The Star May vs August

[BosoxI]

DW and I crossed the Atlantic on the Star in May and had a wonderful experience. We just returned from a Greek Isle Venice to Rome on her and in some ways it was like being on a different ship. I'm going to be very brief as I'm jet lagged and have been working hard cleaning up Irene's mess but while the cabin steward was excellent, as were bartenders and most of the staff, the Star has a serious problem in Anytime Dining. The service on too many nights was terrible, a complete turnaround from what we experienced in May. For example: items we ordered were not delivered; on many occasions there was a 15 minute gap between courses; a head waiter never visited our table except for one night; waiters would bus empty tables while used plates sat in front of us (this was standard procedure); as we waved frantically for service, waiters would stand idly at their stations, gazing at I don't know what; a waiter asked my impression of President Obama ( aren't they warned to avoid religion and politics?) and when I told him, our 3 course meal took one and one half hours to complete, capped off by our having to ask for the profiteroles we had ordered. I don't know if there was a connection to my response, but there well could have been. The dining experience is a major part of any cruise for us. In this case it was the worst of any I've experienced in 27 years of cruising, mostly on Princess. And it certainly represents an alarming turnaround in just 3 months. BTW I won't remark on the Horizon Court except to say someone needs to teach those cooks how to prepare bacon. It was always an under cooked pile of greasy meat. Ah, for the days on the Pacific where the bacon was crisp and drained. Maybe we're just Princessed out, as we've spent so much time on their ships. We'll see, as we are just about ready to return to Celebrity's Soltice for a long cruise on a ship that far exceeds anything Princess has to offer. Sure is hard to give up the best Elite benefits in the industry,though.

[whatcruiseisnext]

WOw...Sorry your experience was unacceptable.Sounds like a switch back to Celebrity is what you need

[BosoxI]

WOw...Sorry your experience was unacceptable.Sounds like a switch back to Celebrity is what you need

 

There's no guarantee that Celebrity's dining service will be better. On our last Celebrity cruise this past April, the Eclipse's waiters weren't all that great. We remarked at that time how much better the Princess waitstaff was. Of course, that's now debateable, based only on the Star, of course. But there's no debate in our minds about the Solstice class vs any Princess ship

[Eileen G]

Thanks for the heads up. We have sailed anytime dining on several different lines HAL, Celebrity, RCCL, Carnival and Princess and we have always found the service hit or miss. I think so much depends on the staff you have or how busy they are. When we were on the Solstice the waiter never said one word to us. We even asked the Head waiter if he spoke English. He didn't introduce himself or ask for our order. He just came over with his pad and staired at us until we told him our order. The service was so bad towards the middle of the week we just went to the buffet.

 

On the other hand we will be on the Star in just a few weeks and I would love to hear more about your cruise. Sorry you came home to a mess and I know how getting back into the swing of things can be so when you find the time if you could tell us more I'd appriciate it.

[tahitiluvr]

We were on the Star for the July 29th sailing from Venice to Rome and our service in Anytime Dining ( Portofino ) was superb. The six of us had a standing reservation at 6:30...our waiter brought us our food in a timely manner ( we never waited long between courses ) and he would even bring us food that we didn't order if he thought that it was something that we should try.

[BosoxI]

We were on the Star for the July 29th sailing from Venice to Rome and our service in Anytime Dining ( Portofino ) was superb. The six of us had a standing reservation at 6:30...our waiter brought us our food in a timely manner ( we never waited long between courses ) and he would even bring us food that we didn't order if he thought that it was something that we should try.

 

The food you didn't order probably belonged to that poor couple at the next table who were waitng 15 minutes to be served.:D

[spyro1952]

DW and I crossed the Atlantic on the Star in May and had a wonderful experience. We just returned from a Greek Isle Venice to Rome on her and in some ways it was like being on a different ship. I'm going to be very brief as I'm jet lagged and have been working hard cleaning up Irene's mess but while the cabin steward was excellent, as were bartenders and most of the staff, the Star has a serious problem in Anytime Dining. The service on too many nights was terrible, a complete turnaround from what we experienced in May. For example: items we ordered were not delivered; on many occasions there was a 15 minute gap between courses; a head waiter never visited our table except for one night; waiters would bus empty tables while used plates sat in front of us (this was standard procedure); as we waved frantically for service, waiters would stand idly at their stations, gazing at I don't know what; a waiter asked my impression of President Obama ( aren't they warned to avoid religion and politics?) and when I told him, our 3 course meal took one and one half hours to complete, capped off by our having to ask for the profiteroles we had ordered. I don't know if there was a connection to my response, but there well could have been. The dining experience is a major part of any cruise for us. In this case it was the worst of any I've experienced in 27 years of cruising, mostly on Princess. And it certainly represents an alarming turnaround in just 3 months. BTW I won't remark on the Horizon Court except to say someone needs to teach those cooks how to prepare bacon. It was always an under cooked pile of greasy meat. Ah, for the days on the Pacific where the bacon was crisp and drained. Maybe we're just Princessed out, as we've spent so much time on their ships. We'll see, as we are just about ready to return to Celebrity's Soltice for a long cruise on a ship that far exceeds anything Princess has to offer. Sure is hard to give up the best Elite benefits in the industry,though.

