Celebrity lovers try Princess...again!/Star Princess 6/14-21 review w/ pics!

[traceye]

I agree the eggplant was fabulous and I could have eaten it as a meal. I also had the berry dessert and it was amazing. It is what my server recommended and she did not steer me wrong. I had the Penne arrbiatta that night which they were cooking as a specialty dish ( I think it was for an appetizer but I had it as a meal) if you like spicy food it was fabulous as well. I did not care for most of the food on the cruise, but these items on this night were especially good. The other thing I had that I loved while onboard was in HC they had a bread pudding with a vanilla sauce one afternoon for lunch that was amazing.

 

Thanks for keeping us posted with your review, I'm really enjoying it.

 

Tracey

[PeggySand]

I must tell you....I have enjoyed this tread more than any I have read on these message boards. Your photography is beautiful, and the commentary is always interesting. We leave on the Star in October from Sydney, and I check every day to see what you have added next. I'm not sure if you already told us, but what type of cabin did you have? Any pictures of the cabin/balcony would also be great.

 

Thanks again,

Peggy

[traceye]

If anyone reading this has a picture of a dolphin balcony on the Star, I would love a copy of it. I totally forgot to take a balcony picture....my 7 year old told me she took one after we got home but all I can see is the table and chairs from someone 4 feet high!

 

Tracey

[JWJs]

Hey Infi. We are booked on the 9/14 Coral with 4 day land tour prior. Still loving your DD's pictures---even more so since we are booked for Alaska!

Food looks awesome. I love Gnocchi....first time I had it was on the Celebrity Millennium....never looked back after that. Order it all the time at Olive Garden.

[moneys_sol]

My husband and I are really enjoying your review and all the wonderful pictures. We can't wait to see and read the rest!!!

[pairodocs]

Have been reading your review and pictures. Great stuff!!!!! Thanks for taking the time to share with us. Can't wait enjoy your next posting.

 

We'll get a chance to see the Star first hand this September.

 

Thanks again

 

Chuck & Sue Ann

"pairodocs"

[Infi]

Our next day was a busy one. We visited Tracy Arm in the morning from 5 to 10am, and then Juneau from 2:30 until 10pm. We noticed most of the ship had retired early last night in order to wake up for the glacier viewing this morning. We woke up at 6am and stepped out onto the balcony to find many others doing the same. The naturalist was already narrating; for how long, I’m not sure. She was advising people to look for “softballs in the trees” (aka eagles). DD got dressed and headed for the upper level of the promenade deck, which we had read on CC was the best place for glacier viewing. She was a little miffed that the naturalist was also advising others of her “secret” spot. I stayed in the room and watched us sail into Tracy Arm from the comfort of our balcony. You can either hear the naturalist out on deck or turn your cabin TV to a ship channel and hear her.

Sights as we were sailing in…the juxtaposition of the green and the snow is always so interesting.

 

An early ice sighting – you see more as you get further into the fjord:

 

Yet again, I’m no photographer (I can’t take a picture without it ending up blurry, honestly), so all of these photos are DD’s, taken from the front of the promenade deck (actually deck 8). She really loved this spot, it was sheltered enough not to be too cold and you can also feel the ship shudder when it hits pieces of ice (if that’s your thing, of course).

In the fjord, you’ll be surrounded by tall mountains and lots of greenery

 

And of course, lots of ice. The older the ice, the bluer it appears. Some of the ice is so bright blue, it’s amazing.

 

Getting closer…

 

Younger ice, perhaps?

[Infi]

It’s neat to look at the “walls” of the fjord and imagine how they were formed by the glaciers

 

DD did see some seals out on the ice (it’s common to see seals up on the ice, hanging out, or they often come up on the ice to give birth away from predators). There were some seal sightings in the water, but you have to watch very closely for those – they disappear as quickly as they surface.

Some little birds hanging out on a piece of ice…you can also see some of the ice below the surface. A lot of the ice floes are bigger than they may look from the top.

 

DD says this photo might be a little bit like looking for Bigfoot…but it’s two seals on the ice. Look for the black/gray dots…which is actually also good advice for spotting seals in general. They were pretty far away…zoom is VERY important in Alaska.

 

Another round of ice photos…DD is a committed ice photos junkie. The ice really is beautiful here.

 

Ice everywhere as you’re sailing.

 

[mississauga]

Please tell your DD that she is a wonderful photographer and thank her for sharing. You are both very generous with your time to write this and for sharing your memories and photos!

[pam7553]

Awesome photos. Thanks so much for the post. Do you have the patters and menus? I leave next Sunday!

[Cruisex234]

Awesome photos. Thanks so much for the post. Do you have the patters and menus? I leave next Sunday!

 

yes good question, any patters?

 

I'm glad to see that the Star is entering into Tracy Arm

 

When you have a moment, to elaborate on the "secret spot"

You say that DD when on the Promenade deck to view....

