Star Princess Review + Escape Room and New Planetarium Program

[kmhkmb]

Just got off the Star yesterday and thought I would post a review - hope it is helpful!

 

Itinerary

This cruise went from Los Angeles to Vancouver with calls in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria and Nanaimo (Vancouver Island) with 2 sea days. On the San Francisco day they announced that we would be skipping Astoria due to weather and would be changing course to avoid the storm - so we ended up with an extra sea day. Things were really rocking and rolling for the next day and a half or so - sustained gale force winds and 30 foot (3 metre) high swells. The ship was listing so much to port at one point that it was like walking uphill to cross the corridor to the other side of the Horizon court! They even had a front page feature on sea sickness in the Patter talking about how rare it is - which was not really supported by the number of green faces I saw in both PAX and crew and the large quantities of Dramamine we saw them unloading to sell in the shops!

 

Ship

Aside from the design which actually has some really nice features (e.g., easy access to the deck on top of the bridge when it is open, the conservatory, dessert island in the buffet) you can't tell that the Star is an older ship - she is in great condition. There are smart TVs in the cabins but unfortunately no on-demand programming which is unfortunate. I did notice that the TVs will accept an HDMI cable so I'm guessing you could hook up a laptop and playback your own programming but I wasn't able to test that out. I read that someone here that someone reported having new lamps with a usb port in their cabin - these must not be ship wide as our cabin had the old style lamps (we were in B410). We really enjoyed the new style of muster drill which utilizes a recording with the theme song to the Love Boat with new lyrics.

 

Activities

Given that I'm not a fan of shopping or gambling, I usually come prepared to entertain myself since most of the activities seem to be focused on generating revenue. I was pleasantly surprised when there was an opportunity to sign up for 2 new programs: Escape Room and the Planetarium experience. I won't give anything away for the Escape Room other than to say it that the objective is to solve a mystery rather than to escape. They created teams of up to 8 I think (our group only had 4) and took us up to the Chapel. In the Chapel they showed a really cool video and then we had 30 minutes to solve a series of very challenging puzzles. Our group didn't finish but we got close! The Planetarium experience is something they were piloting on the Star on this cruise. They placed a large inflatable dome on the stage of the Princess theatre and 25 of us went inside. We were lying on our backs and the presentation was shown on the dome - very impressive. It is part of their partnership with Discovery and you can tell they have put a lot of money into developing it. They told us that they intend to roll it out fleet wide starting on the Caribbean Princess this summer and that it will be a free program. They also said there will be some type of seating which I think will be definitely needed - I noticed a lot of PAX had trouble getting off of the floor of the stage - it was more challenging given how much the ship was rocking and rolling that day. They had us fill out a survey afterwards and there was someone from the education department on board from head office to monitor the pilot. On the unplanned sea day they offered 2 craft activities - origami and quilling - but nothing before that - the emphasis was on the revenue generating activities (e.g., the garage sale at sea which they trotted out twice).

 

Entertainment

We saw 3 production shows: British Invasion, Motown, and the new Steven Schwartz show Born to Dance - they were all fabulous. There was a really great Comedian, a singer (Nathan Foley) and a guest speaker - can't recall his name but he is a lyricist who has worked with a lot of famous people -they offered a song writing workshop with him the next day. They also did the Cooking Show and of course there was always something happening in the Piazza and the lounges.

 

Food

The food on the ship was consistently great - well seasoned and very tasty. We booked this cruise about 16 months in advance and were not pleased to discover on the first night that instead of the table for 2 we had asked for, we ended up at a table for 10 which was not at all what we wanted. We switched to anytime dining and found that as long as we were in line by 4:45 each day we got a table for two - which worked for us since we tried to stay on East Coast time so it didn't feel as early as it might have. There seem to be very few tables for 2 available on this ship - in the dining room they greet you with "Happy to share?" I know that a lot of people love this opportunity but I'm not in this group. I don't recall the exact name but I had some type of brownie bar that I've never seen before in the International Cafe that was amazing! I kept an eye out but it didn't reappear.

