Review Star Princess 10 night Mexico - long

[vickie_bernie]

My husband (Bernie) and I booked this 10 night Mexican cruise about six months prior after having done a similar itinerary two years ago. This was our tenth cruise with Princess. We booked an inside guarantee and were assigned Dolphin 111, very far forward. This caused some problems as Dolphin is deck 9 and when people tried to phone us 9 + 111 they were often put thru to emergency… note for our cabin you had to dial 9 9 111.

We sailed out of San Francisco, with stops in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas.

We flew into San Francisco two nights early and stayed at the Hilton Financial District that was booked thru Priceline. The hotel was perfect, close to everything and very accommodating. On the day of sailing we checked out at noon and took at taxi to the pier. This is about the time we noticed something wasn’t right. The porter took our bags – note we need to get new luggage tags for our bags as I forgot the tags at home, he provided blank ones, which did cause some delay in getting our bags, but we got them. He informed us that the ship had just started disembarking passengers. Okay we thought no problem we will head out and pick up the essentials. We returned around 2 pm and were able to check in but they were still disembarking passengers so we were told to return at 3:15 pm. Thankfully pier 39 is right there so we went for a nice lunch and walked around. Back at the pier at 3:30 and we board the ship and did our “I am on another cruise dance”.

Apparently the ship encountered rough weather on the way up which caused a two hour delay in arrival. Our departure was then scheduled for later, and ended up departing at 7 pm. It was very cold up on deck and too dark to really see anything but we bundled up and enjoyed it with our Cruise Critic friends.

Our Captain is Todd McBain who is from Vancouver, Canada. He joined the Star for this cruise as the replacement Captain. Also the Captain provided everyone at dinner with a free glass of wine because of the delay today.

Tonight we just decided a quick meal in the Horizon Court was in order and then back to the room around 9 pm. We unpacked our bags and then looked at each other and said “I am beat” so we crawled into our bed and slept like a baby knowing we were sailing again. Tonight they showed NFL on MUTS. They had the movie 27 dresses showing in the Vista Lounge and they had the Welcome Aboard show in the Princess Theatre. Our clocks were also set one hour forward tonight.

Tuesday, Nov 11… relaxing day – a sea day! AH… we went and got our latte using our past coffee card, and we purchased another coffee card (as we go thru them easily).

[vickie_bernie]

The Piazza which was recently introduced on this ship is nice but you can see a few flaws. There just isn’t enough sitting area around the International Café. The new Vines only has one big boardroom type table that is high. Some more intimate tables where you can sit and chat and enjoy a glass of wine would be a good idea. Beside Vines is the Vines Store, which personally I felt was a waste of space. All the items here could be sold in the stores or in a smaller spot and convert this space to a sitting area. The last spot in the Piazza on deck 5 is the internet café which was recently moved and includes the library. The internet spot if fine with enough stations that seemed to accommodate the needs of everyone; however to access the books you had to squeeze by chairs and carefully open the doors to access the books. I found it to be just too cramped.

Internet is pricy, but fortunately with Platinum status we get 250 minutes free each. You can either use their computers or bring your own and get the free internet. There were also many “hot spots” all around the ship… I am not sure if you could get a signal in your room as I didn’t try this.

I went to the gym this morning and was quite impressed with all the equipment that is available. Each cardio machine had it’s own tv. Music is being piped in but it is at a low level and didn’t disturb me. There were numerous weight machines and free weights to use. Water, towels and sanitizers are available too. If you require a locker just hand over your cruise card and you will get a lock to use in the spa/gym’s change room.

They did do two Chef’s Tables on this sailing and we did sign up for it and got the invitation; however the day before we had to cancel as Bernie was still suffering with a cold and they stated in the invitation that no one could be ill. But we hear that everyone who attended from our CC group had a great time. We’ve done it twice and hope to do it again in the future.

Weather is cool as we are still just West of LA/San Diego so many of the interior public rooms are busy.

I should state here that the demographics of this cruise do seem to be of an older crowd. I would say the average age is 70. Now don’t slam me, I am in my early 40s and I love meeting and talking to people of all ages but when 60% seem to be of my grandmother’s age I felt I was dodging walkers, scooters, canes all cruise. And forget about taking an elevator, in fact when you did get one I often felt guilty. So I stuck to the stairs.

