Star's Dry Dock in Portland, Oregon

[chery4lbooks]

They did have Iconcierge but we did not use it personally. They also had Monitors throughout ship with info of what was going on each day by time as well as restaurant reservation availablility times etc. Also showed where you were on the ship and how to get from one place to another.

[chery4lbooks]

I believe Iconcierege App was $7.95 per person not per group or room.

[melodyesch]

We are on the sailing leaving the 29th and I REALLY hope that O'Sheehans's will be fully open by then. My DH loved it on the Jewel and was very happy when I told him that it would be changed over after dry dock. I wonder if it's usual to have venues not fully operational right after dry dock?

[Levanah]

I believe Iconcierege App was $7.95 per person not per group or room.

 

Yes, this is our understanding, too :)

[Levanah]

We are on the sailing leaving the 29th and I REALLY hope that O'Sheehans's will be fully open by then. My DH loved it on the Jewel and was very happy when I told him that it would be changed over after dry dock. I wonder if it's usual to have venues not fully operational right after dry dock?

 

We are wondering about that, too. DH is REALLY looking forward to the chicken pot pie in O'Sheehan's. The entire menu there is pretty tasty. :)

[Pamster]

Quick update - just off STAR this morning.

 

Old Star Bar is now Sugarcane Mojito Bar and Moderno. Deck 13

 

O'Sheehans is on Deck 8 (Mid) It was only open for drinks and not completed or ready to serve food while we were there. Looked great though (and big)

 

5 O'clock Somewhere Bar is being built where the Red Lion Pub was located. It also was not open yet - not even done being remodeled - they were working on it as well.

 

 

Mojoto's Sugarcane Bar looks exactly like the old Star Bar to me.

 

 

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[Coasty]

Thanks LesPaul... we are on the Mexican Rivera 03/29/15 cruise and like you it's our first NCL cruise and we've been very much looking forward to it! We are anxiously awaiting reports such as yours to see what everyone who has sailed since the Star's dry dock thinks... so thanks for the update! Enjoy the rest of your cruise :)

 

There is a very large cruisecritic group for your Star cruise starting 3/29. Levanah, melodyesch & robbielv.....................

Why don't you come over and join in the fun?:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1976999

Edited March 22, 2015 by Coasty

[LesPaul]

Just home from the Star.

 

Had a great cruise despite some of the drydock issues.

 

I spoke with someone that attended the staff meetings about the progress of the various unfinished spaces from the drydock. Some will be finished by the end of the next cruise with all being finished by the end of the cruise that leaves April 29th. So two more cruises will be affected. They are making progress on the Five O'Clock bar, they were installing flooring and have removed the window boards so you can see in. There are some construction sounds, the nasty dentist drill sound and chemical smells at times.

 

My adult children have nicknamed our cruise as "The Cruise Without Limes." The bars did not appear to be well prepared for the massive amounts of drinking that happened on our cruise. Lots of spring breakers and lots of UBP users. And it seemed we were told "we are out of that" multiple times. Let's see, there was a shortage of bloody mary mix, strawberry mix, pina colada mix, limes and whatever makes a Pisco Punch a Pisco Punch. Those are the ones I remember... Sometimes it was every bar and sometimes if you went to another bar, you could get your drink.

 

The cruise director was Ben Kitchen. The hotel director was Hugo Vanosmael. The food and beverage director is leaving soon, [maybe now??] Vikram Parthasarthy. Do you need to know any other names?

 

Room service was a mess the first couple of days, the phone was constantly busy and no breakfast came despite hanging the request out. That did improve. The buffet did provide food until 5am, I didn't go up there to check it out.

 

The food was really good overall. We ate in the new Moderno the first night onboard. Ginza is free except for the sushi and hot rock entrees. We ate there the last night with mixed results. The Ginza food is prepared in three places, sushi at the sushi bar, some dishes in a back kitchen and some in the wok area by the sushi bar. So we waited quite a while to get all our food, it didn't help that my party ordered multiple dishes. I finished my entree about 10 minutes before others were served theirs. Many apologies from our waiter, since it is now free, they had way more diners than before.

 

The dancers and singers were all new and had only been on the Star for a short time. The shows they were in were fantastic, we really enjoyed them.

 

Leslie

[Pamster]

With O'Seehans not open for food, did they have another 24 hour place to eat?

 

 

Just left O'Sheehans. They do have food now. Bartender said 5 O'Clock Somewhere might be open tomorrow.!! Don't know about that. Still looked like lots of construction going on, but suppose they could get it cleaned up and functioning pretty quickly.

 

 

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[sassyredhat]

I was on that cruise too.

