NCL Star to Mexico - 3/19/2011

[lax19]

My thoughts, observations and "DOH!!!" moments on the NCL Star to Mexico March 19, 2011.

 

Arrival at the Port - Happy to be in the "warm California sun", we hopped out of the shuttle (Primetime) and headed for the terminal building. We include my wife, four of five sons (21 to 10) and daughter (14). It was about 11:00 and maybe fifty or sixty people were in line. We took a few pictures of the NCL Star in the background ands tried to contain our excitement of this upcoming vacation! Our giddiness started as we crossed the Vincent Thomas Bridge and caught our first glimpse of the Star. I asked the shuttle driver if this is a common phenomena (the spontaneous outburst of “Their she is!” when the ship is first cited. He said yes and never tires of the excitement people express when they see the ship. (Big tip for a good answer!).

 

Anyway, back to the line up at the port. While we were heading to the line, I spy the shuttle from the Crown Plaza pull away. I say to myself, “some of the CC Roll Call folks are staying there maybe we’ll see them in line . . . but how to recognize them?” Well I get in line and I notice a tall bearded man in front of me with an “Inuvik” baseball cap on. Could this be Inuvik Couple (Dave). After a brief introduction, I also met his better half Doris. How cool . One side note about Dave and Doris. They are just wonderful people. We spent time with them (dinner, lunch, trivia, Quest) and honestly, any kid would be really lucky to call them Grandma and Grandpa, and the rest of us would be certainly blessed to call them friends.

 

The line started moving about 11:30 and we made our way into the terminal building. We got our cards and boarding group number. After about a thirty minute wait, we were heading to the ship. We took the obligatory welcome aboard photo. They take the photo against a green screen, so if you want an interesting photo, wear green on embarkation day. There were a few ‘floating head’ embarkation photos.

 

Food – I don’t worry too much about cruise food. I always find something I like and usually go overboard when I find something I love. Anyway, my first food order on the Star had me concerned. I ordered a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and it arrived smothered in Velveeta. Noooooo! However, the fries were hot and fresh and most excellent. I would find myself on Fry-Quests throughout the cruise. Whenever a fresh pan of fries was put out, I was all over them.

 

Some people complain about the food; others rave about it. I guess the best way to sum up my experience is this way: On previous cruises, deciding what to eat is often difficult because there are usually two or three items that just jump out at you and scream “TRY ME”. Well, I didn’t experience that. Nothing on the menu (except lobster) triggered a Pavlovian response. However, I must have liked the food because I gained 8 pounds. Maybe it was the three breakfasts each day, or the bread on the ship. Oh, the bread was amazing. The best was the pretzel bread.

 

FYI, the only upcharge dining experience we did was the Best of All Lunch. I was not impressed by the offerings (except the desserts). The steak from Cagney’s was good, but the crab cakes were a little dry.

 

Our Cabins – Being the cheap, frugal cruiser we are . . . we booked two inside cabins (9519 & 9521) putting four in one and three in the other. Now, I was anticipating two upper bunks and two lower bunks. When we walked into the cabin, there was only one upper bunk. Where’s the fourth person (me) going to sleep. I guess I could snuggle with my wife in one of the twin beds (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!) We found out that the fourth person sleeps on a trundle bed that stores underneath one of the lower beds. With the trundle out, the back half of the cabin was wall to wall beds. The beds and pillows were not the most comfortable, but after a full day and late night of activities, sleep came quite easy. The cabins served their purpose for me . . . a place to sleep, shower and dress. They were small and crowded, but that was our choice. The shower worked well (note: The showerheads have a dial for different water patterns. If it is not at a setting, you get a weak trickle - first “Doh” moment.) Also, the “colder” AC button was well used . . .needed just the right touch to get it to decrease the room temperature. Having four people in a room with different sleep habits did make some challenges – like trying to get dressed in the dark. A light in the closet would be nice . . . or finding out that the closet had a light on the first day instead of the last would have been even nicer . . . that’s a big old “Doh” moment.