At 1 pm we had our Meet and Greet in Skywalkers. It was very well attended and we had a great time getting to know each other face to face. Just as the meet was wrapping up the Captain came on the speaker to announce that we would have to stop the ship to allow for an emergency evacuation at sea. So we all stayed put as we had a great view of this evacuation from Skywalkers. We were just south of San Diego when the Coast Guard flew over and circled a few times then lowered a rescuer down a rope to the top deck (note they had evacuate the entire top deck forward of the Oasis Bar on deck 16 – and all cabin mid ship below deck 16). The ship’s nurse was hoisted up first, then the patient in a stretcher cage, then the rescuer was up and they flew away. In all I would say it took an hour from the first announcement to when it was finished. It was quite a site and everyone handled it very well. The Captain kept us informed as to what was happening and how the patient was doing. We later found out it was a perforated bowel and she was doing well in an hospital in CA. The nurse rejoined the ship in our first port of Acapulco.

[vickie_bernie]

Tonight is also our first formal night and the Captain’s Cocktail party in the Atrium. We met up with friends from CC and had a few drinks and had dinner together. I had the shrimp newburg and Bernie had the beef tenderloin.

 

Shows tonight are: in the Princess Theatre was Cinematastic – which I heard was quite good. There was a fabulous pianist in the Vista Lounge called Amy Abler. MUTS is showing Kung Fu Panda and Transformers. Wheelhouse had the band Pinnacle which quickly had a following all cruise long. There was also a 50 & 60s party in Skywalkers.

 

Wed Nov. 12 For our second and third days at sea we decided to try out the Sanctuary – the adults only section on deck 16 forward which was just added to this ship during it’s dry dock. Cost for half the day is $10. This is our new favorite place. The cushions on these lounge chairs feel like a bed mattress. The attendants set up your chair with plush towels, get you a table to set your stuff on and then deliver cool clothes to freshen up. We loved the complimentary cucumber water (they also have orange infused water and just plain too). They offer a menu with some special items that are free; however there is a $3 deliver charge per person…. We thought what the heck, and relaxed and let them pamper us. The Lotus Spa pool is only steps away and you can use the spa’s washrooms too.

 

Today MUTS is showing Maid of Honor and The Dark Night. It appears that there are some issues with the screen for MUTS, many of the lights are burnt out and the installation seems kind of substandard. There was apparently some problems when the screen was delivered and then with the installation during dry dock. One day we did watch them replacing bulbs – that can’t be cheap, and we all laughed when we said “hope they bought the extended warranty and it was bought at Best Buy”. I can see a difference with MUTS set up on this ship compared to the Emerald that was built to accommodate MUTS. The upper seating on the Emerald is staggered and it is hard to find a bad seat; however on the Star you can only have upper seat on the sides of the screen and the railing gets in the way. Yes they still provided lovely covered lounge chairs, blankets and popcorn.

[vickie_bernie]

Tonight’s evening activities included: Illusionist Chip Romero, which friends of ours said the loved. Explorer’s Lounge had dance music with Jamm Inc and then the game Majority Rules. Now all cruise long the Promenade Lounge featured Paul Burton in the piano bar and he had a huge following and was very good. Bernie went and watched the MUTS movie and I went to see the comedian Milt Abel… who I thought was good but not great. Again the clocks are moving forward one hour.

 

Thurs Nov 13 – Had breakfast in the dinning room. Now normally we order continental breakfast delivered to the room and then Bernie usually goes to the Horizon Court for his oatmeal and I just hold off until lunch. But since I enjoy breakfast in the dining room he came with me today. Big mistake, we were sat at a large table with five other people who didn’t know each other and they discussed some very interesting things, not only all their ailments, but the complaints about the ship, the death penalty, proposition 8, and politics… we almost got up and left during the meal. I was just waiting for them to bring up religion. We didn’t do breakfast in the dining room again.

 

Tonight’s entertainment was Words & Music in the Princess Theatre, Country & Western Hoe Down Party and the Comedy Juggling of Randy Cabral who we say. All I can say is very very funny and the things he can do will have you amazed and laughing so hard.

