Just Back from the Baltic, NCL Star Review!

[thirdeastshak3]

We just got back from sailing on the Norwegian Star for 9 days in the Baltic Sea. I'll do my best to give you the low down on all the positives and negatives. This was our second NCL cruise and will not be our last, we're already booked on the Getaway for next year.

 

Embarkation:

First of all, there was some confusion as to which Copenhagen port we were leaving from. Our cruise documents said Oceankaj port, but the NCL website said Freeport. There is a big difference between the two. Oceankaj is brand new and that is where we left from. NCL needs to update their website. Freeport is really not used by the big ships anymore.

We arrived at the port at about 12:30 PM. The boarding area was already a madhouse. We were in a suite so we did have priority embark. However, even in the line for priority was fairly long, which was disappointing. In comparison, when we sailed the Jade two years ago from Rome in a suite, we didn't wait at all.

After checking in were immediately introduced to Hanno, our concierge, and led aboard to Cagneys for lunch. After lunch we headed to our room which was already ready and within 30 minutes of being in the room our luggage was delivered and Dante, our steward, and Cipriano, our butler, had already introduced themselves.

 

The Stateroom:

We were in stateroom 9732 which is a aft penthouse suite. This was very similar to the room we had on the Jade 2 years ago. We actually felt the room on the Star was alittle bigger inside. The balcony is not very deep but it is a wraparound balcony which is well worth it especially for the Baltic Sea with all it's wonderful ports and islands. The bed and furniture are extremely comfortable and we opted for the memory foam pillows. The Lavazza coffee and espresso machine in the room was wonderful. It never once broke down (our one on the Jade was always broken). The closet space is immense and the bathroom is a decent size with a shower/tub combo. We never heard any major noise from the above or below cabins. The only music we ever heard from Spinnaker (deck 7) was on the night we were in St. Petersburg because the engines weren't on. Other than that the sound of the waves out back always put us to sleep. The darkening curtains were a must. Sunrise was at 4:30AM and sunset wasn't until 10:30PM. The curtains were extremely important.

 

The Ship:

We found that we enjoyed the looks and layout of the Star better than the Jade. The grand atrium is beautiful and the glass elevators give the look of what you think of with a cruise ship. All the areas are well kept and well decorated. There are plenty of dining options, plenty of bars, and all kinds of areas to just sit and relax. The Stardust Theater is at the front of the ship while the Spinnaker Lounge is at the back. Another good thing is that we never felt crowded on the ship. Even on the sea days, we never felt that any of the area on the ship were over crowded.

 

Activities and Shows Onboard:

We are very active while we're cruising. We like to partake in a range of activities. The dailies always provided many activities for whatever you wanted to do. We joined in on trivia, shuffleboard, goofy golf, the perfect couple game show, and also watched other shows and games. There was always something to do or see anytime of the day. We attended two shows onboard. There were several (such as German and Russian folklore shows) that didn't interest us much, mainly because we had just been in that port. We attended Iain's (the cruise director) magic show which was hilarious and fun. And we also attended the Pari show at the end of the cruise which was good as well. The cruise director's staff that ran the activities were always fun and engaging and we got to know them very well.

 

Staff and Service:

We both felt that the service onboard the Star was exceptional and agreed that is was better than the Jade. Only once service instance was bad. I'll get to that in a second.

Our concierge Hanno, was pleasant but more to the point and less conversational. But he always took our requests and acted upon them. He helped with dinner reservations and getting off the ship in the ports. Our butler Cipriano was wonderful. If you're traveling on the Star in the near future I hope you have him as your butler. You can tell he truly loves what he does and is always pleasant and proactive with the room. He introduced himself the first day and we told him some of our requests and things we like, and he always kept the room and fridge the way we wanted and was great about helping anytime we asked. Our steward Dante was wonderful as well. He always stopped to talk to us in the hallways and was efficient and quick with making up and turning down on our room. Oh, and he makes some pretty awesome towel animals! The cruise director Iain was always a pleasure to run into on the ship. He always carries around a deck of cards for magic tricks so make sure to ask him to show you a trick if you run into him. His staff of cruise activity leaders were all wonderful and got to know us by name real quick. The bar staffs were all great and fun and we had a great time interacting with them. All the restaurants had wonderful service and a special shoutout to Leah, the matire'd in the Versailles restaurant. She was always pleasant and helped my wife to do pre orders for her gluten free diet. The only negative service experience we had was at Ginza. We were put at one of the back tables, even though it wasn't that full, and weren't greeted for a good 10 minutes. The service that evening was below average and we were disappointed.

