Live from the Star Princess 5-night Cabo 11/20-25

I did read it wrong, disregard......

 

 

 

 

The way I read her post was that it's a 4 night cruise and she was going to be charged for 5 and not 4, which according to her and your post would be a charge for an extra day. Unless I read it wrong.

 

It's a 5 day or (5 night if you prefer) cruise which I'm also doing on Sunday. Day 1 is which she was disputing as not being an open for business type of day

The way I read her post was that it's a 4 night cruise and she was going to be charged for 5 and not 4, which according to her and your post would be a charge for an extra day. Unless I read it wrong.

It's a 5-night cruise. The Sanctuary wanted to charge me a full day rate for embarkation day. I've done the Sanctuary many times and never been charged for embarkation day. The MD of the Crown Grill oversees the Sanctuary here on the Star.

 

I NEVER expect a perfect cruise. I know that's not possible. But when I'm lied to and scammed, my back gets up.

 

The Internet was spotty on the sail down to Cabo. I am enjoying Princess@Sea. It's so much easier to log into the Internet. A tip: Chrome is far more stable and faster than Safari. I should have used Chrome the first two days.

I haven't been very live as I've been vegging in the Sanctuary. :(

 

While the cruise has been what I expected -- a short getaway -- there've been some definite missteps that reflect on the management of the ship. I'll go into detail when I get home. None are earth shattering or ruined my cruise but if I were a newbie and thought this was a typical Princess cruise, I'd be disappointed.

 

My 50th is cruise credits. For the last several years, even when cruising with my daughter or sister, we all have separate cabins. :) But, keep in mind that most of my cruises are longer than seven days.

 

Pam;

 

Looking forward to reading your observations when you get home.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Bob[/size][/i]

I'm boarding on Wednesday (tomorrow!), and would be interested in knowing whar issues you had. Hope it wasn't too bad.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Bon Voyage !!!! have a great cruise....

 

cheers

Certainly not what we like to hear, especially since we leave on the Star for the same itinerary this coming Sunday. :confused:

 

Not that I can speak for the issues Pam was having, I thought the cruise was pretty good all the way around with just a few mishaps.

The food was ok -- not great but edible. The service in the buffet and dining room were both top notch....I note the buffet because they did something different and deliver your egg dishes to your table instead of letting passengers linger and cause a crowd within the food service area.

There were long lines for the pub lunch and taco bar by the pool -- the pub lunch was ok but the taco bar food wasn't worth the wait.

Lots of people (just not me) were winning in the casino.

The room steward we had was one of the best in recent history!!

Everything around the ship was in good shape -- didn't see dirty carpets or worn furniture.

The internet was pretty slow -- as to be expected, I guess.

Pool towels are plentiful now.

Sound has been turned up on MUTS -- which is my preference. If you cannot even hear the movie, why bother?

As previously reported, disembarkation was a nightmare.

Bedding (with a topper) and pillows were both very comfy.

All in all, a pretty good sailing for us.

Not that I can speak for the issues Pam was having, I thought the cruise was pretty good all the way around with just a few mishaps.

The food was ok -- not great but edible. The service in the buffet and dining room were both top notch....I note the buffet because they did something different and deliver your egg dishes to your table instead of letting passengers linger and cause a crowd within the food service area.

There were long lines for the pub lunch and taco bar by the pool -- the pub lunch was ok but the taco bar food wasn't worth the wait.

Lots of people (just not me) were winning in the casino.

The room steward we had was one of the best in recent history!!

Everything around the ship was in good shape -- didn't see dirty carpets or worn furniture.

The internet was pretty slow -- as to be expected, I guess.

Pool towels are plentiful now.

Sound has been turned up on MUTS -- which is my preference. If you cannot even hear the movie, why bother?

As previously reported, disembarkation was a nightmare.

Bedding (with a topper) and pillows were both very comfy.

All in all, a pretty good sailing for us.

 

Thanks for the recap. BTW, the egg (omelets and specially prepared eggs) delivery to your table is not too new. Had it on our last two or three cruises. Hope that you guys didn't drain the casino too much and left a little for some of us who will be following you.:D

I agree with Cruise Raider. No complaints about the cabin, food, etc. My issues may not be what others experienced.

 

Will post tomorrow. We opted to pick up our luggage on the pier so will be disembarking at about 9:15am.

 

For those embarking tomorrow, almost everyone else is doing self-disembarkation which is very slow. I think the last groups are scheduled for 10:30am. Check-in will be later than normal and I wouldn't expect embarkation until after Noon. Don't rush to get there early as you'll be waiting around for a while.

