Star Princess 7 Night Mexican Riviera Cruise February 22 -
March 1, 2003 
by Tim Larison, CLIA Master Cruise Counsellor (MCC)
Family Members: Tim, Anne, Andrew (age 9), and Joshua (age
9) Larison
My family had been to Disney World and on the Disney Cruise before,
so in February of 2003 I decided to take them on a different
type of vacation. We visited Disneyland for 5 days, followed
by a 7 night Mexican Riviera Cruise on Princess. This would
be our first Princess cruise, and as a travel agent I wanted
to see how their kids 
programs
compared to the excellent ones Disney has. Also we were excited
to try out a new ship on a new cruise line with a new itinerary
for us! Rather than give a day by day account of this cruise,
I will tell you about the different parts of our cruise in
this report: Disneyland Portion, Our Stateroom, Recreation
And Activities Onboard, Itinerary and Ports of Call, Cruising
With Kids, Dining, Entertainment, and Embarkation/Disembarkation.
Disneyland Portion To read about the Disneyland portion of
our trip, go to this link: Tim's Disneyland trip report
We found this "self made" land and sea vacation an excellent fit.
After spending a few days walking around theme parks it was nice
to relax on a 7 day cruise.
Our Stateroom
While we would have liked to have a verandah or window stateroom
on this cruise, we got an excellent deal on a inside category M
stateroom so we decided to give it a try. This is the first time
we had taken a cruise with an inside stateroom. Our stateroom was
on the Aloha deck - the second highest passenger deck on the ship
(deck 12). We loved this location! We were only one deck away from
the pools and recreation areas, close to the kids club on deck 15,
and midship. The Star Princess had 5 elevators at three different
locations (aft, midship, forward). We found we rarely had to wait
very long for an elevator when it was necessary to go to the lower
decks. Our stateroom was small but functional. We had two single
beds below separated by a center dresser. Above each bed was another
bed that came down from the wall. Our kids loved sleeping in the
upper beds.
TIP: The upper beds each had a safety rail to prevent the kids
from taking a tumble in the night. For extra security, we asked
our cabin steward for extra pillows and we wedged the pillow next
to the safety railing for more protection. With this setup we felt
secure our kids would not roll out of their beds.
While the sleeping area of the stateroom was small, it did have
a large clothes closet, a good sized bathroom, a desk, and lots
of shelf space. We carried 5 suitcases onboard and we were able
to fit everything with room to spare.
When we wanted a look outside, we either went up a deck by a nearby
staircase, or we changed to the shipboard channel in our stateroom
that had a continuous view from the bridge. TIP: When you are on
the cruise tell your family and friends back home that they can
monitor your sailing through the Princess web site (www.princess.com).
There is a bridgecam on many of the Princess ships that are updated
every 30 seconds, with the photo being displayed live on the internet.
My mother enjoyed following our cruise this way.
TIP: When you checkin to your stateroom you are given a foldup
map to the ship that easily fits into a pocket or a purse. We carried
this guide around with us all week and found it very helpful to
navigate this large ship. Ask your stateroom attendant for additional
copies for other members of your family. Also there are maps of
the ship with a "you are here" dot at each elevator. TIP: When getting
off the elevator it was sometime hard to remember which side our
stateroom was on. The staterooms with an even number had a red carpet
in the aisle, the odd numbered side had a blue carpet in the aisle.
Using this info we always remembered which side our stateroom was
on.
Recreation and Activities
Onboard The Star Princess is a new ship (built in 2001, first sailing
in early 2002) with many amenities. We particularly liked the large
pool area on deck 14 that had a retractable roof. On our first couple
of days at sea sailing out of LA it was cool outside. The roof in
this pool area was closed and allowed people to swim in relative
comfort - safe from the cool temperatures outside. Also in this
area was a large ping pong room where we spent alot of time. Unlike
other ships I have been on where the ping pong tables have been
located outside on a deck, this covered area allowed us to play
ping pong without the wind affecting the game. This area with the
retractable roof will come in handy for those taking the Star Princess
in the cool temperatures of Alaska this May. In addition to the
covered pool, the Star Princess had another large outdoor pool,
a smaller lap pool where you could swim against a current, many
hot tubs, and two small kids pools outside of the children's area.
The minimum depth of the large pools was 5 feet, which made it difficult
for our kids to swim there. Other recreational activities onboard
included a basketball court, a 9 hole minature golf course, a golf
simulator, and a jogging track. You can see pictures of many of
these areas if you click on "pictures" link at the right of this
report. For the non-sports oriented, there was a large casino onboard.
