either left or tuned them out... I know this was A mexican Riviera cruise and the band I guess should be in the theme of things I just didn't think they were very good at all...

 

Purser’s Desk

Purser’s Desk service was pretty darn cold and impersonal. I have met nicer people at an emergency room check in desk! Not a single smile in the bunch! Not even a hello or how are you! These people ARE the front line faces for Princess Cruises. Don’t you think they should give “EXCELLENT” service? Morticians are warmer.

 

Ports next....

I should also make it known that we also had the auto tips removed because of the lack of service and tipped who we felt deserved it in cash.... 1st cruise I ever felt the need not to tip because of poor service.... This is sad and autotip I feel is to blame..... Back to what we observed

 

our cabin attendant was lacking in getting ice that we had requested twice at 1st and needed to remind him with A note that we requested to have 2 buckets of ice filled at all times... At 1st only one then had to call for the other several times... requested 2 bathrobes and only got 1 the next day.... The second day I noticed that we never received our coupon booklet that others in our group had received from our TA and asked allen about it and he said he would check into it and get back with us... He never followed through even though I asked for several days... Would have went to the pursers desk but after what we have seen from them I knew I would get nowhere and gave up and called it a loss... He only did what was needed in the cabin and we barely saw him most of the cruise... Until the last night when he decided to talk up a storm about how he was on for 10 months and will now be off for 10 months... Ok that explains the lack of service, But he was ok and did tip him in cash

 

Room service.... This was another area that was inconsitent.... We had filled out the breakfast card every night and set it out... food came on time but things were always missing.... This was not the blame of the person that brought it so I still tipped, but 1 morn I held the door open for the staff person delivering the order and she was rude and said you need to move in a nasty tone... you get the idea... enough of that...

 

Ports

 

Puerto Vallarta

We did the El Eden Zipline with some of our group and found that this one is pretty extreme in the amount of climbing you need to do up steep steps and I mean alot of steps... you ziped off and no sooner were you walking up a crapload of steps sweating and panting and really never had the time to stop and look at the sceenery... It was fun zipping but not climbing....On the site we booked from it did not mention how in shape you need to be... Our neighbors in the cabin above us did the ship sponsored zipline tour and said it was nowhere as extreme as what we had done... Not sure I would do it again...

 

The vendors near the port area were very aggresive and if you were looking for lets say a certain t-shirt in purple they had you come into their store and try and sell you anything but and then chase you running in front of you shoving other stuff in your face... They are willing to bargain, But they start off ridiculously high $28 and buy the time they are ready to sell they drop to about $8

 

Mazatlan

We had done A tour with Mazatlan Frank and this guy is awesome as is his tour, He gave us alot of hints about shopping and followed them... We Felt very safe with frank and he would even help us bargain in the stores.... This is were the vendors came in again... We stopped to see the cliff divers (not to be missed) But the vendors were like vultars they swarmed you stuffing there wares in your face and were almost chasing our bus as it left....

 

Cabo San Lucas

My wife and I had decided before we left on this cruise that we were going to Medano Beach and The office and did on the recommendation of friends of ours that have been there before... we were not hungry so we just walked the beach and it is A nice looking beach.... About the same we have here in Florida with one exception: The timeshare people, We just didn't look at them and or would say no thanks and that was that.... We met up with some in our group and sat off to the left side of the office and that is where the relentless vendors started again...

 

We would be in mid-conversation and have to constantly say no thanks, But it didn't end there the exact same people would circle and come back and keep it up like in the past 5 min we changed our minds or we didn't see you just 5 min ago....

Hint: If you have sun glasses wear them and at least the guy trying to sell them will leave you alone..My wife pointed this out and I took them out and wore them and they stopped

Hint: don't wear alot of jewlery... They think you have money and want more....