Other than that instance, everywhere we went the service was wonderful. Another shoutout to the serving team in Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. They got to know us very quick and anticipated our needs when we showed up.

 

Dining:

So here is the one area of why we are giving the overall rating a 4 instead of a 5. We both agreed that the food was not nearly as good as two years ago on the Jade. A preface to this is that we were limited here and there because my wife is gluten free. Here's the lowdown. We didn't eat in the buffet so I really can't review that area, but in just walking through we weren't impressed with what was there. We ate in Versailles 4 nights and 2 were good and 2 were not so good. We were both fairly disappointed in the menus and the food (although once again the service was wonderful). The dining room was very good about preordering gluten free meals a day ahead of time, but even those were below what we were expecting. We ate at Le Bistro one night. It was a pretty good meal, but I think we both agreed the cover charge would have been better spent elsewhere. We ate at Ginza two nights. Both meals were very good and the sushi is awesome and well prepared. Our best meal by far was in Moderno. The salad bar is excellent and every meat they brought around was awesome. Don't miss out on Moderno. With all that said, we were very underwhelmed with the dining this time around. And we actually had higher expectations regarding dining because of all the new fee changes with NCL.

 

The Ports:

I'll just touch on one of two comments for each port we visited.

Copenhagen: We stayed 2 days prior to the cruise and that wasn't enough time. Denmark is amazing and we both decided we need to go back. So much to see, so little time.

Warnemunde: We didn't make the long trek to Berlin, we opted to tour Warnemuende, Wismar, and Schwerin. All lovely towns and I'd recommend that if you don't want to spend 6 hours on a train to Berlin.

Tallinn: A very beautiful city that takes you by surprise with what's to see. We had a local guide who was wonderful, but you could easily do it on your own.

St. Petersburg: 2 days is not enough to see everything here. You have to try to cram so much in to see this beautiful city and all the sites. The only negative is that the crowds in the museums and sites are awful.

Helsinki: Not much to this town. Very beautiful and the sites we saw were lovely, but 7 hours in the port is overkill.

Stockholm: Unfortunately we couldn't port in Stockholm because of high winds and narrow channels. We skipped it and headed back to Copenhagen early. Bummer!

Overall, the itinerary is very good and the two sea days are spread out well. Be prepared to be very tired after two days in St. Petersburg.

 

Disembarkation:

Disembarking was a breeze. Our concerige met us at La Cocina and got us off the ship 15 minutes before the time that was on our cruise documents. It was a simple process and there were no issues.

 

New Policies:

So I know there's been a lot of talk on the forums about all the policies that NCL has. Here's some things we noticed:

People were still taking food and drinks from the buffet and the grill by the pool. I saw people carrying plates back to their rooms and I never saw anyone say anything to them. It didn't seem to be as many people as when we were on the Jade, but still we saw it.

We heard some complaints about the extra fees and service charges and 18% gratuity. It doesn't bother us. My feeling is, if you're that upset about it, take your business elsewhere. It won't prevent us from sailing with NCL again.

I really can't comment on the room service charge because we were in a suite so it was a free. But we saw plenty of people ordering in and plenty of dirty dishes outside staterooms so people were doing it and paying it. Again, if you're upset, take your business elsewhere.

 

Overall:

Very happy with the cruise and the itinerary. We felt everything lived up to our expectations except the food. If you're sailing on the Star soon you'll be very happy with the atmosphere and the service. We're looking forward to our next NCL cruise on the Getaway next year!

