NCL Star Garden Villa 14500 - photos from September 2015

[cml4958]

So we stayed in the Garden Villa in September. I know that people have asked for pictures so I went through mine and my sisters and wanted to post what we came up with...

 

I apologize that we don't have very many photos of the living area but we've got the bedrooms and outside area covered.

 

The 1 actual photo of the living area...

 

 

 

This is from the hallway into the living area. Just to the left is the bar area which has a microwave, sink, small refrigerator, glassware, drinks, etc. We asked our butler for a blender and he brought one for us along with strawberries and limes, margarita mix, bloody mary mix, and various other mixers that we asked for. When we got the blender, he also brought a cooler filled with ice. The Lavazza coffee maker is located here along with coffee pods and creamer, etc. We asked for hot chocolate and he brought us some.

 

Just past the bar area is the desk facing the windows. A laptop computer is provided with the suite. At the desk area, there are 4 x 220v outlets and 1 120v outlet. The one US outlet is used by the laptop computer so I just used my converter for one of the 220v but my dad just unplugged the ship's laptop and plugged his in. There is a corded telephone on the desk and room for 2 to sit.

 

The seating area consists of the sofa and three chairs. Then you have the player piano and the dining table (seats 8, I believe) on the right hand side of the room. If both of the Garden Villas are rented to the same group, the wall between the two suites can be opened. So if you don't have the wall open, be aware there is sound carry over because the wall isn't insulated enough.

 

I'll post photos of the bedrooms and the outside area in the next couple of days and answer questions if anyone has any.

 

Carrie

[SuiteCruiser]

So we stayed in the Garden Villa in September. I know that people have asked for pictures so I went through mine and my sisters and wanted to post what we came up with...

 

I apologize that we don't have very many photos of the living area but we've got the bedrooms and outside area covered.

 

The 1 actual photo of the living area...

 

 

 

This is from the hallway into the living area. Just to the left is the bar area which has a microwave, sink, small refrigerator, glassware, drinks, etc. We asked our butler for a blender and he brought one for us along with strawberries and limes, margarita mix, bloody mary mix, and various other mixers that we asked for. When we got the blender, he also brought a cooler filled with ice. The Lavazza coffee maker is located here along with coffee pods and creamer, etc. We asked for hot chocolate and he brought us some.

 

Just past the bar area is the desk facing the windows. A laptop computer is provided with the suite. At the desk area, there are 4 x 220v outlets and 1 120v outlet. The one US outlet is used by the laptop computer so I just used my converter for one of the 220v but my dad just unplugged the ship's laptop and plugged his in. There is a corded telephone on the desk and room for 2 to sit.

 

The seating area consists of the sofa and three chairs. Then you have the player piano and the dining table (seats 8, I believe) on the right hand side of the room. If both of the Garden Villas are rented to the same group, the wall between the two suites can be opened. So if you don't have the wall open, be aware there is sound carry over because the wall isn't insulated enough.

 

I'll post photos of the bedrooms and the outside area in the next couple of days and answer questions if anyone has any.

 

Carrie

 

New carpet :) Nice!

[cml4958]

So these pictures are of the suite closest to the living area..

 

 

 

Above is the walk in closet which leads to the bathroom.

 

 

Soaking tub

 

 

View from tub into closet. Toilet room is on the left. Phone inside in case you get locked in!

 

 

Vanity area

 

 

Shower

 

 

Seating area in bedroom

 

Carrie

[SuiteCruiser]

So amazing! I spent 12 nights in that room doing a transatlantic. I was amazing! Hope you enjoyed your cruise as much as I did :)

[cml4958]

Here are pictures of the middle bedroom...

 

 

 

From the doorway. As you walk into the room there is a wall on the left and access to the closet on the right. You can also access the closet in the dressing area.