The Casino was open when we were at sea. My wife and I played blackjack
here one day at a $3 minimum table - it was nice to have a couple
of lower limit tables for the casual gambler. There were plenty
of slot machines in the casino, as well as video poker machines
and craps tables. Several poker tournaments were held during the
cruise as well. Other non-sports activities included a game room,
where you could play bridge with other passengers or other games.
A well stocked library was onboard where you could check out two
or three books for the voyage. The ship even had an art gallery
and frequent art auctions on the "at sea" days.
The ship had a large internet cafe with over 20 internet terminals.
I checked my email a couple of times each day on the cruise and
never had a problem finding a terminal. On our cruise the charge
for the internet was 35 cents a minute. There was no plan where
you could buy unlimited internet access but I found I spent less
on the internet on this cruise than when I bought unlimited internet
access for a 7 night cruise on another cruise line. TIP: If you
plan on checking your email on the ship, before you leave home set
up a yahoo account and forward your email there. I found it quick
and easy to check my yahoo email each day on the ship. TIP2: Onboard
they give you extra incentives for booking your next Princess Cruise.
At each internet terminal you can browse the Princess website free
of charge. This helped us in planning and booking our next cruise
before we left the ship. Overall I was impressed with the wide variety
of activities available on the Star Princess. There was something
for everyone.
The Itinerary and Ports Of Call
We really liked the Itinerary on this cruise: Three "at sea" days
gave us plenty of time to explore the various features of this wonderful
ship. We liked having two at sea days to start the cruise so that
we had time to relax and learn about the ship. After 2 1/2 days
at sea we were ready to visit some ports, and having ports to visit
on 3 consecutive days was a nice break. Finally to finish the cruise
we liked having one final "at sea" day before returning home. I
wish all 7 night cruises were scheduled this way! I will describe
our activities at each of the ports below.
Puerto Vallarta
- At this port we did our longest shore excursion - a 7 1/2 hour
journey to the Hideway at Las Caletas. This was a wonderful secluded
cove that was only accessable by boat. The famous film director,
John Huston, once had a home here. We took a 45 minute boat ride
from the Star Princess to reach the cove. There were many beach
chairs setup on a private beach with a variety of water sports activities.
Sitting on the beach chairs and looking out over the ocean was very
relaxing. Anne and Josh took the one hour kayak tour. The kayak
excursion had a guide and it was good for first time kayakers like
Anne and Josh. Anne also enjoyed snorkeling here - she reported
the water wasn't as clear as when she had snorkeled in the Caribbean
but it was still fun. For lunch we had a wonderful buffet lunch
in a covered area overlooking the beach and the ocean. This was
an excellent excursion for kids. In addition to the water sports,
they also had some special activites for kids like "feed the deer"
and "make your own pottery". We really enjoyed our day at the beach
here and we would recommend this tour for future cruisers. The most
popular excursion at Puerto Vallerta that others on our cruise took
was the "Swim With The Dolphins" tour. TIP: The dolphin swim was
completely sold out before our cruise, so if you are interested
in this activity be sure to book it ahead of time.
Mazatlan
At this port we did not see a good shore excursion that our nine
year olds would be interested in. They loved the kids programs so
much that they had no problem staying in the kids club for a few
hours while Anne and I went on the "Mazatlan Highlights and Papantla
Flyers" shore excursion. We found this tour to be very interesting.
It started with a city tour of old town Mazatlan, including a visit
to a beautiful old cathedral in the center of town. Next we saw
two cliff divers. Finally we were treated to a Mexican dance exhibition
highlighted by the Papantla Flyers. The Papantla Flyers climbed
a large pole and descended from the pole upside down as they circled
around on a large rope. See my pictures for a photo of this event.
We were struck by the poverty in old town Mazatlan. We saw children
begging for money on the street and many street vendors hawking
their wares to us tourists. This was in stark contrast to the rich
country club areas we were driven through outside of town. If we
visit Mazatlan in the future we would like to do the Sierra Madre
tour that I heard good things about from other people on our cruise.
We like our shore tour, but we would rate this port as the third
best of the three we visited. This was the only port we encountered
aggressive street vendors and beggars. I will always remember the
cliff divers we saw - who risked their lives diving for us and then
begged us for tips afterwards.