 

Friday Nov. 14 – Acapulco we docked around noon and had to be back on board for 10:30. We went ashore and walked to town and we knew where we were headed… Starbucks, yes I know, but well it is my one and only vice. We always bring pencils, and pins etc from Canada to hand out ashore so we gladly gave the Baristas pins and pencils and we took our picture with them. They were so happy to get these gifts that they came over later to our table to give us a big Starbucks mug with Acapulco on it…. How sweet. We walked back to the terminus (about a half hour) bought a few items, like t-shirts, toys and enjoyed the views. This is a very very busy port and personally I find it too busy but it has lots to do and see. Later that night we met up with our good friend who works at the port and he took us to Su Casa restaurant. It is up on the hill and overlooks the city, the view is amazing. Their signature dish is the shrimp petrone which his shrimp done up in this garlic chili sauce. YUM, and those margaritas help wash it down.

 

The ship was busy tonight. A Mexican Folkloric show was brought on board and performed in the Princess Theatre and then tonight was the Island Deck Party (which I thought was kind of strange as we were in port until 10:30 so why do the deck party tonight – why not do it when we are at sea?)

 

Cruise Director was Lee Childers and deputy director was Julie and then there was Frenchie and she was like assistant director. We didn’t care for any of them, it felt like they were just going about the motions and really didn’t have their heart in it. We usually love watching the morning show but on this trip they just quickly went over the Patters and the daily activities and the rest was like I was watching a sales pitch for the spa and then Frenchie (being so young) didn’t know what most things were. Julie just kept talking about how “hot” this or that person was. We missed the daily trivia question on the morning show and the ability to drop off comments and shout outs for the show. Now we did meet all these people individually and chat with them and we really enjoyed talking with them, but when we they were performing it was like a different side.

[vickie_bernie]

Sat. Nov. 15 – Zihuatanejo, Well the first thing I should say is well I am a little hungover today so I won’t be buying the photo of us on Zi J . We tendered in and got ashore and got a taxi to La Ropa beach. The Patters stated it is a $4 taxi ride and when we got in we stated that and he said no… at first we argued to realize he was saying no it is only $3. We were impressed and paid him $6 for the trip because of his honesty. La Ropa is beautiful, there are tons of places to just lounge at, eat it, drink at or just drop a towel and enjoy. We stayed until about 12:30 and then went into town to just look around. We sailed at 2 pm.

Tonight’s Entertainment: In the Princess Theatre Merrill Osmond – yes is still singing…. We stopped in and listened to one song but left soon after, for me I was a huge fan of Donny and well if it isn’t Donny it just won’t do. I heard mixed reviews of Merrill. They did the Liar’s Club in the Explorers, which is always good for a laugh. Tonight’s MUTS movies are Get Smart and Swing Vote.

Sun. Nov. 16 – Puerto Vallarta Now we have been here many times both on cruises and land vacations and all we knew is we didn’t want to go downtown. So we went (along with some CC friends) to Bucerias. This is the next town north of Neuvo Vallarta, about 30 minutes by bus or 15 min. by taxi. If you walk to the Walmart there is a bus terminus there. Catch any bus that has the words Bucerias on it, the fare is $1 each. When you get off the bus, cross the street and you are there. The beach is two blocks in and we just found a restaurant and some chairs and relaxed. Buckets of 5 beers were $8 and the food was very good. The water was warm but there were some waves and the undertow was heavy today so we just soaked! It was nice watching everyone walk by, the vendors the Mariachi Bands, the ventriloquist (yes) and even the lady selling homemade individual pies she made that morning… we bought coconut pie, it was good. To take the bus back just walk to the same road and grab any bus going back, get off at the Walmart and you are there. Note there is now a large grocery store right at the dock where you can stock up on essentials (pop, beer, Kahluha).

Tonight’s Entertainment: Motor City in Vista Lounge, I really enjoyed it. The Comedian Corry Long (who we saw on a previous cruise and it quite good). MUTS is showing football. We attended a cocktail party at one of our CC friend’s cabin and then had dinner with many of our CC friends. Clocks go back one hour tonight.

