Star Review - March 31st

[thixson]

I just returned from my first Norwegian cruise on the Star! Overall, I had a fantastic vacation and will definitely cruise Norwegian again; however, there were some disappointing aspects to our vacation that I will address with Norwegian. I am 37 and traveled with my daughter (6) and my parents (60s).

 

This, I believe, was my 10th cruise. I have cruised many cruise lines - Carnival, Cunard, Celebrity, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean... Most of my cruises were before I had my daughter, who is now 6. My review of the kids club can only compare to Carnival as that is the only other cruise line I have done with my little girl.

 

We flew into New Orleans two nights early to check out the city. We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites and I'll say that was a mistake. While the service at the hotel was fantastic, the rooms were the smallest rooms I have ever stayed in before. Even worse, was the noise outside the rooms. I know, we are in the French Qtr and there are drunks everywhere, but oh goodness, it was awful. They couldn't pay me to eat the free breakfast = nasty. I would not stay there again. We explored the French Quarter some and I found the city to be dirty and just not for me. I saw a man pull out his penis and pee right in front of me and my 6 year old daughter (ICK). There were drunk people everywhere! I won't cruise out of New Orleans again unless I stay near the airport and simply cab it to the pier. We ate at a couple great restaurants - The Palace Cafe - and enjoyed a swamp tour as well...

 

Boarding day - Getting on the ship was effortless once we arrived at the pier. However, they must have been late getting folks off the boat because we sat in the parking lot forever before the buses in front of us left so we could unload and get out. The line for security was very short (we arrived around 1115-1130). We were escorted to the suite line for check in and then were escorted on the ship and to Cagneys shortly thereafter. Lunch in Cagneys was ok. I had some scallops and risotto and the scallops were disgusting! However, the rest of the food at the table was pretty good and the service was fantastic! After lunch we went to our room, Family Suite 12028, and it was ready! We changed into swim suits and headed to the pool! My daughter swam her heart out for several hours while we enjoyed cocktails!

 

I had registered my daughter for the kids club, which was not open until 8 p.m. that night. She was anxious to get there and was disappointed she had to eat dinner with us slugs! We had no idea what we were doing and went to the first restaurant we saw, which was Aqua. After 40 minutes of sitting in Aqua, we had water and bread! It took more than 20 minutes for our order to be taken and no cocktails were offered for ordering :( The food was absolutely disgusting and I guess this is the restaurant where you are allowed to look like a slob, because 30% of the people did.... tank tops, wife beaters, jean shorts, etc... wow. Not classy...

 

After dinner I brought my daughter to the kids club and we headed to the casino and picked up our free drink cards and started the losing process for the week. Between the three of us, we donated quite a bit of money to the Star for the week.. The staff in the casino was very nice and the bartenders were fantastic. My game is blackjack but I did not play that much as all they had was automatic shufflers and mega decks... no thanks.... My mom and I headed to the show for the evening where I tried my best not to fall asleep.

 

I picked my daughter up from the kids club around midnight and she did not want to go... off to bed!

 

Monday - sea day - The weather was beautiful! We woke up fairly early and headed to Cagney's for breakfast. The staff at Cagney's all week was wonderful. We enjoyed our breakfast and then headed outside to the pool to sun bathe. Of course there were no chairs to be had so we sat around the pool surrounding, which ended up being fine. My daughter played in the pools and made a ton of new friends and saw some of her friends from the previous day/night. After spending the majority of the day by the pool we showered up for the evening. I brought my daughter to the kids club again and then we headed to Modernero. For $20/person this was not worth it... The food was ok/good, but not worth paying extra... The restaurant was EMPTY - as were every other speciality restaurant we went to and/or walked by... the monitors that claim they are filling up fast are complete bogus... you could have walked into any of them without a reservation with no problem. My mom and I headed into the show, which was a musical production. I couldn't stay awake so I left and headed back to the casino and lost some more money :(

 

Tuesday - Costa Maya - Here we woke to a great breakfast in Cagney's again and then headed to the Stardust Theatre to wait for our dolphin swim to leave... My daughter and I did the dolphin swim and I'd rate it as a 6/10 with potential to be a lot better. The group was fairly large and the instructions given were confusing. I ended up being the guinea pig and had to go first. The cute little dolphin decided it's be a good idea to swim me right into a wall :) The pictures of my face are pretty funny! My daughter had a great swim with the dolphin and the pictures of her little face are priceless (although it cost $89 to purchase them). After the dolphin swim we took a cab to the Tropicante where we had a table reservation. Steve, the owner was great - friendly and helpful! There my mom got a beach massage, my daughter had her hair braided, and my daughter and I did a banana boat ride. The banana boat ride was a tad unnerving. I had no idea the goal was to dump you off the banana - which they did with my 6 year old daughter and two other kids onboard. None of the kids were liking that so we headed back in... The weather in Costa Maya was beautiful, the water was warm and blue, and I really enjoyed the port!

