Anyone just off the Star?

[cuterlmt]

How was it? We're all wondering about the dreaded "smell".

And did you make all your ports? how was the weather? Looking for a trip report here!

[KauaiKris]

Yes, we're waiting anxiously for a report. Hopefully you all had a fabulous cruise.

[Kerberos]

We just got back from the 11/25/06 - 12/02/06 Cruise of Ocho's Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Princess Cays. This was our first cruise. There was no "new carpet" smell or any "smoke" smell. We stayed on Aloha (Deck 12) and I don't think our Stateroom was one that had been caught in the fire. Overall opinion of the cruise was that it was average. The service isn't the best. A lot of the service staff have quite a bit of attitude. The cabin steward was good. I didn't know about the automatic $20.00 per day hotel charge and that kind of caught me off guard. The shore excursions were great. The food was okay. A lot of people I talked to on the ship felt the food was really good so I might just be too picky. The pay restaurant Sabattini's was very good. A lot of food. The lobster was bang on and so was the Tiger shrimp.

 

That's my 2cents.

 

Any other questions?

[WarmWaters]

"I didn't know about the automatic $20.00 per day hotel charge and that kind of caught me off guard. "

 

Mmmm I dont know of this either ..... isnt it $ 10 p day ?

[loveJake]

I think it is $10 per person per day, however poster probably was counting the total on 2 people.

[lyssa13]

"I didn't know about the automatic $20.00 per day hotel charge and that kind of caught me off guard. "

 

Mmmm I dont know of this either ..... isnt it $ 10 p day ?

 

Yes it is..i think she probably was sailing with 2 people, so it came out to 20/pp/day!

[Northender]

I think the $20 represents both of them and she said "we" just returned

so that is where that would come in.

Personally, I think it is very reasonable and usually give extra to staff that go out of their way to do that something extra. Waiters/Assistant Waiters/Cabin Streward(ess), etc.:)

[KauaiKris]

We just got back from the 11/25/06 - 12/02/06 Cruise of Ocho's Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Princess Cays. This was our first cruise. There was no "new carpet" smell or any "smoke" smell.

 

Any other questions?

 

Kerberos didn't mention any sewage smell, so that's a positive sign.

 

Which side of the ship were you on, port or starboard? And did you have a balcony?

 

Thanks

[SForman]

I didn't find any out of the ordinary odors then I have found on any other cruise line.

[tonto524]

Cuterlmt,

I just posted a quick review on last week's Star sailing. I had no problem with "the smell" and was a bit concerned before we went. Please let me know if I can answer any other questions for you.

[Kerberos]

Sorry folks, I did mean $10 per person per day. Since I was paying for both my wife and I that's where the $20 per day came from. I wasn't so much put out by the charge (I did give the cabin steward an extra tip) itself, but more so because I didn't know about it (maybe that's the travel agents fault and it being my first cruise) and because I really really believe that tipping should be based on service not just automatic. I also didn't like the 15% added to the bar bill automatically, although I usually tip a waitress $1-2 bucks a drink so the 15% ended up being much cheaper for me as it usually was 64 cents or less.

 

I wasn't impressed with the politeness or friendliness of the staff. That I will say. Some of the bar waitresses were the rudest people I have ever met. They had horrible attitudes.

 

I was Aloha (Deck 12) Port / Aft side.

[Kerberos]

Whoops, and yes I did have a balcony. We had breakfast on it everymorning. That was awesome.

[MCManders99]

How was the tendering situation? Has it improved from what previous posters have stated?

[TDW]

We just returned from the Nov 25 cruise on the Star. Our first cruise - really loved it. We were in a starboard mini-suite D503. Highly recommend it. We had breakfast every day on the balcony - no smell problem. The only time we noticed any smell at all was in port at Ocho Rios. Sort of a fuel smell, but it wasn't bad at all.

[spyro1952]

We just got back from the 11/25/06 - 12/02/06 Cruise of Ocho's Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Princess Cays. This was our first cruise. There was no "new carpet" smell or any "smoke" smell. We stayed on Aloha (Deck 12) and I don't think our Stateroom was one that had been caught in the fire. Overall opinion of the cruise was that it was average. The service isn't the best. A lot of the service staff have quite a bit of attitude. The cabin steward was good. I didn't know about the automatic $20.00 per day hotel charge and that kind of caught me off guard. The shore excursions were great. The food was okay. A lot of people I talked to on the ship felt the food was really good so I might just be too picky. The pay restaurant Sabattini's was very good. A lot of food. The lobster was bang on and so was the Tiger shrimp.

 

That's my 2cents.

 

Since this was your first cruise, what was your basis of comparison of "average service"? Also, all your room charges are explained in your passenger contract, which you really need to read if you're cruisung for the first time.

[katmai]

We also just got back from the 11/25~12/06 star princess cruise.

The weather was fabulous. It was our 4th Princess cruise.

We stilll loved it.

 

The sea was calm or slight. There was no rough water except one night which was "moderate".

 

We only tendered in 2 ports, Grand Cayman & Princess Cays, where there are no docks at all.

We were able to dock at Ocho Rios & Cozumel, which was lucky.

We docked at James Bond pier in Ocho Rios (not the most convenient dock), but the town is just 10 minutes walk away.

In cozumel we docked at Punto Langosta, which is extremely convenient.

 

Compared to previous week's cruise, we are extremely lucky.

I was told the Thanksgiving cruise had to skip Grand Cayman due to bad weather, and they had to tender at Cozumel (only once every 4 weeks, and it's their turn.)

 

Because of the convenient dock location, we were able to go to mainland by ourselves using public ferry. We docked at 8AM, and I made it to downtown pier (a 10 min walk from Punto Langosta pier) at 8:55 AM and made the 9AM public ferry to Playa Del Carmen.

We arrived Tulum by 1st class bus at around 11:30, about the same time as Princess excursion group, and was able to join their group for a free narration. We later went to Xel-ha for some fabulous snorkeling and make it back to the ship at 5 PM, together with the excursion group.