Star Princess - Disappointing

[Enigma666666]

Julia,

If you look there should be an option to just get a bus ride. No maps no guide. Check it out. Should be $32 a person.

 

Sunviking

Actually, I enjoyed my trip. Loved the ports and had fun with the family. Was just commenting on the below average service and the weird level of unfriendliness. Since more than a handful of folks openly complained ON the cruise, I was curious to get some more perspectives and give other folks a heads up before they cruise on the Star Princess. I'm not saying it happens to everyone, just one person's perspective. I'm sure there are folks that LOVED the service on the cruise (i.e. one of the previous posters). Although i'm not sure that's a comparable experience, given they have cruised 40+ times and the staff knows them on sight. I'm guess they are a fairly important customer to Princess.

[zaban3]

Just got off the Star Princess too. I was also disappointed. I was on the Coral this past winter to the Panama Canal and the Sapphire in 2005 to Alaska and had no complaints about those two cruises. The staff on the Star was not as friendly or personable. The food at Horizon Court for breakfast was the same every day. The food in the dining rooms was okay. The entertainment was not very good. On the positive note, shore excurssions were very well organized.

[Enigma666666]

Julia,

Actually I just looked at the Princess website, they don't advertise this excursion. Not surprising I guess. I would just ask Princess for that option.

[Enigma666666]

zaban,

how did you like your berlin tour? I liked the excursion but thought we could have had fewer stops and more time at each.

[zaban3]

It was like a "whirlwind" tour of Berlin. I bought a book at the museum we visited since I really only got to see about 1/4 of the exhibits. We had a really good tour guide which helped.

[Juliadlf]

Julia,

If you look there should be an option to just get a bus ride. No maps no guide. Check it out. Should be $32 a person.

 

 

I just checked again and there is no bus transfer for $32pp on the shore excursions list. When we board we will check it out.

 

Ooops, just saw your post. Will check when we board.

 

Julia

[MCManders99]

I have a question, how often do the ships change staff, is it each itinerary? I am just curious. I am going on the Star in April and not worried but just curious. Actually I am pretty excited to sail her, I've been wanting to since last year. Thanks.

[chopper825]

Sorry if I offended you Enigma. I guess I misunderstood you. I know that on some other lines they actually carry your tray for you to your table and Princess doesn't offer that service. I thought that was the level of service you were expecting in your comment. If it was a beverage service that you pay for you certainly have a right to expect them to get a drink without attitude in a timely manner. I was just fortunate enough to have a very positive experience with all of the staff. But with over 1,000 staff members there are bound to be some good ones and not so good ones.

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and all of our expectations are different.

 

I sincerely hope you enjoy your next cruise no matter what line you chose. Sorry if you read sarcasim in my post, none was intended.

[srpilo]

Julia,

Actually I just looked at the Princess website, they don't advertise this excursion. Not surprising I guess. I would just ask Princess for that option.

 

 

Ok, something is wrong here ..

 

I've read 3 years worth of post's and reviews on this site and virually every other major cruise related site from the 2004 Grand Princess & 2005, 2006 Star Princess all with Identical itinerarys' for the last three years, and not one, I repeat not one person or offical cruise site reviewer or even John Lawerence's DvD on the Star's Baltic Itinerary, has ever mentioned or even insinuated that there is a train change on the scheduled commuter run from Nynashamm to Stockholm .. Second, again as mentioned above no one, including the Princess web-site has ever refered to an available $23.00 transfer to Stockholm.. Ummmm??

 

Considering the OP has just a handfull of post here on CC and most the those posts seem slanted to the negative, as far as I'm concerned (as noted above), at least some of the OP's comments are down right false, and therefore his/her post's should be taken with a grain of salt.. . IMHO

 

Srpilo

[jennew]

I will chime in to say that service was not up to snuff on our Star cruise in January. However, it did not affect our trip at all. Our waiter was great, however the steward was not ever there. We did not see the guy.

[Pam in CA]

Enigma... sorry to hear that your cruise wasn't up to snuff. Out of curiousity, did you have Anytime or Traditional dining? The reason I ask is that I recently returned from the Sea Princess and while standing in line, waiting to tender back to the ship, a number of people near me had Anytime and were complaining about having to wait to be seated, the service, etc. It put them off enough that they said they'd never cruise Princess again. We had Traditional and had the best wait staff I've had in years. Plus, the Traditional dining room opened 5 - 10 minutes early every single night of the 14-day cruise. (A first for me.) I know that a lot of people have had great experiences with Anytime and cruise Princess because of it.

[73 Ag]

I was also on the last baltic cruise and saw some of the concerns expressed at the first post. Our room steward was good, visible, etc. No complaints.

