Star Princess....Do you like her? Why?

[critterchick]

I love the Star. She was our first Princess ship when she was brand new in 2002, and we sailed her last May. I love the full-sized Vines (Sapphire's is tucked into a corner and Alfredo's occupies the larger space:().

 

I greatly preferred the crew on Star. I had good but not great service on Sapphire (although there were some standouts). I just observed a lot of unsmiling faces, and I thought that was a shame. On Star pretty much everybody looked us in the eye and smiled. A little thing to some, but it's important to me.:)

[Id rather be diving]

We sailed the Star roundtrip to Hawaii from San Fran last November. It was the first time we had been on her. We loved her. The thing with most Princess ships is they are close to the same layout. Not exactly, but pretty close.

 

But the BEST thing about the Star is her CREW! They are fantastic!!! This was my mom's first cruise while on oxygen. Wherever she went there was someone asking if they could get her something, help her with something, etc. She would go up to the Lido deck every morning and "her" waiter would be there waiting for her. He would have already ordered a Bloody Mary for my step dad and had their favorite table waiting for them.

 

We also made fast friends with Pedro. I can't remember his title, but I think he's second in charge of dining services. He was awesome. We ate in the Crown Grill one night and I ordered a bottle of wine. The next night in the main dining room, I was trying to find that wine and it wasn't on the main dining room's menu. So, Pedro ran to the Crown Grill and brought back the list for me. Then when I thought I had found it, he ran back to the Crown Grill to get the bottle. Ooopss...that wasn't the right bottle. So, back to the Crown Grill he went and brought me the one I wanted. Now, THAT's some service!

 

Additionally, my mom ended up using the medical center as well. Everyone there was fantastic as well. So much so in fact the doctor had her come back the morning we departed just to make sure she was good to go. She really was, but she was really nervous about flying with her oxygen (though she had flown out to the ship 17 days earlier) and he asked her to come back to the center - it was just to make her feel comfortable not because he really needed to see her. Again stellor service from the crew!

[Colo Cruiser]

Are there lounge chairs on deck 7? We enjoy spending time there and were surprised that the NCL ship we were on had no chairs on the promenade deck. All the RCCL ships we had been on had them and we just assumed they all did.

 

 

Yes there are chairs.

[EatPrayCruise]

We sailed the Star roundtrip to Hawaii from San Fran last November. It was the first time we had been on her. We loved her. The thing with most Princess ships is they are close to the same layout. Not exactly' date=' but pretty close.

 

But the BEST thing about the Star is her CREW! They are fantastic!!! This was my mom's first cruise while on oxygen. Wherever she went there was someone asking if they could get her something, help her with something, etc. She would go up to the Lido deck every morning and "her" waiter would be there waiting for her. He would have already ordered a Bloody Mary for my step dad and had their favorite table waiting for them.

 

We also made fast friends with Pedro. I can't remember his title, but I think he's second in charge of dining services. He was awesome. We ate in the Crown Grill one night and I ordered a bottle of wine. The next night in the main dining room, I was trying to find that wine and it wasn't on the main dining room's menu. So, Pedro ran to the Crown Grill and brought back the list for me. Then when I thought I had found it, he ran back to the Crown Grill to get the bottle. Ooopss...that wasn't the right bottle. So, back to the Crown Grill he went and brought me the one I wanted. Now, THAT's some service!

 

Additionally, my mom ended up using the medical center as well. Everyone there was fantastic as well. So much so in fact the doctor had her come back the morning we departed just to make sure she was good to go. She really was, but she was really nervous about flying with her oxygen (though she had flown out to the ship 17 days earlier) and he asked her to come back to the center - it was just to make her feel comfortable not because he really needed to see her. Again stellor service from the crew![/quote']

 

Oh, what a great report. Nice to know that they have (had) a great crew just a few months ago. We are getting excited!

[Sea Hag]

What I like best about the Star was that we had the best waiter for dinner that we've ever had on any cruise, with any cruise line.

[runnerodb83]

Yes there are chairs.

 

Well hold on there, YES there are chairs, but not "lounge chairs". The only big ships that have these are the Coral, Island, Sapphire, and Diamond. All the other grand class and grand class derivative ships have benches. The sapphire and diamond are a few feet wider and can accommodate the chairs without impeding the promenade. The Island and Coral were designed with wider promenades.

[Liz54]

The Caribbean Princess has benches on the promenade, but also armchairs, teak with cushions. They are not lounge chairs but are very comfortable.

