7 Night Alaska Inside Passage With Tracy Arm Fjord (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 28, 2019
Ship:
Star Princess
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 4 years ago
Review summary
Visit Alaska, but maybe research the ship. I would go on a newer or refinished ship next time.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
When you get out of car, these caddy men run around loading luggage onto these carts. Had to wait over 30 mins for someone to help us get our luggage. They did not have enough help to accommodate the two ships in port.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
The food in the dining room was okay. Nothing grand. The last cruise the dining room had wonderful food. Found a hair in my food. Also, expect 2-3 hour waits to finish dinner in the capri dining room. With an infant this was excessive for myself let alone my baby.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The pools seemed nice, but I never used them. I did use the spa, but was quickly turned off because they push "upsells" constantly. The newly wed game was fun.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The musicians seemed great, but the dancers and singers were not that great. On my last cruise the singers and dancers were amazing. This time the singer's were actually annoying and the shows verged on boring.
Children's Programs
Didn't use
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our room steward was extremely friendly. I never ran into any staff that was rude. I would say some were lazy, in the Lido deck and repairmen. When in the Lido deck I could stay a whole meal and never be greeted by anyone for drinks or a highchair. I had to go hunt someone down for a highchair. ALTHOUGH, I was impressed with the Lido deck staff that ushered passengers to wash their hands before eating, the first couple days.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
Where to start...It is an old ship and desperately needs some TLC. Our balcony was dirty and rusty. The carpet in the room was weathered, stained, and dirty. The room was small even though it was a balcony room. Could hardly fit the "crib" they provided us. The bed was TERRIBLE. It was lumpy (the middle of each twin sunk down and you felt the springs) it also had no support on the sides so you just sank down to the frame. The AC/Heater was broken and had no air pressure. I made complaints a couple times because we got married onboard....and nothing came of it. They did send people out who confirmed our concerns with their machines, but it never was fixed. I thought the capri dining room looked like a retirement home dining room. Last ship we went on was a carnival ship and it had an over the top boarderline gaudy but this room was very stale. Several public restrooms were gross (dark hairs, dirt, urine, other unmentionables on the floor, and more rust). So, very sad!
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Ship tip
Don't expect much on the ship, but Alaska is gorgeous!!
This was my favorite port. Visit Creek St!!! I loved it. We did the Lumberjack Show. This port I had ample amount of time to explore. It is cute and unique. Yes, they have a lot of tourist stuff, but what do you expect. It is how the people who are year-rounders make a living..on cruise ships arriving. Silly people!
We went whale watching. I really enjoyed it but it is not action packed like an amusement park. Some people in my party were disappointed--silly. It is nature not some form of technology. The city was bigger as expected and I didn't get to see it. Hence, the three stars because I am not sure what is there.
I recommend the train ride. It was gorgeous! Again this is nature..if your looking for some action packed beach party you choose the wrong cruise!! The town is cute with a lot of history.
No excursion, but we walked around. I wish we arrived earlier in the day, but overall the port was wonderful. We visited the empress hotel for a wonderful blue gin drink. I recommend the lavender lemonade drink. It is gorgeous and tasty! During our arrival it was a holiday and the Sea cadets were doing a ceremony at the parliament building. We saw a parade, cannon shot, marching band, etc. Extra bonus....But it was warm and the mosquitos started to bite at dusk. We were not prepared (our faults) for the bugs so we decided to head back around 9:30pm (with our 9 month year old). I wish we had time to do a ghost tour or some other tour, but we did take the 1-hour hose-drawn carriage tour back to our ship. I enjoyed that and learned a little about the architecture of the area. There was a lot to see and without more time and proper transportation we did not get to see it. I hope to visit again.
Ended up having to vacate our room at 8:00am to sit around until 9:30 to get in line to leave. My party thought since they ask you to choose when you get off we could stay in our rooms later, sleep-in, etc. NOPE!! They kindly force you out of your room around 8:00am to go sit somewhere else on the ship until your color is called. But once off the ship the luggage is nicely located in each color area with ample space to get around with the other passengers.
Nothing is ever perfect, but I’m always surprised at how many go to Alaska and seemed focused on finding everything wrong with the ship. We were too busy enjoying the scenery and excursions to notice much about the ship at all. The ship was primarily a place to eat breakfast & dinner and use as transportation to the next port. Alaska is about the ports and scenery, not the latest / greatest ship.
The reason. You have to leave your rooms at 8 am is so they have time to turn them all for the next guests boarding that afternoon. It's not like a normal hotel where they have vacant rooms and clean the as guests check out. You wouldn't be happy if you couldn't go to your cabin when you boarded because the last guest wanted to sleep in.
I agree with Shaun. I cruised on her last year for 4 days. While I did see signs of minor wear and tear, but it's to be expected for an older ship. I personally thought the old girl was holding up really well and won't hestitate to book another cruise on her. You can't please everyone, and to each their own. Sorry to hear that you didn't have an enjoyable cruise on her.
I have read at least 30 recent 4-5 star reviews of star princess & have seen lots of video’s on YouTube & pictures of tours around the ship & balcony rooms that would disagree with what you said. Maybe you just got a bad room, because I have heard plenty of good things about the beds, rooms. Yes the Star is NOT a new mega ship that holds 5,000 people, it was built in 2002 and I believe last time in dry dock for updates was 2016. Sorry you had a horrible experience, like they say, u can’t please everyone 😀
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