I am looking forward to hearing your update Pam. Unfortunately these short cruises are never what we would like them to be, but they work for our schedule this week. We will be leaving for a 5 day on Sunday. Do you do anything in Cabo?

Thanks for the recap. BTW, the egg (omelets and specially prepared eggs) delivery to your table is not too new. Had it on our last two or three cruises. Hope that you guys didn't drain the casino too much and left a little for some of us who will be following you.:D

 

Oh....I didn't drain it at all....I poured it in. LOL. I did see a lot of others win, though....seemed as though it was paying out pretty well ...just not for me. I didn't win anything!! I have won on this ship, before, though....even got a Royal Flush on video poker. :)

I haven't seen the egg delivery before on Princess, although last sailed on them in April prior to this cruise. They weren't doing it on that cruise. I really do think they nailed that one and they needed to. We heard nobody complaining where previously, that is all you would hear. It just got too darned chaotic in there.

Dumb question about the buffet...how do they ever find you to deliver your omelet??

They don't deliver the omelets. You go to the omelet station and tell the person taking orders what you would like in the omelet.

 

They give you a paper with a number on it and they keep a copy as well, with what you ordered. Usually, I would go around the rest of the buffet to take what other food I wanted. Then go back to the omelet station, give them your paper and they give you your omelet. You also can just stand and wait for them to prepare it. They are pretty fast.

Edited November 26, 2015 by EightFurryPaws

They don't deliver the omelets. You go to the omelet station and tell the person taking orders what you would like in the omelet.

 

They give you a paper with a number on it and they keep a copy as well, with what you ordered. Usually, I would go around the rest of the buffet to take what other food I wanted. Then go back to the omelet station, give them your paper and they give you your omelet. You also can just stand and wait for them to prepare it. They are pretty fast.

 

Actually, they do deliver the omelets. When you sit down at a table, you give your numbered slip to the person serving your coffee, juice and water type of drink orders and he or she gets it for you. Has been this way on my last 3 cruises at least.

I have had the omelets done both ways, delivery and pick up. I think it depends on the ship.

Actually, they do deliver the omelets. When you sit down at a table, you give your numbered slip to the person serving your coffee, juice and water type of drink orders and he or she gets it for you. Has been this way on my last 3 cruises at least.

 

That is my experience on the last 3 cruises as well. While you can go back to the omelet station it won't always be ready. The only thing that I don't like about this new system is that by the time you get your omelet you are either most of the way through your other breakfast items (bacon, potato, etc) or everything is cold if you are waiting for the omelet before eating anything.

Dumb question about the buffet...how do they ever find you to deliver your omelet??

 

 

 

After you sit down you give the numbered slip to one of the staff near your table. Its very easy. ;)

That is my experience on the last 3 cruises as well. While you can go back to the omelet station it won't always be ready. The only thing that I don't like about this new system is that by the time you get your omelet you are either most of the way through your other breakfast items (bacon, potato, etc) or everything is cold if you are waiting for the omelet before eating anything.

 

Why not get the omelette cooked first and then go get your other breakfast items.

Edited November 26, 2015 by icat2000

I promised an update so here it is. :)

 

We disembarked at about 9am and I pulled into my garage at about 10:15am after dropping my daughter off at home. For us, disembarkation was pretty easy.

 

In addition to the issue with the pre-paid soda card and not receiving a "souvenir tumbler" as per the order form... and being lied to and told that it wasn't included, I couldn't believe that they wanted to charge me a full day's cost for embarkation day when if I was really, really dedicated, could have used a maximum of two hours. They really argued with me on both issues.

 

I've booked the Sanctuary many times on a lot of different ships and one of the things I love is afternoon tea. On the Star, they brought me a small plate with just three small items. Nothing else was offered or served. No choice. IMHO, another example of poor Sanctuary management.

 

We arrived in Cabo at about Noon on Sunday and tendering into town was relatively efficient. We were the third ship in port and thus anchored quite a distance from the dock. They had several Princess tenders and a couple of local boats transferring passengers ashore. I'd booked a "sunset sail" tour from 4:30-6:30pm which was great. I really enjoyed it. I was at the dock to return to the ship by about 6:45 and just missed the tender. Ugh! Princess was running just two local boats total: one going to the ship, one to the dock. The wait for the next tender was half an hour. That was it. No Princess tenders; just the two at a peak time to return to the ship for dinner. Several Princess tours ended at the dock within half an hour. The tender line was several people wide along the dock and down the street. I overheard a lot of people complaining about the poor tender operation. FYI, they ran until 1am for anyone doing this itinerary.

