Recent Star voyagers to Alaska

[kennyf1130]

I was very rushed as it was the same day as the ultimate ships's tour. The lunch was at noon and I had to be at the other end of the ship at 1:20. I would have liked to have had more time at the lunch, but that's the breaks!:p

 

So the Ultimate Ship Tour is now available at the Star? Did you sign up embarkation day and was it worth it?

[palolake]

Do the baggage handlers in Seattle expect a tip like they do in Ft. Lauderdale? (even though there are signs to the contrary)

[Lynda90]

So the Ultimate Ship Tour is now available at the Star? Did you sign up embarkation day and was it worth it?

I signed up as soon as I boarded. It was absolutely worth it and more. The highlight of the cruise. :p

[Gator83]

I signed up as soon as I boarded. It was absolutely worth it and more. The highlight of the cruise. :p

 

 

Lynda,

 

Can you explain what one sees on this and is there a price for it.

 

Thank you

[aprime23]

Anybody know about a seafod buffet in the horizon on the first night.

 

Anthony:confused:

[DisneyScrapper]

Lynda,

 

Can you explain what one sees on this and is there a price for it.

 

Thank you

 

I also would like to know this info.

[traceye]

I have a few questions after reading all of these posts.

 

What is the Chefs Table?

 

We are signed up for anytime dining I didn't realize it wasn't in the same dining room. I'd love to hear your experience if you did anytime dining. I'm assuming the menu is the same? How does it differ from traditional as far as the experience?

 

What is teh Ultimate Ship Tour and how much does it cost? Can kids go on it?

 

How dressy did people get on the dress up nights?

 

Kids Club....who had experience with the 3-7 group and the 8-12 group? I have a 7 and 9 year old. Would love to know if they are in the same area as each other but different activities and also do they ever combine these age groups...the older end of the bottom group and the younger end of the other group...I'm asking if my 7 & 9 year old will ever do anything together?

 

Thanks everyone for posting all of this information..it's so helpful.

 

Tracey

[Whoo]

I have a few questions after reading all of these posts.

 

What is the Chefs Table?

 

We are signed up for anytime dining I didn't realize it wasn't in the same dining room. I'd love to hear your experience if you did anytime dining. I'm assuming the menu is the same? How does it differ from traditional as far as the experience?

 

What is teh Ultimate Ship Tour and how much does it cost? Can kids go on it?

 

How dressy did people get on the dress up nights?

 

Kids Club....who had experience with the 3-7 group and the 8-12 group? I have a 7 and 9 year old. Would love to know if they are in the same area as each other but different activities and also do they ever combine these age groups...the older end of the bottom group and the younger end of the other group...I'm asking if my 7 & 9 year old will ever do anything together?

 

Thanks everyone for posting all of this information..it's so helpful.

 

Tracey

 

On the Island Princess, the Ultimate Ship Tour was $150 pp! I don't recall if kids can go on it.

 

On formal nights, some people got very dressy, and some just dressed nicely. I didn't see any jeans or t-shirts!

 

The Chef's Table was a special dinner that you had to reserve and pay for - it was more $$ than the 2 specialty restaurants but I can't remember how much.

[Mizwoodym]

Chefs dinner is a three hour extraveganza on the ship that costs $75. Ibelieve you get a tour of the kitchen, a cookbook and wine with each course of food during your meal. It sounds heavenly but we didnt try to get seats, being that this was our first cruise. From what I understand you can only call in for seats on the first day you get on the ship. I think they do it once or twice on a cruise. People say its worth every penny.

 

the two formal nights we had, had people in long gowns and tuxes and others with dress pants and fancy blouses. The two anytime dining rooms did screen people for dress code on those evenings. We ate in the main dining room most evenings. Our waitstaff was awesome. Very attentive and even had a song for us on our anniversary. The menu is dfferent each night, even the separate dessert menu is different. It was awesome.

[Lynda90]

Lynda,

 

Can you explain what one sees on this and is there a price for it.

 

Thank you

You get a behind the scenes tour of just about every department on the ship and it takes approximately 3.5 hours. It ends with the captain greeting you for about an hour on the bridge where he personally describes all the mechanical instruments and everything else associated with navigating the ship. In each department we were greeted by the staff member in charge who describes what happens in their departments. We met the major staff members associated with each department from backstage at the theater to the laundry room. One of the ship's photographers toured with us taking pictures of us in each department as well as a picture of each of us with the captain. We even toured the medical facility which was shown to us by the ship's doctor. The next day the following was delivered to each of our cabins: a plush, large Princess robe (a true one size fits all), a chef's jacket, a large pad of paper (approximately 500 sheets) that says "Princess Cruises escape completely" at the top. The second line says "Written at Sea" on the left side, with the person's name engraved on the right side. On the bottom it says, "Star Princess, ULTIMATE SHIP TOUR." We also received a reversible Princess tote bag and approximately 10 photos of us taken in each department. The cost is $150 each. I had quite a bit of cabin credit so it really didn't cost me anything out of pocket.

