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Star Pride TA 4/7-20 Live


russg140
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So a week from today we board the Star Pride for the 13-Night Eastbound TA. I'm going to do my best to write daily about the crossing as I know there are people that are curious about it. I look forward to your questions and comments. Stay tuned...(p.s. We're spending one night at the El Convento in San Juan prior to boarding. If you have any questions about SJ, etc let me know!)

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Have a great crossing. Looking forward to your posts. I am curious about the condition of the Pride. There was a review on CC from Dec 2017 calling it a rust bucket. They even had photos that made the ship look bad. I have not seen any other reviews saying the ship is in bad shape. I thought it had been recently refurbished? We will be on the Pride in May - Barcelona to Lisbon.

Bon voyage!

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Have a great crossing. Looking forward to your posts. I am curious about the condition of the Pride. There was a review on CC from Dec 2017 calling it a rust bucket. They even had photos that made the ship look bad. I have not seen any other reviews saying the ship is in bad shape. I thought it had been recently refurbished? We will be on the Pride in May - Barcelona to Lisbon.

Bon voyage!

I looked up the review as I will be on the Star Pride in June. It was actually in 2015 (although written 2 years later) I believe the ship has been refurbished since then. Let’s hope!

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... I am curious about the condition of the Pride. There was a review on CC from Dec 2017 calling it a rust bucket. They even had photos that made the ship look bad. I have not seen any other reviews saying the ship is in bad shape.
I was on the Pride last month and I thought the ship seemed in great shape. It is an older ship, but I was very pleased with the ship's condition.

 

To the OP, I hope you have a wonderful crossing.

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Here we go...

 

Arrived in San Juan yesterday. It’s pretty sad. So many of the old homes in Old San Juan are destroyed. The El Convento was amazing and highly recommended.

 

We arrived at the ship at 11:45 and told boarding wouldn’t begin until 1. Walked around for a bit and got back at 1:15. There was a little wait, but we were in our cabin in an hour. Lunch in the Veranda was great. 157 pax in all, and seems like a good mix of people. Muster at 5:15 where we had to don our life vests. Good practice! The captain then told us that we were leaving at 11 instead of 10 because some people were missing their luggage.

 

Off for a drink at the Compass Rose and dinner in Amphora.

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Dinner last night was good. Tonight’s was much better...

 

First day at sea. Last night it was warm on the ship, a/c not working too well. We slept with our balcony door open, loved the fresh air. After breakfast went on deck and read, checked email, etc. internet service is pretty good, surprisingly. Glad we bought the package. After a nice lunch went back on deck then off to the gym. Kind of warm, but they were blowing air in. Still a good sweat.

 

As I said, really great dinner then an after dinner under the stars.

 

We’re sailing at 11 knots. Nice, slow, easy relaxing. Perfect.

 

Questions?

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Dinner last night was good. Tonight’s was much better...

 

First day at sea. Last night it was warm on the ship, a/c not working too well. We slept with our balcony door open, loved the fresh air. After breakfast went on deck and read, checked email, etc. internet service is pretty good, surprisingly. Glad we bought the package. After a nice lunch went back on deck then off to the gym. Kind of warm, but they were blowing air in. Still a good sweat.

 

As I said, really great dinner then an after dinner under the stars.

 

We’re sailing at 11 knots. Nice, slow, easy relaxing. Perfect.

 

Questions?

Thanks for taking us along with you. TA on my list!

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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I sure hope that they have fixed the problems on the Star Pride. We were just on the 03/31/18 to 04/07/18 Caribbean sailing where the the Star Pride lost power for hours on end over over and over again the course of several days and in turn lost air conditioning creating unbearable conditions inside the ship for guest and crew alike. I wish you all the best! There is no way I would have stayed on that ship for a trans-Atlantic voyage after what we went through last week!

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Beautiful day yesterday! Lots of sun and a little movement in the seas. Great outdoor grilled burgers for lunch. Took a dip in the splash pool. Very refreshing. Greg Redfern is our on board lecturer. He’s from NASA and after dinner held a star gazing session. Very cool. Dinner at Candles was delicious with prosciutto wrapped shrimp then a huge veal chop. The “red velvet” cake was actually neon pink, like something Barbie would make LOL!

 

For those that want to know: while we were eating last night in Candles we asked about an additional reservation. No problem, which is great because we will probably have at least 2 more dinners there. So don’t fret too much about it.

 

With regard to the A/C: yes, it wasn’t working at 100%. Between that and the San Juan sun it was a bit warm. The fixed it so that by day 2 it was working great. We like to sleep with our windows open for the sea breeze and sound, so it wasn’t really an issue for us.

 

Remember that SP is an older ship and like everything that ages sometimes things break. They were aware of it and fixed it. That’s all anyone could ask for.

 

For a small ship they have enough activities including movies with popcorn in the Screeing Room, lectures, and such for those people who don’t want to sit around the deck. The entertainment is a duo called Azucar and a pianist. Both are really good.

 

Back on deck for another day of relaxing in the sun!

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I also wanted to mention that we bought the internet package. I am typing this post on deck and the signal is pretty good and relatively fast. Not as fast as home, but considering we’re 500+ miles from the nearest land, it’s pretty good! Just FYI.

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I also wanted to mention that we bought the internet package. I am typing this post on deck and the signal is pretty good and relatively fast. Not as fast as home, but considering we’re 500+ miles from the nearest land, it’s pretty good! Just FYI.

That's great to know. I wondered if it would work at sea since it's always been pretty pokey in Europe.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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Day....what day is today? Yes. Easy to forget!

 

Yesterday was another beautiful day at sea. The swells picked up a little, but nothing more than to remind you you’re on a ship. Three items of note: the gym is surprisingly popular as the treadmills and bikes usually seem to be busy. I came in 2nd in the embarkation day Spa raffle and won a $40 credit. I booked a Groom and Shave for Friday which includes a Men’s mini-facial and shave. Second, they served homemade ice cream on deck (rum raisin and chocolate) with various toppings. Nice little afternoon treat! Finally, they introduced the Star Bar Grill as an additional dining alternative. As the name indicates, they put tablecloths on the tables around the Star Bar on Deck 7 and see up a grill. Starters are buffet and entrees are waiter service. Supposedly this will be offered every 3 days, so we’re planning on going Friday. Stay tuned.

 

Last night they had a “show” with 4 Ship’s officers where they were given a word and asked to define it, then the audience had to guess who was telling the truth. We didn’t stay for the whole thing, but it was very well attended.

 

Well, the clock is telling me it’s time to eat again! Let me know if you have any questions.

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