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Star Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

CrusingSenior

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

1.4 out of 5

7 Night Alaska Inside Passage With Tracy Arm Fjord (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 16, 2019

Ship: Star Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

We sailed on the 6/16/2019 - 6/23/2019 Alaskan cruise on the Star Princess and it was one of the most horrible cruising experiences we had encountered. We wanted to celebrate our anniversary and my son’s honeymoon on your Princess Cruise and booked three cabins. We booked an Alaskan cruise specifically to see the glaciers and to visit BC Canada. First of all, we were up and on the deck at 5am (per the itinerary) so that we could see the glaciers while passing through Tracy Arm. After about a half an hour to an hour later we were told that we would not be able to pass through Tracy Arm and that we were going to Endicott instead. As for attempting to see glaciers at Endicott we were told that if we looked through binoculars we could see the tip of a glacier. Needless to say we did not get to see any glaciers on this cruise. During the cruise, our toilets backed up twice. The first time it occurred we waited until the morning and they were able to clear it by flushing the line. According to some other cruise passengers they also had the same problem. The next day the same problem occurred and a maintenance worker was sent to our cabin and again had to flush the main line. My son’s and daughter’s cabins experienced the same toilet issues as did the other passengers along our corridor. Also, during the cruise there was a leak in the ceiling of my daughter’s cabin which occurred around 4:30 am which caused them to wake up to a wet bed and blankets. Given the multiple situations we had with the toilets we were understandably concerned that it might have been associated with the sewer line issue but was assured that it was not a sewer line leak but was a ventilation leak. Because my husband and I were celebrating our anniversary we received two gift cards in our mail slot outside our cabin door. One was for $25 to spend in the princess shops and one was for $50 towards a spa treatment on port days. While we were unable to use the spa gift card we did use the $25 gift card at your Vines Novelties gift shop. The salesclerk said that he needed to keep the gift card so that our stateroom account could be credited and stapled the gift card to his copy of the receipt. At the end of our cruise we noticed that the gift card was not credited to our stateroom so I called the customer service desk and told them the problem. They told me that they did not have any record of any gift card but that they do show the charges made at the Vines Novelties shop. They asked me if I had the gift card and I informed them that the salesclerk said that he needed to submit it so that our stateroom could be credited and that he had the gift card. They told me that because they do not reflect anything in their system they are unable to credit it. The gift cards actually had our names printed on it our cabin number and “Congratulations”. As if all of the above was not enough to make this a terrible cruise, as we approached BC Canada we were informed that we would not be porting in BC Canada and would just anchor in place! So during this Alaskan cruise with Princess we were not able to see any glaciers (Albeit if we looked through a pair of binoculars we may be able to see the tip of one); the toilets backed up twice; there was a ceiling leak in my daughter’s room; we were provided a gift certificate which was ultimately not honored; and we were not able to port in BC Canada! Basically, the two main ports (attractions) associated with this cruise which were also the two main reasons for choosing this cruise were not provided for along with the other substantial frustrations mentioned above. I contacted Princess Cruise lines on 6/28/2019 regarding this horrible experience. They informed me that they will research the matter and a customer service representative would contact me soon. We finally heard back from a customer service representative from Princess Cruise line and she said that not docking at the ports is something covered in our contract. Leaking toilets I guess are also common for their ships as well. I guess this is indicative of the type of service you can expect from Princess Cruises! My family loves cruises but we will be choosing a different cruise line for our future cruises!