baxter44

If there are two ships at Coxen Hole, one of them will tender.

 

ETA: From the Cruise Time Tables website it looks like the Star is the only ship at Roatan on March 29.

Just checked that as well, thanks very much for the info! Cheers!

I'm under the impression that during my Western Caribbean cruise next week the only tender port is Belize City. However, in the past 5 or 6 reviews I've read of the same itinerary they are tendering in Roatan as well. Is that because of weather conditions? A few people mentioned NCL tendering to two ports as though it were the norm.

In anticipation of UW Wisconsin's win this coming Friday in the Sweet Sixteen, they will play next on Sunday - how do my chances of seeing the game aboard the Star look?? Before any Irish fans blast me, I love Notre Dame and support their teams ANY OTHER TIME OF THE YEAR XOXOXO :D

Just got off Star 3/13-3/20 and life boat drill was 3:30. Our Suite party with Officers was on Monday, not Sunday, but if you want to see the passage under the bridge of tampa, then dinner at 6 will limit your visibility. But if you eat in the afternoon, then I'd recommend a later dinner at (6:30 or 7), so you can enjoy sailaway, and still be done with dinner by 9 PM show.

 

Must eat restaurants include Moderno, Le Bistro, and should eat restaurants include Cagney's and La Cucina.

 

If you are in a suite, request a dinner with an officer in one of the main dining rooms - very cool.

Oh good tip about Bay Bridge, yes I don't want to miss that. I'll ask concierge to push that res out to 7. Thanks for the info!

We used this company in December and we were very pleased. We were greeted at our designed meeting spot by Herbert, the owner. He took us to meet with the driver who would be dropping us off at the boat and picking us up after we finished. The drive was 10-15 minutes to the boat. We did the snorkel hopping tour which included several spots with fantastic snorkeling. Our snorkeling guide was great, he was able to point out several different reefs and a variety of fish. He even dove down the edge of the reef and took some amazing pics and video clips for me on my camera. We stopped for a break at Big French Key and to top the day off Herbert threw the animal encounter in for free. This was our first cruise and I was a little nervous booking through a 3rd party, we had no problems getting back to the port with time left to do a little shopping before we had to get back on the ship. This excursion was the highlight of our cruise stops and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Hope this helps!

Helps a great deal - thanks for posting!!

Anyone know if Star has a pool table?

Great comprehensive review- thanks for all the time and effort, I am sailing on Sunday and you've been very helpful!

We are leaving on Sunday for our cruise. I checked the forecast and the predicted high for Cozumel is 74. We are in port from 7 am to 3 pm, and that high will probably after we have to be back on the ship. We had been planning to go to Paradise Beach but I think it might be a little to cool for the water. What would you suggest doing if it is as cool as they are predicting?

Are you going to be in Coz on Friday? If so, the forecast I looked at showed a low of 77....unless I'm misunderstanding what date you'll be there

https://cruiseoutlook.com/report/norwegian_star_7_nights_2016-03-27

great, photo's if possible

 

gmasters @ cox . net

 

Donna

I saved your email and will send some pics before we depart on 3/27.

This board has been so helpful during my planning, so I'm going to do my best to put a comprehensive review out there when I return.

I will be in this suite in 10 days, I will let you know! :)

Amazing, just added to my list - thanks for posting

Double occupancy means first 2 passengers are charged, remaining people in your party aren't charged. This happened to me, you'll keep whatever perks you have in place as well. If you upgrade to suite category the daily service charges go up as well, but if you've prepaid them, you are grandfathered in and won't be charged the difference. Happy sailing!

Perfecto, thanks

Does anyone know if it's up and running on Star?

I notice some of the ships have prime rib on the Cagney's menu, but didn't see it on a recent review of the STAR - can any recent STAR cruisers confirm the presence of my favorite cut? :eek:

I've had great luck with Sea Bands and will use again for my children's first cruise as well in a few weeks. http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Band-Wristband-Color-Vary-1-Pair/dp/B001F731N0/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1457984528&sr=8-1&keywords=sea+bands&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

I was under the impression suite passengers got to watch movies at no charge, can someone confirm? But the Star doesn't have movies, is that correct? No DVD players in suites either? Thanks for the help

We always bring:

 

A used hotel card or something similar keep in the slot to turn the lights on

List of all the prescriptions that u take

What is the purpose of keeping a random card in the light slot again? Is it so things charge when you're not in there because there's not electricity without lights on? Thought I read that somewhere...:confused:

I never risk flying the same day, in fact I always assume delays and get there at least a day early.

