Star Princess review

[camperhawk]

Hello All! Just a quick review of the mystery cruise, 10/16-10/23/05;)

 

Arrived in Fll the day before, uneventful flight, went to get the luggage, and called Amerisuites for their transfer. Luggage all arrived safely and the shuttle was there within 15-20 min. of our call. The hotel was very nice and very convenient. A mall right across the street, with a Publix, where we bought our beer, wine, etc for boarding. Ate at the Outback Steakhouse, also right across the street, and it was great.

 

The shuttles to the port, the next am were on as needed basis. We checked out, asked for a shuttle, it was there and one other couple and us were on our way! Couldn't have been smoother

 

The embarkation was terrific! We were on the ship shortly after noon and exploring by 1:00p.m. Our luggage was delivered very early also.

 

The ship is beautiful, Our Steward, Saundra was amazing. I even got a lounge chair for our Baja deck balcony cabin, and there was plenty of room for it.

 

We got to meet our cruise critic buddies at the sailaway party. Very nice group and Bob and Cassie did a lot of work! Very much appreciated!

 

Got to Princess Cays,(nice but not overwhelming) before the staff started calling it the mystery cruise.!!!!

 

Of course our itinerary changed to the eastern, which was fine with us, because I have done both... Just go for the cruise and experience.;)

 

Enjoyed the food, we did personal choice, never waited in either the Capri or Portofino dining rooms, and all our waiters were excellent, including "Our singing waiter";)

 

The Horizon court was excellent for breakfast and the Trident grill was also good. We also tried the pizza, Not my favorite but my other half thought it was great!

 

We did miss Ocho, which I was hoping to see, as I had not been there before, but just gave me an excuse to book another one!

 

 

All in All, a great cruise! And I won enough in the casino, to have fun.lol

 

Met a lot of great people on this cruise and had a terrifc time.

 

Until the next one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[2ndsailing]

Enjoyed reading about your "mystery cruise". We will be on the Star Dec. 28th and have two cabins on Baja. Where on Baja were you located? :)

[camperhawk]

We were in baja 618, nicely located!

[Sharke_boy]

Which Amerisuites location did you stay at in FLL?? There are three listed :

 

17th street

Plantation

Westin

[camperhawk]

We stayed at the 17th st location. The room as two double beds, a sitting area with a couch and chair and a small kitchenette type area with a refigerator, microwave, sink etc. Also has a desk with internet connection available. Hope this helps!

[ChattTenn]

Hi Camperhawk,

 

We were on the Caribbean Princess in St. Maarten right in front of you on 10/19.

 

We usually book the inside cabin and my husband likes to sit on the lounge chair on promenate deck to watch the ocean or just napping. On other ships such as Sun/Dawn, Island/Coral this is not problem but on the Caribbean Princess has only wooden chairs which it is fine for sitting but not for napping. We had tried to look at the Star when ours was backing out in St. Maarten but can't find any lounge chairs but some benches(?).

 

We are thinking about the Star for next cruise and won't book if this ship has the same as Caribbean Princess.

 

Thanks.

[GloriaF]

I believe all of the Grand Class ships have only benches on the Promenade deck. We've cruised Grand, Caribbean and Star in the Grand Class and none have lounges on Promenade.

 

P.S. Hi Sharon ~ good review!:)

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the review! I am glad that you were able to go with the flow and just enjoy despite the changes. We are also staying at the Amerisuites in January and am glad to see how convenient it is.

Thanks again for the review. Makes my cruise seem even closer:)

[starprincess]

Thanks for the review. Booked on Star January 8 and Amerisuites as well. Looks like it will be smooth sailing. Did I actually type that out loud?

[juliepaule]

thank you camperhawk.

 

We will be checking out the 17st hotel. LOOKS likes it may be just what we are looking for,. Sun Princess April 7 but arriving one day earlier from Toronto . How much was your taxi from the airport and what was your shuttle cost??

 

We are so ready to go.

 

Julie

[camperhawk]

Good Morning, the shuttle to the amerisuites from the airport and to the ship the next morning are complimentary with the hotel room:) Of course we tipped the driver each time. The cab fare back to the airport from the ship was around $10.00 if I remember correctly. Have a great time!

 

Chatt: Gloria is right only benchs on the promenade, however I did see several people napping in the area just above the adult only aft pool, on the pool loungers. There are secluded spots to relax and enjoy. The ship is beautiful. We are thinking of the Caribbean Princess for our next time!! So maybe we'll just switch! Did you like the movies under the stars?

 

Glad you enjoyed the review!

[ChattTenn]

Glad you enjoyed the review!

Camperhawk,

 

Thanks for the answer.

 

We did enjoy MUTS and my husband particular liked the Sunday afternoon football and Monday night football. It was so neat to watch a football game while cruising.

[LeaninLeeward]

Hey Sharon!

Great review! It was wonderful to meet you guys onboard and hope you left some in the casino for others to enjoy!

 

I did find a lot of loungers on the upper decks of Sun, the aft pool area mentioned by Gloria and midships on the upper decks, where the hot tubs were mostly empty at night, kinda under the ramp to Skywalkers.

I would suggest spending extra if you can for a balcony that can fit loungers. I fell asleep many nights out on ours!:D

 

Until I can get no Star again!!!!.....

Cassie

[gc]

Hi Sharon

 

thanks for the review......when did you book the shuttle to the port from Amerisuites ??

Is it first come or do you reserve it when you arrive at the hotel??

gc

 

OOP's I just read your post "The shuttles to the port, the next am were on as needed basis. We checked out, asked for a shuttle, it was there and one other couple and us were on our way! Couldn't have been smoother"...... sorry!!!!

 

So I guess when you show up in the lobby if the shuttle is there they will take you to the port?

[lynwar]

Our friends--Jake (CruisingMaterial) and his mother+sister, and another couple from our group stayed at the 17th ST. Amerisuites and had no trouble with it. We met them there and are glad we did, as Trevor and I never knew that Publix, etc, was back there and we go to Ft. L frequently!

We had a great time with Barbara and Bruce on our 10/23-30/05 cruise.

There are only benches on the Promenade Deck. We were in Baja 437 and it was adequate for the two of us. Nice room with a balcony. On Caribe, we noticed that the cabin was about the same but the balcony was extended out further-like twice the size of ours. Partially covered.

We were on the Caribbean Princess last year and almost booked it again. We missed MUTS on the Star, and after being on the CB Princess, the STAR seemed smaller. It is a pretty ship, though.

We were on the 2nd "Mystery Cruise". We were heading for Ochos Rios, which Barbara and Bruce appreciated, but then diverted to San Juan, St. Thomas and Tortola. We missed Princess Cays because of rough weather the last day.

Despite some minor annoyances, we're ready to sail again!! Lynne

[GloriaF]

lynwar - thanks for posting the ports ~ sorry B&B missed Ocho again.

 

camperhawk - thanks for the review thread. I thought our cruise was good, overall.

 

leaninleeward - hi! you did an amazing job organizing us all!

[camperhawk]

Just gave you an update on the roll call thread!

[camperhawk]

You got that right! The shuttle van just keeps going back and forth from the hotel to the pier so if one just left when you are ready to go etc., the next one will be there shortly! It was just fine and we got lucky with timing. Have a great cruise!