Star Princess: SB Voyage of the Glaciers June 11-18, 2016 Review (Patters Inside!)

Kirenne or Alaskanb,

Do either of you remember whether they served Baked Alaska on the final night? If so, was it a big deal or just another dessert option? I'm trying to figure out when to schedule our anniversary celebration and it seems silly to plan it on a night when there is already a special dessert. Thanks!

Sorry --we ate in the Crown Grill on the last night (our complimentary meal with the Sip n Sail offer).

Kirenne or Alaskanb,

Do either of you remember whether they served Baked Alaska on the final night? If so, was it a big deal or just another dessert option? I'm trying to figure out when to schedule our anniversary celebration and it seems silly to plan it on a night when there is already a special dessert. Thanks!

I also can't give an accurate answer, sorry about that. I didn't take pictures of the menus and don't remember if it was there or not.

Kirenne or Alaskanb,

Do either of you remember whether they served Baked Alaska on the final night? If so, was it a big deal or just another dessert option? I'm trying to figure out when to schedule our anniversary celebration and it seems silly to plan it on a night when there is already a special dessert. Thanks!

I also ate in the Crown Grill the final night, but I can definitively say that they did serve it in the MDR because I saw it being made in the galley earlier that day during the Ultimate Ship Tour. Sorry I can't comment on whether it was a big deal/fancy presentation, but the chef did say they don't use any open flames or sparklers in the dining room because of the obvious dangers.

Enjoyed reading your review! Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed summary.

I have a couple of questions.

-Did you have anytime dinning and if so how was the wait?

-Did they post the dinning times/options in the patters as I didn't see mention of it.

-You described being docked at a distance in Juneau. Is the shuttle provided by Princess to town there? How about Skagway and Ketchikan , were you docked close to the town there?

- Did you use the princess @ sea messaging system while on the ship? Did it have the patters/maps/ ship info on it too?

-Lastly I was hoping that there might be some classic rock live entertainment in a lounge. Hubby really enjoyed this on our previous Princess cruises, but its been a while since we have been able to sail on Princess.

Thanks

@CMM We were at the AJ dock in Juneau. The all day shuttle costs $3. The shuttle is free on the return from town. We were at the berth next to the Tourist Center in Ketchikan.

I used the At Sea system but not for messaging --it has the activity calendar on it.

Dining times are on the back page of the patter.

Enjoyed reading your review! Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed summary.

I have a couple of questions.

-Did you have anytime dinning and if so how was the wait?

-Did they post the dinning times/options in the patters as I didn't see mention of it.

-You described being docked at a distance in Juneau. Is the shuttle provided by Princess to town there? How about Skagway and Ketchikan , were you docked close to the town there?

- Did you use the princess @ sea messaging system while on the ship? Did it have the patters/maps/ ship info on it too?

-Lastly I was hoping that there might be some classic rock live entertainment in a lounge. Hubby really enjoyed this on our previous Princess cruises, but its been a while since we have been able to sail on Princess.

Thanks

You're welcome!

I had Anytime Dining, and we found it to be fantastic. We did not make a single reservation all week. We ate sporadically, sometimes we'd show up right at 5:30pm, others we'd dine closer to 8pm, but when we did go to dinner at the busier times, we did not have to wait long (and yes, we got tables for 2 most of the week, with the exception of 1 day when we were placed with one other couple).

Yes, they post the dining times on the back of the patters, but since it was so repetitive, I didn't post them. If you'd like, I can send you a picture of the hours from one of the patters later on tonight.

Alaskanb covers your shuttle question above!

We accessed the Princess@Sea app after some initial difficulty. Turns out the internet connection is nearly non-existent at the front of the ship in P201! We had to go to the Piazza to get a reliable connection. It did have all of the patter information posted, but I am unsure about maps and ship info.

I honestly can't remember any classic rock, but you can check the patters at the link I posted in my initial review - that's where it would be! :)

Kirenne or Alaskanb,

Do either of you remember whether they served Baked Alaska on the final night? If so, was it a big deal or just another dessert option? I'm trying to figure out when to schedule our anniversary celebration and it seems silly to plan it on a night when there is already a special dessert. Thanks!