 

 

 

The above picture was taken from the corner of the room as you walk straight in. You can see the dressing area in the center of the picture which leads to the bathroom. The bathroom has a tub/shower combination with shampoo and shower gel dispensers. The toilet is to the right in the bathroom with a frosted glass door you can close. There are drawers and a vanity here and access to the closet. There is a curtain that separates the sleeping and bathroom area from the rest of the room in case someone was using the chair in the room for sleeping. I have slept on one of these chairs and for a pullout bed, it was actually very comfortable and like sleeping on a regular mattress.

 

 

View from the other corner of the room. The TV is on a swing arm and the remote has to be aimed directly at the sensor. The top drawer in the "desk" was the chocolate drawer! It had the pillow chocolates when I got there and acquired some during my visit! Although I have to admit I slept on the first one and only realized it the next morning.

Edited October 16, 2015 by cml4958

[cml4958]

So amazing! I spent 12 nights in that room doing a transatlantic. I was amazing! Hope you enjoyed your cruise as much as I did :)

 

I absolutely loved the cruise. I've only been on 2 and both times I've been lucky enough to be in the Garden Villa. There is nothing like it and the sense of being away from it all since you have so much space to spread out!

 

Carrie

[OceanDreaming2]

Thank you for posting the photos. Brought back some wonderful memories of our week in 14500.

 

Looks like the furniture in the living room needs to be replaced. It's the same as in 2009.

[maja651]

Thank you!!!!!! :). Looking forward to seeing the rest!

[dexddd]

Thank you for posting the photos. Brought back some wonderful memories of our week in 14500.

 

Looks like the furniture in the living room needs to be replaced. It's the same as in 2009.

 

That is what I was thinking too - they changed the carpet but the furniture looked the same. The chair/bed in the one room looked new though.

[cml4958]

 

This is the view from the doorway. The walk in closet and bathroom are to the right.

 

 

View of walk in closet

 

 

 

Bathroom

 

 

Another view of the bathroom

 

 

 

Carrie

[cml4958]

 

View from corner of outside - the red door is the steam room. The wood door just to the right leads to the sport court. Make sure to check the door is locked so you don't have unexpected visitors!

 

 

Below is view to outside; you will see the panel to control the music/sound for outside

 

 

 

Another view of outside - all of the cushions were put up due to winds and cold weather.

Edited October 17, 2015 by cml4958

[cml4958]

 

As stated earlier, cushions were put up due to wind and cold weather.

 

 

Below is view from top deck

 

 

These are the best of pictures of the suite that I got but if you have questions, please let me know. I'll be happy to try and answer.

 

Carrie

Edited October 17, 2015 by cml4958

[keeponcruising]

I absolutely loved the cruise. I've only been on 2 and both times I've been lucky enough to be in the Garden Villa. There is nothing like it and the sense of being away from it all since you have so much space to spread out!

 

Carrie

 

Only been on 2 cruises and both times in the GV. How lucky can you get. You are spoiled for life.

[cml4958]

Only been on 2 cruises and both times in the GV. How lucky can you get. You are spoiled for life.

 

I have been very lucky! I'm planning on a solo cruise in late 2016 or early 2017 and will get either a studio cabin or an inside if the ship doesn't have studios so I'll see how that works out. It should still be a fun time and at least I'm cruising!

 

Carrie

[gacruzguy]

Thanks for posting the pictures. My family and I have a chance to book the Garden Villa next year and continue to debate it. Would you say it is worth the money you pay for it? Is the service truly better in the Garden Villa than other suites that are much less expensive? Did you eat most of your meals in the villa? Were you able to be escorted on/off the ship early by the concierge? Would love to do it but have a hard time justifying the cost.

[toyotaford]

Thanks for posting the pictures. My family and I have a chance to book the Garden Villa next year and continue to debate it. Would you say it is worth the money you pay for it? Is the service truly better in the Garden Villa than other suites that are much less expensive? Did you eat most of your meals in the villa? Were you able to be escorted on/off the ship early by the concierge? Would love to do it but have a hard time justifying the cost.

 

We love the GV. We have stayed in it on 5 different ships. The service has always been superb and the room you have is amazing. You truly don't want to leave your room and deck area. The Star and Dawn and by far our favorite because of the amazing decks. We have hosted outdoor BBQ's on the deck of the Dawn for 40 people and had plenty of room. The decks on the Jewel class ships are nice but nothing like the others.

