NCL Star - 7/22/12 - 7/29/12

[LynneL]

We were a group of 8 people: 5 people in their 50s & 3 in their twenties. My family has cruised many times (my count would be near 30 cruises) on a variety of lines. This was my husband & my 3nd time on NCL. My last cruise was on the Epic so the bar was set a bit high.

 

Embarkation: This was a breeze! We arrived around 11:00, the porters were right there for luggage & I had to chase after him to give a tip & were allowed to board at approximately 11:30. There were staff in the lobby area dressed in circus theme, ex. man on stilts. It made for a fun atmosphere.

 

Cabins: We had a balcony on deck 9 almost all the way aft. Friends had an aft balcony, which they enjoyed. It wasn't as noisy as our Epic aft, which had more the sound of a heavy waterfall then the gentler sound of the wake. My kids had an inside cabin.

 

Our cabin was ok. Storage not great & closet set up that your hanging clothes blocked the shelves. Carnival definitely has the most closet space & roomier balcony cabins. We missed all those baskets & hidden little storage spaces that we had on the Epic.

 

The balcony had one standard mesh style chair, a little table, and what could best be described as a bistro chair - metal legs & metal rounded back with a vinyl seat. The metal was rusty. The other balcony cabin, which had a slightly bigger balcony than mine, had the same & when they asked for a 3rd chair they were given another metal one. Definitely tacky looking and not comfortable. My kids' inside cabin ran parallel to the hallway instead of the usual configuration & that was great. Gave more room & they had a bunk that lowered from the ceiling. The aft balcony had a chair that pulled out as a bed for the 3rd person. The 3rd person in that cabin found it nearly impossible to sleep on it due to being so hard, and mind you, this person is a very easy going person. They asked for a foam "egg-crate" to put on it & it helped slightly but not much. I would not recommend this set-up for a 3rd in cabin. If someone can climb, get the drop down bunk.

 

Cabin Steward: Jerry. Sum him up by saying Fabulous!!!! Jerry was so efficient, pleasant & generally such a nice, kind human being. Near the end of the cruise one person in our group unfortunately had a serious health issue that involved the person being admitted to the hospital & I did not finish the cruise so I could stay with her. Jerry made sure others in our party knew we had an emergency & were not in our cabin (they knew anyway but so nice of him to think of that) & appeared genuinely concerned. Anytime he saw my husband he asked about my friend, even though he wasn't even her cabin steward. A man in the cabin opposite us fell while up on the pool deck and broke his ankle/leg in 2 places. When Jerry saw them coming down the hall he was always right there to assist that man's wife in getting the wheel chair in and out of the cabin and making sure she managed ok.

 

Ship: The crew worked hard to keep the ship clean, but it looked tired. In the same pool just behind the "main" pool, which was very small, there were a number of tiles missing off the wall. The main pool was very small. People standing shoulder to shoulder. I don't use the pool much so not a big issue. I saw on one of the large decorative lite-up palm trees that the sides were being held together with big plastic cable ties. Maybe they were in the process of repairing. Nothing that impacted on my cruise, just an observation. Some broken loungers too. Overall this didn't diminish my cruise experience but I expected more.

 

To be continued....

[vivavegas]

Enjoying your review! Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for sharing!:)

[MermaidMomma]

I am enjoying your review!

[LynneL]

Entertainment: Loved the band they had out by the pool area, "Xcite". This is an area I've seen other cruiselines cut back on, but on the Star they played great variety of music with the Carribbean most of the day. Put you in the tropical mood. Another entertainer I really enjoyed was Kenny, the Human Jukebox. Went to see him quite a few nights at the Red Lion Pub. He has a vast array of songs that covers decades. People sang along just having a fun relaxed time. Don't miss him!

 

As far as shows in the Stardust, we saw Band on the Run, I was thinking Beatles' music, not the case but good none-the-less & Shout! The Mod Musical", which I also enjoyed.

 

Another very good show was Duo Amaury. They were billed as combining classical ballet training with "unique acrobatic artwork." Simply beautiful!! Such a talented pair. I'd say that was my favorite.

 

Now for the bad: Magic with Jorgos. I have never seen such a terrible act anywhere, ever!!! Half the show was a movie showing him in various places doing his act (who needed to see the show after the movie) & claiming he was a world famous magician. Seriously???!!!! A couple of people in my group went to sleep during it, as did the woman in front of me. Such a sound sleep her daughter really had a problem waking her - lol. This act was so amatuerish I was surprised NCL booked him. Don't waste your time.

 

Food & Dining: We ate breakfast & lunch at the buffet & poolside BBQ, which had different selections each day. Dinner was at either Aqua or Versailles. We did have reserverations for Moderno's but due to my friend's medical emergency the others canceled.

 

Food is subjective but I found a nice selection of offerings & everything tasty. Food that was supposed to be served hot was hot. You'd think that's a given but not always. I enjoyed all my dinner selections & decent sized portions. The only meal my family didn't enjoy was at the end & they had filet mignon. Very tough. I wasn't there for that meal. At the breakfast buffet I went for the made to order omlettes & the freshly made waffles. Also had great little danish. One morning one of the staff came table to table with fresly made kiwi danish on a platter. Nice touch.

