Star Princess - Disappointing

[Enigma666666]

I just got off the Star Princess in the Baltics and I have to say I was quite disappointed. Having sailed with Princess a few years back, I remembered fairly high quality service/food/entertainment. However, on this recent cruise, I found the staff to be at best disinterested and at worst down right rude. The food was awful and the entertainment was mediocre. To make this worse, when I asked a senior officer on the ship about it, his reaction was that this iternary was very popular and hence Princess did not need to work hard at making the cruise more interesting with food/entertainment.

 

As for the service, I wonder if its the auto-tip. I'm sure it's been discussed here but the service just seemed off. On other cruises, when we missed a meal in the main dining room (with set dining), the waiter/head waiter would inquire to see if there was an issue, but on Star it was complete disinterest. For the room steward, we saw him once when we checked in and once on the way out (presumably for his tip). Our water in the room was never replaced (although the bill for it came immediately for me to sign) and towels were replaced infrequently.

 

I originally thought this was an isolated experience, but in talking to many other cruisers on the ship, I found many others found the Princess experience to be very disappointing on this cruise.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I just got off the Star Princess in the Baltics and I have to say I was quite disappointed. Having sailed with Princess a few years back, I remembered fairly high quality service/food/entertainment. However, on this recent cruise, I found the staff to be at best disinterested and at worst down right rude. The food was awful and the entertainment was mediocre. To make this worse, when I asked a senior officer on the ship about it, his reaction was that this iternary was very popular and hence Princess did not need to work hard at making the cruise more interesting with food/entertainment.

 

As for the service, I wonder if its the auto-tip. I'm sure it's been discussed here but the service just seemed off. On other cruises, when we missed a meal in the main dining room (with set dining), the waiter/head waiter would inquire to see if there was an issue, but on Star it was complete disinterest. For the room steward, we saw him once when we checked in and once on the way out (presumably for his tip). Our water in the room was never replaced (although the bill for it came immediately for me to sign) and towels were replaced infrequently.

 

I originally thought this was an isolated experience, but in talking to many other cruisers on the ship, I found many others found the Princess experience to be very disappointing on this cruise.

 

That's a shame you experienced this and I'm sorry it wasn't a wonderful cruise for you. We had a completely different experience while sailng on The Star in March as all the crew were amazing and our cabin steward was one of the best we've ever had.

Hopefully you still enjoyed yourself and have wonderful memories of your vacaton.

[spongerob]

I'm not entirely sure what to tell you. We had similar thoughts about some aspects of a British Isles cruise on Golden Princess last summer. I brought some dining room concerns to the attention of the Maitre d' and he tried to help and bought us a nice bottle of wine.

 

Our next cruise, on Grand Princess was fantastic in every way.

 

I chalked up the Golden to the ship having an off week. I understand having certain expectations based on previous experience, then not having them met. My only advice is to make the on-board management aware of complaints as soon as possible, then give them a chance to make changes.

 

There is no excuse for such a stupid response from the officer you mentioned.

[WillB]

"I just got off the Star Princess in the Baltics and I have to say I was quite disappointed."

 

I was seriously considering this cruise for next year. I would like to hear more about why you were not satisfied. And, in particular, you say the entertainment was not up to par? Please elaborate. Thanks.

[gooch47]

We sailed on the Star a year ago. I would imagine that the crew is at least partially different due to the turnover after the fire, but what we experienced a year ago matched your perception pretty much. It was far from the cruise from hell, but there was a disorganization, lack of interest, indifference, whatever you want to call it, that was very, very obvious.

[Juliadlf]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience. From all reports that I was able to read so far from others, they had no problems. People did vary on what they thought of the food but we all have different tastes so I chalk it up to preference. What was so awful with the food?

Why would the waiter/head waiter have to inquire why you missed a meal? Don't alot of people miss their set dining times on these types of cruises?

 

What exactly did the staff do that was rude?

 

Did you do tours on your own or ship tours?