[vickie_bernie]

Mon. Nov. 17 – Cabo San Lucas: There were a total of four ships in port today, and we weren’t crazy about the crowds so we decided to wait to get off, but even at 10 am we had to wait a half hour to get a tender. It was rather busy in town, but if you walk in a few blocks it was rather quiet. I just walked around, grabbed a cool drink and took lots of pictures. Returned to the ship around 2 pm where I just wandered and enjoyed the ship. Many people stayed on board.

 

Tonight they are showing Motor City again, also they are doing the International Crew Talent Show. Of course there is Karaoke and MUTS is showing Mama Mia and football is earlier, and Rocky Horror is being showed at midnight (that would have been neat to see if I could of stayed up that late). They even had a darts competition in Shooters Sports Bar.

 

Tues. Nov 18 and Wed Nov 19 – Sea Days. We really wanted to relax as these were our last two days. We headed up to the Santuary in the afternoon and it was enjoyable but you could tell we were heading north, it got cooler and soon we were using our towels as blankets. I decided on a full body massage in one of the cabanas up in the Sanctuary – cost was $119 for 50 minutes, but it lasted for 70 minutes. I then used the sauna and steam room in the spa before heading back to the cabin to get ready for our last formal night.

 

Tues & Wed entertainment was Destination Anywhere in Princess Theatre. Hypnotist Michelle Van Ree who we saw and just loved. Newlywed/Not so Newlywed Game, Ballroom Bliz, Princess Popstar. MUTS is showing: The Love Guru and What Happens in Vegas.

 

Daily activities consisted of the following: ships tour, ping pong, bridge play, ceramics at sea, closest to the pin competition, trivia (morning and afternoon), line dance classes, port & shopping show, bingo, Pictionary, shuffleboard, lectures, Wii at sea, jeopardized trivia, Spanish lessons, Scattergories, Origami, ballroom dance classes, movies, afternoon tea, get together for solo cruisers, Friends of Bob & Bill W, Veterans, and LGBT, martini demo, scavenger hunt, build a ship challenge, Outburst, Princess pyramid, scrapbooking at sea, horse racing, flower arrangement seminar, ice carving, pool games, ballroom dance class, ping pong tournament, scrabble play, wine tastings, Mahjohng, On Deck for a Cure walk, bridge lecture, navigational talk, backstage tour and so much more.

[vickie_bernie]

We were assigned the first tag after express disembarkation – we went to the Platinum lounge to wait for our time. We were off by 8:45 and on the bus and at the airport at 9:30.

 

Sure there are areas for improvement and we commented on the comment card about the following items:

 

• Food seemed to be saltier in the dining room than on previous cruises
  
• Toast area in Horizon Court is now being manned by someone (good idea) but it is right in the corner and caused congestion in that area.
  
• Vines needs more seating, as well as International Café
  
• Still wish Princess had their bills displayed on the tv
  
• Certain washrooms (the spa one for example) needed tidying more often
  
• The bouquet of flowers we ordered didn’t last as long as they normally do
  

 

Overall the ship was in great shape, we didn’t notice anything that required repair. Our room was in great shape. We had a great steward, Miguel who accommodate all our needs. There were tons of hangers, towels, shampoo/conditioner, pillows well you name it. The staff in all the bars and waitstaff seemed so eager to please, they were all very friendly and almost couldn’t do enough to answer questions or respond positively to anything you wanted.

 

Because of the age of most of the passengers we were told by the waitstaff that the dining room was very busy as soon as it opened. But every time we went to the dining room (around 7:30 to 8:00) we never had to wait for a table. By about 10 pm the ship seemed very quiet, most people were either in a late show or had gone to bed. The casino seemed to be deserted all the time and most of the bards in the evening were empty except for the Promenade Bar with the piano player.

 

This was a great cruise, and what truly made it great was the staff on board the Star Princess. Everyone went over and above to make this a great trip.

[mississauga]

Vicki, thanks for taking the time out to write a review even though you already did the Live from. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[jsiegel]

Thank you for your very detailed review. Along with your "live from" thread it's almost as if I was on board too, minus the gentle rock of the ship.

