Back from NCL STAR to Bermuda 5/13-5/20

[Richpontone]

Everything was fantastic. The ship, the staff, the food and the activities. Kyle Dodson is fantastic as the CD--he sings and does comedy well, and Sean. the Hotel Director, was super friendly and helpful. I can't say enough good things about the food.

The weather was great-three beautiful days in Bermuda. Did the whole Island Tour-great way to see the Island. Also, take the No. 7 bus to Horsehoe Bay Beach-30 minute ride from King's Wharf.

The Star, while 11 years old, has a super crew, they were upbeat, and caring in manner and the facilities including the carpet looked new.

Two negatives-the coffee was so-so-you might want to bring your own coffee from home and use an on ship coffee maker. If you don't have one in your room, ask Sean at ext. 8888 for one. Also, the pool is a bit small.

All the evening shows were professionally done especially Elements which should not be missed.

Sharkbait was fantastic as well as the acrobats.

Wished my cruise would never end.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Loved your review & food porn!:D I just had dinner & am hungry again after those pix!

 

I love those summer rolls too, had them on Epic which leads me to ask is the menu the same on every NCL ship? Sure hope so as I saw some things I want to try & will be spending 14 days on Dawn in Sept.

Thanks so much.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[teeny25]

Great review! Just booked on the Star for November and enjoyed your insight & pics! I usually skip over salads (veggie for 12 years, got sick of them lol) but you have me convinced to give some of these a try!

 

I have a couple questions:

 

What was on the portabella app? I'm veggie and am looking for apps I can eat!

 

What were the martinis you tried on the martini taste? I'm a fruit martini gal so I'm trying to decide if it is worth the money.

 

Can't wait to see more pics!

[jojo412]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have convinced me to stay on my diet until I get on the ship.

 

You're welcome! I should have gone on my diet before the cruise too.. Now i'm eating rabbit food to make up for all the carefree calories I had on vacation LOL. At least I have my pictures to drool over!

 

Everything was fantastic. The ship, the staff, the food and the activities. Kyle Dodson is fantastic as the CD--he sings and does comedy well, and Sean. the Hotel Director, was super friendly and helpful. I can't say enough good things about the food.

The weather was great-three beautiful days in Bermuda. Did the whole Island Tour-great way to see the Island. Also, take the No. 7 bus to Horsehoe Bay Beach-30 minute ride from King's Wharf.

The Star, while 11 years old, has a super crew, they were upbeat, and caring in manner and the facilities including the carpet looked new.

Two negatives-the coffee was so-so-you might want to bring your own coffee from home and use an on ship coffee maker. If you don't have one in your room, ask Sean at ext. 8888 for one. Also, the pool is a bit small.

All the evening shows were professionally done especially Elements which should not be missed.

Sharkbait was fantastic as well as the acrobats.

Wished my cruise would never end.

 

Glad to hear that you enjoyed our cruise as well :) I hear you on the coffee, it tasted kind of harsh. And yes the pool was tiny; we didn't swim in it at all during the trip. We didn't make it to Sharkbait, but if they were as good as the acrobats then maybe we should have tried!

 

Hi all!

 

Loved your review & food porn!:D I just had dinner & am hungry again after those pix!

 

I love those summer rolls too, had them on Epic which leads me to ask is the menu the same on every NCL ship? Sure hope so as I saw some things I want to try & will be spending 14 days on Dawn in Sept.

Thanks so much.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

The summer rolls are so refreshing! I'm sure they'l be on the Dawn too. I love some good food porn myself!

 

I'm always making myself hungry too as I look and post up my food pictures...

[jojo412]

Great review! Just booked on the Star for November and enjoyed your insight & pics! I usually skip over salads (veggie for 12 years, got sick of them lol) but you have me convinced to give some of these a try!

 

You'll love the Star! And I enjoyed the salads for the most part, as I found a lot of the food to be salty. I mentioned earlier that we would always order the garden salald with balsamic vinagrette. Always tasted light and fresh and the dressing wasn't too tart - the way I like it! Also must have salad was the endive one in the MDR with cranberry vinagrette and roqueforte cheese. I could have eaten that at every meal, it was so good!

 

I have a couple questions:

 

What was on the portabella app? I'm veggie and am looking for apps I can eat!

 

The description is: portobello mushroom baked with goat cheese, pine nuts and basil. We enjoyed this dish a lot and I wish we had taken pictures. But basically it was thinly sliced portobello mushroom (maybe roasted?) layered with goat cheese on top, with basil on the plate as a garnish. The only complaint was that the portobello was sliced so thin, and the goat cheese was spread really THICK on top. They didn't give us any crackers or bread to spread it on, so maybe you should ask!

