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Review Norwegian Star Dec 9-16, 2012

lostone65

By lostone65,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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lostone65

lostone65

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Thank you very much for your input, lostone. Only 2 more weeks of waiting for us! steve

 

The last couple of weeks of waiting were the hardest for me. Then the last couple days sneak up on you and I panicked. Haha

 

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bluehawks47

bluehawks47

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I have to admit I had good intentions of walking a couple miles a day each morning but never did. I never even found the fitness area, because I didn't try :( But I walked a lot, took the stairs up and down more than the elevator. I managed to not gain any weight so I call it a win!

 

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That is a total win!! Our last few cruises, we vowed to never take the elevator. The only time was when we were boarding the ship and they made us take it.

How is the walking/running track? It's on deck 14 or thereabouts? I think I have read that 3 times around is a mile? or was it 4 times around?

Thanks again!

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lostone65

lostone65

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We booked the cave tubing and ziplining in Belize. They had us meet on the Stardust pretty early, around 7:45am I think. From there they took us straight to a tender (you have to anchor out due to the coral reefs). From there we met our guide inside the shopping area (make sure to use the bathroom here since the bus ride is about 45 minutes, there was a bathroom on the bus but I have no idea if it was working or not). We were escorted on to a bus that was air conditioned!! A word of warning if you have never been to Belize beofre. There are armed police everywhere once you leave the port area. We went through 3 security check points on the way to the cave system. We also had 2 armed police on our bus as escorts. On the drive Edgar our guide told us history and pointed out different things. It was quite educational to learn about the country from a local. The cave tubing was a lot of fun and the zip lining was a blast! Pay careful attention on how to brake or you will end up crashing full force into the guy on the next platform like I did on the first zip...ooops and ouch! Also be sure to use bug spray for the excursion. I put it everywhere but the top of my feet and the mosquitos had a tasty lunch on me! They had a nice buffet style lunch for us in between the tubing and zipping. We were taken back to the port and actually had some time for a little shopping before we caught a tender back to the ship. A nice day in Belize. Back on the ship to shower and get ready for the evening. We skipped dinner in the Aqua this night since we were tired and didn't want to commit to a scheduled dinner time with the group. We ate at the buffet instead. The evening buffet is ok, nothing fancy or impressive. Just good food and a lot of it. I need to correct myself here, therewas one impressive thing about the buffet..cheese!!! Yes 3 different kinds of cheese every night cut into cubes! I am a cheeseaholic and I was pretty delighted to have as much as I wanted when I wanted it. There were times I snuck into the buffet and grabbed a small plate of cheese and carried it to whatever bar/lounge we were hanging out in. The show this night was Shout the Mod musical and it was ok, not quite what I was expecting, but entertaining. I would have been ok with skipping this one and the rest of our party agreed. They had Deal or No Deal game show several nights in the Stardusk in between the shows. You could watch or buy a card and play along with the 2 audience members who were randomly chosen to play ( have to buy a card to be chosen). The cards are $19.99 and you can win various prizes and money.

We ended the night in the Spinniker for the 50's & 60"s rock and roll party which was a lot of fun. We stopped at the buffet (closes at 11:45pm) for a plate of snacks to take to our cabin. More cheese for me and pizza, little sandwiches for DH. The Blue Lagoon is a cafe style resturant that is open 24/7 for those hungry once the buffet is closed.

When we woke on day 5 we were heading in to Roatan Island! Let me say this was a beautiful sight!! We loved it at first sight! Disembarking was easy and not a problem now that we understood waiting for the all clear. We booked a snorkeling and underwater museum excursion here

(wanted the discovery dive but it was sold out). Some native dancers were here to greet us. We met our guide on the pier and headed out. Our guide was great here also, pointing out many things and educating us on the island. There is also heavily armed military everywhere. They only have 40 on the island but since it is Honduras this is the only security they have. We encountered no problems or course. The underwater musem was a joke and the snorkeling was ok, nothing great. A bit of a disappointing excursion for us. The place had beer, water and pizza for sale. The pizza was expensive $15.00 for a small pizza. We spent about 1 1/2 hours aftrer snorkeling on the beach here. The people who ran the place left us alone but our guide was excellent here, getting flowers, fruit and other interesting things to show us.

We made it back to the pier with hours left to spare before we had to board the ship. We walked back out the gates and went to the straw market where we scored on coffee, wood bowls and t-shirts. Loved the shopping here!

I keep forgetting to mention that every port there is a welcoming committee from the Star to welcome you back on board, they are offering water, fresh wet towels to wipe your face and the beach towel exchange. Nice touch and or course everyone is smiling and happy.

