STAR PRINCESS ANTARTIC CRUISE & how Princess compares with Holland America

[JimVrhovac]

PREFACE:

As most of you are aware Ruth and I are avid Holland America cruisers. We have tried to write this review in an impartial manner and not compare it to HAL. At the end we will put in one section as a comparison.

 

Overall the true test of a cruise line is “Will we cruise on one of their ships again?” YES we will and have purchased a couple future cruise deposits while on the cruise.

Princess Star Antarctic’s Jan 17 thru February 02, 2009

 

Staff Captain……..Mark Waugh

Cruise Director…..Lee Childers

 

EMBARKMENT (BUENOS AIRES):

We arrived at the docks in Buenos Aries around 12:30 and entered the terminal. There were no lines at any of the stations and we went from one to the other and were in our cabin by 1:00 pm. Our luggage arrive at about 2:00 pm and it did not take us long to unpack and get organized. This is one of the better embankments that we have experience.

 

DISEMBARKATION (VALPARISO):

All the information about disembarkation and the tags arrived at our cabin the day before and the information provided was detailed and very understandable. We put the tags on and set our suitcases out the night before per instructions. We went to the Casino at the designated time and disembarked on schedule and found our entire luggage without any problems. It appears that we were one of the lucky ones.

 

On of the ladies in our group put out her two bags and they were not in the luggage area when she looked for them. She reported it and she was told that she was not the only one with that problem. We met our tour bus and went on the tour. She checked periodically throughout the day and they eventually found one of the bags but told her that they WOULD NOT DELIVER IT TO THE HOTEL. SHE HAD TO RETURN TO THE TERMINAL AND PICK UP THE BAG---BAD PRINCESS --. Our tour bus from Santiago took us back to Valparaiso to pick up err bag the next morning. They eventually found the second bag as it had been sent to the Hyatt Hotel by mistake. They would not deliver it to the airport so the tour operators went by the docks and picked it up and brought it to the airport for her.

 

Princess is the one that hired this Port Services Company and is ultimately responsible for the delivery of the luggage to the passenger. It found the attitude of Princess and the Port Services Company to be RUDE, INSENSATIVE, AND LACKING IN BASIC CUSTOMER SERVICE.

 

ACTIVITIES:

There was an abundance of activities scheduled by the entertainment staff during the cruise. There was everything from dancing classes to origami and napkin folding. From what we could tell these classes were well attended during the cruise NICE JOB PRINCESS.

 

BARS:

Most of the bars have a small smoking section. The Shooters Bar is the sports bar and allows cigar and pipe smoking there. Overall we found the prices of drinks fair and the service in the bars excellent.

 

There was a nice selection of wines available on the ship and the members of our group seemed to be pleased with the wines and the pricing of them.

 

CABIN E723:

Our cabin steward, Theodore III, came by to introduce himself and collect out passports.

He asked if we had any questions about the cabin or how things worked. We requested 4 extra pillows and they were delivered that day. They also provided Ruth with a shower chair.

 

We were in a mini suite with a nice balcony toward the stern of the ship. The room is neat, clean and well laid out. One of the nicer things is that it has two (2) independent televisions. One of the televisions faces toward the bed and the other television faces toward the sofa/love seat. NICE TOUCH PRINCESS. Our cabin Stewart put the ice bucket in the refrigerator and it did increase the lifespan of the ice. NICE TOUCH.

 

The bathroom is small but adequate. The balcony is another nice feature as it is deeper and has four (4) regular size chairs and a table on it. There are six (6) drawers in the cabin and one closet section is set up with shelving and there is an approximately twelve (12) foot of hanging closet. We found it very adequate for the clothing we brought with us. There was a shortage of hanger so we are going to ask the steward to bring some more hangers and he did. There was a consistent lack of hot water at the sink BAD TOUCH PRINCESS. There was adequate hot water in the shower.

 

The Cabin Steward was excellent and more than fulfilled our wishes.

 

We did have a problem with Ruth’s ships card and had to have it replaced 3 times.

 

DINING FACILITIES:

Amalfi Dining Room: Our cabin cards stated 7:45 but we were not let in until 8:15 as there was a printing error on the cards. We had a table for ten (10) that accommodated our whole group. One of our groups is on a special diet so they brought her tomorrow’s menus so she could gear the menu towards her diet. NICE TOUCH PRINCESS. Overall the food was good and the presentation good to excellent. The service was good to excellent. One night when Ruth was not feeling well they volunteered to take a tray to our room NICE TOUCH PRINCESS.

