Princess Cruises – Golden Princess

I have been on at least 20 Princess cruises and am a Platinum member of the Captains Circle. The last Golden Princess Cruise I went on was the 14 day cruise to Hawaii leaving from San Pedro.
The boarding process is easy. Have your tickets and ID on hand. Give your luggage to the baggage area when you first pull up and they deliver it to your room within an hour or two. Once you are checked in, board your ship and pose for some professional photographs taken by the crew. You will have time to find your room, do some exploring, and have some snacks at the coffee or pizza shoppe that is open 24 hours. Make sure to meet on the top deck for the «setting sail «party and wave to everyone on the dock. Soon after the party you have to report to your muster station (your designated evacuation area) with your life vest to learn safety evacuation drills. This is kinda boring, but very important for personal safety.
Head back to your room to find your luggage placed on your bed. Each hall has their own steward. Make sure to learn their name, anything you need in your room will be done by this person. Princess gives complimentary fruit baskets, room service, and turndown service. There is a nice little chocolate on your pillow every night along with the «Princess Patter» their daily publication with the next day’s events. Read this so you can plan ahead and do the most activities as possible.
Heads up first timers. The flushing of the toilet is scary the first time. It makes a very loud sucking noise. I don’t care how many cruises I’ve been on, it always startles me.
The service is first class. Everyone is very helpful and the customer is always right with Princess. They treat you like royalty. There are many dining, snacking, grazing, and drinking options, so check them all out. There is plenty of entertainment for your «at sea» days. Check out your princess patter for the schedules. They have game shows you can partake in and win prizes, dance lessons, arts and crafts, children’s activities, an adult quiet sanctuary, spa services, recreation and gym area, and multiple pools and hot tubs to keep you entertained. At night there are clubs, karaōke, gambling, big dancing shoes, musicals, comedy shows, magic shows, bars, and movies under the stars.
Tips:
*Bring a light jacket or hoodie, it gets cold on the ship. Bring formal attire for the Captains Dinner.
*Choose the anytime dining and go to the earliest dinner, that way you will have time for the big show and the smaller show in the same night.
*Plan excursions ahead of time on their website for cheaper Deals and more selection of things to do because they can sell out fast!
* purchase the drink or soda package to save money .
*Remember, have fun & relax. It is your vacation.

This actual cruise was cool but my review is based on what i had went for. What me and my friend had went for was to party and uave a good time and this was not the cruise line we should have took for that. I could see being in a relationship and wanting to get away to relax working but other yhen that i uni not for us. Dont get me wrong we still had a good time and I ithought have been a loyal ost of it but we where dissapointed. I also was not b impressed with the food at the sit down dinners. A plus though is that they have special dinner seatibg that you do have to pay extra for, but those dinners are suppose to be top notch and cooked by an actual chef.

I recently took the 4 night cruise to Ensenada and Santa Barbara on the Ruby Princess. It has been 7 or 8 years since the last time i cruised. I’m sorry to say that i was very disappointed with this cruise. The food at dinner was terrible. I couldn’t even eat it. I thought i would try the lasagne, how bad could thus mess that up? I really must have been from a can of chef boy rd. Rd must mean Rat Droppings. Even the ice cream was melted and taste gross. We only went to the dinner table twice during our trip. We just could not take that so called food any longer. They have specialty restaurants you have to pay a cover charge for that was $ 25. But we didn’t try it, fearing the food was just as bad. Plus the extra expense was ridiculous. Most of the food staff were very unfriendly, maybe because that had to eat that same food, and some down right rude. We ate most of our meals at the buffet or at the international café. Even the room service food was better than the meals at the main dinning table. The shows were enjoyable and the lounge acts were also very good. But it seemed like management kept trying to do a sales pitch during their introductions to the shows. Drinks were also expensive.
The cruise lines I’ve been on before were much more enjoyable. Carnival and Royal Caribbean seemed a lot nicer staff and more things to do. We noticed people dressed up one night but we didn’t even know it was formal night. No one told us at the dinner table or on the daily activity newsletter. I don’t know if this what cruising has become or was it this particular cruise line. I’m going to try a different cruise line and see. But at this point i was not at all impressed. Just a waste of money. Like i saw on the program Blackish, the son said «Oh I get it, you pay for all you can eat for food that no one wants to eat, That’s Maniacal»

