Star Princess a major disappointment.

[from the desert]

I'm not sure how often a cruise ship goes into dry dock, but I would assume that it isn't all that often. Ships, like airlines, have great mechanics that work on the ship continually. But somethings are just not fixable unless you take eveything apart to find the root of the problem. Some of these items make take days to repair, and cannot be accomplished when the ship is sailing.

 

Ships are made of thousands of moving parts, miles of wiring and piping. Tracking down the source of a sewer odor isn't as simple as taking a single drain pipe apart and cleaning it.

 

The cruise line is never, knowingly, going to put passengers and its crew at risk. But asking them to dry dock whenever something is discovered that is an inconvenience to a few is totally unreasonable.

[TNTLAMB]

Debbie Lynn - in the upper right hand corner of the reply box is an abc with a check mark:

 

 

 

That's the spell checker. Its called ie spell checker and has to be down loaded to work

[camNaud]

Debbie,

 

Thanks in return for your kind comments. Love the bit about the cockroaches. We had a plague of cornlice in Crete - I left the window open all day and the place was crawling - I had to run down to the local shop and buy a few tins of insect spray to fumigate the old place. The old lady next door was having troubles with them too so I fumigated her place too. She gave me a big cuddle for helping :D .

 

PS Spell check? write your posting using MS Word or similar then cut n paste into web page entry box once comple.

 

Happy Future Travels to you.

 

Back on track again...

 

While on board The Star i witnessed many upkeep and repair jobs being done on the ship. The fact 2600 and 1100 staff are on board each week means lots of on going repairs must be need at any time.

 

The Star also had major unplanned work after the big fire in February. That effort in itself may well have caused other schedulued work to be put back a bit.

 

Cruise lines need to keep running ships as much as possible. If they don't make money they can't buy new ships. Princess have certainly done passengers proud in terms of fleet expansion and the type of ships we are now enjoying.

 

I'm still convinced the 'sewage smell' is exhaust fumes from the big funnels.

[DebbieLynne]

Debbie Lynn - in the upper right hand corner of the reply box is an abc with a check mark:

That's the spell checker. Its called ie spell checker and has to be down loaded to work

 

Thanks so much...okay, I'll get back to topic...

Debbie

[waterlass]

Hi everyone,

 

Wow, I'm astounded by some of the negativity in these replies! To set the record straight first off, my husband and I have sailed with Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, and one time with Princess before. All of our previous experiences blew our experience on the Star Princess out of the water (forgive the pun).

 

Just a quick question to help me understand better, if the boat is moving and it is very windy, how do you smell the sewage "everywhere?" I would imagine the front of the ship should have had some seating where you wouldn't have smelled it.

I am not saying you did but sometimes being rude to the staff tends to make them rude back. Maybe without realizing it you copped an attitude?

I hate the smell of cigars too and wouldnt have been happy with someone smoking right next to me but instead of whining about it I would just wait till he is done. How long does a cigar last? Maybe if you lighten up a bit, take breath, and just enjoy what is right you will have a much better experience next time.

Is your waterglass half empty or half full?

 

Hi BonnieSTE,

I never said that the smell could be smelled "everywhere". But it was omnipresent enough to make it difficult to enjoy being on the deck.

 

To address the speculation that my husband and I are rude; that is certainly not the case. We are young professionals with friendly, outgoing personalities. I pride myself on the ability to engage people in conversation and I always have a policy of being the first to smile. You wouldn't believe the number of crew members that didn't even return smiles! I have always thought that it was a basic human emotional response to smile back at people when they smile at you, but thats certainly not the case. Maybe its a cultural thing. Maybe they were tired, as someone else stated. I just feel that all people in customer service positions should have some degree of friendliness.

 

When did the price of a bottle of water go up to $3? Is that for a large or small bottle?

 

The small bottles were $2.95, if I remember correctly.

 

Sorry for your bad experience, but honestly, $3.00 isn't HORRIBLE for a bottle of water. I've paid $5 for a small bottle of water at a movie theater. Honestly, I expect to pay higher prices in certain areas--including cruise ships.