Cabo San Lucas
We were at this port the shortest (only 6 hours) which was too
bad because it was the most beautiful port we visited. Here we took
a whale watching tour with our boys. For the first hour of the tour
we saw no whales but we weren't too disappointed - the scenery from
the boat was breathtaking. Cabo has many beautiful rock formations.
In the last hour of the tour the whales showed up. The kids were
thrilled as the whales popped out of the water all around our boat.
TIP: The whale watching tour was sold out before our cruise - if
you are interested in this excursion be sure to book it ahead of
time. TIP2: If you do the whale watching tour book the SECOND one
of the day. We took the early tour and as I said we did not see
any whales the first hour. We saw lots of whales at the end of our
tour, and reports from passengers who took the second tour said
they saw many whales. I think with the later tour more boats are
out so there are more reports of where the whales may be located.
We would like to return to Cabo someday to stay longer. It is in
a beautiful location and from our whale watching boat we could see
many nice resorts.
Overall we liked the diversity of shore excursions offered on this
cruise. The three excursions we took were all very different - a
day at the beach, a few hours exploring a city and Mexican Culture,
and a two hour whale watching excursion.
Cruising With Kids
We had been on the Disney Cruise line with our nine year old twins
before, and we weren't sure how they would like a non-Disney cruise.
We were pleasantly surprised - our kids absolutely loved the kids
club and we couldn't keep them away from it! When we were checking
in for the cruise we saw almost all adults in the waiting area.
"Aren't there any kids on this cruise?" Andrew asked. Once onboard
we did find other kids. In fact there were 27 kids from age 3 to
7 on the cruise, and 47 kids from ages 8 to 12. Compared to a Disney
cruise, there are far fewer kids, but on this cruise our boys got
to know the other children better. A Disney Cruise is like going
to a large elementary school, where there are many fun activities
but there is also a large number of other children. This Princess
cruise was like attending a small schoolhouse in the country - fewer
kids but more friendly. Our boys got to know many of the kids well
that they had met in the kids club. When we were on other parts
of the ship as a family we would frequently hear "Hi Andrew and
Josh!" as one of their friends from the kids club would recognize
them. The Princess kids clubs were well organized. Our boys were
in the 8 to 12 year old group - the Princess Pirateers. I was impressed
with the detailed organization of the club. On the first night of
the cruise we got a handout telling of all the kids club activites,
scheduled by the minute, for the rest of the cruise. There was a
wide range of activities offered - arts and crafts, games, contests,
movies, karoke, scavenger hunts, dancing, etc. The counselors had
a rule that was impressed on the kids the first night - if there
was any activity they did not want to participate in just say so
and they could sit it out. The kids club was far more than a couple
of adults watching the kids play video games the whole time - it
was well thought out with a good variety of events. The kids club
was open from 9 to 12 noon, from 2 pm to 5 pm, and from 7 pm to
10 pm on most days. On a couple of nights they took the kids to
the buffet for dinner at 6:15 pm - our boys chose eating with their
friends on these nights rather than eating with us in the formal
dining room. For days at ports the kids club was available during
the day if you preregistered by 5 pm the night before. After 10
pm you could pay for group babysittingat the kids clubs for $5 per
hour per child (open until 1 am). There is also a separate area
for kids ages 3 to 7, and another area for teens. The teen area
was particularly impressive with a huge tv screen and a big lounge
(bigger than the teen area we had seen on the Disney cruise).
A couple of TIPS about the kids clubs: 1. Make sure to register
your kids on the first night of the cruise. Even if you aren't sure
how much time your kids will stay in the clubs, you must be registered
for them to participate. After our kids tried the club on the second
day, they were to spend far more time in the clubs than we anticipated
before the cruise. 2. Check to see what nights the kids club will
take the children to dinner. This will give you a chance to make
an "adults only" reservation at one of the speciality restaurants
(see "Dining" below) while your children are eating with the other
kids. For adults on the cruise who want to avoid kids, there were
plenty of areas on the ship where you rarely saw children. The nighttime
shows, for example, are geared more toward adults. Kids can attend
but we saw very few.
Overall we were very impressed with the kids club and we would
not hesitate to take our kids on another Princess Cruise. We still
love the Disney cruise and I would rate Disney as the top cruise
for kids, but the Princess Cruise really surprised us at how well
they handled their kids programs.