 

Thanks for any additional insight you can provide. We are on the Star next week.

 

Julia

[Druke I]

I agree that ships can have off periods.

 

Our last trip on the Regal Princess, 3-06 'round the Horn, seemed somewhat less "sharp" than some of our other trips. We found the production shows less enthusiastic - and thought it the cast.

 

We skipped most of the shows - and had a great trip. We aren't of the mind to let a shortcoming (real or perceived) "ruin" a trip.

 

One other frequent poster to this board thought the food way below standard - we did not share that opinion,

 

So many components of a trip are very subjective.

[Druke I]

Duplicate post - Cruise Critic's server must be acting up again.

[atlanta99]

Obviously it depends on your luck of the draw with the staff, but we just got off the same cruise of the Baltics on the Star and felt entirely different.

 

Our waiters, Jackie and Kenny from Thailand, were incredibly nice and attentive , almost to the point of excess. They gave great general service and then kept bringing us more and different dishes for us to sample even though we hadn't asked. My dad joked that Jackie must be practicing to be a mortician because he was literally trying to force feed us to death with endless amounts of food. It was very fun to speak with them about Thailand and some of the ports we were going to. When we went to the Steakhouse one night, they were in fact concerned and wanted to make certain that that is why we had not been at our usual table the night before. When my daughter left for the restroom mid-meal, with food on her plate but intending to return to finish, Jackie came by concerned that perhaps she just had not enjoyed her meal and didn't want something else instead.

 

When we answered the usual "how is everything" inquiries on the first night from the maitre d' (Henrique--another charming and attentive gentleman) , we politely made a joke about Princess' legendary weak and watery coffee. Henrique then took it upon himself to make a special production each night thereafter about bringing us a pot of "Henrique's Cafe Speciale" along with dessert--each night, he would go off and mix up some double espresso from the coffee bar, then water it down slightly to come up with a pot of good strong regular coffee for the table.

 

In general, we found the food at dinner to be very good. Perhaps not truly extraordinary, but very good nevertheless (pastries and sorbet would be the primary exceptions, although ice cream was excellent). The breakfast bar at the Horizon Court was not too exciting and rather samey each morning, but good enough for its purpose, given that we rarely were there to linger over a special breakfast.

 

Our room steward was also very nice--always smiling and saying hello. He brought my daughter extra pillows immediately upon request, brought my mom a lighter blanket immediately upon request, refilled our fruit and ice as we wanted, etc.

 

As for other staff who we would run into only once or twice, I cannot think of a single rude person and only in a very isolated circumstance would I call anyone disinterested. Generally, everyone had a smile and would say hello to you even if they had nothing specific to do with you.

 

The entertainment could be called mediocre overall I guess. I personally thought the stock singers and dancers troupe was above average for this type of cruise, and there was one English soloist, Phillippa Healey, who gave an outstanding (albeit short) vocal performance, but the comedians and other entertainers may have been below average.

 

A few things could be improved here or there (as would be the case with practically any cruise line, hotel, etc), but my entire family thoroughly enjoyed the trip and would highly recommend the ship and the trip.

[CruiseAholic]

I was on the Star in the Baltic in July 2005 - absolutely nothing to complain about. I was with my two sisters and we ran into many staff that recognized us from previous cruises (I've been on 40 Princess) and we were taken care of quite well.

 

The Matre'd even told us after the 1st night, don't bother to make reservations, go to the front of the line and there will be a place for you.

[Enigma666666]

I agree that many of the experiences are very personalized (i.e. food) but service levels and actual events tend to be very specific and fact based. In any event, gooch47, I talked to probably 10 to 15 folks over the course of the cruise that highlighted the same issues. Most folks were first time Princess sailers but had sailed quite of few times previously with other cruise lines. Now I will say i did have some fantastic experiences with service/food on the ship. The food/service was fantastic at Sabatinis but the service was even better the second time around after i tipped nicely after the first dinner.

