2/27 - 3/06 STAR Review-1

[regnig]

Going to try to do this in parts -

 

We have just returned from the Western Caribbean sailing of the Star Princess, 02/27 to 03/06 and again Princess did not fail to meet our expectations. We were a total group of nine adult passengers most of whom have sailed on Princess at least 10 times and all of whom have also sailed with several other cruise lines. Having taken two extra trips with my Mom, I was the Elite traveler in the group.

 

We all flew into Fort Lauderdale on Saturday and stayed at the Riverside Hotel on LasOlas Blvd. While not the cheapest place to stay its location and service suit us over the standard 1 night hotels on 17th street.

 

We took a van arranged by the hotel to the pier on Sunday and arrived just as the doors were opening at 1135am. Check-in was the customary breeze and we were all in our rooms within 20 minutes. We had 4 balcony cabins, C702, 704, 706 & 708 and one inside C712 on the Caribe deck. For people traveling with a group and wanting to use the balconies for group gatherings the Caribe deck on the Grand class ships is probably the best. The balconies are the largest, close to 10 feet deep and partially covered. Each balcony had two padded lounge chairs, a small end table, two dining size chairs and a three foot dining table. Our cabin steward was Jeff from the Philippines. He was efficient and had a smile to die for. He immediately won us over when we told him we would be staying in our cabins during the General Emergency drill by smiling and telling us it was “ok by him”. NOW BEFORE you all pounce, trust me I could give the drill myself as I know it by heart. We always check where our Muster Stations are and figure our non attendance leaves more room for those first time sailors.

 

We always do the late sitting at Traditional Dining and upon checking our cruise cards it was obvious they had split us up with 5 at one table and 4 at another. Although it appeared the tables were next to each other it wasn’t what had been confirmed so I went down to see the Maitre d’ at 200pm. A smile and a pleasant “I’m sure you can fix this” resulted in a confirmed table for 9 at 815pm each night. And the best part was it wasn’t in the Amalfi Dining Room but rather in the Portofino Dining Room on deck 6. For those of you who have never tried getting to the Amalfi Dining Room aft on deck 5 it is a thrill, one wrong turn and you have to start all over again only to finally arrive and find yourself in a mob scene. So as it turned out we ended up with something far better than we had hoped for. Our waiter was Arturo from Mexico City and Suthep from Thailand and they were amongst the best we have encountered.

 

more .....

[cruiserforlife]

Great info...I'll get to part 2 now.

[joanne1]

. . . on to part 2 :D

[Crockett Man]

Where did you go to see the Maitre d’? We are on the 3/20 sailing of the Star and are traveling with a large group, 63 people in all. We have all been confirmed for traditional dining, late seating. We have requested specific seating arrangements and crossed referenced all of the booking numbers with Princess but would like to see the Maitre d’ to make sure everything is as we requested. When we sailed with RCCL two years ago as a large group, 59 people, they got some of the seating requests but not all of them.