Unfortunate switch to Princess.

[dog]

The Star Princess cannot be compared to one of the newer ships (Regal/Royal 2013-I believe). I will not sail on her again. I often take an aft balcony and this past Feb. found it much noisier back there. Another thing are the problems with the toilets last cruise. The cabin steward did an excellent job, however in the MDR, we were not happy with the service. Sabatini's was excellent, however, the Crown Grill was not this time. We ran in to restaurant staff who were there to socialize with each other. Passenger service was the worse I've ever seen.

Now, it was one of my fav cruises because we did get to the Falkland Islands to see the penguins.

[keithm]

8 hours ago, dog said:

The Star Princess cannot be compared to one of the newer ships (Regal/Royal 2013-I believe). I will not sail on her again. I often take an aft balcony and this past Feb. found it much noisier back there. Another thing are the problems with the toilets last cruise. The cabin steward did an excellent job, however in the MDR, we were not happy with the service. Sabatini's was excellent, however, the Crown Grill was not this time. We ran in to restaurant staff who were there to socialize with each other. Passenger service was the worse I've ever seen.

Now, it was one of my fav cruises because we did get to the Falkland Islands to see the penguins.

You sure you were on Star Princess?? There is no Crown Grill. It's called Sterling Steak house.

[Cruise Junky]

1 hour ago, keithm said:

You sure you were on Star Princess?? There is no Crown Grill. It's called Sterling Steak house.

Deck plan says Crown grill. So does the restaurant write up on Star. 

[dog]

2 hours ago, keithm said:

You sure you were on Star Princess?? There is no Crown Grill. It's called Sterling Steak house.

 

Back in the day, there were steak houses on the 3 sister ships--Golden, Grand & Star, called Sterling Steakhouse.

 

The restaurant I mentioned is now called the CROWN GRILL, on the STAR PRINCESS.

 

And yes, I am sure I was on the Star Princess. (cannot understand why you asked me that?)

 

The Princess website will confirm what I posted.  From reading the title of your post, I suggest you go to  the Princess forum on cc  to learn about your upcoming cruise.

 

 

dog, just trying to be helpful.

 

 

[LuAnn]

14 hours ago, dog said:

 

Back in the day, there were steak houses on the 3 sister ships--Golden, Grand & Star, called Sterling Steakhouse.

 

The restaurant I mentioned is now called the CROWN GRILL, on the STAR PRINCESS.

 

And yes, I am sure I was on the Star Princess. (cannot understand why you asked me that?)

 

The Princess website will confirm what I posted.  From reading the title of your post, I suggest you go to  the Princess forum on cc  to learn about your upcoming cruise.

 

 

dog, just trying to be helpful.

 

 

THAT's my girl!!! My "dog"...the best!!! And loved being on the "Star" with you!!! :)

[don731]

We did one cruise on Princess, the Coral through the Panama Canal.  Got a great deal, but would agree a standard balcony is worth no more than $75-100 pp/pn.  Beautifully designed ship, but in bad shape after a major dry dock (much rehab not completed...continued during the cruise with many contract workers).  Food not memorable, but great staff in all cases.  Not as a refined experience as compared to HAL or Cunard.  Looking forward to our first Oceania Cruises in February.

[keithm]

3 hours ago, don731 said:

We did one cruise on Princess, the Coral through the Panama Canal.  Got a great deal, but would agree a standard balcony is worth no more than $75-100 pp/pn.  Beautifully designed ship, but in bad shape after a major dry dock (much rehab not completed...continued during the cruise with many contract workers).  Food not memorable, but great staff in all cases.  Not as a refined experience as compared to HAL or Cunard.  Looking forward to our first Oceania Cruises in February.

Obviously you notice the price difference. You'll see that in the food quality. We've been on the Riviera. Entertainment's not so hot. I think because the budget goes to food quality.

[don731]

1 minute ago, keithm said:

Obviously you notice the price difference. You'll see that in the food quality. We've been on the Riviera. Entertainment's not so hot. I think because the budget goes to food quality.

Yep!  Due to the botched refurb, we didn’t have a full stage show on the Coral until late in the second week of the cruise.  The other beautiful club/show room at the stern was hardly used at all at night.  We’ve cruised on other small upscale ships (Azamara, Regent) with limited entertainment, so we’ll set our expectations appropriately. 😀. 

[keithm]

20 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

Deck plan says Crown grill. So does the restaurant write up on Star. 

Sorry, but several sites still called it Sterling. It must have changed over to Crown Grill during the refit 2 years ago.

[keithm]

1 minute ago, don731 said:

Yep!  Due to the botched refurb, we didn’t have a full stage show on the Coral until late in the second week of the cruise.  The other beautiful club/show room at the stern was hardly used at all at night.  We’ve cruised on other small upscale ships (Azamara, Regent) with limited entertainment, so we’ll set our expectations appropriately. 😀. 

If you like a truly relaxing cruise, I think you'll be most pleased. I'm basing this on our experiences on the Riviera. I really can't comment on the smaller ships, as we've not been on those. Frequently, if we have a great experience on a ship, we'll stick with that ship for a while. Pretty much why we did the QM2 for 6 cruises.

[dog]

13 minutes ago, keithm said:

If you like a truly relaxing cruise, I think you'll be most pleased. I'm basing this on our experiences on the Riviera. I really can't comment on the smaller ships, as we've not been on those. Frequently, if we have a great experience on a ship, we'll stick with that ship for a while. Pretty much why we did the QM2 for 6 cruises.

 

What cruiseline does the RIVIERA belong to?

