Mitsugirlys STAR end of the world/pre-Christmas cruise detailed review & pictorial

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

The above picture...I seen this and thought "now why would they have bowling pins on the ship when there's no bowling. I love drunken bowling and that's the one thing this ship lacks-a bowling alley. You go bowling, you have 1 drink and then when you score isn't good you blame it on drunken bowling and the ship rocking. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

(Yes, I later figured out after looking at it several times that they are not bowling pins but what they use to juggle with in the circus, hence the circus theme. :smacks forehead with hand at this point: )

[jean s]

Really enjoying your review. We gave our son and daughter in law a cruise on this ship for their honeymoon. They are on the cruise that leaves this Sunday. It looks like they will have a great time.

[kjquilts]

As always really enjoying your photo review. We'll be back on the Star on the 13th .... fourth trip on her. Your photos are a fun refresher.

 

Re taking photos of the spa. On boarding day they usually do an open house sort of thing where you can tour the spa and sign up for spa package if you so desire. Do this on your next cruise and you can take your photos :)

 

I totally agree about the cafeteria atmosphere of the buffet. My dh and I are not small and the tables are rather crowded together so getting to the table once you find one can be a challenge. It is probably our least favorite buffet setup of the ships we've sailed.

 

I was laughing out loud about you trying to find Aqua. I think we've only eaten there once, for main dining room preferred Versailles. Will have to find it on our next cruise.

[crusinmama06]

You crack me up. I've read all 6 pages and looking forward to more :D

 

Plopping! You're funny!

[mitsugirly]

Really enjoying your review. We gave our son and daughter in law a cruise on this ship for their honeymoon. They are on the cruise that leaves this Sunday. It looks like they will have a great time.

 

Well that must mean they are getting married or just got married, so congrats to them. Any cruise is a good cruise trust me. Things can go wrong, and they did, but it's still a cruise and I love to cruise. I hope they have a wonderful time.

 

As always really enjoying your photo review. We'll be back on the Star on the 13th .... fourth trip on her. Your photos are a fun refresher.

 

Re taking photos of the spa. On boarding day they usually do an open house sort of thing where you can tour the spa and sign up for spa package if you so desire. Do this on your next cruise and you can take your photos :)

 

I totally agree about the cafeteria atmosphere of the buffet. My dh and I are not small and the tables are rather crowded together so getting to the table once you find one can be a challenge. It is probably our least favorite buffet setup of the ships we've sailed.

 

I was laughing out loud about you trying to find Aqua. I think we've only eaten there once, for main dining room preferred Versailles. Will have to find it on our next cruise.

 

I was thinking maybe they might do something like a tour of the spa to get people to sign up. I should have done that. I'll remember it next time. I assume the spa is probably the same on the Dawn and on the Star. I'll have to make up for lost time. :D

 

Yea, I was worried about the setup of the cafe too, I'm not big...well I'm 7 pounds bigger NOW than what I was when I started, but all of the pictures that I've seen from other post made it look like the seats were right up on each other. They were not as close as I thought, but still it can be hard to maneuver around them easily.

 

Go ahead, try to find the Aqua, I dare you. :p I just think it was because they just weren't open when we were passing by and with a huge sign in front of it, it was next to impossible to catch.

[mitsugirly]

You crack me up. I've read all 6 pages and looking forward to more :D

 

Plopping! You're funny!

 

Haha Michele. Thanks for joining. I guess you've had a busy day/night tonight huh?

 

I'm a plopper, what can I say. I think it comes from being a mommy to small children for basically the last 26 years of my life. I just like to be on their level therefore I plop and it's become a habit.

[david_sobe]

Bravo!

Amazing review but even better pictures. Is the Star really that colorful or is it your excellent camera? I remember your review on the Pearl and the amazing photography there too. It fascinates me when people take better photos of the ship that even the cruise line has and how you get so many photos of venues with no one around.

