A Great 10 Day Cruise to Mexico (just before the flu outbreak)
Written: May 04 '09 (Updated May 04 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Large ship with many features, friendly staff, and good food options.
Cons: While during regular days it was not overcrowded; it felt that way on disembarkation day.
The Bottom Line: Princess Cruises offers great cruising adventures to wonderful destinations at a great price.
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| akit's Full Review: Star Princess |
The Star Princess is one of the many "Grand Class" ships of the Princess Cruises fleet. Many of the ships have a similar look, and a few of the newer "Grand" ships have some improvements that has been learned from the older sister ships.
Quick Basic Information
Trip: Mexican Riviera w/stops in Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, and Cabo San Lucas.
Travel dates: April 17th, 2009 to April 27th, 2009 (10 days)
Start/end: San Francisco, California (round-trip)
Stateroom: Caribe deck 10, aft (rear), inside cabin. Single passenger.
Dining: Traditional, 2nd seating.
Basics About the Cruise
This is a 10 day Mexican Riviera cruise going round trip from San Francisco. It takes three sea days to reach the furthest southern Mexican port, and will spend those four days visiting each port. Upon completion of its final port, it will spend two sea days in transit to San Francisco. Since the Star Princess was transitioning back to the West Coast of the United States and Canada, it had a gap in their schedule, and scheduled two 10-day cruises to Mexico before it transitions to its Alaska cruise season.
Booking my Cruise
I looked around for the best price and offers for the particular cruise. I decided to choose Costco Travel because they had the lowest price, a 2% travel rebate on my Costco American Express card, and a $25 shipboard credit with a bottle of wine and chocolate dipped strawberries. Costco membership is required to use this travel agency.
The helpful travel agents on the phone were able to answer all my questions and gave me all charges in detail. The deposit fee was 20% of my cruise fare, and I made my final payment approximately a month after booking. They also informed me that 1st seating for traditional dining was not available and I accepted the 2nd seating.
Pre-Registration before Boarding
Princess encourages all customers to be registered on the Princess website so you can get the latest updates and also do all your travel documents online instead of spending that time filling out paperwork at your embarkation point. You will need your passport information to fill-out the online forms. You should also provide your credit card number during pre-registration so that you can participate in express check-out, but you must also bring your card with you upon boarding, because the Princess representative will swipe your card.
You can also make specific requests to Princess before your departure. This includes special events such as birthdays, graduation, retirement, etc. You can also mention to Princess if you have any dietary restrictions, any personal health matters that they should be aware of, and make reservations for the Lotus Spa.
When there is 75 days left until the cruise, Princess will release the electronic boarding pass. You will have the privilege to access the boarding pass when you complete the personal information online paperwork. Just print and bring it along to the docks for a quick check-in.
When there is about 30-60 days left until the cruise, Princess will U.S. Postal you a package containing your luggage tags (3 tags per person), forms to register for shore excursions, and a question/answer book. But be aware, shore excursions can be reserved ONLINE way before the package is mailed to you. The good tours go out quick (zip line tours, swim with dolphins, etc.), so keep a good eye out online when registration comes available.
Embarkation Day
The big day has arrived and with my luggage, e-boarding pass, credit card, and passport in hand, I visit the Pier 35, the cruise terminal for San Francisco. I drop the luggage with the porter and enter the terminal to register with the Princess representative.
I hand my e-boarding pass, credit card, and passport to the representative, and she checks if everything is OK on the computer. I am handed my documents back and given my cruise card which gives me access to the ship and a credit account to charge purchases on.
After a quick sweep through the metal detector, I was on the ship in no time.
The Ship
Oh my gosh, the Star Princess is one very tall, wide, and long ship. It took a while to find my way around the ship, but I started finding out that my stateroom made it easy to access all the features of the ship.
Some of the main features of the ship includes the five story atrium with a mini-version of a sidewalk cafe on the lowest floor of the atrium, a large casino with various denominations of slot machines and plenty of tables, one theater, two show lounges, multiple bars everywhere on the ship, and of course, party central was on deck 14, home of the buffet, four swimming pools (including one indoor), and their main pool area is home to "Movies Under the Stars," a jumbotron style screen for movies and other video entertainment.
Some of my personal favorites on this particular cruise included the crew talent show, the hypnotist show, various visiting comedians, 10AM "Movies Under the Stars" featuring Circue de Soleil and various live concerts, and karaoke.
Dining
There is plenty of food options wherever you go on the ship.
For starters, you can always order room service for all three squares a day. However, they have a limited menu for breakfast, and offer the classic favorites for the rest of the hours (burgers, sandwiches, light snacks). You can also order a 12 inch pizza for a nominal fee of $3.
For breakfast and lunch, you can choose from a number of options. The Horizon Court buffet offers a variety of food options and always includes fresh fruits, pastries, and desserts. Breakfast is usually the same at the buffet with the usual items for your classic American breakfast (bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, etc.). They also have self-service coffee and tea 24-hours, just perfect when you need a fix. The buffet is open 24-hours.
For dinner, you can go to the buffet... but many decide to go for table service at one of the three dining rooms. Two dining rooms are for the "anytime dining" program where passengers can visit anytime during the dinner hours for their meal, or can choose "traditional dining," which requires passengers to enter the dining facility at a set time and will have the same table mates and waiters every single evening.