[caribill]

Well hold on there, YES there are chairs, but not "lounge chairs".

 

Here is what there is

 

[TracieABD]

We sail for Alaska on May 18 and have never been on the Star. Any chatter, secrets or tips that anyone would like to share? We've been on the Island and Coral to Alaska previously; so a bit smaller ships.

 

We are in a mini-suite E729 if anyone has anything specific to that cabin.

 

Thanks for helping to feed my OCD needs! :confused:

 

Here is a link to a live from that I did in February. We were in an Emerald mini. I wrote a little about the noise.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1779657

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

The Caribbean Princess has benches on the promenade, but also armchairs, teak with cushions. They are not lounge chairs but are very comfortable.

 

:)Just off the Star a couple of weeks ago and they do have the armchairs, teak with cushions. Yes, they are comfortable - more comfortable for us than the lounge chairs.

[boone2]

We got off the Star a couple of weeks ago after our longest cruise - 29 days SA. The crew were the best we've ever had and we've always had great service on Princess. There just seemed to be something about this crew. I think it came from the Captain down. he never ever missed an opportunity to thank them and appreciate them in any announcements or speeches. Still on a high from that cruise:D:D:D

Terry

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

We got off the Star a couple of weeks ago after our longest cruise - 29 days SA. The crew were the best we've ever had and we've always had great service on Princess. There just seemed to be something about this crew. I think it came from the Captain down. he never ever missed an opportunity to thank them and appreciate them in any announcements or speeches. Still on a high from that cruise:D:D:D

Terry

 

Terry,

We felt the same way about the Captain and the crew on the Star.

Julie

[Whoo]

We got off the Star a couple of weeks ago after our longest cruise - 29 days SA. The crew were the best we've ever had and we've always had great service on Princess. There just seemed to be something about this crew. I think it came from the Captain down. he never ever missed an opportunity to thank them and appreciate them in any announcements or speeches. Still on a high from that cruise:D:D:D

Terry

 

Like others have said, we really enjoyed the crew on the Star. We were on the Nov. 20th sailing to Hawaii. We saw the Captain several times out and about on the ship - and he was always friendly. We thought the same - that the Captain had a lot to do with the happy crew.

[EatPrayCruise]

Here is a link to a live from that I did in February. We were in an Emerald mini. I wrote a little about the noise.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1779657

 

Thanks, Tracie, I had already read a lot of your "live" report, but thanks for the link to revisit!

 

Sue

[timetravler]

Just got off the Star on the 23rd of April. Loved this ship. The Horizon court now has a separate dessert area which makes the traffic flow very well. If you have anytime dinning you can reserve a table that you like the night before. Samson in Portofino is a fantastic waiter.

Andrew who may now be the cruise director(Billy London is now on a 2 month vacation) is wonderful as well as all of his staff. One fellow named Anthony on the cruise director staff who is from the USA was the best even though he only has about 50 days at sea thus far.

Be sure to try the goat cheese soufflé when it comes on the menu. That was my favorite I think, but then again, I had very few dishes that I didn't love.

One final tip is wait until about 12:30 before going to lunch in the dinning room. That way you will avoid most of the crowds.

[Colo Cruiser]

Well hold on there, YES there are chairs, but not "lounge chairs". The only big ships that have these are the Coral, Island, Sapphire, and Diamond. All the other grand class and grand class derivative ships have benches. The sapphire and diamond are a few feet wider and can accommodate the chairs without impeding the promenade. The Island and Coral were designed with wider promenades.

 

Thats why I didn't put the word LOUNGE in front of chairs.

I am fully aware which ship has what. Thanks.:p

[Thrak]

I cruised the Diamond/Golden/Sapphire but never the Star. Will I like her and what will I like or dislike about her.

 

Which is her sister ship? Is it the Golden? If so, I'll be happy.

 

Cruised the Star to Hawaii last year. My wife and I loved it. My son was along (had his own stateroom) and he's a smoker. If you are a smoker you likely won't like the smoking area. It's in a kind of "tunnel-like" space and the sound from MUTS echoes loudly through there. It wasn't the best. I don't smoke so it didn't bother me much but, when sitting with my son a few times, it was pretty dang loud and not the place I wanted to be. If you don't smoke I think you will probably love the Star. If you do smoke then "love" might be a bit strong.

[pcur]

I cruised the Diamond/Golden/Sapphire but never the Star. Will I like her and what will I like or dislike about her.

Which is her sister ship? Is it the Golden? If so, I'll be happy.