 

The first two nights the dining room wait was long. We got a beeper at 7:00 pm & both night wait time was 45 minutes. I thought this was because we were a group of 8 but I heard couples grumbling as they waited too. This did not sit well with most of my party. I had thought I read that larger parties could make reservations earlier in the day to reduce the wait at dinner but I was told the only time slots for those reservations is 5:30 & 9:30 pm. If I had gone at those times without reservations we wouldn't have had an issue. The 3rd night just 5 of us & the wait was 30 minutes. Once we were docked in Bermuda the wait time was significantly less because so many people stayed off the ship. For the Epic cruise we were 6 plus a baby and didn't encounter the long wait problem.

 

Freestyle dining has its plus in flexibility but surprisingly it was the 20 yr. olds who preferred the traditional dining. With traditional we enjoy having the same waitstaff who after the first initial night of getting to know you generally find the remaining nights to be more fun & the feel of going to your favorite neighborhood restaurant where the waitress/waitor knows you. On the Star our first night's waitress was energetic, joking, & just really put a smile on your face. The wait staff did their job but were business like.

 

This area would not make me choose one line over another as other cruiselines (RCI & Carnival that I know of) offer similar non-traditional dining.

 

Casino: Generally not that crowded, it did smell smokey which bothered one person but the rest of us dealt with it. None of us did well, but realistically you knew that was going to happen - lol. Everyone had fun there though.

 

One person that was wonderful was Brenda at the casino bar. Remembered your name, if I wasn't with my husband she'd ask for us or ask us where our kids were, etc. So perky & friendly. The other woman at the casino bar was not pleasant at all.

 

We did have the Harrah's drink cards & when my husband ordered an Absolut & soda the one bartender said only house brand, which was Gilby's Vodka. I can see NCL does not want to offer higher end liquor such as Grey Goose but to serve customers spending a lot of money gambling Gilby's? I can't imagine serving anyone that brand. Stoli's was only 2 for $22. in the gift shop - lol. My husband asked if he could just pay something to upgrade & was told no. Either buy the Absolut drink or take the Gilby's. Foolish on their part because where on my husband's last cruise he'd say, "I'll run to the casino to get a drink & play a bit." on this one if he was out he just paid for the drink rather than head to the casino. No incentive to go in. He spent 2x the amount of money gambling on the last cruise (free drinks also makes for careless play, that's why of course casinos offer it). Well, worked to my benefit because it did well for our budget - lol.

 

Overall it was a fun cruise, except for the tragic ending with my best friend. Taking that out of the picture, I enjoyed the food, most of the entertainment & liked that as you got back on the ship from Bermuda cool moist towels given out & cold water. I thought area of improvement was get some decent chairs for the balcony cabins, chair hogs were beyond belief (my husband & I went out around 7:30 a.m., maybe 3 people actually on a chair but every poolside chair at pool level & above already had towels on them) so that needs to be dealt with better & staff moral seemed paticularly low. We did have a few great staff members: Jerry (cabin steward), Brenda (casino bar) & Michelle (our guest service liason when my friend became suddenly ill).

 

With regard to the illness on board incident, the cabinmates of the woman who was taken off the ship by ambulance & didn't return received a call the next day asking which one of them was going to give their credit card to pay for a beach cover-up (it was around $30.) she had purchased in the gift shop. They didn't put the charge through right away & now they had closed her account. The cabinmates felt it was insensitive & a bill could have been sent to her home. I felt they were in no way responsible for this bill, they are not even related, & NCL had nerve asking these 2 people for it, though the money was not the issue to the cabinmates as it was small. The bill for her shipboard medical care was also slipped under their door the next day too. They knew she was off the ship & not returning so this was not handled well & very hurtful.

 

Any questions you may have for your upcoming Star cruise I'll be glad to try & help.

[Shelli]

Thank you for the review. I hope your friend has recovered.

[AttilaTheFun]

Thank you for sharing your review! You didn't mention anything about Bermuda - did you enjoy it and what did you see/do?

[LynneL]

Sorry about not mentioning Bermuda AttilatheFun (great name). I wasn't sure if people only wanted ship info here.

 

We did enjoy Bermuda. On Wednesday, first day docked, we had prebooked a 4 hr. tour with GAR Tours. The price for 8 people was $80.00 per hour (so $10. an hr each). George picked us in a big clean airconditioned van up right by where the ship docked. As we were boarding another couple from the Star that we didn't know asked George could they join our tour. Although it was a private tour he asked if that was ok with us & we said, "Sure!" The cost increases $10. per hour per person for each add'l person so that other couple paid their share of the add'l cost. Made it cheaper for them & gave us the opportunity to meet was turned out to be an extremely nice couple.

