“Land Ho!” came the cry from the veranda of our mini suite on Dolphin deck on board the Princess Star. Normally you would think that would be your words after a 5 day ocean crossing Vancouver BC to Hilo, Hawaii. You'd be wrong. Land Ho was announced upon seeing the harbor of Vancouver on the last day of the cruise. If we had the money to spare we would have possibly chosen to fly back from Lahania rather than endue another five sea days of watching the Noro Virus run rampant on the ship. But alas, let me continue with the beginning.

Embarkation went smoothly and once in our stateroom our room steward greeted us and seemed to be quite pleasant. We were pleased with our mini suite, it was our first cabin with a tub, that would later turn out to be an excellent option. Our closet was well stocked with many quality hangers, something we appreciate. The shower area was very adequate for a man of my 6” 2” stature. The bathroom lacked a ceiling fan which would have been appreciated, although lingering steam was not a problem. Actually we were quite pleased with our room and its daily maintenance and our only reservation would be the lack of any personalization with our cabin steward. Being of an honest nature I admit hes reluctance to be friendly was fine with me.

One of the first things we did after the room inspection was to head up from deck 9 to the Horizon Court to check out the buffet area. We were disappointed, it was very crowded, the selection was very limited and compared to other ships we've been on, was quite small. As the cruise progressed there was very little change in the variety of food provided. Read more