Star Mexican Riviera Review

[Water Logger]

Hey Everyone,

 

Just back from the Star! It's a beautiful ship with lots of places to hide out or join in the frivolity!

 

Embarkation went well. We were on the ship by noon although they were not up to date on Latitudes members. I got mine, but my friend and my mother did not. They also lost my friends credit card and emergency contact so she had to go down and fill them out again. I don't think they have the E ticket thing quit down yet.

 

We had two AC Suites forward deck 10 just below the bridge.

 

Suite #10500:

 

This is a great room! It has a lot of room for two people. The balcony is covered and although it is smaller than the other room we had, it is more private.

 

The sitting area is quite large with 3 large floor to ceiling windows. It has a table with 4 chairs and a small desk.

 

Suite # 10002:

 

This room was smaller, but had an amazingly large balcony. The balcony is not covered and you can see in to the bridge. I rarely saw anyone up there (yikes! Who's sailing this ship!) It also had a sitting area and a table with 4 chairs. They should replace the table for 4 with a table for 2 because it is quit a tight fit.

 

The window in the room is large, but there is only one. This room is a bit darker than the other one.

 

With both rooms you get Naveen , your personal butler. He was wonderful! If anyone has a question about what you do with a butler, the answer is easy...nothing. He does everything for you! We ordered breakfast every morning in the room and he leaves goodies in the afternoon and evening.

 

Irina was our concierge and she also was terrific. She made dinner reservations for us on the ship and also made dinner reservations for us in a restaurant in Acapulco that had the most breathtaking views of the bay and city at night.

 

Our room stewards were Cesar and Mitzi and they always had plenty of smiles for us everyday.

 

Note about these rooms. You do tend to feel the ship a bit more riding in the front and you also have to close your curtains at night so the light does not reflect on the bridge.

 

I will post pictures later of my the rooms.

 

Second Part:

 

Best places on the Ship!

 

Ally:)

[immargaret]

Great review Ally, can't wait to hear more and see your pictures.

 

:)

[Water Logger]

Here are my top 10 places on the ship:

 

 

1. Star Bar: A quiet little piano bar hidden away on the 13th floor near Cagney's.

 

2. Spinnaker Lounge sailing away from ports: For some reason, no one was in this lounge when we would sail away. There are great views of where you've been and where you're going. Great place to take pictures of the sunset.

 

3. The elevators in the main lobby: Fun Fun Fun! Looking out onto the main floor from up above!

 

4. Red Lion Pub: When you're in the mood for a little snack go in and get some fresh popped popcorn.

 

5. Cigar Lounge: Quiet and dark. You can catch up on reading Wine Spectator and Travel and Leisure. Have a nice cigar selection.

 

6. Mandara Spa: They have a beautiful room where you wait before your treatment. It is all the way Aft with a view of the wake. Peaceful.

 

7. Gatsby's: Great place to meet and listen to live music.

 

8. Cagney's: Wonderful food and service. Worth the sur-charge.

 

9.Chocolate Buffet: Do I need to explain?

 

10. My room: I loved my room and balcony. Great place for naps, quiet time and watching the world go by.

 

:)

[CatFan00]

Thank you for your review. Anything on the ports?

[platterb]

Hey Ally, Barb Here!!

 

Take her word for it, both of the Suites were gorgeous. She gave me a tour. We were up on Deck 11 in one of the Mini-Suites. Both my husband and I commented that it will be hard to book another cruise without it. Don't we all get spoiled. When pricing, if you can get the suite instead of just the regular balcony, I thought the extra 80 sq ft was worth it.

 

Ally did identify some really nice places to hangout. One of my favorites was actually up on Deck 12/13 late in the evening. It was like I had the whole ship to myself. Very soothing listening and relaxing as the Star moved through the water.

 

Ditto for Cagneys. I had the filet and lobster. Food and service were excellent, well worth the surcharge. We also ate at Le Bistro and again the food was excellent. However, we were a little disappointed with their service. Went just fine until after serving the main course. Then it seemed to take forever to finish meal service. We preferred the Versaille over the Aqua dining room primarily because of the ambiance.

 

Would have to say that Puerto Vallarta was our favorite port. We absolutely loved our excursion to Las Calletas. We heard the same comments from everyone who took this tour. This was our 14th cruise and I would put this excursion in my top three.

 

If anyone has some specific questions, just shoot them our way.

[little britain]

We were up on Deck 11 in one of the Mini-Suites.

If anyone has some specific questions, just shoot them our way.

Hi - which Mini were you in - any noise - did you get any perks?

Also no one on any review of the Star has mentioned the Champagne Bar! We like to have a drink there before dinner but on the Sun the Champagne Bar was placed right next to the Casino so it was very open and used as a general walk-thru. Any comments on its location on the Star please!

[Water Logger]

The Ports:

 

Acapulco: We were Acapulco from 11 am to midnight. We got a great taxi driver named Jose who took us to a great place for lunch on the beach. Then we went on a little tour and did a little shopping. He brought us back to the ship at around 5pm then picked us up at 6:30 and took us to our restaurant and then to see the cliff divers at night. We wanted to see them and sit on the balcony in the Hotel so he escorted into the hotel and waited for us to be seated then he left and met us out front and took us back to the ship.

 

The whole day cost $50 per person and we paid $18 a piece to see the cliff divers (it would have $3 if we just watched them from the public area). He was really terrific, spoke wonderful english and was with us the whole day.

