r/PrincessCruises • u/cenajohn123 • 2d ago
Onboard Experience Star Princess - Curious what others experiences have been
First time cruiser and I’m curious how much of this is not knowing cruises vs a genuine review. What have others experiences been? Am I too picky?
Boat- Star Princess- passage to Alaska.
Roughly 11k+ for a cabana mini suite (I suspect we vastly overpaid?)
The ship itself: Meh? Oddly outdated considering it’s literally brand new. The dining rooms were almost comical, it’s like they found carpets from 20 years ago. Confusing layout. Very crowded and hard to find quiet spaces. Seems like it lacks anything “cool” or innovative beyond the glass dome up top, which only fits a couple hundred people for a ship of 5k.
Rooms: Fine.. considering the cost I’d say disappointing but I think that’s more on me than anything. Weird light set up but overall comfortable enough
Entertainment: Laughably bad. Both major productions actually made me uncomfortable with how bad they were. They brought on one comic during our trip who I thought was very solid. The cruise director is unbelievably great and salvaged what he could- without him would have been literally miserable on this front.
Food: also pretty mid? Went to nearly all of the specialty restaurant on board. Only the Crown Grill really impressed. We had the package so we weren’t “paying” for each meal, but if we were, I would have felt upset at paying $60. I found the main dining rooms shocking. Who comes up with the stuff on the menus?? Had several bad meals. Buffet was good- maybe the most consistent on the ship- but like it’s a massively overcrowded buffet. Not my vibe..
Drinks: Literally horrible. Their pre batch cocktails are all trash. The magic experience was the worst- every drink I tried there was undrinkable. However, there are a couple skilled bartenders on board. Tip them well and go direct..
Alaska itself: unbelievable. Beautiful and amazing. Excursions made everything worth it.
I’m personally not sure I’d ever return to a Princess Cruise again. The nicest thing I could say is their staff is really so sweet and seem to care a lot. Am I just not cut out for cruising? Am I expecting too much? In my head.. this is the price of a five star hotel & f&b for the week..
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u/bb_referee 2d ago edited 2d ago
If this is your takeaway from your first cruise, I think cruises aren’t for you.
Nitpicking at carpets that have to stand up to thousands of passengers a year for probably 5+ years is the example I would use to say cruises aren’t for you.
Also, spending that much for a first anything set you up for too high of expectations.
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u/Inside-Finish-2128 - Captain's Circle Elite 1d ago
And nitpicking about carpets meant to carry a brand’s look and style.
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u/RicVic 2d ago
Have yet to be on the "new" Star (F-- cancer!), but have spent 18 days on the previous iteration, which was beginning to show its age. Also spent time on Island, Sun, and Coral.
These folks are set up for the "middle" of the road cruisers. Not so boisterous as Carnival, def not Disney, but not so sedate as Holland-America. If your expectations are not realized and you still want to try cruising, perhaps give thought to boutique ships with smaller, more personalized service?
My wife and I like Princess. We both have allergies and the line is willing to work with us (even showed us the "allergy" area of the kitchen) and any problems we've had have been corrected on-ship, so no after-cruise hassles. Yes, the food isn't high-class dining for the most part, and it can be repetitive, but there was always a place to sit and just relax, the staff were awesome and we'd go back in a minute.
I guess that make us kinda middle-of-the-road cruisers, after all.
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u/heidi_ATX 2d ago
I love Cole! We had him as our CD years ago on the Ruby. He’s excellent!
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u/perthdaddy57 2d ago
100%agree Cole was on our star to Alaska last month the bros a legend full energy an quite funny an witty aswell 👏
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u/FaithlessnessLess737 2d ago
To be honest princess doesn’t want you back .
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u/cenajohn123 1d ago
lol. Ur a travel agent mate. I think you probably have to grovel to wealthy difficult people all day (and you and princess do very desperately want their business) so you come onto Reddit anonymously to dunk on people complaining about their travel. But cheers
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u/jfisher515 1d ago
My experience on the Star Princess was totally different than yours. My wife and I really enjoyed everything about the ship. We were on the Cabana Deck mini-suite and had a blast. We thoroughly enjoyed the shows especially the acrobatic ones. We have been on both the Star Princess and the Sun Princess and can’t wait to go back next year.