Pretty much what the others said. They weren't really ready for us. They are trying to get it ready for the transatlantic in a few weeks.

 

The photo area is awesome. Everything is computerized. No grabbing photos off the walls anymore.

 

We had a really good time.

 

Patti

[LesPaul]

The Star now does have iConcierge and we attempted to use it, but our phones [Androids] kept trying to get us to pay for wireless internet. So I was the only one that kept it up and running. While we were using the messaging service, it would take quite a while for the messages to show up, but we used it only the first day on the cruise. We did not call each other with it. We just left each other voicemails on the room phones, old school style.

 

Leslie

[Levanah]

There is a very large cruisecritic group for your Star cruise starting 3/29. Levanah, melodyesch & robbielv.....................

Why don't you come over and join in the fun?:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1976999

 

Hi Coasty,

 

I did notice the meet and greet. Thanks for the warm invite :) We've attended many and have enjoyed them. We missed the last one (first sea day) on a cruise last year and felt badly for not attending especially when we RSVP'ed. Our work schedules are so hectic that once we get on the ship, we are not sure we want to be tied to a schedule - at least initially. If we are in the vicinity, we'll stroll by and say hello! I know everyone is getting pretty excited by now!

Edited March 22, 2015 by Levanah

[robbielv]

Thanks to everyone who just got off and who just boarded today... it's great to hear the reports and hear of the great progress!

[robbielv]

There is a very large cruisecritic group for your Star cruise starting 3/29. Levanah, melodyesch & robbielv.....................

Why don't you come over and join in the fun?:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1976999

 

 

Thanks! I will surely check it out and jump in and say 'HI!'

[Levanah]

Just left O'Sheehans. They do have food now. Bartender said 5 O'Clock Somewhere might be open tomorrow.!! Don't know about that. Still looked like lots of construction going on, but suppose they could get it cleaned up and functioning pretty quickly.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Pamster, thanks for the update! DH will get his chicken pot pie :) Enjoy your cruise -- I see you are already in cruise mode :)

[melodyesch]

Just left O'Sheehans. They do have food now. Bartender said 5 O'Clock Somewhere might be open tomorrow.!! Don't know about that. Still looked like lots of construction going on, but suppose they could get it cleaned up and functioning pretty quickly.

 

Yes, thanks Pamster! Hope you have a great trip!

[DreamingBig1]

Nice to hear about the changes. Anybody who has been on recently. Any updates to the atrium, shops and overall look of the public spaces?

[chery4lbooks]

Lots of new carpet in public areas. We were in a mini suite and did not have new carpet but we did have a new mattress..:)

The photo gallery was new and updated. No more looking at the walls to find your photo. You just swipe your room key card and all photos are digital.

Grand Atrium water feature is gone (which everyone said needed to go) It is now a glass and lights. Also heard the signing etc in the buffet was updated. I didn't see what it looked like before but it looked nice. There were digital monitors in all public areas displaying up to date restaurant availability, upcoming events for the day with times and locations.

[herdingdogmom]

Just home from the Star. The cruise director was Ben Kitchen. The hotel director was Hugo Vanosmael. The food and beverage director is leaving soon, [maybe now??] Vikram Parthasarthy. Do you need to know any other names?

 

Thanks so much for your review. Love the Cruise without Limes name.

 

Do you know who the Captain was or the Concierge?

[DreamingBig1]

Thanks Cheryl!

[LesPaul]

Oh gosh, I was introduced to the captain, a tall thin man, possibly Italian? But I don't remember his name, it's not on my At Your Service card. Also there is no concierge listed on my card, could that possibly be the guest services manager? If it is, his name is Ray Espina.

 

Leslie

[calex]

Did Food Services send out Chocolate Covered Strawberries when issues/complaints were brought up?

 

Pamster and Coasty enjoy your cruises !!!

[NCruiser2012]

How about the dent? Was it repaired?

[craig-n-carol]

The dent was repaired. iconcierge works perfectly, the app itself is free to download, 7.95 cost is for the unlimited messaging and phone feature. We bought the feature and it worked perfectly. You can also view your onboard account, see daily activities, book dinner reservations with the app. The online speed was very fast and reliable throughout the cruise.

[Levanah]

The dent was repaired. iconcierge works perfectly, the app itself is free to download, 7.95 cost is for the unlimited messaging and phone feature. We bought the feature and it worked perfectly. You can also view your onboard account, see daily activities, book dinner reservations with the app. The online speed was very fast and reliable throughout the cruise.

 

Great news about iconcierge. Thanks for taking the time to tell us about it. :)