 

The restaurant we ate dinner at was called Madeira's. It was up in the hills and had a breath taking view of Acapulco. It was pricey at around $45 a person, but the view was priceless!

 

The cliff divers are not to be missed! The last show of the night they do some of the dives with torches. They were stupendous! I think paying the $3 is fine , but if you want to sit down and have a drink, sit in the hotel. For $18 you get a seat on the terrace and 2 drinks.

 

Jose told us that sometimes the private residences put on a fire works show when they have parties. I stayed up on the balcony and while we were shoving off I saw a small fireworks display!

 

Acapulco is a bustling city with a lot of different things to do and see.

 

 

:)

[tuffy88]

Did you book your excurisions at the ports through Norwegian or pick up one on the pier? Thanks.

 

Charles

 

2-96 Sovereign of the Seas

2-97 Norwegian Crown

2-98 Monarch of the Seas

2-02 Norwegian Wind

2-03 Norwegian Sun

2-04 Norwegian Sky

3-05 Norwegian Spirit

2-06 Norwegian Star

[Elwinnie]

Barb,

It was great chatting w/you on the boards & finally meeting you on the ship. Yes, we 2 enjoyed the excursion in P.V. Where are you sailing next? We had a fabulous time. Our cabin was #10108 right in the middle of the ship w/ abalcony. It was smooth sailing & fun to look out & see everything from the front to the back. Also, it was easy to get to places since so centrally located. Keep in touch Ellen quote=platterb]Hey Ally, Barb Here!!

 

Take her word for it, both of the Suites were gorgeous. She gave me a tour. We were up on Deck 11 in one of the Mini-Suites. Both my husband and I commented that it will be hard to book another cruise without it. Don't we all get spoiled. When pricing, if you can get the suite instead of just the regular balcony, I thought the extra 80 sq ft was worth it.

 

Ally did identify some really nice places to hangout. One of my favorites was actually up on Deck 12/13 late in the evening. It was like I had the whole ship to myself. Very soothing listening and relaxing as the Star moved through the water.

 

Ditto for Cagneys. I had the filet and lobster. Food and service were excellent, well worth the surcharge. We also ate at Le Bistro and again the food was excellent. However, we were a little disappointed with their service. Went just fine until after serving the main course. Then it seemed to take forever to finish meal service. We preferred the Versaille over the Aqua dining room primarily because of the ambiance.

 

Would have to say that Puerto Vallarta was our favorite port. We absolutely loved our excursion to Las Calletas. We heard the same comments from everyone who took this tour. This was our 14th cruise and I would put this excursion in my top three.

 

If anyone has some specific questions, just shoot them our way.

[joeandmaria]

Water Logger,

 

Did you arrange for the Taxi driver Jose ahead of time in Acapulco, or did you just meet him when you got off the ship? It sounds like you had a good time, and he was a good tour guide. Any contact info?

 

Thanks

[RushF1]

Thanks, folks, for the review. We're leaving for LA Wednesday and on the ship Thursday. Looking forward to having a wonderful time.

 

 

Jerry:)

[Marie-Claude]

Hello to all 11/1 Star CCers!!

 

We missed the CC get together as it was at the same time as our group get-together... we were part of a group of 60 sailing together.

 

Hope you guys had a great cruise, we sure did. The weather was great and we enjoyed discovering each and every port - especially Cabo San Lucas. We loved it.

 

As always, I will put together a review and a picture album at some point. I'll make sure to report here so that future cruisers can get some tips, as we did before our cruise!

 

Cheers all!

[Iluvboatrides]

Hi Ally, Barb and all who were on the Star 11/01/05 cruise.....

 

I enjoyed meeting you at our small get together on Wednesday morning. For our entire group of five who were sailing together in adjoining mini suites, (11590/11592) we had a wonderful time. We all agreed we would do this same cruise again. I posted a review a couple of days after we returned, but it has not been "published" yet in the review section. This was the first time for the Freestyle cruisng for four of us, and we are really spoiled by this concept of cruising. Since I had been reading so many comments and reviews about the food on the Star, and some of it was very negative, I decided I would go with an open mind. I found the food to be comparable with any cruise I have ever been on. Most mornings we ate at the Market Cafe. This was after we enjoyed the first coffee of the day on our balcony that was delivered by room service. We ate at two of the specialty restaurants, Teppanyaki and Le Bistro, and totally enjoyed the food and the service. Most of the other dinners were in Aqua. The night of the Murder Mystery dinner we were among the 120 people who signed up for that.....it was a hoot. We met new people who were part of our group of eight 'characters'. If you ever have the opportunity to participate in one of those on a cruise ship, I highly recommend it.

 

This is the first cruise I have not attended the 'big show' every evening. Of course we did attend the magician show because we had heard many positive things, and we were not disappointed. We also laughed a lot during the Newlywed Game, and the Liars Club.

 

Overall, there was not anything negative about this great eight day cruise.

[10s nut]

Thanks so much for all the comments on the Star. Where can I find pics of the mini suites and suites? Am in a mini and how is it really different from the regular balcony room?

[judyf]

I would also like to know more about the tour with the cab driver if you're still reading the boards please tell us more.

 

Thanks

[azgolfgirl]

I would also like to know more about the tour with the cab driver if you're still reading the boards please tell us more.

 

Thanks

Judy,

The review was written in November before the itinerary change. We just got off the Star three days ago, and they've substituted Manzanillo and Mazatlan for Acapulco and Ixtapa.

Kim