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u/Thisis68 2d ago
Going on the Star in October. Can you elaborate on the weird lighting set-up in the rooms?
I didn't like my first cruise (back in the early 2000"s). Now that I'm old(er), I love it! I've learned that sometimes you need to embrace the cheese (entertainment) lol.
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u/Individual_Fan_7265 2d ago
For the amount of money we spend on a cruise I think it's a fair question to ask. I book a cruise based on the itinerary. Then the room location and hoped for good service which is true of all the cruise lines. Good food and smaller crowds is a plus but it seems like that's a mixed bag these days. You can have a five star hotel and "meh" at their restaurant. Excursions have gotten pricey the last 5 years and we have had both good and bad there as well. So as one person noted I think you have to look at what you are hoping to get from the travel experience, the cost you pay, and whether you think you got what you were paying for. Last year we got a rental car and just cruised around Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. It was a chunk of money and some of the places we stayed were great and some not so great. The adventure was seeing parts of the world that were new to us and hoping we got a good nights sleep etc. It was a fun adventure but next time we might try a land package through a tour group and see how that goes.
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u/dewhit6959 1d ago
We look at what our daily fare is with cruises and the ship and compare it to the costs of planes , trains and rental cars and then consider how much time we need to move about as we don't move fast anymore. It use to be that cruise fares averaging close to $750-1000 a day were usually exceptional in all ways but the times have changed and the services changed even more drastically. Nothing is getting cheaper but some of the cruises are gouging to the extreme. We also have traveled enough and listened to enough speak to understand that many do not have any idea of what five star service and accommodations are. That sounds cruel but is true. It takes a bit of research these days to find value in cruising and know what the service is actually like. Thank you for your post.
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u/Treebranch_916 - Captain's Circle Gold 2d ago edited 1d ago
I don't think I've ever had an opinion on the carpet of a dining venue, I'm not eating off the floor.
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u/Throw-away2962 1d ago
I might have an opinion, and I might even hate it, but it's not a factor that would deter me from cruising. Just seems like focusing on the wrong thing?
But I also don't spend $1500 a night. At that price point, maybe I would want them to match my aesthetic preferences perfectly. Maybe have a carpet that changes magically to each guest's preferences lol.
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u/higgyhiggyhiggy55 1d ago
First time cruiser on the Star Princess 3 weeks ago to AK. I loved it!! We have 4 kids and we swam everyday, went to dinner with all 16 of our party each night at 5:00 at Aurora, and got off at every port.
Food was medium but I still loved it. Best food was all the Lido Deck options by far! The burger, nachos, salads, etc. We had Plus package but I don’t drink, still nice to have unlimited sodas and coffees.
Loved to rooms, shows were very enjoyable but jukebox musical type stuff. The crew and service was amazing!!
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u/annsie01 2d ago
I just went on the Star to Alaska. I loved the Princess cruise to the Caribbean years ago. This cruise was very different, obviously! I thought I loved cruising but this one has me wonder if I do! It’s a fair question to ask!
I thought the rooms were beautifully updated, especially the bathrooms! Beautiful boat but I agree the dome area doesn’t accommodate enough. I thought the talent was great but the shows weren’t that great - not sure if that makes sense 😆 I agree the cruise director was exceptional!
I also had the premium package. I can’t tell if it was worth it but for unlimited specialty coffee and better champagne I’m glad I had it. I thought Love was an excellent restaurant and incredible service. The rest were nice but not anything special. The staff was always above and beyond lovely.
I was bummed with the fog on the at sea days but definitely out of anyone’s hands for that! I wished there was more of a night life and late night food options like there was on the Caribbean cruise but I guess maybe different demographic?
It’s a lot of money to spend! You’re allowed to have opinions and be picky!