 

George covered lots of sites, most I probably don't recall right now but we stopped at Seaglass Beach, Gibbs Lighthouse & had time to climb the inside stairs to see a beautiful view, Warwick Long Bay which was a gorgeous beach area next to Horsehoe Beach, drove thru a little of Bermuda Botancial Gardens just to get a glimpse but didn't go in & a very tiny old church which George took us in & pointed out architectual details. Discusion had led to George mentioning he was a religious man so we asked him if he would like to lead us a prayer for a friend's son who was have extremely serious surgery that morning. George spoke beautifully! His words would later ring in my ears as I dealt with the sudden illness of my best friend which occured later in this cruise & her untimely death.

 

We ended our tour in St. George, which is how I had arranged it rather than finishing up at the ship. St. George had very old buildings that were interesting looking but the town was nearly empty, despite a ship docked there. The weather was extremely humid, we went into a few stores & found nothing exceptional so we decided we would keep our time there short. There may be much more & we just didn't find it. We ate lunch at a little luncheonette where you just ordered at the counter & took your food to your table. I'm drawing a blank on the name but it was on the "main" road George had finished the tour on. He had suggested it for a reasonably price meal. Prices were good & the food decent. We took the ferry back to the ship, but prior to doing so stopped in the post office & bought a booklet of 15 coupons for $30. that could be used on the ferry or buses. Worked out perfectly!

 

After freshing up on the ship we just walked around the shops in the dockyard area. After dinner a few of us headed to Karaoke at the Bone Fish Bar. The place was nearly empty, the karaoke singers did so from their table so the few people there didn't really pay attention, just overall wasn't great unless you were just looking for an outdoor place to sit and have a drink at night.

 

Thursday we took a bus to Horseshoe Beach. We lucked out that one of the beach Special buses was there & took us to almost directly to Horsehoe Beach - made one stop prior if anyone had wanted another beach but no one got off. We wound up at Horseshoe because a few of the women in our group wanted beach chair rentals, which Warwick didn't offer. Chair rentals cost $16. & you get $5. of that back when you return them so really $11. Same cost for umbrellas.

 

My family headed back to the ship after the beach & my kids went to Snorkle Park near the ship. Since after 3:00 pm they weren't charged admission, which was good because it was packed. The other's in our group had continued on to Swizzle Inn to try a rum swizzle. It was just a short visit but had a great time. They attributed it more to a table next to them with 2 local gentlemen who were very friendly & another table of with 2 local ladies with whom they also shared some laughs.

 

The ladies in my group went on an 8:00 p.m. 1.5 hr. glass bottom boat ride that night. They booked it at a little booth right near the ship. It was $50. pp and upon return said it was a waste of money. The sign by the place offers a $20. daytime tour, possibly it would be worth that but maybe not. There were a lot of people on the boat & the 3 women didn't even get to sit together. The boat drove for a bit, they did enjoy seeing the sunset, and stopped so they could see the beautiful fish thru the "glass bottom", basically a clear box that is covered until you get out there. There was so many people they couldn't get near enough to really look. They tour was also billed as unlimited rum drinks. The drinks were not served until they were already heading back to the dock. These ladies are not big drinkers so not a big issue, but still felt it was not an accurate advertisement. There were all the people on the boat lined up to get a little drink & by the time you got one you were back. They had envisioned having a drink while they watched the sunset. One women in the group's daughter had taken an NCL cruise to Bermuda last year & booked a glass bottom boat ride thru the ship & had said it was very nice so either a different operator or a better job done when they have to account to NCL.

 

Friday early a.m. hours was when my dear friend suffered a massive stroke in her sleep. At this point my cruise ended as I stayed in Bermuda at a hotel to be near her in the hospital & until her family could arrive. The kids went to Snorkle Park & paid $5. pp to get in. They didn't stay long because again it was packed & no one was up to doing much anyway.

 

In relation to the sad ending of my trip I must say it still left a positive view of Bermuda. You cannot believe how kind strangers were to me. The hotel manager at Coco Reef Resort, knew why I was there (the social worker at the hospital assisted me in booking a room) and everytime he same me asked with genuine concern about my friend & how I was doing. The waitress in their restaurant let me know she was praying.

 

I had asked one of the ICU employees how do I get to my bus stop (hospital under construction - I could find my way in fine...always got mixed up getting to the bus stop near the construction site area exit) & told her I was heading to St. Theresa Cathedral in Hamilton. She told me to follow her & she'd get me there. I'm thinking bus stop...she drove me to the Cathedral! She said she felt there was a reason God let her off early from work that day since that never happens so it must have been to help me. She was so worried about my safety going to the bus depot in the evening & said unfortunately Bermuda is not what it used to be so be cautious. Maybe because I'm used to NYC I didn't feel nervous or threatened in any way. Of course common sense always prevails, I don't go roaming in the dark, try to appear confident & as if I know where I'm going. If I don't I would ask for example the woman at the desk selling the ferry tickets in Hamilton about the bus schedule rather than a random person at the bus terminal.

 

So out of bad comes good too. I hope you all have a wonderful time in Bermuda!