Live Star Princess Nov 10 - 20, 08

[vickie_bernie]

Tried to start this earlier but lost signal and all that I had written so I will start again.

 

Yes ship was late arriving. We arrived at the port at 1145 and the porter said ship was just starting to unload. So we dropped bags and headed out.

 

We returned at 1:30 only to see huge crowds and we checked in received cards and then were told to come back at 315 to board. We went to Pier 39 and got lunch. Got back to the pier at 330 and were on board by 400.

 

Muster drill was around 430, Julie the assistant cruise director said at the muster drill they had a medical emergency on the last sailing and had to stop in Cabo to drop off the person. THen they encountered bad weather making them really really late.

 

I keep hearing different stories so I am only posting what I've heard about the delay.

[vickie_bernie]

We have a new captain that has just joined us for this sailing. Sorry can't recall his name, he is originally from Winnipeg and currently lives in Vancouver (our home town). He use to sail as the Captain on the Dawn.

 

We didn't set sail last night until 7:30 pm. It was rather a low key sail away. Football was playing on the MUTS and there was no music and it was very dark and cold. But we still had fun. We met up with some of our roll call and had a few good laughs.

 

Dinner was in the HC -- just too tired to make it to the dining room. And we called it an early night (a first for us) and sleep like babies as the Star rocked us to sleep. Very smooth sailing so far.

[vickie_bernie]

Today is Tuesday and our first sea day... we are on our way to Alcapulco.

 

Up early and hit the gym, boy was it busy but it usually is on the first day.... should die down as the cruise continues.

 

The Piazza is very nice, Vines is huge, and the Vines store area seems to be a bit of a wasted space.

 

They haven't changed the wall mounted signs to show were things are on the ship since doing the drydock. But the cards they give you with the map are up to date.

 

Today is Rememberance Day in Canada, Veterans day in the US (I Believe) and they did have a minute of silence at 11 am to honor those who have fought in battles. Thought that was nice.

 

We had lunch in the dining room... very good, and very busy. It is busy inside as the weather is a little cool this morning.

 

We had our meet and greet at 1 pm in Skywalkers and unfortunately even though Princess knew about it there was no bar service. The cruise director Lee and Assistant Cruise Director Julie attended as well as the Captain Circle Hostess Anita. But they may have attended because of some inside connections from people on our roll call.

 

While we were doing our meet and greet the captain came on! See next post.. ... as I am afraid I will loose connection and have to retype.

[vickie_bernie]

The Captain came on announcing that a passenger was requiring immediate medical treatment and we would have to do a medical evacuation at sea. We are just south of San Diego currently.

 

The ship slowed and a Coast Guard Helicopter was brought in. All upper decks forward of the Enclosed Pool were evacuated. Certain balcony cabins were evacuated too for safety reasons. Emergency personnel prepared the sun deck near the MUTS screen for this evacuation.

 

Since our Meet and Greet was in Skywalkers we stayed there to watch.

 

We were told this passengers was going to be evacuated and sent to San Diego for medical treatment. A medical staff member from the ship would accompany the patient. In all I would say were were delayed about 1.5 hours.

 

The whole thing was handled very very well and it was great that the Captain kept informing us as to what was going on and why. The Captain said that they would keep us informed as to the passenger's well being. He also mentioned that we should be able to make up time and get to Alcapulco on time too.

 

Tonight is formal night and the Captain Welcome Aboard.

 

Oh I forgot to mention that everyone got a free glass of wine at dinner last night as a token for the delay in embarkation. Nice Touch.

[vickie_bernie]

We have 26 service dogs onboard. We have one person in our roll call who has her service dog with her "Bailey".

 

I am sure Darcie can report more on this topic.

 

They are suppose to be arranging a meet with the dogs tomorrow where they will not be "on duty" where we can pet and ask questions.

 

Bailey is a great dog, we have all learned that we are not to pet her when she is on duty... but when her vest is off and she is relaxing we can approach her.

 

They have arranged a special area up on one of the decks where passengers don't go with a box for the dogs to go and do their business. Again Darcie can report more on this.

[California Native]

Hi Vickie Bernie!

This is 3rd medical evac in the last 3 cruises

We had one on the 10/21 cruise and the Coast Guard met us at the breakwater near San Diego.