 

What were the martinis you tried on the martini taste? I'm a fruit martini gal so I'm trying to decide if it is worth the money.

 

Hm, the memory of the tasting is a little hazy. I know the first one we got was MY favorite drink - vodka martini [i always order it dirty and the way they served it was NOT easy to drink. So I asked for a shot of olive juice on the side when they handed out the drinks]. Then there were two fruity ones - apple martini, followed by a cosmopolitan. Finally, the last one was a chocolatini yum!.

 

Here's a pic of the appletini (left) cosmo (middle) and vodka martini (right). The appletini has been untouched, so that's the amount that comes with every new drink. Quite a lot! a good deal for $15. oh, and they give you a show of vermouth in the beginning.

 

 

And here's a pic of the chocolatinis

 

[elbodans]

i love this thread! i'm so glad i found it! my husband and i are sailing on the star in three weeks (!!!) and i'm loving the food pics! i sailed on the gem in october--also to bermuda--and while i liked the food, my food photos didn't look this yummy! thanks so much for sharing!

 

also you've sold me on the jazz brunch.

[jojo412]

i love this thread! i'm so glad i found it! my husband and i are sailing on the star in three weeks (!!!) and i'm loving the food pics! i sailed on the gem in october--also to bermuda--and while i liked the food, my food photos didn't look this yummy! thanks so much for sharing!

 

also you've sold me on the jazz brunch.

 

Thank you!! I actually remember reading your review to Bermuda while doing my research and enjoying YOUR pictures, so its nice to return the favor. You guys will love the Star And good call on the Jazz Brunch, it was the best overall meal we had!

[jojo412]

We went to Le Bistro on the last port day. Forgot to take pic of the menu, but I think they are posted somewhere here on cruisecritic and can be found using the search button.

 

We asked to be seated IN the restaurant. As others have mentioned on previous threads, there is also seating outside in the communal area (where gatsby's is), so just request a table inside if that's not your cup of tea. I know they bill Le Bistro as romantic, so understandable that they want to set the mood with dimmed lights. But it was DARK! really dark! You'll see what I mean in the pictures since I took them without flash. We were lucky too, because we were sitting by a window so at least we had some light coming in.

 

The first item to arrive at our table was the amuse bouche - small pieces of crunchy toasted bread with a salmon spread and capers. Everyone gets this and it's free (i forgot to take a picture).

 

APPS:

 

Salad Gourmande - frisee, endive, smoked duck and walnuts with a champagne vinaigrette. This is one salad I don't think I'd order again. There was a sharp, bitter taste throughout - maybe from the frisee? The thin strips are actually the duck but tasted more like bland chicken.

 

 

 

Seared scallops with eggplant, tomato, pinenuts and olive oil. Salty! Scallops were slightly rubbery

 

Escargot Bourguignone with garlic herb butter. The garlic herb butter was salty and very oily/greasy but it since it came out nice and hot we enjoyed the dish. The escargot has a really mild flavor itself (kinda musky!) so its really all about chewy creamy texture. I would recommend you give it a try!

 

 

Steamed mussels, pernod, parsely, and cream. Very good! Well-seasoned. Wish there were more mussels, as quite a few of them were closed so we couldn't eat them.

[jojo412]

Entrees:

 

Roast rack of lamb, artichokes, blistered tomatoes, zucchini, and green olive sauce. This was EXCELLENT. A really nice blend of flavors, well- seasoned and it was perfectly cooked to order [medium-rare of course!]. They served it with mint jelly on the side. Loved this dish, ate every bite :)

 

 

Grilled beef tenderloin, portobello mushroom, roqueforte cheese potato gratin, green pepercorn sauce. This was another excellent dish. Perfectly cooked to order. The potato gratin had a sharp, sour taste so it served as a nice contrast to the meat. I love portobello mushroom so goes without saying that it was delicious :)

 

 

Desserts:

 

We were going to order the fondue for two, but we were so stuffed from all of the food! So we ordered -

 

Vanilla Creme Brulee. It was good; the caramelized coating was sweet and crunchy and the creme underneath was not too sweet, so it was well balanced.

 

 

Chocolate napoleon - flourless chocolate cake, hazelnut cruch, and gianduja cream. Loved this dessert! Hard to see from the picture but it was layered - cake, cream, crunchy disk, then topped with a hard dark chocolate disk. Not too sweet and loved the creme and crunchy chocolate combination.

[doberlady]

wonderful food pics!!

[shirleygr]

Love all the food pics/descriptions. We are sailing in July and appreciate all the information and tips. I am salt sensitive, so will definitely mention that to our servers. Thank you for taking the time to post.