Feedback on Star

[maja651]

Thanks for the info. Is Moderno similar to Cagney's? We thought the food was exceptional for breakfast and lunch. As to your tipping info, that is personal true, but your honesty about it is very refreshing. Glad you had a great cruise and we enjoyed your photos.:)

 

Yes, Moderno for lunch and breakfast is just like Cagneys. :)

[Big Timber]

We tipped at the end. Tipping is really subjective...so many opinions on it. We chose to tip the room steward $70 extra per room, the butler $180 per person (5 people), and the concierge $600. I hope those are considered good tips. I am really not sure. We normally tip about $200 total to the butler (for suite with 2 people) and tip the concierge about $100 (we normally do not use that service very much but we did use it a lot more on this cruise).

 

I really hope by stating how much we tipped does not open up some kind of tipping debate by other people. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks also for your "tips on tipping". Very helpful. There are 5 of us as well. From what I can tell, the 3 bedrooms were not "created equally". Any tips on how the 5 of you decided how to assign them? Just curious.

[maja651]

Thanks also for your "tips on tipping". Very helpful. There are 5 of us as well. From what I can tell, the 3 bedrooms were not "created equally". Any tips on how the 5 of you decided how to assign them? Just curious.

 

The 3 rooms are definitely not created equal. The front and back are basically the same (although we had the front room and wish we had the back, as I think it is nicer in hind sight). We chose to come up with one amount everyone paid, then add a "room surcharge" to each bedroom. We put the same surcharge on the 2 masters and a smaller one for the middle bedroom. We did it that way because we had 2 in one bedroom and 1 each in the other 2 bedrooms. One of our 5 actually booked an inside cabin on deck 11 just for sleeping, as he wanted his own bedroom. We were lucky Chris the concierge gave him all of the perks of the GV, including dining at Moderno for breakfast and lunch (he only ate there 2 times anyway, as most of our meals we ate in the villa).

 

However, the way I believe I would do it next time would be to split the total price by room. So, let's say the 2 masters pay 37% each and the middle room pays 26%. In my opinion, that is the fare way, as suites on ships are always charged as a double, not single.

 

Our inside person (my brother) also paid double on the concierge tip from what everyone else paid as he was able to get the suite perks. (Note, we did not expect this, but we were very happy Chris did give them to my brother. We would have booked a 4 bedroom suite if that was an option, but since it was not, we booked that extra inside for sleeping only. It worked out for us, but do not count on it.)

 

One more side note on the front master. When they have night parties at the pool, you can heard the music LOUD and CLEAR in both the living room area as well as the 1st master bedroom. You could not hear it in the middle bedroom or back bedroom. I mean LOUD. Too loud really, considering the music went past midnight on the white hot party. They need to either insulate the GV better or move the party to the Spinnaker lounge after 10 pm. I plan on writing a letter to NCL to suggest this. The people in the other GV also complained about how loud the music was, so it is clearly an issue.

[jpcdds6]

Do you happen to know if Chris will be assigned the Star for a while or is he just filling in for Roel until after the holidays?

[mousecrazy]

Hi Michelle.

I'm so happy to hear you had an amazing vacation last week. We were in a family suite and felt spoiled by our butler and room steward...I can't even begin to imagine what you experienced. Maybe someday! :)

[Big Timber]

The 3 rooms are definitely not created equal. The front and back are basically the same (although we had the front room and wish we had the back, as I think it is nicer in hind sight). We chose to come up with one amount everyone paid, then add a "room surcharge" to each bedroom. We put the same surcharge on the 2 masters and a smaller one for the middle bedroom. We did it that way because we had 2 in one bedroom and 1 each in the other 2 bedrooms. One of our 5 actually booked an inside cabin on deck 11 just for sleeping, as he wanted his own bedroom. We were lucky Chris the concierge gave him all of the perks of the GV, including dining at Moderno for breakfast and lunch (he only ate there 2 times anyway, as most of our meals we ate in the villa).

 

However, the way I believe I would do it next time would be to split the total price by room. So, let's say the 2 masters pay 37% each and the middle room pays 26%. In my opinion, that is the fare way, as suites on ships are always charged as a double, not single.

 

Our inside person (my brother) also paid double on the concierge tip from what everyone else paid as he was able to get the suite perks. (Note, we did not expect this, but we were very happy Chris did give them to my brother. We would have booked a 4 bedroom suite if that was an option, but since it was not, we booked that extra inside for sleeping only. It worked out for us, but do not count on it.)

 

One more side note on the front master. When they have night parties at the pool, you can heard the music LOUD and CLEAR in both the living room area as well as the 1st master bedroom. You could not hear it in the middle bedroom or back bedroom. I mean LOUD. Too loud really, considering the music went past midnight on the white hot party. They need to either insulate the GV better or move the party to the Spinnaker lounge after 10 pm. I plan on writing a letter to NCL to suggest this. The people in the other GV also complained about how loud the music was, so it is clearly an issue.

 

Thank you again for this information. Your observations are very helpful. Our group consists of 2 couples (and me), so I have resigned myself to them having the front and back bedrooms. Does the middle one have any "redeeming features" (other than not being in the loud zone)?

[maja651]

Thank you again for this information. Your observations are very helpful. Our group consists of 2 couples (and me), so I have resigned myself to them having the front and back bedrooms. Does the middle one have any "redeeming features" (other than not being in the loud zone)?

The middle bedroom actually is the biggest actual bedroom. :). The bath is like a standard mini suite bath, but the bedroom is nice. It even has its own dining table in the bedroom. It also has the most comfy chair of all of the bedroom chairs. :) it is almost exactly like a penthouse suite on the Star, just with large windows instead of a balcony. I am sure you will enjoy it. :)

[maja651]

Hi Michelle.

I'm so happy to hear you had an amazing vacation last week. We were in a family suite and felt spoiled by our butler and room steward...I can't even begin to imagine what you experienced. Maybe someday! :)

I'm glad you had a great time and were spoiled too! We saved up for this and searched for over a year for the exact cruise date, itinerary and price that worked for all of us. We booked about a year and a half before the cruise and got a great deal! You too can do this! :) We are not super wealthy by any means...just saved up for what we really wanted! Like I said, for us, this was a bucket list cruise. Unfortunately, now we are so spoiled, I am not sure how we will be able to cruise in a normal cabin ever again! :rolleyes:

[Big Timber]

The middle bedroom actually is the biggest actual bedroom. :). The bath is like a standard mini suite bath, but the bedroom is nice. It even has its own dining table in the bedroom. It also has the most comfy chair of all of the bedroom chairs. :) it is almost exactly like a penthouse suite on the Star, just with large windows instead of a balcony. I am sure you will enjoy it. :)

 

That sounds great. Now I won't feel sorry for myself.:D We were originally scheduled for the transatlantic which was cancelled so it took a lot of effort to get us moved over to the replacement cruise at the same price. You have made me even more excited about the experience. Thanks so much.