Star 10 night Mexico & Sea of Cortes: Review, photos, ship tour, and vlogs

[Sheebah]

Thank you for the great videos. I'll be on this same cruise in March and after watching all your vlogs I cannot wait!

 

 

We m so glad to hear that. I am so in love with this 10-night trip- would love to do it again!

 

 

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[FishinChris]

What great Vlogs! Do you have a YouTube channel or Facebook page to subscribe to?

 

 

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[Sheebah]

What great Vlogs! Do you have a YouTube channel or Facebook page to subscribe to?

 

 

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Thank you. We do, however CC frowns on self promotion here and I want to be respectful of that, so you can access our channel/subscribe through the vlogs - were also on FB, Instagram and Twitter if you search our channel name. Hope that helps. If not, message me.

 

 

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[Sheebah]

The whale shark experience was a little bit terrifying for me but I'm so glad that we did it. Our eight-year-old son did not get out of the boat because the water was way too Rocky and it would've been considerably dangerous for him. I also got stung by a few small jellyfish and I think I would've been traumatizing had it happened to him. The first image is a rather cloudy view of the whale shark which is pretty common in that area. There aren't many clear-water days, according to our guides in La Paz so-those are pretty normal conditions. The second photo shows the view of the aft of the ship as we returned on our boat that we chartered that day with red travel Mexico. The view was really dramatic and beautiful. Our boat was so cozy and well shaded and made the rocky conditions more bearable.

 

 

Back on the ship we enjoyed a wonderful dinner including a delicious spicy gazpacho.

 

 

Our waiter made an intricate design for our son, which we wanted to keep!!

 

 

Our LaPaz vlog is one of my favorite because it covers the whole range of our day from the disappointment of having a major excursion change to the joy of running down the sand dunes with my son and husband. Here is the video from that day. Tomorrow we will post our experience in Loreto, which was equally amazing!!

 

 

 

Sheri

 

 

 

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[stargazers]

We found your vblog a couple of weeks ago and am currently sharing it with our fellow cruisers. They are new to Princess, only having sailed on Carnival so this is a great introduction to this trip! We are going on the 10 day in March and have really enjoyed your videos.

 

Happy sailing!

Kristy :)

[FishinChris]

Thank you. We do, however CC frowns on self promotion here and I want to be respectful of that, so you can access our channel/subscribe through the vlogs - were also on FB, Instagram and Twitter if you search our channel name. Hope that helps. If not, message me.

 

 

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There are CC members that link their blog site and such in their signature, I don't see a problem with it. Unless of course your a travel agent then I understand. Great work again on your Vlogs, video takes work to edit to keep it interesting.

[Sheebah]

There are CC members that link their blog site and such in their signature, I don't see a problem with it. Unless of course your a travel agent then I understand. Great work again on your Vlogs, video takes work to edit to keep it interesting.

I think it varies. Just shot you a message on FB.

[Sheebah]

We found your vblog a couple of weeks ago and am currently sharing it with our fellow cruisers. They are new to Princess, only having sailed on Carnival so this is a great introduction to this trip! We are going on the 10 day in March and have really enjoyed your videos.

 

Happy sailing!

Kristy :)

Dave & Kristy, thank you EVER so much! We truly appreciate it, and love it when we can help new cruisers to make their first cruise a little easier to prep for.

[JLC@SD]

Enjoyed all of your videos, thank you for sharing them. Especially enjoyed your zip line videos.

 

We live in San Diego and had never been on board the Midway until we flew to San Francisco to take a Mexico cruise. One of our port of calls was SD. So when we sail into our home port......we walked over to see the Midway.

Edited January 23, 2017 by JLC@SD

[Sheebah]

Enjoyed all of your videos, thank you for sharing them. Especially enjoyed your zip line videos.

 

We live in San Diego and had never been on board the Midway until we flew to San Francisco to take a Mexico cruise. One of our port of calls was SD. So when we sail into our home port......we walked over to see the Midway.

 

 

Exactly! Me too! I was born and raised in SD an never visited. Glad I'm not the only one [emoji41]

 

 

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[Sheebah]

Hey everyone,

Here is a link to the menus from most nights onboard:

 

http://www.cruisetipstv.com/star-princess-menus-download/

 

And our video/slideshow of all 10 nights of dinner in the MDR. Enjoy!