Dining
I can describe the dining in one word: Excellent! We had the early
"traditional" seating time for dinner (6:15 pm). We liked the traditional
seating. Another option on the cruise is "Personal Choice" seating,
where you can eat whenever you want between 5 and 10 pm. With our
traditional seating time we had the same waiters every night - we
liked that very much. Our waiters were quite friendly (one from
South Africa, one from Portugal) and they were great with our kids.
We never had a wait with our traditional seating time. With Personal
Choice I saw long lines for dinner on one of the formal nights (everyone
wanted to eat at the same time) but on other nights Personal Choice
seemed to have minimal waits as well. Our "traditional seating"
dining room was located on deck 6 - the "Amalfi Dining Room". This
was one of three large dining rooms on the ship. The food was wonderful
all week - there was a good variety of selections and the quality
was very good. The kids menu was limited (hamburger, hot dogs,etc)
but that wasn't a problem for our kids - they enjoyed ordering off
of the adult menu each night. Another dining option available was
the 24 hour Horizon Court buffet. We ate breakfast here a couple
of times. The hours were particularly convenient when we had an
early shore tour. On our whale watching day we ate breakfast in
the buffet at 6 am. TIP: If you have time, breakfast and lunch at
the Portifino dining room is almost as good as dinner! The buffet
is good for a quick meal, but for a better meal at breakfast or
lunch in a sit down restaurant try the Portofino.
The Star Princess had two specialty restaurants: Tequilas (a Mexican
Restaurant), and Sabatini's (a Italian Restaurant). Tequilas has
a $8 cover charge per person which includes a free margarita. We
ate at Tequilas one night while our kids were eating with their
friends in the kids club - we loved the food and the quieter atmosphere
when compared to the main dining room. While we didn't get the opportunity
to eat at Sabatini's, we heard good reports about this restaurant
as well from other cruisers. TIP: If you want to eat at Sabatini's,
it is good to make reservations shortly after you board. This restaurant
fills up fast. We were able to get reservations at Tequilas a couple
of days into the cruise. Another food option is a wonderful Haagen
Daz ice cream parlor next to one of the main pools. The ice cream
is an additional charge here ($2.80 for two scoops) but worth it.
Also by the pool is an area where you can get pizza, hamburgers,
and hot dogs at no additional charge. Room service is also available.
The Star Princess charged extra for soft drinks at meals, so if
you like soft drinks a "soda card" was a good buy on the first night
of the cruise. This card gave you unlimited sodas for the week.
We choose to skip the soda card and we drank water at most meals.
There were two formal nights on this cruise. We had pictures taken
on the first formal night (Sunday night). The dress code at Tequilas
was not quite as strict on formal night - we decided to skip the
second formal night and ate at Tequilas instead. There was one downside
to the excellent food on the Star Princess - I gained more weight
on this cruise than I have on any other cruise I have taken in the
past. Time to get back to Weight Watchers!
Entertainment
The Star Princess had many entertainment options. There were two
big shows each night - one in the large Princess Theatre and another
in the Vista Lounge. There were 5 different comedians on our cruise
(the best one was "Sarge" on the last two nights). Princess has
a large cast of dancers who gave different shows during the week.
The production show "Dance!" was the best one we saw. In addition
to the large shows, there are a few smaller lounges onboard with
bands and dancing. A large disco at the top of the ship ("Skywalkers
Night Club") featured late night dancing and entertainment. During
the day and on some evenings there were first run movies offered
in the Vista Lounge and in the Princess Theatre. In addition there
was a movie channel on our stateroom tv that featured first run
movies. We were so busy with the other entertainment and recreational
activities that we never did make it to a movie on this cruise.
Kids are allowed at the nighttime shows but they really are more
for adults in content. Our kids were happy to spend time in the
kids club in the evening.
Embarkation/Disembarkation
We found getting on and off the ship very easy. When we checked
in to the cruise terminal on the first day we were given a number.
At boarding time people were called by number to board the ship
- no need to wait in line. We were given an assigned time to get
off the ship (8:15 am) and flexibility to eat breakfast and return
to our stateroom any time before then. The Princess transfers to
the airport after the cruise were quick and efficient.
Summary
We had a great time on our Princess Cruise and we would definitely
cruise with Princess again. In the back of my mind before the cruise
I thought Mexico might not be as good as some of the Caribbean cruises
we had taken in the past - I was pleasantly surprised by the ports
we visited and the diverse shore excursions offered. Most important
for us is that our kids had a good time on the cruise, too, thanks
to a well run kids club with lots of activities.
Tim Larison
return to all mexico reviews
