Just off Star - Any questions?

[mein18]

Will be happy to do our best to answer any questions regarding the Star or the Panama Canal itinerary.

[Arizona Packer Backer]

Yes, I have a question about Gatsby's Champagne Bar. First, since I know they're moving the restaurants a bit, do you happen to know if Gatsby's will still be there after dry dock? We're on the first cruise following, on March 17.

 

Secondly, we love champagne, but all the Star and NCL menus I've seen have very limited choices. We're thinking we may bring a couple of extra bottles of champagne, unless Gatsby's has a decent selection by the glass or bottle that isn't exhorbitantly priced.

 

Did you happen to visit Gatsby's or have a menu from there?

 

Thanks!

[mein18]

Yes, I have a question about Gatsby's Champagne Bar. First, since I know they're moving the restaurants a bit, do you happen to know if Gatsby's will still be there after dry dock? We're on the first cruise following, on March 17.

 

Secondly, we love champagne, but all the Star and NCL menus I've seen have very limited choices. We're thinking we may bring a couple of extra bottles of champagne, unless Gatsby's has a decent selection by the glass or bottle that isn't exhorbitantly priced.

 

Did you happen to visit Gatsby's or have a menu from there?

 

Thanks!

 

Sorry but not being champagne drinkers, Gatsby is the one venue we did not utilize however did notice it was well utilized by others. Cannot answer as to what will happen during drydock.

[QuattroRomeo]

Welcome back, and hope you enjoyed your cruise! Did you happen to try any specialty restaurants? If so, did you have a favourite meal experience at one of them?

[mein18]

Welcome back, and hope you enjoyed your cruise! Did you happen to try any specialty restaurants? If so, did you have a favourite meal experience at one of them?

 

Thank you. Since we had the UDP, we ate at every restaurant, a few multiple times. Please keep in mind that this is based solely on our tastes as everyone's tastes and opinions are different.

By far we enjoyed Cagney's the most where we ate 4 times. Our favorite was the surf and turf although one must understand they are dealing with frozen lobster tail. I will compare the 8oz filet with some of the best steakhouses in our home area of Philadelphia. The rib eye and bison were very good too. A baked potato soup to die for.

Le Bistro was excellent as far as the food but service was sub par. Tables jammed together and twice they got order wrong. Rack of lamb was favorite there.

Next in line LA Cucina. Mainly for its simplicity. Lasagna my DW said was terrible. Their specialty pizzas are unbeatable. We ate there twice to just get away from all the meat at the other restaurants. They also had our favorite and simple dessert of ice cream and capocino sauce.

Ginza was ok, on par with local Chinese take out.

At Teppanyaki we had late reservations and ended up being the only 2 seated which took away from the experience and may have thrown off the chef. Was ok but VERY salty.

Our least favorite was Maderno. Meat grossly overcooked, very salty and dripping in grease. We had a difficult time eating any of it and even when my DW turned over her card to red to stop, the continued to present and push her to take more. Took me to be a little stern to have them back off.

We enjoyed the sushi bar. Was empty most of the cruise. Decent quality for a great price.

[HokiePoq]

Who is the current hotel director? We did not experience service problems at Le Bistro last year....feel as you do about Moderno, just not our style.

When does the Star go into dry dock? (Hoping the theatre seats will get fixed...)

Thanks for the info.

[Arizona Packer Backer]

When does the Star go into dry dock? (Hoping the theatre seats will get fixed...)

 

The Star goes into dry dock around March 1 (or whenever she gets to Vancouver, I think it is?), and her first cruise following that is March 17.

[Arizona Packer Backer]

Sorry but not being champagne drinkers, Gatsby is the one venue we did not utilize however did notice it was well utilized by others. Cannot answer as to what will happen during drydock.

 

Ok, thanks, I'll post in the forum.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Did you attend a M&G and if so where was it held. Our cruise will be 5 days with two sea days. Anything we should try not to miss on the sea days? I will not be hanging out in the spa this go around since my addiction (heated lounger) is not available.

[DreamingBig1]

Where did they hold the late night dancing/disco? Was the disco well attended by passengers? Did it stay open late?

[mein18]

Who is the current hotel director? We did not experience service problems at Le Bistro last year....feel as you do about Moderno, just not our style.

When does the Star go into dry dock? (Hoping the theatre seats will get fixed...)

Thanks for the info.

 

The problem in Le Bistro was partially a result of an extreme number of staff turnover on this cruise. We were astounded by the parade of new staff coming from another NCL ship docked in Miami at the time. I guess they were repositioning staff prepping for dry dock.

[mein18]

Where did they hold the late night dancing/disco? Was the disco well attended by passengers? Did it stay open late?

