Reporting from 8/10/13 Star Princess

[Cortesefam]

I enjoyed the many reports from Alaska cruisers this summer--much help in planning our trip. To return the favor, I'll provide some short updates from our cruise this week. We are a family of four, with "kids" 20 and 17. This is our first cruise with Princess, but we've taken over a dozen family cruises over the years split between Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian, Disney, Costa and Cunard. We thought Princess would be a good choice for Alaska, and we were ready to try a new cruise line.

 

Pre-Cruise: We stayed two nights at the Seattle Waterfront Marriott. The hotel is in a great location, and very accommodating for cruise travelers. We tried two restaurants for dinner that I would strongly recommend--Wild Ginger (modern Asian) and Elliot's Oyster House (great fresh seafood on the Waterfront). Both were about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

 

Embarkation: We used the shuttle offered by the Marriott, which was operated by "Seattle Express". The cost was $7/pp, and we had the 10 person van to ourselves. We departed the hotel at 10:40 a.m., and were in the waiting area fully checked-in by 11:15--it was extremely efficient. Princess began boarding at noon, and we were able to proceed directly to our staterooms. We are in aft balcony staterooms C750/752--I'm typing this on the balcony looking back at Seattle and the Norwegian Jewel following us out of the harbor. Our steward opened the balcony divider, so we have the port aft corner between the two staterooms--we figured we would get maximum use of the space and balconies on an Alaska cruise.

 

Lunch was available in the Portofino dining room, but the kids voted for the buffet. Lots of choices, and well presented. After breakfast in Pike Place Market, we all went light for lunch. We have traditional late seating dinner, so an afternoon snack may be in order!

 

The Star Princess looks to be in great condition--neutral decor, very clean and a pretty straight forward layout. We explored the ship after the muster drill--we're all intrigued to try the "Movies Under the Stars"--a new cruise experience for us! I purchased a "Coffee Card"--Alaska seems like a good bet for both coffee and hot chocolate drinks.

 

Happy to answer any questions, and I will try to post pictures if bandwidth permits.

[flygirl1420]

Thanks so much for posting. We'll be on the Star in October to Hawaii. Looking forward to more photos of Alaska and the ship!

[msweeble1]

Thank you for your updates! Looks like you will have good weather!! We went a couple weeks ago and loved it. We had great weather!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Debbie

[JillM]

I enjoyed the many reports from Alaska cruisers this summer--much help in planning our trip. To return the favor, I'll provide some short updates from our cruise this week. We are a family of four, with "kids" 20 and 17. This is our first cruise with Princess, but we've taken over a dozen family cruises over the years split between Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian, Disney, Costa and Cunard. We thought Princess would be a good choice for Alaska, and we were ready to try a new cruise line.

 

Pre-Cruise: We stayed two nights at the Seattle Waterfront Marriott. The hotel is in a great location, and very accommodating for cruise travelers. We tried two restaurants for dinner that I would strongly recommend--Wild Ginger (modern Asian) and Elliot's Oyster House (great fresh seafood on the Waterfront). Both were about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

 

Embarkation: We used the shuttle offered by the Marriott, which was operated by "Seattle Express". The cost was $7/pp, and we had the 10 person van to ourselves. We departed the hotel at 10:40 a.m., and were in the waiting area fully checked-in by 11:15--it was extremely efficient. Princess began boarding at noon, and we were able to proceed directly to our staterooms. We are in aft balcony staterooms C750/752--I'm typing this on the balcony looking back at Seattle and the Norwegian Jewel following us out of the harbor. Our steward opened the balcony divider, so we have the port aft corner between the two staterooms--we figured we would get maximum use of the space and balconies on an Alaska cruise.

 

Lunch was available in the Portofino dining room, but the kids voted for the buffet. Lots of choices, and well presented. After breakfast in Pike Place Market, we all went light for lunch. We have traditional late seating dinner, so an afternoon snack may be in order!

 

The Star Princess looks to be in great condition--neutral decor, very clean and a pretty straight forward layout. We explored the ship after the muster drill--we're all intrigued to try the "Movies Under the Stars"--a new cruise experience for us! I purchased a "Coffee Card"--Alaska seems like a good bet for both coffee and hot chocolate drinks.

 

Happy to answer any questions, and I will try to post pictures if bandwidth permits.

 

Will be on it next Saturday!! Any info would be greatly appreciated. Pic of the Patters? Still don't know what to pack due to weather. Any suggestions would be so very helpful. Look forward to my first Princess cruise as well. Thanks in advance and have a great time!!!

 

 

 

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[Minxzz]

I'd really like an idea of the work out classes available on the star princess! Im going on the Hawaii cruise in October.

 

I've done the Alaska cruise twice its a lot of fun make sure to catch the naturalist lectures they were really enjoyable!

 

Thank you!!