Hi Cruisers,

 

I've been reading and reading since booking my 3/27 cruise a few months ago and like many of you, making lists/spreadsheets/plans in order to maximize my relaxing vacation once on board! I thought I'd share the tips that I know will be helpful to me on this trip and might be to you as well! Feel free to add to this, I'm sure there are more great tips/hacks out there! Thanks to all previous cruisers for their advice, it really makes such a difference. :)

 

1. Take a picture of passports on smartphones

2. Bring sea bands for kids (first time cruisers, no idea how they'll react to motion of the ocean ;))

3. Pack power strip for phone/ipad/camera chargers

4. Bring bag for dirty clothes to keep them separate

5. Put cruise ship luggage tags in carry on to attach the morning of cruise. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019HLKJSA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

6. Bring small magnets to attach dailies and other paperwork to doors

7. Pack lanyards for ID cards and have Guest Services hole punch them during embarkation.

8. Bring bugspray with DEET to repel those nasty diseased skeeters

9. Activate iConcierge app at port and connect to ship wifi - DS and I can text for $8/device.

10. Check out hot tub on Deck 13 forward, I think I read this one is not very crowded in evenings.

11. Go aft to Versailles for bkfst to avoid crowds

12. Button to activate light in closet is at eye level in the back, some people evidently couldn't locate and complained about lack of lighting in closets.

13. Double check OBC, my UBP and kids soda packages are listed during boarding

14. Can request a foam pad for bed if too hard

15. You loved caipirinhas on your last cruise, make sure you try one immediately after boarding :D

16. Try the Cote de Boeuf Pour Deux at Le Bistro

17. Bring confirmation emails to all excursions (booked 3rd party)

 

Just a few tidbits - I hope they help some of you too! Happy Cruising!

So it's about 3 weeks after posting this, and I've added to my tips list while researching and reading all the helpful CC boards...

18. Bought one of these cool chargers people have been raving about on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HQY35SM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

19. Bought a floatable waterproof phone case from Amazon that also has a locking compartment for cash/cc's etc...I was leery about leaving my phone and money on the beach while I'm in the water with my kids

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AB1GQO6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

20. Made an organizational booklet out of a prong folder and filled it with clear plastic insertable pages, holding our packing list, confirmations, luggage tags, cruise docs currently and will hold souvenir items that we collect along the way in extra empty pages.

21. Bring 6-8 clothespins (some people said large binder clips) to hold wet clothes to chair on balcony to dry.

22. Bring General Foods Int'l Coffee to mix in to coffee in room to jazz it up

23. Bring pedialyte powder packs and drink with water before bed to hold off the dreaded hangover care of UBP :)

24. Highlighter for dailies

25. Watch for mid-week laundry deals

I've got 17 days to go, I'm sure I'll add to my list before then thanks to all of you!

I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that because I had pre-paid the service charges, I was grandfathered in with the rate for a non-suite category. The charges are higher per day for suite category so I didn't get hit for those when taking the upsell. Something to consider when upgrading to higher category, prepay your service charges!

I'll be scoping out the Swarovski products on-board in a few weeks, hoping they have unusual pieces, not the same inventory I saw on my last cruise.

We're 33 days out and originally booked with kids sail free, so would I then only pay for the first 2 people in the cabin on upgrades, as well? What would be considered a desirable upgrade from a family mini? A higher category? A Junior Suite? Sorry for all the questions, I'm kind of new to this. lol

Upsells are charged based on double occupancy, so just first 2 are charged for, even if you didn't have kids sail free. I originally had a mini-suite with balcony so I was looking for a full suite category, ended up with aft large-balcony penthouse. It just depends on how much sq footage you want/need, whether the suite perks are worth it to you. I feel like I'd never be able to afford this particular cruise with my kids without the upsell situation, so it's kind of a "once in a lifetime" mindset for me. Happy sailing!

I called on my upsell email, turned down all the offers and less than 2 weeks later got another email with the suite I had wanted decreasing from $1000/pp to $800/pp (family of 3, only charged for first two passengers). I accepted the 2nd upsell. :) This is for 3/27 Star, the emails arrived at about 28 and 20 days out...