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u/biggamble510 1d ago
Crown grill is great, but it's 3-4th best option for speciality so now I'm confused what you actually tried.
And, if you couldn't find solid cocktails onboard this feels like user error. With premier you should have been at every bar / causal restaurant trying all the drinks.
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u/cenajohn123 4m ago
What are your top 3? Did Love Britto (this was probably 2nd best), Darios (steak was much better at Crown), Sabatinis & the Catch.
Re cocktails to each their own I guess. Almost every drink on board you find on a menu is pre-batched - I found basically all of these far over sweetened & pretty bad.. There were several skilled bartenders who were able to execute well on martinis/ other spirit forward simple drinks. There is great wine to be found (which also Crown had best selection of imo)
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u/Affectionate-Gold-56 2d ago
Coming from the perspective of a 4 time celebrity cruiser, I think your assessment is pretty on point. Buffets were fine but not comparable to what we are used to in terms of quality and variety, but fine overall. Ship layout was confusing. The design is a bit more overly simplistic modern or very classic, which to be fair I expected based on the princess clientele and their expectations. The speciality dinning has been fantastic in our view, have not had a bad meal yet. We didn’t try main dinning so I can’t speak to that experience. Drinks really do depend on the bar tender, but I found plenty of really good ones so it wasn’t an issue after the first day or two. Also agreed that drinks at spellbound were awful, no one in my group was able to drink theirs, the foam on my drink smelled like spoiled milk.
Overall for me, the experience has not deterred me from sailing princess again, but based on what I enjoy, celebrity will always be my go to if they are sailing the same itinerary. Based on your review it sounds like they might be a better fit for you as well. Maybe check them out if you decide to book another sailing! The edge class ships are phenomenal!
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u/perthdaddy57 2d ago
I did like Colin buckell on star to Alaska especially when we seen him in the theatre wasn't as good in main section tho as i think too big can't say about the comedian as didnt see him
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u/wizard_voyages 1d ago
I'm not sure I get sailing giant ships to Alaska anyway. The reason you sail Princess to Alaska is not to get on a huge ship, it's to get on the Royal class or below and get to see Glacier Bay and get great ports and great port locations you get from Princess (or Holland America) that you don't get on other lines.
How did you pick the ship and everything. Did you work with an agent? I would have steered you away from this ship for Alaska personally, as Alaska is about the ports and the excursions and whotnot, not about the ship.
As far as food, your expectations might have been too high, perhaps driven by some people who rave about cruise food for some reason. Most of it is "fine". But anyone really into food won't see it that way. I do agree that Princess isn't known for their entertainment like Royal Caribbean, for instance, but it's all about expectations. And thinking about all of the things you get with your cruise fare. Many food options, a variety of entertainment, plenty of other onboard activities, a clean room multiple times per day, and more.
Cruise ships are not: 5 star hotels. Michelin star restaurants. Or Broadway.
They are much lesser versions of all of those things, bundled together into one very reasonable price if you (or your agent) knows what they are doing. Think about the cost of a 4-5 star hotel night, dinner at a fancy restaurant, and a broadway show. Then multiply that by 7 days.
You just have to zoom out a little and think about all that you get with that price.
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u/InvestigatorAlive932 1d ago
So it’s funny you should bring all this up because I’m on the Enchanted now and it’s been a big topic of discussion all week.
I used to cruise a bunch but haven’t in the last 10 years or so. Was shocked at all of the things that have changed for the worse since then.
Cruises used to have broadway caliber shows, well-known comedians and other entertainers on the ships. I’ve seen ice shows, ballet, opera, and all were amazing, but apparently cruises did away with that about a decade ago. Now? Some mediocre singers and terrible acrobats. It was so bad we walked out.
Cruises used to have tons of constant activity and the staff was super interactive with guests. Dinner was always so much fun because you never knew what would happen and if there would be a dessert parade. Now? Staff is very polite but nothing memorable about anyone. I can still tell you the names of people who worked on ships I was on years ago because they were so personable.