 

Entertainment and Crew – Two shows stood out . . the crew talent show and “Elements”. My 14 yo daughter is a dancer (since age 3) and a bit of a primadonna. She was not that impressed with the dancers (“they’re falling out of doubles” – what ever that means, must be dance speak), but they could do things I couldn’t do, like sing or dance even at the same time. The magician was very entertaining, though a bit dramatic at times. His close up tricks were well executed and kept us entertained. The hypnotist show was a typical cruise hypnotist. . . seem one, seen them all. The Second City Troup was very funny.

 

Christine (from the Philippines) and Daria (from Russia) were the two cruise staff members who made the activities very entertaining. Trivia with Daria was hilarious because of her thick Russian accent. I really wanted to get her to say “We will get Moose and Squirrel.”, but couldn’t work it in to conversation. Our team (InuvikCouple, Prncsscruiser, Parach (Steven & Rick) and myself) won the Quest. Katie and Matt (Prncsscruiser) anchored our victory . . . willingly volunteering for the more embarrassing tasks.

 

We did get invited on a bridge tour through or CC Meet and Greet. Only one rule – Don’t touch any buttons. The first officer conducted the tour. The captain was briefly there, but disappeared when we showed up.

 

All in all, we had a great time. Can’t beat vacation with your family, 85 degree days on the beach in Cabo and Ziplining through the jungle in Puerto Vallarta. Am I sold on NCL and Freestyle cruising . . . not yet. I may have to do conduct addition research in the near future!

 

Any questions?

[luv2cruz62]

HA HA!! Good review! It was nice meeting you (as brief as it was)! (we had the 17 year old daughter...:eek:) We also had a couple of 'doh' moments, and sorry that we missed the participation of Quest and Trivia....Leeann and Guy and Scott and Myself must have been on one of our few 'shooter crawls'....(that's a whole other story...)

I too, felt the same about the food.... it was do-able, and we are not picky eaters, and by no means did we starve!!

 

Now looking into future cruises with Leeanne and Guy for perhaps the Caribbean in January...on Princess!!! :rolleyes:

[Rayefan]

Thanks for the fun review...

four more days of waiting for us....

[Inuvikcouple]

My thoughts, observations and "DOH!!!" moments on the NCL Star to Mexico March 19, 2011.

 

Arrival at the Port - Happy to be in the "warm California sun", we hopped out of the shuttle (Primetime) and headed for the terminal building. We include my wife, four of five sons (21 to 10) and daughter (14). It was about 11:00 and maybe fifty or sixty people were in line. We took a few pictures of the NCL Star in the background ands tried to contain our excitement of this upcoming vacation! Our giddiness started as we crossed the Vincent Thomas Bridge and caught our first glimpse of the Star. I asked the shuttle driver if this is a common phenomena (the spontaneous outburst of “Their she is!” when the ship is first cited. He said yes and never tires of the excitement people express when they see the ship. (Big tip for a good answer!).

 

Anyway, back to the line up at the port. While we were heading to the line, I spy the shuttle from the Crown Plaza pull away. I say to myself, “some of the CC Roll Call folks are staying there maybe we’ll see them in line . . . but how to recognize them?” Well I get in line and I notice a tall bearded man in front of me with an “Inuvik” baseball cap on. Could this be Inuvik Couple (Dave). After a brief introduction, I also met his better half Doris. How cool . One side note about Dave and Doris. They are just wonderful people. We spent time with them (dinner, lunch, trivia, Quest) and honestly, any kid would be really lucky to call them Grandma and Grandpa, and the rest of us would be certainly blessed to call them friends.

 

The line started moving about 11:30 and we made our way into the terminal building. We got our cards and boarding group number. After about a thirty minute wait, we were heading to the ship. We took the obligatory welcome aboard photo. They take the photo against a green screen, so if you want an interesting photo, wear green on embarkation day. There were a few ‘floating head’ embarkation photos.