 

Crew

I didn't have any concerns - everyone we encountered was great - very focused on getting a 10 on the survey. We appreciated the updates from the Captain on the progress of the storm and the efforts they made to try to avoid the worst of it - they actually looped back one evening to try to give people a bit of a break from the rough seas.

 

Overall a fabulous cruise despite the rough seas and missing a port!

Edited April 11, 2018 by kmhkmb
Fixed a typo

[partybarbie]

Very nice review, thank you. I liked your comment about trying to stay on your own time. When I take a cruise on the east coast, I go to dinner around 8:00 pm, so that I can stay on west coast time. :)

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Our turn on the Star comes in November.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Kamloops50]

Did you visit Skywalkers at all? On our last Star cruise (only bad Princess cruise) they were having trouble with the walkway to Skywalkers and Skywalkers it self. I'm wondering if its been fixed.

[ceilidh1]

Thanks for the review - nice to see the Escape Room is appearing on more ships! The Star didn't have it when we sailed in December/January.

 

I also get frustrated about the fact that dining requests are ignored - if they aren't bothering to look at them then don't even ask for a preference! I sail with 2 children so always request a table just for the 4 of us. Not once has this been honoured - we are always stuck on an 8 or 10 top.

[kmhkmb]

Did you visit Skywalkers at all? On our last Star cruise (only bad Princess cruise) they were having trouble with the walkway to Skywalkers and Skywalkers it self. I'm wondering if its been fixed.

 

 

We went to the Platinum/Elite reception in Skywalkers 2x - the walkway was turned on and everything seemed normal inside so I'm guessing they addressed whatever was wrong.

[waltd]

Interesting about the Planetarium experience. The QM2 has a Planetarium and has always been packed with cruisers. So much so that you have to line up for tickets earlier in the day of the shows. They also have special seats. Shows were pretty interesting. Something new to look forward to.

[Thrak]

Thanks for the review. Looking forward to seeing the Planetarium Experience on a future cruise. Sounds very cool but I agree some sort of seating might be a good idea. I'm one of those who no longer "bends" well at all so getting up off of the floor is a lot more challenging that it used to be. :o

[rocklinmom]

Great review! We will be on the Star in June. Curious to see if we will have the USB ports on the nightstand lamps or not (will also be on Baja deck). Glad to hear that you didn't have any issues on your cruise.

[TracieABD]

I have not cruised or been on the boards much for the past year and a half. I love the concept of an Escape Room. Thank you for giving us the details without spoiling the surprise!

[TheRabbit]

I have not cruised or been on the boards much for the past year and a half. I love the concept of an Escape Room. Thank you for giving us the details without spoiling the surprise!

You know someone is biting at the bit to spoil it for us, but I sure hope they can keep it under wraps so we can enjoy it ourselves.

[Jagggg]

Great Review. Husband and I were also on the same cruise and I agree with most of your review.

The entertainment and crew were great.

We ate around 8:00 and did anytime dining always requesting a table for just the 2 of us and at that time no problem. Service extremely prompt. Unlike the original poster we did not care for the main dining room menu/food. This is our 10th cruise and thought it was the worse food we have had in the main dining room. Just a difference in taste.

Enjoyed the Tapas in Vine every night and thought the cruise director and staff were great.

Also alcohol beverages prices more reasonable on Princess cruise line.

Aloha deck did have the USB ports on the lamps.

[cruisefan2012]

Thank you for your review of the Star Princess

 

I`m on the Saturday 5th May 2018 cruise on Star from Vancouver to Alaska

 

First time on Princess Cruises - having sailed 6x previously with P&O Cruises here in the UK

[Higgamang]

The OP is my sister and we were on the cruise together. Here are some photos from the Voyage to the Stars.