 

Horizon Court & Terrace: This is their version of the self service restaurant. The food was laid out nicely and there was a good lunchtime selection. The seating areas are broken up with partitions but it was laid out nicely. There were more than enough attendants present and they always assisted Ruth as she went through the line. NICE TOUCH PRINCEEE.

 

Went to the Horizon Court & Terrace for late night snack and the selection was good. There were salads, sandwiches, soups, and fruits available.

 

Ice Cream Bar: There were 2 attendants and a nice selection of flavors of regular and soft ice creams. There was a charge of $3.75 for ice cream. Between 3:30 and 4:00 pm there was free ice cream and cookies in the Horizon Court.

 

CHEF’S DINNER: We purchased reservations for the Chef’s Dinner and it was one of the highlights of the cruise. It started out with a tour of the kitchen by the chef with hourderves and champagne in the kitchen. We had a special table and each course was explained to us and accompanied by an appropriate bottle of wine. The food, the presentation, and the service were excellent. The desert was served on a plate made out of hard candy. So we were able to eat the plate. It was truly a memorable experience.

 

INTERNET CAFÉ & SERVICE:

Several of our group had the internet service for the cruise and experienced a lot of problems with getting on line with their own computers. There were a lot of problems with the server and the person in charge of the Internet Operations was less than useless.

They chose to do a system upgrade in the middle of the day on a sea day. Not a good idea. NOT GOOD SERVICE PRINCESS.

 

MEET & GREET:

The cruise Critic group met in Skywalker lounge on the first sea day and then went to lunch at the Portofini Dining Room. There were about 50 of us at the meeting and everyone got a chance to meet people that they had talked to on the boards. The ship did not provide any refreshments or snacks for the meet and greet.

 

SHOPS:

All the shops are positioned around the atrium on decks 5, 6, and 7. They were well laid out and nicely merchandised. They did not look like junk shops. There was a nice selection of clothing geared for the weather that we will encounter during this cruise. The staff was pleasant and very helpful when asked questions. Most of the attendants there we bi lingual as we have a heavy Hispanic attendance on this cruise.

 

GENERAL:

Hallways: They seem to be a little narrower than other lines as Ruth and her walker could not pass by the housekeeping cart without moving it into one of the door alcoves. I know a wheelchair would not fit by the housekeeping cart. This does create a safety hazard for the passengers.

 

There is a real problem with vibration and noise when the thruster’s are in use. We had to tender into two ports and when the ship was stationary in the harbor the thrusters were used a lot to keep the ship stationary. Our cabin was on deck 8 almost directly above the thrusters. When they were on the noise drowned out the television and glasses on the coffee table would vibrate across the table. I addressed this problem with one of the engineer’s and he gave me some lame excuse about the thruster system and that the nose and vibrations were normal BAD PRINCESS. We are very experienced cruisers and know what thrusters are and what they should sound like.

 

BUENOS AIRES, VENEZUELA:

We arrived at the airport and got through customs without a problem. There is a nice shopping area there and the prices were good. Most of the staff spoke English and they were very helpful but not pushy. Watch out for the JYPSY cab drivers at the airport. We found out later that we paid a ridiculous rate to get us to the hotel. Don’t mind getting screwed but do like to get kissed while they are doing it…..

 

We had a group tour the next day and this is a beautiful town with an abundance of parks. We did get out at several spots and the tour guide did a fantastic job. We went to supper that night and then to a Tango show afterwards. The food was great and relatively inexpensive and the show was good. We arrived back at the hotel at approximately 11:00 pm.

 

MONTEVIDEO, URAGUAY (Day 02):

The seas were very rough and it created a safety problem for the ship entering the channel so the ship stayed outside the port all day and used its thrusters to maintain its position. The Captain came on the PA system early in the morning and explained the situation. He did comment that all booked shore excursions would be automatically refunded.

 

We finally were able to dock around 4:30 pm and allowed to go into town. It was imperative that we get into this port as they took on fuel here. We went into town and Ruth proceeded to purchase the Leather Warehouse. $1,000.00 plus dollars later we returned to the ship when I was not capable of carrying another bag. The prices were fair and the quality of the leather goods was excellent. I did get a Crystal and Onyx statue that I liked.

 

STANLEY, FALKLAND ISLANDS (Day 05):

We had a tour scheduled to go to Volunteer Point to visit the Penguin colony there. We traveled in SUV’s and Land Rovers as the last hour of travel was over very rough tundra. If you have problems with your back you need to seriously think about it before you go on this tour. Ruth did o but paid for it that night. Overall it was a great experience and worth the two hour drives each way. It was very cold and a 40 knot wind was blowing but it was worth the experience.

