Star Princess: South America cruise: The Good, The Bad and the Captain

[Coco Creek]

I am back from a January 5 (but really January 6) to January 17 cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I return from a cruise for the first time with a mixed review and a feeling that perhaps land based travel is my future.

I should start by stating my biases. I travel to see places I want to see and, for the most part, have not seen before. I am not a foodie, do not care particularly for cruise ship entertainment (except a good comedian), do not play bingo or trivia and can do without country and western night.

The Good:

The good is easy to identify. Both and after the cruise, we had wonderful tours. In Chile, Pedro from Christian, The Van Man, picked us up at the airport, gave us a tour of Santiago and then on the way to Valparaiso embarkation port drove us through the wine country of Chile. We stopped for a winery tour and tried wine tasting for the first time in my life. We then toured Vina del Mar, a wonderful seaside community before reaching the Star Princess around 3:30 PM.

In Buenos Aires, post trip, WOW Argentina and their tour guide Carina provide us a fabulous eight hour tour. We saw the tourists stops in the am and then in the afternoon, went to one of the neighborhoods where the street tango dancers performed, the shops were wonderful and just being the people was a treat. Carina loves her city and country and the tour reflected that. I would recommend WOW Argentina to anyone who wants custom tours of Argentina (as well as Chile and Peru).

In Punta Arenas, I enjoyed a trip to Magdalena Island where I had a chance to interact with Magellan penguins. This type of tour was replicated in Puerto Madryn, our unscheduled stop. Also, in Montevideo, Uruguay, I enjoyed a trip to a family run ranch, where all participated in a hay ride, had an excellent lunch, and the opportunity to ride a horse, milk a cow and shear a sheep.

All of the above was good, but it was not enough.

The Bad:

Our trip got off to a late start (indeed we did not leave until 3:30 am on the 6th) and for the Pacific side of the trip were constantly late. The prior cruise arrived eight hours late because of foul weather and we fell even further behind. We were scheduled to arrive in Puerto Montt, our first stop, at noon, four hours late, but did not arrive until 3:00 PM. As a result 2/3 of planned tours were cancelled.

The bad weather also fouled up the Chilean fjords visit. The low lying clouds and fog did not give us a clear view of the fjords and Amelia Glacier, The big downer was the decision of the Captain (and Princess) to cancel our stop at the Falkland Islands made two days before we were do there. Many of us on the boat were highly interested in the penguin rookeries on the Falklands, particularly Wilderness Point, home to the majestic King Penguins. High winds and bad seas were cited as the reason.

The following morning we could also not round Cape Horn—check off another objective not achieved.

The Captain:

The Captain, in my humble opinion, was a negative force on this trip. His daily announcements were downers. Early in the trip, members of the crew started volunteering how much the Captain was disliked by the crew and how some were trying to get transferred to another ship. You know how things are going when a ship based comedian made the Captain the butt of his jokes inn two different shows.

The Ports:

Puerto Montt: We arrived very late and most of the tours were cancelled, including the one I had signed up for. I got on an eco-hike through a big forest-very nice, very refreshing, but not worth a trip to South America.

Punta Arenas: A great tour of Magdalena Island with the Magellan penguins.

Ushuaia: It was wet and rainy, people were held on the tenders for as long as 45 minutes. The Train Tip to the End of the World should have stayed there. What a waste of money. A catamaran trip to the Beagle Channel would have great on a good weather day.

Puerto Madryn: A poor substitute for the Falkland Islands.

Montevideo: As described above, I became a gaucho.

I am going to take a break from cruising and start returning to land based trips. Much of my bucket list is not located at seaports and I need a break after two mediocre trips.

I wish all of you happy seas and many wonderful cruises.

[billet]

Thank you for the review. Sorry to hear you did not wholeheartedly enjoy the cruise. It was a pity the weather was so bad unfortunately I do not think Princess are to blame for that!. Captain Kent's record of never missing the Falkland's has now been well and truly broken.

We had an excellent trip in Nov/Dec and really appreciated the daily informative updates from the Captain. The only issue was the delays getting into many ports due to weather/politics. We were fortunate however not to miss a single port on our itinerary.

The trouble with cruising is it is not land based :) and is philosophically a different type of vacation. Enjoy your future adventures!

[JosieJeangirl]

Billet......Are you Paul? This is Jules the naturalist from the South American cruise.

If it is you.......my wife's name on CC is JosieJeanGirl. I rarely post or lurk on CC.

My wife saw your comment a few minutes ago. Also, if it is you....remember we have to go sailing!!

 

Jules ;)

[Times Prince]

Thank you for your review. As I read it the theme appears to be that the cruise was less than expected, and the weather was the reason.

 

Unfortunately not even Princess Cruises can control the weather, and if there is a suggestion for other prospective passengers it might be that "one should be prepared for port cancellations and delays on this Round the Horn itinerary."

