Norwegian Star Out of Venice Report

[kevg1889]

Once on shore, the queue for the lift was not too long, and we were soon making our ascent, though my brother did it with his eyes tightly shut – he hates chair lifts!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The spectacular views from the mountain top were breath taking, and the whole place was a dream come true. We went off to the left first, taking in the narrow streets filled with beautiful white shops and little churches – it is truly stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We eventually reached a little bar, hanging right over the cliff, andenjoyed a nice cold beer while fully taking in the exceptional beauty of theplace.

 

 

 

 

[kevg1889]

Here are a few more pictures from the beautiful Santorini

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kevg1889]

We continued our walk through the rest of Santorini, with its lovely bars and restaurants, until we reached the lovely church at thebottom right of the town. At this point,we split off from Robert & Dawne, as Dawne was tiring after her recent hip operation, so we continued down to a lower level of bars & shops beforeheading back to the chairlift station.

 

Unfortunately, we were met by an horrendous queue for the lift, stretching right through the streets. We realised we would struggle to make it back in time for our ship, so we decided to take the alternative donkey ride back down the hill. This was the worst decision I have ever made!! I have been on a few of the best white knuckle rides in the world, but I have never been as scared as I was on the donkey as you can see from my face!! My DW however was very sympathetic!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I endured the worst 15 minutes of my life before pleading with the attendant to let me off. The donkey was sliding around on the steps and trying to kick my wifes donkey behind me, and had me virtually hanging over the cliff every time we went around a corner. I was so relieved to get off and walk the rest of the way down. My eyes were so sore, as the dried donkey droppings were flying around, and when my wife eventually got off to join me at the donkey station she asked if I had been crying – she doesn’t know how close I was!!

 

It was a relief to get back to the tender boat, and to be given ice cold towels and drinks by the NCLteam. Once back on board we headed straight to the Bier Garten for a stiff drink, only for Melvyn & the team to take the Mickey out of my experience. It had all been part of a fabulous day & an experience I would never forget. We quickly changed, and went back up on deck to enjoy the beautiful sunset, and see Santorini all lit up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had decided to eat in the buffet that night, as it was curry night, and it was very, very nice. The show that night was a 70’s style show called Band on the Run which we thoroughly enjoyed and had a good sing along to. This was followed by Latin dancing in Spinnaker which was good fun. We took photo's in the atrium before heading back to our room to see our latest towel creation!

 

 

 

 

[kevg1889]

Our next port of call was Mykanos. Once again, we fell very lucky, as we were the only ship that was able to dock that day due to strong winds. This meant that we had to wonderful place almost to ourselves, especially early on. The town is absolutely stunning, with it’s pure white buildings throughout, and even the pavement cracks are painted white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is another place that I would really love to visit again. We just wandered through the streets taking it all in, and then stopped in a wonderful bar right on the water’s edge, so my DW could have her Shirley Valentine moment.

 

 

 

 

Once again we were back on board early afternoon, for another session of sunbathing & cocktail drinking. Some of the more popular cocktails were previously made up in large containers on the bars,which speeded up the serving process, and they were all reasonably strong. We tried many different combinations,including all the frozen ones like Pina Colada, Mango Meltdown, Mudslide and Miami Vice, and they were all well made and strong.

 

 

 

 

The show in the theatre that night featured a magician & his future wife, who was a contortionist, and the positions she got into made your eyes water! It was an enjoyable show, after a slow start

[TSUmom]

Thank you!! Enjoying! Oh and note to self " I will go to the lift chairs early. I am deathly afraid of heights and riding on the back of a donkey down just will not work"

[kevg1889]

So we had a sea day next, and I was very surprised when I went up to the pool area at 7-40am to find many of the sun beds already had towels on them. We needed six together, and found the last six available. I did hear of a few problems with people leaving beds with towels on for several hours, but I didn’t witness it myself. It was another gorgeous sunny day, and we ate and drank plenty, as usual, though the clothes were really starting to tighten by now.

