rdnpdx1

Currently going across the Tasman sea, towards NZ, approx. half way at a speed of 20.1 knots.

We are proceeding at 21.1 knots at last report with heading of 75 degrees. Anticipated arrival in Auckland is now 0930 18 Feb.

They were still in the bay at 10pm last night, and dropped the pilot at around midnight.:D

At 0720 local time we are cruising at 20.6 knots on a heading of 65 degrees, well on our way this time.

Just to reiterate, we are not being held hostage.... The captain told us we were welcome to "stay on board and enjoy the ship's amenities" while it is being repaired. But we are more than welcome to get off as well. Estimated 5 days in Melbourne to fix, then straight to Auckland.

 

To quote an Italian passenger this am, we are planning to make lemoncello out of lemons hehe

Laura is correct. We just got a second announcement - first tug due at 1700 hours - eight hours from now. Second. A bit later. Drifting 20 miles from land.

Glad we are in an owner's suite. Limoncello it is.

Just confirmed. The Star is dead in the water drifting. I am contact with my wife who is on board. They are waiting on tugs. People are being told they will have to remain on ship for 7 days. They cannot leave ship. They don't want people talking to press.

The last part is not accurate. We were told by captain that we will be towed to Melbourne - 71 nautical miles away per ship nav channel info - and to a dock for repairs. We were not told we could not leave the ship. Repairs 4-5 days estimated then straight to Auckland. Offered full refund and 50% FCC.

Our group of ten is mulling options to staying on board on return to Melbourne.

I was on the December 22nd

 

 

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Doesn't really assist others in learning about the azipod issue, which is the subject of the thread.

The Captain just announced they are testing everything.

 

 

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Thank you for the update. Keep us posted.

This has been started for people who specifically want to discuss the azipod on the Star. Any news, technical discussion. It is not for people who are unhappy about the situation. Go to the earlier thread.

 

 

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Just a reminder.

On 12/29/16 at 0700 the Star did 17.8 kts for an hour. I am using this site to track position and speed. If you scroll down the page it shows you some history of the speed the ship was making.

 

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=C6FR3

Just checked this out and doesn't look like the Star is making good progress. Hope the repairs are completed in Singapore. Otherwise the run to Sydney could require major itinerary changes. And I worry about our cruise from Sydney to Auckland on 2/6-18.

Any updates?

My Twitter comment this morning, (12-15-2016), to NCL; I am cruising on the NCL Star, leaving Sydney Australia on Feb 06, 2016 to Auckland, New Zealand on Feb 18th 2016. Given the Azipod difficulty that the Star is currently experiencing; 1) Will it be fixed by Feb 06th? 2) If not what will the itinerary change to on that cruise??? I do not want to travel 20 hours on a flight one way and sit on a boat stranded at sea...

 

Their Reply; Hi. We expect to have the ship repaired by then. If not, we'll notify you via phone or email.

 

Doesnt sound very promising if they don't know 50+ day's out!!!

Thanks for checking on this. We too are on this sailing, but we leave 11 days early to explore Great Barrier Reef, Sydney and a few other sights before our sailing. Hope they get this solved soon.

There are many companies that do the GBR from Cairns. It all depends on whether you want to go on a large catamaran that goes to a pontoon out on the reef complete with glass bottom boats or if you want a more intimate experience on a yacht with a maximum of 20 people.

 

For the large cats..... there is Reef Magic or Quicksilver

 

http://www.reefmagiccruises.com/

 

http://www.quicksilver-************/reef-tour/wavepiercer/

 

For the smaller yacht..... I recommend Reef Daytripper

 

http://www.reefdaytripper.com.au/

 

As you will see from the prices' date=' there is a vast difference between them all. Lunch is included in each of the fares.

 

I hope if you are considering hiring a car to travel around up here you recognise that we travel on the opposite side of the road to you and that you will have to be on your guard at all times to make sure you stay on the correct side of the road. Just a couple of weeks ago a local 17 year old girl was killed by a tourist driving on the wrong side of the road. The attractions up on the Atherton Tablelands (which I really recommend you see) are quite a distance apart and some of the regular tours covering the area can be around 300kms drive in the one day. If you feel you will be ok with this, go ahead and hire a car, otherwise just book a day tour so you can enjoy the views and be taken where you want to go.

 

There is the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and the Kuranda Scenic Railway which are must sees..... There is the Rainforestation Nature Park if you want to see the aborigines and cuddle a koala, feed the kangaroos etc.....There are all the waterfalls, coffee plantations, mango farms, macadamia farms, historical village, and there is Paronella Park down past Innisfail which is fascinating.

 

Hope this helps?[/quote']

 

Thanks. That is very helpful.