 

As for Captain William Cook - we were on the December sailing of the Star Princess from LA to Santiago, and found his announcements to be refreshingly straightforward, and often with a touch of humor. While any announcement of delays and/or port changes will be met by many passengers with disappointment, we found the honesty and integrity of Captain Cook's information to be refreshing and did not raise false hopes of making up delays. In several cases he provided the technical reasons why this would not be possible.

 

It is unfortunate that the Falklands were missed. I know there were many on my cruise who looked forward to that port as a highlight.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

 

How many crew members were badmouthing the Captain?

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

The weather is out of Princess's control. I would be glad the Captain skipped those ports. He is looking out for the safety! Also, the announcements, while a "downer", would be appreciated so that I knew what was going on. Please don't blame the Captain for being cautious and letting passengers know what is going on.

[Coco Creek]

Thanks for the review.

 

How many crew members were badmouthing the Captain?

 

We discussed the crew's distate for the Captain one night at dinner and every one of the six people at the table at heard from more than one employee about the Captain. This included housekeeping, food servers, spa and entertainers. It also included specific titles I will not identify to protect employees from disclosure.

 

The problem started when the Captain closed the employee lounge to all except those with "two stripes or above". The Captain tried to defuse the sitatuion with a wine and chesse party for all the staff, but apparently fewer than 1 in 5 showed up.

 

Say what you want, but crew wise the Star Princess is not a happy ship.

[billet]

Billet......Are you Paul? This is Jules the naturalist from the South American cruise.

If it is you.......my wife's name on CC is JosieJeanGirl. I rarely post or lurk on CC.

My wife saw your comment a few minutes ago. Also, if it is you....remember we have to go sailing!!

 

Jules ;)

Yes it is! I do not have your email please write to qmmeet @ shaw dot ca

Sorry for highjacking the thread!

[billet]

We discussed the crew's distate for the Captain one night at dinner and every one of the six people at the table at heard from more than one employee about the Captain. This included housekeeping, food servers, spa and entertainers. It also included specific titles I will not identify to protect employees from disclosure.

 

The problem started when the Captain closed the employee lounge to all except those with "two stripes or above". The Captain tried to defuse the sitatuion with a wine and chesse party for all the staff, but apparently fewer than 1 in 5 showed up.

 

Say what you want, but crew wise the Star Princess is not a happy ship.

In fact it was not the employee lounge just the officer's wardroom which is for, er..., officers. This would not affect housekeepers or food servers.

[NotWthOutablcony]

Lol, I know what you mean about the captain. That poor guy, every time he had to make an announcement on our last cruise on the Star, it sounded as if he would start crying at any moment. We are able to laugh about it now, but then it was downright annoying. Poor guy was having a hard time, we thought it was just us. I never heard any of the crew badmouthing him, and even so, that would be in horrible taste to do so. Maybe he just needs a vacation :D

Sorry to hear about your cruise, I can certainly understand the negative outweighing the positive. Everyone's perspective is different and I respect that. We go FOR the cruise, the ports are just a nice addition, but many people do go for the ports, the only surefire way to experience them on your watch is to take a land vacation. I hope your future travels prove to be everything you hoped for.

[Coco Creek]

In fact it was not the employee lounge just the officer's wardroom which is for, er..., officers. This would not affect housekeepers or food servers.

 

Yet all employees were using prior to arrival of the current Captain. So, yes, the worker bees were affected.

[Coco Creek]

Lol, I know what you mean about the captain. That poor guy, every time he had to make an announcement on our last cruise on the Star, it sounded as if he would start crying at any moment. We are able to laugh about it now, but then it was downright annoying. Poor guy was having a hard time, we thought it was just us. I never heard any of the crew badmouthing him, and even so, that would be in horrible taste to do so. Maybe he just needs a vacation :D

Sorry to hear about your cruise, I can certainly understand the negative outweighing the positive. Everyone's perspective is different and I respect that. We go FOR the cruise, the ports are just a nice addition, but many people do go for the ports, the only surefire way to experience them on your watch is to take a land vacation. I hope your future travels prove to be everything you hoped for.

 

Thanks for your good wishes. Yes, I am going to have many good travels ahead of me.

 

The best of cruises to you.

[ChesterTheCat]

Hello,

 

We were on the LA to Rio cruise with billet and Times Prince and my wife and I were delighted with how open Captain Kent was.

 

I met him personally on the bridge during the Ultimate Ship's tour and was convinced that if I were on a cruise in a bad situation, this is the kind of Captain I would hope was in command.

 

Regarding your delays, this was our second South American cruise around the horn in as many years and the weather is a fickle host.

 

We were able to visit the Falklands both times, but that only reinforced our love for a part of the world that is not as bleak as that far away British outpost.