 

We just got off the Star 2 days ago, and were on her for 4 weeks. Loved the ship and loved the crew. She is in good shape, and pretty much the usual Princess ship design.

 

Our only complaints about the ship itself is the outside promenade on Deck 7 is very narrow and constantly filled with walkers literally all day long.

 

We loved Skywalkers during the day for a quiet place to read. At the far corners are plugs along the baseboard to plug in an ereader, laptop, etc.

 

The libray was really tiny and shared space with the internet cafe. Pretty crowded all the time. I didn't really care because I had 60 books on my Nook and brought my own notebook.

 

I liked the free ecards for a quick email to family (whose email addresses I knew by heart).

 

I would go again on the Star for sure.

[Thrak]

Well hold on there, YES there are chairs, but not "lounge chairs". The only big ships that have these are the Coral, Island, Sapphire, and Diamond. All the other grand class and grand class derivative ships have benches. The sapphire and diamond are a few feet wider and can accommodate the chairs without impeding the promenade. The Island and Coral were designed with wider promenades.

 

The Sea Princess is smaller but has the wider Promenade deck with lounge chairs. My wife enjoyed bundling up with a book and the hot "drink of the day" on our Alaska cruise year before last. We also liked that the Promenade deck on Sea Princess was all one level rather than stepped up when going around the bow.

 

As for the comments folks are making on the Star crew I have to agree that they were excellent. We were on the Star last November - 15 day San Francisco - Hawaii.

 

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[kruznkanuk]

Also just spent a month on the Star in Feb-Mar and it was in great shape and as others have said, the crew were wonderful. ShoreEx and Front Desk maybe not as wonderful as others, but overall everyone went to the ends of the earth (or at least the ends of the ship) to fulfill any wishes. We really enjoyed the Capt's daily reports and embarkation announcements. For a few days they were happening a bit after 6 when we were at fixed dining and it was too noisy to hear them. I suggested that maybe they could be a different time, or recorded and played on the TV for later enjoyment, and they were done between 5 and 6 for the next two weeks. Such service. I am soooooo missing it. :)

[pcur]

We did something completely different on this last cruise on the Star. Since we drove to the port in San Pedro, we didn't have a luggage weight issue. However, what we did I will now probably do for all our future Princess, or beach destination, cruises.

 

We took two large folding camp chairs in carrying bags with us. They are very easy to carry on the shoulder, and I am a wimp about this kind of stuff. I had no problem.

 

These chairs were amazingly comfy, and we literally set them up anywhere on the ship where we wanted to sit. Even on the outside Promenade deck we were able to set the up in the little "hiccup" area where the railing jogs inward. We made sure we were always out of everyone's way wherever we sat. We even set up on the aft balcony overlooking the aft pool when we were docked in Moorea. Amazing view in the shade for hours.

 

We took them to the beach in Bora Bora, and I even sat in one outside the terminal while hubby went to get the rental car after the cruise.

 

These chairs made a huge difference since we couldn't afford to get a balcony cabin.

[Thrak]

I will make one other comment about our cruise on the Star. It's not a comment about the ship but a comment about the cruise itself. Our CD was JJ. I hope we never have him as CD again.

[pcur]

One other thing I noticed about the Star: the drinks are really weak. I noticed the first night, and after trying several types of drinks I found they were all very weak. I finally ordered old-fashions and asked for the club soda on the side. That way I could put in the amount I wanted. I also started asking for less ice. My first mixed drink was almost all ice!!

[ChiefBoats]

"We have sailed both the Golden and Star. We found them both well cared for and the crew/staff great. They are sister ships.

 

________________________________

Previous Cruises

Alaska - 2008 Island Princess

Alaska - 2009 (B2B) Island Princess

Alaska - 2010 Royal Princess

Alaska - 2011 Golden Princess

Panama Canal - 2012 Coral Princess

Alaska - 2012 Star Princess

Western Caribbean - 2013 Crown Princess

 

Future Cruises

Alaska - 2013 Island Princess

Western Caribbean - 2013 Caribbean Princess

Eastern Caribbean - 2014 Royal Princess

[jpj39]

I sailed Ruby, Emerarld ,and the Star. Love all of them.

What I love best was the anytime dining and anonymity on the ship.

I don't think there is a bad ship in the fleet.

I am booked on an Explorer class to the Med. I pick the ship based on the itinereary, places I have not been to. This is a trial baloon to western Africa on the Dawn Princess. am I going to like set dining and the familiarity?^