Star to Alaska, May 12-May23

I've just been reading Tom's blog re the second Star cruise to Alaska this year. We did the first one so I thought I'd share some highlights.

Check-in at Pier 35 was a breeze at 11:30 am. There was a short line before they opened up and in 5 min we were in the embarkation lounge, waiting to board. Had to wait for a large group of TAs to disembark.

Weather was sunny and mid 70s for sailaway. Many of us stood atop the bridge all the way past the GG Bridge. Very windy!

First two days at sea were generally gray, but not much rain and fairly calm water. We sailed between Vancouver Is. and the Queen Charlotte Islands the second day and in late afternoon the water was like glass--much bird/duck activity and some said there were whales, but I didn't see any.

Ketchikan--sunny, 60s, but cool wind. Deer Mtn., which looms above the town, had a good snow cover. We were the farthest from town (Pier 4), but there's both the sidewalk and a boardwalk at water's edge to get there. Also, a free shuttle that was supposed to run every 20 min., although I just missed one and had to wait more than 30 min.; I walked back. This was our 4th trip to Alaska, so we just wanted to walk around and do some shopping. I was surprised to see a cherry tree in bloom, as well as azaleas, rhododendrons and others. Away from the water it was quite warm. At 3 we left for scenic cruising--saw many snow-capped peaks, an orca, 100s of Dall's porpoises, seals and lots of birds (we were up in Skywalkers for this).

Juneau--sunny, mid 70s! We didn't have anything prearranged, but I wanted to see the Mendenhall Glacier and ride the Mt. Roberts tram, the latter because it was always overcast when we were here before. Juneau also has a new boardwalk all the way to Pier D (4th of 5) and across from the ship was a tour office selling combo tickets to my 2 must-sees for $48. The glacier trip was first and we had 1.25 hrs there, which was plenty unless you wanted to do some serious hiking. The tram ticket could be used any time and I went up mid-afternoon. Several overlooks down to the channel and across to Douglas Island—many snow-capped peaks to see. Eagles were soaring near us for a long time. It wasn’t possible to do the easy trail around the meadow as a deep drift cut it off about halfway around. In the restaurant building they run a 20-min movie about the Tlingit people—gorgeous scenery.

Skagway—sunny, mid 70s! We took the ship excursion that goes into the Yukon (barely) and back in a small (20?) bus. Our guide talked primarily about the Gold Rush. The mountain scenery was beautiful. Downtown was busy and the locals were wearing shorts and tank tops!

Glacier Bay—very low ceiling, probably low 60s but quite cold out on promenade deck as the ship was always moving. I was out there at 6 am and stayed till 1 pm. Saw many birds, a few sea otters closeby, at least a dozen humpback whales in the distance. We were rewarded with calving at the always-beautiful Margerie Glacier. I managed to record one in movie mode on my camera.

Day at sea—the same route as before, between Vancouver Is and Q. Charlotte Islands.

Victoria—sunny, hi 60s near the water, mid to hi 70s inland at Butchart Gardens. The morning was scenic sailing in Strait of Juan de Fuca. We were closer to the Washington side and had good views of the snow-topped Olympic Mountains over there. A humpback whale swam quite close to the ship, going in the opposite direction and put on a nice show. We went out to the Gardens, which we had visited in the fall some years ago. The floral display was entirely different, but still beautiful.

Last two days at sea—uneventful. Perhaps more sun than the northbound trip.

SF—disembarkation went smoothly. We spent 3 days there as it’s been a long time since we were there. Weather was warm and sunny all 3 days, at least if you were inland. But the third day even the GG Bridge was blessed by sun. I knew the ship had had a lot of noro before we boarded and Tom reports it's back. Thankfully, we had none.

One of the new features on the Star since we last sailed on her (2010): a large pastry counter has been carved out the seating area in Horizon Court. Yummy!

Entertainment--we had four production shows, which is a lot for 11 nights (Stardust, British Invasion, Motown, Words & Music), hypnotist Tom mentions, ditto comic/ventriloquit, concerts by several onboard performers (Crooners singer/pianist), Charade quartet. I watched the first half of Saving Mr. Banks at MUTS (necessary to bundle up!) and the second half in the theater in the next day. There was interference on the MUTS screen, but none in the theater.

Thank your taking the time to post your cruise

Thanks for the review. Do you happen to have the patters that you can post?

Thanks for the review. Do you happen to have the patters that you can post?

I have them, but don't have a scanner. Was there anything in particular you wanted to know about the daily and/or nightly activities.

Hi. Thank you for posting your review. Since you still have the patters, what activities besides bingo and trivia do they have? Giant Jenga?, The Yes/No game?, 60 Second Frenzy?, Musical Murder Mystery? Any other Game type shows? What times/days did they offer them at? Which scholarship@sea classes do they have? When are they? Thank you.