 

Sometimes you are early, sometimes you are late, but I found that is true in all forms of travel

 

WD aka ChesterTheCat

[stunnedinva]

I am back from a January 5 (but really January 6) to January 17 cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I return from a cruise for the first time with a mixed review and a feeling that perhaps land based travel is my future.

 

Ushuaia: It was wet and rainy, people were held on the tenders for as long as 45 minutes. The Train Tip to the End of the World should have stayed there. What a waste of money.

What was the problem with the train trip? We're considering it for our cruise next month.

[ChesterTheCat]

Ushuaia:

in January 2009, we took the National Park bus excursion which parralells the train a good part of the way. We enjoyed it very much. It was cloudy, but you are below 50 degrees south.

 

In Dec 2009, the weather was 60 degrees and sunny and we just walked around the town and had a great lunch of King Crab.

 

ChesterTheCat

[kkorman]

I am back from a January 5 (but really January 6) to January 17 cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I return from a cruise for the first time with a mixed review and a feeling that perhaps land based travel is my future.

I should start by stating my biases. I travel to see places I want to see and, for the most part, have not seen before. I am not a foodie, do not care particularly for cruise ship entertainment (except a good comedian), do not play bingo or trivia and can do without country and western night.

The Good:

The good is easy to identify. Both and after the cruise, we had wonderful tours. In Chile, Pedro from Christian, The Van Man, picked us up at the airport, gave us a tour of Santiago and then on the way to Valparaiso embarkation port drove us through the wine country of Chile. We stopped for a winery tour and tried wine tasting for the first time in my life. We then toured Vina del Mar, a wonderful seaside community before reaching the Star Princess around 3:30 PM.

In Buenos Aires, post trip, WOW Argentina and their tour guide Carina provide us a fabulous eight hour tour. We saw the tourists stops in the am and then in the afternoon, went to one of the neighborhoods where the street tango dancers performed, the shops were wonderful and just being the people was a treat. Carina loves her city and country and the tour reflected that. I would recommend WOW Argentina to anyone who wants custom tours of Argentina (as well as Chile and Peru).

In Punta Arenas, I enjoyed a trip to Magdalena Island where I had a chance to interact with Magellan penguins. This type of tour was replicated in Puerto Madryn, our unscheduled stop. Also, in Montevideo, Uruguay, I enjoyed a trip to a family run ranch, where all participated in a hay ride, had an excellent lunch, and the opportunity to ride a horse, milk a cow and shear a sheep.

All of the above was good, but it was not enough.

The Bad:

Our trip got off to a late start (indeed we did not leave until 3:30 am on the 6th) and for the Pacific side of the trip were constantly late. The prior cruise arrived eight hours late because of foul weather and we fell even further behind. We were scheduled to arrive in Puerto Montt, our first stop, at noon, four hours late, but did not arrive until 3:00 PM. As a result 2/3 of planned tours were cancelled.

The bad weather also fouled up the Chilean fjords visit. The low lying clouds and fog did not give us a clear view of the fjords and Amelia Glacier, The big downer was the decision of the Captain (and Princess) to cancel our stop at the Falkland Islands made two days before we were do there. Many of us on the boat were highly interested in the penguin rookeries on the Falklands, particularly Wilderness Point, home to the majestic King Penguins. High winds and bad seas were cited as the reason.

The following morning we could also not round Cape Horn—check off another objective not achieved.

The Captain:

The Captain, in my humble opinion, was a negative force on this trip. His daily announcements were downers. Early in the trip, members of the crew started volunteering how much the Captain was disliked by the crew and how some were trying to get transferred to another ship. You know how things are going when a ship based comedian made the Captain the butt of his jokes inn two different shows.

The Ports:

Puerto Montt: We arrived very late and most of the tours were cancelled, including the one I had signed up for. I got on an eco-hike through a big forest-very nice, very refreshing, but not worth a trip to South America.

Punta Arenas: A great tour of Magdalena Island with the Magellan penguins.

Ushuaia: It was wet and rainy, people were held on the tenders for as long as 45 minutes. The Train Tip to the End of the World should have stayed there. What a waste of money. A catamaran trip to the Beagle Channel would have great on a good weather day.

Puerto Madryn: A poor substitute for the Falkland Islands.

Montevideo: As described above, I became a gaucho.

I am going to take a break from cruising and start returning to land based trips. Much of my bucket list is not located at seaports and I need a break after two mediocre trips.

I wish all of you happy seas and many wonderful cruises.

 

It does sound like cruising is not for you.

[Coco Creek]

It does sound like cruising is not for you.

 

Kevin, perhaps not. I have been on seven cruises, five highly successful.

 

But given my goals in travel, I think you have a point.

[kkorman]

Kevin, perhaps not. I have been on seven cruises, five highly successful.

 

But given my goals in travel, I think you have a point.

