Review - Star Princess April 3rd - 10th

[Debbie42467]

Star Princess April 3rd - 10th

Eastern Caribbean

Since I'm adding photos to my review, I will need to do my review in parts.

 

Part 1

 

I was upgraded from an inside cabin on the Lido deck to oceanview on the Plaza deck. I was upgraded because I complained because a week after final payment the price dropped $300.

 

Photo taken before the beds were convered to two twins. Cabin P310

 

 

Princess Cays was our first stop. There are nice walk ways, plenty of chairs, and good snorkeling at the offshore pavilion. We were on the 1st tender. A band greeted us while playing reigate music. I chose a chair under a red roof pavilion. We went snorkeling and afterwards my son played on the beach with his pail & shovel and I went to relax in my chair. The water was beautiful , no seaweed and no sand fleas. This wasn't planned, but I fell asleep. I woke up and we went snorkeling again. The snorkeling was good and it was an easy swim, great for beginners. The lifeguard (at the snorkeling pavilion) throws fish food in the water when he see snorkelers swimming bye. We did not go to the BBQ, but it smelled great. I loved Princess Cays, I thought it was Paradise. It's not as wonderful as Disney's Castaway Cays, but it's 100% better than NCL Great Stirrup Cay. I thought it was a wonderful relaxing free sun filled day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At night on MUTS was NCAA Basketball Final. I went to see comedian Don Sherman. He was horrible not funny at all.

 

 

 

Second day was Day at Sea. It was a windy day (28 force). Not much of daytime activities offerings. Chair hogs had all the chairs taken by 8 am. Movie: Up in the Air. MUTS Sherlock Homes and NCAA Basketball Final. It was formal night.

 

 

Look for Part 2

[Debbie42467]

Part 2

 

St. Maarten was our next port. We took a taxi to Mullet Beach. Arnold was our driver. There were 12 of us in the taxi 4 went downtown, 2 went to Simpson Bay, and 6 of us went to Mullet Beach and he overcharged us, $9 per person. We should have been charged only $7. Chairs and umbrellas were $5 each. Several people approached me trying to sell massages, beach items, and timeshare tours. I got used of saying "No Thank You. I didn‘t think that there would be nudity at this beach, but there were three topless women sitting next to me. The beach was beautiful with calm waves.

 

Mullet Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we walked to the main road and caught a bus that took us all the way to the pier for $3 each ($2 to Phillipsburg and $ 1 to pier).

 

At night on MUTS was Tropical Island Night Deck Party. I went to see comedian Justin Flom, he was okay, he is young with lots of energy.

 

 

St. Thomas was our next port. There were no ship activities until 3:30. We took $4 taxi into town and did some shopping. Had the pools to ourselves. MUTS movies was Nine. I saw the comedy & variety of Adam Kario. He was funny and is a cutie. It was formal night.

 

There were lots of iguanas sunning themselves at the pier.

 

 

 

 

Grand Turk was our last port. It was a windy day. We took the ultimate snorkeling tour. I signed up on the ship and it is $10 more than if I pre-booked online. ? Also, if you do this with children check your bill, they charged me adult price for my son. There were 50 people on our boat . They said that since it was so windy we will not go to the stingrays, but instead they will take us to the wall. Our 1st stop was about 20 feet from the wall. You could snorkel in the 20 - 30 ft waters or snorkel around the wall. Grand I didn’t see it, but some in our group saw a turtle.

 

 

I do not have an underwater camera. I have a standard Kodak dc. and I used a waterproof camera bag.

Snorkeling at our 1st stop. Notice the dark blue water it's the edge of the "wall".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look for Part 3

[Debbie42467]

Part 3

 

 

Second snorkeling stop was in about 15 ft water. We saw several different types of fish and coral.

 

 

There were 2 ships at Grand Turk's pier.

 

 

Docked at Grand Turk

 

 

 

 

At night on MUTS was My Life in Ruins.

 

 

Our Last day was a Sea Day. A very relaxing day even though it was hard to find an available chair around or near the pools (chair hogs). Movie and later on MUTS Avatar.

 

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Final Thoughts

 

My son enjoyed the kid’s club Shockwave. The club started on day two. Sea days hours 9-12, 2-5, and 7- 10.

 

 

I attend the morning stretch 7:00 classes. Word of advice the gym does not open until 7:00 am and there is always a line waiting for the door to open. Warning: once that door opens its like a stamped, grown people will run, push, and knock you over to jump in front of you.

 

 

 

There were always kids in the "Adults Only" pool.

 

 

 

They did not enforce the evening dinning room dress code. Every night you could spot someone wearing shorts

 

 

 

Look for Part 4.

[Debbie42467]

Part 4 Final

 

I don't think Princess has enough ship planned activities. They schedule too many art actions.

 

 

We had the World's Best cabin steward Kanit from Thailand. He made lots of animal towels.

 

 

 

 

Food

 

Favorite meal was the skirt steak fajitas (not photo) and the king prawns. Favorite vegetable was asparagus.

 

Photo Lobster with King Prawns

 

Favorite dessert was the Bake Alaskan. The Waiters put on a little show when they introduce this dessert.

 

 

 

Also Loved the Cheesecake

 

 

Worst meal was the NY steak, overcooked, cold, dry, and tough and I was disappointed with the prime rib, it was either bloody raw or overcooked dry and tough.

 

The NY steak may look good, but it wasn't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disembarking was a mess. I used the walk off option. 1st they said that the waiting area is at Explorers Lounge. It was full so they had people waiting anywhere on the 7th deck. Every square inch there were people and luggage. Just waiting around. They made an announcement that there was a problem with the gangway and just wait for more announcements. After an hour I went in search for a restroom, but Princess had them locked so I walked down to the 6th deck and there were people debarking with no lines. I grabbed my son & luggage and we instantly debarked. They never announced that the gangway changed decks. I hope no one missed their flight.

 

Over all this was a very relaxing and stressfree cruise, just what I was hoping for.

 

I hope you enjoyed my review. I saved my Patter so if you have any questions, just ask.

 

Debbie

 

p.s. please over look any typos. I'm back to work but my mind is still on vacation.

 

 

 

 

Over all this was a very relaxing and stressfree cruise, just what I was hoping for.

[Debbie42467]

Random Pictures

 

Fruit Display in the Horizon Court

 

 

 

 

Clearance Sale at the Capri Dinning Room

They had Alaska t-shirts $6.95, watches and jewelry for $10, scarf, and much more discounted items. It was very busy you could stand in line to check out or you could fill a bag and put your cabin # on it and pick it up later.

 

 

Liquor prices at Grand Turk Port was cheaper than on the ship. Absolute Vodka price on the ship was $14.95 Grand Turk 2 for $24. Princess says that they will match port prices. On our last Sea Day Princess was sold out of Absolute.

 

 

 

 

The Culinary Demonstration

Followed by a tour of the galley, a behind the scenes look at the culinary production domain the kitchen. Executive chef Norbert Sommerhalter and Maitre D Beppe Castino performs a cooking show then you have a chance to walk thru the Carpi kitchen.

 

 

 

 

The Plaza was decorated for Easter. After Easter the huge chocolate eggs were given to the kids club. The club used them as piñatas. Sometimes I wish I could be a kid again.

 

 

 

 

 

Debbie

[ONT-CA]

If ever a photo said it was time for bed replacements this is it...

 

 

 

http://i1008.phoyobucket.com/albums/...e678/cabin.jpg