So here it goes.
I have waited three weeks to post this to see how princess cruise line would respond to my complaint. The letter below was sent to Jan Swartz President Princess cruise along with customer service emails. It was auto replied that they would be in touch with me in two weeks. I received two calls from Princess Cruises during my normal work hours so i have not spoke to them personally. HELLO, i took the time to email you so please do the same. Most people dont pick up this phones while at work, especially to deal with a complaint. This was about a week after my complaint was sent. The voice mails state that they would be using my experience for further training staff. Sorry but that simply does not cut it for me. Not even close.
Someone at princess maybe the «president» needs to look at Unilocal reviews. Had i read prior to booking i would not have taken this trip. You clearly have customer service issues and quality issues on your ships. DO NOT CRUISE WITH THIS COMPANY. Most staff were friendly but the incidents that i experienced should have never even happened. I only stated the issues that pertained to service. We dont even want to being to talk about the quality of the buffet. Again Generally, service was good but i’m on vacation and expect the service /​quality that i receive from 8 tier hotel.
In addition to my complaint below i feel that the auto tip policy is crap. If you dont provide me with good service i’m going to let you know and you dont deserve a tip. I understand the reasoning behind because some people are cheap and dont tip. I have no problem tipping 20 — 25% if my service is good. I tipped one waiter and restaurant manager $ 25 bucks each for great service and a wonderful experience in the Sabayini restaurant. I was given Elite access on this cruise because my Marriott status. If you cruise with princess you know what this perk provides.
Dear Jan Swartz,
I would like to take a moment and bring a few things to your attention. Below are unpleasant experiences that I encountered while on vacation with Princess Cruises on March 31 — April 3, 2015. This sailing was from San Pedro CA to Mexico
My concerns are as follows.
I experienced rude attitudes and poor service from several Princess employees while on my vacation. I have outlined them below for your review:
A. While smoking a cigar in the «smoking section» by the bar on Wednesday April 1 I rudely heard the bar tender yell «Who’s smoking a cigar in my bar». This embarrassed me and my wife to the point where we got up and left the pool deck to return to our suite. I paid over 2K for my suite. My room number was S703. I can accept not smoking on my patio. But to get harassed while smoking in a smoking area is completely out of line. I would also like to add that this Cigar was purchased on your cruise ship in the cigar bar. I even asked the staff in that bar if I could smoke this cigar in other smoking sections. «Yes» was the reply.
B. While attempting to make dinner reservations several times in person the wait staff basically, with out looking at you, says «were full» and walks away.
C. When ordering dinner I had a menu pulled out of my hands before I was even done ordering. The staff was in such a hurry they could not be bothered waiting for a few more seconds at best. This type of service is completely unacceptable.
D. Now for my biggest complaint. As you can see if you look up my booking we were in a suite. Again room S703. I have noticed that most of the staff tends to provide better service when they know your in a suite. After my menu was rudely pulled out of my hands the waiter came back with drinks. Totally different attitude after my room number was given to bill the drinks. Again this type of service is completely unacceptable
I feel that the staff on board Princess should provide the same quality service to each passenger regardless of state room and cost. I am a 35 year old who does not look it. I feel that the service I received was bad due to my age and the fact the staff may not think a 35 year old would have the access to book such accommodations as I did. Booking this cruise was a second option as I have a family member who is and has been a hotel director for Royal Caribbean.
I booked this mini vacation for my birthday and thought something different would be a great experience.
I have sailed several times on other cruse lines and never had this type of service or lack thereof. I request that this is brought to the attention of the wait staff managers. My state room service was A+ by the way. I truly felt at the time that the staff I encountered really did not want to be working on the ship.
Upon speaking with other guests several had similar experiences.
Thank you
So there you have it. Im not even really sure what i expect from this company but i know one thing, they have lost me as a customer for now.
Happy sailings.

