complawyer

personally, i'd place all my bets on the posted ncl schedules

no ballroom dancing on any ncl ship as far as i know.

we've booked haven cabin in the past, i would continue to do so (depending on price) as now i feel comfortable booking the same type cabin over and over. it's like "welcome home" for the past year + my wife and i have traveled with a close friend. we book the 2 bedroom suite. she helps contribute to the cost, and the 3 of us get all the perks associated with the haven. while i concede we havent cruised with another line in many years (strictly ncl) knowing what to expect, and knowing what i'm going to get, (imho) justifies booking with ncl, and especially a suite.

in some cases, you can stay on board the ship and still "swim with the pigs" sorry, i just couldnt resist. we've been swimming with dolphins in costa maya, with stingrays in grand cayman, but with pigs.. i think not

by the way. even on my cruise on the star to southeast asia, the problems were strictly mechanical. there was nothing wrong with anything else on this cruise. i would have/have no qualms about booking another cruise on her. i dont expect gourmet cooking, when the kitchens are trying to prepare 1000's of meals per day in various venues throughout the ship, trying to accomodate 1000's of people varying food tastes. i have never had any negative interactions with any of the crew/staff. in the end, the star also has an amazing choice of itineraries. so, i say unto you all "go, enjoy, and stop b*****ng". I once had a friend that claimed some people would complain if they were being hung with a new rope. by the way good buddy chief mate jrk, hope you agree!

dont worry, ncl never misses chance to separate it's passengers from their $$$. i assure you, there will be many, many shore excursions available buy the time you get ready to sail. we're on the dawn march 2024 from capetown to barcelona, 21 days, and right now thee are only 7 excursions listed, and they are all for the canary islands, and not one of them interest me.

by the way, if neither of you are big drinkers, you probably dont need to spend the extra $$$$ on the drink package. you're both probably better off paying drink by drink.

to put it simply, imho, emphatically "NO" the STAR itself is certainly NOT bad! Just came off a back to back last aug/sept, and everything was fine. i dont really care about the entertainment, the food was ok. its as good as can be expected when a kitchen is cooking multi-meals for a few 1000 people daily, never had a problem getting a drink, and for the 1st few days, so the wait staff/bartenders would get to know us, we left tips for all. fredflint claims the cruise director was MIA. i say, who cares, in 24 cruises with ncl, i never bothered to even find out if there is a cruise director. I certainly don book a cruise hoping there will be a young, fresh cruise director leading the fun and games. of course, if you booked the star expecting bells and whistles, you're going to be massively disappointed. if you booked for the itinerary, and you have a nice, clean comfortable cabin, i believe you'll pleasantly and completely surprised. imo, the star is no better or worse than most of the ships in the ncl fleet (other than the newer ones) so, iigator, my concluding advice, is the old adage "believe 1/2 of what you see, and none of what you hear or read. personally, i can have a great time on any ship i choose (star definitely included)

yes, and you can hoard as many as you want in your cabin fridge (great if youre sailing with kids, or want some cereal in your cabin and not the hassle of the buffet

mscdivina2016, sounds like a major score in theory, but how much did you spend total on your credit card to amass that amount of points? when you factor in total spending throughout the year, interest payments and current balance, did you really get such a great deal, or would have been just as equal if you paid for the cabin. and i dont mean to rain on your parade, just curious

i'm sorry, all-ready2cruise : what in the world are you talking about?

hey chief, is there ever such a thing as "dumb casual" just asking. btw if i absolutely have to wear a collared shirt, i'm going to cagneys instead

we were on the star last oct/nov. it isnt as bad as some people make it out to be, and on this particular cruise, we had no problems whatsoever. personally, if the itinerary is where i want to go, i would not hesitate to book the star again. bty, ncl star has some amazing itineraries. so, my advice, book, sail, and enjoy the ride!

they also probably wont do it if some of your party are in haven or suites and others not.

again, we were on the star last oct/nov and thankfully no problems and the entire cruise went smooth as silk. our respective posts go back years, even as far back as "ask and answered" on specific ships. by and large, i felt that your answered were well thought out, informative and extremely helpful/useful while i shudder slightly, when i see an itinerary i like, offered on the star, i book anyway and hope for the best. yes, i missed seeing hanoi and taipei, major disappointment, but all in all not a bad cruise. fortunately, although, of course i get disappointed if a port i wanted to visit gets canceled, ive stated before, that im on a cruise ship, and the sheer joy/fun of sailing, eating, drinking and of course just relaxing in that type of atmosphere. compensates. maybe not 100% or even 50%, but i've had worse things happen in my life than a few missed ports

probably amount of dollars needed to sail, and extra goodies/perks, offered

by the way,, i left my dog tags, medals, cib etc to my grandson. im 75 he's 23. just so later on in life he'll have something to remember his papa., i have no idea where my latitude pins might even be

having booked a haven or regular suite multiple times, it just feels very comfortable, since we know what to expect, what ot look forward to and what to avoid. downside is the menus never seem to change for breakfast or lunch, cant begin to tell you how many times we've had either eggs benedict, or french toast for breakfast, or french did sandwich, shrimp louie salad for lunch.. such suffering, LOL! having checked other cruise lines and their respective itineraries, i go with ncl hands down

seashark, i was just commenting that to me the pin is immaterial. it may have some significance to others, and i'm not knocking ncl for either its thoughts or gestures in this regard. i think it's terrific that a major corporation is acknowledging veterans for both their service and sacrifices. if they give me a pin, fine, if not just as good. i dont wish to come across as bitter, angry or spiteful. rest assured i am none of the above i paid my dues, came home and got on with my life. no "thanks for your service" necessary

god bless the ncl star. this was the exact same problem we faced in our southeast asia cruise (hong kong to singapore) 2016-2017. like you , we took the benefits offered and stayed on t he cruise. we were on the star a few months ago, and guess what? no problems. so lets just call the star and oldie but goodie and accept her as is

our 1st cruise, my wife and i were in our early 30's, and this was in the mid 80's. having read about cruising and dinners, i packed a different suit and tie for 6 of the 7 days of our cruise, and a full tuxedo for the formal night ( i was young, innocent and stupid).. i was also an atty for almost 40 years and lived almost daily in a suit and tie. "NEVER AGAIN" now, having sailed for 13 years and 24 sailings with norwegian, i dont even like to have dinner in le bistro sine they insist on collared shirts. thank the lord for freestyle cruising (LOL)

im looking at the prima sept 2024 10 days from iceland to southampton. recall my prior post. i just turned 75, and i refuse to look that far ahead to 2025 (actually looking that far ahead scares the s**t out of me).

no, just a tip between 10-15 dollars. in reality, all they are doing is placing your bags on a dolly along with other passengers bags, and dragging them to a do off point. that being said however, if i'm leaving from an airport that has a sky cap check in, i usually give him $20, although my wife and i usually only check in one bag each. it's probably a very silly notion, but i think if i give the skycap a tip (especially if we're sailing from a european port, that there a much better chance of our bags arriving safely

i usually give them 10-15 regardless of the port from which we're sailing

ok, chiefmatejrk this may be our one and only chance. when are you booked on the prima, and is the cruise the one that originates in iceland. inquiring minds want to know