Anyone done the Star Princess Cruise?

[abbydancer]

We're giving some very serious thought to doing the Antarctic cruise on the Star Princess in 2010. I'd be interested in opinions on this from cruisers who did this cruise in 2008 (or the Golden in 2007 I think). Was it worth it? What was it like? January or February? etc, etc, etc.

 

We're, to our surprise (just yesterday we were in college!) middle-aged, and active. Our major hobby is ballroom dancing, and on our Alaska cruise last year we danced in the Wheelhouse every night. One of the appeals of this cruise is that it appears the Star has dance venues.

 

On our Alaska cruise we were in the topmost, forward-most cabin on the ship. The third night (RT from San Francisco) we hit a major storm - the captain had to turn off the sea condition indicator because apparently the waves were well over 25 feet. Other than being woken up every 10 minutes by the speed bumps and the noise when all the drawers opened up at 2 am, we thought it was great fun. So, I don't think potential weather is a problem.

 

That said, I'm not a bundle up and get on the Zodiac kind of girl, so a drive-by is fine this time.

 

Thanks for any thoughts, advice and opinions. I've also asked this on the Princess Board, since that's busier.

[holidayhelen]

We are booked on the Star from BA to Santiago around the antartic in January 2009. We are looking forward to it and I got a fantastic review from Burbunny - try this link

 

http://www.cruiseresource.com/blog/labels/Beagle%20Channel.html

 

She is also joining us on the cruise in 2009.

 

 

We are coming from the UK so it is a long flight for us but we are having 3 nights pre cruise and 3 nights post cruise too. This gives us a 24 night holiday - quite a lot when you are still working and to top it off we have just booked to go on the Diamond Princess round Asia Beijing to Bangkok in Nov 09 - that too has pre and post stays and is another 24 nights.

 

My holidays run April to April - so its ok for me but hubby is Jan to Dec - so he is going to have to do a bit of fiddling or feeling very sick!!!!

 

Hope this helps

[mics pics]

My parents did this cruise in February 2008. I just got to see their photos and the DVD they bought on board.

AMAZING!

They had absolutely perfect weather, only one foggy morning around the Antarctic peninsula. Both of them said the seas were calm and they only had to skip one portion of the itinerary due to icebergs, not weather. :eek:

I could not believe the photos and video, it looked like absolute heaven. Blue skies, sun shining, just gorgeous.

Of course the weather is not guaranteed to be that nice all the time, but they sure loved it.

As a matter of fact, I couldn't even begin to answer about the ship itself because all they talked about where the ports and the cruising.

Just my opinion, I'd highly recommend it just based on what I saw in video and photo proof, and I wasn't there. ;)

They are very, very happy past cruisers.

[Tia Serena]

Personally I recommend a smaller ship that will allow you to actually LAND!

There are excellent options, like the Minerva, the Corinthians 2, Le Diamant, Hanseatic, the Fram....

Check http://www.expeditiontrips.com for some options...

[burroughs]

We did take the Antarctic cruise, Feb., 08. That was our 26th cruise - and I want to say - one of the best. Princess Star is a wonderful ship - especially on sea days, with the Sky Walker {crows nest} because I enjoy "watching the cold" past by ~~ my husband loves being on deck, getting good photos & watching the wild life ... we saw lots of wild life.

For 'night life' we were asleep ... full days of excitement, early to bed - early to rise.

Don't get concerned with warm clothes. Your regular winter jacket, gloves and ear muffs, socks and shoes are all you will need. We took all the tours to see wildlife and none of them required boots ... walkways were very prepared for easy walking & viewing.

One other thing I did enjoy - dinner clothes were nice but not "over the top" formal. Travel light ...

The 3 days before the actual cruise began was so worth it - as the total cruise. CHANCE OF A LIFETIME!!

 

We're giving some very serious thought to doing the Antarctic cruise on the Star Princess in 2010. I'd be interested in opinions on this from cruisers who did this cruise in 2008 (or the Golden in 2007 I think). Was it worth it? What was it like? January or February? etc, etc, etc.

 

We're, to our surprise (just yesterday we were in college!) middle-aged, and active. Our major hobby is ballroom dancing, and on our Alaska cruise last year we danced in the Wheelhouse every night. One of the appeals of this cruise is that it appears the Star has dance venues.

 

On our Alaska cruise we were in the topmost, forward-most cabin on the ship. The third night (RT from San Francisco) we hit a major storm - the captain had to turn off the sea condition indicator because apparently the waves were well over 25 feet. Other than being woken up every 10 minutes by the speed bumps and the noise when all the drawers opened up at 2 am, we thought it was great fun. So, I don't think potential weather is a problem.

 

That said, I'm not a bundle up and get on the Zodiac kind of girl, so a drive-by is fine this time.

 

Thanks for any thoughts, advice and opinions. I've also asked this on the Princess Board, since that's busier.