 

I expect to pay that much at the movie theater, true...but goodness, we already spent $3,000 for the cruise. :p

 

Wow, I just got off the Sar on the 16th and except for the smell on our balcony B235 had none of the problems you had. I reported the smell once when it was really bad in our room and asked to have the room aired, but after that we just gave up and joked about it reminding us of home, we live in the country and there are pig farms that vent in the evening and farmers spread liquid waste on their fields so I guess we are used to it.

 

 

I'm glad it didn't bother you, loveJake...but my husband and I don't smell concentrated waste on a daily basis.

 

What does upset me is people who come back from cruises and not everything was 100% the way they thought it should be, probably had the same services as I had, and keep hounding the cruise lines for money back. Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons and go with the flow, just chill out and remember a bad day on vacation is better then a good day at work!

 

You'll notice in my letter that I didn't ask for money back, nor will I be asking for our money back. We aren't the sort of folks to do such a thing...the money has been spent, and the experiences have been had. However, I do disagree with you, as cjskids did, regarding your statement about a day on vacation being better than a day at work. I don't pay lots of money to go to work. :p

 

GOLDENBONNY, as I stated previously, it wasn't our first cruise. I'm not sure I understand your question about free dining on Princess. The dining was included in the price we paid for the cruise, but we paid an extra surcharge for the two specialty dining restaurants we had on board.

 

I dont even know where to start, but on the side of Princess, we also had anytime dining and knew from the start if we wanted to sit alone the procedure was to call AHEAD OF TIME to make a reservation for two. Sounds like you never made reservations, and assumed you had the right to walk in anytime and be immediately seated even though that is not what anytime dining means.

 

 

We were actually never informed that we had to make reservations for dining alone. In fact, on the Princess website it explicitly says, "For passengers wanting more flexibility in their dining schedule. Just like in a restaurant, show up when you like between 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., to enjoy dinner alone or with friends. " And ironically, we actually DID make reservations to have a table with Cesar the night after we first had him as our server! But when we arrived (five minutes early, mind you), we were told that the table had been "accidentally" given away, and we were welcome to come back two hours later when Cesar had an available table. I had actually completely forgotten about that. That was the night that we ended up with the waiter that threw our water on the table, and Cesar actually came to our table and apologized for the mistake that the steward had made! Later we left for the other dining room and met with Mongkhol, the other nice waiter we had.

 

2 questions

 

If the oder was so bad on deck,

 

1) why were the chairs all full and

2) why were you still out there trying to find one?

 

Rob

 

Because it was our honeymoon, and despite the general consensus on this board that my husband and I are grumpy, hard-to-please misers, we were trying to make the best of it. ;)

 

I think we are all entitled to the best any cruise line can give us for our hard earned dollars and much anticipated vacations. Expecting perfection is one thing. Praising and happily accepting a poor product is another thing entirely.

 

I honestly couldn't have said this better myself.

 

It is interesting that this is the posters first post EVER at CC, and no mention of any other cruise....

 

Certainly appears to be a half-empty personality. I find it hard to believe that there were SO many problems.

 

Hi KKB...once again, not our first cruise. I didn't know that my credibility would have been questioned without stating that I wasn't a first time cruiser, had I known, I certainly would have mentioned it. Like I said at the beginning of my post, it was a copy and paste of the letter that we were sending to Princess; I didn't feel that it was relevant to let them know who we had cruised with before. The Star Princess and her crew's shortcomings had nothing to do with being compared to other cruise lines; they stood on their own.

 

Over the years Ive been on - what I imagined to be - some terrible holidays..that now appear to be luxurious vactions if your review is to be believed ........dunno, just doesnt add up to me.....I detect a refund claim going into Princess head office

 

Frankly, your whole post seems like a perfect compilation of EVERY complaint I see currently being discussed on this board. It's hard to believe you encountered ALL of them on one cruise. Sorry if I'm wrong...

 

Seems to be a theme here...why in the world would we make these things up? We have nothing to gain from making up negative stories about Princess. As I said before, we won't be filing any claim to get our money back; whats done is done, and our only motive for making our experiences public is to inform potential cruisers who like to have information before spending the amount of money that is needed for a cruise. Plain and simple.