 

Really sorry you came home to a mess. What a hassle. In regard to MDR service, I never do ATD but do find that service can really vary from cruise to cruise, ship to ship, line to line. I think the best thing you can do when you get settled is email Princess higher ups and let them know your experience. I find better results with the private email as opposed to doing the on line evaluation.

[BosoxI]

Well, it wasn't a good experience, and it shouldn't have happened, but it's also not the end of the world. I will say that it has put me off Princess right now, but there are other reasons, too, why we're looking to cruise on other lines. We've taken a lot of trips on Princess over the years, and we're not about to jettison them because of bad dining experiences on one cruise. Heck, we came back to them after The Raw Sewage in the Bathroom Caper! It'll take more than bad service to scare us off. LOL

[Mom33]

What did the Maitre D do to assist you when you complained about the service?

Were you with the same waiters each night or were all the waiters a problem?

[arpster]

odd...I was on the same cruise and found the service in Anytime dining (Portifino room) to be superb....as did everyone I spoke to. - Indeed it was by far the best Freestyle dining experience we've encountered on any cruise we've been on. - no waiting around, attentive friendly staff...and delicious food. Couldnt fault it

[Eileen G]

odd...I was on the same cruise and found the service in Anytime dining (Portifino room) to be superb....as did everyone I spoke to. - Indeed it was by far the best Freestyle dining experience we've encountered on any cruise we've been on. - no waiting around, attentive friendly staff...and delicious food. Couldnt fault it

 

It's not odd at all. With anytime so much depends on what time you dine and who your wait staff is. If you go at 6 there probably won't be a wait but if you go at 7-7:30 you may have a long wait. I would hope most of the wait staff is attentive and friendly but let's face not everyone is.

[BosoxI]

What did the Maitre D do to assist you when you complained about the service?

Were you with the same waiters each night or were all the waiters a problem?

 

Fair questions. First and foremost, I never said every waiter was poor, only that service was poor on too many nights. So understand that. We alternated between dining rooms, depending on the lines. Mostly, we tried to eat a bit earlier than we like to, as the crowds usually built up around 8, so the wait staff was never burdened when we were there. In fact we even joked with a waitress one night that the place looked deserted. We never had the same waiters twice, so I think we had a pretty good sampling of the service. We never saw the maitre d' hotel and on only one night were we visited by a headwaiter. (In fact I've never spoken to a maitre d' hotel on any cruise unless we were setting up a Chef's Table.) The head waiter was most solicitous, a very nice Portugese man. But he was the exception. The other head waiters never appeared. On the last formal night of the cruise when the service hit a new low, I stopped on the way out to take to the head waiter in charge who was on the phone when I arrived and remained on the phone, I suspect, in hopes that I would tire of waiting and leave. He was right. I repeat, we were on this same ship 3 months previously and the dining service was impeccable.

[arpster]

It's not odd at all. With anytime so much depends on what time you dine and who your wait staff is. If you go at 6 there probably won't be a wait but if you go at 7-7:30 you may have a long wait. I would hope most of the wait staff is attentive and friendly but let's face not everyone is.

 

We dined at different times each night and never had the same wait staff more than once...never encountered anything but excellent service.

[BosoxI]

We dined at different times each night and never had the same wait staff more than once...never encountered anything but excellent service.

 

So what's your point? That you're luckier than we are? Or that your idea of good service differs from mine? 15 minutes between courses and waving down a waiter says it all for me.

[johnmik1]

So what's your point? That you're luckier than we are? Or that your idea of good service differs from mine? 15 minutes between courses and waving down a waiter says it all for me.

 

Don't let it bother you as you will always find someone on these boards that will infer that what you experienced could never have happened since it didn't happen to them!

[arpster]

So what's your point? That you're luckier than we are? Or that your idea of good service differs from mine? 15 minutes between courses and waving down a waiter says it all for me.

 

 

my point is I dont think your experience was typical of the service on that cruise...and as most people come on here looking for tips and advice about future cruises and ships I thought Id add a little balance to the thread. As I said, I thought the Anytime option was the best we've encountered on any line. Maybe you were just unfortunate this time around.

[Coral]

My worst wait service was on Celebrity - my guess is you can get bad wait service on any ship/line where you have 2 bad waiters.

 

A few years ago, I took at least a year off if not two from Princess after having a poor cruise on the Star Princess. I did do a Crystal cruise, I took a river boat trip and various/more land vacations then I normally do. It was good to take the break and when I returned, I ultimately had a good experience with Princess on my next cruise.

 

I agree - taking a break is a good idea. Good luck on your future cruises.