 

I think you have a first. I think you are the first person to ever post a photo of the newly chopped up Spinnaker lounge. Was always curious what it looks like. Not bad but sadly missing the windows :(

 

Cant get enough of the photos ;)

[JMHAM1]

There was a separate area with a sink and mirror for “prissing” yourself up for the day.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the great review. It makes me miss the Star. I won't tell you why I had to read the caption of the photo above more than once but I think you might be able to figure it out....I was wondering why anyone would be doing that to themselves out in the open even...gheese! Anyhoo.....this hotel is on our short list because I plan to use my Marriott points.

 

The port sounds the same as it always has been...CRAZY!!! We are driving to the port when we go and I am concerned about parking "Ruby" my trusty SUV and getting all six kids with luggage over there and in without losing anyone.

 

We watched the Home Alone movie last week and got to the part where they were counting heads before they hopped in the van to go...well we are constantly counting heads. My hubby is very tall and I am well...not...and sometimes he even counts my head as a head. Goodness!! Can't wait for the rest of the review and to meet you next year on the Jewel!!!

 

BTW...Totally never noticed a "theme" to the carpet. I guess I will need to pay more attention.

[mitsugirly]

Bravo!

Amazing review but even better pictures. Is the Star really that colorful or is it your excellent camera? I remember your review on the Pearl and the amazing photography there too. It fascinates me when people take better photos of the ship that even the cruise line has and how you get so many photos of venues with no one around.

 

I think you have a first. I think you are the first person to ever post a photo of the newly chopped up Spinnaker lounge. Was always curious what it looks like. Not bad but sadly missing the windows

 

Cant get enough of the photos

 

Well I've always loved my camera...so much that I bought 2 of them so I didn't have to share with the hubby (I'm selfish just a tad bit when it comes to my pictures). I try different settings to bring out the color, some work and obviously (as you can tell by some pictures) some don't. I've taken a few photography classes (mainly because I own a dslr) and have learned a few things about cameras, so that helps. Also, there was a new camera in store for me on this trip. (Ok that's a bit of a hint for my post saying "I didn't have my camera with me" for certain shots. You'll learn why later in the review.) ;)

 

I managed to get so many photos without anyone around the first day (which is why you'll see my daughter in some of them and she has the same outfit on over and over and over. <---- I was hoping people didn't think that was the only outfit she brought on the cruise lol because I promise it wasn't. I just happen to take a lot of pictures that day). Remember that we were category B getting on the ship (and category A was only boarding maybe 15 minutes prior to us)...as most people do, they head for the food when they arrive. We had ate a HUGE breakfast and wasn't even hungry at that point. We headed to explore instead. :D

 

Hmm, I do now remember people mentioning that they chopped up the Spinnaker. Had I remembered that on the cruise, I would have taken a few more of it. I do have a few that I didn't post. I didn't think they turned out "too great" because it was always dark in there. I'll grab them and post them.

[mitsugirly]

Just for you david_sobe

 

 

 

This next picture is absolutely horrid and I wasn't going to share it (way too much grain in it and completely on the wrong setting when it was taken), but just for you...

 

 

 

Those are the only other ones I have at the moment. Additional pictures are from the White Hot party in here (pretty dark, so not much to see) and at the latitudes party, which I'll post later (still, not too much to see). :)

[david_sobe]

Just for you david_sobe

 

 

 

This next picture is absolutely horrid and I wasn't going to share it (way too much grain in it and completely on the wrong setting when it was taken), but just for you...

 

 

 

Those are the only other ones I have at the moment. Additional pictures are from the White Hot party in here (pretty dark, so not much to see) and at the latitudes party, which I'll post later (still, not too much to see). :)

great photos

I believe the Star was first to chop up their giant Spinnaker lounge then Dawn was next. There has been talk of Jewel being next but it has not happened.

I love the Spinnaker lounge on Jewel and would hate to see it chopped up for more suites.

Your photos are the first I have seen of the "new" lounge

Very interesting.

[coka]

Fantastic review Mitsugirly along with phenomenal photos! Looking forward to reading and seeing more. I am glad you clarified your daughter's outfits...I was beginning to wonder...:p. I enjoy your humor and your candid thoughts!

 

coka

[mitsugirly]

There was a separate area with a sink and mirror for “prissing” yourself up for the day.