[don731]

13 minutes ago, keithm said:

If you like a truly relaxing cruise, I think you'll be most pleased. I'm basing this on our experiences on the Riviera. I really can't comment on the smaller ships, as we've not been on those. Frequently, if we have a great experience on a ship, we'll stick with that ship for a while. Pretty much why we did the QM2 for 6 cruises.

We did 21 nights on the QE two years ago (SFO to SYD) and it was fabulous!  Revisited the QM2 a year ago, and it was great. (Still miss the QE2). 😀

[keithm]

6 minutes ago, dog said:

 

What cruiseline does the RIVIERA belong to?

Hmmmm. Let's see, Oceania?

[dog]

1 minute ago, keithm said:

Hmmmm. Let's see, Oceania?

 

Thanks for the quick response.

I am just learning about the Oceania line and looking forward to my SIRENA cruise to Canaries & Morocco in 2020!

dog

[dog]

21 minutes ago, dog said:

 

Thanks for the quick response.

I am just learning about the Oceania line and looking forward to my SIRENA cruise to Canaries & Morocco in 2020!

dog

 

I see there are 6 ships in the Oceania fleet.  Have you been on the SIRENA?

[dog]

1 hour ago, keithm said:

Sorry, but several sites still called it Sterling. It must have changed over to Crown Grill during the refit 2 years ago.

 

No need to apologize!

Another thing I've found on the Princess ships is the menu was a repeat each week. I was on the Dawn Princess 5 weeks- Australia & New Zealand with the same menu each week.

You made the right choice going with Club Class. We also tried the Crab Shack on the Star Princess this past Feb.

[need2cruisesoon]

On September 9, 2019 at 4:29 PM, keithm said:

We had booked a great 12 night cruise to the Caribbean in Feb. 2020. Unfortunately, Richard got an e-mail about a Hawaiian trip aboard the Star Princess. He then dug in his heels & now we're going on a trip to Hawaii Jan.28. I decided to at least book a Club Class mini suite to get some decent accommodations. I've told Richard to look into the mirror if this trip does NOT measure up. The food certainly will not be to O's standard. Oh well.

 

Just curious you are stepping down to Princess for Hawaii but on the flip side have you ever stepped up to Seven Seas? If so pray tell.

[Ken the cruiser]

We just booked a 30 day Princess Grand aft-facing penthouse suite from LA to Shanghai in Oct 2020 for $318 pp/day (gross) or $248 (net). I don't know about stepping down, but at those prices with free laundry and club class dining along with all the fun things to do on sea days on a Princess ship, we are quite happy. Keith, you're going to have a great time!!

[Paulchili]

7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

aft-facing penthouse suite from LA to Shanghai in Oct 2020 for $318 pp/day (gross) or $248 (net). 

What is the difference between these two prices - what is “gross” pricing vs “net” pricing.

Are you referring to a TA rebate or  OBC?

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

What is the difference between these two prices - what is “gross” pricing vs “net” pricing.

Are you referring to a TA rebate or  OBC?

When we sail with Princess we automatically get $500 OBC as we are both retired military as well as $250 OBC for shareholder benefits. On top of that we get a 9.3% cruise fare reduction from our TA. On this particular cruise which has a 3 for free promotion right now, we also get free gratuities which equates to $495 pp as well as an additional $200 pp OBC. I guess because we're in a suite I could also add in the free laundry plus a free mini-bar setup, but I didn't. For us the free laundry would add another $50 every 3 days which over 30 days adds to another $250 pp.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[need2cruisesoon]

Ken 30 days on the Grand I mean have you ever been on this ship?

[Ken the cruiser]

7 minutes ago, need2cruisesoon said:

Ken 30 days on the Grand I mean have you ever been on this ship?

No, not yet. So far we have only been on the Crown twice and the Diamond once. Right now we're booked on the Island (2), Grand, Coral and their new Enchanted Princess. Believe it or not we are pretty much loners when we're on a cruise, but have a lot of fun and laugh a lot when we're on a Princess cruises. Their club class dining offers a very nice escape when dining on their larger ships.

[dog]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We just booked a 30 day Princess Grand aft-facing penthouse suite from LA to Shanghai in Oct 2020 for $318 pp/day (gross) or $248 (net). I don't know about stepping down, but at those prices with free laundry and club class dining along with all the fun things to do on sea days on a Princess ship, we are quite happy. Keith, you're going to have a great time!!

 

Lucky! The aft facing penthouse suite is amazing. Had it once. The Golden is an older ship in the fleet, but with the perks you get and that location you will love it!

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, dog said:

 

Lucky! The aft facing penthouse suite is amazing. Had it once. The Golden is an older ship in the fleet, but with the perks you get and that location you will love 

Thanks! It was just too good to pass up, especially since we already have a Chinese visa. There are still aft facing suites available on this Oct 2020 cruise if you have 30 days to spare next October. The only reason we can figure the prices are so low is because you'll need a China visa as we go to Beijing as well as a couple other Chinese ports and we fly back from Shanghai. But it also goes to Hawaii, Guam and Japan along the way!

[dog]

9 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! It was just too good to pass up, especially since we already have a Chinese visa. There are still aft facing suites available on this Oct 2020 cruise if you have 30 days to spare next October. The only reason we can figure the prices are so low is because you'll need a China visa as we go to Beijing as well as a couple other Chinese ports and we fly back from Shanghai. But it also goes to Hawaii, Guam and Japan along the way!

 

I'd like to do it but am booked on the Oceania Sirena Oct 2020 from Lisbon-Canaries-Morocco-Barcelona cruise.