I have been asked by some people not on my email list to talk a little bit about the ship we are on: the Star Princess....what is good and bad. I’ll try to add a few comments about the ship in future postings....but here are a few items to start with:

The Star is a beautiful boat and is generally very well maintained. Note: during the initial rough weather we did have a problem with the balcony door....the latch would work itself loose with the constant motion of the boat and we’d awake, several times, in the night to find our door open and the wind swirling through the cabin. I alerted our cabin steward, Carmen, to the problem and it was quickly fixed.

Speaking of Carmen; she is a fine steward. When we see her in the passageways she is always pleasant and cheerful....at all other times she is a ghost-like wraith who magically cleans and re-supplies the cabin when we step out for a few brief minutes.

The food in the main dining rooms is good....but not outstanding. If you want outstanding cuisine then a trip to Tequila’s Steakhouse or Sabatini’s Restaurant would be in order. But I don’t want to be too critical of the dining room food....it is good and there are a lot of choices.

Some passengers are still complaining about the lack of free ice cream on Princess (something that pre-dates my Princess experience)....those folks will be pleased to know that free ice cream and cookies are being served in the Horizon Court between 3:30pm-4:30pm on this voyage.

There are many entertainment options....I covered some of them in a previous posting.....our dinner companions, The Ohioans, have been to the main shows in the Princess Theater every night and have enjoyed them all.....however, to get a seat they generally arrive an hour prior to show time. If you try to arrive just a few minutes prior you will find the theater full and no seats available. I don’t really want to see a show that badly, so I’ve limited myself to the secondary shows in the Vista Lounge, Explorer’s Lounge or the Atrium.   

The ship’s gym is small, but well equipped. It is very crowded in the mornings. On the day of embarkation I went to the gym about an hour after boarding and found that the signup sheets for the treadmills had already been filled for every morning of the cruise. But I’ve found that the gym begins to clear out at noon, so you can still get in a workout if you forego lunch. The crowds then return about 3pm. The skipping lunch strategy has worked well for sea days, but with port days being the norm for the second half of the cruise I may have a problem.

Internet:  You can access the internet from computers in the Internet Café or the Library. If you have a wireless enabled laptop you can also use it from hotspots located in the Atrium, Horizon Court and a couple of other locations.....but not from your cabin....a list of the wireless hotspots is posted in the Internet Café. You can sign up for an Internet “Package” in the Internet Café. The base rate for access from a Princess computer terminal is $0.75 per min, but buying a bulk rate package can drop that down to $0.40 per minute. Wireless access is a flat $0.50 per minute....you sign up for a wireless connection and get a user ID and password at the Internet Café. I have been using the wireless internet connection for my emails and web postings. I had heard that there were many problems with the Internet service....but I haven’t experienced any significant problems yet. Sure, the speed is slower than what you get at home....much slower. But it is as good as I’ve ever experienced on a ship at sea.

Coffee lovers will be saddened to learn that the free brewed coffee that had been available in the mornings from the Lobby Bar is no more. It is now a purchased item.

Drinkers among you will also be saddened that Princess now only offers the small, 0.375 liter bottles of liquor from room service.....but be of good cheer, you can still bring liquor aboard in your baggage or carry-on bags.....and with many ports of call on the itineraries for the rest of the season you will have ample opportunities to re-stock the liquor cabinet in your cabins.

I have seen people onboard who are having a great time and folks who are miserable and constantly complaining (“on the worst cruise of my life”).....and it’s all the same cruise. The difference mostly depends on the attitude that they brought onboard......the Star Princess is a great ship.....if you have a great attitude, then you’ll have a great cruise.