 

Summary

I really can't put my finger on it, But would have to say this if it makes any sense.... I feel that overall the only thing that was consistent about this ship and crew was how consisent they were about being inconsistent

 

Overall on A scale of 1-10 I would give this cruise a 5 also, But individual wise I would give the golden princees as A ship a 7.... the food a 7 .... The service a 2 .... The ports a 4..... I can't and won't say that we won't sail princess again but may think twice... I can say that overall we did not like Mexico and will not return... I undersatand that the people who live there are a poor people and need to make a living, But at what expense to the tourist.. We are glad we went and saw how another culture lives, But we just prefer the Caribbean ports better and yes including Jamaica... Just an FYI We would go back to Hawaii again in a heartbeat

[jamu]

Thanks for the great info. You gave us some things to look out for.

 

It's a shame about the service. I have only done personal choice dining. Are the regular seatings that much better?

[ivielane2]

What a wonderful cruise.... Gorgeous ship. We had absolutely no complaints. Food good, service good, didn't go to shows, just enjoyed our balcony after dinner, warm weather beautiful, no rain. Waiter was better than good, head waiter very attentive as I requested low salt diet and he brought the menu for the next day every night. Cabin girl very good. Enjoyed the bigger ship very much. Took 6 bottles of wine, not an eyebrow raised......... Left out of San Pedro, stayed at the Crown Plaza, very impressed. Will do that again......... On a scale of 1 to 10 I have to say it's a 10! Booked Star Princess for Nov. 10, 2008 out of San Francisco,have aft C753! :D

[jagmanss1]

ivielane2,

Just for info for others.... How many cruises have you done on Princess and how many all together with other cruise lines... Thanks for any info

[ivielane2]

ivielane2,

 

Just for info for others.... How many cruises have you done on Princess and how many all together with other cruise lines... Thanks for any info

 

10 cruises total.

This was the 6th cruise on the Princess, 5 on Dawn and 1 on Golden and 1 on Celebrity Mercury to Mex. Riviera, 1 on Celebrity Mercury to Western Caribbean (our very first cruise) and 1 on Infinity to Hawaii, 1 on Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas to Hawaii.

[Colo Cruiser]

Test

 

 

HUH????? :confused:

[geoherb]

One thing that I didn't like was when you purchase a beverage, you do not get a copy of the bill. You have no idea how expensive any of the drinks are and this ship does (not) have the capability of TV Screen access of your account like some cruise lines do.

We've never had a problem getting a receipt from bar waiters on a Princess ship. And I like to check with the pursers desk about midway through the cruise. They'll print out a copy of our charges so far so I can match them up to our receipts to make sure they're right. The only time we had a problem was on a Celebrity ship, where a bartender charged a drink twice to our account.

 

And one of the reasons we like traditional dining is so that we will have the same waiters every time. On our last Princess cruise, we did not have the best wait team--but they were usually pretty good. I think the waiters in the traditional dining room work harder to satisfy since they know their tips depend on it. The waiters in the anytime dining rooms don't have quite the same incentive since their tips are pooled.

[Purple Passion]

The waiters in the anytime dining rooms don't have quite the same incentive since their tips are pooled.

 

This is still NO excuse for the very POOR service that we received. But a lesson has been learned & we will not be doing anytime dining again.

[lsc]

Thanks for sharing your experiences......We will be on the Golden, on Saturday.....I look forward to an enjoyable week!

You gave me a good idea about asking for a top sheet, on the bed.....I hadn't thought of that....I will do it!!!!

And, I happen to like the beds....the harder the better....however, if the bed moves around on the floor like a cot.....then I'm upset!!!!!

Princess beds remind me of those "corner groups" of yesteryear! I actually liked sleeping on them then and I like the feel of them now!....You can't call me a "Princess!";)

 

I'm not sure which Princess ship has hard beds, but both the original bed we had and the replacement mattresses that we got were definitely not hard. The first mattress we had felt like we were trying to sleep in a hammock. The second mattress was a little better, but not much. Could hardly wait to get home to my bed and to my chiropractor!!

[DrivesLikeMario]

[/color]There were times where I got the crap scared out of me and the waiters hand would come over my shoulder and grab A plate without even an excuse me or any word or warning... Throughout the cruise I anticipated this move and trust me it happend alot and kept my eye on them only to be outwitted during mid conversation...

 

Some people consider that "unobtrusive" service and prefer it. Some waiters are trained to remove dishes without making a sound. :cool: