Just off the Star Princess and likely a Princess Convert (formerly a Disney cruiser)

[Floridapenny]

Thanks for your review. I will be on the Star Princess in May for my first cruise since the early 1970's, and am trying to read as much as I can about what to expect. :)

[JBeaty0507]

Yay! I'm so glad you posted this review! We are die hard Disney cruisers (mostly on the Dream), but we are headed to Alaska this year on the Star Princess. I'm not going to lie, I was a little hesitant to book with someone other than Disney, mainly because the cleanliness on the Disney ships just can't be beat and that's a big deal for us. However, after reading on here for a while, we decided that the Princess cruise itineraries were much more suited for Alaska than the Disney Alaskan cruise (And about $4,000 cheaper!!!). I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed it:)

[jeromep]

Your review and points are all very good, and well inside what I would expect from Princess. The Star is doing very well this year in reviews there at CC. Another thread had high regards for the Star also. The OP on the thread below has lots of other media about their cruise and the ship.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2440822

[sassyredhat]

I've only sailed Disney prior to this cruise. We just got back from a 4 night on the Star princess and it was spectacular. I don't have pictures to share (only took pics of my stateroom and a couple at the ports). I do, however, have many comparisons between Star Princess and Disney Wonder. I've been on Disney Wonder 4 times and Disney Dream once. At this point, I can barely remember Disney Dream.

 

Overall, Disney ships are much cleaner. I never saw a dirty window on the Wonder, but don't think I ever saw a clean window on the Star. The ones that weren't exactly dirty were scratched.

 

I could easily go hungry on a Disney cruise. I could easily overeat and gain a ton of weight on the Star Princess. The food was spectacular and there was never any end to the food. Most of the desserts on Wonder look pretty, but don't taste like anything. The desserts on the Star taste #^@^!^ delicious.

 

The servers are excellent on both Disney Wonder and the Star. The servers are much more relaxed on the Star, which made me much more relaxed. My husband said maybe the servers on Disney are in constant fear of losing their jobs. There is a huge difference in how they come across. Disney servers give a speech about wanting excellent ratings. I never heard anything like that on the Star.

 

I've always had excellent cabin stewards. I usually don't make special requests, but this time we asked our Star steward to bring us robes and ice. We had our items immediately.

 

There are a million more places for adults only on the Star than on the Wonder. We used the Thermal Spa and the Sanctuary on the Star. They were both very good.

 

I could easily become a Princess convert. The only things that are keeping me sailing with Disney in the near future is that it sails out of my home port and if I travel with my daughter, she eats chicken strips every day. I didn't see any chicken strips on the Star. They may have been around somewhere, but I wasn't looking for them and they didn't jump out at me. My husband thinks I am crazy that I would pay Disney prices for chicken strips. Since my daughter is an adult, she pays her fare. If she wants chicken strips, she can pay for those.

 

The Disney ships look cleaner and that gives off an overall cleaner feel. It's a strange thing to describe. The public restrooms on Disney are fancy and well maintained. I didn't find any like that on the Star. I actually found the public restrooms to be what I'd consider "yucky" on the Star. She is getting a makeover soon, so maybe that will change. Often the toilets had out of order signs on them.

 

A more detailed review for those who like to sit around and read....

 

Boarding the ship: First off, the port in San Pedro is very easy to deal with. We drove around to the porters to drop off our luggage. A man ran up to us right away and offered to help us. I don't know if they are all the good, or if it was because I was holding some dollar bills in my hand. He took all our stuff and told us how to drive around to park. Very friendly and fast service. I was very impressed. We don't have that kind of service at the San Diego port.

 

After I parked, we walked in and only had a couple people ahead of us in line. Check in was very fast and easy. Boarding the ship was easy. They had us board in the rear of the ship on deck 7. On Disney, we always board in the central atrium and they make a big deal, announcing us when we board. It wasn't like that here. We were directed to elevators. They had elevator stewards for this part. Our was annoyed that we didn't know which floor we were on. We told our deck name and room number and he told us we were on deck 9, but never seemed to get over the annoyance that we didn't know which deck we were on when he first asked.

 

Score one for Disney for the actual boarding (walking into the ship).

 

Stateroom: We had an aft balcony. It is hard to compare rooms from Disney to Princess. There aren't any comparable rooms from what I can tell. Perhaps a Princess mini suite would compare to a Disney balcony cabin. I have only stayed in ocean view rooms on Disney. It seems like the Disney ocean view rooms are bigger than the Princess balcony rooms. Disney ocean view has a fold down couch (that becomes a bed) and a center table that we didn't have on Princess. Disney also has a split bathroom which is like 2 bathrooms. So, one person can shower while the other uses the toilet. There are bathtubs in the Disney ocean view rooms, making the shower a lot larger. Star Princess has a large walk in type closet.

 

I will say I was disappointed walking into my stateroom on the Star. I am used to the look of Disney and their rooms have a very neat and clean appearance. It must be the colors or something. I was worried about the bathroom on the Star, but it turned out fine once I got used to it. On Disney, I've always had the one very large, very clean window. On the Star, I had the aft balcony, which was spacious and awesome. I learned that I actually don't spend much time in my room and room size actually doesn't matter to me, especially on Princess with the food everywhere all the time. On Disney, we've been stuck ordering room service a few times because of the lack of anytime food. I think the couch and table are more necessary on Disney if we continue to eat at off times. More to come later.

 

We were on the same cruise, and on the same deck, but we were forward in a mini-suite---a nice upgrade from PCL.

The mini's have a fold out loveseat, a larger bathroom with a tub.

 

I agree with your overall assessment, although our 1st Disney cruise isn't until Oct.

 

I thought the food on the Star was very good, as were crew services.

Captain Michele Turvo was a hoot ! :D

 

Patti

[BuckGood]

The Star is 16 years old, which might explain the window scratches. I would not sail Disney if it was free. One thousand screaming brats is a huge turn off. Glad you liked Princess. We love it.

 

LOL...I have to agree!!

[OCruisers]

Yes - the dining room has chicken strips on the children's menu in the main dining room. They are pretty good and made from chicken breasts.

 

Yes! Adults can also order from the Kid's Menu where there are good chicken strips.

My husband loves the Kids Banana Split! :D

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the review! I was glad to meet you in the Sanctuary even though we didn't chat.

 

Your observations of the Star are on point. Very accurate. One thing I wanted to mention is that while the Sanctuary was very nice on the Star, the attendants weren't nearly as observant as on other ships. They were "OK" in my book but had to be flagged down if you needed or wanted anything. I'm used to their being far more observant and attentive. I was on the Island in November and the staff there was much better. The Island's Sanctuary is aft, not forward, so it's much more protected from the wind although the only covering/protection from the sun is a canvas shade.

 

The Island has Alfredo's pizza in Sabatini's at lunch on some port days. If you liked the pizza on the Star, you'll swoon for Alfredo's pizza. It's a sit down restaurant that's free. They serve 9" individual pies, not slices.

 

I believe that you can use a couple of punches on your coffee card for the milk shake. Not sure as I've never ordered it.

 

Our Star cruise was not typical. The passenger mix was very different from my other Princess cruises. I'm afraid I'll sound like an entitled snob if I say anything other than the people watching was very entertaining.

 

I'm looking forward to reboarding the Star in November. Hope Captain Tuvo is our Captain. :)

 

Pat... great seeing you and meeting your friends.

 

Oh, for those who weren't on this cruise, I was surprised to see only two Traditional seatings: early at 5:15pm and late at 7:45pm. I've only seen those dining times on the Island and Coral. IMHO, unusual although I prefer the 7:45pm late seating so I was happy. Normally, there are three Traditional dining times: 5:30, 6 and 8 or thereabouts.

[Mamma Drum]

I am enjoying the comparison. Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[sjcivilady]

Ok, your comment about trying the pizza had me lol'ing, and I'm sitting here by myself. I was on the Grand out of SF, a few weeks ago. We tried Alfredo's and loved it, but I will definitely try the pizza up on deck on my next cruise this summer. Thank you for your review. I enjoyed it very much.

[AF-1]

You are doing a great review without pictures

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

Bob

[AVCruzers]

Nice to hear such a good report about the STAR; we were aware that it is an older ship so nice to know it is in good condition. We are embarking on the 28th for the Sea of Cortez with six friends from our area. Other friends are on the STAR as I type on their way to Hawaii; they usually cruise with HAL so anxious to know their opinions.

[AVCruzers]

Nice to hear such a good report about the STAR; we were aware that it is an older ship so nice to know it is in good condition. We are embarking on the 28th for the Sea of Cortez with six friends from our area. It will be our first ELITE cruise!!! :) Other friends are on the STAR as I type on their way to Hawaii; they usually cruise with HAL so anxious to know their opinions.

[Cruz4Sun]

Thank you for your thorough comparison. We just did our 1st Disney cruise and agree with each of your comments. The extra cost for Disney does cover a lot (bigger room, great production shows, wonderful children's areas and activities) but as seniors we prefer to cruise more for the money on Princess.

[hllwdcruiser]

I'm really enjoying your review. Who needs photos? Your descriptions paint a perfect picture!

I have a friend who loves all things Disney and has traveled extensively with her adult sons on DCL. She's tried to convince us to give it a go but the cost has always deterred us. Although the cabin size and production shows sound tempting, your descriptions of the pool and ice cream station verified my initial trepidation about being on one of their ships. I also loved your questioning of the logic in regards to the "free" sodas - you were so spot on!

[tinybiny]

Our Star cruise was not typical. The passenger mix was very different from my other Princess cruises. I'm afraid I'll sound like an entitled snob if I say anything other than the people watching was very entertaining.

It was different than what I expected and I was told by several people that Princess is more of a senior/retired line. That certainly was not the case on this cruise. There were a lot of drunk people at the pools. Even the Lotus pool was kind of gross with empty beer bottles and empty cups everywhere on the evening that I used it. I planned on posting about that. Disney pool areas are always cleaned up quickly. For some reason the Lotus pool seemed like a forgotten area with no one assigned to clean it up.

 

I know there was a wedding, a large group for a 40th birthday and Farmer's insurance sent a lot of their agents on this cruise as a pay out. It was my first Princess cruise and it seemed like it was for many other passengers, too. There were a lot of first time Princess cruises and also a lot of first time cruisers in general.

[tinybiny]

Pools: There are far more pools on the Star than on the Disney ships. You have your choice of loud, movie screen, relaxed or very small. On the Disney Wonder, there has been a recent update, but before the recent update, there was an adult pool, a Mickey Mouse kids pool (we call it the pee pool) and the loud pool with the movie screen. Star didn't have any slides or anything particularly interesting. To me, the pools looked boring for kids, but the covered pool always had kids in it when I walked by.

 

I used one of the hot tubs at the Lotus pool one night. The Lotus pool is supposed to be the quiet, tranquil place. It looked like nobody was assigned to clean it up. There were lots of wet towels and empty cups and beer bottles laying around. There were only 2 young people there when I was there, but every lounger had a wet towel on it or some type of trash next to it. I did notice the next day that the area was completely full, over full by my standards during the day and they weren't the quiet tranquil type. I would have been disappointed if I wanted to use the pool during my Sanctuary visits. It's the closest pool to the Sanctuary and I was under the impression that it was a quiet place.

 

I've never seen anything sloppy like that on my Disney cruises. Stuff is cleaned up. There are less pools, so maybe that makes it easier, but I found the Lotus pool area a bit disgusting. I didn't see messes like that at the 2 main pools, which were always busy.

 

MUTS and the Screen at the Pool: I didn't watch any movies and haven't watched any on Disney, either. On Disney, they run Disney movies during the day and night. It has been my experience that it is far too loud with kids/people to ever hear the movie. I've only walked through and I did get in a lounger one evening to watch a movie, but decided it was too cold. I assume it is easier to hear at night, when the pool is closed.

 

On the Star, they were running some concert flicks the first day. I did see/hear some Phil Collins and Pink because we were walking through there and also had a sail away drink at the bar there. The sound system is very good and very loud. It is easy to hear the movie, no matter how many people are milling around or are in the pool. We did see people watching the late movies. They had blankets and popcorn. It seemed to be a popular event. I noticed in the Patters that one day, they showed Moonlight during the day. If I was traveling with kids, I would have had to avoid this area during that time. My kids weren't allowed to watch R rated movies and I thought it was odd to show it in the middle of the day on a giant screen at a pool. Is that area adults only? If it is, I never saw anything to that effect.

 

So, while I haven't had the experience of sitting and watching a movie, I give the edge to Princess because it seems like you can really hear the movie.

 

Live Music: Live music can vary greatly depending on who they have so I don't feel it is fair for me to judge, but I did find the live music much better on Disney than on Princess. I have had performers on Disney that I liked enough to go out of my way to go see. On Princess, it ended up being more of a there's nothing else going on right now, I'll sit here and listen to these people for a while.

 

Live Shows/Comedians: I can't give a lot of info in this area because I ended up not going to any shows on the Star, but did sit in on a comedian for a while one night. The comedian was very funny and made a lot of jokes about race and sex - things that you'd never see on a Disney cruise. Disney does have adult only shows later at night, but they still have to be relatively clean, keeping Disney standards. I didn't see anyone checking ages walking in and wondered if teens could easily get into the show. On Disney ships, kid and teens run wild. Parents don't always know where their kids are. Between this comedy show and the R rated movie on the big screen at the pool, I don't think people could let their kids run wild on Princess. Personally, I think people should always know where their kids are, especially on vacation, but that isn't the mindset on the Disney cruises.

 

I talked to someone in the elevator who went to a stage show on the Star. He said the show was only 30 minutes and it wasn't worth going to. He sounded surprised and disappointed. I'm glad I didn't go. Disney has full blown first class broadway productions. I don't even go to all of those (they are all Disney themed). The bar is set too high for me, probably, even though I wouldn't mind a non Disney show once in a while.

 

Art Auctions/Jewelry Sales/Upsells and Nickel and Diming: I didn't go to any of those. I am only mentioning it because the die hard Disney cruise fans often say that Disney doesn't shove these things down your throat and other cruise lines do. I found the opposite on this cruise. There were art auctions and watch sales and jewelry sales. I didn't go to any of them. At no time did anyone ever suggest that I do go. Perhaps other cruise lines are very pushy with these things, but I never saw anything like that on the Star.

 

We were asked if we wanted to buy a wine tasting event for $9.50/pp. It included 5 wines, cheese and crackers. We did sign up for it, but ended up cancelling it. It was no problem to cancel it. We had too much going and both felt a little queasy the day of the event.

 

At dinner, we were always asked if we wanted anything to drink. When we have dinner on Disney, they push a wine package. I actually feel like we have more nickel and diming and upselling on Disney. That could just be because we have been on it more, but I didn't experience the doom of being constantly nickeled and dimed and upsold on Princess like what I've always read happens on every line other than Disney. We had our picture taken once at dinner. If we wanted to buy, we could go buy it in the photo area a different day. There was no pressure to buy anything.

[easyboy]

Enjoying reading your detailed comparison. Very informative.

[caribill]

 

I noticed in the Patters that one day, they showed Moonlight during the day. If I was traveling with kids, I would have had to avoid this area during that time. My kids weren't allowed to watch R rated movies and I thought it was odd to show it in the middle of the day on a giant screen at a pool.

 

Often the movie studios will put out a DVD with an R movie edited so it can be shown to a young audience. This is done for movies shown on airplanes.

 

 

So, do you know if the version shown on MUTS was the unedited original or the one edited for showing to all audiences?

[tinybiny]

Often the movie studios will put out a DVD with an R movie edited so it can be shown to a young audience. This is done for movies shown on airplanes.

 

 

So, do you know if the version shown on MUTS was the unedited original or the one edited for showing to all audiences?

No, I don't know. I didn't see any reference one way or the other in the Patter. I did not happen to be in that area during the show, either.

 

Ports/Excursions: Of course these vary greatly. I just want to point out that the cost of excursions on Princess was not that much higher than booking directly with the operators. Princess also has the low price guarantee, that if you find the exact same thing for less, they will give you back the difference.

 

I decided to have a leisure morning on the ship and not deal with waiting for our number to be called to get on a tender. When we decided to go ashore, there was no wait. We had quite the time trying to tender in Catalina. It was not windy, but our tender driver had a very difficult time getting in the right position on the dock. The other drivers were not having any problems. Many people on our tender were saying that it must have been the driver's first day.There was a lot of clapping when he finally lined it up good enough for the deck hands to tie it down.

 

The last time we were in Catalina was on our honeymoon almost 26 years ago. We walked around a lot to see what changed. It was a nice day and it was easy to walk up the hills without getting overheated. We both decided that we just didn't care for Catalina and probably would never be back unless we were on a cruise that was stopping there. I did hear from Cruzsnooze that the submarine was worth doing. Another couple we sat with at dinner seemed to really enjoy the back county drive. We noticed a little beach resort/spa place past the casino (movie theater) that wasn't there before. We walked down there and decided that would be a nice place to spend the day, but our day was nearing the end at that point.

 

Our other port was Ensenada. I've never been there before, even though I've lived in San Diego for 45 years. Since we didn't know what to expect, I booked us a tour through Princess that included a narrated drive to La Bufadora and a quick, very quick stop at the old original resort (right next to the dock) to get a sample margarita and a coke. Our tour guide, Leslie was great. Our driver, Carlos, was also excellent. As we drove past horses on the beach, I wished I did that instead, but I don't know how to book that, it wasn't offered through Princess.

 

La Bufadora was beautiful. The area reminded us of the cliffs/ocean in La Jolla, CA, only without the mulit million dollar price tags. I was really looking forward to the shopping there, but didn't see anything too exciting for prices that were impressive enough for me to buy anything. It seemed like I could buy most of the stuff in San Diego for nearly the same price. I'd rather buy at home in case I need to return something. I did buy one bag, though, just for the sake of a memory.