Can you do me a favor and tell Kirsty (The Spa Manager) to email me through our website below.

ourpassportstamps.com or use the email I gave her

It's Karen from Karen and Bev who did all the treatments on the 10/21 sailing!

I've lost her email and I'm suppose to be sending her, Marcus and Alan (the Fitness Directors) a care package of their favorite treats from England and Germany.

Let her know that I have her Dairy Milk...but need more specifics on the items for the boys!

I really appreciate it!

Thanks!

[rdsqrl]

Thanks for taking time out of you r cruise to do a "Live" for us! It's only day 2 and already sounds like an extremely eventful cruise . . . Do keep us posted on the doggie meet-and-greet -- and would love to see some photos of them!

[LarryF]

Hey Vickie and Bernie! I figured I find you posting here!:D

 

Sounds like the cruise is going well and hope there are no more emergencies or delays! Wish we were with you..

 

We changed our plans to cruise to the Panama Canal in April and now we are going back on the Emerald on April 19 on the southern itinerary this time! The cost was only about half of what the Panama canal cruise was costing. Times are tough right now and we had to pull back a little, but I'm looking forward to Bonaire and Dominica since we've never been to those two ports.

 

Hopefully we can join you in South America next year at least for the cruise or the land trip to Macchu Picchu. I found a great 10 day land tour there and I'll send you the info when you get back from your cruise.

 

Have a great time and pour some ice down Bernie's bathing suit for old times sake!:eek:

 

Take care,

 

Larry

[CruzinNoony]

Thank you so much for taking time out from your cruise to do a "live from"! DH and I are on the next cruise, so it will be really fun to read how your cruise goes. I sure hope the person they evacuated will be ok. Let us know.:eek:

[tksail]

Tried to start this earlier but lost signal and all that I had written so I will start again.

 

Yes ship was late arriving. We arrived at the port at 1145 and the porter said ship was just starting to unload. So we dropped bags and headed out.

 

quote]

You are amazing! I love hearing about what is going on in real time! I posted on the Grand board that I listened to your web interview and what a great job you did!

Janie on your Grand cruise

[Chatain]

Thanks for posting the updates for Star Nov 10-20 trip. I was supposed to be on that trip w/my mom, but family issues prevented me from going. Your postings will allow me to keep up to date on what's happening since my mom doesn't know how to use the internet. Thanks so much. Lorrie

[cruzinchris]

Thanks for the "live" updates from the Star. I'll look forward to additional reports :)

 

If you see them, please tell Sharon & Bruce "hello" from Chris & Mike.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[almostready]

If possible will you answer a few questions regarding this trip?

I wanted to know a little about the menu choices on formal nights.

 

Is the first or second formal night more special? Are the menu choices better (subjective I know :) ) but could you mention a few entree items from the two nights. We may be choosing to do one formal in Anytime Dining and maybe one in Crown Grill. But I don't want to miss Lobster night.

[LARGIN]

The second formal night is the lobster night..

[Toots]

Thanks so much for posting. We're on the next cruise and will tune in daily to see your updates.

[chamima]

Hi Vickie

I just told Allan that you're on a cruise right now and we are jealous!

3 evacuations in the last 3 cruises! That's scary!

Why are there so many service dogs on one cruise? Were you aware in advance that this was any kind of special cruise?

Thanks for writing this and we'll all keep reading.

[pegpowell]

There is a travel agency that does tours specializing in this area. They seem to do at least one cruise a year. However, when we were doing checkin, we were told 7 dogs.

[twocats]

Thanks LARGIN, that's what I am looking for, at least it was good on our last cruise.

[Foothills Traveler PCC]

Princess notifies PAX ahead of time when there are going to be a number of service dogs aboard. PAT CC

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vickie Bernie!

 

This is 3rd medical evac in the last 3 cruises

 

We had one on the 10/21 cruise and the Coast Guard met us at the breakwater near San Diego.

 

Can you do me a favor and tell Kirsty (The Spa Manager) to email me through our website below.

 

 

 

Will do

[vickie_bernie]

Hey Vickie and Bernie! I figured I find you posting here!:D

 

Sounds like the cruise is going well and hope there are no more emergencies or delays! Wish we were with you..