 

ANTARTIC PENINSULA (Days 07 thru 11):

This is one of those trips that you need to do at least once in your lifetime, if you can afford it. There were naturalist speakers on board and they did a fantastic job explaining about the areas we were viewing and a lot of historic information. They had spotters out to advice of areas of interest and wildlife within viewing range. The trip to and from the peninsula was rather rough with 12’ to 15’ waves and up to 40 knot winds. During some of the rougher spots the bow was moving 20+ feet up and down. One of our group who had a cabin in the front part of the ship said that she was airborne several times during these days. The scenery was breathtaking and made us realize how beautiful raw nature can be.

 

CAPE HORN (Day 12):

The weather at the cape was beautiful and the seas were calm. The trip through Magellan’s Passage to the Horn was another thing. We had 40+ knot’s winds hitting the ship on the side and the seas were 12’ to 15’+ for most of the day. It was a rough ride even in a ship this size.

 

USHUAIA, VENEZUELA (Day 13):

We had scheduled a private tour to visit several of the islands where seals and birds frequented. The captain of the ship did a fantastic job getting us close to the colonies and providing us with great views of the colonies. We saw enough seals to last a lifetime. If you ever visit this port make sure you take one of the boat tours to these islands. There was a tour to go to the Penguin colony but it required a one (1) mile walk on a boardwalk from the parking lot to the Penguin colony. We ate lunch at a local restaurant that specialized in King Crab dishes and were not disappointed with cuisine.

 

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE (Day 14):

This is a tender port and the weather in the morning was miserable. It was cold windy, and raining. We tendered in and did some shopping at the port shops and then returned to the ship when it did not appear that the weather was going to be the same all day. When we got back to our cabins we looked out and the sun was breaking through the clouds and it eventually became a nice day. We decided not to return to town.

 

The big problem this day was that the thrusters were used very frequently to keep the ship in the required position. The thrusters on this ship are out of balance and need to be repaired or replaced. Our cabin was on deck 08 and a glass would slide across the coffee table when the thrusters were on from the vibration and the noise would drown out the television with the sliding glass doors to the balcony closed.

 

AMALIA GLACIER, CHILE (Day 15):

This glacier reminded me of the glaciers we saw during our Alaska cruise. While at the glacier and the cruising for the rest of the evening we witnessed several spectacular waterfalls and some breathtaking scenery.

 

SEA DAYS (DYS 16 & 17):

Lot of ships activities and preparation for departure and the tours in Chile.

 

VALPARISO, CHILE (Day 18):

The tour bus met us at the dock as requested and they were well organized. The guide spoke good English and did a good job throughout the tour. One of the highlights was a cable car ride to a hill overlooking the city and the harbor. Like the other cities in this country there is an abundance of parks and statues that add character to the city. The seemed to be well maintained and heavily used by the citizens.

 

SANTIAGO, CHILE (Day 19):

The tour bus picked us up at the hotel on time and the guide spoke very good English. The highlight of the day was a tour of a vineyard and lunch there. It was very interesting and the wine tasting was per protocol (I think). The food was good, the presentation was great, but the service was lacking as few of the servers understood English. We were dropped off at the airport about 5m30 pm and our flight left at 10:30.

 

 

RECAP:

The true judge of any cruise line is the question “Would we ever cruise on Princess Cruise Lines Again?” The answer to that question is yes! As a matter of fact we purchased some future cruise deposits so when we schedule our next cruise on Princess the deposit will only be $100.00.

 

Overall we found the service comparable to HAL’s service. There were a lot of minute differences but they did not add up to much. No Hourderves in the bars prior to dinner, no bar nuts in the sports bag, charges for a lot of things the HAL does for free, etc. We did not feel that these differences made a whole lot of difference. The crew is was makes the ship and their crew was polite, courteous, always helpful, and overall fantastic.

 

We have tried to make this review as impartial as possible with only brief comments on how Princess compares to HAL. We do not see a lot of difference between them unless you really start to nit pick.

 

Ruth & Jim

[dmlee1990]

Thank you for your detailed and impartial review of the Star Princess. Just one question........why did the Cabin Steward collect your passports and when did you get them back? I don't like to give my passport to anyone!

[cruz chic]

Thanks for your review Jim. Glad to hear you liked them. They have a fine product and in many ways are really similiar to HAL. There are some things that are better on Princess. Some are better on HAL. I wish I could put the 2 together and in my mind it would be perfection.

[janisutx]

I enjoyed your review and would like to try Princess too. You may want to change Venezuela to Argentina for Buenos Aires and Ushuaia. Thanks for the fair comparison of the two cruiselines.