 

Our cruise was 14 days and as a result, an older crowd. With no disrespect intended, we are 57 and felt quite young. The nights ended early. Not much activity at all after around 11pm. To answer your question, they were held in the Spinaker lounge. The couple nights we stopped in, it was rocking but not very full.

Ian (I know spelled wrong) was a fantastic CD. On all of our cruises we have never ran into the D as many times during the day and night as we did him. He was always there to see you off the ship in port and there at the end of the day when we came back on.

[mein18]

Did you attend a M&G and if so where was it held. Our cruise will be 5 days with two sea days. Anything we should try not to miss on the sea days? I will not be hanging out in the spa this go around since my addiction (heated lounger) is not available.

 

Sorry to say we did not attend the M&G. On sea days we enjoyed the trivia games, entertainment on pool deck and some of the other games like deal or no deal. Spent a lot of time just exploring and trying different venues. Nothing really stood out during the day as a do not miss.

I only hope that the nightly entertainment is as good as it was on our cruise. Except for 1 show, they were gantastic. Hands down the best we have ever experienced at sea.

[mein18]

Who is the current hotel director? We did not experience service problems at Le Bistro last year....feel as you do about Moderno, just not our style.

When does the Star go into dry dock? (Hoping the theatre seats will get fixed...)

Thanks for the info.

 

I have to add that the asparagus appetizer, mushroom soup and the French onion soup in Le Bistro are not to miss.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Thanks for filling me in. We had such a fabulous time day and night on the Pearl I am hoping for the same on the Star.

[mein18]

Thanks for filling me in. We had such a fabulous time day and night on the Pearl I am hoping for the same on the Star.

 

On a 5 day you should have a totally different/younger crowd and assuming Ian will still be the CD, there will never be a dull moment.

[DreamingBig1]

Our cruise was 14 days and as a result, an older crowd. With no disrespect intended, we are 57 and felt quite young. The nights ended early. Not much activity at all after around 11pm. To answer your question, they were held in the Spinaker lounge. The couple nights we stopped in, it was rocking but not very full.

Ian (I know spelled wrong) was a fantastic CD. On all of our cruises we have never ran into the D as many times during the day and night as we did him. He was always there to see you off the ship in port and there at the end of the day when we came back on.

 

Thanks. Another poster mentioned the Spinnaker. Just wondered what was happening there. Take it that a DJ was there. I guess I was more interested in the night scene, which you answered. We are night owls. Especially on vacation.

 

Was trying to get a feel for what we will be experiencing.

 

We are really sailing for the ports, which we have never experienced. If there is some night life then that would be great.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to answer the question!

 

7 night early December (Western Caribbean) out of Tampa. The demographic possibilities run the gamut. So lets see what happens. For a cruise like that I would imagine there will be a healthy mix of ages and backgrounds.

Edited February 9, 2015 by DreamingBig1

[mein18]

Thanks. Another poster mentioned the Spinnaker. Just wondered what was happening there. Take it that a DJ was there. I guess I was more interested in the night scene, which you answered. We are night owls. Especially on vacation.

 

Was trying to get a feel for what we will be experiencing.

 

We are really sailing for the ports, which we have never experienced. If there is some night life then that would be great.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to answer the question!

 

7 night early December (Western Caribbean) out of Tampa. The demographic possibilities run the gamut. So lets see what happens. For a cruise like that I would imagine there will be a healthy mix of ages and backgrounds.

 

We already booked our next cruise which is the exact itinerary as yours but on the Stars sister ship the Dawn out of New Orleans Jan 2016. We also expect a livelier crowd than was on our PC cruise.

[Iluvcruising2]

In another thread, somebody said that the buffet on the NCL Star was not very good, perhaps because of the design of the buffet area of the ship. Also, the selection was not very good.

 

This is the video of the buffet dinner on the NCL Jade (Dec 2014 sailing out of Rome). It would be useful if you could comment on how much the NCL Jade buffet differs from that of the NCL Star please.

[YOUTUBE]ic9vxaMs48M[/YOUTUBE]

Edited February 10, 2015 by Iluvcruising2

[Linda the Book Lover]

On a 5 day you should have a totally different/younger crowd and assuming Ian will still be the CD, there will never be a dull moment.

 

That will be great for the DSD who is in her late 40's but the DH and I are not much for the DJ dancing til dawn any longer. We will enjoy the shows and the post-late night show night caps. Maybe a dance or two before enjoying the balcony.;)

[DreamingBig1]

Did you go to the buffet?

[herdingdogmom]

In another thread, somebody said that the buffet on the NCL Star was not very good, perhaps because of the design of the buffet area of the ship. Also, the selection was not very good. It would be useful if you could comment on how much the NCL Jade buffet differs from that of the NCL Star please.