[luvSClake]

We will be sailing on the Star next weekend, looking forward to your reviews and tips this week. :) Looks like you are having great weather, I am watching the 10 day forecast and hope we do as well.

[lukesgrammie]

I have been reading the reviews and most of them have complained that the food is horrible at the buffet? Did you by any chance carry wine onboard and if so how strict were they? Hope you have a great trip! We are planning a Hawaii cruise in January, but am shying away because of the bad reviews of the crew and food. Hope I am wrong..this is our sixth Princess cruise/

[CamCruiser]

We will be aboard the Star in September to Alaska. First time on the Star so I look forward to reading your reviews of the ship. Enjoy your cruise!

[Helen]

We were on the Star last week and I don't have a single complaint.

 

All the staff went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. I never passed by one employee that didn't smile and say hello. The weather was great and the food at the buffet was good. Breakfast was the best. The fruit was delicious. You could get your eggs cooked to order if you wanted.

 

We ate in the dining room several times for lunch which was nice and don't miss the pub lunches in the Crown Grill. They had that twice. Very nice. We also ate in the Crown Grill one night and certainly worth the extra 25.pp.

[seamanfs]

Looking forward to your info about the Star as we are booked for Hawaii in Nov. The Star is one of the few Princess ships we have not sailed on so any thoughts and info from you is appreciated! Enjoy your cruise. Alaska and a familiy reunion in Seattle is on our agenda next August!

[sprshop]

We will be on the Star to Hawaii in Oct. Our first time on Princess.

 

I have seen people posting that on embarkation day a MDR is open for lunch. My TA checked and said it is only for suite/and high ranking Princess cruisers.

 

You mentioned it was opened. Do you happen to know for sure if it is open to all PAXs?

 

Thanks for your posting. Any info will be helpful.

 

Hope your cruise is even more enjoyable in the days to come.

[caribill]

We will be on the Star to Hawaii in Oct. Our first time on Princess.

 

I have seen people posting that on embarkation day a MDR is open for lunch. My TA checked and said it is only for suite/and high ranking Princess cruisers.

 

You mentioned it was opened. Do you happen to know for sure if it is open to all PAXs?

 

Thanks for your posting. Any info will be helpful.

 

Hope your cruise is even more enjoyable in the days to come.

 

It is open to all passengers.

 

Check the Patter in your cabin to see which restaurant is being used.

 

Ignore personnel who try to direct you elsewhere.

 

Be there before 1:30 PM.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for posting your live from thread. Hopefully, you will post a comparison between some of your favorite cruise lines and Princess.:):) I always love reading first time Princess cruiser's thoughts.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[Helen]

We ate in the Portofino dining room after embarking and being urged to go to the Horizon Court. Doors were closed but we just went in and were only a group of about 20 that were in there. Wonderful start to our cruise.

[KruzPrincess]

I'm contemplating booking a Hawaii cruise on the Star this year, so I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[RNRcruisers]

I have been reading the reviews and most of them have complained that the food is horrible at the buffet? Did you by any chance carry wine onboard and if so how strict were they? Hope you have a great trip! We are planning a Hawaii cruise in January, but am shying away because of the bad reviews of the crew and food. Hope I am wrong..this is our sixth Princess cruise/

 

We were on the Star in June and the buffet was fine. We ate every breakfast and lunch there and our group of 4 had no complaints. We brought a box of wine on board that was the size of 2 bottles and had no problem. The staff and other cruisers were the friendliest we have ever had on a cruise - wonderful trip! We're already planning on our next Alaskan cruise!

[CindyJ]

We were on the Aug 3-10th cruise with Star! It was amazing!! Similar experiences except we stayed at the Westin Seattle and took the shuttle to the cruise. We stayed in suite C420 and kids had cabins across the hall. Pack layers with light weight jackets. We had a warm day in Skagway and wore capri pants with flip flops! Lots of fog and some rain. Umbrellas and maybe even some ponchos would be helpful. Glacier Bay was AMAZING.

[lukesgrammie]

Thank you for the reply. We have never had a bad Princess Cruise yet. I am going to book it. Some people are so so picky...we are not..Also glad to hear about the wine. Was it in your checked luggage or carryon? It's a 15 day voyage...I would hope they would allow two more bottles, but oh well!

[RNRcruisers]

The wine was in our checked luggage. We are also not picky eaters and I love all the fresh fruit and salad bars on cruises. But even if I didn't, there was plenty of variety to choose from. We certainly did not go hungry!

[casavaha]

Thanks for taking the time and minutes to let us know what is going on. We will be

on the Star the 21 of September and then on the 20 of December to Hawaii.

 

How was the dance music in the Wheelhouse. Were many people dancing, if you could

get a name of the group, I sure would appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

Greg

[Cortesefam]

We enjoyed a sunny but breezy day at sea out of Seattle. I'll report on the past two days first, then answer questions in a separate post.