 

 

 

 

There was a cook off on deck between two teams of staff to see who made the best risotto in huge pans. Once it was over everyone had the chance to sample the risotto, which was very tasty. There then followed an ice carving display, which produced an excellent eagle, carved in less than 15 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day was totally relaxing & enjoyable. The show that evening in the theatre was one of the best Ive ever seen. It finished with the presentation of the staff, which is always quite emotional, and everyone left the theatre singing & in a really happy mood. This really summed up the cruise to me,everyone was so happy & relaxed, there was nothing “starchy” about it at all.

 

 

[kevg1889]

Our final full day was in Dubrovnik, which was the biggest surprise to me, as I totally fell in love with the place. My DW was really looking forward to seeing the scenery from Game of Thrones and she wasn’t disappointed. We did this trip alone, as the rest of our team didn’t fancy getting up early. We were off the ship for just after 7am, and on my brothers advice, we caught the local bus, which ran from just outside the port, right into the old town. This was much cheaper than the 15 euro’s each for the official NCL transfer bus. On arrival in the old town, we had it virtually to ourselves, as we entered the old town through the Pile City Gate, the main city entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gates are overlooked by the two forts: Minčeta from the north and Bokar from the south. Minčeta Fort is considered one of the most beautiful fortifying objects in the world. It is one of the recognizable Dubrovnik symbols offering a magnificent view of the entire city.

 

 

 

 

We walked through the Stradum with its marble streets, and On its other end, Stradun finishes in a lovely square surroundedby some of the most important historical sights.

 

 

 

 

You will see the City Cathedral, the Churchof St. Blaise, the Sponza Palace (the city archive), the Rector’s Palace, thebell towers and the Orlando’s Column. All those beautiful monuments are thefinest examples of the late medieval and early renaissance architecture.

 

 

 

 

Eventually, we saw people walking around the City walls, and decided we had to take in the views from up there, so after a quick coffee stop, we purchased our tickets & started the climb up to the amazing views on offer from the top of the city walls. It was now getting very hot, and some of theclimbs were quite hard going, but it was worth every penny & every second. It took us just over an hour to do the full circle & the views were breathtaking.

 

 

 

 

Once we got back to the bottom, the crowds were really growing, as moreships had arrived in port, so we were really lucky that we had been able totake it all in in relative peace & quiet. I would love to return to Dubrovnik one day, and spend a little moretime taking in this beautiful country.

[kevg1889]

We returned to the ship onthe local bus, ready for a drink & a spot of lunch, having left early without having breakfast. I think this was the one day that we were disappointed with the buffet, but there was always the back up of the wonderful pasta dishes, that were freshly cooked for you toyour own requirements.

 

Back up on deck, we had the very amusing Mr lovely legs competition that my niece Carly helped to judge. This was really good fun, just before the sail away, but again, I wish there had been more of a sail away party, as this was our last one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We witnessed another stunning sunset, before we had a thoroughly enjoyable last meal, then taking in the tap show in the theatre,which was again a very enjoyable show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last night was spent in the Spinnaker as usual, for the very amusing “adults only” game show. We laughed our way through changing clothes& having to produce unusual items etc, and I managed to take a kick in the head while performing the “Worm” on the dance floor, which left me with ashiner for several days, but we really enjoyed the night, and won a bottle ofchampagne for finishing 3rd.

 

It was time to say goodbye to the many friends we had made on this wonderful cruise, before we headed for our last sleep in our lovely comfortable beds. We had already left our luggage outside our cabins for collection, and just had our last minute packing to do from what we had worn that night, into our hand luggage.