I too enjoyed it very much but did note that the experience was a little intense as the ship was already rolling that day and found when the presentation zoomed in and out I had to close my eyes to avoid feeling nauseous. As Kelly said, we lay down on the stage on our backs and because of the tilt of the ship our heads were lower than our feet. I did really like it though and learned a lot.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Mibele]

The weather was my experience last year on a Vancouver to LA trip on the Star also. We skipped Astoria due to weather and had about 36 hours of strong gusty winds and occasional 20 foot waves out of Seattle. Lots of holding onto the walls :-)

 

Just got off the Star yesterday and thought I would post a review - hope it is helpful!

 

Itinerary

This cruise went from Los Angeles to Vancouver with calls in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria and Nanaimo (Vancouver Island) with 2 sea days. On the San Francisco day they announced that we would be skipping Astoria due to weather and would be changing course to avoid the storm - so we ended up with an extra sea day. Things were really rocking and rolling for the next day and a half or so - sustained gale force winds and 30 foot (3 metre) high swells. The ship was listing so much to port at one point that it was like walking uphill to cross the corridor to the other side of the Horizon court! They even had a front page feature on sea sickness in the Patter talking about how rare it is - which was not really supported by the number of green faces I saw in both PAX and crew and the large quantities of Dramamine we saw them unloading to sell in the shops!

[XBGuy]

I'm not sure, OK, I'm quite sure, I don't understand everything I know about the Planetarium, but I am very jazzed.

 

I can't wait to do it, whatever it is.

 

I don't care about USB ports. ;p

[TheRabbit]

I'm not sure, OK, I'm quite sure, I don't understand everything I know about the Planetarium, but I am very jazzed.

 

I can't wait to do it, whatever it is.

 

I don't care about USB ports. ;p

Here is a link to some info at the Griffith Observatory where they have a very large Planetarium. Hope that helps. Bottom line, they can mimic the night sky complete with the Milky-Way.

 

Link

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[shipmeoff!]

Thanks so much for this very interesting information and review.

 

How did they handle the sign ups for the escape room and planetarium?

 

Were there multiple sessions of either or both?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for the review very nice.

Tony

[BSR]

Great review.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[kmhkmb]

Thanks so much for this very interesting information and review.

 

How did they handle the sign ups for the escape room and planetarium?

 

Were there multiple sessions of either or both?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

They had us meet at the Vines bar at 10:30 a.m. on the day prior to the experience (both days happen to be sea days)- separate sign up sessions for each event. It was a bit chaotic but I think they were able to accommodate everyone who were swarming them to sign up - they started to sign people up at 10:15 so it was worth it to show up early. For the Escape room I think there was about 70 spaces available. For the Planetarium experience they offered 50 spaces. This process definitely has room for improvement.

[cruisinsly]

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

[shipmeoff!]

Kmhkmb... thanks for coming back to fill in the details :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Thrak]

Just got off the Star yesterday and thought I would post a review - hope it is helpful!

 

Itinerary

This cruise went from Los Angeles to Vancouver with calls in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria and Nanaimo (Vancouver Island) with 2 sea days. On the San Francisco day they announced that we would be skipping Astoria due to weather and would be changing course to avoid the storm - so we ended up with an extra sea day. Things were really rocking and rolling for the next day and a half or so - sustained gale force winds and 30 foot (3 metre) high swells. The ship was listing so much to port at one point that it was like walking uphill to cross the corridor to the other side of the Horizon court! They even had a front page feature on sea sickness in the Patter talking about how rare it is - which was not really supported by the number of green faces I saw in both PAX and crew and the large quantities of Dramamine we saw them unloading to sell in the shops!

 

 

Ummmm.... 3 meters is less than 10 feet - not 30 feet. Did you mean to say 9 meter swells? 30 feet is a bit over 9 meters. I can get sea sick in a puddle but, with my patch, I have been through stormy weather where all the outer decks are closed and most people went to bed while I happily had steak and lobster. My patch may look dorky but I don't have to see it and it works really well. No Dramamine for me. :)