 

For WillB, my biggest complaint was that the service was just bad/rude. To give you an example, while dining in the Horizon court, I wanted a soft drink. I asked one of the servers who said, "go to the bar", which was a bit away from the seating area. On every other cruise, the folks who work at the Horizon/buffet courts, even border on harassment, to get you drinks. After I expressed my dismay, he added, "oh...i guess i can get it for you." Another example, when i went to their omelet station for some egg whites, I was told they don't serve egg whites in an annoyed tone. I ended up having to ask one of the managers of the court to get the egg whites. One day in port, it took 30 minutes to get our orders taken for lunch in the dining room. Most dinners, we waited around 15 to 20 minutes after seating for dinner orders. In the casino, the dealers (on one night) asked the people playing multiple times..."why are you guys here? go to sleep. I can't believe you guys are still gambling". While none of these ruined the cruise, collectively, it was extremely irritating. As an aside, they mentioned that all dealers are tipped from a pool from ALL of the carnival ships (combined) , so they could care less if the cruisers on this ship tipped a lot, they'd rather just have nights off. At the spa, our family consistently waited 15 to 30 minutes past our appointment times for treatments. I understand it's hard to stay on schedule but we can't be late for the treatments.

 

The tours itself were great. Other than the usual way too many stops at "shopping" locations (i.e. souvenir shops where the guides get commissions), the tours were fine. One complaint was in Berlin, given the six hours of commuting, we literally spent 5 to 10 minutes at every tour stop.

 

Julia, one piece of advice for Gydnia and Gdansk. We didn't book at tour and ended up only walking around Gydnia. To get to Gdank, you had to negotiate with a taxi driver to drive you and wait for you. That did not seem appealing. Book a tour if you'd like to go.

[sueandkent]

We were on the Star last Nov. Western Caribbean and had the same complaints as the OP. The entertainment was weak. I was just reviewing the patters for another matter yesterday and noticed that each night there were two movies playing in two different venues. To me, that's the cruise director not doing his/her job. We never had great service in the dining room once (anytime dining). Drink glasses not being refilled, no offers for more drinks (which I really don't get), etc. We resorted to eating in the buffet a couple of nights. Our cabin steward did the minimum amount of work he could get away with (we did not tip him extra). The food was fine but nothing extrodinary or memorable.

Many other posters to these boards that cruised the Star last fall had the same complaints. We booked our fall cruise hoping to give Princess another chance. If we get more of the same on the CB we will likely try a different line the next time.

[Juliadlf]

I agree that many of the experiences are very personalized (i.e. food) but service levels and actual events tend to be very specific and fact based. In any event, gooch47, I talked to probably 10 to 15 folks over the course of the cruise that highlighted the same issues. Most folks were first time Princess sailers but had sailed quite of few times previously with other cruise lines. Now I will say i did have some fantastic experiences with service/food on the ship. The food/service was fantastic at Sabatinis but the service was even better the second time around after i tipped nicely after the first dinner.

 

For WillB, my biggest complaint was that the service was just bad/rude. To give you an example, while dining in the Horizon court, I wanted a soft drink. I asked one of the servers who said, "go to the bar", which was a bit away from the seating area. On every other cruise, the folks who work at the Horizon/buffet courts, even border on harassment, to get you drinks. After I expressed my dismay, he added, "oh...i guess i can get it for you." Another example, when i went to their omelet station for some egg whites, I was told they don't serve egg whites in an annoyed tone. I ended up having to ask one of the managers of the court to get the egg whites. One day in port, it took 30 minutes to get our orders taken for lunch in the dining room. Most dinners, we waited around 15 to 20 minutes after seating for dinner orders. In the casino, the dealers (on one night) asked the people playing multiple times..."why are you guys here? go to sleep. I can't believe you guys are still gambling". While none of these ruined the cruise, collectively, it was extremely irritating. As an aside, they mentioned that all dealers are tipped from a pool from ALL of the carnival ships (combined) , so they could care less if the cruisers on this ship tipped a lot, they'd rather just have nights off. At the spa, our family consistently waited 15 to 30 minutes past our appointment times for treatments. I understand it's hard to stay on schedule but we can't be late for the treatments.

