A family review of NCL Star Western Caribbean 1-1-12 with two little boys

[Mom2B&Z]

I love reading reviews from people with children so I decided to write a family focused review of our latest cruise. Bear with me, this is my first "official" review so here goes!

 

Pre-Cruise we stayed at the Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport, I booked 3 nights on aeroplan points. The suite was great, there was a separate lounge area with tv, chair and sofa as well as a small bar fridge, microwave and sink. The sleeping area had two queen beds and another tv. Breakfast wasn't included, but the kids were free when DH and I bought the buffet, so 4 of us ate for $24. The shuttle went within 3 miles of the hotel, which includes the two big malls nearby, in addition there was a Target, Best Buy and a grocery store. The malls had multiple family friendly restaurants. We took the shuttle to the airport and rented a car for 2 days, driving out to St. Pete's beach (gorgeous) and Legoland (a blast!). I bought the Legoland tickets on line through Tickets at Work to save a few dollars, they say it is for kids up to 12 but I would say it's more like 10. DS1 loved getting his Legoland drivers licence, they take a little driving class then have a road test with stop signs, traffic circles and cars with gas and brake pedals! New Years Eve they had fireworks where if you wore 3D glasses the fireworks looked like lego blocks going up before they exploded. We easily spent the day here, waiting no more than 30 minutes for rides. I would definitely go again.

 

The Ship

The Star was built in 2001, and even though it was recently refurbished it is definitely showing it's age in some of the common areas. This is well documented elsewhere. The Kids Cafe is a small area at the front of the Market Cafe on deck 12, with little tables and vinyl cubes to sit on. The food was always the same, muffins, eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, pancakes, fruit salad, yogurt and homogenized/chocolate milk for breakfast, then hot dogs, hamburgers, mac and cheese and fries for lunch. The kids thought they had died and gone to heaven eating here!

Deck 12 aft has the kids pool, with two small waterslides, a small (1.5ft deep) pool and a small splash pool with 1ft of water for the little ones. A hot tub was also in this area, and was noticeably cooler (yet still warm) than the main hot tubs. There was also a see-saw and other stand-on toys outside the pool area. Seating for adults was limited on the pool deck. Two ping pong tables round out this area.

 

The Kids Crew

The Kids Crew area is deck 13 aft, accessible by stairs from deck 12 or one elevator, although we could never figure out which one went all the way up ;) The 2-5yo area had a playstructure with slides, climbing ropes etc that was absolutely fantastic, the other age groups did get the chance to use the area but it was mainly for the little ones. Staff were fantastic and often holding kids in their arms, sitting on the ground with the children when I arrived for pick up and drop off. No parents allowed in the kids area after tours on the first day, and my card was always checked against the child's wrist band. Arm bands were only worn in kids club. The 6-9yo area had a big "martian pit" with padded floor and walls, and blow up martians that were incorporated into games and free play. The group had arts and crafts, cooperative games, free play opportunities, movies, Wii and one day the Second City troupe came down and did dramatic games with the group. I was really impressed! Family activities were family feud, family dodgeball, cupcake making, pizza making and something else which I don't remember. There was one family activity a day.

We had a bridge tour as part of our M&G and the first officer was great answering the boys' questions about how announcements were made, how they put down the gangways and how they sound the horn :D

 

Ports:

Roatan was our first stop, we used Bodden Tours as they were highly recommended on CC. My emails to Victor clearly stated we needed a vehicle compatible with car seats and boosters, unfortunately the vehicle we ended up getting had no top tether or ALR. Fortunately I had the Britax Marathon with built in lock offs, so we were ok. Our driver was Issac, he was very good with the kids. DS1 and I went ziplining, apparently this is a "tame" zipline but perfect for a 6.5 yo. They provided helmets which fit DS1 well. We had to do some lines in tandem because DS1 was too small to make it the whole way on his own. We then went to West Beach, but it was pouring rain and there was a significant undertow from the waves. We bailed and went back to the ship, grateful we did a private tour and could leave when we wanted! It was $90 well spent for the tour, plus $90 for DS1 and I to do the zipline.

