Clean but Disappointing and Over Priced Discount Cruise

Item: Star Princess
Rating: 3.2
Author: jbaquet

Star Princess Cruise Review to Mexico

jbaquet

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 29

Overall rating:

3.2 out of 5

5 Night Cabo San Lucas Getaway (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 01, 2018

Ship: Star Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

One of the reasons we selected this cruise was because it was rated 4.5 out of 6 stars on several cruise websites, but it was the same as the 3.5 star discount cruises we've been on in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, but it was double the cost. It was a clean ship and they may have spruced it up in 2017, but it seems to have a lot of mechanical problems that need to be fixed. The food was good for a discount cruise, but nothing special. If you really consider this a 4.5 star cruise, then the food was poor.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Embarkation went fine. It would have been helpful if our cruise documents provided the information necessary to know which line to get into. You must have someone look at your docs to ensure you are in the correct line.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

We mostly ate the buffet, the food was good but it was always cheap cuts of meat. Pork in some fashion every day, and things like chicken legs. The two times they had beef it was very cheap cuts. The added cost restaurant was as good as the much less expensive cruised I've been on out of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Expect lines unless you go extra early or extra late, and the coffee is from concentrate. This was not 4.0 or 4.5 quality food, depending on which website you look at.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Our steward was excellent, and the bar tenders at Crooner's bar were excellent.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The air conditioning did not work well from day one, the room was on the warm side. I asked if there was an issue and I was told it was because it is hot in Los Angeles. The first day there was no hot water. The rest of the cruise there was only really hot water. The air conditioning continued to be a problem until it finally went out for good on the 4th day after leaving Cabo. We slept outside on deck because it was so hot in the cabin. They finally got the ac working about midnight or so. They ended up giving everyone on the ship a $50/person credit and 25% off of their next cruise. Overall, the ship was clean but starting to show some wear and tear. While anchored in Cabo I went to the service desk to ask about the issue with the ac and I was told that due to the warm water zebra mussels had clogged with water intake, and once we got underway it would get better. Later that day we were told that zebra mussels were clogging the filters. I don't know what to believe, but I've been on cruises in the hotter airs on cruises with cold air conditioning.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

The cabin was roomy, clean, and definitely the nicest mattress I've ever had on a cruise. There was very little or no air conditioning from the start so it was difficult to sleep. The first day there was no hot water. For the remainder of the cruise there was no cold water, only very hot water. It was very difficult to shower. We had an excellent steward.