 

[Colo Cruiser]

Excellent as usual Sheri! Thanks. :)

[IECalCruiser]

Hey everyone,

 

Here is a link to the menus from most nights onboard:

 

 

 

http://www.cruisetipstv.com/star-princess-menus-download/

 

 

 

And our video/slideshow of all 10 nights of dinner in the MDR. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Thanks for posting the menus. There were some changes in the menus on our Med cruise departing about 10 days later. The fettuccini Alfredo was moved with the Princess Favorites, the Starters, Soups and Salads were all listed together, and the pasta dish of the day was listed with the Mains. Most of the selections were still the same but the were some Mediterranean themed variations. No Mexican themed entrees on your cruise.

 

 

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[Sheebah]

Excellent as usual Sheri! Thanks. :)

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

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[Sheebah]

How interesting! Yes, very little Mexican food on our cruise. It was interesting! I bet they do more of that on the Ruby.

 

Thanks for posting the menus. There were some changes in the menus on our Med cruise departing about 10 days later. The fettuccini Alfredo was moved with the Princess Favorites, the Starters, Soups and Salads were all listed together, and the pasta dish of the day was listed with the Mains. Most of the selections were still the same but the were some Mediterranean themed variations. No Mexican themed entrees on your cruise.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Hey everyone,

Here is a link to the menus from most nights onboard:

 

http://www.cruisetipstv.com/star-princess-menus-download/

 

And our video/slideshow of all 10 nights of dinner in the MDR. Enjoy!

 

Very nice. Thanks.

[trbarton]

We had an amazing sailing on Star Princess’ 10 night Mexican Riviera and Sea of Cortes itinerary. We will share our daily vlogs, stateroom tour, and loads more videos along the way (some fun tips from officers, how we organize our stateroom). We are also editing a full ship video tour, and will scan and share the menus from all 10 nights as soon as possible.

Living in California, we chose this cruise because it allowed us to unwind beyond the standard 7 night trip to the MR, and experience the ports of Loreto and LaPaz, all without flying.

While we’d been to La Paz before, we were hungry to explore more of the Sea of Cortes, and the brand new experience of Loreto. The ports we visited were San Diego, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, La Paz, and Loreto. This ship normally sails Hawaii 15 night itineraries, as well as Alaska, so this was a “one off”. My husband and I sail with our 8 year old son, and he loves to cruise.

 

We chose cabin A333, a balcony cabin on Aloha Deck and LOVED the convenience of being just one floor down the pool and Horizon Court buffet. Noise was never an issue, though you could hear the dragging of chairs on occasion during daytime hours. The balcony was fully covered, which was nice.

 

 

We departed on a Thursday from the port of San Pedro, and our first port stop (San Deigo) was the very next day. Embarkation was pretty smooth, though slow to board due to a special group ahead of us. I was sad to see that Princess no longer offers a lounge for Platinum guests, as this was our first platinum sailing. They do have a reserved seating area, but it quickly became crowded, and there was no water to drink, unless you bought it out of a vending machine. Kind of a bummer. We didn’t take a lot of still photos, but you can see our full embarkation experience in the first vlog. After boarding the ship, my husband set off to film the quiet areas of the ship that he could before the crowds hit. My son and I acquainted with our room, and headed to the Maitre’D station in the dining room to have our 5:30pm dining time moved. This was NO problem, since people were eagerly awaiting that early spot. The maitre D was lovely and moved us to a standing 7:15 table in the anytime dining room, which worked out wonderfully. Day 1 flew by and before we knew it, we were in San Diego!

 

Our stop in San Diego happened to be on Veteran’s Day, and we planned to visit the USS Midway museum. The sunrise approach into San Diego was quiet and beautiful. You can catch the time lapse in our vlog, later in this post.

 

 

To our (pleasant) surprise, the Star Princess docked JUST adjacent to the Midway, and we could watch the parking lot fill with morning employees and special visitors for Veterans Day right from our balcony cabin. It was an unseasonably hot day, about 90 degrees in November, and not a cloud in the sky.

 

 

We toured the midway for a few hours, enjoyed the Veteran’s Day celebration on the flight deck, had a greasy lunch onboard, then walked back to the ship to cool off in the pools (it was SO hot!). We caught a glimpse of the Veteran’s Day parade as we walked back to the ship, and it was wonderful to see Veterans out with their families enjoying the San Diego waterfront.

