Star bright or bust?

[loge23]

I just read several "member reviews" about the Star and they were all negative - consistently negative. All mentioned the declining quality of the food/service and the extra charges that apparently are getting out of control.
We have taken several Princess cruises since 1992 and will cruise over the Holidays as has been our custom since 1999. This year it's the Star.
Can any recent cruisers address the negative perceptions about this ship?
In particular, is Princess now charging extra for ice cream in the DR? We know about the cappucino. Has the service level and dining experience really dropped off so noticably?

[sue d. miller]

Wow!! I am sailing the Star this coming Sunday!! I have seen great reviews, both in the Caribbean and the Med. One major thing you have to remember about reviews. Both good and bad reviews are welcome. But they are personal opinions. You can have two reviews of the same sailing date, one was great, and the other one sucked!! My feeling about any ship, is I am on it. I can relax, do anything I enjoy doing, get pampered. Someone cooks for me, and waits on me!! Some one makes my bed and turns it down at night. I can even get dressed up for Dinner!! Now, depending on your attitude, you can always find things that are not perfect, but who would want to ruin a setup like that!! I am looking to have a great time, and I always do. :)

[KAJOKG]

[quote name='sue d. miller'] My feeling about any ship, is I am on it. I can relax, do anything I enjoy doing, get pampered. Someone cooks for me, and waits on me!! Some one makes my bed and turns it down at night. I can even get dressed up for Dinner!! Now, depending on your attitude, you can always find things that are not perfect, but who would want to ruin a setup like that!! I am looking to have a great time, and I always do. :)[/QUOTE]

This why everyone loves you, Sue!!!! Talk about a positive attitude!! We're thinking of the Star in Feb. Will be eager to hear how much you liked it!

[mafig]

Since we are going on the Star in January, I went over to the review section to see if there were new reviews I've missed. There was nothing there in those reviews to make me apprehensive at all.

All cruiselines charge for bottled water and specialty coffees. Princess does charge for their ice cream at the ice cream stand (name?), but they do not charge for it at dinner or lunch in the dining room. I may be wrong about that, so someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.

The only thing that would concern me in those recent reviews was that ONE reviewer complained about a wait for Personal Choice. Since we are early eaters and if we find a wait team we like, we will make a standing reservation when we find that special team. If not, well I don't really expect it to be a problem. Maybe if you reread those reviews and focus on those that were absolutely glowing instead of the negative, you will not worry so.

[Cruise38]

I agree with Sue and love her attitude. I have always believed a cruise is what you personally make it. I have never been on a cruise I didn't love. Last year I did 5 cruises back to back on the Regal. Each cruise was different on the same ship. I contribute this mainly to the passenger mix. On one of the cruises we had a full ship of whiners. This can go a long way towards affecting the attitude of the crew. They just want to go hide. I believe that you get what you give. There was one lady that every time a passenger or crew member came up to her she started complaining about something. Everyone started staying away from her. Go with the flow - nothing is perfect - but a cruise is as close as you are ever going to get.

Barbara

[DEERINH2O]

I can't believe the Star will finally be here!!!! I am going in Nov and I can't wait. I love to read reviews, mainly because I love to read them. I take the best I can out of each review and then just go with it.

I have sailed on RCCL and Carnival and they both charge for ice cream and coffee as well, I think thats a standard now. I don't care I am on vacation!
when I add up what it would cost to stay in a hotel and feed my family of 5 for 7 days, I am getting a bargain crusin'

I plan to write a review when I get back and I really look forward to hearing Sue's take on her upcoming trip.

These boards are great for other opinions, but in the end its up to you to make your trip fun!

Kathy

[sue d. miller]

Another point I would like to stick in here if I may. When you take your first cruise, or you 50th, it is the staff that is working killer long hours to make your cruise the best it can be. That goes from the guys in the engine room to the Captain. When things aren't just right, don't take it out on them. Things happen!! I love traditional, cause I am very social!! Didn't know that, HUH. The waiters are a huge part of my cruise. We tip well, and at the end of the week, I have pictures of them with my family. They are all part of my memories. As is every staff member I come in contact with. I say "hi" to all of them. I don't want to be remembered as that bit** from hell!!! I would like them all to have a great week as well!!! :)

[Stranger1]

I agree. Treating the crew with respect, courtesy, and kindness goes a long way towards having a great cruise. As far as reviews go, I try to pick out the areas in the review that interest me the most. If the reviewer couldn't stand the taste of the coffee, and I'm not a coffee drinker, well big deal. I also check out other reviews and posts (if any) from that person so I can tell if we have similiar views or not.

