Just didn’t feel the ‘wow’ factor

Golden Princess Cruise Review to South Pacific - Australia

Steely

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

13 Night New Zealand (Melbourne Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 22, 2018

Ship: Golden Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: D332

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Another cruise with Princess, who are our preferred cruise line, as they have never let us down. However this one almost made us cancel our next cruise with them, but accepted that overall we did still have a really good time. A few things around staff and how they interact with clients wouldn’t go amiss, and the number of leaks around the ship, left a less than great trip, but given the other superb cruise with Princess, we look forward to our Japan - Singapore cruise next Christmas

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Princess never get this wrong, easy and quick for us

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Our first time as club class passengers, and initially we missed the routine of sitting at the same table exchanging the days activities with people we had met previously. Also we were sat with some pretentious people some evenings, which took away some of the experience of enjoying the evening meals. However one we expressed this we were sat with the same table crew, which meant the interactions were fun as well as making the evening a better experience

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Some good activites on the trip, just unfortunate that sometimes some activities clashed with others we wanted to see, but overall really enjoyed the activities we did get to attend

Entertainment

4 out of 5

As usual some great shows, and some not so great shows, but overall we enjoyed what was on offer.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

This is the area where we felt the ‘wow’ factor was missing, some staff very attentive, some staff not so, and the amount of time staff pushed by us, instead of allowing us to go first was surprisingly high given this isn’t usual ona Princess Cruise. Our stateroom was awards kept clean and tidy, but next to zero interaction between our steward and ourselves, that is until the last 2 days of the cruise when all of a sudden we saw him, and he was always asking if he could be of more assistance. The ‘tip’ days?? maybe but too late for us on this occsssion, the very first time we have never tipped the steward direct.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The layout was easy to navigate, however probably another reason we didn’t feel the ‘wow’ factor was the number of random containers around the ship. Catching leaking water!

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

A good size cabin, club class and with a bath so up to Princess usual standards. Decent sized balcony, although the settee was tired and not the most comfortable.