[magictam]

Hi Jim & Ruth

I really enjoyed your reveiw. David & I will be on the Star in August going to Alaska. It's great to know you enjoyed yourselfs.

Would you mind explaining how the future cruise deposit works on Princess? My sister and her DH are joining us on the Star and is already talking about booking another if they have a good time.

Thanks again, Tammie

[fann1sh]

Thanks so much! This itinerary is on my "life list"....

[MMDown Under]

I really enjoyed your well written review on your cruise on Star Princess - much appreciated.

[Jade13]

Nice review.

 

Jim, I believe you meant Buenos Aires and USHUAIA, Argentina :)

[bbq]

Get a life lady! You have no idea what hgh society is etc.

[JimVrhovac]

Jade13

History was nevery my best subject. Thank you for the correction

 

dmlee1990

They had to be inspected and stamped by most of the countries we visited. They do this so we do not have to line up when we enter each port and have them inspected. We were given a receipt for each passport and the were returned last sea day.

 

magictam

Future cruise deposits are the same as HAL's. $100.00 each and they are good for 4 or 5 years and they are refundable if not used.

 

 

If you do Antarctcawould suggest you get a room with a balcony. It is much better to stand inside a warm room until you see something you want to go outside for rather than stand on the open deck in those low temperatures. Room service was excelllent and prompt to.

 

Thank everyone for nice comments

 

Ruth & Jim

[dmlee1990]

Thanks for your response. I guess this makes sense, but hopefully, someone wouldn't need their passport, for some reason, if they ran into some trouble while in a foreign port.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We will be on the Star Princess in August to Alaska. We have been spoiled by HAL, so it's good to hear that Princess also does a great job

[ger_77]

Jim, I always look forward to reading a review you've posted. In addition to the wonderful descriptions of the ports, I particularly look for Ruth's influence - that being the shopping aspect of the trip. I see she didn't disappoint once more, making sure to help bolster the economy of a few more countries in the world.

 

I see you've got a Canada cruise booked for the end of September, so won't be joining us for the Mediterranean experience on October 3rd. Too bad, we would have enjoyed getting together with you. Another time, I'm sure.

 

Now, get back to work and get those credit cards paid off ! ! !

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

Gerry

[Pam in CA]

Jim, thank you for your balanced and complete review. Having taken the Golden Princess (same class as the Star) from Buenos Aires to Santiago (without Antarctica) and last January, going from Rio to Santiago, including Antarctica, on the Amsterdam, I'd pick the Amsterdam for this itinerary any time. My primary reason is ports such as Stanley and Ushuaia which are overwhelmed by the number of passengers on the larger Princess ship, Stanley in particular.

 

FYI, Princess is implementing hot hors d'oeuvres on their ships soon; that's one thing I like about HAL. Also, there's plenty of free ice cream in the dining room for lunch and dinner. One thing I've noticed on my HAL cruises is that on Princess, quite a few people use the dining room for breakfast and lunch; whenever I peeked into the dining room on my HAL cruises, there never seemed to be anyone in them for meals other than dinner.

 

Talking about vibration, don't book a cabin on the Prinsendam towards the aft on a lower deck. OMG! Awful. :(

 

Would you mind explaining how the future cruise deposit works on Princess? My sister and her DH are joining us on the Star and is already talking about booking another if they have a good time.

The Future Cruise Deposit on Princess is very similar to that on HAL. You pay $100 for one and it can be used as a deposit for any cruise other than a world cruise, and you have four years to use it. You can also request a refund at any time until you use it. If you book a cruise with it and cancel, it goes back into your Captain's Circle account and you can use it to book another cruise. However, if you then cancel the 2nd cruise, you don't get a refund. If you get one FCC for yourself and book a cruise at any time, you only have to pay a $100 deposit for the other person in the cabin even though they don't have an FCC.

[cruz chic]

Thanks for your response. I guess this makes sense, but hopefully, someone wouldn't need their passport, for some reason, if they ran into some trouble while in a foreign port.

They took my passport away when I checked in for my South America cruise at the Pier. It was very unnerving. That was the first time it had ever happened to me. Some passanger was trying to tell me it happens on every cruise :eek: huh? I took my driver license into the ports and I had no issues. I thought it was a bit crazy when HAL kept saying when we got off the ship to take photo id such as a passport...HELLO...remember you have them. In the end we got them back no problem and they had been stamped with each country. It would have been a hassle if we had to present oursleves. I wonder what would happen if you missed the ship and had no passport. I think I did carry a copy of mine but I can't remember. That was 4 months ago:o.

