| I did not sail the itinerary you will be, but we sailed on the Star the year
it went into service. WE LOVED IT!! The staterooms are spacious, and there
is deck space galore.
Because it is not a MegaShip, we never felt as if we were standing in long
lines or waiting for anything. The staff was excellent and the food was
sensational.
As a matter of fact, we are considering taking the trip you describe in April,
as Princess will apparently not be offering it after that, at least not on
the Star.
Bon Voyage!!!! (Be sure to give us a trip report when you get back.()
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| Hi,
We just got back from a 7 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean
on the Star Princess. It was GREAT!!!!!! We left on March 20
and returned on March 27, 1993.
Highlights:
Too many plane changes to get to San Juan. Started in Colorado
Springs and had to switch planes in St. Louis, then switch
airlines in Orlando. Left at 7:20 am and got there at 8:20 pm.
Main downfall was not being able to see San Juan before going
to the ship. By the time we got on the ship, we didn't get
to do much of the activities. We just went up on deck when
we sailed.
Day 2, all day at sea. It was a nice day to get acquainted
with the ship. We exercised and took it easy all day. I
played bingo and won $400!!! Not much skill involved with
bingo, so it was more fun than the casino. It was pretty
windy on deck. Not sure if that was because of the speed we
were travelling or if it was just a windy day.
First night was the Captain's cocktail party and dinner, formal
attire. Most everyone was very dressed up that night. Lots
of beaded dresses, long formals on the women. Some men wore
tuxedos, but a lot in suits. The formal pictures that they
took that night were very good. The show was a musical with
wonderful dancing/singing/costumes.
Day 3 - Barbados. We took a tour that went to Harrison's Cave
and a botanical garden. It was very nice. We saw the center
of the island on that tour. This is a British island, so everyone
speaks English (with the accent). All the islands use American
dollars, but Barbados has prices listed for both their $ and
ours. It was 2/1 exchange. In the afternoon we went into
town and shopped.
Day 4 - Mayreau (private beach party). This was wonderful!
The water was crystal clear and the beach was great. They
had a barbeque on the beach. Fortunately we got in line early
because the line got very long. Literally everyone on the ship
came ashore and ate there, so the 2 lines they had set up got
slow.
We took the walk to the high point of the island, by a school
and an old church. It was a tough uphill climb, but worth it.
You could see all the Tobaggo Cays and both sides of the island.
A 12 year old boy who lived there "escorted" us up the hill,
for a tip of course. He was very nice and it was fun to talk
to him. About 1/3 of the women had their hair braided by some
local women. They charged $1/braid. Everyone looked like
they were Bo Derek in the movie "10", even the guys who got
their hair or beards braided.
They show that night was a magician, not really flashy but fun.
They had Island night on the deck later. Lots of music, games,
etc. Everyone dressed in Hawaiian shirts and dresses. Good
buffet at 11:30 on the deck.
Day 5 - Martinique. We took a tour of Balata gardens. It
was by taxi, and the driver only spoke French. The gardens
provided a tour guide who was wonderful. She was a very pretty
black girl who spoke perfect English with a French accent.
She told us about every plant and flower in the gardens. If you
like to see flowers this is a worthwhile tour. Some other people
took the rain forest tours, which were ok. The cruise staff
doesn't recommend doing any shopping in Martinque. We did buy
some perfume and a bottle of Champaign in the shops by the port.
(Bought the Champaign for dinner the night of our anniversary).
The show was another musical featuring some Broadway shows.
Nice costumes. A little less fun than the first show because
they had songs from Evita (which is more classical).
Day 6 - St. Maarten. We took a "new" tour that was being
offered for the first time. It was great! It was called
the "French Connection" tour. It took a bus from Phillipsbug
on the Dutch side around the edge of the island toward the
French side. First we stopped to see the overlook at
Orient Beach. That is a resort area that features a nude beach.
We were too far away to see anything :) All the beaches
on St. Maarten are public, so you can go to any of them.
Then we went to Grand Case, a fishing town, and took a
Semi-sub to a coral reef. They fed the fish and we saw
a lot of different fish and coral. Then we stopped at a
Beach Resort for a free drink. The water on the island
is converted from salt water, so the beer is cheaper.
It costs $1 for a Heinken. Lastly, we stopped in Marigot,
the capital of the French side for about 45 minutes then
back to Phillipsburg. We ate lunch at L'Escargot, which
is an award winning restaurant. It is not really cheap,
but good. I had Conch soup and my husband had 12 escargot.
With two Guavaberry Coladas ($4.50 each) and the 15% gratuitary
added on, our lunch cost us about $40. If you eat on the
French side it can cost more. There are about 780 restaurants
on St. Maarten, so there isn't a lack of places to eat. Have
a frozen fruit drink at Everyt'ing Cool. The owners know
everything about the island (they are from Canada).
We did quite a bit of shopping on St. Maarten (in Phillipsburg).
There are about 200 shops on Front Street. Good buys on
a lot of items.
Day 7 - St. Thomas. We went on a taxi, then ferry to St.John.
St. John is almost all National Park. Beautiful beaches and
water. We snorkled for about 1 hour at Beach...it was incredible.
Parrot fish about 1 foot long swimming right past you. We
were in water only about 10-15 feet deep.
Shopping is a must in St.Thomas. There are a lot of stores
in the port town, and if you purchase at least $600 worth
of goods there, your custom's limit goes up from $400 to
$1200 a person (because it is in the Virgin Islands, which
is U.S.).
That night was the other formal night...but people didn't
get as dressed up as the first night. They had shrimp coctail
and lobster tails on the menu and a parade of Baked Alaskas
for dessert.
