NCL Star Photowalk/Review (Jan 15-22)

[GateGuardian]

Hi everyone,

 

I was on the NCL Star between Jan 15-22 heading to the Western Caribbean. I'm not that good at writing, so these post will be more photography focused. I have about 800 photos to sort out :) but will only post about 100.

 

This was my first cruise and I had a great time on the star. I can officially now say I'm a cruise addict and will be looking forward to another one next year.

 

I will update this thread once I get everything sorted out

 

 

Itinerary:

Day 1: Tampa

Day 2: At Sea

Day 3: Roatan

Day 4: Belize City

Day 5: Costa Maya

Day 6: Cozumel

Day 7: At Sea

Day 8: Tampa, Disembarkment

 

 

Room: Mini-Suite 11580

Breakfast: Market Cafe, Versailles

Lunch: Versailles, Blue Lagoon, The Grill, Market Cafe

Dinner: Aqua, La Cucina, Endless Summer, Ginza, Cagney's

Shore Excursion: ATV in Costa Maya

[t-and-t]

So glad to hear that you had a good time! We took our first cruise in late 2010 and were addicted after our first day onboard. :) Cruising is a fabulous way to see the world!

 

My husband & I will be on the Star in April, so I very much look forward to viewing your photos.

 

Thanks for posting!

 

~ Tanya

[ansmom]

So excited for your review we'll be on the star in november looking forward to the photos! We were on the epic last year and got hooked right away and booked our next cruise soon after we came home.

[Starry Eyes]

nice lead photo...I am looking forward to the next 99.

[rjm11]

I love photo reviews! I'm on the Star in April and really looking forward to your review! Thanks for taking the time to do it....

[tlm]

I'm sorry you didn't join our group for our Meet and Greet. Those who attended were invited to tour the bridge.

 

Toni

[GateGuardian]

Day -1 - Saturday, January 14, 2012

 

We flew into Tampa from Toronto Saturday morning. Had to make a detour due to a medical emergency on the plane. We landed in Charlotte mid-way. In total, a 2.5hr flight turned into 6hrs. Didn’t really have a chance to visit Tampa, we just went straight to the hotel and at at Lee Roy Selmon's. It was a good thing we flew down a day early. Else, we may have missed the cruise. We stayed at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/TPAAHHF-Hilton-Tampa-Airport-Westshore-Florida/index.do

 

 

[GateGuardian]

I'm sorry you didn't join our group for our Meet and Greet. Those who attended were invited to tour the bridge.

 

Toni

 

I wish I came to the M&G. My roomies didn't want to come :( Fortunately, I did visit the bridge during the behind the scene tour

[GateGuardian]

Day 1 - Tampa, Embarkment Day

 

We took a cab from the Hilton to the port (Terminal 3). Cost was a flat rate of $25. The drop of area was completely full. Luckily, our taxi driver knew an alternative entrance and we were dropped off right at the entrance.

 

We arrived at the terminal around 11:30. Took about 20min to get through security. The line was long and out the door, but it went really fast. We were then directed to the seating area for about 20min where we filled out a health form. Row by row, we were directed to 2 lines: one for Latiude members, which hardly had anyone, and the non-Latitude members. Line moved very quickly and we were done registeration before 1pm.

 

During Registration, they confirmed our credit card#, issued us our ship card (blue coloured), and took pictures for our card.

 

We then moved up a few towards the gangplank and had our first glance at the ship.

 

 

 

We entered the ship through deck 7 where the Grand Atrium is and we were greeted with many smiling staff. The first thing we did was proceeded to our staterooms on the 11th fllor to drop off our carry-ons.

 

Here is a pic of the Java Cafe from the 11th floor

 

Our room was 11580 mid port side. It was a mini-suite. Our room steward was Nancy who greeted us when we arrived at our room.

 

 

With the sofa bed, this room can easily fit 3 adults comfortably. Not sure about 4 though.

[GateGuardian]

The TV; nothihng fancy. There was about 16 channels. Half of those were ship information including a channel about the ship position and pool temperature, a channel with Shaun, the ship consultant advertising about the $100 credit when you place a $250 deposit for future cruise, a channel with recorded shows from the pervious night, a channel where Linda, the shopping consultant, talks about what to buy at the port (nothing useful), a channel about NCL shore excursions. Other Channels include MSNBC, Fox News, E!, and two movie channels with pretty current movies.

 

[GateGuardian]

The bathroom was very spacious and very clean

The bathtub

The toilet

The balcony

Plenty of closet space:

[GateGuardian]

I uploaded a video of the room here:

 

At the port, the Carnival Lengend (I think) and Holland America Ryndam was also there.

[GateGuardian]

Thanks to sugguestions from CC, we went to Versailles, the MDR, for lunch instead of the buffet. For lunch, I had the portebello mushroom, chicken sandwich (no pic :() and vanilla ice cream (no pic :()

After lunch, we toured around the ship:

 

Kiddie pool, Aft 12:

[GateGuardian]

Hallway on deck 7 and some pic of the atrium:

 

View of Tampa from the ship:

 

 

You can practise your golf swing here:

[GateGuardian]

Large Chess board, there is also a checker board on the other side of the ship:

 

The Oasis pool deck:

 

The Ryndam leaving before us:

[GateGuardian]

Room Service Menu:

[GateGuardian]

For dinner, we went to La Cucina (Italian). There was a $10 charge per person, but the first two nights, there was a 20% discount, so it was only $8.

 

End of day 1

[emsiam]

Cant wait to see more !!!

Jan

[russianmom]

Great photos. We are thinking of taking the Star in 2013

[PreciousCruiser]

Looking forward to your full review. Will probably cruise on The Star in the future since it replaces The Spirit in N.O. Will just do different things on the same itinerary. Thanks in advance... :)

[gelo7]

Nice start.

[Upshaw]

I wish I came to the M&G. My roomies didn't want to come :( Fortunately, I did visit the bridge during the behind the scene tour

 

Great pics, I'm on the Star the last week in Feb.

 

Glad you had a great time!

[naenaelovespurple28]

This is great, can't wait to see more! We will be on the Star 3/4-3/11 and we are soooo excited. I love to see the pics of things before we go to get a nice feel for things as this is our first ever cruise!!!:D

[www3traveler]

Hi everyone,

 

I was on the NCL Star between Jan 15-22 heading to the Western Caribbean. I'm not that good at writing, so these post will be more photography focused. I have about 800 photos to sort out :) but will only post about 100.

 

This was my first cruise and I had a great time on the star. I can officially now say I'm a cruise addict and will be looking forward to another one next year.

 

I will update this thread once I get everything sorted out

 

 

Itinerary:

Day 1: Tampa

Day 2: At Sea

Day 3: Roatan

Day 4: Belize City

Day 5: Costa Maya

Day 6: Cozumel

Day 7: At Sea

Day 8: Tampa, Disembarkment

 

 

Room: Mini-Suite 11580

Breakfast: Market Cafe, Versailles

Lunch: Versailles, Blue Lagoon, The Grill, Market Cafe

Dinner: Aqua, La Cucina, Endless Summer, Ginza, Cagney's

Shore Excursion: ATV in Costa Maya

Thank you for the pictures. Did you take any of the Bridge? What did you think of the staff?

[Fine and Jim Dandy]

The Ryndam actually left before us because we had a medical emergency before we left port and it delayed us about 40 minutes. Usually the Carnival ship leaves first, Star second and Ryndam third.