Just off The Star:Med/TA Cruise Dec.3-20

[storfie]

We had a fabulous cruise! The Star was in excellent shape with new beds and bedding. There was no problem bringing wine on board at embarkation and in ports of call.

We toured "on our own" in all ports except for Madeira. There we joined the Strawberry World Tour organized by Daniel (info.is on our rollcall), which was wonderful. The tour guide Anna was a joy, and so was the price of 29 euros for a full-day tour of this fascinating island.

We did have a small outbreak of the norovirus, but the ship's staff did an excellent job of containing it.

Our cabin was on Lido deck forward, under the fitness centre. We did hear faint thumps during the day, but only someone very sensitive to noises, or who spends lots of time in cabin would mind it.

Any questions, please ask!

[richandi]

we are booked on the star in feb. our cabin is L254. is that under the fitness center or are we just aft of it? thanks

[storfie]

we are booked on the star in feb. our cabin is L254. is that under the fitness center or are we just aft of it? thanks

 

Sorry, not sure. We were in L207. Best to go into Princess website and check the deck plans.

[richandi]

thanks I'v done that and it looks like we are more towards the middle. thanks again rich

[Sadebud]

We were on this trip, too, and you're right! The captain and his staff did a WONDERFUL job of containing the norovirus, and we were most grateful that they kept us informed of what they were doing, and how many cases, etc..

The trip, too, was amazing! Including the 93MPH winds that one night. Thought the ship handled it beautifully.

Our head waiter, Murat, in the Amalfi Dining room was the best we'd ever had, as was our regular waiter, Apol.

[tjcox9]

We'll be on the Star in February also. Glad to hear the crew is so good!

 

Sadebud, we had an Apol as a waiter on the Sapphire last year on an Asian trip. He was very good, and sang for us most every evening. Just wondering if this is the same Apol..............

[Bilyeu5]

Glad to read the comment about new bedding; seems to be a major area of complaint with Princess cruisers. We'll be on the Star in May; hope some of the great crew you mention will still be on board.

[San Diego Ellie]

Glad to hear the good comments, as we will be on the Star in February/March. There was new bedding in our Dawn cabin last week, and what a difference that made, so glad to hear the same news about the Star!

 

Do you know if they accepted the coffee card for unlimited complimentary brewed coffee without punching it? On the Dawn they did this at the Deck 5 atrium bar, but at other areas they punched for the plain brewed coffee. It would be helpful to know the situation on the Star.

 

Thanks!

Ellie

[Sadebud]

We'll be on the Star in February also. Glad to hear the crew is so good!

 

Sadebud, we had an Apol as a waiter on the Sapphire last year on an Asian trip. He was very good, and sang for us most every evening. Just wondering if this is the same Apol..............

Not sure how common a name of Apol is, but "our" Apol was from the Phillipines, and while he did not sing, he WAS fantastic!! Anticipated evertything we could possibly want. Murat, the head waiter, was fantastic as well, stopping by each night, offering all kinds of things that were not on th menu for the next night. He got us fabulous escargot 3 times, same with french onion soup...and we requested Spaghetti Carbonara twice (not offered ANY night on the menu) and we got...it was EXCELLENT!! Look for both of them if you can!!!!

[ssbeagle]

We had a fabulous cruise! The Star was in excellent shape with new beds and bedding. There was no problem bringing wine on board at embarkation and in ports of call.

We toured "on our own" in all ports except for Madeira. There we joined the Strawberry World Tour organized by Daniel (info.is on our rollcall), which was wonderful. The tour guide Anna was a joy, and so was the price of 29 euros for a full-day tour of this fascinating island.

We did have a small outbreak of the norovirus, but the ship's staff did an excellent job of containing it.

Our cabin was on Lido deck forward, under the fitness centre. We did hear faint thumps during the day, but only someone very sensitive to noises, or who spends lots of time in cabin would mind it.

Any questions, please ask!

 

It was a great cruise. I think it was the ports that did it for me mostly. We had some fantastic tours (some privately booked; others Princess tours). The best Princess tour was the one we took in Madeira called Spirit of Madeira. It was a full day with lots of food and drink, a wonderful guide, and lots of beautiful scenery.

 

And I can't forget what a great CruiseCritic group we had on board. It's the best one yet. A big thanks to Webegone and others who arranged the parties.

 

The only major complaint I had was the elevators that went down to the Amalfi dining room. Only one was working and on a couple of nights neither one was operating. It made it very difficult for handicapped people to get to dinner. It seemed like all the banks of elevators had at least one that wasn't working properly. I hope they got it fixed by now.

 

People need to be more careful with their cigarette butts as well. We found one on our balcony one day. I have no idea where it came from because no one in our cabin is a smoker. I reported it to the purser and they said they would check their cameras to see if they could see where it came from. They take things like that very seriously on the Star especially.