[JimVrhovac]

Please keep us in mind for your next Medeteranian cruise. We will be sailing with Cpt Albert on the Princendam trip and Ruth really wanted to do this one.

 

The family of one of my patients live in Ciaro and they run a travel and tour company. We talked about it extensively couple weeks ago and he tells me that if we can get to Egypt for 14 days they will show us everything that there is to see at no expense to us. We will have to pay for airfare, meals, and hotels but they will set everything up for us at their costs. This is a very tempting offer and we are thinking about the best time to do it. He mentioned several times of the year when the weather is not real hot and the tourism season is slow. We will talk later on about it with him.

 

Pam in CA

It seems that most people on HAL eat breakfast in their room or the Lido and lunch in the Lido - Don't know why. Ruth and I are lazy so we don't set out of the room before 10 unless we have something special to do....

 

Lorekauf

Never thought about missing the ship but a copy of the passport will have to do in situations like that

 

Thank you for your kind comments...

 

Ruth & Jim

[cruz chic]

One thing I've noticed on my HAL cruises is that on Princess, quite a few people use the dining room for breakfast and lunch; whenever I peeked into the dining room on my HAL cruises, there never seemed to be anyone in them for meals other than dinner.

.

This is one thing I can't understand. People seem to love the Lido for meals. I can't stand it. I would rather be going to the dining room any time the option is open to me. That is one thing I really like about Princess. The dining room is open at lunch everyday regardless of if the ship is in port. Maybe part of the reason I don't like the Lido is because I can't handle crowds.

[harrodsfan]

How nice to read a really balanced review that promotes cruising on different lines. There are many good lines out there and HAl and Princess are both good. I pick cruises based on itinerary and dates...And I agree with another cruiser..this trip is on my life list...

[Pete Jackson]

Can't imagine why Punta Arenas would be a tender port; it has a big dockyards and we have always docked there. BAD PRINCESS

[InTheWASide]

Hi Jim and Ruth,

 

I enjoyed reading the ship-related aspects of your review as I'll be on Star Princess May 8 to Alaska, trying the line for MY first time...

 

Did you take/are you planning on posting pictures from your cruise on your webshots link? I would love to see very current pictures of the ship.

 

Thanks!

[GarySuzy]

Jim,

 

Thanks for your review and comparison. As we will be on the Star in 30 days it was very timely. We too will be in a mini suite and would like to know just how much smaller was the bathroom compared to an S class Verandah bathroom.

 

Once again thanks for posting such a impartial review.

 

Gary

[tjcox9]

Jim,

 

As you can see from the signature, we are users of both lines and others and find things we like better on each line. We did the Star Antarctica in February 08 and are booked again for January 10. What a great trip it was, and I'm sure will be again.

 

I'm curious if your speakers were the same as ours. The primary speaker was a Dr Bernard (forget his last name) and his female colleague. We also had the female doctor who had been in Antarctica and got cancer, diagnosed and treated herself and was rescued in less that perfect weather by US military. These speakers, plus others such as the ice captain, along with the magnificent scenery made this a trip we'll always treasure.

 

Thanks for the report and reconfirming our decision to do this again. And yes, we always have a few future cruise deposits in our "bank". They come in mighty handy!!

[GeriatricNurse]

PREFACE:

As most of you are aware Ruth and I are avid Holland America cruisers. We have tried to write this review in an impartial manner and not compare it to HAL. At the end we will put in one section as a comparison.

 

Overall the true test of a cruise line is “Will we cruise on one of their ships again?” YES we will and have purchased a couple future cruise deposits while on the cruise.

Princess Star Antarctic’s Jan 17 thru February 02, 2009

 

Staff Captain……..Mark Waugh

Cruise Director…..Lee Childers

 

EMBARKMENT (BUENOS AIRES):

We arrived at the docks in Buenos Aries around 12:30 and entered the terminal. There were no lines at any of the stations and we went from one to the other and were in our cabin by 1:00 pm. Our luggage arrive at about 2:00 pm and it did not take us long to unpack and get organized. This is one of the better embankments that we have experience.

 

DISEMBARKATION (VALPARISO):

All the information about disembarkation and the tags arrived at our cabin the day before and the information provided was detailed and very understandable. We put the tags on and set our suitcases out the night before per instructions. We went to the Casino at the designated time and disembarked on schedule and found our entire luggage without any problems. It appears that we were one of the lucky ones.