 

Food – I don’t worry too much about cruise food. I always find something I like and usually go overboard when I find something I love. Anyway, my first food order on the Star had me concerned. I ordered a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and it arrived smothered in Velveeta. Noooooo! However, the fries were hot and fresh and most excellent. I would find myself on Fry-Quests throughout the cruise. Whenever a fresh pan of fries was put out, I was all over them.

 

Some people complain about the food; others rave about it. I guess the best way to sum up my experience is this way: On previous cruises, deciding what to eat is often difficult because there are usually two or three items that just jump out at you and scream “TRY ME”. Well, I didn’t experience that. Nothing on the menu (except lobster) triggered a Pavlovian response. However, I must have liked the food because I gained 8 pounds. Maybe it was the three breakfasts each day, or the bread on the ship. Oh, the bread was amazing. The best was the pretzel bread.

 

FYI, the only upcharge dining experience we did was the Best of All Lunch. I was not impressed by the offerings (except the desserts). The steak from Cagney’s was good, but the crab cakes were a little dry.

 

Our Cabins – Being the cheap, frugal cruiser we are . . . we booked two inside cabins (9519 & 9521) putting four in one and three in the other. Now, I was anticipating two upper bunks and two lower bunks. When we walked into the cabin, there was only one upper bunk. Where’s the fourth person (me) going to sleep. I guess I could snuggle with my wife in one of the twin beds (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!) We found out that the fourth person sleeps on a trundle bed that stores underneath one of the lower beds. With the trundle out, the back half of the cabin was wall to wall beds. The beds and pillows were not the most comfortable, but after a full day and late night of activities, sleep came quite easy. The cabins served their purpose for me . . . a place to sleep, shower and dress. They were small and crowded, but that was our choice. The shower worked well (note: The showerheads have a dial for different water patterns. If it is not at a setting, you get a weak trickle - first “Doh” moment.) Also, the “colder” AC button was well used . . .needed just the right touch to get it to decrease the room temperature. Having four people in a room with different sleep habits did make some challenges – like trying to get dressed in the dark. A light in the closet would be nice . . . or finding out that the closet had a light on the first day instead of the last would have been even nicer . . . that’s a big old “Doh” moment.

 

Entertainment and Crew – Two shows stood out . . the crew talent show and “Elements”. My 14 yo daughter is a dancer (since age 3) and a bit of a primadonna. She was not that impressed with the dancers (“they’re falling out of doubles” – what ever that means, must be dance speak), but they could do things I couldn’t do, like sing or dance even at the same time. The magician was very entertaining, though a bit dramatic at times. His close up tricks were well executed and kept us entertained. The hypnotist show was a typical cruise hypnotist. . . seem one, seen them all. The Second City Troup was very funny.

 

Christine (from the Philippines) and Daria (from Russia) were the two cruise staff members who made the activities very entertaining. Trivia with Daria was hilarious because of her thick Russian accent. I really wanted to get her to say “We will get Moose and Squirrel.”, but couldn’t work it in to conversation. Our team (InuvikCouple, Prncsscruiser, Parach (Steven & Rick) and myself) won the Quest. Katie and Matt (Prncsscruiser) anchored our victory . . . willingly volunteering for the more embarrassing tasks.

 

We did get invited on a bridge tour through or CC Meet and Greet. Only one rule – Don’t touch any buttons. The first officer conducted the tour. The captain was briefly there, but disappeared when we showed up.

 

All in all, we had a great time. Can’t beat vacation with your family, 85 degree days on the beach in Cabo and Ziplining through the jungle in Puerto Vallarta. Am I sold on NCL and Freestyle cruising . . . not yet. I may have to do conduct addition research in the near future!

 

Any questions?

 

Oh my goodness, I am almost blushing. We loved meeting you and your family and if you are ever heading north, you know where to find us. If you feel so inclined drop us line at dtyler at northwestel dot net

 

Dave & Doris

[valleyvillage]

That was really a fun bridge tour. Dave and Doris made me light up inside every time we ran into them!