Star Garden Villa Review

[yucaipagal]

I wrote a detailed review each night on the cruise, so I figure I will add one each day, so not to overwhelm. An overall summary is that the room was so great we never wanted to leave it! Our butler Jojit was absolutely amazing, he took great care of us and we couldn't have asked for more. Our concierge Patrick Berido was fantastic!!! I called the HD, Fillipo Bertuzi just to compliment him. He took care of everthing and then some. We have had a few butlers and concierges in the past (including the amazing Simone) and these guys are tops for us. I would sail again with them in a heartbeat! Our room stewardess was Morena. She added so many extra touches and smiles, but was inconsistent with her cleaning. She did not come at a set time and would miss things. However, my three year old was sick for a day, I think it was something he ate. Morena was great about cleaning up his 'sick' from the carpet. I felt so bad and cleaned as much as I could, but without supplies, I needed her.

 

We were so lucky, as the staff can make the suite and wow, did they ever!!

 

Our group consisted of me(34), DH (42), DD(5), DS(3), my parents (59 & 60),my mother in law(74) and my husband's aunt(69).

 

Oh just some information we found out... Patrick has 65 suites, Jojit has 6 and Morena just has the two garden villas and we even saw her with an assistant a couple of times.

 

By the way if you see Paul at Cagney's, he is an assistant waiter, take the time to get to know him and you won't be sorry. He is so great and always happy!

[yucaipagal]

Day One-Embarkation

We arrived a little after 11:00 and were escorted onto the ship by our butler Jojit. He took us to our villa to drop off our bags even though the room wasn't quite ready, we were thrilled to check it out. We then went to lunch at Cagney's, yum. After we went back to the villa to explore some more. My little ones wanted to do the water slides so off we went. We saw the rest of our group had arrived and found them eating lunch in the villa. Jojit saw them checking in and knew Cagney's was closing so he asked them what they wanted and had it waiting for them when they got to the cabin. So sweet.

 

After the life boat drill we wandered a bit and went back to the room. Patrick the concierge checked on us and inquired about dinner plans. We had some champagne and sailed away. The kids decided to try out the jacuzzi. We went to the TexMex for dinner and had good service. My parents, mother in law and husband's aunt went to Aqua and were happy. My MIL and husband's aunt requested the concierge escort them down, while the rest of were fine on our own.

 

After dinner we returned to the room and my hubby, me and parents had some cocktails (bottles delivered during dinner) while everyone else was in bed. We heard the loudest sonic booms, my mom said it sounded like the gods bowling and her money was on Zeus- I am with her. My dad found out it is the waves breaking on the bow and the sound reflect on the windows extremely loudly, I had not heard anything like it. Then lights out for us.

 

By the way, our room stewardess is wonderful. Her name is Morena and she has been very helpful and accomodating:)

[Army/Police Vet]

"By the way, our room stewardess is wonderful. Her name is Morena and she has been very helpful and accomodating:)"

 

Yet you say she was inconsistent? So she was a friendly people person, but really didn't do her job of cleaning very well? I am confused. Personally I would prefer it the other way around. I would be happier if she kept my room spotless and maybe didn't converse and make friendly as much.

[yucaipagal]

"By the way, our room stewardess is wonderful. Her name is Morena and she has been very helpful and accomodating:)"

 

Yet you say she was inconsistent? So she was a friendly people person, but really didn't do her job of cleaning very well? I am confused. Personally I would prefer it the other way around. I would be happier if she kept my room spotless and maybe didn't converse and make friendly as much.

 

I wrote the review live (wrote an entry at the end of each day) and am cutting and pasting each day, but the intro was an overall that I wrote after the vacation. Morena started out amazing. Then after a couple of days it seemed to go down hill. She didn't arrive until after 1:30 for two days and I had to talk to her. Then on a couple of days she missed half of a bathroom, etc.

 

I agree with you that I would rather have had someone consistent than friendly. That is why she did not receive a style card and several others did. She also got a much smaller tip than I had intended and if my 3 year old hadn't got sick on the floor a few times she wouldn't have received any additional to the DSC.

[yucaipagal]

Day Two- Sea Day

Most of us had breakfast at Cagney's, while oddly enough our East Coast people didn't get up until around 10, which is 1pm their time....hmmm. We then lounged around the villa; frankly my DH, mom, dad and myself would be happy to never leave it. My DD went to kids club and the rest of us went to the cruise critic meet and greet. We were offered a bridge tour, yeah! And met some wonderful people! We then did a cabin crawl, my MIL didn't want to have us participate, but I did so my hubby said to just do it and so we did. We saved ours for last and I wish I had planned it so I could have Jojit have a spread, but we only had a couple of cabins before us and it was last minute, so I didn't call him. We then had lunch at Cagney's, *more lounging, then the Captain's Cocktails. My parents, the kids, DH and I had dinner in the villa, while my husband's aunt and mother went to the show and dinner ( we just saw it in December.)