 

We eat most of our dinner meals in the restaurants. For lunch we either go to Cagney's or often go to the buffet and fix a plate and bring it back up. When we wake up there is always coffee and pastries waiting on our dining table and often just eat those.

 

We have always been able to get off the ship with no problem. Whether we needed to be the first off the ship or time was not important and just got off whenever we got up and moving.

 

Is it worth it just has to be a question your answer for yourselves. Our schedules are pretty flexible and we have gotten some pretty good deals on some last minute trips. Other times we have had a specific time we needed to go and have paid an arm and a leg for it. Our first stay in a GV was an upsell my PCC worked with me on for an Alaskan cruise. We did a Panama Canal cruise earlier this year and made and offer on the GV that they turned down. Then watched the price drop as the cruise got closer and ended up getting it for $5000 less than the offer they originally turned down.

[cml4958]

Would you say it is worth the money you pay for it? Is the service truly better in the Garden Villa than other suites that are much less expensive? Did you eat most of your meals in the villa? Were you able to be escorted on/off the ship early by the concierge? Would love to do it but have a hard time justifying the cost.

 

Glad to be able to share the pictures and thanks to my sister and her husband for the majority of them. I really only got my room and the outside area.

 

I was fortunate to not have to pay for the villa. However, I've stayed in the Garden Villa for both of my cruises. The experience of being away from everyone else that's on the cruise. And the ability to actually be close to family but have the space to spread out is unreal. I think the square footage is like 5,000 so it's more than most people's houses.

 

At least one of us had breakfast in the villa each morning. The others would go to Cagney's or the buffet for breakfast. Lunch varied as well but we generally ate out for lunch. We had a very port intensive cruise and only had 2 sea days on this 9-day cruise. We ate at the specialties for dinner 2 times, the buffet a couple of times, and then had dinner brought in by Efren Acesor, our butler.

 

Efren is also the butler for the other garden villa on the floor. I believe those are his only two suites. And when both suites are rented out, they can open the divider between the living rooms and the outside areas.

 

Roel Gonzales was the concierge on our cruise. Very personable and wanting to make sure that we were happy. He generally came by the suite at least once a day. When we were going to be leaving the ship for an excursion the next morning, he would check to see what time we were leaving so he could coordinate with Efren disembarkation. The next morning Efren would have Roel's special key card for the elevator and would hold the elevator for us to go down. Roel would be waiting for us at the elevator and somewhere nearby and then escort us off the ship. In Russia, he walked us to the immigration line and then waited until we were cleared.

 

When at least 1 of us arrived back at the ship, Efren would appear shortly thereafter to see if we needed anything. Drinks for the fridges would have been stocked along with ice buckets. We'd usually have snacks on the dining room table.

 

I have nothing else to compare the experience to but the level of service for us was superb and I would highly recommend both Efren and Roel. If you wanted something, all you had to do was ask. There was a time when we had an issue with dinner but we were able to do the reservation the next night and had the best service. Roel came up to the suite to take us down to the restaurant and then seated us. Our server at Moderno's, Earlee is a jewel. She is the sweetest and friendliest. Her husband also works on the ship but I can't remember in what capacity but somewhere in food and beverage, I believe. Anyway, she would see us at other times in other restaurants and stop and make sure we were being taken care of and didn't have any problems. Roel checked on us at Cagney's several times to make sure things were going well. Breakfast and lunch service at Cagney's was wonderful as well.

 

I'm planning on a cruise in December next year and am probably going to be in a studio or an inside. I don't have that champagne budget but it is the most wonderful experience and I am very thankful that I got to experience it not once but twice.

 

Please feel free to ask any more questions if you have them!

 

Carrie

[cml4958]

Thank you!!!!!! :). Looking forward to seeing the rest!

 

Would you send me an email using my screen name and then gmail? I wanted to send you an email with some additional information. Thanks!:)

 

Carrie

Edited October 22, 2015 by cml4958