[Green4me]

Hey Sue, here's wishing you and yours a wonderful cruise. I'm jealous you are going before us :) Have a ton of fun and remeber to celebrate the fact that we survived the mother of all hurricane seasons :eek: You may want to make some small sacrifice to the water gods to ask for a kinder season next year. (I'm thinking like tossing the fruit from your fufu drink over the stern) ;) (that is before you drink it BTW)

[cruiserforlife]

First off, The Star is my favorite Princess ship so far and we had a terrific time when we sailed her last March in Mexico.

There is no way one couldn't have a grand time on this ship.

There is no charge for ice cream in the dining room either for lunch or dinner.

Have a fantastic time on your cruise with absolutely no worries.

[catmand]

[font=Comic Sans MS]Ya, OK..I know I am a rah-rah cruise person but the truth be told, honestly I just can not figure (like most of us here) how anyone could not enjoy themsleves on a cruiseship? AkaWanda and I are still talking about our cruise on Sapphire a week after it has ended. We both think the people who just find "all those things were wrong" about their cruise just must be miserable people to begin with. (we have both nominated our x-"the bad" spouses for the sour lemon club).[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]I have read where people have complained that "you have to PAY for ice-cream" Yes there is an ice-cream "stand" on the ship and if you WANT an ice cream there and now you will be charged for it. If you want you can order ice-cream every day in the dining room at lunch and dinner and they set up a sundae station every day in the Horizon Ct. between 3:30 and 4:30 with FREE ice-cream. I am never able to get the afternoon FREE ice-cream because I am too bust (in edit I was going to correct this bust to busy but thought it an interesting typo) scarfing cookies, cake and scones (warm ones with cream and jam) at afternoon tea.[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]I have written this before and think it rings true, at least it does for us. When we go on our cruise everything we could possibly NEED is provided in the cruise cost. Things that we may WANT, those may have a charge. And Sue, great point on the staff and one more reason we are loving the longer cruise.[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]Oh ya, almost forgot the question..............don't know if this counts but we were on Star 13 months ago, it was clean, beautiful and just great then![/font]

[mii]

[b]Yes Sue, thanks for reminding everybody about thanking the staff. They do work long and hard to make everybody's cruise a great one. But if they keep running into people who bit**h all the time about every little thing, such as bad coffee, no free ice cream, chair hogs, bad pizza, bad food, I know if I were them I would run away too. Everybody makes mistakes and I have taken seven cruises and not one of them has been perfect and I do not EXPECT it to be perfect. Maybe some people have high expectations of cruises, maybe that is the trouble. But the one thing I always try to do is to thank the staff. Again, Sue thanks for reminding us.[/b]

[b]Marilyn[/b]

[Geezer Jim]

I needed to read this thread. We're embarking on the Star in January and some of the reviews I've read have been uncomplimentary to Princess and the Star. Our last cruise, May 2003, on the Sun Princess was one the most memorable journeys we've ever made. We're hoping to duplicate that experience on the Star.

[sue d. miller]

You can, it is all in your attitude!! :D

[PINEVIEW01]

[quote name='mafig'] Princess does charge for their ice cream at the ice cream stand (name?), but they do not charge for it at dinner or lunch in the dining room. I may be wrong about that, so someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.
[/QUOTE]
Oh, no! If Princess charged for ice cream my husband will never let me cruise her again. I can only get him to go as it is because he can have ice cream 24/7 for free.

Looking forward to what you have to say when you get back Sue.

[PINEVIEW01]

[quote name='DEERINH2O']I have sailed on RCCL and Carnival and they both charge for ice cream and coffee as well, I think thats a standard now. [/QUOTE]

I was on the Paradise in September and they had free ice cream and yougert 24/7. I have never paid for ice cream on any Carnival ship. They do now have a premium ice cream they charge for at the coffee shoppee.