 

Thanks for the great review. It makes me miss the Star. I won't tell you why I had to read the caption of the photo above more than once but I think you might be able to figure it out....I was wondering why anyone would be doing that to themselves out in the open even...gheese! Anyhoo.....this hotel is on our short list because I plan to use my Marriott points.

 

The port sounds the same as it always has been...CRAZY!!! We are driving to the port when we go and I am concerned about parking "Ruby" my trusty SUV and getting all six kids with luggage over there and in without losing anyone.

 

We watched the Home Alone movie last week and got to the part where they were counting heads before they hopped in the van to go...well we are constantly counting heads. My hubby is very tall and I am well...not...and sometimes he even counts my head as a head. Goodness!! Can't wait for the rest of the review and to meet you next year on the Jewel!!!

 

BTW...Totally never noticed a "theme" to the carpet. I guess I will need to pay more attention.

 

As for having Marriott points, there is another Marriott hotel right down the street from here (headed away from the port just a few blocks-2 or so) and the hotel looked really nice. I told my husband that if we were to go back, I'll have to look it up and see how much they go for and if they are offered on LMT.

 

What I was missing at this hotel is the courtyard. I always like to sit out at the courtyard in the evening and just enjoy the nice weather and people watching. There was no courtyard...just a few chairs outside the hotel, under the underpass, so nothing but darkness and cars passing in and out.

 

They did have a small pool area, which was closed by the time we arrived and we weren't interested in swimming anyhow. But still, not the same.

 

 

When we walked to the store, that's when we discovered the other Marriott place. It had the nice courtyard and it looked pretty big. The outside was a lot nicer too. I'll have to googlemaps it and "walk" down the street and see the name of it. I meant to take a picture of it on the way back but we kind of had our hands loaded (with soda). :p

[mitsugirly]

great photos

I believe the Star was first to chop up their giant Spinnaker lounge then Dawn was next. There has been talk of Jewel being next but it has not happened.

I love the Spinnaker lounge on Jewel and would hate to see it chopped up for more suites.

Your photos are the first I have seen of the "new" lounge

Very interesting.

 

It would have been neat to see it with windows all around it (kind of like the Spirit had-it was beautiful).

 

I hate to hear that they did the same thing to the Dawn. We are sailing her next year.

 

Then you say they are doing it to the Jewel as well? I'm suppose to be on her next December. I just can't win. :p

 

I was able to go in one of the family suites (I think that's what it was called) or maybe it was the mini suite. One of the families on our roll call was staying in one of them and she showed me hers. It was nice and huge. She told me that it was one of the new rooms they made out of the Spinnaker. I of course didn't take any pictures to invade her privacy. Hopefully she'll come back on and show some pictures. ;)

[mitsugirly]

 

Anyhoo.....this hotel is on our short list because I plan to use my Marriott points.

 

The port sounds the same as it always has been...CRAZY!!! We are driving to the port when we go and I am concerned about parking "Ruby" my trusty SUV and getting all six kids with luggage over there and in without losing anyone.

 

We watched the Home Alone movie last week and got to the part where they were counting heads before they hopped in the van to go...well we are constantly counting heads. My hubby is very tall and I am well...not...and sometimes he even counts my head as a head. Goodness!! Can't wait for the rest of the review and to meet you next year on the Jewel!!!

 

BTW...Totally never noticed a "theme" to the carpet. I guess I will need to pay more attention.

 

Ok, it's funny how I just pulled up googlemaps and picked a spot and zoomed down on the street and bam, I was right in front of the hotel I was talking about. I guess I'm just that good. :p LOL

 

Anyhow, it says it's called Residence Inn-Marriott. Check them out if you have points.

 

As for the port being crazy, when we sailed out of there last September (2011) it was not bad at all. We had someone on our roll call pick us up at the hotel (Drury) and they drove to the parking lot right across the street from the terminal and we grabbed our bags and walked right across the street where the porter took them and we walked in to a huge building that was all open and tall, up an escalator and in to the lines above to check in. It was not chaos at all. That was a "good" experience. Getting off was just as good. But that was the port that is closest to the bridge (which is where the Carnival ship was this time). :(

 

Which theme are you referring to with the carpet? There was a lot LOL

[mitsugirly]

Fantastic review Mitsugirly along with phenomenal photos! Looking forward to reading and seeing more. I am glad you clarified your daughter's outfits...I was beginning to wonder...:p. I enjoy your humor and your candid thoughts!