Goodness — DO NOT sail Princess out of San Pedro! We sat in the harbor overnight (yes, really) looking at ugly freighters and listening to loud noises instead of setting sail as scheduled. Supposedly this was because of last minute ship maintenance, however because an itenary change had been sent out a month prior, it was obvious that they knew about this before we boarded.
Food — completely I edible in the main dining room! Horrible! The same with the food court. You were pretty much limited to Pizza or burgers.
Service — worse than horrible! We never did see our room steward! We had to call several times for everything. Room Service never once got our order correct. Not one single time! The Customer Service Desk was slow and very rude!
Dirty — the ship was very dirty. Common areas and balcony so were filthy. At least the main dining room and the cabins themselves seemed to be ok.
Excursions — ours was so bad that at a stop sigh the entire bus emptied out about ¹⁄₃ of the way through the excursion! The guide was screaming at everyone to get back on the bus. Everyone just got off!
Do yourself a favor — do not book through Princess!

I used to love cruising. And ten years ago, Princess was my favorite cruise line. Oh how times have changed.
Check in for the cruise was fairly quick but our luggage arrived one by one over a period of three hours instead of all together. Our first stop was for food (of course) so we hit the lunch buffet. There was plenty of food but the quality was not good. There were several «ew» and «what the?» exclamations from our table. The chocolate «cookie» I picked up was solid as a rock and could have been used as a hockey puck. The cupcake was dry and I only took two bites. And this is coming from a person who can eat a box of cupcakes in one sitting. So yeah, that bad. The rest of the food was meh to bad. Pasta salads, mystery meats, and hard bread rolls. Awesome start to the cruise.
After the obligatory safety seminar, we were told to come to the main pool area for a welcome aboard show. Remembering the show from my Princess cruise ten years ago, I was eagerly awaiting an enthusiastic dance routine by the crew. Not this time. They played some music and three non-​dancer crew members barely moved as they helped cruisers line dance. Dumb. And anti-​climactic. Le sigh. Off to the next activity.
The first night on the cruise was fairly quiet so there wasn’t much to do until dinner except find a bar. Fortunately there are plenty aboard the ship. Unfortunately, some of the drinks were pretty weak but at least they tasted good and fruity. A few of the bartenders on the ship had a good sense of humor and made the experience more fun. At dinner our server made some funny jokes and treated us well, which was a welcome reprieve from a few of the grumpy crew members we encountered earlier.
Each night we received a newsletter explaining the next day’s activities. Overpriced bingo, a few shows, outdoor movies, and other activities throughout the day. During they day we mostly hung by the pools when we were at sail. We tried to hang at the adults only pool but it was located directly next to the toddler play area (really, Princess!!!) and the gym so it wasn’t exactly a serene experience. There was a place at the front of the ship called the Serenity room that was also adults only but they charged $ 20 for four hours of laying there. Seriously, what bull*hit. $ 20 to sit on a beach chair in the only quiet place on the ship.
Okay, this review is getting really long so I’ll wrap it up. The food at the buffet is horrible and therefore I only recommend it during emergencies. The pizza and burger bars are probably your best bet during the day. The evening dinners are just okay. Edible food but nothing exciting. Most of the staff aboard were friendly enough but not that super fun crew I remember from the past. The ship itself is boring. Because it’s used for short trips of 3 to 4 days, I guess they figured that we didn’t need any extras like a wave pool, climbing wall, mini-​golf, water slide, or any of that other fun you see on other ships. Overall, not a great experience on the Golden Princess. I would have preferred to stay home.

The cruise was good because it allowed us to spend time with the family.
Yes what the people said about it I experienced but overall I couldn’t say it was bad. The food could have been better but that helped me not gain more weight.
The cabin toilet did smell but the smell got Better after the ship moved into the sea.
The shows were all great! I enjoyed them, the movies were okay hard to watch out doors and the inside movie made me cry.
The food made the cruise quality lower also I didn’t like the old candy they left when they turn down the bed.
The best part of the ship was the shows then the food.
See photos of my food diary, it has been so long I can’t remember what the food was so sorry.

I just returned from a cruise aboard the Golden Princess. This was my 15^th cruise and by far the worst. We were to leave at 4pm but did not leave until midnight due to problems with the air conditioning. The public toilets were all either filthy, backed up or locked. The food in the main dining room was at best mediocre. It arrived room temperature and had little if any flavor. The meat was so tough it could not be chewed. The food at the buffet was horrid. The entertainment such as it was was disappointing and there were few activities.
In addition there was mold in the toilet in our cabin. Because we both wear dentures we soaked our teeth in the tap water and ended up with mold on them. The front desk refused to provide us with bleach and sent us to the medical office where they charged us for the bottle of antiseptic to clean our teeth. Inexcusable.
This ship needs to be disinfected and and the plumbing system upgraded. Princess used to have the best food and has gone down hill drastically.
A representative sent me an email offering to discuss this with me but he never answers his phone and does not return my calls. I will never cruise with Princess again.