 

As for all of the "half-empty personality" statements, like I mentioned before, this was a letter to Princess about our cruise experience. We had some wonderful times during our shore excursions, but I felt that they were irrelevant for the letter, as it was about the cruise itself. :)

 

Sorry you had to smell the sewer everyday like we did. It is unacceptable that the Star lets this go on. We had a very ,very, long wait at embarkation. There were only 5 groups in front of us and it took over an hour and a half. The employees moved SO slow. Never again on the Star

 

I'm also sorry for you, stewcrews...thanks for the commiseration.

 

 

You wanted sit at a table alone 'every night'. That's a bit prentious in my book - even 'The Royal Family' and 'President Bush' don't get a table alone every night they go cruising. Okay it was your honeymoon, but part of 'THE FUN' of cruising is dining with different people. We enjoy to dine at a table alone every now and then and that's when we usually 'book' a table to ensure we don't have to wait.

 

Yes perhaps cruising is not for you.

 

Hi camNaud...with respect, this is an extremely unfair assessment. Why is it wrong for a honeymooning couple to want to have private, intimate dinners together every night? :(

 

I disagree - we don't go on a cruise to eat with other people - maybe you feel that way and that is fine - part of "the fun" of cruising and PERSONAL CHOICE is eat when you want and with whom you want. You may enjoy meeting other people and other may not view that as "fun"

 

 

Thank you, flvol77. Exactly my point.

 

This cruiser obviously arrived prior to the 1:00 time recommended for embarkation where there is generally little wait time to get on the ship!

 

Another incorrect assumption. There were actually hundreds of other people there by the time we were, and we arrived a bit after 1:00. We stood in line until nearly 2:30.

 

In closing, it seems as though I actually offended some cruise fans by my assessment of my husband and I's cruise experience, and for that I am deeply sorry. I am a bit surprised at the number of responders that seemed to take things personally, and I am even moreso astounded at the number of people who made assumptions about my husband and I's personalities and character based on such a limited amount of information. My post was meant to be informative for people coming to forums such as this with the intent of gaining feedback before they make a large monetary investment. It is, after all, called "Cruise Critics".

 

To those of you that had similarly negative experiences on Princess and other cruiselines; I sympathize! Thank you for your kind words and helping to(whether you realized it or not) support some of the comments I made, or helped by putting things into better phrasing.

 

My husband and I will certainly be cruising again (despite the seasoned advice from several cruise "professionals" on this thread), only not with Princess, and I certainly learned my lesson about posting feedback on web forums such as these.

[DebbieLynne]

Yeah, that's right, they did have to do quite a bit to get over the whole fire thing...that must've cost them a bundle.

[KKB]

We waited THREE hours to embark (2 hours in HOT sun, 1 hour in seemingly nonmoving lines)...something to do w/ first dock back after being in Europe for 18 mos. Annoying, yes, and a cocktail would have CERTAINLY made things better, but by no means a deal breaker. Actually, we met several groups of people along the way, and ran into them all week. It was like running into old friends. We likely would have never met them had we not been forced to wait. Definitely a silver lining in that one!

 

We NEVER felt there was a sell, sell atmosphere. Why was the art auction such a sell?? I observed once. NEVER felt I was forced to buy. Is the fact that the art is all over the ship a hard sell?

 

Again, never had problems getting chairs near pool in sun. Usually arrived around 12 or 12:30--this on sea days. NEVER had to search long (5 min?). Great views for water volleyball and belly flop contenst!:eek:

 

I must say that EVERY crew member we have encountered on both cruises has been kind & attentive, some more outgoing than others. NEVER have had a negative experience. Lucky, I guess, for us. I realize it has been 2 years since we sailed the Star, so it would be unfortunate for things to be so bad.

 

What I find interesting is that others on the same cruise did not seem to have such a horrid time. You have never made mention of any attempt to address complaints while on the cruise. You would be AMAZED how quickly changes are made with a prompt, respectful comment to the right people.

 

You mentioned that you would only recommend the "superior" crusies...yet you never mentioned any other cruises to compare to. Most of us are quite open about comparing the various lines we have sailed.

 

I do believe in an honest review. I have small issues from each cruise--likely every vacation I have taken. And I am a "half-full" optimist. But this review is not like most I see, and I do have these unanswered questions that I have mentioned.