 

I was aware of the left side driving, and have experience with it in England and Wales on several trips. Thanks for the heads up, though.

....still a bomb site when i walked passed it yesterday. It does have a great position and is in a lesser price point than the hilton which would be my other choice.

 

The hotels at the airport are cheaper, but the taxi fare into town can be closer to $100 so in my mind would be a false economy, I hope you enjoy your time in Auckland. ITs a great city.

What are your thoughts about the Hotel Debrett? It is top rated on Trip Advisor.

I think that is a wise move. Honestly it is not worth considering doing a reef tour privately. The weather plays a big part in the times and as I said before Yorkey's is 20 mins away from where the reef boats leave from. If you do a ship's tour the catamaran usually pulls up to the ship to get the passengers..... saves a lot of time.

 

It goes against the grain for me to suggest doing a ships tour as opposed to a private tour as the ships tours are overpriced and you usually get a better tour and better prices by booking private tours' date=' however, there are some instances, this being one of them, that you really have to do a ship tour.[/quote']

 

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights 28 Jan to 1 Feb and want to do a snorkel trip to the GBR. It is my first time to Australia, my wife was there 15 years or so ago, and we added this stop pre-cruise just so I could see one of the world's great wonders. Do you have any recommended companies for a tour of the GBR?

 

Also, we will probably do a car rental for the other days to explore Daintree rain forest and the surrounding areas. If you have any recommendations, they would be greatly appreciated.

Actually I really did not feel good when coming back from the Falkland Islands. Not because I was sick but I will be honest being 27 days on the ship of the size from the Sun feels more like a prison than a vacation at that time. Probably even more so when the biggest highlights like Cape Horn are done.

 

I will continue with the missing pictures later in the day.

Michael,

Have really enjoyed your posts and pictures. I certainly understand how a ship can seem confining after so long on board.

Or from any other Cruize with transfer time from 10am to 5-6pm from Cruise terminal to SCL

I have been searching for local operators who offer quality shore excursions at the different ports of call in our South American Cruise. I have found a local tour company in Valparaiso that offers a full day transfer & tour service from Valparaíso to Santiago (Cristián Blanco of Ruta Valparaiso http://www.rutavalparaiso.cl ). We´ll be arriving into Valparaíso on March 13, 2016. They will pick us up at the Cruise terminal, do a tour of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, visit a winery in Casablanca along the way to Santiago and finish at hotel and /or airport. They have several alternatives and are very flexible. We have just booked a van and guide and are looking for others who wish to join our group to lower the rate per person. We are 2 and the van has a capacity up to 9 people comfortably with luggage. At full capacity, the rate per person is $100 USD.

Anybody transferring from this cruise with a late flight from Santiago may look into it to reduce the per person cost all the way down to$100 which makes it a real bargain.

Contact Cristiàn directly for bookings.

http://www.rutavalparaiso.cl/sitio_ruta_index_en.htm

email: info@rutavalparaiso.cl

Cancellable if unfilled!

The more the Merrier and... The Cheaper

PS: not sure if applicable for B2B'ers. Check with Cristian

Sounds like a good excursion/transfer. You likely will get more responses if you post this on your roll call.

Thank you all for the help. I'll be checking out the Adelino tour thing. This is why I love CC. So many great people willing to help others.

 

 

Mrsosci

we went snorkeling in January with Hurricane Divers I believe it was. Great trip. Huatulco is surrounded by about 35 pristine bays and on land most of the area is national park land protected from development. It was a very pleasant stop. We did the snorkel, explored by the pier and took a taxi to La Crucita. Definitely worth exploring.

So this will become history?

 

Indeed it will!

When I saw the thread title it made me wonder if her “Bermuda bump” would finally be gone. As another poster said, it’s not impacting her seaworthiness but it still is a constant reminder of what happened to her for those of us who know. I sailed on her one year ago and I was surprised her dent was still there. I definitely think a drydock would be needed to fix it but with all the activity in that section of the ship with changing the bearings on the azipods I’m wondering if they will fix it. :cool:

We sailed on the Star in January and the word from the captain and others with whom we had dinner was that the bump is being repaired.

I have just booked a Baltic cruise today which takes in Stockholm, SPB, Helsinki, Warnemunde, Copenhagen and Kristiansand, we will do a ships tour in SPB on both days probably as this would be a way of getting a visa, but wondered how easy the other cities would be just exploring the local port areas in a wheelchair?

Unless you are wedded to doing a ship's tour, I would recommend that you consider one of the private tour companies - SPB, TJ Travel, Alla to name just a few of the many reputable tours. If you search the threads, you will find almost universal praise for these companies. Their groups are smaller and better priced. We used SPB for our group of six and had an exceptional guide. You will see if you search the threads than many, many people have had the same experience, regardless of which company you choose.