 

We changed our plans to cruise to the Panama Canal in April and now we are going back on the Emerald on April 19 on the southern itinerary this time! The cost was only about half of what the Panama canal cruise was costing. Times are tough right now and we had to pull back a little, but I'm looking forward to Bonaire and Dominica since we've never been to those two ports.

 

Hopefully we can join you in South America next year at least for the cruise or the land trip to Macchu Picchu. I found a great 10 day land tour there and I'll send you the info when you get back from your cruise.

 

Have a great time and pour some ice down Bernie's bathing suit for old times sake!:eek:

 

Take care,

 

Larry

 

Hi Larry and Amy, it isn't the same without you both onboard.

 

We are excited because our South america trip will be on the Star, we even checked out our stateroom for it!

 

We are doing the land portion for Machu Picchu on our own, then off to Lake Titiccaa on our own. Organized tours were just too expensive and restrictive. We'll let you know more of our plans when we get back.

[vickie_bernie]

Thanks for the "live" updates from the Star. I'll look forward to additional reports :)

 

If you see them, please tell Sharon & Bruce "hello" from Chris & Mike.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

 

well we certainly know Sharon and Bruce, had drinks with them last night, will say hi to them but I bet they will be on this thread soon enough

[vickie_bernie]

Will try and remember what the menu choices were -- don't really pay too much attention because heck it all begins to blurr.

 

Last night was formal night and I had shrimp newburg, hubby had tenderloin, both were great.

 

We were notified about the service dogs via email. They are a group that apparently travel often together. The one service dog that is in our roll call is not part of that group but is taking part in the dog activites, ie. off leash section. Ironically I didn't even see any of the other dogs until last night. It is amazing but on this size ship they are spread out well. Last night everyone received a brochure all about service dogs with lots of answers (given out by tour organizer). Funny so many people have commented isn't that nice that Princess allows the service dogs. I politetely say "they have to -- it is the law" According to the Passenger Services Director they can not even limit the amount of dogs.

 

We were notified today that the patient (a woman) is doing well. The nurse that went with her will meet up with the ship in Alcapulco.

 

The seas are very very calm and we have been told that we will arrive in Alcapulco on time.

 

There appears to be issues with MUTS and the installation. But it is showing movies.

 

Last night was also the Captain's welcome aboard cocktail reception held in the atrium (much nicer than when they held it in a lounge). We met the captain and got a picture.

 

There was no wait at all for us in the dinning room, we ate at 8 pm.

 

There appears to be an older crowd on this ship. With a variety of attitudes for both the young and old.

 

Had an issue with using our coffee card from a previous cruise on this ship. We polietly said okay and then spoke to the PSD and the issue was cleared up and they are taking our older card. Not to mention we bought a new card too.

 

Today they had a meet the service dogs and an off leash area. That was nice but very very crowded. Got lots of pictures and will put up later.

 

The afternoon was spent in the Santuary. For $10 per person for the afternoon we loved it! We had some food and drinks and felt like we were on our own private yacht.

 

Roll call is the best -- a great group of people.

 

Bernie keeps saying things happen in 3s so we are waiting for the third.

[LARGIN]

Vickie.. What was the problem using your old coffee card? We used ours on our Oct 21 cruise on the Star with no problem. I still have a couple of punches left which I plan to use on our April cruise.

 

Also, say hi to Bruce and Sharon from Larry & Ginger

[vickie_bernie]

also wanted to mention the clocks went ahead on the first night and they are going ahead again tonight, the third night.

 

Formal night is on the last sea day (should have the lobster).

 

vines -- miss the Emerald's Vines -- this vines doesn't have any nice tables to sit at and enjoy the wine, just one large high board room type table and a bunch of stand up bars.

 

International Cafe doesn't have gelato (which was reported earlier) but sadly it doesn't have chocolate fondue, candy apples or chocolate covered strawberries that you can buy like they did on the Emerald, Crown or Ruby.

 

LARGIN -- I know we have never had a problem using the remaining punches on a card and we have sailed a lot.

 

Shore Excursion desk is in the old chapel (I believe) in a room by itself. Captain Circle desk is down the hall towards the Princess Theatre.