Our waiter was Italian, Franco was his name. He has worked
for them for 16 years. He was so fun!!! He called the women
Seniora and the men Senior, insisted that we try dishes and
brought us little portions of ALL the desserts. If you didn't
want to have any he'd say "Oh Mama Mia" and throw up his hands.
It was like it was a personal insult if we didn't like the food.
His assistant was from Mexico. The food was good, but not
5 star restaurant quality. There is "plenty" of it to choose
from, though. The breakfast and lunch buffers on deck 12 were
ok, but not exceptional. My favorite thing was all the fresh
fruit, especially the pineapple.
We docked in San Juan on the 27th. We were in the second
group to disembark. It took us longer to find out luggage
and carry it out to the truck than to go through customs.
They just glanced at our custom's form and stamped it and
waived us on. I put down everything that we bought, so I
thought that I'd have to pay a few dollars. That was nice!
The next time that we go to the islands, we think that we'll
fly to St. Maaren and St. Thomas and stay awhile. I would like
more time on those islands. The cruise was really a good way
to see the Caribbean and find out the islands that you like.
We would definitely consider Princess Cruises the next time
that we cruise.
Oh, by the way...Star Princess will be going to Hawaii and
Alaska for cruises this next year. Either of those would be
fun!
Chris Heisler
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|
Chris,
My wife and I, two teenage kids took a cruise on the Star
the same week as you. We had a wonderful time. We sat at table 20 which
was the opposite side of the room from Francos table. We had Franco as
a waiter twice for open seating breakfast. I speak a little Italian and
just came back from a trip from Italy so we had some fun talking. I wish
I knew their was a fellow Deccie on the cruise. We went with another
couple. The guy was also from DEC.
At sea...
Beautiful day. Very windy but OK by the pool. Great start on a
tan.
Barbados..
We hired a taxi (van) and paid $20 per hour to tour the island.
We knew where we wanted to go. We saw alot of the island. My two
teenage kids took the Jolly Rogers cruise.
Mareau...
Great day. We also got in line early. We also walked to the
top of the hill. My daughter had 5 strands of hair done. Snorkeling
by the rocks and floating on the cushions was fun.
Martinique...
Same as Barbados. We hired a van (This time my kid joined us)
The driver spoke good english. He took us thru the rain forrest, stopped
at a church, stopped for drinks, Went to the volcano Pele, then down by
the seaports for more drinks, oysters etc. We then did some shopping in
town. In town was the only time we got a little rain on the whole trip.
St Martin.....
Shopping on Dutch side, over to the French side, more shoppin
then off to Orient Beach. Nice scenery.
St Thomas...
Shopping from 9-11:30. A $10 tour of the island, to the
hilltop for shopping, a beautiful view, banana drinks the off to
Magaens beach for two hours of swimming. Some topless bathers. Back
on the tour bus for a ride back to Bluebeards castle and back to town
for some of us to do more shopping or back to the ship for the ones
that didn't want to shop.
We had an excellent trip. This is our third cruise. We arrived
in San Juan at 12:30 on Saturday and after going to the ship we went to
Old San Juan from 3-6PM. We also did San Juan at the end of the trip
and flew back to Boston at 6PM.
The ship was excellent. The stateroom was the largest and
cleanest we've seen. We booked the cheapest room and was moved up 5
grades to an outside room on level 5 right next to the movie theatre.
The only thing i didn't like was the last night was dead. The other
cruises had farewell deck parties.
I've taken Carnival (Festivale) Royal Carribbean (Song of
America) and Princess (Star) I liked the rooms on the Star the best but
liked the entertainmenta nd activities on the Song of America better.
Each cruise was wonderful but I'm going to try another line our Royal
Carribbean again the next time. We are already talking about our next
years cruise.
My dark tan is already starting to fade.
Bill
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| My wife and I are about to book a cruise and we got a great 2fer price
onthe Start Princess to the East Carribean. We have a few concerns;
1) What is the average age group? We are being told it is mostly for
the older set. We are in our early 30's late 20's. We just don't
want the cruise to be mostly 50 60 70's. Don't get us wrong, we just
want to fit in better with our age group.
2) Were there many kids on board, we are thinking of going the week
before Christmas. Hopefully all of the kids will be in school still,
however we were warned that there would be alot of kids. Some
people told us they cater to kids. Don't get us wrong again, we enjoy
being around kids, just don't want them around when we are trying to
relax. We have had to many bad experiences.
3) We hear the food is OK. Can anyone elaborate on this.
My Wife and I read through this notes file already and wanted to get
more up to date information.
thanks
-jon
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| You poor dear! Talk about conflicting information! One person says
that you will drown in a sea of blue hair; another warns of being
inundated by children (presumably the grandkids of the above)!
The Star caters to a middle of the road crowd. You will find all age
groups on board. There may be more older folks, but you should have
no trouble finding lots of people your age. Your travel agent should
request that you be seated at a large table with others of your age
group. That will help from the first night on board.
There will be children on board, but they should not intrude much
on your enjoyment. They have their own activity center, youth
counselors and entertainment. There are at least two pools on
board (maybe three) so finding a quiet place should be no problem.
There are other notes in this file discussing more recent Star
sailings. "Search" will find them for you. BTW, the Star is one
of our favorite ships. The food is as good as any we have had on
four different cruise lines, the service is excellent and the cabins
are among the most spacious at sea. There is lots of deck area and
a wide variety of activities.
We have sailed on the Star twice, most recently last November. If
you have specific questions, please call.
Enjoy your trip...
-jer
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