[KKB]

I appreciate your responses. You have handled all the backlash well. You have to realize that there have been "planted" negative/positive reviews, and yours had some earmarks...being fairly negative all around; it was your first post; you mentioned no other cruise experience, nor comparison to other lines.

 

I do find it funny that you comment on the cost of water/drinks. Prices were nearly identical to DCL. And we experienced waiters w/ drinks at Sailaway on DCL, too..

 

I do know that if I had posted a review of our DCL cruise immediately upon our return, it wouldn't have been as good as it ended up being. I did say that if it had been our first cruise, I would not be as hooked as I was after sailing the Star!

 

But I realized much was situational...3 kids in same room w/ us for a week...traveling w/ 20 others...DS2 & I sick on 2 different days...all of us sick upon return (norovirus??!! I don't know for sure)...dining room food VERY average (Star SO much better...but I didn't have to eat lukewarm food on the Star...not DCL's fault, but DS2...)

 

But I still had a wonderful experience on DCL. So much that we are looking into another in Jan....

 

The older I get, the better I am about letting very little get to me. THAT BEING said, if things are unacceptable, I say something--promptly & respectfully--about it.

 

I am glad you wrote to Princess. I expect crew members to be a lot nicer by the time we sail in March!:p If not, I'm sure going to let someone in charge know!

[azsunshine]

I'm not sure how often a cruise ship goes into dry dock, but I would assume that it isn't all that often. Ships, like airlines, have great mechanics that work on the ship continually. But somethings are just not fixable unless you take eveything apart to find the root of the problem. Some of these items make take days to repair, and cannot be accomplished when the ship is sailing.

 

Ships are made of thousands of moving parts, miles of wiring and piping. Tracking down the source of a sewer odor isn't as simple as taking a single drain pipe apart and cleaning it.

 

The cruise line is never, knowingly, going to put passengers and its crew at risk. But asking them to dry dock whenever something is discovered that is an inconvenience to a few is totally unreasonable.

 

Unfortunately, a thread discussion regarding the smell on the Star was first posted about 2 or 3 years ago. This is not a new situation, may be unsolvable, but not new. I am sure the ship has been dry docked at least 2 or 3 times since then during regularly scheduled dry dock times.

[cruzinchris]

My husband do plenty of socializing during the course of the cruise - on excursions, at the pool and in the lounges and at dinner we prefer to be alone. I see nothing wrong with this. We are incredibly social people, we just enjoy our time alone at dinner.

 

Hello, Sharon.

You know firsthand that Mike and I enjoy time spent with other passengers as well as crew members but, like you and Bruce, we truly appreciate a table for two at dinner. I think this is one aspect of cruising that makes us feel "at home".

 

Even if we've spent most of the day together in port or on the ship, it's still cozy and romantic to sit together and talk about our day over a fine bottle of wine and a lovely meal. That said, unless we happen to sleep in, our days on a cruiseship begin with breakfast at a large table with other passengers.

 

Sailing on the Dawn in 19 days!

Chris

 

PS DebbieLynne: Looks like you're sometimes in the same part of the world (north suburban Detroit) as DH and I.

[DebbieLynne]

Hi everyone......(thrust of the post).....

My husband and I will certainly be cruising again (despite the seasoned advice from several cruise "professionals" on this thread), only not with Princess, and I certainly learned my lesson about posting feedback on web forums such as these.

 

Please don't "learn your lesson"...as I, for one, really appreciated your original comments, and certainly the ones you posted now. I was hoping you'd jump back in the fray and help clear up a few things that seemed to be assumptions that I think people made (and not necessarily intentionally negative, just probably ill or misinformed). I don't like to be misquoted, misunderstood, or misrepresented either so I understand your sense of disappointment. I did not think your original post was negative and I had some similar thoughts being on the Star 12/16 too so I could "feel your pain." Anyway, even though it probably seems like it, I don't think the other posters were trying to be negative either, I just think we all administer and process "advice" in different ways. In closing, please keep posting, as I thought your commentary was insightful and balanced, and your calm demeanor in your response after feeling attacked shows a lot of restraint and levelheadedness. Would that I do as well when/if I feel attacked. I hope you will continue to post.