Traditional or Anytime? If you like flexibility because you want to see various shows and programs during the evening, anytime dining this is a perfect option. I prefer traditional dining over anytime because of the extra special service you get from your waiters. Your waiters will always remember what you enjoy the most. For example, if you like a particular soda for dinner, they will have one ready for you, or ask you if you want one before your meal.
There are alternate dining venues you can choose from. Crown Grill offers steak and seafood, and Sabatini's is like an Italian restaurant offering fine Italian food and lobster! But there is a nominal service charge for this, plus if you eat at Sabatini's expect your dinner to last at least 2-3 hours. You can also choose "Ultimate Balcony Dining" if you want to eat dinner on your balcony and be served by a Princess waiter. This is a pricey feature, but popular with routes in warmer climates.
For the in between meals, the buffet has plenty of snacks, the cafe in the atrium bakes fresh cookies and pastries and also sells specialty coffee drinks, and burgers and pizzas are being freshly made in on the Lido deck 14.
Lastly, about drinks: If you enjoy having a soda, consider the soda plan. For about $4.80 a day, you can have all the sodas you want at any bar and in the dining rooms (room service not included). That's about 2.5 sodas per day, but is extremely helpful in the warmer climates, like this cruise in Mexico. Kids also have a special program that costs more, but also includes unlimited soft ice cream and mocktails at the bars. For the coffee lovers, the coffee bar offers a punch card that can save up to 20% on your favorite drinks.
The Stateroom
I decided to go cheap and get an inside stateroom. My theory is that if I wanted to view the outside, it's just a stair climb away.
The stateroom I chose is suitable for two people. There are cabins with third and fourth person births, but that makes it an extremely crowded situation. Being that I was a single person in a double occupancy room, I paid a 50% surcharge on top of my regular cruise fare, but in exchange, benefited with double cruise credits (more on this later).
The bed can be converted into two twin beds or a queen bed. There was a small flat screen TV with live satellite feeds and on-ship movie and other programs. The bathroom is small and the shower just has enough room for one person (sorry to all you honeymooners), and there is plenty of hanger space to hang your clothes and storage to put away your luggage. There is also wi-fi access in every cabin so you don't have to fight over a computer in the internet lab/lounge.
The stateroom stewards are very friendly and helpful in maintaining your stateroom. They make sure the bathroom floors and sinks are dry, they make your bedsheets twice a day, and removes all your used cups and plates that you may have taken from the buffet.
Where should I stay on the ship? Many suggest finding a cabin in the midsection of the ship with a mid floor stateroom. That's not a bad idea if you don't like to get seasick. The bad news is that picking a midsection stateroom means using the heavily used midship elevators. I decided on sleeping almost near the extreme end of the ship where the walk to the rear elevator banks was short, but I was also able to access the show lounge, buffet, and the traditional dining room just by taking the rear elevator banks or stairs.
The Port Stops
Our ship was extremely lucky, we made it out of Mexico before the H1N1 virus started spreading around Mexico and became a super media hype. In many occasions the port stops were in terrible locations with nothing to shop for nearby the docks. It was helpful to catch a taxi or take an organized bus tour to visit the cities and towns. The easiest to shop and access was Cabo San Lucas because the tenders would stop nearby the flea market and street vendors were lined up all around the boat docks. The main shops were a 15 minute walk.
If you plan to shop, you don't need to visit any currency exchange. Literally every vendor you visit will accept U.S. dollars. Some will take credit cards, but be very cautious on where you shop as someone may rip you off. Please notify your credit card company if you plan to use your card outside the U.S. so they don't put a fraud alert accidentally.
The tour options are endless with Princess. They offer exciting adventures from riding a zip line to swimming with dolphins. For the person wanting it easy, there are motorcoach rides as well. My recommendation is to take the "Countryside and Tequila Factory" tour in Puerto Vallarta, where the tequila samples are really good. I bought four bottles!
Saying Goodbye
After ten days, you feel like you don't want to leave. My dinner table mates were really nice people, and the programs and shows are hard to beat. On the day before everyone departed, we all received our luggage tags. It told us at approximately what time we would disembark the ship and they were off by about 40 minutes because some non-U.S. citizen failed to report to immigration. Everyone was asked to be out of their staterooms by 8AM and wait a couple of hours to get-off in one of the lounge areas. The bad news is that the lounge areas and a lot of public seating areas were PACKED.
Cruising has its Rewards
For first time cruisers, they automatically joined the Captain's Circle program. This loyalty program offers repeat cruisers programs like discounts and additional benefits when cruising 5 or more times. I am now a Platinum member and I will receive more benefits including free internet on my next trip. You can earn double credits if you are a single occupant passenger, and triple credits if you are a single occupant passenger staying in a suite.
If you want to cruise in the future, you can make a $100 deposit with the future cruise travel agent on the ship. This is a much lower deposit than paying 400+ dollars on your deposit if you booked through your regular travel agent on land. The deposit also offers shipboard credit too. One big special offer, if you can't decide on what your next cruise will be, you can pay the deposit and Princess will keep it on hold for four years while you decide on what is best.
What else is there to say? I had a great cruise! It was nice and warm, the crew was friendly, and the ports were fantastic. I will always plan to cruise with Princess again.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
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Epinions.com ID:
akit
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Location: San Francisco, California
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 0 members
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