 

Whenever I've been on any Princess ship on an overnight or a late departure, the Maitre D' has either had just one dining room open with open seating or perhaps for Traditional dining, you went to your dining room at your scheduled time but they had open seating... kind of like breakfast and lunch. Not on the Star. Due to the tendering or lack thereof, I got to the late Traditional dining room quite late. I was shocked to see over 90% of the staff just standing around with no passengers to serve. My waitstaff had just three people, including my daughter and myself. I asked my waiter why there wasn't open seating so many of the staff could have some extra time off rather than standing around doing nothing. He just said, "Different Maitre D's do things differently."

 

My daughter was in E510 and I was in E508. Obstructed view that weren't very obstructed. I liked the cabin layout with the bed against the wall rather than under the window. Our issue was noise, mostly from the Atrium. We heard pounding from the bass, very loud DJ announcements and shouts, some nights until midnight. My preferred location is towards the aft and you can bet I won't book sort of mid-ship again. They were convenient to the stairs and elevators.

 

All in all, I had a nice cruise. I didn't plan to do much... and I didn't. Most of these issues won't or don't bother others but the soda card/tumbler and Cabo tendering could very well affect your cruise.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Pam in CA

Hi Pam,

 

Thanks for review,

 

my last few cruises have left me with the feeling of getting less value for my money, was wondering if you get the same impression.

 

 

yours Shogun

hi pam

How were your meals? Did they serve escargot and French Onion soup?

 

Thanks

Debbie

Why not get the omelette cooked first and then go get your other breakfast items.

 

Good idea, in theory. Still had the same thing happen. On my last cruise on the Ruby I ordered my omelet, went and got my other food, went back to the omelet station, my order was never ready, sat down, gave the waiter my order number and eventually the waiter would come back with the omelet. You need to realize that the waiter has to get your order number, go back to the omelet station and bring the omelet back to you while still bringing other tables their coffee, juice, etc. And on that cruise they were very slow about cooking omelets for some reason. It was the same situation 5 days in a row.

Edited November 26, 2015 by ar1950

How were your meals? Did they serve escargot and French Onion soup?

I thought the food was typical Princess menus. It was OK. We ate in the Crown Grill the second night, which was excellent, and because of the very big meal at lunch for the Most Traveled, we did room service the last night. Didn't see escargot or French Onion soup on the menu but then wasn't looking. No lobster although they did have a surf & turf the night we overnighted in Cabo: steak and shrimp. I asked for just shrimp which was quite good. I did like that late Traditional dining was at 7:45pm. The two Early seatings were at 5:30pm. There was no 6pm Traditional dining.

 

The dress for the dining room was pretty awful. Quite a few women in super tight and very skimpy shorts, men in tank tops showing off their tats, etc. Not a typical Princess passenger crowd onboard. Haven't seen that before, even on the two 4-day cruises I've taken.

That is my experience on the last 3 cruises as well. While you can go back to the omelet station it won't always be ready. The only thing that I don't like about this new system is that by the time you get your omelet you are either most of the way through your other breakfast items (bacon, potato, etc) or everything is cold if you are waiting for the omelet before eating anything.

 

When I had my omelet delivered on my last cruise, it was so quick and piping hot. I wasn't anywhere near being done with my food ... as a matter of fact, ordered my omelet, got some fruit and a minute or two to find a seat. The server poured us some coffee and bingo ... omelet delivered. Best service ever.

Welcome home, Pam. :) I have done several of the short cruises out of LA, and I didn't notice an increase in weird wardrobes, but maybe I've just been lucky! ;) We were on the Ruby two weeks ago, and both my DD and SIL got their coke tumblers, no problem. I think there must be some problems with communication on the Star. That's a shame. We were on the Star last summer to Alaska and the service was outstanding. In fact, I saw our Star waiter working on this recent Ruby cruise and spoke to him. He indicated (not in words, exactly, but more in tone) that he preferred working on the Ruby. (Isn't the Star the ship one lady calls "the sausage ship" for its unimaginative buffet menu?) Oh well, you can put this one behind you and board a new ship VERY soon where you will have outstanding service and fascinating dinner conversation! LOL. :D

Thanks for the updates Pam. We will look forward to being on board on Sunday.

 

BTW, was there a formal night on this 5 day cruise?