7 Night Pacific Wine Country Northbound (Los Angeles To Vancouver)
Sail date: April 03, 2018
Ship:
Star Princess
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: C620
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
Again, I've discovered I do not enjoy cruise ships. We only did this because there was a group of us family members. If the weather was nicer, we would have had a more pleasant experience being able to utilize our balcony more and escape the crowds.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Ok, except that we are wine enthusiasts and this was touted as a "wine cruise" so we brought several bottles of good wine and sparkling wine with us. We knew there would be an additional corkage fee an were fine with that. However, getting our wine was quite a chore and the staff sent us on a wild goose chase. First we were told to go to the 4th floor, once there we were told there were only staff quarters on the 4th floor and to go to the 6th. Once there, we were told to go to the front desk. Once there we were told to go back down to the 4th floor and talk to security. We went back down to find out Security had left and we had to go back up to the front desk and wait in a very long line. Once we went through the line, finally someone knew what we were talking about and called to have our wine delivered to us. Unfortunately, by then the ship had left port and our bubbly was not chilled enough to enjoy on the "bon voyage"! Not a good way to start off.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food was very good. I would say the only disappointment was our main dish chicken at the Italian Specialty Restaurant. It was very dry. However, we were so full by the time that course was served it didn't ruin the experience. All other courses were fantastic.
Wheelhouse Bar
5 out of 5
This was our favorite place to grab a drink before or after dinner. The bar tenders were so fun we wanted to come back. One of them was Cisco and the other was a girl from Ukraine that I'm sorry to say I can't remember her name. But, she was soooo fun! We loved hanging out with her.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
None of the activities were that interesting to us except for the movies. But due to bad weather we weren't able to really enjoy that for 2 out of the 3 days at sea.
Entertainment
Didn't really stick around for any enterainment
Children's Programs
We didn't have any kids on this cruise
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I must say that other than our first day when no one knew where to direct us to get our wine, the staff was fantastic. Our Steward (Lem) was awesome. He kept our room so clean and neat and replaced our towels twice per day. He provided excellent service. The waiters and other staff members were also outstanding and very accommodating.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Overall the rooms were clean. But the ship was old. It looked old and smelled old. At one point the restroom outside the Amalfi (our traditional dining room) had no sink water which you didn't find out until after you used the toilet! I had to use the hand sanitizer 3 times before I felt my hands were clean
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The cabin was nice. Our balcony was very roomy and I was surprised how much storage there was for our clothes and luggage. The room was clean, but again the ship is old. The room an bathroom could use refurbishing.
Ship tip
Don't sail. I'm sorry, this isn't directed toward Princess specifically. This was only my 2nd cruise and it confirmed that I really don't enjoy cruise ships. I'm not into the activities and really don't like vacationing with over a thousand people in a confined space (the ship). It's noisy and crowded and I enjoy peace and quite. I felt like all we did was eat. The excursions were nice except we didn't get a chance to go to Astoria due to bad weather (not the ship's fault) and the one excursion we paid for in Nanaimo got canceled for safety standards (weird).
I love Santa Barbara. Been here many times and didn't need to pay for an excursion. We ventured out on our own being very familiar with the city. We went wine tasting, had a lovely lunch and then returned to the trip.
I also love SF. Been here many times as well so we ventured out on our own. Irish Coffee at Buena Vista, lunch at Scomas, then my sister and I walked to Union Square and did some shopping.
Very cute! The harbor was nice and we ate lunch at this great restaurant called Minnos located in a nearby hotel. We walked all around the town and did some shopping.
Vancouver has it down! Although they kept saying this was a new terminal and first disembarkation of the season, it appeared very organized. There were lots of people directing us where to go. The ship was also very organized, having us leave in stages depending on whether we had transfers and what time our flights left. I was impressed with this process.
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