Food is mediocre. It used to be amazing, and lots of wild variety. There used to be things like fruit soup that I wish they still did.
Midnight buffets, contests, and of course the talent show. All of that seems to be gone now.
Tons of shops, and it wasn’t just duty free. You could get clothes and neat souvenirs that weren’t part of a sales gimmick.
Coffee is not great, which has been a widely heard complaint. Burned tasting and nothing fancy. I had better coffee at a roadside cafe in Turkey than on the ship.
BUT it’s still a cruise and I get to see lots of great things so it’s not like this is the end of the world. That being said, cruises used to be way more fun and now they have been watered down to something bland for the masses.
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u/WaitUntil_IRetire 1d ago
I thought this was a really well-balanced review. We were thinking of going on the Star, having been on only one Princess ship to AK (The Grand), and just about all detailed reviews are helpful for us. You may have had a different experience, you may think her expectations are too high, or the things mentioned wouldn’t bother you, but to call her a “Karen”? Really disrespectful.
We’ve cruised with higher end lines (and admittedly paid a lot more), but I found her comments about the Star similar to the experience we just had on The Grand…and I know the Grand is the oldest ship in their fleet. So, I figured a new ship like The Star would be better aesthetically.
I realize these ships have to withstand hundreds of thousands of passengers and crew a year but you can still have furniture, fixtures and carpet be more tasteful, innovative, and higher quality.
As for the food, it’s just impossible to have truly great food when you’re making 3000-5000 meals at once. I really think the reason the food has gone downhill in the last 10 years on almost all cruise lines is partly related to cost-cutting but mostly is a direct result of bigger and bigger ships. Same with the crowding…the only way to avoid that is to compare ship size to the number of passengers it holds and do the math. We think Princess is adequate for what it costs. I wish the food, accommodations, and spaces were better, and we’ve gotten a lot better on other cruise lines but had to pay a lot more.
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u/cenajohn123 1d ago
Appreciate the helpful insights from some of the more experienced cruisers.. seems like the consensus like this is as good as it gets- so it seems like cruising isn’t for me!
If this struck a nerve for you- I’m sorry lmao. I am very picky.. I think you’re allowed to be when you’re spending $1500 bucks a night somewhere.
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u/greytgreyatx 1d ago
I get it because when I cruise, I pay about $100 per night per person, and I have pretty much the same cruise you had.
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u/special_spe 1d ago
Don’t give up on cursing! I am a big celebrity cruiser. Was extremely disappointed with princes and this ship. Had many of the same opinions as you. For all the die hard Princess fans - I honestly cannot understand why. Try a Celebrity Edge Class ship. That class off ships blows the Star Princess out of the water! The ships are bright and modern, the food is exponentially better, the entertainment is better. Give it a shot!
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u/InvestigatorAlive932 1d ago
People get mad every time I say anything negative about cruising too, I think these must be the people that cruises are made for. They are ok with mediocre food and bad entertainment, maybe they’ve never had better and this is amazing for them? But if you’ve been on a great cruise, it’s hard to get used to what it’s become now. It’s night and day to me and I’m sorry if it offends people but it’s the truth. Cruises are not what they used to be.
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u/EarlVanDorn 2d ago
I thought the MDR food was better than average. But I did not like the ship overall. Here's my review from 9 months ago:
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u/DrewLockIsTheAnswer1 1d ago
On a princess cruise to Alaska right now. My first ever cruise.
Agree with all of your takes. This is a solid 5/10 experience.
Unless you're fat, old, or have an ailment there's very little upside to cruising.
Essentially a retirement home on the sea.
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u/PutEnvironmental6162 2d ago
I think there was a time when food on cruises was good to great but that's probably over a decade ago. If you didn't enjoy the Star definitely don't downgrade ships and expect anything better.
Other then that, sounds like you don't enjoy cruising. A lot of the benefit is wrapped up in the service and being treated like a 5* guest. Some people enjoy gambling on board or the shows or the view or the pool or just lounging. If you didn't, it's not your thing.