[JimS4210]

Thanks for the review. We just got off the Star a few weeks ago after a Norwegian Fjords cruise. We were in 9232 and also had Dante and Cipriano. I agree with your comments about Cipriano, he couldn't do enough for us! He was an awesome butler!

 

Glad you had a great cruise...

 

Jim

[thirdeastshak3]

Forgot to add, any questions just ask! :)

[Linda the Book Lover]

Loved your review. we stayed in the same suite in March after dry dock. The views are wonderful and like you I would sail in this suite again. Thank you for the review. Did you book your excursions on your own or through NCL in the other cities aside from Tallinn?

 

Which cabin did you stay in on the Jade? We are booked for next April in 10164.

[thirdeastshak3]

Loved your review. we stayed in the same suite in March after dry dock. The views are wonderful and like you I would sail in this suite again. Thank you for the review. Did you book your excursions on your own or through NCL in the other cities aside from Tallinn?

 

Which cabin did you stay in on the Jade? We are booked for next April in 10164.

 

 

Totally agree. The views are amazing on this cruise out the back of the ship.

We booked all our tours through non-NCL tours. We did Copenhagen ourselves. Germany with a 15 person semi private tour. All the rest of the ports we used local guides and did private tours. We prefer it this way so the guide can completely cater to what we want to see and do and our fast pace. :)

We enjoyed the Jade very much in 2013. We stayed in room 9170 and loved it!

Enjoy your trip next April!

[daffodiliaz]

Thank you for your review!

 

What was your experience like getting of the boat the first day in St. Petersburg? Were you on an NCL excursion or through private tour company?

[thirdeastshak3]

Thank you for your review!

 

What was your experience like getting of the boat the first day in St. Petersburg? Were you on an NCL excursion or through private tour company?

 

I was booked through a private tour company that had arranged our visas ahead of time.

My experience being in a suite was wonderful. We did priority disembark in the port and were one of the first in line through port authority. No issues with showing our tour tickets and passports.

However we heard from other people on the ship that they stood in line for 45 minutes waiting to get through customs.

The Russian customs line is pretty straight forward but apparently if there's an issue they don't move that person out of the way while they fix the problem, they leave them there and hold up the entire line.

Coming back on was no issue and the second day was a breeze once customs knew you had been on land the day before.

[portcbob]

Hi Thirdeastshak3.

 

Bob and Christine calling from Australia. Glad you guys enjoyed the Star. Your review of the Baltics is amazing. We have also cruised on the Star through Mexico and few years ago and also loved her.

We are now seriously considering the Baltics cruise also. The only thing I am slightly concerned about with sailing on the Star is that it is only a 9 night cruise in that region * Baltics *. I see some other lines do a 12 nighter and seeing that we are travelling a huge distance to get there we thought a 12 nighter including a few days pre cruise in Copenhagen might work better for us.

Have cruised the Med twice in the last 4 years. Would you consider this cruise to be as good??????

 

Kind Regards Bob & Chris.

[thirdeastshak3]

Hi Thirdeastshak3.

 

Bob and Christine calling from Australia. Glad you guys enjoyed the Star. Your review of the Baltics is amazing. We have also cruised on the Star through Mexico and few years ago and also loved her.

We are now seriously considering the Baltics cruise also. The only thing I am slightly concerned about with sailing on the Star is that it is only a 9 night cruise in that region * Baltics *. I see some other lines do a 12 nighter and seeing that we are travelling a huge distance to get there we thought a 12 nighter including a few days pre cruise in Copenhagen might work better for us.

Have cruised the Med twice in the last 4 years. Would you consider this cruise to be as good??????

 

Kind Regards Bob & Chris.

 

Bob and Chris -

 

I will say that we both enjoyed the Mediterranean Cruise itinerary better than this one, but that's hard to say because they are both such different sea ports. The history in the ports is very different. Mediterranean is all mostly very ancient history dating back to BC, Baltic is all fairly newer. Many of the cities only have recent history dating back to the 1700s. But all still very beautiful.