[kennyf1130]

You get a behind the scenes tour of just about every department on the ship and it takes approximately 3.5 hours. It ends with the captain greeting you for about an hour on the bridge where he personally describes all the mechanical instruments and everything else associated with navigating the ship. In each department we were greeted by the staff member in charge who describes what happens in their departments. We met the major staff members associated with each department from backstage at the theater to the laundry room. One of the ship's photographers toured with us taking pictures of us in each department as well as a picture of each of us with the captain. We even toured the medical facility which was shown to us by the ship's doctor. The next day the following was delivered to each of our cabins: a plush, large Princess robe (a true one size fits all), a chef's jacket, a large pad of paper (approximately 500 sheets) that says "Princess Cruises escape completely" at the top. The second line says "Written at Sea" on the left side, with the person's name engraved on the right side. On the bottom it says, "Star Princess, ULTIMATE SHIP TOUR." We also received a reversible Princess tote bag and approximately 10 photos of us taken in each department. The cost is $150 each. I had quite a bit of cabin credit so it really didn't cost me anything out of pocket.

 

Thanks! I will definetely keep that in mind and try to get on the lottery list as soon as we board.

[melissasimon]

Hi everyone,

We were on the May 24 Star Princess sailing, so I'll try to answer a couple of questions that have been raised.

 

The Ultimate Ship tour was advertised in the Princess Patter as being $150 and limited to 12 persons who were chosen from a lottery of those interested.

 

I had read in the press release from Princess that hot chocolate would be served on the Lido deck, but we only saw it once in a big dispenser, and it tasted like it was unsweetened. When we asked for it at the bar it was delicious. The same press release mentioned that there would be a cookout on deck and that there would be blankets and earmuffs available. If the cookout happened, we weren't aware of it, and we got blankets only by asking for them. But they were great to use on our balcony!

 

We were only able to go down Tracy Arm part of the way, then the ship had to turn back. The naturalist said it was because there was too much ice. A previous poster mentioned that the ship would push aside enormous pieces of ice in order to get all the way in, but that didn't happen on our cruise. But the scenery was spectacular and I didn't feel a bit disappointed -- it was worth the whole trip just for that morning!

 

We ate at Sabatini's ($20 surcharge) and it was delicious. As soon as we were seated, a couple of baskets of delicious cheese bread were brought over, and we dived in. We ordered wine which was very reasonably priced. The waiter presented us with a menu which included a list of appetizers, soups, pastas, pizzas, entrees, and desserts. We each had decided on our choices, but when the waiter came over he said we only needed to choose an entree. We assumed that our other selections would be the chef's choice, but much to our surprise, we were served everything on the menu! The food kept coming and coming and coming. The food was fabulous, but we certainly wouldn't have scarfed down the cheese bread if we'd know how much food was to follow.

 

Our train ride in Skagway was cancelled because of the landslide. Initially we were disappointed, but we rented a car at Avis in downtown and rode out the highway which followed along the train tracks. We were able to see the same views we would have gotten from the train, but we could stop and take all the photos we wanted (including bears). We had a great day. (Remember to take your passport because you'll cross the Canadian border.)

 

The pillows are lousy. There were six of us, and the view on this was unanimous.

 

We saw many whales off the sides of the ships. Again, the views of the pristine landscape are spectacular.

 

Hope you guys all have a great week on the Star.

[magictam]

The Ultimate Ship tour sounds wonderful. When and where do you sign up for the lottery?

This thread has been great. I hope everyone keeps asking questions.

Thanks, Tammie

[Lynda90]

The Ultimate Ship tour sounds wonderful. When and where do you sign up for the lottery?

 

This thread has been great. I hope everyone keeps asking questions.

 

Thanks, Tammie

Go to the passenger service desk to sign up. Well worth it! :p

[laughing husky]

Saw Libby Riddles on the Star last week. She was the first woman to win the Iditarod....What a great talk she gave....I understand that she is on every Princess ship that goes into Juneau....She talks a lot about Alaska and the sport of Dog mushing....Don't miss it....Leaving Pier 91 was very easy for us. Much less than an hour.....However at the Remada Airport, my credit card number was swiped and over 1,000 was charged. As we arranged for the shuttle, they knew that we would not be back for a week.....and so they took advantage of that fact....It was the one and only time that that CC was used so it had to be the front desk....Otherthan that...the trip was great....and luckily husbands check accounts.....and you spent $867.00 on books from Amazon????HUH????? and then bought $300.00 of assorted stuf at the hardware store????? My My,.....

[moneys_sol]

what is involved in the ultimate ship tour and also we were thinking of doing the crown grill after skagway. would we be missing much in the dining room??

[melissasimon]

We were on the Star last week, too. Wish we could have seen Libby Riddles, but her talk started at 8 and we didn't get back to the ship from our excursion until almost 9. She lives in Juneau, so she gets on and off the ship while it's there, so any of you who want to hear her talk should schedule your excursions accordingly.