LIVE From the Star Princess - May 9, 2019 - LA to Vancouver 3-Day Repo

[donswife]

Hi Steve, we got the drink coupons but not the elite suite platinum invite.  Now I know that it is in Skywalker.  I'll keep an eye out for you,  I'm traveling with my 23 y.o. daughter .

[CanadianBurger]

Darshan, the other bartender at Crooners. This is going to be a fun cruise!

[CanadianBurger]

Lunch 1.5. Grilled dog and bun...

[CanadianBurger]

Lunch 2.0... Princess Pizza... now to walk around to burn it off...

[CanadianBurger]

Sailaway pics

[CanadianBurger]

Covered pool. Haven’t seen a “Conservatory” since the Majestic. 

[tompeter]

Great report, thanks!

[CanadianBurger]

MDR Dinner. I’m usually wary of Prime Rib on a cruise, and decided on the pork, which has never let me down. Turns out my misgivings were correct: two people at the table sent their prime rib back and opted for the chicken instead. I had the soufflé for dessert and it didn’t disappoint. My rule: always get the soufflé.

[CanadianBurger]

The internet on this ship can only be described as glacial, so it’s fitting that she’s headed to Alaska. It’s so bad that I can’t upload any photos. After 10 minutes, one photo was half done uploading.

Sorry, but I’ll to post text updates, and add photos once I get cell service back. 

[CanadianBurger]

Production show: British Invasion

I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Some of the vocals were a little weak, but overall it was a strong performance and the selection of music had my feet tapping and me singing (silently, I hope) to myself the entire show. A definite thumbs-up. 

 

After the show it was back to Crooners (my home base!) and Benji came by to visit! I first met him at Crooners on the Crown in 2014, and have seen him on several ships since. He’s working in the Wheelhouse this trip.

 

Then it was off to the Vista lounge to catch the comedy show of Steve Caouette. He was funny enough that I’ll catch his show in the theatre tonight. 

[ceilidh1]

13 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

Production show: British Invasion

I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Some of the vocals were a little weak, but overall it was a strong performance and the selection of music had my feet tapping and me singing (silently, I hope) to myself the entire show. A definite thumbs-up. 

 

After the show it was back to Crooners (my home base!) and Benji came by to visit! I first met him at Crooners on the Crown in 2014, and have seen him on several ships since. He’s working in the Wheelhouse this trip.

 

Then it was off to the Vista lounge to catch the comedy show of Steve Caouette. He was funny enough that I’ll catch his show in the theatre tonight. 

I LOVE Steve Caouette. By far my favorite comedian on all Princess ships!

[Woobstr112G]

Have a great cruise.....😊😊😊

Bob

[JF - retired RRT]

2 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

MDR Dinner. I’m usually wary of Prime Rib on a cruise, and decided on the pork, which has never let me down. Turns out my misgivings were correct: two people at the table sent their prime rib back and opted for the chicken instead. I had the soufflé for dessert and it didn’t disappoint. My rule: always get the soufflé.

I love Prime Rib. I tried it on the first few cruises we went on and was always disappointed. I never order it on a ship anymore.

[CanadianBurger]

So, where to begin today...

 

The weather is cold and cloudy. It’s only 12C/54F out. The aft pool roof is closed, but it’s still cold. It’s so foggy the visibility is basically zero, and the ship’s horn is sounding every few minutes. Even outside from aft on promenade looking forward, it was foggy. I walked around several times, and the cold wind was ferocious. 

 

Went to the MDR for lunch, and it was sub-standard. Two orders at our table of six were wrong. I went for for the brunch and ordered eggs benny with hollandaise on the side. It wasn’t. They brought me some, but it was stone cold. The French toast was good, but the syrup had just come out of the fridge instead of being warm. The rigatoni was tasty, but overall lunch was a big disappointment. 

 

Tea was even worse. The service was dismal. We were served tea after about ten minutes of being seated, but the food items were nowhere to be found. Strawberry mousse finally found its way to our table, followed by a poor selection of a couple of sandwiches. After 30 minutes waiting for scones (my reason for tea) I finally gave up and left. They really need to get their act together. 

 

I was looking forward to the Smokehouse BBQ at the grill, but it was another disappointment. The pulled pork was dry, and they had no BBQ sauce!

 

What saved the day was the fantastic Crooners bartenders, Laura and Darshan. It was an absolute pleasure sitting at the bar and talking to them. 

 

I went to the late comedy show in the Princess Theatre, which was a split bill between Steve Caouette and Robbie Printz. I much preferred Steve’s act to Robbie’s. 

 

After that I got dragged to karaoke in Explorers by some friends. There was no way I was singing, but I feared the worst with off-key drunken passengers. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Many of them had amazing voices, and the full house erupted in applause. 

 

Time for bed, and hopefully better dining experiences tomorrow.

 

I did talk to the internet manager, and he agreed that the internet was glacially slow. But since the Star will be leaving the fleet, there will be no internet upgrades. I’ll post a whole bunch of pics Sunday morning once we get into Vancouver.

[PrincessDano]

Interesting about the Prime Rib dinner the first night.  We just got off the Ruby and the Prime Rib wasn’t the usual embarkation dinner.  The hostess at the dining room said they were changing the menus up and it would be offered later in the cruise.  

 

Diane

[1emerald1]

Do you think it's worth your time to speak with the Maitre' d about your poor service?

[CanadianBurger]

After yesterday’s brunch disappointment in the MDR, I headed upstairs to Horizon Court for breakfast. Omelette, corned beef hash, bacon (they have crispy bacon in the oven below, just ask and they will get you some. I handed over my plate, and I swear it came back with an entire pound of bacon on it. He must have seen the look of shock on my face, and said “Don’t worry, we have lots!”) and toast. Very satisfying. After that I went down to the IC for a cappuccino. If you’re lactose intolerant like me, make sure you watch the barista pour in the milk. I ordered lactose free milk (which I was happy to see they had), it said LF on the cup, but yet he still poured in regular milk. Ask three times to confirm, because the rest of my day would have been hell had I not been watching. 

[CanadianBurger]

7 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

Do you think it's worth your time to speak with the Maitre' d about your poor service?

I plan on it today. 

[CanadianBurger]

The outlet sale was today in the Capri dining room. I picked up a port t-shirt and a shot glass for seven bucks total. Not much else of interest there. 

[1emerald1]

5 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

I plan on it today. 

Let us know how it goes!

[CanadianBurger]

Just got back from my favourite thing on the cruise so far. There was a backstage tour of the theatre, hosted by Matt the CD, the dance director, the musical director, and the technical director. They answered questions, then everyone got to go on stage and see the backstage areas like the dancer’s changeroom, set storage, technical areas, etc. I really enjoy stuff like this, and was really happy to see it in the Patter. I’ve only done it before as part of the Ultimate Ship Tour. I’ll post pics tomorrow. 

[CanadianBurger]

Born to Dance is tonight, and I’m really looking forward to it. Going to give the MDR another chance at lunch today and see how it goes. 

[Cruiser_RedHead]

16 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

I plan on it today. 

I hope it is only because it is a 3 day cruise that the service is lacking. Otherwise, it makes me reconsider booking the Star for Hawaii.

[donswife]

 I have also noticed subpar service,  especially at tea yesterday.  So bad that I turned in a complaint card.  The first night our MDR service was not good but last night was excellent. 

[CanadianBurger]

Photo time!

 

MDR Dinner from Thursday...