 

Patrick, our concierge, has been taking great care of us! He regularly pops by to see about our dinner plans, etc. We really like him. My MIL has had him escort her and her sister-in-law to dinner, among other things.*

 

Jojit is great! He even brought us the yummiest chocolate covered strawberries with a white chocolate flower bouquet centerpiece and white chocolate candles for mother's day.*

 

Morena, our cabin stewardess, provides all kinds of extra touches...love her.

 

All of them are anticipating our needs and doing a great job at making it memorable.*

 

The way it works in our family is that if my hubby gets some relaxation and I am happy he has had a great vacation. I am happy when my hubby is happy and my kids are happy. When my parents are with us I am thrilled when they are happy (which is easy because they are happy, kind, gracious people) and beyond ecstatic when they are catered too and spoiled! My parents are so kind, honest and hard working that they deserve some extra attention:)*

 

Tomorrow is a latitudes party and a dinner at Cagney's.

[rotodoao]

Can't wait until the next install!! Going on the Star in December!!

[yucaipagal]

Day Three- Sea Day

We had breakfast at Cagney's. Great service and a morning visit by Patrick to see to our needs for the day. We returned to the villa and Jojit brought us more yummies and picked up, Morena gave us an extra bath mat for my MIL because she has mobility issues and is scared to stand in the slippery bathroom. We went

 

We went to the bridge tour from cruise critic. My dad loved it!!!! We then returned for lunch. Five of us ate in the room, while three went down to Cagney's. I also met with Patrick Belardo the concierge to go over our evening and a couple of things for the week. I have to say that I have been very impressed with Patrick!!!! He has 65 suites and makes us feel so important. I feel that he has gone above and beyond the call of duty with my MIL and husband's aunt!!! After speaking with him, he even arranged a very special surprize for my mother and father. I could not ask for more of him, in fact he has surpassed all of my expectations and we had Simone in the past.

 

We had the latitudes party and my husband won a scrapbook, so I will be working on that upon return :P.*

 

Tonight we had our complimentary specialty restaraunt at Cagney's. We took the kids to kids club for this one and had a great grown up time then we rushed to get them for Extreme Vegas. My mom and I left early to get them and found out thay when we left the staff at Cagney's rushed to get the others dessert, had an elevator ready for them and called ahead to Patrick to have seats waiting for us in the show. So not only did we have a super yummy dinner, great service and good company... we had outstanding service!!! By the way the crab stuffed portabello appetizer is always one of our favorites.*

 

Then it was back to the room to put the kids to bed, while a couple went to burn the midnight oil in the Spinnaker Lounge with some fun gameshows.

 

Tomorrow is the Best of All luncheon and some fun acrivites. Then the next day we will be in Juneau.

 

 

 

Day Four- Sea Day

Today was the Best of All lunch and we were a bit disappointed. We were the first people to book and my dad was really looking forward to the music and my DH, DD, DS and myself were really looking forward to it all because it was a highlight of our trip in December. It was apparent they had overbooked...we were seated in the back room of Aqua instead of La Cucina where it was supposed to be, so we were in a doorway- in the way, away from the music, and away from the food stations. It was apparent that this was last minute and they had not organized the waitstaff to be in this room, so after a very long wait we asked about our server and someone was assigned. Our server was great once she arrived, which we knew was not her fault (being late). Although ordered food arrived lukewarm at best. At this time my father and I both expressedour dispeasure. The chef took over our orders and a bottle of wine was received. I was pleased with the way it was handled, as we were offered another table, but we had a group of 8, 2 with mobility issues and were halfway through our meal, so I declined. I could not have asked for any other attempts to make it right by the maitre d's manager, so while pleased with him and our server, the same cannot be said for the maitre d or the overall experience. What a bummer!!!

Jojit and Patrick were great, as usual.

 

Our room stewardess did not arrive until after 1:30 and did not finish everything before leaving, then came late for turn down (after my kids were in bed, I had informed her of their bedtime and love of the towel animals on day one.)

 

Just a side note, the Foie Gras at Le Bistro is beyond delicious!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Overall, not the best day, but still amazing due to the company and great room.

[Hikini]

Sounds great!

[yucaipagal]

Day Four- Juneau

Got up for another yummy Cagney's breakfast then off to go dogsledding. Had a great time, then called Jojit for some late lunch around 2... Sailaway at 3.

 

We lounged around and watched the scenery. We also enjoyed some cocktails.

