My husband and I had been planing this trip for almost a year. We took our mothers. As always I thoroughly researched everything I could find on the ship and our destination. This was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime for our moms. I read every review good & bad on the Golden princess. I always attribute the bad reviews to people who just can't be pleased, no matter what. I wished I had taken their advice and picked a different ship and a different cruise line!We had side by side balcony rooms. Our moms in one us in the other.It was a waste of money. The "see-thru" balcony was not see thru at all. It was so filthy we could not sit and enjoy the view, we had to stand. The strange thing was all the filth was on the inside not the out side. Twice we requested that they be cleaned or at least give us some glass cleaner and we would do it ourselves. Both times our request were completely ignored by our cabin steward and the pursers office. It was the same throughout the ship. You could not enjoy the view anywhere. You had to go outside. We have done traditional dining and anytime dining. DO NOT do anytime dining! We were treated liked a herd of sheep. Get them in get them out.They even tried taking our dinner plates before we were finished. We would order drinks before dinner and would not get them until half way through our main course if we got them at all.

Anytime dining isn't anytime! The shortest wait we had was 45 minutes. The longest was 2 1/2 hours! The only reason we waited was because it was lobster night, my husbands favorite! WHAT A HUGE MISTAKE! The service was the worst that night! We never got our drinks or our water. There was 10 of us at the table we all ordered a shrimp cocktail. We did not get them until 5 minutes AFTER our main meal was served which 2 people at the table my husband being one of them did not get the lobster they had ordered and had to wait another 30 minutes.We met a couple who were on their 50th cruise and said this was the worst overall service they had ever had! The onboard activities were rushed and most of the cruise staff running the activities were short with us and rude. With the exception of mark and paul.Roy the Bartender at the outdoor Oasis Lounge was great. He always had a smile and was very nice to everyone.Grazzille (I'm not sure of the spelling) in the castaways boutique was very helpful and very nice.Out of 10 day's we ate our meals in the dining rooms for three. We ate in the buffet the rest of the time. We ate virtually the same thing every day for breakfast , lunch and dinner and the food was barely edible. But at least we got better service.I had made on line reservations at the lotus spa for our moms for a day of pampering, the works. they were both celebrating their birthdays while on the cruise. I had the print out confirming the reservations. I took it to the spa the first day to verify the appointments. They told me they had not received the reservations and they were sorry but they were completely booked!!

Getting on and off the ship was a nightmare!Especially with our 70 & 83 year old moms. We had requested assistance and none came nor was it offered. we tried to ask for help but no one listened. It was very disorganized and chaotic! Our cabin steward was never around when we needed something. We tried to page him for two days. He never answered our pages or came or sent anyone. We finally just gave up. The pursers office was just as useless. I could go on and on but I'm starting to get upset all over again.We are already planning our cruise for next year. We are going on a 15 day Hawaiian island cruise. I,m sure it will be wonderful because we are not cruising with princess. NEVER AGAIN!! Just so everybody knows. We are easy people to please and don't ask for alot. We have cruised before and know what is supposed to be like. It was a very disappointing cruise.