Golden Princess was a Royal Failure

Golden Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

lkmontano

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 39

Overall rating:

1 out of 5

7 Night Alaska Inside Passage With Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 17, 2014

Ship: Golden Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

This is my 9th cruise. First and last on Princess. I booked 2 balcony rooms 1 for myself and my family and 1 my parents.

Dated ship,Staterooms dirty with stained carpet and mold in the showers (see photo)

Difficult to find hand sanitizer on ship only near buffet and coffee shop not even at main dining rooms I had to buy my own in gift shop $5 for 1oz

Barely warm food on buffet,Hair in my food 2 times in dining room the second time I had my phone and snapped a photo(see photo).

A passanger fell off the very steep gangway(see photo) in Ketchikan then they would not allow passangers off in Victoria BC due to the ship being behind schedule yet other ships following our same itiniary were allowing their passangers off at this port while we sat on the ship and watched.Probably afraid someone else would fall and they would get sued.

Very disorganized all around. Do not take this cruise just based on the belief that Princess in an upscale cruise line NCL is awsome and even Carnival is better.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

If you like hair in the food it was delicious

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

dated dirty moldy

Ship tip

DO NOT go on it at all that is my tip! Book on NCL if you can or even Carnival.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

5 out of 5

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Skagway, Alaska

5 out of 5

Cruise Glacier Bay

5 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5

Victoria, British Columbia

3 out of 5

I do not know I was not allowed off my ship! I just got to watch the Westerdam passengers get off and on from the HC deck!

Thumbs Up 0

Traveler Photos

5 Comments

GTVCRUISER 10 years ago

My first cruise to Alaska was on the Golden Princess , I liked that ship

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lkmontano 10 years ago

I have been on the Star as well and I agree it was the worst NCL ship I have been on but it was still a thousand times better then this one! They were actually the ones who met us with warm towels in the rain. I do read reviews and 90% of the time book NCL. What happened in this situation was I was originally booked on the Carnival Miracle as the price was significantly lower then NCL and the ship had a great rating. About a month before we were to leave we received notification from our travel agent that the Miracle was having "technical issues" and would be reducing speed and cancelling the Ketchikan stop. No way was I getting on a Carnival ship in Alaska that was already having issues. We had already arranged schedules and taken time off work which included closing my office and other employees now having plans. Princess was the only option that worked in this time frame I guess I trusted their reputation a little too much.

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JusMe 10 years ago

Before you book a cruise do some internet research about the ship. Every cruise line has a bad Ship, just as some Hilton hotels are not as nice as others. I had thought of taking the Golden Princess until I read reviews posted on different web sites. I had a great Cruise on NCL Pearl but my worst cruise was on the NCL Star. Every Line has good and bad ships.

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lkmontano 10 years ago

Try NCL they are really great it is a long story why we ended up on Princess instead of NCL. But an example of NCL service is on a rainy day they meet you at the gangway with hot drinks and cover you in a warm towel and that is in the Caribbean!

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wavereview 10 years ago

Thank you for informing me about someone falling off the gangway. Now we know why the Captain tried to make us think it was bad weather that prevented us from getting off in Victoria when in reality it was a big lie. When we were arriving back to Seattle he was sailing the Ship extremely super slow so that he would not get back to port early. I know because I woke up very early and saw the ship moving 1 knot for about three hours until he docked in seattle. My room was also dirty. Princess is horrible.

Thumbs Up 1

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Other reviews of this sailing

Dirty,moldy, unmaintained, ship no activities no shows disgusting food, missed ports and attractions - trip from hell

what a beautiful journey

Very Disappointed. Warning! Poor Service. dirty room. Bland food. Pay for your Coffee. Won't let you off the ship.