 

I liked the stop at the cultural center (former resort where the Margarita was created), but we didn't spend enough time there. Our guide stood in front of a map and talked about all the movies filmed there and in Rosarito. Then, we got a small sample of coke and a margarita. We didn't have time to wander about. Next time, I will visit the center on my own. The ship was only a couple blocks away. It looked easy to do a nice city visit without a tour. I would have just stayed on my own, but we needed to get back to the ship for our afternoon tea at the sanctuary.

 

EDIT TO ADD: I did appreciate the hand sanitizer when returning to the ship and the cold wet washclothes.

[XBGuy]

What a fun report, Tiny. Thank you. You have a very readable writing style, and a wry humor.

 

For what it's worth, since you enjoy drinking water, Princess allows you to bring your own bottled water aboard. I've never done it because I am very happy with the tap water on the ships. However, I have read multiple reports here on Cruise Critic of people slapping a luggage tag on to a case of bottled water, handing it over to the porter on the pier, and having it delivered to their cabin. In fact, I think you can do it with soda, also. Again, I'm not much of a soda drinker.

 

Also, my experience with the pier porters at San Pedro has been consistently similar to yours. As soon as we open the car trunk and lift out the first bag, a porter is there with a cart ready to help.

 

Regarding the deportment of your fellow passengers, I think that you will find a less "party hearty" group on the longer cruises.

[jeromep]

tinybiny, it's too bad that you weren't on a longer cruise because I agree with XBGuy that longer cruises have a bit more sedate crowd. Also, on a cruise shorter than 7 days, for some reason time slips between your fingers and you just don't have time to take in more of the shows or other board entertainment.

 

No doubt Disney is going to spend a lot of time and effort on entertainment as they are an entertainment company, but I've always felt that Princess' shows are generally excellent. When you generally have to do 2 showings an evening to provide the most opportunities for folks to see a show in what is generally a small theatear space, you can't have a show be too long. I would suspect that 45 minutes to an hour is about as long as a production show can go. Keep in mind that most of the performers on Princess are not Broadway or West End caliber (this isn't to say they won't be, its just they aren't there yet). For many performers, Princess is a way to pay the bills reliably, get experience and build a resume or portfolio.

 

I'm not a huge wine drinker, sulphites throw me under the bus and most mass market wines have them, therefore I don't mind being asked about a wine selection at dinner, but I also don't like being pushed on a wine or package either. Princess strikes the right balance, IMO.

 

Live Music: Live music can vary greatly depending on who they have so I don't feel it is fair for me to judge, but I did find the live music much better on Disney than on Princess. I have had performers on Disney that I liked enough to go out of my way to go see. On Princess, it ended up being more of a there's nothing else going on right now, I'll sit here and listen to these people for a while.

I love the line, "there's nothing else going on right now, I'll sit here and listen to these people for a while." I've experienced party bands and cover bands on board that were exactly that way. They weren't bad, but there's a reason they haven't won a Grammy yet.

 

 

I don't know how many more aspects of your cruise you can review, but this has been very enjoyable.

[ov911lady]

Thank you for sharing this. DH and I sail on the Star on March 28 and are really looking forward to 10 glorious days.

It's good to hear about other lines, though we have only sailed Princess; Diamond in 2004, Sapphire in 2009, Crown in 2015, Ruby 2016 and now the Star. Guess it looks like we are on course to sail them all! :D

[AVCruzers]

Thank you for sharing this. DH and I sail on the Star on March 28 and are really looking forward to 10 glorious days.

It's good to hear about other lines, though we have only sailed Princess; Diamond in 2004, Sapphire in 2009, Crown in 2015, Ruby 2016 and now the Star. Guess it looks like we are on course to sail them all! :D

 

Like you, we are embarking on the STAR on March 28 and so delighted there have been so many nice comments about the ship. It will be our first ELITE cruise so looking forward to the perks esp. the free laundry. Are you on the roll call? Please join some of us at the Outrigger Bar after the muster drill on the 28th. :) Good friends are on the STAR right now on their way to Hawaii-their first Princess cruise as they usually cruise with HAL. Their first days comments have also been favorable.

[Pam in CA]

It will be our first ELITE cruise so looking forward to the perks esp. the free laundry.

Be aware that on this 4-day cruise with just a few Elite onboard, I received a note in my cabin at embarkation that laundry would take 72 hours to be returned. In other words, unless I sent out laundry the first day, there was no laundry perk. :( This seems to now be the norm rather than previously for years that you'd get it back within 24-48 hours.