February 18 - All Aboard the Star

Saturday

I am so confused on what day it is when my eyes open.  Then it dawns on me it is Saturday and today we board the lovely Star Princess.  It has been a few years since we have been on her and I am looking forward to getting back on.  Our very first cruise with Princess was the original Star in 1998 so we always have a soft spot for the Star, even though this is the second Star.

We arranged for a shuttle with ShuttleRio for 15 R each.  The van arrived promptly at 11:45 and the four of us got on.  We then stopped at another hotel and more people got on and now we are loaded down with people and bags, to the point that we were suppose to pick up one more couple but there was no room for them and the driver arranged for them to get a taxi to the pier.

Traffic was busy in Copacabana and Impenema because of Carnival but once we got out of there we made good time.  In total it took about an hour to get to the pier.  There were a lot of ships in port, and I can’t really say how many because well I was just so happy to see the Star and didn’t count.  But I do know that at least one ship was in town overnight. 

I will preface this next piece with prior to leaving home we received an email from Princess asking us to stagger our boarding because the pier can not accommodate large crowds.  We were told to arrive between 1 and 2, but when we arrived it was obvious that not many listened to this.  We were dropped off at the pier at around 12:45 and right away a porter came and collected our bags.  Now this is not Fort Lauderdale, there are numerous ships and different lines all in one area, make sure you have your luggage tags on your bags so the porters (we tipped and the gentleman was very happy – and said he would take care of the bags immediately).  They loaded our bags onto carts and we later saw they take them right to ship!

The line up was very very long and we knew we were only a block or so from the city so we headed in to get a coffee, well mine was a latte because those of you who know me know I need my latte and we each got a lovely warm croissant.  I also needed some conditioner and was able to pick some up right there.  We were gone for only about 45 minutes and made our way back to the ship.

We inquired where to go and were directed with our preferred status to this line and we were inside the building right away and getting our cards within 15 minutes.  We got to our cabin and our bags were there, guess that porter did take care of our bags.

We are in B619, our friends are right next door.  Our cabin steward Mae introduces herself right away, a lovely lady from the Phillipines.  She takes care of requests, top sheet, extra pillow, wine glasses, extra towels.  We notice the chair on our balcony is in need of repair because of a tear and our balcony door lock is not working, we let her know and the chair is fixed when we come back from coffee later on and she lets us know the door will be fixed soon.  No problem, she has been wonderful and I think we are going to be very happy with her, well we have always been happy with our stewards but some have been superior and I bet she is going to be one of them. 

We unload all our stuff, we place our masks on the lights on our bedsides which reminds us of where we started.  We decorate our door with our map that I created and I already can see that numerous cruisecritic people have done the same, and it is nice to see some have personalized it too. 

Time for coffee in the International Café, our favorite place on board during the day.  We finally run into Alice, we sailed with her last January and talked her into this voyage and we are so happy to see her again.  We meet Bonnie and a few others and we sit and chat for about an hour.  Oh I got the coffee card (no coupon for the mug in the coupon book – there was one in Dec but not now, oh well that is fine it is the latte I need not the mug).

Alice and Bernie

Muster is set for 17:15 and we get back to the cabin in time to grab the life jackets and head to the Promenade deck for muster station C.  They did not swipe our cards, which surprised me since they had been doing it on the last three cruises we had been on. 

We are now up on deck for sail away and I bring my Carnival Mask and we meet up with a bunch of the Cruise Critic gang.  I have to say that I find sailing from  Vancouver to be the most beautiful port to I have ever left from but Rio has to be the second.  There was someone doing the commentary but we could not make it out very well from the Sun deck.  Got some great shots of the city and a most beautiful sunset.

Once again we are anytime dining and we meet up with friends to eat in the Capri dining room at 8 pm.  Tonight is Sailaway dinner theme and I am not hungry but had one of the spring roll appetizers, the mushroom soup and the barramundi fish dish but could only eat half of it.  We had a lot of fun at the table and laughed our heads off with many new friends.

We wander around the atrium after the meal and get to meet Terri our Hotel General Manager.  We have never sailed with her but Deidre told us how nice she is and that she is from Vancouver, we have brought her something from home for her and she will be at the meet and greet tomorrow so we will give it to her then.  We also had the pleasure of meeting Captain Perrin who is from England and very nice. 