 

Day Five- Ketchikan

My baby boy got sick so he and I stayed on board while everyone else went to the lumberjack show (we have seen it before and great fun). After the show my mom came on board to be with him while my DH, DD, and I did a zodiac tour with Ketchikan Outdoors. My five year old loved it!!! The company was great, I highly recommend them! We also stopped by Annabelle's for some deicious chowder, I had the seafood chowder and LOVED it! Got back on board and went to the Chocoholics Buffet early then to the show Elements, an absolutely excellent show!!!!!

 

Morena was so kind today and gave us some medicine from the Phillipines for *Johnny. I found it so generous! It seemed to work too.

 

Day Six-Sea Day, Inside Passage

 

Today was the Taste of India-talk about delicious!!!!! The chef came and chatted with us, it was so nice. I loved, loved, loved the food.*

 

Unfortunately is was the day to pack, so sad.

 

We ended at Cagney's for dinner. Once again, yum.

 

Final Day- Disembarkation.

It was so nice to not be awakened as we were arriving at port today or during the week. Normally I am up bright and early due to the noise and announcements, butnot this week, it was nice and quiet.

 

We had a late flight so we requested to be one of the last ones off the ship. They came for us around 10, we were escorted off the ship and to the front of the customs line. We were then escorted to our luggage and a porter. We left the building and went to the limo waiting area, we ended up waiting for 30-40 minutes, but it was a nice day. Come to find out they couldn't find the reservation because it was under my parent's name. (our phones on the ship all came up under my husband's aunt's name) All very odd, you would think it would be under the first or second passenger(myself and my hubby). We then went to the airport where we had to sit for quite a while until we could check our baggage, but there was a food court area on this side of security. We went through security and US Customs (much quicker than in LA) and to our gate. At our gate there was a kids play area with a climber/slide, it was the greatest thing ever! Our 3 and 5 year olds had fun for our over two hour wait there. When we got back to LA it was clear our vacation of pampering had ended, boo hoo. But we will always have our wonderful, amazing memories!

 

My parents, hubby, kids and me absolutely loved it!

 

As for tips, I treated it like three suites since it had the three separate bedrooms and figured accordingly. Since we footed the big bill, we had everyone pay their own tips and onboard expenses, but to make sure no one got slighted in the tips department I collected money from my MIL and hubby's Aunt ( my parents wanted to write a thank you and tip on their own, but even tipped Jojit extra because they felt they had used our butler more than my suggested guideline I gave out before leaving.) After collecting and explaining tipping again then getting a bit more, I added our portion and then the extra needed.*

 

It was great. Patrick and Jojit were phenomenal!!!! Can't wait to see Patrick again in November, he really went out of his way to take care of us, especially my husband's mom and aunt (they demanded a lot from him and he was very accomodating and kind!!!!!)

[marelind]

We were on the Star in March and loved Patrick as well. He was very helpful and an all around nice guy.

[Shollow]

Enjoyed your posts. We were lucky enough to get the Horizon Garden Villa upsell the Monday before we sailed at the end of 2009. Only four of us. though. Cagney's for breakfast and lunch was certainly one of the best perks. Our butler and room steward were nothing short of wonderful as was Simone, the concierge. This was the first time we'd cruised and actually stayed in our cabin just to enjoy the cabin. We felt very special the whole week and had a very hard time getting off the ship. We've sailed the Star three times and she is, by far, my favorite ship. Great to hear you had as good as an experience as we did.

[Smellytoes]

, my MIL didn't want to have us participate,

 

Did your MIL get mad that you did it anyway??

[jjw5nh]

Am I correct in that you had 8 people in the Villa? How did you get the eighth. I was on the phone last night trying to add an eighth to a Dawn villa and could not get it done. I thought the Star and Dawn had the same layout.

Any help would be appreciated.

Glad to hear you had a great time.

[yucaipagal]

, my MIL didn't want to have us participate,

 

Did your MIL get mad that you did it anyway??

 

She just stayed out of the room and never mentioned it later. She didn't act upset though.

 

Am I correct in that you had 8 people in the Villa? How did you get the eighth. I was on the phone last night trying to add an eighth to a Dawn villa and could not get it done. I thought the Star and Dawn had the same layout.

Any help would be appreciated.

Glad to hear you had a great time.

 

 

That's odd the guy at NCL said that the room could actually hold 12 and that is only for the Star and Dawn GVs. They just book 8 and book the others in an inside until the supervisor can access the reservation and manually add them by overriding the system, but the first 8 should be absolutely no problem.

 

Having eight seemed pretty normal on board too. They had two rollaways waiting for me to tell them where I wanted them. By the way we were in the back bedroom and put one at the foot of our bed and moved the chairs into the living room and the second in the closet (my five year old loved having her 'own room') and there was still room to walk by the bed for the clothes, etc.