 

Sounds like a neat spot to take the kids for viewing.

 

Thanks again for such great photos and review!

Happy 4th!!

 

Larry:)

[sand piper]

These posts are so helpful and exciting!!

Doi you think DD's veiw was a lot better than the one you had from your balcony?

Salley

[Shifra]

Thank you! I am enjoying your cruise so much. The photos are wonderful and I can't wait until I can do alaska. It is all so beautiful!

[bragstarr]

Infi, you're still doing a great job--keep it going! Sitting here with a friend who is going on cruise with me and we are gobbling up looking at the pictures. Question for you--given luggage limitations, etc., the males of our group really do not want to wear suits. I've done some reading on the boards and it appears though in the minority, men do go to formal night in just long sleeve shirts, slacks and tie. What were your observations on how men dressed formal night in the MDR? Are NICE jeans accepted during non-formal nights--looks like they are but interested in what you saw. Thanks and HAPPY 4th!:)

[Infi]

Please, please, please! Keep rolling with the pictures. I leave for Seattle 2 weeks from today!

 

You are doing a fabulous job--thanks so much!:)

 

Thank you! Enjoy your cruise, I'm very envious!

 

"Veal scaloppine…this was DD’s dinner and she said the meat was pretty tough."

I couldn't agree more. I had the veal on the Star in May and I thought it was awful. They also served it at the most traveled lunch and it was just as bad--really tough!

 

It's too bad to hear that about the veal. I'm surprised they served it again even though it was so bad! We tried it on our last cruise and it was tough then, but DD decided to give it another go, and it still wasn't so hot. I guess we learned our lesson! Oh well, there are plenty of other nice dishes to try instead. :)

 

Enjoying your fabulous review with pictures. Thanks for your ( and your DD's ) generosity in sharing all your pictures with us.

 

Thank you so much!

[Infi]

I agree the eggplant was fabulous and I could have eaten it as a meal. I also had the berry dessert and it was amazing. It is what my server recommended and she did not steer me wrong. I had the Penne arrbiatta that night which they were cooking as a specialty dish ( I think it was for an appetizer but I had it as a meal) if you like spicy food it was fabulous as well. I did not care for most of the food on the cruise, but these items on this night were especially good. The other thing I had that I loved while onboard was in HC they had a bread pudding with a vanilla sauce one afternoon for lunch that was amazing.

 

Thanks for keeping us posted with your review, I'm really enjoying it.

 

Tracey

 

Thanks! The berry dessert is delicious, and the topping is very sweet. I really have learned to trust the server's judgments, they have yet to steer me wrong!

 

I must tell you....I have enjoyed this tread more than any I have read on these message boards. Your photography is beautiful, and the commentary is always interesting. We leave on the Star in October from Sydney, and I check every day to see what you have added next. I'm not sure if you already told us, but what type of cabin did you have? Any pictures of the cabin/balcony would also be great.

 

Thanks again,

Peggy

 

Peggy, thanks so much for your kind words. We had a BC balcony on Aloha deck, and I posted some pictures of it towards the beginning of this thread...my third or fourth picture post, I believe. There's also a video tour my daughter took of the cabin here, if you're interested:

 

Hey Infi. We are booked on the 9/14 Coral with 4 day land tour prior. Still loving your DD's pictures---even more so since we are booked for Alaska!

 

Food looks awesome. I love Gnocchi....first time I had it was on the Celebrity Millennium....never looked back after that. Order it all the time at Olive Garden.

 

Congrats on booking your cruise! That itinerary looks really great, two days of glaciers! Did you decide on a balcony?

As for the gnocchi...it was fantastic in the DR, but we had some amazing gnocchi in Sabatini's on this cruise. It was one of our favorite appetizers in there - of which there were many!

[Infi]

My husband and I are really enjoying your review and all the wonderful pictures. We can't wait to see and read the rest!!!

 

Thank you so much!

 

Have been reading your review and pictures. Great stuff!!!!! Thanks for taking the time to share with us. Can't wait enjoy your next posting.

 

We'll get a chance to see the Star first hand this September.

 

Thanks again

 

Chuck & Sue Ann

"pairodocs"

 

Thanks - I hope you enjoy your cruise in September!

 

Please tell your DD that she is a wonderful photographer and thank her for sharing. You are both very generous with your time to write this and for sharing your memories and photos!

 

Thank you (and a big thanks from DD too, who I know is reading this thread but doesn't post often ;)). It's been fun working on this with her and going through all the photos, looking for the "perfect" ones to add. I'm just glad others are enjoying it, too.

[Infi]

Awesome photos. Thanks so much for the post. Do you have the patters and menus? I leave next Sunday!

 

I was going to upload the menu pictures/scan the Patters in after I was done with the review...is there any in particular you would like now? I could try doing it now because your cruise is so close.

