Star Princess Cruise.... Jan 6, 2007...Just back.

[DFD1]

Embarkation.....Smooth and easy. Took about 45 minutes total. Rooms ready when we boarded.

 

Ship....Absolutely beautiful. Great spa, basketball/tennis court, lap pool, spectacular main lobby. Beautiful bars and lounges. Pool areas, covered and outside, were wonderful. Incredible ship. The best show lounge I have ever seen. It seated 1300 people in individual chairs, not sofas, with no posts in the room to ruin the sight lines to the stage. Superb facility.

 

Food....Uninspired. We were disappointed in the food both in the dining room and in the Horizon Court. The star needs a new and better chef in my opinion.

 

Dining room/traditional dining.....Eastern European wait staff, Romanian. Not good, a bit arogant. No smiles. Some sarcasim. Princess could do well with an Indonesian dining room staff.

 

Horizon Court....We found the self service food serving area to be congested, disorganized, hot, and messy......but we managed to eat far more than we should have! Omlets for breakfast were completely separated...located outside and at the other end of the swimming pool area. Not part of the Horizon Court at all. One had to go looking....looking hard....to find an omlet at breakfast.

 

Room Service....We failed to get our breakfast at all on two days. It just never came. Room service menu is far too limited.

 

Entertainment.... We saw most of it. Thought the Princess Theatre shows were above average. The lounge musicians were fine. The lounges were busy late into the night.

 

Ports....Enjoyed Ocho Rios and Cayman. No problems with tendering at Grand Cayman. Six ships in port there with us. Had to by-pass Cozumel because of high winds. Could not dock. Capitan made decision to skip the port altogether. We were disappointed, but we're realists. Princess Cays was just fine. We had a good day there. Water was cool, overcast day, but a great time.

 

Disembarkation....a breeze. We waited in the explorers lounge until our number and color were called to leave the ship. Ours was a mid-range number, not the first by any means, and we were ashore with our bags in a cab by 9:00am. Can't ask for more than that.

 

Sewer smell....Not a whiff! We were in B434, Baja, port side, midship.

 

Would we sail the Star again? Only if the price was really attractive.

 

These are just our impressions. Not intended to start a long thread. Thanks.

[BACON227]

Was Sarge still onboard????

[from the desert]

Fair and honest review! Thanks.

 

Does Princess tend to crew their ships from a regional basis, ie Romanians, as opposed to a blended service crew? Just curious?

[bjs1234]

Hi

We will be on Baja Deck on our April cruise cabin 630.

Is Baja a good deck to be on.

 

Are there any noise problems, i only ask as I am a light sleeper.

 

Thanks

[DFD1]

We thought Baja was a good deck. No problem with noise. Balcony was covered. Elevators were sometimes slow, but with 2600 passengers, no surprise. Stateroom was well arranged with closet area separate from sleeping area. Shower was small, but adequate. Cabin steward was top notch.

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

[DFD1]

Failed to mention Tequila's Steak House on the Star. Some of the very best food on this cruise were the steaks in Tequila's. It is well worth the $15.00 per passenger up-charge. It is quiet, but not stuffy and the service is friendly and smooth. Much friendlier than we found in the dining room.

 

We did not try Sabitini's (sp), but some passengers indicated they did not feel it justified the upcharge. I'm sure others enjoyed it very much.

[DFD1]

from the desert....I'm not sure about the staffing policy, but most of the dining room staff in our dining room was Eastern European.

 

We have been cruising for years with a variety of staff nationalities. We have found the Italians the most fun and the Indonesians the warmest and most efficient. The Indonesian wait staff over on Holland America is talked about by many who cruise repeatedly with HAL as one of the primary reasons they keep going back.

[sandysav]

We were on baja 323, read about the smell previous to sailing, didnt say anything to anyone in our group,some had never cruised before and I thought the complainers about it on this board were just whiners. Was I wrongf!!!!We smelled it as soon as we went to our rooms. It stunk off and on the whole trip. Have cruised 9 times previously (never with and never again with princess) and have never encountered a smell like this. While it is a beautiful ship, with great food and entertainment the service was just like the smell IT STUNK! Sabatinis food and service were wonderful thanks to Stefano and the other italian kid. Tequilas was good too, service in sabatinis was better though. Room steward Kan was great and polite as well. The other cruisers on this ship were a great and friendly bunch. Their deck party was the best we ever attended. Too bad about the smell and service otherwise this would have been a great ship.

[sandysav]

We were on baja 323, read about the smell previous to sailing, didnt say anything to anyone in our group,some had never cruised before and I thought the complainers about it on this board were just whiners. Was I wrongf!!!!We smelled it as soon as we went to our rooms. It stunk off and on the whole trip. Have cruised 9 times previously (never with and never again with princess) and have never encountered a smell like this. While it is a beautiful ship, with great food and entertainment the service was just like the smell IT STUNK! Sabatinis food and service were wonderful thanks to Stefano and the other italian kid. Tequilas was good too, service in sabatinis was better though. Room steward Kan was great and polite as well. The other cruisers on this ship were a great and friendly bunch. Their deck party was the best we ever attended. Too bad about the smell and service otherwise this would have been a great ship.

[cruisenurse#1]

Hi thanks,, nice info. Expecially about the smell that i was reading some others write about. Not a whiff! Great. we will be on board in feb.07, next month. Noticed later on this tread someone wrote they thought the smell was bad.. hummmm wonder why such a difference in experiances. ? the location? We are Baja 307

Ruth