 

On of the ladies in our group put out her two bags and they were not in the luggage area when she looked for them. She reported it and she was told that she was not the only one with that problem. We met our tour bus and went on the tour. She checked periodically throughout the day and they eventually found one of the bags but told her that they WOULD NOT DELIVER IT TO THE HOTEL. SHE HAD TO RETURN TO THE TERMINAL AND PICK UP THE BAG---BAD PRINCESS --. Our tour bus from Santiago took us back to Valparaiso to pick up err bag the next morning. They eventually found the second bag as it had been sent to the Hyatt Hotel by mistake. They would not deliver it to the airport so the tour operators went by the docks and picked it up and brought it to the airport for her.

 

Princess is the one that hired this Port Services Company and is ultimately responsible for the delivery of the luggage to the passenger. It found the attitude of Princess and the Port Services Company to be RUDE, INSENSATIVE, AND LACKING IN BASIC CUSTOMER SERVICE.

 

ACTIVITIES:

There was an abundance of activities scheduled by the entertainment staff during the cruise. There was everything from dancing classes to origami and napkin folding. From what we could tell these classes were well attended during the cruise NICE JOB PRINCESS.

 

BARS:

Most of the bars have a small smoking section. The Shooters Bar is the sports bar and allows cigar and pipe smoking there. Overall we found the prices of drinks fair and the service in the bars excellent.

 

There was a nice selection of wines available on the ship and the members of our group seemed to be pleased with the wines and the pricing of them.

 

CABIN E723:

Our cabin steward, Theodore III, came by to introduce himself and collect out passports.

He asked if we had any questions about the cabin or how things worked. We requested 4 extra pillows and they were delivered that day. They also provided Ruth with a shower chair.

 

We were in a mini suite with a nice balcony toward the stern of the ship. The room is neat, clean and well laid out. One of the nicer things is that it has two (2) independent televisions. One of the televisions faces toward the bed and the other television faces toward the sofa/love seat. NICE TOUCH PRINCESS. Our cabin Stewart put the ice bucket in the refrigerator and it did increase the lifespan of the ice. NICE TOUCH.

 

The bathroom is small but adequate. The balcony is another nice feature as it is deeper and has four (4) regular size chairs and a table on it. There are six (6) drawers in the cabin and one closet section is set up with shelving and there is an approximately twelve (12) foot of hanging closet. We found it very adequate for the clothing we brought with us. There was a shortage of hanger so we are going to ask the steward to bring some more hangers and he did. There was a consistent lack of hot water at the sink BAD TOUCH PRINCESS. There was adequate hot water in the shower.

 

The Cabin Steward was excellent and more than fulfilled our wishes.

 

We did have a problem with Ruth’s ships card and had to have it replaced 3 times.

 

DINING FACILITIES:

Amalfi Dining Room: Our cabin cards stated 7:45 but we were not let in until 8:15 as there was a printing error on the cards. We had a table for ten (10) that accommodated our whole group. One of our groups is on a special diet so they brought her tomorrow’s menus so she could gear the menu towards her diet. NICE TOUCH PRINCESS. Overall the food was good and the presentation good to excellent. The service was good to excellent. One night when Ruth was not feeling well they volunteered to take a tray to our room NICE TOUCH PRINCESS.

 

Horizon Court & Terrace: This is their version of the self service restaurant. The food was laid out nicely and there was a good lunchtime selection. The seating areas are broken up with partitions but it was laid out nicely. There were more than enough attendants present and they always assisted Ruth as she went through the line. NICE TOUCH PRINCEEE.

 

Went to the Horizon Court & Terrace for late night snack and the selection was good. There were salads, sandwiches, soups, and fruits available.

 

Ice Cream Bar: There were 2 attendants and a nice selection of flavors of regular and soft ice creams. There was a charge of $3.75 for ice cream. Between 3:30 and 4:00 pm there was free ice cream and cookies in the Horizon Court.

 

CHEF’S DINNER: We purchased reservations for the Chef’s Dinner and it was one of the highlights of the cruise. It started out with a tour of the kitchen by the chef with hourderves and champagne in the kitchen. We had a special table and each course was explained to us and accompanied by an appropriate bottle of wine. The food, the presentation, and the service were excellent. The desert was served on a plate made out of hard candy. So we were able to eat the plate. It was truly a memorable experience.

 

INTERNET CAFÉ & SERVICE:

Several of our group had the internet service for the cruise and experienced a lot of problems with getting on line with their own computers. There were a lot of problems with the server and the person in charge of the Internet Operations was less than useless.

They chose to do a system upgrade in the middle of the day on a sea day. Not a good idea. NOT GOOD SERVICE PRINCESS.