 

This was our 14th cruise, dating back to 1978 when we were in our 20's. We always loved the "relationship" you establish with your waiter and busboy. It just didn't exist for us on this ship (traditional dining). That was disappointing. No real attempt to "earn their tip", which I attribute to the 10 per day, vs. last night envelope. As noted , there is a mood of dis interest that we haven't seen on our previous cruises.

 

Talked with a couple of employees, and asked what their perception was about the changes in princess since acquired by Carnival. Their main comment was the reduction in food quality, that Carnival dictated, and a few other more minor issues.

 

Big ships will always have a few negatives. In Stockholm you dock an hour away and have to bus/train into Stockholm. We got to stockholm, and saw the Celebrity Constellation, only slightly smaller at 92k tons, docked in the center of stockholm--a real advantage over the Star docking an hour away.

[mek]

Have you cruised Europe previously? I have done 4 European cruises on 4 different lines and have found the entertainment is generally not as good as on a Caribbean cruise. You have to remember there is a language issue, so any entertaiment has to be 'understood' by all so it is mostly musical, dancing, jugglers, magicians, ect. very little, if any comedy. Also, I think there are a lot of people who are tired after a full day of sightseeing and the turnout can be spoty so perhaps they cut back on the entertainment budget. Also, the menus are different in Europe than the Caribbean or North America.

[gooselace]

Have you cruised Europe previously? I have done 4 European cruises on 4 different lines and have found the entertainment is generally not as good as on a Caribbean cruise. You have to remember there is a language issue, so any entertaiment has to be 'understood' by all so it is mostly musical, dancing, jugglers, magicians, ect. very little, if any comedy. Also, I think there are a lot of people who are tired after a full day of sightseeing and the turnout can be spoty so perhaps they cut back on the entertainment budget. Also, the menus are different in Europe than the Caribbean or North America.

 

Good points. Wondered about that too, as the OP didn't mention much about the ports or tours. Am going on my first European cruise (Baltic) on the Star 9/2 and really don't care much about the entertainment as I expect to be too tired to endulge in it. Even the food is of less importance than on less port-intensive cruises with more sea days when dinner may be the highlight of the day.

 

OTOH, there is no excuse for staff rudeness. However, I'm not expecting the same level of service as on some other lines where after my first visit to a lounge the waiter remembered my name. cabin number, and how I like my drink (gin & seltzer, light on ice, piece of lime).

[T&J]

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.

 

That would be ME!

My experience is the following: It is all dependent upon the Management onboard the ship and how they instruct junior management JAP, SAP etc to handle situations, concerns and complaints. I too had a horrible experience on the Regal in March of this year. Why? The First Purser (which was acting) was a complete MORON! and why did I have an unpleasant experience on the Pacific Princess several times this summer although I had sailed on her 6 times previously without incident? Because that same MORON was transferred there for two months while I was onboard! Common sense doesn't always prevail at Princess on there ships all of the time. However, I find the consistency from ship to ship is "hit and miss" sometimes and a lot has to do with the Senior Management onboard and how they run the ship IMHO.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[OuiOnboard]

[quote name='T&J']....It is all dependent upon the Management onboard the ship and how they instrcut junior management JAP, SAP etc to handle situations, concerns and complaints.....Tony
:cool: :eek: :cool:[/quote]
That pretty much sums up our take on this matter....poor (or lazy) communication tends to trickle down.

[Enigma666666]

Srpilo

Your post was quite amusing to me. I guess I imagined that I had to change trains in stockholm from an older train from the port to a new train to get into the central stockholm. It's not technically a train line change. The older train reaches the end stop and you walk across the platform to get to get the newer train. Unless you are asleep or passed out, you can't miss it (as i stated in the previous post). As for the $32 bus only transfer, it's there. I'm guessing you haven't been on the Star Princess Baltic cruise so I'll take your questions with a grain of salt.

I'm simply expressing my point of view of my cruise. People can choose to use it or ignore it. I'm not surprised to see quite of few folks have had similar experiences with the Star.

[SaylorGirl]

[quote name='Juliadlf']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[/QUOTE]

You don't have to change trains either to/from Stockholm. And it is normally the first 4 or 5 cars that go back from Stockholm.

To the OP we were on the Baltic cruise on the Star in September, we enjoyed the our trip very much. It is a very port intensive cruise and I don't feel that the shows are well attended as many people crash out early. As far as them checking with you if you miss the dining room, in this day and age of all the additional dining avenues it is not surprising for someone to skip the dining room a night or two. Sorry you didn't enjoy the trip. We cruise for the ports and not the ship so the little problems don't really bother us.