Dinner in the Aqua again, we skipped the show and spent time in the Bier Garten, Red Lion and then the Spinniker lounge for the Newlywed/not so newlywed game (funny!) and the country western hoe down. The Spinniker always has something going on, usually more adult oriented and funny as heck. If you are easily offended by sexual content then you might want to choose carefully in the Spinniker. We enjoyed the humor and it was all in good fun. You never have to wait for a drink, they always have plenty of waiters around to keep you hydrated (especially of your favorite waiter finds you, or you find him ;)).

Back to our room for our late night balcony visit, smiling at our cute towel animal on the way.

Day 6 was Cozumel, we hadthe Dolphin encounter scheduled here. That was a lot of fun and we were amazed at how gentle the dolphin was. Great excursion here, worth the money. We all did this with 3 of our party buying the observer pass for $25.00. The taxi dropped us just outside the port so we decided to eat at Carlos and Charlies. Very touristy and expensive in my opinion. The food was good and the drinks strong however. We did some pretty good shopping here. I was able to get a good price on some silver jewerly and the shop owner and his son were so excited to serve us. The weather here was the best of the cruise so far. A nice breeze with low humidity.

We went back to the ship with plenty of time to spare and took a nap. 4 days of getting up early for excursions, combined with 3 days of intense heat and humidity caught up with us. After our nap we met our group in the Aqua for dinner. We had set it up that they would present my brother with a cake and they sang Happy Birthday to him. He was quite sprprised and we all enjoyed the meal. WE hurried to the Stardust for the show Shark Bait!!!! This is a MUST see!!! These guys are fantastic! The best show on the boat by far! Off to the Bier Garten again. By now the bartender knows us, remembers us and my drinks got progressivly stronger thoughout the cruise in this bar. Toya makes the best Mojito anywhere! The Bier Garten can be windy since it is up so high and outside so thereare times you have to pick your spot carefully. For those of you who are smokers or hate smokers the Bier Garten allows smoking on the port side only during the day. In the evening it is allowed in the entire bar.

This was White night, the white hot party and all the festivities that go along with it. I forgot to pack white outfits for us but we enjoyed the party anyway. This is a big deal for NCL and they know how to throw a party! We enjoyed this so much.

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lostone65

lostone65

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Thank you very much for the detailed review! We sail on 1/6 and I'm obsessing. steve

 

Haha, I understand! I obsessed the last month or so, I scoured for any and all info I could find! Now I am in the process of deciding where to go next....my new obsession!

 

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lostone65

lostone65

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We woke up to clear beautiful skies and for me a little bit of sadness knowing this we our last day on the Star. We spent the morning hanging out on our balcony. I went to the Q&A at 10:45 with some of the crew members and found it quite informative. If you have time it is a great way to learn how they live and what is required of them. This is held in the Atrium and Pedro was in charge. There were about 6 crew members there from all different types of jobs on the ship. We were able to ask questions and they were answered pretty honestly from what I could tell. We scheduled the Presumed Murdered luncheon the first sea day for the 8 of us. It was at noon and was an additional $20.00 a person. It was held on La Cucina speciality resturant and the cast was from Second City. It was an audience participation show and followed a loose script. It was fun but not quite as much fun as I expected. I think that it varies depending on how much fun those participating want to have. The meal was ok, but some in my party came away hungry. Not really enough food for those who chose the fish dish. I chose the chicken and it was plenty to fill me up.

Because of the luncheon we missed the crew show at 2pm. I really wanted to see that and from what I understand it was pretty good. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the pool enjoying the band and just chatting.

We headed to the Aqua for one last group dinner. This time we had a waitress who at least smiled often and would engage in conversation with us. Shortly after we sat down it began to drip water from the ceiling right on to my brother. After several drips and his attempt to move his chair to avoid the drips we scooted the table a few inches to the right. The waitress noticed us doing this and came to inquire if there was a problem. We told her about the water and she told us it was from the condensation of the A/C. I guess it has been a problem before. She apoligized and my brother joked that since he was wet he shouldat least get a free drink. We all laughed at his joke. Within 5 minutes bottle of very nice wine appeared at our table for all of us to share. Nice touch and not expected. After our first bad experience in Aqua and other just ok dining experiences there this helped leave us with a better impression of Aqua.

We took in the last show in the Stardust which was Elements!! This show as great and should not be missed! We were left in awe of the show, that is all I will say so I don't spoil it for anyone. We headed up to the Bire Garten to say goodbye to Toya my favorite bartender and for one last mojito for me and a beer for my husband. I gave Toya an extra tip, which he didn't expect and was very excited about! It amazes me what $20.00 means to some people. We then headed to Spinniker to take in the last of the entertainment. The adult scavenger hunt was fun and very adult! Pedro was quite funny here and even got embarrassed a time or two! My favorite bar waiter Dhruv was here and I ended up with another 1 or 2 mojitos...oh my. We had already given Dhruv an extra tip the night before and he also was very excited by it. After the show was over we stood outside on the deck and chatted with Pedro about a variety of topics. Such a nice, funny, intellegent man with a kind heart. about 1:30am we all headed to bed.