 

The tours itself were great. Other than the usual way too many stops at "shopping" locations (i.e. souvenir shops where the guides get commissions), the tours were fine. One complaint was in Berlin, given the six hours of commuting, we literally spent 5 to 10 minutes at every tour stop.

 

Julia, one piece of advice for Gydnia and Gdansk. We didn't book at tour and ended up only walking around Gydnia. To get to Gdank, you had to negotiate with a taxi driver to drive you and wait for you. That did not seem appealing. Book a tour if you'd like to go.

 

I have a private tour set up for Gydnia. Doing Malbork Castle and Gdansk full day tour. A couple of our CC roll call mates will be joining us. We couldn't see ourselves on a big tour bus for that port.

 

What did you do for Stockholm?

 

Thanks

Julia

[Enigma666666]

Julia, for stockholm, we took the train in and had a fine time. Did a little shopping in their mall too. But if we had to do it over again, I would just take the transport into the city. The train is nice but kind of a pain given that you have to change trains once both in and back.

 

SueandKent...I'm pretty sure our family is either going back to Royal Carribean or Crystal. I'm glad to see you guys are willing to give Princess another shot.

[sunshine426]

I'll jump on the pro Star bandwagon, but certainly recognize that each crew is different, and even one rude person can affect your trip. We had great service in anytime dining last March... laughted thru every meal and got an Italian language tip of the day. Our daughter's who had an inside cabin probably had the best cabin attendent I have ever seen, while our's was somewhat indifferent, did the job, but just that. Hope your next trip goes well. I think the Star will always have a special place in my heart since the fire.

[Psee]

Of all our Princess cruises (6) the Star (Nov. 05) was our least favorite. I never could quite put my finger on it exactly but the ship just wasn't quite up to snuff. Very subtle things but enough to notice. I was afraid it was a general decline in overall quality for all of Princess but our Golden cruise (Mar. 06) was great so it was definitely the ship and/or particular cruise that had issues.

[gooch47]

I went back and reviewed my trip report for the Star cruise a year ago. I had 13 "strikes" noted. The first few had to do with a lack of interest in giving us a reservation for Anytime Dining for a table for two. We usually got one each night, but it was like pulling teeth. The next had to do with tour problems. Lack of organization, especially at the tendered port, especially a double line going back to the ship. They made you stand in one of two lines, but were only filling tenders from ONE of the lines. And no signs. People who were getting off the tenders expecting lines for tours were ending up back in the lines to go back to the ship. At another port, all the tours came back at the same time. Result? A line a hundred yards long, in the rain, and only one x-ray machine. Several had to do with the fact that the ship was 8 hours or more late getting into Ft. Lauderdale. I'm not complaining that the ship was late, I'm complaining about the lack of information afterward. We were told to go outside to get on busses for hotels since we had all missed our flights. No signs, no one to ask. We got in a line, got to the head of the line and were almost refused boarding because we were "in the wrong line." They also sent us on a Greyhound Bus ... just the two of us ... from N. Ft. Lauderdale all the way to Miami airport. Yes, they got us there, but how inefficient is that? Like I said, nothing that totally ruined the cruise, but it was like the ship had never been to these ports before.

[Juliadlf]

Julia, for stockholm, we took the train in and had a fine time. Did a little shopping in their mall too. But if we had to do it over again, I would just take the transport into the city. The train is nice but kind of a pain given that you have to change trains once both in and back.

 

 

Thanks. Appreciate the feedback.

I didn't realize people had to change trains during the ride in and back. I thought you stayed on the same train from the port to Stockholm the whole way. I did hear that you needed to be in the first couple of cars going back but nothing about changing trains.

