Anyone been on Star Princess recently?

[Olwyn]

Hi Everyone!

We have just booked a cruise on the Star for October 9th, Western Caribbean, for the family.

4 Adjoining balcony cabins on the Port Side, midship, Baja deck.

I have sailed with Princess in the past but not since 1998, on the Grand...

wondering how the Star compares??

My folks will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and I want it to be very nice for them. They recently sailed on Holland America, and Celebrity.

My two sisters and their husbands have never cruised before, and 'yikes' I want everything to run smoothly, re: shore excursions etc...

We have also chosen anytime dining, and it would appear that we should make a standing reservation every night for our table of 8...It just seemed that in the fixed dining, the early sitting is TOO early, and the late sitting TOO late!!

Is it the same selection in the 'anytime dining' setup as with the fixed time dining?

Any advice would be great!

We WILL have a 2 year old with us...but she is very well behaved and does sleep through the night.

Olwyn :D

[ahracer]

We just got off the Star two weeks ago with our three kids. It was on of the best cruises we've taken.

 

Scott

[coiran]

The Star is the same layout as the Grand - we just came off two weeks on the Star - we did anytime dining - we did not make reservations and had no problem getting in - we dined at 6 - 6:30 - 7 - 7:30 and never had more than a 5 minute wait - there are two dining rooms devotedt to anytime - one just above the other - if one has a long line send one of your party to the other to check - worked great for us.

 

Ron

[Olwyn]

Thanks for the info so far...also, does the Star do the traditional Baked Alaska thing on the last night?? ...could one participate in this event during 'anytime dining'?

Most of my family has not cruised before and I think they would enjoy this spectacle!

Olwyn :)

[ahracer]

They only do this in the Traditional dining room.

 

Scott

[espmass]

I just got off the Star yesterday. This was my first try with Princess as we usually use Celebrity. The ship is beautiful! I did not think the food compared even closely to Celebrity but it was all right and it wouldn't keep me from trying Princess again. We had the Anytime (PC) dining which I did not care for but again, it wouldn't be a deal breaker. We had to wait as long as 30 minutes one night but they give you a pager so you can go somewhere to relax so it isn't all that bad. After that we made reservations but this trip they would only give us reservations at 6PM which is way too early. Try Sabatinis, the specialty restaurant. It's wonderful and very special. The shows were very good with one very funny comedian (Sarge). We had a last minute switch from Ochos Rios to Montego Bay and I'd never bother to get off the ship there again. I don't mean to make this sound down at all. We had a wonderful time, the ship was fantastic, and the crew was great. By the way, they served Baked Alaska the last night in the Anytime Dining but they didn't do the parade like they do in the traditional rooms. Have fun!

[TITISSA]

Hi Everyone!

We have just booked a cruise on the Star for October 9th, Western Caribbean, for the family.

4 Adjoining balcony cabins on the Port Side, midship, Baja deck.

I have sailed with Princess in the past but not since 1998, on the Grand...

wondering how the Star compares??

My folks will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and I want it to be very nice for them. They recently sailed on Holland America, and Celebrity.

My two sisters and their husbands have never cruised before, and 'yikes' I want everything to run smoothly, re: shore excursions etc...

We have also chosen anytime dining, and it would appear that we should make a standing reservation every night for our table of 8...It just seemed that in the fixed dining, the early sitting is TOO early, and the late sitting TOO late!!

Is it the same selection in the 'anytime dining' setup as with the fixed time dining?

Any advice would be great!

We WILL have a 2 year old with us...but she is very well behaved and does sleep through the night.

Olwyn :D

 

We were on the Star Princes from 2/20-2/27. This was our 5th cruise and first time with Princess. My husband and I had the penthouse suite on the Caribe deck and our 2 teenagers daughters an inside cabin across from us. The Star is a beautiful ship. We were very happy with our cruise. Our cabin steward was excellent. I didn't care for the waiters at the restaurants. They all seemed sad and unhappy. We did traditional seating the first night and then changed to personal choice. Never had to wait, but we ate late (around 8:30 p.m.) Service in general was fine, except for the restaurants. The ship was very clean and well kept. About the shows we only went to the comedy shows. We loved Sarge. We saw him twice (different shows) and he is hysterical. Food was not bad but nothing to write home about. Room service was excellent. Princess will decorate your parents cabin for their anniversary. They will put ballons above the door and a poster on the door saying Happy Anniversary. I thought Princess was a very good choice and we'll definitely try it again. Enjoy your cruise.:)

[Luka02]

I also just got back from the Star yesterday. This ship is just beautiful. I thought the buffet food was ok but the dining room food was great. I also enjoyed the burgers and fries by the pool. My husband and I did the personal choice dining. We never made a reservation and never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes for a table in the portofino room, deck 6. The peak times for anytime dining is between 6-8:00 so you have to wait longer during those times if you don't have a reservation. We went to a couple shows and thought they were ok. We didn't see Sarge but saw the other comedian and he was pretty funny. I think his name was Scott Wyler. I too haited Jamiaca. It was dirty and a waste of time. Cozumel was my favorite. We rented a jeep and cruised the island. We also stopped at Paradise Beach before getting back on board. On the second formal night we did the ultimate balcony dinner and it was perfect. Definetely worth the $$. Overall the cruise was great. I would sail on the Star again in a hearbeat.

[jean s]

We were on the Star the week of 2/20. We really enjoyed it. We did anytime dining and only had to wait once...the first formal night. The other nights we were seated immediately, at about 8:15. We went to a number of shows and enjoyed all of them but Sarge was the best. We saw him twice. The food was good, on par with any land resort. The dining room was better than the buffet, so we ate most of our meals in the dining room. We did the eastern route and enjoyed all of the shore excursions we did. This was our second cruise with Princess and we have already booked a third one for this summer. We have cruised on 3 other lines and like Princess the best. I feel the service was efficient without being intrusive. Enjoy your trip!:o

[lynwar]

Hi

Scott Wyler was on the Caribbean Princess with us last September during Hurricane Jeanne week. Off stage he was just a regular guy. He was seen around the ship and I even had the chance to talk to him a couple of minutes on deck at the height of our huge swells 2 days before we were originally supposed to get back to port. One night he was up in the back of the Horizon Court (Caribe Cafe) at a table working on some material. We have booked the Caribbean Princess Oct. 8 (could not find a Star Oct.9 Roll Call anywhere-that's the continuation of the Transatlantic cruise),BUT, also have saved the possibility of going on the Star on Oct. 23,even though it goes Western Caribbean, which would be our 3rd West in a row.But it would be a different ship, which Hubby, Trevor, would like. I'm glad you all enjoyed the ship and your cruise. Lynne

[cruisin42]

We too were on the Star Feb 20-27. We got engaged on her Sunday evening.

You will absolutely love everything about the ship, the cabins, room stewards and friendliness of all the crew members. We were on the Dolphin cabin D601 and Andrew was our steward. In one word, superb!

Only disappointment for us was that the water @ Princess Cays was too cool to enjoy.

Can't wait now until October 22 on the Golden.

Although I was on the Grand in 1999 when she was new I recall loving the cruise tremendously also.

Hope this little bit of info helps.

Andy