I wasn't on the Alaska cruise but sailed the Crown in April & last October and the waitstaff's Baked Alaska parade was still performed on the last evening.

There was an item on the dessert menu that we had to ask our waiter about & he said it was another name for Baked Alaska.

My experience has been that they're less likely to try to convince us to have it & maybe other passengers are like me and much prefer other dessert options. ;)

Enjoyed reading your review! Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed summary.

I have a couple of questions.

-Did you have anytime dinning and if so how was the wait?

-Did they post the dinning times/options in the patters as I didn't see mention of it.

-You described being docked at a distance in Juneau. Is the shuttle provided by Princess to town there? How about Skagway and Ketchikan , were you docked close to the town there?

- Did you use the princess @ sea messaging system while on the ship? Did it have the patters/maps/ ship info on it too?

-Lastly I was hoping that there might be some classic rock live entertainment in a lounge. Hubby really enjoyed this on our previous Princess cruises, but its been a while since we have been able to sail on Princess.

Thanks

Our group of 15 used the Princess@sea app for messaging quite a bit and found it to work well. I found coverage to be pretty good, it was good inside of our cabin, not so good on the balcony, and there were other areas where it was non existent, but not bad. The thing about the messaging is that it is only as reliable as the person you were sending a message to because they are not alerted that they have a message waiting, so if they don't check for messages frequently it could be quite a while before they see it. It does take a little bit of work to get it set up depending on the size of your group, but once you do it was pretty straight forward and useful.

great information thanks everyone.

I would enjoy seeing a photo, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, of the food venues available. That pub idea sounded interesting to me.

great information thanks everyone.

 

 

 

I would enjoy seeing a photo, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, of the food venues available. That pub idea sounded interesting to me.

If you don't get photos, here's a link to the Princess webpage for Salty Dog which has a couple of photos & a link to the food & drink menu:

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/specialty-restaurants/the-salty-dog-gastropub/

Thank you for the wonderful review.

I have a photography advice question for you.

I have a Cannon 50D and am trying to decide which lens/s to bring. Not quite sure if I'll need more of a zoom or a wide angle.

My choices are

11-18 1:45-5.6

18-55 kit lens

18-200 efs .45/1.5

70-300 macro 1.5/4.9

I was thinking of taking the 18-200 as an all around. What do you think?

Thanks!

great information thanks everyone.

 

I would enjoy seeing a photo, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, of the food venues available. That pub idea sounded interesting to me.

Here's a photo of the back of a patter. This was our first formal night (the first scenic cruising day): https://www.dropbox.com/s/o6x5xyezdqbqwuc/IMG_0557.JPG?dl=0

There was a pub lunch on one of the days, though I believe you'll find that buried somewhere in the patters because I don't see it on any of the backs of the patters I saved with restaurant hours. The Star does not do the Salty Dog restaurant as far as I know.

kirenne .. Good stuff !

Thanks for all your efforts in reporting back

Srpilo

Thank you for your very detailed review.

Keith

Thank you for the wonderful review.

 

I have a photography advice question for you.

 

I have a Cannon 50D and am trying to decide which lens/s to bring. Not quite sure if I'll need more of a zoom or a wide angle.

My choices are

11-18 1:45-5.6

18-55 kit lens

18-200 efs .45/1.5

70-300 macro 1.5/4.9

 

I was thinking of taking the 18-200 as an all around. What do you think?

Thanks!

Yes, I'd agree that the 18-200 would be a good choice, in addition to either the 70-300 or the 11-18 maybe.

Here's a photo of the back of a patter. This was our first formal night (the first scenic cruising day): https://www.dropbox.com/s/o6x5xyezdqbqwuc/IMG_0557.JPG?dl=0

 

There was a pub lunch on one of the days, though I believe you'll find that buried somewhere in the patters because I don't see it on any of the backs of the patters I saved with restaurant hours. The Star does not do the Salty Dog restaurant as far as I know.