[many cruises]

I am so glad that I read this thread. We too are going on the Star over spring break. I have also been concerned about the negative reviews on the Star, but the more I think about it.....we have never had a bad time on any cruise! As a matter of fact, our Princess cruise on the Grand was one of our best cruises. You are right, there are people that complain about everything. We love cruising so much that it is hard for us to imagine all these negatives. We can turn these negative reviews around by getting recent Star passengers to tell us how great their cruise was. Looking forward to hearing from the recent Star cruisers.

Many Cruises

[sue d. miller]

Ice cream is available in the horizon court between 3:30 to 4:30, every afternoon for free!! There are 2-3 flavors with topping to make your own!!! :)

[roohound]

not a slam at Carnival BUT

I found their 24/7 soft serve stuff to be nasty...it was just blah soft serve and it was always surrounded by little ones who would lick their hands and then use the machine...and the area around the machine was alwyas cluttered with crap.....broken cones, etc

I much prefer either going to get ice cream and having it served to me (or brought to me at dinner) Princess has some outstanding ice cream..better than Haagen Daaz (IMO)

[gary]

Just a side note, NCL offers cappuccino at no charge in the main dining rooms for lunch and dinner. I just got back from the NCL Star and had at least 14 capps.

[BJS]

[quote name='loge23']I just read several "member reviews" about the Star and they were all negative - consistently negative. All mentioned the declining quality of the food/service and the extra charges that apparently are getting out of control.
We have taken several Princess cruises since 1992 and will cruise over the Holidays as has been our custom since 1999. This year it's the Star.
Can any recent cruisers address the negative perceptions about this ship?
In particular, is Princess now charging extra for ice cream in the DR? We know about the cappucino. Has the service level and dining experience really dropped off so noticably?[/QUOTE]You will not find my review [url]http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=6688[/url]negative. The following in the review is in reference to the [B]Horizon Court food and not the cruise [/B] "This cruise, we found several things were better than on previous cruises, but still cannot rate it more than fair."

Princess is not charging for ice cream in the dining room. Service level was great and the dining experience wonderful.

[tom-n-jules]

I have to laugh......when people complain about 1 or 2 items being charged for.....really, did anyone ever starve on a cruise??!!! LOL!! :D :D :D

I think we could all do without some ice cream considering all the other stuff we eat during our stay on a cruise ship!!!

Sue, we are so fortunate to have you on our boards. Positive attitudes are everything in life. We've never had a bad experience with our staff. We thank them endlessly, compliment them on their service, write up cards thanking them for their service, etc. Mom always told me "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"......words I've tried to live by in my life!! :)

Julie

[loge23]

Great stuff - just the type of feedback I was looking for!
I agree w/ many others here that we have never had a bad time on Princess (or any other line for that matter). Now, some cruises are better than others, but they are all pretty much incredible - particularly in comparison to never cruising at all! I'd much rather be excited about our upcoming cruise than be apprehensive about what we will find onboard.
If the reviews that I referenced originally were complaining about the H-D ice cream stand, I have no issue there. I love ice cream too much but I have never been able to buy any since I'm always too full with everything else! Besides that, I have no problem with a premium ice cream bar and I appreciate the option. I do, however, usually order the ice cream of the night after dinner in the DR.
Also, we have always enjoyed the DR experience on Princess. We have taken to the PC option in recent years and really enjoy that. Yes, we do wait for tables sometimes; but so what? Take a stroll in the shops, have a cocktail or a soda, or just hang out on the deck for a few minutes and enjoy the sea air. I don't need to be seated immediately anymore than I can demand my dinner everynight at home (my wife would dump it on my head if I did!)
Sue, have great trip and let us know how it went.

[sue d. miller]

Thank you!! You have a great one as well!! :)

[PINEVIEW01]

[quote name='roohound']not a slam at Carnival BUT

I found their 24/7 soft serve stuff to be nasty...it was just blah soft serve and it was always surrounded by little ones who would lick their hands and then use the machine...and the area around the machine was alwyas cluttered with crap.....broken cones, etc[/QUOTE]
Did you see that really big kid in the middle? That was my husband, 60 something at the time. He lives there.