 

Five more months and I'll be sailing on the Star to the Mexican Riviera.

 

Jackie

[sultan_sfo]

Enjoyed your detailed review -- easy to read because it was in sub-sections!

[jaynak]

Thank you Vicki - again - I always enjoy your honest, insightful comments.

[Solara]

Vickie,

 

Thanks for your review of the Star. Your reviews are always so informative & honest. I enjoyed reading it & felt like I was on the ship with you.

[LARGIN]

Thanks for the review..

[NevadaHiRoller]

Nice detailed review. I'm sure many like myself appreciate your time.

[DougH]

Thanks for the review, I'm sailing on the Star in Jan. Todd McBain was the captain on my Dawn Princess Alaska cruise in Sept and did a great job getting us all the way into Tracy Arm. I sure hope he is aboard in Jan for my Antarctic cruise! And I've sailed with Frenchie a couple of times she is a real doll :)

[vickie_bernie]

Thanks for the review, I'm sailing on the Star in Jan. Todd McBain was the captain on my Dawn Princess Alaska cruise in Sept and did a great job getting us all the way into Tracy Arm. I sure hope he is aboard in Jan for my Antarctic cruise! And I've sailed with Frenchie a couple of times she is a real doll :)

 

I have to say I was really impressed with Captain McBain - he was very approachable, very knowledgeable and I actually looked forward to his announcements each day.

 

Even at the Captain Circle Party he kept us laughing and gave away a special prize - a tour of the bridge.

 

And I am not only saying this because he was born in Alberta and currently resides in Vancouver :p

[mii]

Thanks for the review. We were on the oct. 21-31 cruise and we also found the International Cafe lacking in seating. I totally agree with you about the Vines set-up. A lot of wasted space there.

 

What also was weird is that we had a passenger on our cruise you had to be evacuated at sea near San diego too. On our cruise there was a lot of elderly people and I think that one reason is the r/t out of San Francisco as there were a lot of Californian's on that cruise so there was no need to fly.

 

Again thanks for the review.

 

Marilyn

[TorontoTL]

I wonder if Princess will eventually finish the planned upgrades that were supposed to happen with the last drydock. They were going to move the Crown Grill and the Casino and also add more cabins. Perhaps they will add more table and chairs in the Piazzo at that same time. Too bad that the Vines Shop seems a waste of space, that has been mentioned on previous Star reviews as well.

 

It sounds like you had a fabulous cruise though.

[cruzinchris]

Thanks for the comprehensive, well-written review. DH and I were on the last pre-drydock sailing and have enjoyed seeing photos of the "new" Star Princess and reading about the enhancements.

 

I hadn't realized that one of my posts on the "live from" thread got lost in cyberspace but wanted to ask if anyone on your sailing came across Marvin from the Philippines in Horizon Court or one of the dining rooms? Marvin was sometimes called "Smiley" by his colleagues because he was a genuinely happy young man with an ever-present smile. Marvin's nametag indicated that he was a "Buffet Steward", but he was training as an assistant waiter in the traditional dining room during our cruise. Did anyone from Vickie's sailing meet Marvin?

 

Sailing on the Emerald again in 50 days! :)

Chris

[spingal]

Vickie,

 

Great review! I am on the Star to Mexico in April. I do hope that Princess listens to your recommendation about the seating in Vines and the International Cafe. I loved both of those areas on the Crown and want to be able to enjoy them on the Star.

 

Princess, are you listening??? :)

[vickie_bernie]

On our cruise there was a lot of elderly people and I think that one reason is the r/t out of San Francisco as there were a lot of Californian's on that cruise so there was no need to fly. Marilyn

 

we've sailed prior out of San Fran and it was a much younger crowd - just think it was luck of the draw -

[vickie_bernie]

but wanted to ask if anyone on your sailing came across Marvin from the Philippines in Horizon Court or one of the dining rooms? Marvin was sometimes called "Smiley" by his colleagues because he was a genuinely happy young man with an ever-present smile. Marvin's nametag indicated that he was a "Buffet Steward", but he was training as an assistant waiter in the traditional dining room during our cruise. Did anyone from Vickie's sailing meet Marvin?

:)

Chris

 

i didn't see him sorry