 

 

 

Once back onboard, we went to a moving Veteran's Day ceremony on the pool deck. The officers did SUCH an incredible job of honoring the occasion, and the onboard veterans.

 

 

 

Finally, here is our day 1 vlog covering embarkation, sailaway, and everything in between!

 

Questions welcome! More to come as fast as I can type and upload images ;-)

 

Thanks for posting your video. An excellent job.

 

What equipment did you use & what is the program you used for creating your video & editing?

 

Thanks again.

 

Tom😁

[Sheebah]

Thanks for posting your video. An excellent job.

 

 

 

What equipment did you use & what is the program you used for creating your video & editing?

 

 

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

Tom[emoji16]

 

 

Hey Tom,

Thanks much!

On the majority of these vlogs, I film with my iPhone and edit in iMovie. That isn't our norm, by its quick and easy!

 

Our normal videos are a bit higher production value and we use a GoPro and several handy cam type cameras and my husband edits in Final Cut Pro.

 

Take care!!

Sheri

 

 

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[suncrab]

Thanks for the menu drop.

[Sheebah]

Thanks for the menu drop.

 

 

You're most welcome!

 

 

 

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[shipfriend_max]

Hey everyone,

Here is a link to the menus from most nights onboard:

 

http://www.cruisetipstv.com/star-princess-menus-download/

 

And our video/slideshow of all 10 nights of dinner in the MDR. Enjoy!

 

 

That's extremely helpful, thank you. :)

 

How was the italian dinner desiggned? Did the waiters dress in italian clothes and was the food prepared at your table? I think I saw it somewhere on pictures.

[Sheebah]

That's extremely helpful, thank you. :)

 

 

 

How was the italian dinner desiggned? Did the waiters dress in italian clothes and was the food prepared at your table? I think I saw it somewhere on pictures.

 

 

No food prepped at the tables but yes, the waiters wore red and white striped sweaters!!

 

 

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[jennybenny]

That's extremely helpful, thank you. :)

 

 

 

How was the italian dinner desiggned? Did the waiters dress in italian clothes and was the food prepared at your table? I think I saw it somewhere on pictures.

 

 

 

You may have seen an ad for Club Class Dining, which does have table side prepared food. I've not done Club Class yet but there are several threads discussing it

 

 

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[Sheebah]

You may have seen an ad for Club Class Dining, which does have table side prepared food. I've not done Club Class yet but there are several threads discussing it

 

 

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That would make sense. I don't believe club class has rolled out yet on Star.

 

 

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[Sheebah]

Loreto, our next port was tucked even higher up in the Sea of Cortes. This port would be totally new to us, and we couldn't wait to experience it. The sunrise was unreal and the drama of the tenders being lowered, while everything else on the ship was silent is a feeling I still remember like it was this morning. I caught some of it on film, which I'll show in the vlog.

 

 

We had arranged a day trip to Isla Coronado with Loreto sea and land tours, who we found on TripAdvisor months before. After tendering ashore, the tour provider had set up shop right at the exit, super convenient. We upgraded for a very small fee to a private tour after getting a sideways look from some other travelers who didn't seem too thrilled to see our kid joining their boat. It was a snap decision, but a good one which we rarely would spend the extra $ to do. Our guide took a while to arrive, but once onboard, we sped across the calm bay to our next adventure. Our guide offered to stop at a private beach instead busy Coronado, and it was a little slice of paradise. He unwrapped machaca burritos and shared his hot sauce with me as we tried to communicate with my limited Spanish and his limited English. What came next was so unexpected and can be better enjoyed through the video/vlog. The captain spotted a pod of dolphins which we were able to follow and film! After, we made a quick stop at Isla Coronado, where many other boats had spent the afternoon, but our trip was cut short when a member of another panga with the same tour provider cut his foot - we needed to get him back to port and his boat had some sort of malfunction. Once He and his group joined ours, we quickly realized they dined right next to us in the mdr each night. They were a friendly, wonderful multi generation group with great senses of humor and a perfect example of the perfect dining room neighbors!

There were lots of hugs of gratitude after that experience and we loved seeing them each night and checking on the poor guys healing progress. Our son called all the ladies by name and on our last night, we knew we'd miss them!

Our Loreto day was likely my favorite of the cruise, and I'd love to visit by land one day.

 

 

 

 

 

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