 

yes good question, any patters?

 

I'm glad to see that the Star is entering into Tracy Arm

 

When you have a moment, to elaborate on the "secret spot"

You say that DD when on the Promenade deck to view....

 

Sounds like a neat spot to take the kids for viewing.

 

Thanks again for such great photos and review!

Happy 4th!!

 

Larry:)

 

Ah, the secret spot...is not much of a secret at all. ;) Go all the way forward on promenade deck 7, and there's a flight of stairs that takes you to the upper level of the promenade (technically deck 8). It's the very front of the ship, as far as you can go, and you get an almost 180 view of everything.

As for the menus and patters, I will try to upload them now if you need them. Are there any in particular you're looking for?

 

These posts are so helpful and exciting!!

Doi you think DD's veiw was a lot better than the one you had from your balcony?

Salley

 

Thanks! I do think her view was better than mine because she had the luxury of seeing both the port and starboard sides all at once, rather than waiting for the ship to turn around. The upper level of the promenade is also great because it's not as crowded as the upper decks, which helps for picture taking. However, I was a heck of a lot warmer. :p Take your pick!

[Infi]

One last installment before we start firing up the burgers. Happy fourth, all!

 

Finally, we arrive…glacier, in the distance.

 

A panoramic view of Tracy Arm.

 

There’s a small island in the middle of the entrance to the glacier (all of the following photos are zoomed in).

 

A better shot of the glacier itself:

 

The other Sawyer glacier…I don’t remember if this is the North or South one. This is on the port side, and it's a little bit harder to see than the one on starboard. You can see some of the moraines (deposits of dirt and silt over the years) – they look almost like tire tracks across the glacier.

 

The ship then turned clockwise so all the sides could get a good view before sailing out. We spent a decent amount of time there, about a half hour.

 

Now, I don’t know if the distance we were in is typical for Tracy Arm or not, but we were not close enough to see any calving. Though the scenery inside the fjord was gorgeous, the glaciers were pretty far off in the distance. The crew did mention that this was the furthest in they had gotten so far this season. I understood why we didn’t go further (too tricky, too much ice) and respect that, but I preferred our trips to Hubbard glacier in the past. Other first timers, our relatives included, thought Tracy Arm was great. I think it’s more of a case of “if you knew what you were missing” – I really love the calving and wish we could have been close enough to see (and hear!) it here. Next time we will look for an itinerary with Glacier Bay, which I’ve heard is fantastic.

 

One highlight we weren’t expecting is the great photo op/moment when we passed the Golden, who was on her way into Tracy Arm. Both ships’ passengers were cheering loudly, and many flashbulbs popping on both ends – very neat! We passed them around 9am or so, on the port side, for future reference.

[pam7553]

I am interested in the dinner menus, so if you could post them that would be great.

[JWJs]

Hey Infi. Pictures are just awesome, awesome, awesome! I can't wait for our Alaska cruise. Yes....I did book a balcony cabin. Jim will be up front like Christina, I will be on the balcony. Will the ice be blue if the sky is overcast? I want to see that blue ice.:)

[bigjer]

I thought the youtube video was excellent. It showed exactly what the rooms look like. So much better than anything that I've seen. I really liked the way you pointed out the difference in the covered, partially covered and uncovered balconies. We are on the Star in April on the Caribe deck. I know that all I have to do is stand back a little ways for a little privacy.

 

Thank you so much for your wonderful postings and pictures. I've enjoyed it tremendously.

 

Helen

[BeachGurl]

Thanks for all the detailed info. You have been a lot of help!!!:)

I was going to upload the menu pictures/scan the Patters in after I was done with the review...is there any in particular you would like now? I could try doing it now because your cruise is so close.

 

 

 

Ah, the secret spot...is not much of a secret at all. ;) Go all the way forward on promenade deck 7, and there's a flight of stairs that takes you to the upper level of the promenade (technically deck 8). It's the very front of the ship, as far as you can go, and you get an almost 180 view of everything.

As for the menus and patters, I will try to upload them now if you need them. Are there any in particular you're looking for?

 

 

 

Thanks! I do think her view was better than mine because she had the luxury of seeing both the port and starboard sides all at once, rather than waiting for the ship to turn around. The upper level of the promenade is also great because it's not as crowded as the upper decks, which helps for picture taking. However, I was a heck of a lot warmer. :p Take your pick!

[moneys_sol]

Can you let me know which night Italian night is, i just need to know because we want to go to Crown Grill and Sabatini's. i know we are going to Crown Grill on the first formal night and thought we would go to sabatini's on italian night. thanks for letting me know.

 

Meghan

[DocM3]

A TERRIFIC review among the best I've ever seen posted and I thank you so much for taking the time to provide such pleasure.

 

We sail on the Star in August and after seeing your fabulous pictures, I am all the more excited.