Overall Princess Cruises is one of my favorite cruise lines, with Carnival (their parent company) as the least favorite. This particular cruise (on the Golden Princess) was a repositioning cruise departing from Vancouver to Los Angeles.
It was a short 3 day cruise (no stop) and I scored a great online «last minute» deal from Princess for a balcony room of $ 199 + $ 50 on board credit!
The cruise itself was good. Overall ok food. The buffet was a bit disappointing but its about quantity, not quality, right? Lucky they have a great pizza place, and they also had an «English Pub» lunch that was good.
Compared to other Princess Cruises, this voyage did not offer a lot of activity to keep the passengers completely busy on 3 full days at sea (no port stops) but they did have activities.
Some activities the cruise had were:
— Movies under the stars (watching the movie outside on deck by the pool). They played 2 movies at night such as: Godzilla 2014, Maleficent, Mrs Doubtfire, Top Gun
— Football fans rejoice! They showed 2 games on Sunday and Monday outside where the Movies under the stars is.
— They did have a singles men and ladies event along with a LGBTC meet and greet.
— Trivia, Karaōke, Bingo, and being on international waters, you can gamble at their casino. You can pay with cash or charge to your room (no additional fee) and you just pay your tab at the completion of the cruise.
— Ice carving demonstration on day 3. Arts and crafts events mid day on day 2 and 3.
— From 11:00 pm til the wee hours they have a club on level 14.
— No free internet but you can sign up for a package, which can run 120 minutes for $ 69.00 for internet time plan + $ 3.95 one time sign up fee.
— The only free drinks are coffee, tea, milk, lemonade. Sodas are $ 2 per can but you can get a sode package (and even a booze package) for a fee, and its AYCE.
I’d love give this cruise a 4 stars EXCEPT above my cabin was a group (of at least 3 or 4 cabins) of loud, obnoxious A-​holes who thought it was funny to play their music at midnight, yell across the balcony to each other (using obscenities and F bombs) and pretty much acted like drunk ass douchebags. I called the front desk at ext 6000 twice, and nothing changed during the 3 days.
It infuritated me that the Golden Princess front desk didn’t do anything more than a phone call, and no apologies. I even spoke to the cruise security, and they said all instructions comes from the front desk. SMH.
The positive part of the cruise is now I am Platinum Status, getting free upgrades like expedited check in, free internet, and free booze at the Captain’s Gala.

You never forget your first time, they say. And that will definitely be true of my very first cruise ever which I was lucky enough to take aboard the Golden Princess.
My friend has been trying to get me to take a cruise for several years now. And finally, he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. We got a really good deal on a three-​night cruise from Vancouver to my hometown of Los Angeles ($ 298). And I was blown away!
Customer service: ⁵⁄₅. Most of the service staff (steward, waiters/​waitresses, bartenders, etc.) are from countries other than the good old US of A. Maybe people are just nicer in every single other country in the world except ours? I don’t know but I was treated with exceptional courtesy, kindness, attentiveness, thoughtfulness, with staff anticipating every need. Strictly awesome.
Entertainment: ⁵⁄₅. Shuffleboard, be gone! As I dragged my friend from art auction to trivia game to dance floor, he laughed and reminded me that I thought I would «be bored and should bring a book.» I was simply astounded by not only the quantity but the quality of entertainment. The trivia games (think Jeopardy-​inspired) were so much fun and very well run. The shows were of incredibly high quality, better than many I’ve been subjected to on land. I especially loved «Stardust» and the illusionist. AMAZING!
We were also very lucky on the same boat with a gigantic Canadian family that could have been vaudevillians in their own right and livened up the shows no end. (Canadians are the BOMB by the way… great crowd to hang out with on a ship.)
Cabin: ⁵⁄₅. Very comfortable bed, super clean, extremely quiet and peaceful.
Food: ⁵⁄₅. In truth, some items deserved a ⁵⁄₅ (the breakfast rolls, the butter, the fettuccine, the scones) and others were more like a ³⁄₅. So why a ⁵⁄₅ for all? Because it’s ALL included in the price. And you can order as much as you like. Order every dish and send back the ones you don’t like!
Room service: ⁵⁄₅. ²⁴⁄₇!!! HELLO!!! And the gratuity for everything is added at the end of your cruise automatically at a flat fee of $ 11 per day. Can’t beat that.
Value: ⁵⁄₅. You cannot beat this price per night for a hotel, food and entertainment. Incredible.
So, dear friend, you were right. Again. Cruising is awesome. There. I said it. Thank you for pestering me for so long. I will be eternally grateful.