 

Exactly, I am sure at some point you will find an itinerary that overlaps with your goals. Or just a some relaxing time.

 

Happy travels to you!!!

[billet]

Yet all employees were using prior to arrival of the current Captain. So, yes, the worker bees were affected.

 

Not all employees were using the wardroom prior to the arrival of Captain Kent, only a select few such as the spa girls and entertainers. There is a separate very large crew lounge for the non officer status.

 

I heard from many that the train trip was not worth it. After reading a number of reviews last year about the train trip we took the Princess Bus tour to the end of the world and it was a great trip.

[captainron]

Not all employees were using the wardroom prior to the arrival of Captain Kent, only a select few such as the spa girls and entertainers. There is a separate very large crew lounge for the non officer status.

 

I heard from many that the train trip was not worth it. After reading a number of reviews last year about the train trip we took the Princess Bus tour to the end of the world and it was a great trip.

 

Hi,

Was on Star for the 30 day SYD/LAX jog in Oct/Nov 09. I know for a fact there is a crew lounge that windows onto the upper part of the Promenade Deck around the bow.

 

Running a ship is much like the military. Generally action will not be taken without a reason for it, and as such there is more to his than obviously meets the eye. I'm certain Capt Kent is just as interactive with his crew and pax as was his predecessor. Regrettably in any crowd or segment of society, there are a few bad apples and I'm sure that onboard Star there could have been a few to generate such an action by the Captain.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[Waynetor]

I was also on the 30 day cruise out of LA starting No 22. We were very fortunate with the weather.

I enjoyed the daily captains updates - sure beats the cruise directors twice daily annoucements. The captain only boared the ship in LA. I never heard anything positive or negative about him from crew on our cruise.

I went on the train Trip to the End of the World - I would not recommend it unless you were a real train buff. The area is quite scenic but you are basically following a river through a valley. The valley is meadows full of old tree stumps. The train makes one stop for about 15 min so you can see a waterfall. At the end it takes about 10 min to turn the engine around for the return trip. I was hoping to see more wildlife. I only saw wild hores, geese and 1 rabbit. The guides speak spanish and english.

Wayne S

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thank you for the review. It is always helpful to read the good and the bad.

[Josie2]

And generally agree with the OP. Say what you will, but for us in North America, this was a once in a lifetime trip. Missing the Falklands, and having tours cancelled in Puerto Montt was a source of extreme disappointment. Indeed, my highlights were the Andes, Santiago, Buenos Aires and the Beagle Channel. All those were wonderful. That doesn't make up for missing the penguins and the Falklands. And I appreciate the weather concerns, but missing the "rounding" of the Cape is also a great disappointment. Not Princess' fault, but still a disappointment. For us, who have been on more than 20 cruises, I would say this was "the worst". I'll stick to the Caribbean and look for other options in other parts of the world. And in terms of "the worst", I'll start with the breakfast in the Horizon Court (I think my bagel was toasted two days before), tired entertainment, tendering nightmares (2 hours line-up anyone?!), daily problems asking for a table for two at dinner (if they don't want to do it they should simply say not available - don't make us beg every night), cancelled Chef's Table (first excuse "Code Yellow", second excuse "itinerary change", third excuse "Norwalk" - again if you don't want to do it don"t offer it!)

[Coco Creek]

And generally agree with the OP. Say what you will, but for us in North America, this was a once in a lifetime trip. Missing the Falklands, and having tours cancelled in Puerto Montt was a source of extreme disappointment. Indeed, my highlights were the Andes, Santiago, Buenos Aires and the Beagle Channel. All those were wonderful. That doesn't make up for missing the penguins and the Falklands. And I appreciate the weather concerns, but missing the "rounding" of the Cape is also a great disappointment. Not Princess' fault, but still a disappointment. For us, who have been on more than 20 cruises, I would say this was "the worst". I'll stick to the Caribbean and look for other options in other parts of the world. And in terms of "the worst", I'll start with the breakfast in the Horizon Court (I think my bagel was toasted two days before), tired entertainment, tendering nightmares (2 hours line-up anyone?!), daily problems asking for a table for two at dinner (if they don't want to do it they should simply say not available - don't make us beg every night), cancelled Chef's Table (first excuse "Code Yellow", second excuse "itinerary change", third excuse "Norwalk" - again if you don't want to do it don"t offer it!)

 

I did not get in into the good in my review, but if I had I would have likened the Horizon to a bad high school cafeteria.

 

It is amazing that we both agree some of the best times on the trip were pre and post cruise. I loved my tours (and tour guides) of the wine country between Santiago and Valparaiso and my full day in Buenos Aires.

[NSWP]

Thanks for the review, we are doing a similar cruise next year on Star, Rio to SF. However, I have to ask the question 'How you sailed around the bottom of South America 'without rounding Cape Horn' as you say.? I am not conversant with the coastline there, did you take another route?