 

coka

 

Hi Coka! I recognize your name from other threads. Welcome.

 

I know, I just had to clarify and get that off my chest. Every time I posted a picture with her in it, I just kept noticing the same outfit and was gasping there for awhile. :eek:

[jeckstein]

I am loving your review and can't wait to read more. I am sailing away on the Star in April. I can't wait. Is there any chance you still have the dallies and can post them? Thank you for getting me pumped for my trip!

[pianoplayerla]

Mitsugirly,

 

Loving your review. You always do a great job!! We are leaving on the Star 1/6, waiting for your port reveiws.

[mitsugirly]

What is wrong with this forum? You use to be able to reply to 3 messages by quoting them in one message. Since I've been back, it's only letting me do 2 quotes and I have to go back to pick up the other on the next post, even though it was marked?

 

Now, it's only letting me do 1 quoted message at a time. Anyone else having this problem? :confused:

 

 

I am loving your review and can't wait to read more. I am sailing away on the Star in April. I can't wait. Is there any chance you still have the dallies and can post them? Thank you for getting me pumped for my trip!

 

Yes, I do have all of the dailies. I keep EVERYTHING...receipts and all. They all go in my scrapbook. However, our printer went out and I had to hook up my old one and I have yet to figure out why I can't get the scanner portion of those "all-in-one" wonderful contraptions to work now. I'm not sure if it's just a matter of updating the driver or finding the disk that came with the printer. So maybe I'll try to figure that out by the end of my review. Sorry. :( If there's anything you want to know about, I can look at it and tell you.

[mitsugirly]

Mitsugirly,

 

Loving your review. You always do a great job!! We are leaving on the Star 1/6, waiting for your port reveiws.

 

 

Ok now, that's putting a little bit of pressure on me. :eek: I do have to work tomorrow and this entire weekend (which means I don't get home until midnight each day), so I probably won't get much accomplished with the review over the weekend. That's why I've been working so hard today with as much as I could do. I actually have been in my pj's all day and haven't moved from the computer other than a potty break and running to the laundry room to get the massive loads of vacation clothes done...which I would like to brag that I managed to accomplish. :D Do you know what it takes for me to do loads of laundry that are all SUMMER clothes when I look outside and see snow on the ground? YIKES! It takes a lot of will power I tell ya. :p

 

I promise I'll try my best. ;)

[DGP1111]

Right outside of the dining area there were some cute little table and chairs that was in a cove and up against the window that you could eat 1) in peace or 2) in an area that wasn’t windy instead of being outside and 3) in an area that was a good temperature if the buffet was too cold.

 

 

 

On my Norwegian Star sailing earlier this year, I ate in one of those two 'nooks' regularly, and loved it. Certainly a nice get-away, and pleasant view during the day. :)

 

Really enjoying your recap. Thanks SO much for sharing. :D

 

.

[mitsugirly]

On my Norwegian Star sailing earlier this year, I ate in one of those two 'nooks' regularly, and loved it. Certainly a nice get-away, and pleasant view during the day. :)

 

Really enjoying your recap. Thanks SO much for sharing. :D

 

.

 

It really seem like a nice place to eat and even though it was right off to the side of the hallway, it seemed like it was always nice and quiet in there.

 

Thanks for enjoying my review. :)

[mitsugirly]

Ok time to start from the beginning….I just know that I’m going to mess this up and forget things that happened on certain days and have to make extra posts, but bear with me. I’m trying. There’s just so much to a cruise and so hard to remember everything.

 

I have my trusty dailies beside me and a few notes I’ve made on the computer that I wanted to touch base on and hopefully things will just start to flow once I start. If I forget something, I pinky promise I’ll come back and post, it just might not be in the right order. LOL That happens when you get order, you forget things.