 

MEET & GREET:

The cruise Critic group met in Skywalker lounge on the first sea day and then went to lunch at the Portofini Dining Room. There were about 50 of us at the meeting and everyone got a chance to meet people that they had talked to on the boards. The ship did not provide any refreshments or snacks for the meet and greet.

 

SHOPS:

All the shops are positioned around the atrium on decks 5, 6, and 7. They were well laid out and nicely merchandised. They did not look like junk shops. There was a nice selection of clothing geared for the weather that we will encounter during this cruise. The staff was pleasant and very helpful when asked questions. Most of the attendants there we bi lingual as we have a heavy Hispanic attendance on this cruise.

 

GENERAL:

Hallways: They seem to be a little narrower than other lines as Ruth and her walker could not pass by the housekeeping cart without moving it into one of the door alcoves. I know a wheelchair would not fit by the housekeeping cart. This does create a safety hazard for the passengers.

 

There is a real problem with vibration and noise when the thruster’s are in use. We had to tender into two ports and when the ship was stationary in the harbor the thrusters were used a lot to keep the ship stationary. Our cabin was on deck 8 almost directly above the thrusters. When they were on the noise drowned out the television and glasses on the coffee table would vibrate across the table. I addressed this problem with one of the engineer’s and he gave me some lame excuse about the thruster system and that the nose and vibrations were normal BAD PRINCESS. We are very experienced cruisers and know what thrusters are and what they should sound like.

 

BUENOS AIRES, VENEZUELA:

We arrived at the airport and got through customs without a problem. There is a nice shopping area there and the prices were good. Most of the staff spoke English and they were very helpful but not pushy. Watch out for the JYPSY cab drivers at the airport. We found out later that we paid a ridiculous rate to get us to the hotel. Don’t mind getting screwed but do like to get kissed while they are doing it…..

 

We had a group tour the next day and this is a beautiful town with an abundance of parks. We did get out at several spots and the tour guide did a fantastic job. We went to supper that night and then to a Tango show afterwards. The food was great and relatively inexpensive and the show was good. We arrived back at the hotel at approximately 11:00 pm.

 

MONTEVIDEO, URAGUAY (Day 02):

The seas were very rough and it created a safety problem for the ship entering the channel so the ship stayed outside the port all day and used its thrusters to maintain its position. The Captain came on the PA system early in the morning and explained the situation. He did comment that all booked shore excursions would be automatically refunded.

 

We finally were able to dock around 4:30 pm and allowed to go into town. It was imperative that we get into this port as they took on fuel here. We went into town and Ruth proceeded to purchase the Leather Warehouse. $1,000.00 plus dollars later we returned to the ship when I was not capable of carrying another bag. The prices were fair and the quality of the leather goods was excellent. I did get a Crystal and Onyx statue that I liked.

 

STANLEY, FALKLAND ISLANDS (Day 05):

We had a tour scheduled to go to Volunteer Point to visit the Penguin colony there. We traveled in SUV’s and Land Rovers as the last hour of travel was over very rough tundra. If you have problems with your back you need to seriously think about it before you go on this tour. Ruth did o but paid for it that night. Overall it was a great experience and worth the two hour drives each way. It was very cold and a 40 knot wind was blowing but it was worth the experience.

 

ANTARTIC PENINSULA (Days 07 thru 11):

This is one of those trips that you need to do at least once in your lifetime, if you can afford it. There were naturalist speakers on board and they did a fantastic job explaining about the areas we were viewing and a lot of historic information. They had spotters out to advice of areas of interest and wildlife within viewing range. The trip to and from the peninsula was rather rough with 12’ to 15’ waves and up to 40 knot winds. During some of the rougher spots the bow was moving 20+ feet up and down. One of our group who had a cabin in the front part of the ship said that she was airborne several times during these days. The scenery was breathtaking and made us realize how beautiful raw nature can be.

 

CAPE HORN (Day 12):

The weather at the cape was beautiful and the seas were calm. The trip through Magellan’s Passage to the Horn was another thing. We had 40+ knot’s winds hitting the ship on the side and the seas were 12’ to 15’+ for most of the day. It was a rough ride even in a ship this size.

 

USHUAIA, VENEZUELA (Day 13):

We had scheduled a private tour to visit several of the islands where seals and birds frequented. The captain of the ship did a fantastic job getting us close to the colonies and providing us with great views of the colonies. We saw enough seals to last a lifetime. If you ever visit this port make sure you take one of the boat tours to these islands. There was a tour to go to the Penguin colony but it required a one (1) mile walk on a boardwalk from the parking lot to the Penguin colony. We ate lunch at a local restaurant that specialized in King Crab dishes and were not disappointed with cuisine.

