Star Princess Cal Coastal Review

[Jim Avery]

Love it! Best stop by far. Planning to rent a place for a week or so (maybe in Coronado) and see it better.:D

[whatnot]

Did a big ship Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Diego about 12 years ago. Our embarkation was to a ship docked next to the Midway. Not sure I remember whether that was Princess or Holland America. Anyway it was before we discovered small ships! We toured the Midway that morning before boarding. We spent a couple of days in San Diego (in the old town area and went to the zoo) pre cruise and really loved the city! Would love to go back!

 

Jim, I hope you enjoyed San Diego!

[frequent traveler]

Love it! Best stop by far. Planning to rent a place for a week or so (maybe in Coronado) and see it better.:D

 

We love the Del. tried to spend time there every chance we could when we lived in Phoenix.

 

FT

[Jim Avery]

Just off the ship and at LAX. Recap and final thoughts soon. A great trip overall.

[Jim Avery]

The last full day was Ensenada. The usual tourist stuff in town. We prefer Mexico on the Caribbean side at Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, and all along the Mayan Riviera. But we did hear the best line ever from a street vendor: "Let's just get it over with. You know you are going to buy something you do not need, why not just buy it here?". :D Loved it. We told him that for sure if we were going to by something we did not need, we would buy it from him. A warm sunny day so we went back to the ship and enjoyed our last Sanctuary afternoon. The Spa Pool is nice for a cooling dip and we enjoyed the afternoon tea served at the Sanctuary. The staff is most accomodating. In hindsight, we would probably not book the Sanctuary for a full week again. Nothing wrong with it, we just did not use it enough. Between chilly weather, port time, and the already large and nicely appointed veranda at our Suite, we just don't think it worth the charge. Also, the marketing info leads you to believe the Sanctuary has a pool. The Adults only pool is the Spa Pool and is available to anyone (adult) that wants it. Sunday dawned clear and pleasant as we sailed back into San Pedro. One item we enjoyed most afternoons while cleaning up for the evening were the daily playing of Love Boat tv shows on the cabin tv. What a blast from the past. It was also interesting to see the old Pacific Princess sailing from the same terminal in San Pedro that we were using. Ok, back to reality. We chose the Walk Off disembarkation and were directed to the Vista Lounge which was right under our suite so very convenient. I know we could have waited in the Crown Grill with Suite/Elite passengers but then we would be farther from the disembarkation passageways. It was comfortable in Vista with coffee and juices provided and just some minor confusion on the staff as to what to do. The staff here seemed a bit new at this particular job. After a brief delay by our customs people (they had already cleared us in SF, Santa Barbara, and SanDiego so not sure why they delayed us) We walked off immediately adjacent to the Vista Lounge. Once in the terminal it took about 5 minutes and out the door to the taxi stand. No delay and, seriously no kidding, a 20 minute blast from San Pedro to LAX in another high speed Prius.:eek: Plenty of time for security, checkin, etc. and an on time flight home. In all, a very good cruise. Strong points for us began with the crew. To a person, they were friendly, helpful, and pleasant to deal with. Our steward, Eduardo, is the best we have had on any ship. We met one barman that started with Princess right out of University--16 years ago. Several had been with Princess 8, 10,12 years. This pays off with them knowing their jobs well and speaks to the crew being generally happy with their jobs. Our suite was outstanding and we loved the aft veranda views. The itinerary was good but we had been to all but San Diego and Ensenada before so it was not the primary reason for the cruise. The ship seemed well maintained and clean in all areas we visited. The carpeting (which I understand is due for replacement) was a bit worn in high traffic areas. The ship has plenty of eating, drinking, pool, and open deck spaces. We never felt crowded except the first day at the buffet. This is typical on any ship over a few hundred passengers as the new group is not familiar with the "traffic rules" in the public spaces. Food is a very personal choice. We never, never felt hungry. There is always somewhere open and then there is room service. The food was good. Nothing wrong with it in any venues but at no time did we feel "wow" about any of it. We ate breakfast at Sabatini's one time and it was good. No better than the local restaurant breakfasts back home. The Crown Grill was nice and the service good but service was good everywhere we went. I had a great NY strip there but the rest of the menu was typical steak house fare. No better, Imho, than the local Fleming's. The menu at Sabatini's was fairly typical as well. We do not see the value in $25 p/p extra to eat there. For $10 p/p on Queen Victoria we had truly exceptional meals at the specialty venues. So, we had room service breakfast most days after the Sabatini breakfast. It was always good, always on time, and they always had it correctly. We ate dinner in the Anytime dining room twice. Service was good and food was good but not outstanding. Other nights we ate at the Horizon Court (buffet) and enjoyed it just fine. One night we stayed in and had a Caesar Salad and two pizzas delivered. A few drinks on our veranda and then a movie. "Date Night".:eek::D As far as gripes, I guess the suite needed more power outlets (only 2 readily useable) and I find it annoying in this day and age that there is no place to print boarding passes without buying internet time. Every LaQuinta (among many others) hotel in the country provides free wi-fi. Princess, like most cruise lines, way overcharges for internet access. On port days (except Mexico) it was no problem as I had service through AT&T. All I wanted was a printer. For that it was going to cost (with all the connection fees, etc. that Princess charges) between $15 and $20 (depending on internet speed) to print a couple of pages of boarding passes. Ok, rant over. I still think if you shell out the $$$$ for a suite, you should get at least a minimal internet package. I would trade them the afternoon canapes for it. To wrap up, we did have a very nice cruise. We actually booked Alaska on the Pacific Princess for next year. Looking forward to it. We would sail on Star Princess again in an instant. Maybe Hawaii. Now where did I put those lottery tickets????

[Jim Avery]

Forgot to mention that we signed up, upon embarkation, for the Ultimate Ship Tour. We were 3 and 4 on the list. The tour never happened even though we had 2 sea days. Guess there was not enough interest.:D

[Oahucruiser]

I always enjoy what you post on the Cunard board (we sail on Cunard a lot and Princess fairly often), and was pleased to find such a positive and thorough review of the Star Princess. Sounds like a great ship and vacation. Thanks for taking the time!

[Jim Avery]

I always enjoy what you post on the Cunard board (we sail on Cunard a lot and Princess fairly often), and was pleased to find such a positive and thorough review of the Star Princess. Sounds like a great ship and vacation. Thanks for taking the time!

 

Thanks! We really did have a great time. But then, we really did have a great time on Queen Vic last year too. I guess we are just easy to please.:eek: :D