DW & I just returned from a 15 night R/T Hawaii Cruise (San Pedro) onboard the Star Princess. This was our 18th cruise overall and 12th in a row on Princess. It was also the third time we did this itinerary which has a lot of what I like; "Sea Days." Prior to the cruise we had an active Cruise CriticRoll Call which is in my opinion a great way to get to know your fellow cruisers and plan things.

Even though we only live 92 miles away from the cruise terminal, we did a two night pre-cruise stay at the Hilton Doubletree in San Pedro. For the two days we just hung out and got more motivated for the cruise. The night before embarkation, we dined at a wonderful nearby restaurant called "22nd Street Landing." As far as the Hilton DoubleTree goes, I would highly recommend it for anyone thinking of a pre-cruise stay for a cruise out of San Pedro. The hotel also offers a free shuttle to the cruise terminal which is a relatively short distance from the cruise terminal.

On embarkation day we arrived at the cruise terminal before 1130 and were onboard fairly quickly. I did however experience some contradicting and confusing information from two terminal employees. Since we are quite familiar with the Grand/Crown class ships, we had no problems finding our way to our cabin. For this voyage I treated DW to the Grand Suite (B748). When we arrived at our cabin, we were immediately greeted by our cabin steward Gerardo from Mexico. We were also able access our cabin despite the early hour. During the entire voyage Gerardo did a good job in attending to our needs and keeping our cabin clean. Read more