 

We have been on the Star twice and on the Jade twice and prefer the design of buffet on the Jade. It has islands and stations for the food. It also has additional seating available in the great outdoors and in La Cucina for breakfast and lunch.

 

We have not had dinner in either buffet, but the breakfast and lunch choices seemed very similar on each - seemed like regular buffet type food. We could always find something to eat. As seen in the video, buffets can be quite noisy.

 

The Star's buffet is cafeteria style (one long line with trays) which leads to some crowding problems during peak times. The seating also reminds me of a cafeteria. There are seats usually available but it may require sharing a table and interrupting others to move their chairs. There is no overflow seating (no great outdoors) on the Star.

[don't-use-real-name]

Did you attend a M&G and if so where was it held. Our cruise will be 5 days with two sea days. Anything we should try not to miss on the sea days? I will not be hanging out in the spa this go around since my addiction (heated lounger) is not available.

 

RE: Your M&G (M-Mingle) When I was on the STAR 10/20 Panama Canal

the M&G was held in the Meeting rooms just forward of the ships library.

Look at Deck Plan see that 4 rooms are separated by moveable partition walls.

For our group of 40+ all 4 rooms were open and NCL put on a generous

spread of coffee, tea, orange juice water and a variety of breakfast pastries.

The Captain brought along a complement of ships officers and introductions

were made - time 10:00 AM to just before 11. The host of the M&G had a

gift exchange later in the day and slot pull.

 

On my recent NCL DAWN cruise 1/11 I hosted a M&G - it was held in the

Star Bar next to Cagney's. Had attendance of 24 expected 40 +. The Captain

brought along the Hotel Director, Restaurant Director, Beverage Director, the

ships Concierge and several other chief cooks and bottle washers. The crew

almost outnumbered the M&G guests. Had the same spread as was on the

STAR all nicely done. No gift exchange or slot pull.

 

I don't know if the NCL STAR or if it is the DAWN after dry dock is going to

have the Star Bar converted to Moderno the Brazilian specialty restaurant.

 

So Linda I would suspect that your M&G would be in the Meeting Rooms on

Deck 12 just forward of the Library. I doubt the Spinnaker Lounge would be

used as that facility is used for larger entertainment. The Le Bistro or La

Caucina could be used as nothing is usually scheduled in the AM hours.

You should receive a letter or email from NCL about a week to 10 days before

sailing to confirm what has been set up for your M&G.

 

And take care of annietownsend my Cabin neighbor from the Panama Trip.

[QuattroRomeo]

Thanks for your comments about the specialty restaurants. We enjoy Moderno, but of course each ship is different and it depends on the chefs, so hopefully it will improve on the Star. If not, at least we can enjoy Cagneys! We like Le Bistro too and certain items at Cucina; it sounds like they should be good. We will find out! ...such problems we cruisers have, deciding where to eat each night...!:p

[Linda the Book Lover]

RE: Your M&G (M-Mingle) When I was on the STAR 10/20 Panama Canal

the M&G was held in the Meeting rooms just forward of the ships library.

Look at Deck Plan see that 4 rooms are separated by moveable partition walls.

For our group of 40+ all 4 rooms were open and NCL put on a generous

spread of coffee' date=' tea, orange juice water and a variety of breakfast pastries.

The Captain brought along a complement of ships officers and introductions

were made - time 10:00 AM to just before 11. The host of the M&G had a

gift exchange later in the day and slot pull.

 

On my recent NCL DAWN cruise 1/11 I hosted a M&G - it was held in the

Star Bar next to Cagney's. Had attendance of 24 expected 40 +. The Captain

brought along the Hotel Director, Restaurant Director, Beverage Director, the

ships Concierge and several other chief cooks and bottle washers. The crew

almost outnumbered the M&G guests. Had the same spread as was on the

STAR all nicely done. No gift exchange or slot pull.

 

I don't know if the NCL STAR or if it is the DAWN after dry dock is going to

have the Star Bar converted to Moderno the Brazilian specialty restaurant.

 

So Linda I would suspect that your M&G would be in the Meeting Rooms on

Deck 12 just forward of the Library. I doubt the Spinnaker Lounge would be

used as that facility is used for larger entertainment. The Le Bistro or La

Caucina could be used as nothing is usually scheduled in the AM hours.

You should receive a letter or email from NCL about a week to 10 days before

sailing to confirm what has been set up for your M&G.

 

And take care of annietownsend my Cabin neighbor from the Panama Trip.[/quote']

 

Thanks for M&G info. Our M&G on the Pearl was in the Star Bar that I think I read it is now Moderno. Annie and I are "practically" neighbors here in Nor Cal -- ok about 2 hours away depending on traffic :) . I am looking forward to meeting her. Perhaps I can talk her into having a toast to you when we are on the Star in a few weeks.