 

Wednesday - Belize - Again, breakfast in Cagneys then off to deal with the tender nightmare... The letter delivered to our suite said we would get priority tendering if we showed up in La Cucina in the morning, which we did. When we got there, no one was there. Finally, someone showed up, but we ended up waiting in big lines and did not feel we received priority anything. In any event, it wasn't that bad, it was just expected to be less hectic... Anyhow, once at the port we found the cavetubing.com.bz folks and boarded a van to head to the caves. I would recommend before doing this tour to look to see how many ships are in port. We had 4 and the caves were CROWDED... wayyyyyy too crowded. I could see how the excursion could be kind of neat, but I would not do it again and wish we would have done something in the ocean. Oh well! After reboarding the boat my daughter saw friends swimming and wanted to swim some so we hung out poolside for a bit. After swimming and cleaning up, I took her to the buffet for her dinner and then we headed to La Cucina, which ended up being the worst meal of the cruise. The restaurant was EMPTY (this is around 8p.m.) My dad ordered the lasagna, which looked exactly like the lasagna from the buffet and he said tasted terrible. He didn't eat it. My mom ordered Rigatoni and meatballs and she said my daughter's meatball off the kids' buffet was better. I ordered the steak - the flavor was great but it was WELLLLLLLLL done... I sent it back and they fixed it up nicely and did not charge an up charge for my meal. The food again, like Modernero, was not worth an up charge at all. After dinner, we headed to the casino and the show - Second City. It was good but not great. I prefer that type of show to the production/dance show...

 

Thursday - Roatan - WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!! We woke and had our usual breakfast in Cagneys - excellent as always... Headed off the boat and met up with Victor Bodden rours for a zip and dip tour. What a treat! This was a great day. Headed in a private van with a great driver, Ollie, to the zip line and monkey farm... We all really enjoyed the zip line and seeing the animals. Afterwards, Ollie took us to Bananarama resort where we had chairs on the beautiful beach reserved. My daughter and I did parasailing - HOLY MOLY 700 ft in the air.. I almost lost it but had to keep it together for her sake - she was loving it!!!! We had a few drinks and enjoyed the beachside resort and then Ollie took us back to the boat with plenty of time to spare. My daughter found a friend by the pool that she knew from the kids' club and swam until about 5:00 when I made her come in to take a quick nap while we all freshened up for the night. My mom and I caught some of the karokee in the Red Lion Pub... some good... most not so good, but it was a fun hour! Went to dinner at Cagneys tonight and it was very good and worth the up charge. The crab cakes were great - shrimp cocktail was great - steak was great - it was all great! Then off to the casino AGAIN for more three card poker loss :) My daughter demanded I let her stay for "late night" in the kids' club (I swear I could not get her out of there without tears). Tonight they paraded the kids around the ship and we got a glimpse of her doing a little dance in the show lounge with painted faces. They were adorable. KIDS CLUB A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Friday - Cozumel - Darn it... awesome weather went south. I was looking forward to our Fury Catamaran tour but it was cancelled. It was too windy!!! Instead, we shopped for a bit outside the pier and then made the mistake of stopping in at Senor Frogs. HA HA HA. I am still laughing over this. We stuck out like a sore thumb - sure, we like to drink, but NOOOOO we don't do shots and we don't dance the hip hop... It was so loud in there. We decided to order a drink and some chips with guacamole and then to leave. I had a strawberry daquari, my dad had a margarita, and my mom had a coke and our bill was........ WAIT FOR IT!!!!!!!! $47 american dollars. OUCH! Never again!!!! Back on the ship we went, the weather had gotten better, so we ordered a bucket of beers and relaxed by the pool while my daughter went back to her fav place - Planet kids! We ate dinner at Versailles. It was again good. Fri night we went to the juggling show (shark bait).... It was probably cool for those who like juggling, but we don't... we left after about 15 minutes and looking over at my sweet dad sound asleep! ha ha... he woke right back up once we arrived at the poker table for some more losing at 3 card poker... Except this time he got a 4 of a kind for a $500 win... still didn't make up for all the losing, but it made it a little fun :) I allowed my baby girl to stay at the kids club until about 1230 a.m. tonight and SHE STILL WAS UPSET I CAME AND GOT HER!!! LOL