Thank you for your review. We sail out on Tuesday June 3.

Hopefully all Noro is eradicated.

On Sailaway was the deck above the bridge open?

Thank you for your review.

Keith

Hi. Thank you for posting your review. Since you still have the patters, what activities besides bingo and trivia do they have? Giant Jenga?, The Yes/No game?, 60 Second Frenzy?, Musical Murder Mystery? Any other Game type shows? What times/days did they offer them at? Which scholarship@sea classes do they have? When are they? Thank you.

Evening Game Shows:

1st night Welcome Aboard Trivia

2nd night Who in the World Trivia

3rd night Majority Rules, Marriage Match Game, TV Themes Trivia

4th night Name That Tune, Country Music Trivia

5th night Jeopardized Trivia, two jewelry related contests in Facets

6th night The Betting Game, more contests in Facets, Liar's Club

7th night Food Trivia, Spelling Bee

8th night Entertainment Trivia, Name That Tune, Yes/No Game

9th night Remember the Lyrics

10th night Sports Trivia

11th night 60-second Frenzy

Through-out the cruise: Princess Pop Star

Daytime:

trivia, bingo (when at sea), elevator roulette (once), Shout Out trivia (once)

Scholarship at Sea: naturalist Shari Newitt did 4 presentations, plus she

"narrated" our scenic sailing out of Ketchikan, Glacier Bay after the rangers

left; GB ranger gave a talk when he got on, then "narrated" til about 3

when they left the ship

Thank you for your review. . . .

On Sailaway was the deck above the bridge open?

Yes, the "roof" of the bridge was open. I was surprised since it became so windy, but I got a lot of great photos!

Thank you for sharing. Makes our turn seem closer! I'm living my summer by reading all the Alaska reviews!

Hi Barb, thanks for the nice review. We will be on the Star in Sept. to Alaska. Went in 06. Not sure if Tom has seen my question. Did the Star offer a Seafood or Pastry buffet? The Island had one in 06. Thanks.

Thank you for Posting the games. How many times and which days did they have the Crab Shack and the Fondue meals? Were they at lunch time or dinner time? Did you buy any pictures? If so, how much did they cost and did they have a package deal? Thank you.

We're scheduled to leave tomorrow (6/3) on the Star to AK and a few in our party are considering canceling due to just getting a message from Princess about a recent outbreak on the ship. Are ships pretty successful at disinfecting? This is a first cruise for some of us :-/

We're scheduled to leave tomorrow (6/3) on the Star to AK and a few in our party are considering canceling due to just getting a message from Princess about a recent outbreak on the ship. Are ships pretty successful at disinfecting? This is a first cruise for some of us :-/

With only 60 affected out of 3,000 (including crew), it sounds pretty well confined. I was sick on the Crown in Jan. with a G-I upset, not noro, but they treated it like noro. I was confined to our cabin for 2 days (food for sick people from room service was quite good) and they swabbed down our room several times a day. So they know how to handle it. If it occurs on your cruise, it would be from a pax embarking tomorrow. Not much you can do about that

Hi Barb, thanks for the nice review. We will be on the Star in Sept. to Alaska. Went in 06. Not sure if Tom has seen my question. Did the Star offer a Seafood or Pastry buffet? The Island had one in 06. Thanks.

They offered the Crab Shack buffet at least twice ($20 pp). We didn't go, but people we talked to were very pleased. As I noted in my review, there's a pastry buffet every lunch and dinner in Horizon (in the a.m. they serve pastries out there). I also forgot to mention that they've retiled the Horzion serving areas--all bright white tile, plus better lighting so it's much cheerier than on the other ships.

Thank you for Posting the games. How many times and which days did they have the Crab Shack and the Fondue meals? Were they at lunch time or dinner time? Did you buy any pictures? If so, how much did they cost and did they have a package deal? Thank you.

No fondue meals, but they served Pub Lunch in the Crown Grill on three sea days--it's free and the menu changes some every time. The Crab Shack was at dinner time. We don't buy photos on cruises anymore. I think the minimum is $20. Even the photos they take when you disembark end up being 10x12 by the time they put two 4x6 of the photo on the sheet, plus multiple wallet size.

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.....:):):)

Bob

We're scheduled to leave tomorrow (6/3) on the Star to AK and a few in our party are considering canceling due to just getting a message from Princess about a recent outbreak on the ship. Are ships pretty successful at disinfecting? This is a first cruise for some of us :-/

The ship may be 100% free of noro-virus after the cleaning.

However, 2600 new passengers are boarding. It is always possible that one or more of them unknowingly may have contracted noro and may re-infect the ship.

Noro is the 2nd most prevalent illness in the USA (over 20 million cases a year) after the common cold. Outbreaks only seem to get well publicized when a cruise ship is involved. If you or members of your party are flying to the port, there is always a chance you can catch noro from a fellow plane passenger.