In the other ports, with the exception of Berlin, if you choose to go there, DIY is entirely feasible. As Warnemuende is almost three hours from Berlin, having prearranged transport is advisable in my mind. If you stay on the coast, there are many interesting towns to visit.

Enjoy your cruise.

Hi thanks, sorry I missed this reply until now, yes we will hopefully help each other out with the info , thanks

We will be in Leknes in June 2014 and would appreciate you posting whatever you find out.

We'll see you there! :)

Yesterday I pulled out my "Rick Steves Scandinavia" from a few years ago, and I'm thinking that it might be possible to do the "Norway in a Nutshell" route, which includes Flam, as a daytrip from Bergen. Of course, then we'd have to miss most of the stuff in Bergen, which also looks nice. Too many decisions! Good thing we have more than a year to figure it all out.

Agreed. But first I have to figure out my Panama Canal cruise excursions for January.:)

none of the cities need a tour except for StP, Berlin it's good to do only because time is short and the city is somewhat spread out.

 

we did everything ourselves via public transportation or walking. lots of people did the cruise tours and lots did HoHos. I only heard good things from everyone so I think you should choose the option that seems best suited to you and I am sure you will be satisfied.

Agree with this recommendation. But I feel more strongly that a tour to Berlin, if that is what you want to do, is the way to go. It will cut down on travel time getting there and getting around.

Have fun. The Baltic remains my favorite cruise, by a considerable margin.

We have been interested in taking a Baltic cruise that includes such ports a Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn, Gothenburg etc. From reading many of the posts it seems most of the attention is given to the two day stays in St Petersburg. Are the other ports worth seeing? Are they so similar that once you see one you have seen them all? We would like to explore some of the cities on our own if sites are close. We would also appreciate your comments on the "ships excursions" for the ports other than "must see" SPB.

 

Thanks,

As far as the second issue you mention, taking ship's tours, I feel strongly that this is not the way to go. There are numerous reputable operators in St. P (SPB, Alla, TJ, and others). Virtually everyone who posts here loved their selected operator so you should contact several and see which best fits your needs. Almost all offer small private tours, intense tours, more relaxed tours, etc.

As far as the other ports, you really can do Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Copenhagen on your own. If you dock in Rostock or Warnemuende and elect to go to Berlin, it might be better to consider a tour operator which will pick you up at the pier and whisk you to Berlin. I know SPB and Alla do these tours and expect more do so now, since we went in 2011. If you want to stay along the German coast, there are many, many threads to help you choose. Anni offers excellent advice - here is a link to a thread she started - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1963750.

When we booked pour Baltic cruise, It was like a dream come true. Are the other ports worth seeing? We are talking about world capitals here, cities that we have only dreamed about visiting, cities that maybe we have only seen in spy movies, Stockholm, Helsinki, Berlin, Copenhagen.

Please do not take this as insulting, but I can't believe you would think any of these cities are not worth a visit. St Petersburg may well be the jewel, but only because it is in Russia and for many years we weren't able to visit there. For us, Stockholm was our favorite city we visited.

Maybe you are more of a Caribbean type, but a Baltic cruise is so full of history, so full of wonderful castles, Palaces, old walled cities. Each day was a new adventure. If you are just into lying on a beach and chilling out, maybe you wouldn't enjoy a cruise like this, but to be able to visit places we have only dreamed about, was a once in a lifetime event and we loved every minute of it.

 

And YES, it is very easy to do all the other ports on your own. Just set your mind to it, gather info and off you go.

 

Cheers

 

Len

Absolutely agree with Len here. Each of these cities is magnificent. We absolutely loved Tallinn, and thoroughly enjoyed Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki. Berlin is a fascinating city with incredible vibrancy since reunification. In Germany, if you elect to skip Berlin because of the travel time to/from, there are still very charming spots.

It depends on what you are looking for in a cruise, but of the seven cruises we have done the Baltic was easily our favorite one. If you want a fun in the sun cruise, this may not be your choice, but, for ports visited, I would put a Baltic cruise right up there.

I think Flam looks lovely as well...but you'd be giving up Trondheim, Leknes, Tromso, Hammerfest, Honningsvag, and Molde. I can't say whether it's worth it, since I haven't been to any of them yet! I do wish the Star's 14-night had Flam instead of Molde, but they didn't ask me. ;)

I agree. We have decided to stay with the 14 day North Cape cruise, despite the absence of Flam on the itinerary.

Whichever cruise you choose, do make sure the itinerary includes Flam and Geiranger, two of the best fjords IMO and Alesund is nice too :)

Thank you!