 

In Belize we visited Lamanai and did the riverboat tour. MANY people on CC thought I was nuts taking a 6.5 yo and 4yo on this trip. It is long...there is a 1.25hr bus ride, followed by a 1.25 hr boat ride to get to the ruins. The boat ride back is shorter, about 45 mins, because you don't stop to see the wildlife. However, the tour is phenomenal! We saw many areas of Belize City and some of the smaller towns on the way to the dock, and the river boat is an adventure in itself. We saw spider monkeys, many different types of birds, iguanas and two crocodiles! The ruins are amazing and you can climb everything, although the guide doesn't leave a lot of time for climbing. Lunch is around 2:30pm, I brought snacks to keep the boys from getting grouchy from hunger which worked well. Lunch was rice and beans, bread, chicken and salad, although we didn't eat the salad. It was tasty after a long day of climbing. The ride back to port was very quiet. We returned to port about 15 minutes before the last tender, so there isn't a lot of time to explore after this tour ends. I would definitely do this tour again, although I give the caveat that our children are used to hour long car rides, familiar with boats (the boats are loud...2x200HP outboard engines) and spend a lot of time in museums.

 

In Costa Maya Mexico we visited Steve at Tropicana. We had some trouble finding a taxi with seat belts, but did eventually find one outside the Hard Rock Cafe (walk out of the gated cruise terminal and the Hard Rock is down the street on the right). The cab ride there was $8 for 4 people, $6 on the way back. The beach was very nice, calm water and not too deep for the kids. We brought a few sand toys and the boys had a great time playing in the sand. We had a table under a couple of palm trees, which was great as it stayed shaded all day and also gave the boys a shaded place to play. The delivery boy (didn't catch his name) stored the car seat and booster in the restaurant out of the sun without any problem. The bathrooms are clean but there is no shower. Water and ice are purified.

 

In Cozumel we walked around downtown, mainly because we were exhausted from the previous three ports! Next time we'll take the ferry, they seemed to be easily accessible from the port and came and went on a regular basis.

 

After the cruise we had a whole day in downtown Tampa, as our flight was not until 9pm. We visited the Florida Aquarium, which is right beside Cruise Terminal 2. We were at Terminal 3, they would store luggage until 2:30 pm, although Terminal 2 provided storage until 4pm. It was easy to walk between the terminals even with all our luggage and the boys. The terminals also sell discounted tickets to the aquarium, so we saved $3 a person buying them there. The aquarium was interesting, we spent about 2 hrs there but that was stretching it. Channelside is next door, which is an outdoor mall of restaurants, a few stores and a movie theatre. I expected more based on descriptions on CC, we ate at the Greek restaurant which was barely average. We then took the trolley to Ybor City, it takes about 20 mins from the cruise terminal area to Ybor. I wish we should have went to Ybor for lunch, there were lots of interesting little restaurants and spots to explore. An adult trolley day pass is $5, kids are $2.50 and under 5 are free. I wouldn't want to spend another day in downtown Tampa with the kids, there just wasn't enough to keep their interest.

 

The Tampa airport was very child friendly, we easily found family bathrooms and staff were good with the kids. All the stores and restaurants are on level 3 where the shuttles land from the respective terminals. Other than that there's a Starbucks on level 1 and that's it! Security did not require the boys to take their shoes off, although I had to take DS2 out of the Ergo carrier which was expected. They also have free WiFi, which was nice.

 

If anyone has questions, ask away!

[amcb]

Hi B&Z's Mom!

 

Great review!! It's always great to hear the perspective of families traveling with small children.

 

I wanted to say thanks for all the helpful information you gave us last year when we were planning our cruise on the Sun. We had a wonderful time.

 

Now we're planning a cruise through the British Isles, and have an additional little one to boot! :-) We're relocating to London, so ironically, this will be the first cruise we ever take that we can drive to the port. Definitely changes the way we think about things.

 

So thanks again!

 

:-) amcb

[daddy_bunce]

Hi B & Z's Mom thanks for the post.

 

Were there a lot of other children for your kids to play with in the Kids Crew area? We are leaving this Sunday on the Star and will be bringing DD 5 and DS 9 and I am hoping that they take to the Kids Crew right away. Also I was glad to read your feedback on Lamanai as we will be going there as well.