 

The open ocean passage was pretty calm all day Sunday. We participated in morning trivia, two members of the family hit the spa for pedicures, I attended the Maitre D'Hotel wine tasting and the kids watched "Back to the Future" on deck in the afternoon--a full day at sea!

 

Horizon Court is pretty standard fare for breakfast. Nothing exceptional, nothing awful. The fresh pastries are probably the best item we've tried so far. The pastries and coffee at the coffee bar on 5 have been enjoyed by all--excellent coffee, teas and coffee drinks. At Horizon Court they come by the table for coffee/juice/water orders, which is very nice.

 

We tried pizza for lunch on Sunday on deck--outstanding. My spouse tried the "Lumberjack" pizza with smoked provolone and Canadian Bacon, and had seconds. Cheese and Pepperoni are the daily standards.

 

While the kids watched the movies on deck in the afternoon, I did the wine tasting, in the Amalfi dining room. Good selection of premium wines from the list, finished with the 2008 Reserve Robert Mondavi Cab--a real treat.

 

We like traditional dining, and have the late seating. Both dinners have been well presented and tasty. We would rank the MDR slightly above our experience on RCI Jewel of the Seas cruise in April 2012. The vegetarian entrees were very good both nights, as were Spring Rolls and ceviche. Service was well done and friendly.

 

The kids went back on deck last night to watch "Skyfall"--fleeces and blankets required. We went to the "British Invasion" show--just fair.

 

Water was extremely calm coming into Juneau this morning--a beautiful sail up the channel. A sunny, 73 degree day here in Juneau. We head out at 1:00 p.m. for whale watching with Harv & Marv--a strong recommendation from reports on this site and Tripadvisor.

 

Overall, we're getting lots of use out of our aft balconies. A little bit of vibration, but we like both the motion and white noise from the wake--everyone is sleeping soundly. Our cabin steward has done a nice job, and we've enjoyed the canapes and fruit in the stateroom.

 

Will report later on whale watching!

[Cortesefam]

1) Weather: We can't believe our luck--week looks great. We've definitely needed layers for the time at sea.

 

2) Wine: We did bring two bottles of Washington State wine on board. They had us go to a table after security to declare our alcohol, and put stickers on the two bottles before checking in. All very efficient--we understood the limit and process, and were fine with two bottles.

 

3) Work Out Classes: My wife and daughter have both used the gym equipment, but no classes so far.

 

4) Embarkation Lunch: Portofino was open to all passengers, and not crowded.

 

5) Wheelhouse Bar/Dancing: Have not been there in the evening yet--will try to stop by tonight.

 

6) Debarkation at Juneau: Started on-time at 11:00 a.m. Attached is a photo looking into Juneau from our balcony.

[luvSClake]

1) Weather: We can't believe our luck--week looks great. We've definitely needed layers for the time at sea.

 

2) Wine: We did bring two bottles of Washington State wine on board. They had us go to a table after security to declare our alcohol, and put stickers on the two bottles before checking in. All very efficient--we understood the limit and process, and were fine with two bottles.

 

3) Work Out Classes: My wife and daughter have both used the gym equipment, but no classes so far.

 

4) Embarkation Lunch: Portofino was open to all passengers, and not crowded.

 

5) Wheelhouse Bar/Dancing: Have not been there in the evening yet--will try to stop by tonight.

 

6) Debarkation at Juneau: Started on-time at 11:00 a.m. Attached is a photo looking into Juneau from our balcony.

Looks like you are having beautiful weather, we sail next week and hope it's similar, can't wait. Thank you for your posts, I look forward to the remainder of your cruise. :)

[sprshop]

:):)Thank you so much for taking the time from your vacation to answer my question re: lunch on embark day.

 

I am impressed with your answering all questions asked of you. I look forward to reading more of your adventures.

 

Thanks again, and wish you a pleasant night.:D

[JillM]

1) Weather: We can't believe our luck--week looks great. We've definitely needed layers for the time at sea.

 

2) Wine: We did bring two bottles of Washington State wine on board. They had us go to a table after security to declare our alcohol, and put stickers on the two bottles before checking in. All very efficient--we understood the limit and process, and were fine with two bottles.

 

3) Work Out Classes: My wife and daughter have both used the gym equipment, but no classes so far.

 

4) Embarkation Lunch: Portofino was open to all passengers, and not crowded.

 

5) Wheelhouse Bar/Dancing: Have not been there in the evening yet--will try to stop by tonight.

 

6) Debarkation at Juneau: Started on-time at 11:00 a.m. Attached is a photo looking into Juneau from our balcony.

 

Thanks for sharing! I've been checking the 10 day forecast and looks like rainy most days. I jut got an inexpensive rain suit ---- just in case.

Would you recommend just going to Portofino? Don't get into Seattle until 12:30ish and probably at pier by 1:30..... Recommend on where to eat?

Look forward to reading more---I'm getting real anxious to go!!!!

 

 

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