The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Golden Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
10 Night Alaska Inside Passage With Glacier Bay (San Francisco Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 09, 2015
Ship: Golden Princess
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: D220
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
What was good.
The ports of call, the tours and the weather.
The weather was perfect at every port.
Juneau was raining in town, but NOT on the glacier where we were. Skagway and Ketchikan was overcast, Victoria started off with a light mist and cleared by the time we were outside at the Sunken Garden.
What was Bad.
The service in the main dining rooms is UNTRAINED! Except for ONE young lady (Anna from the Ukraine) orders were taken around the table. Should be Ladies first. Servers Consistently reached across in front of one guest to serve another. Food was served from both sides. Empty dishes were picked up the same. Doesn't ANYONE Serve from the Right & Pick up from the Left anymore? The wine cellar was out of numerous items on the list. My wife never got her first choice wine.
What was Ugly.
NOTHING save AIR is included in the fare. A 1/2 letter bottle of water is $2.00, as are sodas. Wine is about double the retail cost. GRATUITIES are Not Gratuitous, they are added to your account daily. (For your convenience) My dinner the first night was the Chef’s Award Winning Recipe of Pan Seared Salmon on a bed of Root Vegetables. The salmon was WAY Passed done.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
11 Comments
CrusinTim 5 years ago
I have friends in the Golden now doing a 28 day cruise. I'll forward this thread to them to see how it compares. Stay tuned!!
CrusinTim 5 years ago
I just received a response from my friend that I had posted to them on Facebook while they sail on the Golden Princess now doing a 28 day cruise.... "I dont need to read it. Many many problems. I am not happy so far with a lot of things. Big crew changeover yesterday....we will see if it helps. If not I will probably remove the gratuity for the first time ever.". If I was my friend I would be FURIOUS!!! Paying for a 28 day cruise and getting sub-par service. And just so you know, we sailed with them on the Caribbean Princess this past April and they are low key so for them to get to the point of talking about removing auto-gratuities....it's bad!!!
rendezvoussam 5 years ago
CrusinTim 5 years ago
And in a follow up of me asking her to explain the issues, she say's... "Room too hot, food not great, service not what we are used to. Had our dinner table changed, new table was fine but second night after the change it was full so we have eaten in buffet two nights waiting for contact from matre'd. Was in casino for over two hours...it was pretty empty, never saw a server so had to quit to go get my own drink. Just stuff like that. But a bad day on a ship is better than a good day on shore".
noname111 5 years ago
Thank you for posting your review. I am sorry to hear of your disappointing experience. We have a number of Princess cruises coming up and this problem with service is concerning.
Bubba54 5 years ago
Thanks for the review, I am so sorry to here this about the Golden. I spent a lot of time on her last couple of years. It was great, but things change.
Reett9901 5 years ago
aussisheila 4 years ago
Not a good review for me. we have two cruises booked on her, hopefully they will have trained their staff by the time we get on her
glomarrone 4 years ago
I loved my cruise to Alaska yet my sister on a different cruise, hated it. Everyone is different and even on the same cruise, passengers can have very different experience.
Bubba54 3 years ago
Joball 3 years ago
hmmm, not sure the serving etiquette you speak of exists or is even necessary any more. Especially the ladies first rule..this as a woman is quite offensive. I really dont want to be served first just because im female.
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