[Enigma666666]

Actually I've been on two other cruises with RCCL in the past two years with alternate dining and had inquiries from the dining staff when i missed meals. I don't really think that's the issue. IMHO, it's more that the auto-tip doesn't give the staff a whole lot of incentive to chase you to come to dinner.

As for the trains, i'm going to post what the stockholm commuter website says about it. I'm still amused that the fact I JUST GOT back from stockholm and took the train doesn't convince people. Anyways, Juila, hope this is helpful

[URL="http://reseplanerare.sl.se/bin/help.exe/en?tpl=index"]http://reseplanerare.sl.se/bin/help.exe/en?tpl=index[/URL]

From: Nynäshamn Wednesday 16 August 18:01 to Stockholms central 19:08

Take [B]commuter train[/B] from Nynäshamn towards Västerhaninge.
Your departure from Nynäshamn is at 18:01,
your arrival in Västerhaninge is at 18:34.
At Västerhaninge change to connecting [B]commuter train[/B] towards Bålsta.
Your departure from Västerhaninge is at 18:37.
You arrive in Stockholms central at 19:08.
The duration of your journey is 1 hour and 7 minutes.


Have a nice journey!

[Northender]

OP - did not read the whole thread, but sorry that you did not have a good time on your Star Sailing. We have sailed the Star in the past and as some say, maybe we just tend to overlook some things because we are having a great time. :) That, by no means, does not say you did not experience some rough spots.

My main reason in responding is regarding the auto-tips. I respectfully disagree with the fact that this could cause the cabin steward/ess, waiters, etc. to have less incentive in their jobs. As long as one does not take off the auto-tip (I speak for our Princess experiences only), you can get an envelope, put the name of the person on it and state that it is in addition to the auto-tipping. That means they don't have to "pool" this
money and you can give it directly to him/her. We have done it on every cruise - but not everyone on every cruise got the extra. If they do their job, fine. In my opinion that is what the auto-tip is for. If they go above and beyond like some have posted here, that is where the extra comes in.:) Most times we have found that all the staff are pleasant. I have not run in to a rude staff person yet [COLOR=red]except[/COLOR] the Future Cruise Credit lady that was on the Golden in March. Some of us from our roll-call were purchasing FFCs while on-board and let me tell you, this woman would never work for this office. Rude, crude and socially unacceptable.:( So I think one bad apple in 4 cruises is not noteworthy. She was written up on the complaint sheets, I am sure:D

[CruiseKing]

[QUOTE]From SaylorGirl:To the OP we were on the Baltic cruise on the Star in September[/QUOTE]
Hello,
DW & I are scheduled for the Baltic on the Star in a couple of weeks. Could you give us an idea of what the September weather holds for us?
Thanks,

[Enigma666666]

Northender,
It's a fair point that there is still incentive to earn extra tip for great service. But I still maintain, most people (maybe for inertia or laziness) don't turn off the auto-tip regardless of service so for the avg employee, they can probably count on a minimum tip. Not to mention given those are all pooled, there is a HUGE free rider problem. Roughly 3000 passengers on board. 10 day cruise at $10 a day person. $300,000 available for tipping pool. Any one person causing a few passengers to eliminate auto-tip doesn't really cause damage. So if one steward decides on a cruise to take it easy and do the bare minimum, he/she is probably still getting the minimum tip from the auto-tip.

But I agree, there are still folks that go out of their way to do a great job for additional gratuity (like the Sabatini folks).

[Northender]

OK, E6's, your point is well taken. Lets use the Star as an example,
2600 passengers is $260,000 assuming everyone leaves on the auto tips.

It would have to be pretty bad for me to turn them off:(

There is a crew of 1200 but they do not all get the auto tip. Can we assume until someone can come up with the correct number that half the crew is in on the auto-tipping? Too many, not enough?

So $260,000 divided by 600 is just over $400 a week. These folks work almost 24/7 for months at a time. A couple of days off together is unusual. PLUS, just think of the Bit*ching and Moaning that they have to put up with. :rolleyes: I wish I could remember who all is in the auto-tip but I think I recall the cabin attendant at about 2.50 a day.

This is probably fuzzy math, but very interesting. I am sure they get some type of salary above and beyond the tipping. Goodness, I am starting to make your case:eek:

[remydiva]

Another vote for the Star..dd and I did Western Caribbean the week before the fire in March and had a great time. No complaints.

[Juliadlf]

Enigma666666:
Did you have a CC get together when you were on the Star?

What tours, if any, did you do in Helsinki?

Thanks
Julia