The officers as per the Patter are:  Captain Perrin, Staff Captain Rikard Lorentzen, Chief Engineer Francesco Villella, Hotel General Manager Terri Cybuliak, Cruise Director Sammi Conneen-Baker, Senior Doctor Dylan Belton, Food & Beverage Director Oliver Neuburger, Customer Services Director Nickie Shells, Executive Chef Paolo Merio, Maitre d’Hotel Mario Propato, Executive Housekeeper Jose Almeida.

Bernie get his watch in the stores, he wanted one in December but I suggested he wait till this voyage (motive it is for his birthday which was in January) he picks out a lovely Tissot Touch watch. 

Back in the cabin and we are tired and so glad that we have two sea days to rest, we LOVE sea days

Rio de Janeiro - we are HERE

We flew LAN http://www.lan.com/en_ca/sitio_personas/index.html to Sao Paulo with a stopover in Lima.  The flight was long but I really enjoyed flying with LAN, they served us hot meals and the meals included beverages, including wine/beer etc.  Now one thing we were not expecting was that we would have to get off the plane in Lima but we were told we had to disembark because the crew was changing and the plane needed cleaning.  We got off and we weren’t too sure where to go, we followed the signs for In Transit passengers, what this meant is we had to go thru security again.  Although it went very fast as I believe it was only for in transit people but not a 100% sure.  The security is lighter in Lima than in Canada/US as we didn’t have to remove shoes, they didn’t seem to care that we had water in our water bottles.  We went right back to our gate and waited and they allowed those in transit to board the plane first.

stop for lunch, an espresso and practice some of our Portuguese

When we arrived in Sao Paulo we were had to go thru Brazilian customs/immigration.  On the plane we were given the form for the tourist card.  When we arrived at the customs agent they stamped our passports and our card and gave us back the tourist card.  Now make sure to keep that card because you have to turn it in when you leave the country.  We then had to pick up our suitcases and then leave the customs area (oh they put our bags thru the x ray too).  Note there are duty free shops in the airport that you can buy your stuff at and then put in your suitcase before your next flight.  We did buy a bottle of Baileys and Vodka to enjoy on the ship, prices were okay, certainly cheaper that Canada but not much of a savings for American from what I heard. 

 We now had a few hours to kill 2.5 to be exact until our flight to Rio.  We could of booked an earlier flight but we didn’t want to risk it and miss it.  And with having to go thru customs and re checking in at the TAM counter.  We had a small bite to eat and then we decided to head to our gate.  Our flight was boarding at an International gate, even though the flight was a domestic one.  So again we went thru security and the customs agent checked our passports and wanted to see the tourist card, we gave it to him and he said that was all.  But I knew I needed that tourist card!  So I asked for it back and after he realized we were heading to Rio and not leaving Brazil he gave it back to us.  Note that if you loose that tourist card it pricy when you do decide to leave the country!

airport in Sao Paulo, all the terminals in the same building and accessible

Arriving in Rio was a cinch… bags took a long time to get there but as soon as we had them we cleared the secure area and before you even exit the door to the main airport there were women in little booths trying to get your attention to take their taxi/shuttle rides to the city.  We had already arranged a shuttle with ShuttleRio http://shuttlerio.com.br/home/en/en/ and our meeting place was right outside the secure area.  We were picked up right on schedule and the ride to the hotel was about 20 minutes.  The price of the shuttle was 15R each, a real bargain. 

our hotel, about a 15 min walk from Leblon, highly recommend, beautiful resort

We are staying at the Sheraton in Leblon.  This hotel is one that Princess uses but we booked it independently.  We were assigned a room on the fifth floor initially and when we first entered we noticed a large king bed and the view was amazing but that is where it ended, lots of stains on the carpet, paint chipped on the walls, wall in the bathroom had stains on it.  The closet door was very hard to open/close, the bathroom only had a large shower stall that was tiled and we really needed to clean up so we decided on a quick shower but as soon as I stepped in the shower I slipped cause there was no shower matt and the tiles were very slippery.  The facet was loose and the face plate was disconnected.  The soap dish in the shower was not tight and couldn’t hold a thing without it swinging around because it was so loose.  I got out of the shower and called down to the front desk to state how disappointed I was in the room.  I explained we are here for six nights and considering the price this room would not do.  They then assigned us to a room on one of their renovated floors, the 16^th.  This room is much better, new carpets, bathtub, closet doors open/shut, very nice and I am happy. 

check out this view from our room, beautiful!

Cause tonight we are tired and we want to get to bed early we head downstairs to one of their restaurants and I had a lovely Portuguese Pizza that had ham, onions, peas, cheese, and cooked egg.  It was very very good, and the surroundings were breathless.  We hit the hay around 11 pm.