We did the 3 Day West Coast Getaway in November. It set sailed from San Pedro on a Friday afternoon and returns on Monday morning. This was a short and sweet trip so it only stops in Ensenada.
Pricing: We paid for $ 269 for an interior. However we got upgraded to a balcony for free!
Ship: The ship is an average size. However upkeep is definitely needed. (For example, the lighting on the stairs were held by tape.)
Food: The buffet, Horizon Court, is pretty small. In spite of that the food was very flavorful. We also ate at the Donatello Dining Room for dinner each evening. Every night the menu offered a variety of choices. The International Café on Deck 5 was open 24 hours a day if you needed a quick snack. There is Prego on Deck 14 where you can get pizza. (The «margherita» pizza was just cheese pizza which was disappointing.) Just across the way there is Sundaes where you can ice cream on a cone (chocolate, vanilla, or swirl).
Service: Meh. Definitely had better. Our evening waiter was not very accommodating when I wanted to make changes to my dish.
Entertainment: They had a different comedian every night. Their performances was mediocre. We also did Movies Under the Stars where the movie was shown on the big screen outdoors. «Blankets» were provided, however the size of it could not have been larger than a 2″ x 3″ and it was cold out! There is a casino onboard but it is only open when we are out at sea. Bingo is a must when you cruise. Definitely highlight of our onboard entertainment.
In a nutshell, Princess is better than Holland America but Royal Caribbean takes the cake!
Quick Tip:
–Bring your passport
–Bring a coffee mug and/​or water bottle. The cups on board are small & trying to walk around without spilling can be pretty challenging out at sea
–When booking instead of picking a room yourself let the cruise assign a room for you. Not only is it cheaper but you may also get upgraded!

It’s a cheap getaway cruise. Total was $ 269 but since it wasn’t full they upgraded us to a balcony. Can’t beat that price for a weekend cruise! The food on this boat was GOOD. The last Holland America ship I went on had really bad food so I was very surprised at how the food tasted.
Getting on the boat was a complete breeze. Getting off the boat took a bit longer but I think that’s pretty common.
In Ensenada, we ran into a store that had a lion cub. We got to pet him and take pictures! That was probably the highlight of the trip. Baja 1000 was also going on that weekend but nothing too special about that. I think if you’re looking for a cheap weekend getaway this could be the right cruise for you. My strategy is wait the week AFTER a major holiday as most folks usually go during the holiday break. You’ll probably get upgraded.

Get everything in writing! Don’t take the excuse that it will show on your final receipt!
Third cruise with this line, and it just gets worse and worse. Sailed from LA… which really means San Pedro. Mexico cruise. So many things broken! Was looking forward to the spa deal, and almost every amenity was out of order. From steam rooms to showers. Dirty. Toilets were broken all over the ship. I heard horror stories of people getting flooded out of their rooms. We had to vacate our room a day for them to fix the drop down bed. Stuff was just dangerous. PLUS they had just had a norovirus outbreak. Staff’s moral was way down and they openly made fun of guests. The food was cold, old, and bland. Definitely not up to Princess standards.
To top it off, they refared our cruise a week before. Didn’t get the $ 200 in onboard credits or champagne. Their excuse was that the normal fare was over $ 800 a person and we got a good deal even without the onboard credit. What? So that Drop and Go deal is bogus. AND the deal where whatever you spend a particular month is credited towards future cruise. AND the future cruise deposit benefit is also bogus? Just because we supposedly saved $ 50 with the refare?
It has been 2 months and still fighting with the credit card overcharges.