 

Actually I have already forgotten, the first night at the hotel, I noticed a MAJOR catastrophe…we had forgotten my daughters “blankie” YIKES RUN FOR COVER!! She has not gone to bed EVER without this blanket since she was born. It is her soul mate. Oh no. That took a lot of explaining to do. I promise I had it on the kitchen table beside my carry-on bag for the plane and she had to have moved it off the table prior to leaving and I didn’t notice it was gone and forgot to grab it. Now the entire vacation is going to be ruined. I got super excited about her being in that (remember) big girl pull out sofa bed and she shared in the excitement and the tears left. I pulled out a “big girl blankie” from the closet and told her now that she’s a big girl, she needed to sleep with a big girl blanket. To my surprise, it worked.

 

 

Now I also have to tell you, I’m a planner. No, you don’t get it, I’M A PLANNER!!!! I research and read for MONTHS on everything. I read reviews; I ask tons of questions, I have everything planned. I make spread sheets with EVERY single charge that we will spend to the tee. I ask anyone that has been to a certain place how much the cab ride was, how much were drinks, how much was food, I ask for menus…you name it. I make folders containing each port/place we will visit, an air flight folder, ship folder, food folder, taxi folder…you get the picture. In said folder I have printed maps, typed up hints/tips, spread sheet from above, any emails for proof needed, printed receipts and confirmation numbers, and an envelope that contains the exact amount we are to spend on each. I know I’m a little OCD but it has always worked for me and I’ve been doing this since I was 18 and doing land vacations every year. It helps plan the trip and budget it and it works for me. People ask all the time about how to set up a cash on board account and how it all works…well, this girl knows how and does it and up until now, I’ve walked away every time with THEM owing ME less than $10.00. Insert my praise here please.

 

Ok, time to bring me down off my pedal stool. I take pride in being such a planner that when I screw up (and let me add this has never happened), then it completely throws me off. Well, I forgot the blankie. I screwed up. I start looking for things…um well, I might have forgotten my hair ties as well (oh no, it’s hard to look your best on a cruise all the time and those beach days definitely require a hair tie with my long hair), oops I forgot my comb too…ok, I can live with that and improvise by using something else. No biggie. Oh no, I forgot my suction cupped 64x magnification mirror to use to put my contacts in. GASP. I had lasik in my early 30’s and had 20/15 vision, but they let you know that your close up vision will sooner or later go. Well it went and I wear contacts in order to read. Well if you are blind and can’t see up close, looking in a regular mirror doesn’t cut it. I will be blindly putting in contacts the rest of the cruise and getting aggravated. Ok, I screwed up this cruise. But, the best is yet to come trust me.

 

So after the fiasco of trying to get on the ship and the delays, we got on the ship and I got to see my WOW factor of the Atrium! Holy moly, it was BE-U-TI-FUL (yes I’m aware that’s not spelled right, I was shouting it out the way I said it). Immediately I made my first official “On the ship facebook post”…I believe it read something like “OMG, I love this ship”…or something along those lines. I immediately started texting my 24 year old daughter to tell her about it (she was supposed to be on this ship with us and didn’t get to come in the end and they are waiting for the “next” cruise).

 

Most people get on the ship and immediately head to get lunch. We were still full from the awesome HOT breakfast buffet breakfast we had earlier and figured it was the perfect opportunity to do some exploring before everyone tried to become a permanent fixture in my awesome (so you guys say) pictures. Yes, this is the first time I’ve done this. We are usually the “normal head-to-the-buffet-for-some-grub” type of people because we’ve skipped breakfast or had the “complimentary” COLD breakfast, which is never satisfying, that the hotel usually offers.

 

I was picture snap happy. Two camera’s in my hand (I discovered the Canon D10 back before my Epic cruise in 2010 and have never looked back or even bothered to take my dslr since that cruise because I simply love that little camera and purchased a second one at the beginning of this year before my Pearl cruise) and strolling every venue I could wander in to.

[mitsugirly]

cruise) and strolling every venue I could wander in to.