[capriciousc]

Thank you so much for posting your review! We'll be traveling on the Star in March with our DD (who will turn 8 midway through the cruise). I really appreciate all the detail in your review, particularly about the Kids' Cafe - DD is a self-imposed vegetarian, so it's always nice to know in advance that there's a place on the ship where we can get mac & cheese (which she considers one of the four basic food groups).

 

The detail on the ports was very helpful, as well. We're still considering what to do, and it's always nice to hear from someone who has been there, done that with kiddos.

 

Sounds like you had a great time! I agree about Ybor City - I grew up near Tampa, and Ybor has been a long time favorite :)

[Mom2B&Z]

Hi B & Z's Mom thanks for the post.

 

Were there a lot of other children for your kids to play with in the Kids Crew area? We are leaving this Sunday on the Star and will be bringing DD 5 and DS 9 and I am hoping that they take to the Kids Crew right away. Also I was glad to read your feedback on Lamanai as we will be going there as well.

There were a lot of children on our cruise: just over 50 in the 2-5 year old group and just over 100 in the 6-9 year old group. However, some school boards had this week off, so I imagine this is why it was so busy.

Just a note about the kids club, the only time the parents can go with the kids to see it is on embarkation day, so I'd make it one of your first stops after lunch. It was a great way to kill some time waiting for our cabin to be ready!

[Mom2B&Z]

Hi B&Z's Mom!

 

Great review!! It's always great to hear the perspective of families traveling with small children.

 

I wanted to say thanks for all the helpful information you gave us last year when we were planning our cruise on the Sun. We had a wonderful time.

 

Now we're planning a cruise through the British Isles, and have an additional little one to boot! :-) We're relocating to London, so ironically, this will be the first cruise we ever take that we can drive to the port. Definitely changes the way we think about things.

 

So thanks again!

 

:-) amcb

Hi amcb! I remember our conversations about the Sun :) I only wish we could drive to port, New York is our closest option and it's 8-9 hrs away. You should have some great options in Europe with so many ships spending time there now ;)

[Kidsx5]

Thanks for your review? Do you remember what the hours were like for the kids programs? Like when they were opened/closed?

[Mom2B&Z]

Thanks for your review? Do you remember what the hours were like for the kids programs? Like when they were opened/closed?

At sea they opened at 9am, the free program ended at 10:30pm and the paid evening program went until 1am (I think...we never used it). I didn't pay much attention to the port play hours, but if I remember right they were very close to the time we docked in each port.

There was a LONG line up on embarkation day when the kids club opened...seems lots of people had appointments at the spa ;)

[Kidsx5]

At sea they opened at 9am' date=' the free program ended at 10:30pm and the paid evening program went until 1am (I think...we never used it). I didn't pay much attention to the port play hours, but if I remember right they were very close to the time we docked in each port.

There was a LONG line up on embarkation day when the kids club opened...seems lots of people had appointments at the spa ;)[/quote']

 

Do you remember what times they closed during the day? Did they feed the kids?

How was the food on the cruise overall?

Sorry for so many questions, NCL is one of my options I am considering along with Carnival and RCI and I have alot of kids :p My youngest son will be 2 when we cruise.

Thank You!!!!!!!!

 

Oh, and how was the weather? Was it chilly? We will be going in January also!

[Mom2B&Z]

Do you remember what times they closed during the day? Did they feed the kids?

How was the food on the cruise overall?

Sorry for so many questions, NCL is one of my options I am considering along with Carnival and RCI and I have alot of kids :p My youngest son will be 2 when we cruise.

Thank You!!!!!!!!

 

Oh, and how was the weather? Was it chilly? We will be going in January also!

They don't close during the day, although if in port you need to pay the hourly charge, which I think was $6/hr, then $4/hr for an additional child. Kids club staff do not feed the kids, although I think when in port they do.

The food is banquet quality. It is no better or worse than I get at a large, well-known hotel chain when at a conference. They do a good job with the kids, mac and cheese, hot dogs, spaghetti and chicken fingers are always on the menu ;) I make the kids order off the adult menu for supper, and no one ever questions the decision.

The weather was great, bear in mind we live in Canada and it was -31C with the wind chill today ;) Tampa was mid 20C, and it just got warmer as we went south. We had no problem staying out on the balcony, even at night, when the ship was at sea.