 

Take care,

Debbie

[DebbieLynne]

cruzinchris,

Yes, I'm from Detroit but am actually finishing/finished grad school Dec 11th and am professoring there at UCF until May. I'm in Detroit with Alan/BF right now until tomorrow when I go back to Florida. I won't miss the weather in Detroit but will miss the warm nights with Alan! :(

[camNaud]

 

 

 

Hi camNaud...with respect, this is an extremely unfair assessment. Why is it wrong for a honeymooning couple to want to have private, intimate dinners together every night? :(

 

 

 

 

 

Yes perhaps it was but you might have actually enjoyed sharing dinner with other people.

 

Tables for 2 are at a premium and waiting staff find it difficult to predict how long a couple will take for dinner. I know from experience we can be in and out of dinner in an hour but 2 1/2 hours on other nights. One thing Princess don't do is throw people out of a restuarnt just because some else is waiting.

 

I hope your future cruises meet your expectations

 

PS Have a happy married life together (camnaud hands waterlass a branch of peace) ;)

[cruzinchris]

cruzinchris, Yes, I'm from Detroit but am actually finishing/finished grad school Dec 11th and am professoring there at UCF until May. I'm in Detroit with Alan/BF right now until tomorrow when I go back to Florida. I won't miss the weather in Detroit but will miss the warm nights with Alan! :(

 

DebbieLynne,

I clicked on your profile that eventually led to TCH in B'ham. I was dance instructor/choreographer at CTS (rival :D ) for several summers in the late '80s-early '90s.

 

Looks like you are the same age as Madonna. I used to attend ballet classes with her while she was still in high school and studying with her mentor Christopher Flynn.

 

Small world.

Chris

[Host CJSKIDS]

cruzinchris,

Yes, I'm from Detroit but am actually finishing/finished grad school Dec 11th and am professoring there at UCF until May. I'm in Detroit with Alan/BF right now until tomorrow when I go back to Florida. I won't miss the weather in Detroit but will miss the warm nights with Alan! :(

 

My daughter just left for UCF yesterday to start her second semester!

[DebbieLynne]

DebbieLynne,

I clicked on your profile that eventually led to TCH in B'ham. I was dance instructor/choreographer at CTS (rival :D ) for several summers in the late '80s-early '90s.

 

Looks like you are the same age as Madonna. I used to attend ballet classes with her while she was still in high school and studying with her mentor Christopher Flynn.

 

Small world.

Chris

 

Wow! CTS, I just talked to Roberta Campion about working there...they've been trying to get me to MD there for a few years, but I've been unable to do so thus far. I love their program. Hey, I'm hiring for stuff for the summer...email me if you wanna talk further...

DebbieTedrick@aol.com.

Take care,

Debbie

[DebbieLynne]

My daughter just left for UCF yesterday to start her second semester!

 

Is she in theater??? Maybe she's taking one of the classes I'm teaching now. THAT would be a small world!

Debbie

[DebbieLynne]

Yes perhaps it was but you might have actually enjoyed sharing dinner with other people.

 

Tables for 2 are at a premium and waiting staff find it difficult to predict how long a couple will take for dinner. I know from experience we can be in and out of dinner in an hour but 2 1/2 hours on other nights. One thing Princess don't do is throw people out of a restuarnt just because some else is waiting.

 

I hope your future cruises meet your expectations

 

PS Have a happy married life together (camnaud hands waterlass a branch of peace) ;)

 

I wanna have dinner with BOTH you guys next time! We'll have a rockin' happy party table, full of great food served in a timely manner with exuberant smiles all around from staff and guests alike. What a world... It will be so fun. So there! And ditto the happy married life thing. I wish you the best.

Debbie

[camNaud]

I wanna have dinner with BOTH you guys next time! We'll have a rockin' happy party table, full of great food served in a timely manner with exuberant smiles all around from staff and guests alike. What a world... It will be so fun. So there! And ditto the happy married life thing. I wish you the best.

Debbie

 

Sounds simply superb - hey the whole ship will want to have a turn sitting at the 'top' table with all us happy people. :D

[beetoven]

You indicated that your posting was a cut and paste of the letter you had sent to Princess. I would be interested in knowing if Princess has responded to your letter. I wrote to them in November about problems I had with the Pursor's office on the Star in October and here it is January 2007 and my letter has not even been acknowledged.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Is she in theater??? Maybe she's taking one of the classes I'm teaching now. THAT would be a small world!