We were on the ship maybe 1 hour when we heard the “ding-dong, hello and welcome to the beautiful Norwegian Star. We would like to let you know that rooms on decks ___ (insert whatever deck is lowest, I think maybe deck 4 that passengers can have rooms on?) through deck 7 is ready.” They take a 30 second break and you hear “Ding-dong, passengers on decks 9 through 13 are now ready.” Doesn’t it figure we are on deck 8. Oh well, it’s ok, I wasn’t done exploring anyhow. By the time we made it to the Market Cafe, we both turned and looked at each other and knew we still weren’t hungry but kind of shrugged our shoulders and said “what the heck” and headed for a plate. We didn’t get much, just a little snack and something to drink. Then finally we heard “Ding-dong, passengers on deck 8, your rooms are now ready.” Knowing now what I didn’t know back then, hindsight should have been an indication of what was to come with our rooms being last on the list.

 

 

 

We headed down to find our room. I knew it was somewhere in the middle and kept thinking we were more toward the aft of the ship (that’s where our interior room originally was supposed to be, but we got the “free upgrade” when prices dropped and were now in a new location. I would not get use to knowing that this new location consisted of being toward the front throughout the cruise).

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got to our room WOW, this obstructed port window was actually one of the BIG picture windows and not really too obstructed. Yes, we had boats in front of us, but we could see out, see land and water and we were kind of “in between” two boats, which made it nice. I have only sailed once in an exterior cabin and it was a porthole room with no view because of the salt on it. I also didn’t know how things were going to work out with now having some light in the room and sleeping. I kind of enjoy that darkness of the interior and go to sleep much faster. However, it worked out pretty darn good and my daughter especially liked it because it was kind of a “night light” for her and she wasn’t scared. (She’s been freaked out over the last 6 months and insists on sleeping with the hall light on every night).

 

 

 

 

 

Now don’t be making fun of my small room, but as I’ve said, we are used to an interior so this was a huge upgrade. The interiors are 142 sq ft I believe and I “think” this is around 187??? But it made a huge difference, especially on the sides of the bed. Even more so once we pushed the bed to the side up against the wall and actually had room to walk on the side of it. Yep, I’m excited.

 

 

 

 

This is our "obstructed view" not really tooshabby:

 

 

 

This is standing down on deck 7 looking up at our window:

 

 

For those of you asking about the “comfort” of the beds. I have sleep like I was sleeping on a cloud on all of the NCL ships and have never felt where the beds are divided. This bed gets a minus for comfort. It’s the worse bed ever. It was hard; you could not only FEEL the division of the beds but see it! It was awful. Let me tell you, the pillows were not much better! They felt like they were down feathers but the minute you laid your head on them, you sunk and it became totally flat. This week would prove to be the worse night’s sleep I’ve had in many many year. I also have to comment on the bed sheets. Do they always use a regular sheet as a fitted sheet? Or was it just this ship? Every morning I woke up with the so called supposed to be “fitted” sheet that was not a fitted sheet pulled back off the bed and the foam exposed while I was all tangled up in it. Maybe it was just me since it was the worse bed to sleep in and maybe I tossed and turned more than normal and caused them to come off? I’m not sure at this point. One last bad-bed comment is the comforter. Now I have always been EXTREMELY happy with the thick down comforter on the previous ships. This was a matching set however…they matched the pillows…FLAT and thin.

 

 

Anyhow, getting to the picture I took. This shows what “this” ship/room had for bedding when put together. I guess I really can’t verify that this is the same set up on all of the other ships that I was on since they did not feel like this.

 

 

As you can see, there’s the mattress, then the foam, then a sheet, then the padding, then another sheet posing as a fitted sheet.

 

 

 

So I guess it's going to be hard for me to jump in now when the question is ask “how are the beds on NCL?” because now it’s a mixed review of all good and one bad. I wonder if it depends on the ship now? I did talk to others on my roll call that complained about their beds as well and this was before I ever said anything about mine. So, it’s not just me.

[mitsugirly]

I will now just give you a tour of the room (it’s not like it’s big and requires a lot of explanation so you can figure out what everything is). Tons of storage and definitely adequate enough for our family of 3 in this room.

 

 

Also, I might add that there is a trundle bed under one of the twins (which is usually what my little one sleeps on, but remember, she’s a BIG girl now, so she chose to sleep on the top bunk pulled down).