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Aboard the Star

Solo Cruiser

By Solo Cruiser,
in Princess Cruises

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Solo Cruiser

Solo Cruiser

Posted
Posted

And WOW what a great group of cruise critics are on this ship. We had a great sailaway party on Thursday and a wonderful group gathering today. The Star is a beautiful ship and all the fellow passengers I spoke with are having a super time. Charlotte, thanks for the terrific nametags! I'm testing out the Sterling Steakhouse tomorrow night so I'll give my impressions at a later date.

 

Sandy

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CruiseFever

CruiseFever

Posted
Posted
And WOW what a great group of cruise critics are on this ship. We had a great sailaway party on Thursday and a wonderful group gathering today. The Star is a beautiful ship and all the fellow passengers I spoke with are having a super time. Charlotte, thanks for the terrific nametags! I'm testing out the Sterling Steakhouse tomorrow night so I'll give my impressions at a later date.

 

Sandy

More please

 

We require much more information than that. Cancel your shore excursions,stay on the ship, and fill us in please

 

Ok maybe not

 

Have a good time but don't do anything that would make the ship sink ok?

 

:eek:

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Rachelleh

Rachelleh

Posted
Posted

Sandy;

 

We are jealous of you wish we were with you right now, we are sailing on the Star 2/7, if you have time could you let me know how the stateroom tv's are, sounds nuts I know, but on the Caribbean Princess no payper view movies, I love be able to see some movies which I never have time to do at home, late at night.

 

How is the service and food???

 

What cabin type do you have we booked E728, would love to know how the size is, had BB on Caribbean princess thought it was tight.

 

Thanks and have a GREAT time.

Rachelle

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whenistrivia

whenistrivia

Posted
Posted

Hello gang..

 

We just came off the Star last Thursday, right before the repositioning from Venice to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Same great ship that it was last January when we sailed her through Australia/New Zealand, we just love it. We had a category BA cabin on Caribe Deck 10, C315, and for the two of us we thought there was plenty of room for clothes, luggage, etc. Gotta love that extra room on the Caribe deck balconies.. but the decks right above you can see right down, so be careful !

 

Any particular questions re: the ship I'll try to answer.. I can tell you that there were no pay-for-view movies on the TV's, but the guide listed the complete program listings for each day of the cruise from morning till night.

 

Gary

Villa Park, Illinois

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espmass

espmass

Posted
Posted

I have a few specific questions. Did you have the PC dining and if so, how did it work out? Were there any problems? Also, do you have any idea how the fitness center (gym) is? We have a BB balcony cabin on the Caribe deck. Good one? Thanks for any info and glad you had a good cruise.

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whenistrivia

whenistrivia

Posted
Posted

Espmass..

 

Can't help you out on the fitness center.. We did check it out last January and found that if can be a bit tight in there, especially on sea days when a lot of people have the same idea, so to speak. (This last tour of ours was full of walking with 10 ports of call in 12 days, and combined with the fact that we usually do the stair thing onboard instead of the elevators, unless the better half had on her high heels) we got a lot of exercise on this trip notwithstanding. If you like to exercise during the "off periods", I see no reason that you would have to wait a long time for a particular piece of equipment.

 

We did do PC dining, based on our experiences on the Caribbean Princess last May. The Star (at least on this cruise) had 3 dining rooms, 2 dedicated to Personal Choice and 1 to traditional. The Capri and Portofino were the PC ones, and the Amalfi was the normal. If you like to dine as a couple and prefer a table for two, be prepared to POSSIBLY wait a bit longer than if you don't mind sharing a larger table. This is also dependent on the time that you like to eat. We're late diners, and always eat anywhere between 8:30 and 9:00 PM. We ate in the Capri 10 times and the Portofino once, and at that time never had to wait longer than 10 minutes (in most cases 5 minutes or less) for a table. An option would be to make a standard "reservation" in one of the PC rooms for a particular size table and group, which a lot of people were doing. On our particular cruise, it was all open seating on the first night and you could not make reservations with the maitre'd until the second day. We were on a tour that day, and by the time we got back the only slots available for 2 people were at 6:30, earlier than we usually eat. At that point we decided to just wing it, and since we park ourselves at the lobby bar for a couple before-dinner drinks every night (right outside the Capri dining room on deck 5) we could watch the flow of people coming and going from dinner each evening. Again, the crunch times were at 6:30 PM for early eaters, and 8:30 for late ones. The Capri seats until 9:30 PM and the Portofino one deck up seats until 10:00. If you don't mind sharing, and have a larger group dining together, you may not have any issues at all ! Keep in mind that the dining rooms in the Star have very few tables setup for 2.. most of them are in the 6-10 passenger range. It was a bit different on the Caribbean Princess, as a greater percentage of tables had the two-person setup.