Debbie

 

 

No, she's not in theater and is majoring in psychology for now. It is a small world though.

[Katrinamp]

(except the sour-faced attendants that cleared off tables in the Horizon court area; are interpersonal communication skills even a requirement for these positions? Crew members here rarely even made eye contact, and the ones that did never smiled).

 

 

 

I'm just taking a guess here, but maybe they were miserable because they were working, away from their families, during the holidays? Just a wild guess and I may be way off, but something to keep in mind due to the time of year.

[DebbieLynne]

Sounds simply superb - hey the whole ship will want to have a turn sitting at the 'top' table with all us happy people. :D

 

Absolutely! I'm in. I have had the best time meeting all you guys on CC. I love the banter, the information, and the camaraderie evident (even in the dicey posts) that people seem to bring to the table (pun intended) from all over the world. Love it. And since I go back to Florida away from Alan today at 7pm, I look forward to the late night postings/talks with you guys that help keep me connected at night when he's not around....although being in theater, I do have my fair share of shows/friends/fun if I choose to go out.

So, let me know when the dinner reservation is for the table for 125 and I'll be there! :)

Debbie

[DebbieLynne]

No, she's not in theater and is majoring in psychology for now. It is a small world though.

 

Psychology, huh...well, sometimes with the crazies in theater, those two disciplines seem to go hand in hand...I'd like to send a couple of actor friends her way...I could keep your daughter in business!

:o Debbie

[DebbieLynne]

I'm just taking a guess here, but maybe they were miserable because they were working, away from their families, during the holidays? Just a wild guess and I may be way off, but something to keep in mind due to the time of year.

 

Okay, while I see what you're saying, I can only sympathize slightly, if at all. I've gotta point out that when you take on a job, you have to DO the job, and do it well, no exceptions, no whining, no excuses. I am a musician/pianist, singer, actor, and entertainer (and teacher) and I have worked my butt off the last 20 years or so on New Year's Eve gigs and all through MOST holidays because that's the most lucrative time of the year for me. I make almost no money gigging during January, which is always hard. My job means I usually don't get to kiss someone under the mistletoe or have a romantic evening on New Year's because I'm on the bandstand entertaining all y'all. So, I have limited sympathy for people when they don't suck it up and do their jobs.

 

Admittedly, I love what I do, (and I've used a lot of tenacity to continue to be full-time employed in the arts my whole life...a feat many say is impossible) but the thing is that I don't buy into the victim mentality that people can't keep searching/trying and find something they like to do and to which they have skills. I don't let people off the hook of doing their job well if they don't like it. I've played my fair share of bratty kid's birthdays, bratty bride's weddings, and even played a dragon dancer for an hour in a god-awful costume in over 100 degree heat/humidity and I did the best I could regardless of pay and/or working conditions, or unfortunate calendar events. (and I've waitressed during artistic low tides, as has most of the arts/entertainment industry, and I smiled and served to the best of my ability)

 

I don't mean to be rude but it's just too bad they're working the weeks of Xmas. If that is such a high priority to them to not work those calendar dates then it is their responsibility to do something about that...not ours. For instance, I've added "professor" to the list of things I do, partly because as I get older I care more about benefits than I do about freelance freedoms, and also because I like having holidays and summers off to ....uh....say, go on a cruise on Star Princess on 12/16-12/23...something I've been able to do almost never in my life.

 

I've worked hard and kept my goals/priorities in front of me to align my work with my priorities. I in no way think I'm smarter, have more potential, or am more special than anyone else (one of the reasons I love teaching) and I therefore think any person working that ship has the same opportunity to "change their stars" as have I. (I watch the movie "Knight's Tale" a lot, thus the "stars" quote...sorry) Meanwhile, while they may be trying to change their proverbial stars, they need to give their all...ALL of the time while they are in the process. That's what hones character, and that's what reaps a destiny.....in my humble opinion.

 

Thanks for listening, and I do not mean to offend....merely challenge perspective:rolleyes:

Debbie