One thing you may want to consider is doing the back to back. There were many people we met on the cruise that were doing the 9 day Baltic and the 7 day Norwegian Fjords (I think it was 7 days). But definitely make time to spend at least 2 days pre or post cruise in Copenhagen!

[TrumpyNor]

Hi Thirdeastshak3.

 

Bob and Christine calling from Australia. Glad you guys enjoyed the Star. Your review of the Baltics is amazing. We have also cruised on the Star through Mexico and few years ago and also loved her.

We are now seriously considering the Baltics cruise also. The only thing I am slightly concerned about with sailing on the Star is that it is only a 9 night cruise in that region * Baltics *. I see some other lines do a 12 nighter and seeing that we are travelling a huge distance to get there we thought a 12 nighter including a few days pre cruise in Copenhagen might work better for us.

Have cruised the Med twice in the last 4 years. Would you consider this cruise to be as good??????

 

Kind Regards Bob & Chris.

 

I just wanted to say that it is possible to combine the 9-days Baltics cruise with a 7 day Norwegian Fjords cruise on the Star in May 2016, and that would give you 16 days on board instead of "only" 9.

http://www.ncl.com/cruises/16-day-baltic-capitals-and-norwegian-fjords-from-copenhagen-STAR16CPHAESGNRFLMBGOCPHWARTLLLEDHELSTOCPH/schedule?destinations=4294934557&sortBy=Featured&numberOfGuests=4294915774&cruiseHotelAir=1&cruiseTour=1&cruiseHotel=1&state=null&pageSize=5&sailmonths=4294915104+4294915103+4294915102+4294915101+4294915100&ships=4294963170&currentPage=2&cruise=1&&itineraryCode=STAR16CPHAESGNRFLMBGOCPHWARTLLLEDHELSTOCPH&customerStoriesCurrentPage=1&customerStoriesPageSize=3

[TrumpyNor]

Overall:

Very happy with the cruise and the itinerary. We felt everything lived up to our expectations except the food. If you're sailing on the Star soon you'll be very happy with the atmosphere and the service. We're looking forward to our next NCL cruise on the Getaway next year!

 

Thank you for taking your time to write this review, we will be boarding the Star next Friday for a 14 days Norway cruise. It will be our NCL cruise no. 19, but the first time on the Star.

[thirdeastshak3]

Thank you for taking your time to write this review, we will be boarding the Star next Friday for a 14 days Norway cruise. It will be our NCL cruise no. 19, but the first time on the Star.

 

Enjoy your cruise! It's a beautiful ship and you'll have a blast!

[RichNY]

We just got back from sailing on the Norwegian Star for 9 days in the Baltic Sea. I'll do my best to give you the low down on all the positives and negatives. This was our second NCL cruise and will not be our last, we're already booked on the Getaway for next year.

 

Embarkation:

First of all, there was some confusion as to which Copenhagen port we were leaving from. Our cruise documents said Oceankaj port, but the NCL website said Freeport. There is a big difference between the two. Oceankaj is brand new and that is where we left from. NCL needs to update their website. Freeport is really not used by the big ships anymore.

We arrived at the port at about 12:30 PM. The boarding area was already a madhouse. We were in a suite so we did have priority embark. However, even in the line for priority was fairly long, which was disappointing. In comparison, when we sailed the Jade two years ago from Rome in a suite, we didn't wait at all.

After checking in were immediately introduced to Hanno, our concierge, and led aboard to Cagneys for lunch. After lunch we headed to our room which was already ready and within 30 minutes of being in the room our luggage was delivered and Dante, our steward, and Cipriano, our butler, had already introduced themselves.