 

You should enjoy the BB cabins on Caribe.. only 3 decks up to the Horizon Court and a few decks down to the dining rooms.

 

We have another BA category cabin reserved on the 9-22-2005 repositioning of the Star from Copenhagen back to Fort Lauderdale.. Can't wait !!

 

Hope this info helps..

 

Gary and Rita

Villa Park, Illinois

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espmass

espmass

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the first hand information. In the past few weeks there has been alot of info and opinions regarding the PC dining. I had read so many negative comments that I have been debating switching to a different cruise. It sounds as if we shouldn't have much of a problem even going at a popular time such as 7:30 if we are willing to share a table which we are. I go to the fitness center between 5 and 6 so I usually don't run into much of a crowd.

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whenistrivia

whenistrivia

Posted
Posted

Espmass..

 

I suggestion I would make is to check to see if you can reserve that time with the maitre'd as soon as possible after boarding. We did this when we were on the Caribbean Princess in May, and even thought there were 2 nights when our reserved table was taken at our reserved time, we were seated in the same area with the same waiter staff almost immediately.

 

One of the things that we noticed is that Personal Choice dining doesn't give you an opportunity (in most cases) to develop a bond with a particular head waiter/assistant combo, due to the fact that most nights that will change with the seating area. By making a reservation (and asking for a particular table size) you may find that you get the best of both worlds..

 

Some people believe that by making a reservation you're locked into that particular situation. Even though I think that most people stick to that, if you decide at the last minute to dine elsewhere your table will be held for about 15 minutes or so, and then given to the next on the waitlist.

 

Gary and Rita

Villa Park, Illinois

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M&T

M&T

Posted
Posted

We will be traveling with a group next summer on the Star. We only have a choice of interior or oceanview. It looks as if the oceanview rooms are only on the Emerald and Plaza decks. Emerald has the lifeboats. I am wondering if we are better off staying with the interior. Any recomendations.

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Dane

Dane

Posted
Posted

Hi!

 

We have also booked Star for Feb. 2005, a cat. BA on Caribe Deck.

 

I'm a little confused about some of the answers here: I thought that the Caribe balconies was half open, half covered - so how can the people on the deck above see everything?

 

Does anybody have a photo of the BA Caribe deck balcony?

 

Thanks to all replies!

 

Dane

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dosi

dosi

Posted
Posted

Hi, I am also going on the the 24th. I was hoping you could do me a favor....could you please tell the captain that since we cannot go to Cayman we would like to go to Costa Maya instead. Thanks I would really appreciate it. :D

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whenistrivia

whenistrivia

Posted
Posted

Dane..

 

You're correct in saying that from above on Deck 11 you can only see down on about half of the balcony below. If you only sit in the back half of your balcony, the people above would have a hard time seeing you. We make a habit of sitting close to the front part, and frequently strike up a conversation with the people above us, if they happen to be out the same time we are !

 

Gary

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Solo Cruiser

Solo Cruiser

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Posted

I have an interior cabin, which is fine for me and I'm all the way forward on the port side of Emerald, no problems with motion or noise yet. Sterling Steakhouse (Tequila's) was FABULOUS, well worth the $15. Food has been good or very good for the cruise thus far, the lobster thermidor was to die for.

 

The captain said he would take the port ideas under advisement, doesn't that mean the same thing as "woman don't bug me? " LOL

 

As far as the gym... I should try it but prolly won't.

 

Monte Carlo got cancelled due to high seas in a tender port so today we are anchored off Cannes instead. Tough luck huh? : )

 

Stateroom TVs have no pay per view movies but channel 23 plays movies all day long for free. Check with the TV listing guide in your cabin for which days they play which films.

 

For all of you cruising on the 24th.... you don't mind if I just stay onboard do you?? It's going to be hard to leave after 17 days.

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