 

Julia

[Host CJSKIDS]

I'll jump on the pro Star bandwagon, but certainly recognize that each crew is different, and even one rude person can affect your trip. We had great service in anytime dining last March... laughted thru every meal and got an Italian language tip of the day. Our daughter's who had an inside cabin probably had the best cabin attendent I have ever seen, while our's was somewhat indifferent, did the job, but just that. Hope your next trip goes well. I think the Star will always have a special place in my heart since the fire.

 

I'm with you sunshine426, our sailing on the Star with you was wonderful. I have said before and I'll say again that in all of our 8 cruises, that being our 3rd on Princess, it was by far one of the greatest up until that incident. I only hope that our 11/4 Crown sailing is as perfect.

[chopper825]

I was on the Star in January and found the service to be exceptional from the room steward to the waiters we had at dinner. Every crew member we passed had a smile. In fact we even became friendly with a few of far waiters during the week who remembered out drinks and our names. My room steward far exceeded my expecations.

 

I also very much enjoyed the entertainment although we mostly went to the comedians and pretty much stayed away from the traditional song and dance shows.

 

Maybe we are just easy to please, but we were very happy with the entire cruise. And I have to say that I wouldn't think of asking anyone to get me something to drink while dining at the buffet. It's a buffet, I would get up and get it myself. I understand that on other lines they do offer that service, but I did not expect it on Princess.

 

It's too bad you weren't happy with your trip. We loved it so much we are booked on the Crown. Maybe you will have better luck on another line.

 

Happy sailing.

[Enigma666666]

gooch47

I wonder if it's the cruise director. Maybe he's spending too much time producing DVDs. Actually, in retrospect, I found it offensive and annoying that everyone (including the cruise director on their TV show) asked people to fill in excellent even if things weren't so excellent on the cruise review forms. Maybe they should provide excellent service if they'd like excellent reviews.

[Enigma666666]

Chopper,

You are missing my point. I asked them for a beverage you have to buy (i.e. a Diet Coke). I'm not sure how i was supposed to get that myself but I appreciate your sarcastic reply and implication that somehow what I was expecting was inappropriate. In fact, Princess DOES offer this extraordinary service of selling you beverages during meal times.

[Enigma666666]

Julia,

Actually I didn't find that you had to be in the first couple of cars. I know that was in the other trip report. But we did have to change trains. It's not a big deal because the train doesn't keep going so it's hard to screw it up. I just thought for $32 bucks for a bus transfer door to door vs around $15 bucks for the train rides, it wasn't worth the hassle.

[sunviking82]

I have read several review of the Star over the past few months and this is the first negitive review I have seen. Princess' product is ususually very consitant across the board. Some ships have slightly better food and other better entertainers, but the service has always been amoung the best ( far better then RCI and on par with Celebrity ). In October it be our 7th Princess and 4th Grand Class cruise, and so far I can't say I have every had a poor or even average experience with Princess. They offer the best service, food, service and voyages (land and sea) for the money of the mass market lines.

 

As for asking to fill out "Excellent" on the comment cards, all the lines do that. . I just ignore it and grade them as I see fit. Always room for improvement and I alway let them know exactly what I think!

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy your trip, but focus on the positive, the places you visited, people you meet, etc. . .:)

[Juliadlf]

Julia,

Actually I didn't find that you had to be in the first couple of cars. I know that was in the other trip report. But we did have to change trains. It's not a big deal because the train doesn't keep going so it's hard to screw it up. I just thought for $32 bucks for a bus transfer door to door vs around $15 bucks for the train rides, it wasn't worth the hassle.

 

Okay, I guess I'm confused on the bus. I thought the only way to go from the port to Stockholm via bus was by booking the Stockholm On Your Own tour (which essentially is a bus transfer) was around $75.00 pp. Are you saying there is another option of a bus transfer which ony costs $32.00 pp?

Sorry, just want to clarify.

Thanks again.

Julia