Disembarking was a breeze until the customs back up in the terminal. We were later (10am) getting off the ship since we had later flights. That is a mistake I won't make again. Getting off eariler would have been better I think. We ended up in line for customs for over an hour. The problem was new customs agents from what I was told. It was not the way I wanted to end my vacation. I was already depressed leaving....haha. The line for the taxi's was crazy long also. We ended up just going straight to the airport since we finally got a taxi at noon and our plane left at 3pm.

 

This was my husbands first civilian cruise. He is retired US Navy and after 24 years active duty he wanted nothing to do with another ship. He went on this cruise only because it was a family cruise for my brother's 60th birthday. He didn't expect to enjoy it. He loved it and last night told me he was looking at the Breakaway for Feb 2014!!!! I am of course delighted with this choice! We have 2 children getting married in 2013 so there is no time or money for a cruise in the next year.

 

This concludes my review of the beautiful Norwegian Star! I give her and her crew an A in every area! If you have any questions I will try to answer.

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teeny25

teeny25

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Great review! We enjoyed the Star and crew on the 11/25. Sorry about your disembarkation issues- what a bummer way to end a vacation! :(

 

That was very nice about the bottle of wine for the dripping water in aqua. The best gestures of good customer service are the ones you do not expect.

 

I hope you adjust well to getting back to life.. it takes a while after you have been spoiled by this crew!

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lostone65

lostone65

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Great review! We enjoyed the Star and crew on the 11/25. Sorry about your disembarkation issues- what a bummer way to end a vacation! :(

 

That was very nice about the bottle of wine for the dripping water in aqua. The best gestures of good customer service are the ones you do not expect.

 

I hope you adjust well to getting back to life.. it takes a while after you have been spoiled by this crew!

 

Thank you! I actually just found your review last night! Great read! It does,take,some time to get "unspoiled", I am ready to go again....*sigh*

 

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lostone65

lostone65

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Some troll really savaged this cruise and it seems as if they were on another ships. Oh well.... that was the only thing they have ever posted so I will not put any creedence to that review. :rolleyes:

 

Is there another review of the same date out there that is negative? Of so must have been someone who isn't happy no matter what.

 

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lostone65

lostone65

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We walked back out the gates and went to the straw market where we scored on coffee, wood bowls and t-shirts. Loved the shopping here!

 

What pier did you dock at in Rotatan? Second where is the straw market?

 

Coxen Hole I think. The straw market is just outside the back gates to the right where the taxis and busses come and go from. A long line of shops on both sides of the street also. You can talk them down on the coffee and its really good. I gave it as gifts and everyone loves it.

 

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conderost

conderost

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I have to admit I had good intentions of walking a couple miles a day each morning but never did. I never even found the fitness area, because I didn't try :( But I walked a lot, took the stairs up and down more than the elevator. I managed to not gain any weight so I call it a win!

 

Sent from my HTC Rezound using Tapatalk 2

 

Will be on the Star in April,,Never did NCL, is there ample space on a balcony room to put luggage away?

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lostone65

lostone65

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Does the Star offer Beverage Packages (Alcohol) if so,,what is the pricing?

 

Yes they had the ultimated bar package on our sailing. You sign up in Tue Atrium near the shore excursion desk on the first day. From what I saw it was $40.99 a day plus 15% gratuity, so $57.49 per day. You had to buy for the entire cruise and all drinks had to be $10.00 and under. From what I was told all adults 21 and over in the same cabin had to purchase if one person did. But I heard conflicting stories on this. We didn't purchase it because DH is a beer only drinker and with the bucket of beers being about $32.00 for 6 he would have had to drink a 12 pack each day to pay for it. With 4 port stops he didn't drink that much per day. My mojitos were about $8.00 socI would have had to drink over 7 a day to break even. Many people bought it though and a good deal for budgeting without worry.

 

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jdvmd

jdvmd

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Yes they had the ultimated bar package on our sailing. You sign up in Tue Atrium near the shore excursion desk on the first day. From what I saw it was $40.99 a day plus 15% gratuity, so $57.49 per day. You had to buy for the entire cruise and all drinks had to be $10.00 and under. From what I was told all adults 21 and over in the same cabin had to purchase if one person did. But I heard conflicting stories on this. We didn't purchase it because DH is a beer only drinker and with the bucket of beers being about $32.00 for 6 he would have had to drink a 12 pack each day to pay for it. With 4 port stops he didn't drink that much per day. My mojitos were about $8.00 socI would have had to drink over 7 a day to break even. Many people bought it though and a good deal for budgeting without worry.

 

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Your numbers do not add up.

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