We are a couple in our 50's and have sailed on Princess 12 times and this was our 34th cruise overall. We love it when find itineraries that sail from our home port of San Francisco so usually book two or three cruises a year when we can sail to and from so close to home. This was our first of 3 cruises on we have booked on the Star Princess but may cancel the last one if the next one isn't improved over this last one. It was rather disappointing overall but there were definitely some highlights I will touch upon as well.

DEMOGRPAHICS: First, I must mention that I have never been on a cruise where the average demographic seemed to be over 90 years of age. There were just a handful of people that were our age and even less that were younger. The ship was held up several times over health issues of the passengers. We, too, succumbed to a nasty cold on the 5th day onboard. Seemed as though everyone started getting sick and it just spread like wildfire and by the time we finally hit land, it was full blown.

EMBARKATION: This was by far, the worst job of embarkation in all of the cruises we have been on. As mentioned, we try to sail out of SF whenever possible and were excited to see a new option available to us, Hawaii roundtrip. The only problem being, it left on a Monday which required a full 2.5 weeks off from work. Well, as it turned out, we did not sail away until after 9 PM, so could have worked on Monday after all. We received an e-mail that embarkation would not start until 2 PM and everyone was to be onboard by 4 PM. It was as though they couldn't estimate what a problem this would be...like it was their first time ever??? To begin, not everyone can get to the pier at an exact scheduled time. In our case, our ride could only get us there at 11:30, so we knew we would have to stand in line for at least an hour or two. Little did we know that it would actually take 5+ hours to actually board. We were some of the first people in line but were told that the 'port authority' does not allow people lining up on the sidewalk. After disagreeing with the port representatives that made us disburse, we were told there would be no line if we came back at 2 PM. We got tired of arguing with them and walked down to Pier 39 with our luggage in tow, only to return to a line that extended back beyond Pier 19. We explained that we had preferred boarding status and were told we would not have to wait in line again when the rather snarky representative laughed at us and gestured to the back of the line. What was so upsetting is that they let people begin to board about 15 minutes after they kicked us out of line and preferred boarding passengers were allowed on at 1:15 PM. It is shameful we were lied to, laughed at and not allowed to board when promised. By the time we got onboard, it was time for the fire drill -- which they then delayed -- but they had already stopped taking the boarding photos, which is our one memento that we buy on every cruise (except for this one). We were starving by this time but missed out on any decent lunch -- and picked up some pitiful picked over leftovers from the Horizon Court. It was gross -- more along the lines of what we would feed to our animals. Of course, standing room only for the fire drill, which was delayed as not everyone was onboard and it was close to 6 PM. What got my goat is I could have worked a full day but no -- we were supposed to be onboard by 4 PM. So, no sail away party either as we didn't sail until after 9 PM as it appears they were still loading luggage onto the ship. By the time we left, the entire day was pretty much ruined -- wow -- and we paid for a vacation that started out so very frustrating. Read more