 

The Stateroom:

We were in stateroom 9732 which is a aft penthouse suite. This was very similar to the room we had on the Jade 2 years ago. We actually felt the room on the Star was alittle bigger inside. The balcony is not very deep but it is a wraparound balcony which is well worth it especially for the Baltic Sea with all it's wonderful ports and islands. The bed and furniture are extremely comfortable and we opted for the memory foam pillows. The Lavazza coffee and espresso machine in the room was wonderful. It never once broke down (our one on the Jade was always broken). The closet space is immense and the bathroom is a decent size with a shower/tub combo. We never heard any major noise from the above or below cabins. The only music we ever heard from Spinnaker (deck 7) was on the night we were in St. Petersburg because the engines weren't on. Other than that the sound of the waves out back always put us to sleep. The darkening curtains were a must. Sunrise was at 4:30AM and sunset wasn't until 10:30PM. The curtains were extremely important.

 

The Ship:

We found that we enjoyed the looks and layout of the Star better than the Jade. The grand atrium is beautiful and the glass elevators give the look of what you think of with a cruise ship. All the areas are well kept and well decorated. There are plenty of dining options, plenty of bars, and all kinds of areas to just sit and relax. The Stardust Theater is at the front of the ship while the Spinnaker Lounge is at the back. Another good thing is that we never felt crowded on the ship. Even on the sea days, we never felt that any of the area on the ship were over crowded.

 

Activities and Shows Onboard:

We are very active while we're cruising. We like to partake in a range of activities. The dailies always provided many activities for whatever you wanted to do. We joined in on trivia, shuffleboard, goofy golf, the perfect couple game show, and also watched other shows and games. There was always something to do or see anytime of the day. We attended two shows onboard. There were several (such as German and Russian folklore shows) that didn't interest us much, mainly because we had just been in that port. We attended Iain's (the cruise director) magic show which was hilarious and fun. And we also attended the Pari show at the end of the cruise which was good as well. The cruise director's staff that ran the activities were always fun and engaging and we got to know them very well.

 

Staff and Service:

We both felt that the service onboard the Star was exceptional and agreed that is was better than the Jade. Only once service instance was bad. I'll get to that in a second.

Our concierge Hanno, was pleasant but more to the point and less conversational. But he always took our requests and acted upon them. He helped with dinner reservations and getting off the ship in the ports. Our butler Cipriano was wonderful. If you're traveling on the Star in the near future I hope you have him as your butler. You can tell he truly loves what he does and is always pleasant and proactive with the room. He introduced himself the first day and we told him some of our requests and things we like, and he always kept the room and fridge the way we wanted and was great about helping anytime we asked. Our steward Dante was wonderful as well. He always stopped to talk to us in the hallways and was efficient and quick with making up and turning down on our room. Oh, and he makes some pretty awesome towel animals! The cruise director Iain was always a pleasure to run into on the ship. He always carries around a deck of cards for magic tricks so make sure to ask him to show you a trick if you run into him. His staff of cruise activity leaders were all wonderful and got to know us by name real quick. The bar staffs were all great and fun and we had a great time interacting with them. All the restaurants had wonderful service and a special shoutout to Leah, the matire'd in the Versailles restaurant. She was always pleasant and helped my wife to do pre orders for her gluten free diet. The only negative service experience we had was at Ginza. We were put at one of the back tables, even though it wasn't that full, and weren't greeted for a good 10 minutes. The service that evening was below average and we were disappointed.

Other than that instance, everywhere we went the service was wonderful. Another shoutout to the serving team in Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. They got to know us very quick and anticipated our needs when we showed up.

 

Dining:

So here is the one area of why we are giving the overall rating a 4 instead of a 5. We both agreed that the food was not nearly as good as two years ago on the Jade. A preface to this is that we were limited here and there because my wife is gluten free. Here's the lowdown. We didn't eat in the buffet so I really can't review that area, but in just walking through we weren't impressed with what was there. We ate in Versailles 4 nights and 2 were good and 2 were not so good. We were both fairly disappointed in the menus and the food (although once again the service was wonderful). The dining room was very good about preordering gluten free meals a day ahead of time, but even those were below what we were expecting. We ate at Le Bistro one night. It was a pretty good meal, but I think we both agreed the cover charge would have been better spent elsewhere. We ate at Ginza two nights. Both meals were very good and the sushi is awesome and well prepared. Our best meal by far was in Moderno. The salad bar is excellent and every meat they brought around was awesome. Don't miss out on Moderno. With all that said, we were very underwhelmed with the dining this time around. And we actually had higher expectations regarding dining because of all the new fee changes with NCL.