 

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE (Day 14):

This is a tender port and the weather in the morning was miserable. It was cold windy, and raining. We tendered in and did some shopping at the port shops and then returned to the ship when it did not appear that the weather was going to be the same all day. When we got back to our cabins we looked out and the sun was breaking through the clouds and it eventually became a nice day. We decided not to return to town.

 

The big problem this day was that the thrusters were used very frequently to keep the ship in the required position. The thrusters on this ship are out of balance and need to be repaired or replaced. Our cabin was on deck 08 and a glass would slide across the coffee table when the thrusters were on from the vibration and the noise would drown out the television with the sliding glass doors to the balcony closed.

 

AMALIA GLACIER, CHILE (Day 15):

This glacier reminded me of the glaciers we saw during our Alaska cruise. While at the glacier and the cruising for the rest of the evening we witnessed several spectacular waterfalls and some breathtaking scenery.

 

SEA DAYS (DYS 16 & 17):

Lot of ships activities and preparation for departure and the tours in Chile.

 

VALPARISO, CHILE (Day 18):

The tour bus met us at the dock as requested and they were well organized. The guide spoke good English and did a good job throughout the tour. One of the highlights was a cable car ride to a hill overlooking the city and the harbor. Like the other cities in this country there is an abundance of parks and statues that add character to the city. The seemed to be well maintained and heavily used by the citizens.

 

SANTIAGO, CHILE (Day 19):

The tour bus picked us up at the hotel on time and the guide spoke very good English. The highlight of the day was a tour of a vineyard and lunch there. It was very interesting and the wine tasting was per protocol (I think). The food was good, the presentation was great, but the service was lacking as few of the servers understood English. We were dropped off at the airport about 5m30 pm and our flight left at 10:30.

 

 

RECAP:

The true judge of any cruise line is the question “Would we ever cruise on Princess Cruise Lines Again?” The answer to that question is yes! As a matter of fact we purchased some future cruise deposits so when we schedule our next cruise on Princess the deposit will only be $100.00.

 

Overall we found the service comparable to HAL’s service. There were a lot of minute differences but they did not add up to much. No Hourderves in the bars prior to dinner, no bar nuts in the sports bag, charges for a lot of things the HAL does for free, etc. We did not feel that these differences made a whole lot of difference. The crew is was makes the ship and their crew was polite, courteous, always helpful, and overall fantastic.

 

We have tried to make this review as impartial as possible with only brief comments on how Princess compares to HAL. We do not see a lot of difference between them unless you really start to nit pick.

 

Ruth & Jim

 

 

Were there trays available in the Horizon Court on which to place all of your food, drink & cutlery at one time? If not, how well were you able to manage without the use of trays?

(As you most likely are aware, HAL will be eliminating trays in the Lido, fleet-wide, effective May 1st., 2009!)

[cruz chic]

Were there trays available in the Horizon Court on which to place all of your food, drink & cutlery at one time? If not, how well were you able to manage without the use of trays?

(As you most likely are aware, HAL will be eliminating trays in the Lido, fleet-wide, effective May 1st., 2009!)

I know that you are not addressing me but I will answer. I have never seen trays on Princess. They have large oval plates (platters) that you can put a lot of stuff on. One thing I like more about Princess is that you can serve yourself everything...hot or cold so you can take as little or as much of something as you want. On the Grand Princess they had folks that came around immediately after sitting down and asked what you wanted to drink ie water..coffee..juice so you didn't have to juggle that with a plate. I understand from others that the liquid service not be the same on all ships.

[Travelrd]

Jim,

 

Thank you for the fabulous review of your cruise. It is definitely on my "to do before I die" list.

 

I was on the Star for a 10 day Mexican Riviera cruise from San Francisco right before it left for the South American cruise. I was in cabin E729 and Theodore was my steward. He was brilliant and I definitely took good care of him at the end of the cruise. Mine was the last cabin on that deck and I never experienced the noise from thrusters as you described. We did tender into two ports but I never had a noise problem.

 

This was my second Princess cruise and I couldn't help but compare it with my first cruise on HAL. Yes, HAL does give you more free things than Princess and does have a better room service menu, but overall, I would say they are pretty equal. I did have the Captains Dinner on the Star and my expericence was exactly like yours. It was fabulous and delicious and I'd do it all over again.

 

Glad you booked a future cruise on Princess. I did too.

 

David

[Nancyquilts]

Great review, Jim. Thanks. We had the same trip on Prinsendam a year ago and just loved it. It's nice to travel with less than 800 other people.:D