That was very nice of you to post that, thank you. I loved the International Cafe on our previous Princess cruise and glad to see it is actually open 24/7!

Are you free to go to either anytime dinning rooms within the posted times or are you assigned one specific one?

Thanks again

That was very nice of you to post that, thank you. I loved the International Cafe on our previous Princess cruise and glad to see it is actually open 24/7!

 

Are you free to go to either anytime dinning rooms within the posted times or are you assigned one specific one?

 

Thanks again

You're welcome!

If you have Anytime Dining, you are free to go to any designated MDR. On the Star, it is the Capri and Portofino restaurants. Times are posted on the patters each day.

So to answer your question, yes, you are free to go anywhere provided you have Anytime Dining. I have not done Traditional Dining, but I assume you are assigned a MDR and table at a specified time.

Is pictures of the Star?

Is pictures of the Star?

If you're looking for photos of the Star, I posted them up in an earlier post here.

If you're looking for photos of the Star, I posted them up in an earlier post here.

Oh, I must have missed it - I'll look thru them :)

I'm back! Here are 5 photos from the excursion (see previous post for answers to your other questions here). Click on the photo number to see more!

 

Photo #1

This photo shows you just how long the paddle really is to the glacier! It's about an hour one way (see that green island in front of the glacier, blocking it from view? yeah, you have to paddle around it!)

 

Photo #2

About halfway through the paddle there, the actual glacier became visible!

 

Photo #3

Here are the canoes we took across the lake, taken as we arrived at the beach in front of the glacier.

 

Photo #4

Here's a closer look at the glacier details. This, I think, was what made the entire excursion so incredible. These are details that you just can't see from a distance.

 

Photo #5

One of the 'activities' we did during the excursion - there was a hole in the glacier (cave, I guess), that went down hundreds of feet into the ground. One of the tour guides drilled his spike into the ground and let people repel over the hole for some neat photos. I was too scared to get very close!

 

Hope that gives you a good idea of what the excursion is like!

GREAT PICS! Thanks for sharing. Our next Alaska cruise is not until 2018, and your review and pics make me that much more excited!

 

If you have Anytime Dining, you are free to go to any designated MDR. On the Star, it is the Capri and Portofino restaurants. Times are posted on the patters each day.

 

So to answer your question, yes, you are free to go anywhere provided you have Anytime Dining. I have not done Traditional Dining, but I assume you are assigned a MDR and table at a specified time.

Kirenne, if you ate in the anytime dining rooms, can you fill us in on when is a good time to go to get a table for 2? I figure each cruise is different, in demographics and preferences, so was it easier to get in earlier than later? I really wanted early traditional, but because I knew there would already be days we wouldn't go at our assigned time and leave the table empty, I was hesitant to choose it.

GREAT PICS! Thanks for sharing. Our next Alaska cruise is not until 2018, and your review and pics make me that much more excited!

Glad to hear that!

Kirenne, if you ate in the anytime dining rooms, can you fill us in on when is a good time to go to get a table for 2? I figure each cruise is different, in demographics and preferences, so was it easier to get in earlier than later? I really wanted early traditional, but because I knew there would already be days we wouldn't go at our assigned time and leave the table empty, I was hesitant to choose it.

Yes, we had dinner in the Anytime MDR's nearly every evening. It is hard to recommend a time because we did not consistently eat at the same time each evening.. but to increase your chances of getting a table for 2, you could try to go at 5:15pm for early seating, or wait until after 7pm. That being said, we still managed to get a table for 2 during busy periods.

Keep in mind... you may get a 'table for 2' but still be seated so close to another couple that you may as well be sitting together at a table of 4! There were only 1 or 2 evenings when we got a truly 'private' (or as private as a table can get in the MDR) table. We didn't mind though, we love meeting new people! We just didn't want to be at a crowded table.

Very nice review! It WAS a great cruise and Alaska was everything I hoped it would be.

Carol L.