 

The Ports:

I'll just touch on one of two comments for each port we visited.

Copenhagen: We stayed 2 days prior to the cruise and that wasn't enough time. Denmark is amazing and we both decided we need to go back. So much to see, so little time.

Warnemunde: We didn't make the long trek to Berlin, we opted to tour Warnemuende, Wismar, and Schwerin. All lovely towns and I'd recommend that if you don't want to spend 6 hours on a train to Berlin.

Tallinn: A very beautiful city that takes you by surprise with what's to see. We had a local guide who was wonderful, but you could easily do it on your own.

St. Petersburg: 2 days is not enough to see everything here. You have to try to cram so much in to see this beautiful city and all the sites. The only negative is that the crowds in the museums and sites are awful.

Helsinki: Not much to this town. Very beautiful and the sites we saw were lovely, but 7 hours in the port is overkill.

Stockholm: Unfortunately we couldn't port in Stockholm because of high winds and narrow channels. We skipped it and headed back to Copenhagen early. Bummer!

Overall, the itinerary is very good and the two sea days are spread out well. Be prepared to be very tired after two days in St. Petersburg.

 

Disembarkation:

Disembarking was a breeze. Our concerige met us at La Cocina and got us off the ship 15 minutes before the time that was on our cruise documents. It was a simple process and there were no issues.

 

New Policies:

So I know there's been a lot of talk on the forums about all the policies that NCL has. Here's some things we noticed:

People were still taking food and drinks from the buffet and the grill by the pool. I saw people carrying plates back to their rooms and I never saw anyone say anything to them. It didn't seem to be as many people as when we were on the Jade, but still we saw it.

We heard some complaints about the extra fees and service charges and 18% gratuity. It doesn't bother us. My feeling is, if you're that upset about it, take your business elsewhere. It won't prevent us from sailing with NCL again.

I really can't comment on the room service charge because we were in a suite so it was a free. But we saw plenty of people ordering in and plenty of dirty dishes outside staterooms so people were doing it and paying it. Again, if you're upset, take your business elsewhere.

 

Overall:

Very happy with the cruise and the itinerary. We felt everything lived up to our expectations except the food. If you're sailing on the Star soon you'll be very happy with the atmosphere and the service. We're looking forward to our next NCL cruise on the Getaway next year!

 

Hey Guys..nice review. You make it sound like we were there..OOPS !!! we were. :D

 

It was fun hanging with you two. We arrived around 11AM and waltzed right onto the Star,,Timing is everything :D

 

Good to have met you and maybe our paths will cross again.

[jolgro]

Thanks for this nice review of the Star. We board her june 12 for 14 days to the North Cape.

You said disembarkation was easy. How did you got to the airport.

We want to go by taxi. Were there plenty available ? Still not sure what time to

Disembark for our 12.25 pm flight

 

Hi RichNY, so sorry we weren,t on the same cruise on the Star. Would have been nice to see you both again.

Ad and Johanna from the Netherlands

[RichNY]

Thanks for this nice review of the Star. We board her june 12 for 14 days to the North Cape.

You said disembarkation was easy. How did you got to the airport.

We want to go by taxi. Were there plenty available ? Still not sure what time to

Disembark for our 12.25 pm flight

 

Hi RichNY, so sorry we weren,t on the same cruise on the Star. Would have been nice to see you both again.

Ad and Johanna from the Netherlands

 

Hey Ad and Johanna..good to hear from you.

 

We took the NCL shuttle to the airport..Taxis are available. NCL offers shuttles check on board and find out if they will get you there for your flight..

 

Have a great cruise..

[QuattroRomeo]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise!