[Spoiledredhead]

My husband and I are going on this cruise Feb 2009 - will let you know our thoughts

[Mary Ellen]

We did an Antarctic cruise on HAL and LOVED IT!!!! We had expected this to be a 'once in a lifetime' cruise, but once in Antarctica we knew we had to return. We'll probably be back (on HAL) again in 2011.

 

Don't worry about those who'll tell you that you should instead take a ship that does landings. Only you know what is best for your needs. ;) Go and have a GREAT time!

[jjgoo]

never been on it, but I hear the star cruise is very nice.

[burroughs]

This is our favorite cruise out of 30 +.

Go to this page and see/read what you are going to experience: http://www.cruiseresource.com/2-2-08.htm

Hope it opens.

[ROSEBERRY]

This is our favorite cruise out of 30 +.

Go to this page and see/read what you are going to experience: http://www.cruiseresource.com/2-2-08.htm

Hope it opens.

 

Just returned from the Star Princess, absolutely awesome.

Do it:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

[burroughs]

So glad you had a great cruise.

How was the weather/sea conditions?

We had wonderful weather and got into every port.

Such an Adventure of a Lifetime!!

I'd go back - again and again - except for the long fight. It's gotten to the place 'I HATE TO FLY!!! .... 'Delays, cancelations, rescheduling'....

 

Just returned from the Star Princess, absolutely awesome.

Do it:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

[ROSEBERRY]

So glad you had a great cruise.

How was the weather/sea conditions?

We had wonderful weather and got into every port.

Such an Adventure of a Lifetime!!

I'd go back - again and again - except for the long fight. It's gotten to the place 'I HATE TO FLY!!! .... 'Delays, cancelations, rescheduling'....

 

We did B-B Jan 5th. - Feb, 2nd. '09. Exceptionally good weather, but like you, getting there and back was horrendous.Don't ever consider flying ARGENTINE AIRLINES:eek:

[abillo]

hi just returned from the star princess arrived valpariso 02 feb ,what a great trip 100% to princess who we had never sailed with before ,we saw and did all we wanted to ,ship was great ,food ect please email me if you need any info on any part of this journey as it would take days to tell you all the great fun we had alan billington, my email add is abillo@vodafone.ie

[Twomalamutes]

For those of you that have done this cruise, how did you book your airfare? Did you use the Princess Air option or did you book it independently? And if I might ask, what was the cost? I just looked into booking it independently and the price was outrageous!

We are hoping to book for Feb 2010~

Thanks.

[ScottNkimmy]

we just booked this cruise for Dec 2010 and am also wondering about airfare...

and - after reading everyone's responses and seeing pictures from the trip - I can't WAIT to go!!!

[ScottNkimmy]

For those of you that have done this cruise, how did you book your airfare? Did you use the Princess Air option or did you book it independently? And if I might ask, what was the cost? I just looked into booking it independently and the price was outrageous!

We are hoping to book for Feb 2010~

Thanks.

 

THe price we were quoted from Pricess for airfare from Washington D.C was $1775 pp.

We also discovered that we could book the cruise and then book the air fare with pricess seperately... which allows us to hold our cabin choice while searching for the best deal on airfare.

 

GOod luck in your search and if you find a bargain, PLEASE let us know!

[greatam]

THe price we were quoted from Pricess for airfare from Washington D.C was $1775 pp.

We also discovered that we could book the cruise and then book the air fare with pricess seperately... which allows us to hold our cabin choice while searching for the best deal on airfare.

 

GOod luck in your search and if you find a bargain, PLEASE let us know!

 

THAT price is totally outrageous. Should be about $1000pp for a flight into Rio and out of BA barring jet fuel climbing through the roof again. Even in the worst of time, prices should be no more than about $1300.00pp.

 

AA and Continental for this year (same time frame) is running $930pp.

 

You MAY want to keep an eye on TAM airlines. They fly some pretty cheap flights out of JFK (in the $750 range). Surely you can figure out how to get to JFK pretty cheaply.

 

Another option-fly one of the LCC's into Miami. Then transfer to an international airline (LAN, COPA, AeroMexico, Mexicanna, etc. etc) to Rio and home from BA.

 

You need to buy tickets when they first go on sale (should be about Februrary 1). You are flying PRIME TIME (Xmas) and if you don't book early, the tickets will be sky high.

[ScottNkimmy]

GreatAM - thanks for the tips - we agree that the airfare from the cruise line is WAY too high. That's why we didn't book it. We will be checking out all of your recommendations. If we find anything too good to pass up, we'll post our findings!

[cruisefreaks]

Hi - we did this itinerary on the Golden in 2007 and LOVED IT !!!!

 

We are booked on the Star from Jan 17th 2010 and can't wait!

 

This is a cruise of a lifetime, the scenery is spectacular. I can't say enough about how beautiful it is.

 

We talked several friends and family members into joining us.

 

DO IT !!!!!

 

PS - we booked air from Ft Myers FL to BA on Continental for $770.00 per person!