 

Saturday - Sea day! Breakfast at Cagneys for the last time.... Spent the day at the pool (had chairs today - thanks to dad's early rising)... They grilled up some delicious food and the officers served the food. They walked around with fruit, cheese, etc... It was one of my favorite meals onboard - ribs and a delicious rice and black bean salad that I am still drooling over. My daughter spent the ENTIRE day at the kids' club. I tried to get her to come swim but she did not want to. They were preparing for the circus. She was a clown and the show was really cute. They did an amazing job at the kids' club onboard! After a day in the sun we cleaned up again, took my daughter back to the kids' club after her short break and a quick nap, and then headed to the Star karokee show. It was fun - then off to Versailles for our last dinner onboard and once again, it was very tasty! We really liked Versailles. Finished off the night in the casino and then off to the kids' club to pick up the girl with the sad face because it was over :(

 

Sunday - disembarkation was super easy. We took our own luggage and walked right off! No problems whatsoever!

 

Grades for this cruise:

Stateroom: B (beds really bad)

Food: B - (I wish they'd quit the focus on the speciality restaurants)

Entertainment: C (not so good - but then again, maybe just not my style)

Staff: A (very very nice people working on this ship)

Kids Club: A

Itinerary: A (loved the ports - want to visit them again)

 

Would I cruise Norwegian again? Absolutely

Would I cruise Star again? In a heart beat! We had a great time!!!!

[Stephanieandjason]

Thanks for the review! Makes me wish I was a kid so I could go to the kids club!

[wjb2613]

Grades for this cruise:

Stateroom: B (beds really bad)

Food: B - (I wish they'd quit the focus on the speciality restaurants)

Entertainment: C (not so good - but then again, maybe just not my style)

Staff: A (very very nice people working on this ship)

Kids Club: A

Itinerary: A (loved the ports - want to visit them again)

 

Would I cruise Norwegian again? Absolutely

Would I cruise Star again? In a heart beat! We had a great time!!!!

 

I'm not sure I've read a review yet where the OP didn't like the main dining room food, didn't care much for the specialty dining(except Cagneys and Le Bistro) and didn't like the entertainment, and lost a bunch of money at the casino...and still said they would cruise with the line and the ship again. Wow! Thixson you sound real down to earth. Kudos to you and your excellent review of the Star which I'll be be on in 6 months. If only 10% of my fellow cruisers are as sensible as you it should be a great TA voyage.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for taking the time to write and post it.

 

Keith

[jdvmd]

Thanks for your comments! Glad to see you still enjoyed the cruise despite a few hiccups and plan to sail on NCL again.

[Mysticks1]

Thanks for your review, glad you didn't let a few things that weren't ideal ruin your vacation. If you have another chance to cruise from New Orleans you should look at the Drury Inn on Poydras St. It is away from the Quarter and closer to the port. I have had wonderful stays there. The rooms are spacious (for New Orleans), they have onsite parking and it was quiet there.

[thixson]

I did see the Drury Inn and would stay there. I think if I ever sail from NO again, I'll stay near the airport or find something in the Garden District. The French Qtr is a little nasty to me.. (at least if I have my little pickle with me)...

I hope anyone cruising on the Star has a good time. It was a great cruise... I think I'd have fun on almost any cruise though... I've never had a bad cruise!

[GORDONCHICK]

Thanks for your review, glad you didn't let a few things that weren't ideal ruin your vacation. If you have another chance to cruise from New Orleans you should look at the Drury Inn on Poydras St. It is away from the Quarter and closer to the port. I have had wonderful stays there. The rooms are spacious (for New Orleans), they have onsite parking and it was quiet there.

 

I definitely concur. It's a great hotel that has a great breakfast and a decent evening "kick back". The only down side is that there aren't any restaurants near by. The closest is Mother's - which I'd also highly recommend. Especially the grilled shrimp po' boy.