Did you happen to notice if there was either a Jazz brunch or a Murder Mystery lunch on your sailing?

[thirdeastshak3]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise!

Did you happen to notice if there was either a Jazz brunch or a Murder Mystery lunch on your sailing?

 

No, we never saw anything in the dailies or advertised for a Jazz brunch or murder mystery.

[thirdeastshak3]

Thanks for this nice review of the Star. We board her june 12 for 14 days to the North Cape.

You said disembarkation was easy. How did you got to the airport.

We want to go by taxi. Were there plenty available ? Still not sure what time to

Disembark for our 12.25 pm flight

 

Hi RichNY, so sorry we weren,t on the same cruise on the Star. Would have been nice to see you both again.

Ad and Johanna from the Netherlands

 

As Rich said you have many options disembarking. Our concierge arranged a car for us since we have an early flight to catch (11:05 AM flight). We were off the ship immediately and at the airport in 30 minutes, maybe less.

When we left the ship we already noticed a line of taxis waiting.

[british lady]

As Rich said you have many options disembarking. Our concierge arranged a car for us since we have an early flight to catch (11:05 AM flight). We were off the ship immediately and at the airport in 30 minutes, maybe less.

When we left the ship we already noticed a line of taxis waiting.

 

Thank you for your review, we are on the Star in June doing the same itinerary.

 

You have just put my mind to rest with this information. Our direct flight back to the US has been cancelled and we had to rebook an earlier flight 11.40 with a connection via Amsterdam.

May I ask how much for the car and can you pay with a credit card or did you use cash.

Any information would be great .

Sara

[BSR]

Hey Ad and Johanna..good to hear from you.

 

We took the NCL shuttle to the airport..Taxis are available. NCL offers shuttles check on board and find out if they will get you there for your flight..

 

Have a great cruise..

 

How much is NCL shuttle to the airport? How far in advance did you have to book them?

[herdingdogmom]

How much is NCL shuttle to the airport? How far in advance did you have to book them?

 

The bus/shuttle is $30 per person. You can buy it on board at guest services and have it charged to your account. What I didn't know was that there were several times for the shuttles. They put us on the first bus which was too early so we cancelled and took a taxi only to see a shuttle bus heading out at the same time. Another thing about the shuttle is that your luggage is taken to the airport separately. You don't collect it in the port building, but somewhere at the airport.

[RichNY]

The bus/shuttle is $30 per person. You can buy it on board at guest services and have it charged to your account. What I didn't know was that there were several times for the shuttles. They put us on the first bus which was too early so we cancelled and took a taxi only to see a shuttle bus heading out at the same time. Another thing about the shuttle is that your luggage is taken to the airport separately. You don't collect it in the port building, but somewhere at the airport.

 

We had no problem locating our luggage . Upon departing the bus we were guided to a location opposite the terminal, a very short walk. Finding our luggage was a snap since it was grouped by color.

[thirdeastshak3]

Thank you for your review, we are on the Star in June doing the same itinerary.

 

You have just put my mind to rest with this information. Our direct flight back to the US has been cancelled and we had to rebook an earlier flight 11.40 with a connection via Amsterdam.

May I ask how much for the car and can you pay with a credit card or did you use cash.

Any information would be great .

Sara

 

The car service we used was $75 total for the two of us. They took credit cards or cash.

[thirdeastshak3]

Hey Guys..nice review. You make it sound like we were there..OOPS !!! we were. :D

 

It was fun hanging with you two. We arrived around 11AM and waltzed right onto the Star,,Timing is everything :D

 

Good to have met you and maybe our paths will cross again.

 

Rich -

 

So much fun hanging out with you two as well. We had a ball!

Have fun on your cruise this fall!

[mydreamvacation]

The car service we used was $75 total for the two of us. They took credit cards or cash.

 

Can you tell me the name of the car service you used? Our cruise ends on July 23 and I have a early flight to Berlin I have a reservation with a car service but they're looking for double of what you paid. I would much appreciate you sharing the name so I could contact them