[kevg1889]

So, we had to vacate our rooms before 8-30am, so they could be prepared for the next lucky so and so’s that would be replacing us later that day. We headed up to the buffet for breakfast, which was very busy, as we expected, but we managed to find seats & enjoy our last meal on board, before it was time for our pre-booked 9-15am disembarkation. The whole process was very well organised,and possibly the easiest one we had experienced. We soon found our luggage in the baggage hall, and met our transfer minibus, that was taking us back to Mestre. As I mentioned earlier, we had arranged to leave our bags for the day at the wonderfully helpful Tritone Hotel, where we stayed for the night prior to our cruise. We were to be picked up from here later that evening for our transfer to the airport, so it all fell wonderfully in to place, without having to lug ourcases around etc.

 

We purchased our vaparetto passes from the hotel & made the short hop into Venice. We had decided to take a look at Lido, whichis across the lagoon from St Marks. Itwas really sad passing by the ship that we had just left, but we were soon in Lido, and made our way to the beach, where we had a lovely couple of hours taking in our last sunshine, and having a swim in the sea. From here, we made our way back for one last look at St Marks square, before crossing the lovely Rialto bridge, and walkingthrough the back streets, with the compulsory beer stop, before reaching the bus station for our hop back to Mestre. Here we had a lovely meal, which was much cheaper than eating in Venice itself, before heading back to the hotel for a quick wash & change, then we picked up our bags ready to set off to the airport.

 

So it was all over, we headed back to rainy England, having had a wonderful time, taking in some amazing& beautiful sights, and having fully abused the delightful food & drink aboard the lovely NCL Star. I could not think of a better itinerary & the staff on board the Star could not have done any more to make our cruise any better. Sure, there were a couple of niggles, but they were mainly personal preferences, and certainly nothing that spoilt our experience. I enjoyed the fully relaxed atmosphere that NCL offers, and would not hesitate to book with them again.

 

I hope my report is helpful to everyone (with the possible exception of the obligatory moaner!!) & if anyone has any queries, please do not hesitate to ask, I’m more than happy totalk about our great holiday.

[SkygirlSue]

Thank you, kevg, for your wonderful reports! I will be cruising on the Star inOctober, to a few of the same ports so the info is much appreciated. Nice to know that the ship has some fun bars to enjoy. I hope you've recovered from the shiner!

[kevg1889]

Thank you, kevg, for your wonderful reports! I will be cruising on the Star inOctober, to a few of the same ports so the info is much appreciated. Nice to know that the ship has some fun bars to enjoy. I hope you've recovered from the shiner!

 

 

It's fading quickly like the tan!! Glad you enjoyed the report

 

 

 

 

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[SkygirlSue]

Ouch!

[KonkyWonky]

Thanks for the report Kev, we fly out to Venice on Friday to board the Star on Sunday. Glad you had such a good time and sorry to hear about your mother.

[kevg1889]

Thanks for the report Kev, we fly out to Venice on Friday to board the Star on Sunday. Glad you had such a good time and sorry to hear about your mother.

 

 

Enjoy every minute and please say hello to Melvyn in the Bier Garten for us - he will look after you if you introduce yourself - tell him Big Kev & Big Rob are eternally grateful for his wonderful service

 

 

 

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[snow1]

Thanks Kevg for your great review of your cruise. We have booked the same itinerary for next July. Can't wait !! You mentioned that you had a transfer minibus to Mestre at the end of the cruise. Was it arranged through NCL ? Did it go to the train station in Mestre?

[kevg1889]

The company we used were called ZIPtransfers - they will pick you up & drop you off wherever you need at very reasonable rates - they did our transfers from Verona airport to the hotel in Peschiera and then from our hotel (which was right next to the railway station in Mestre) to the port - then they picked us back up from the port & took us back to Mestre before returning to deliver us to the airport that evening. It was an excellent service& I know my brother has used them on several holidays. I believe they are based in Spain but don't let that put you off. When the mini bus was 5 minutes late picking us up, they phoned us to let us know - brilliant service

[TSUmom]

Thank you for your detailed review and pictures. I can't wait until my turn.

[snow1]

Kev....Thanks SO much for the info on ZipTransfers. It was just what we were looking for. :) Since the ship docked at 8a, what time did you have them pick you up?

How far in advance did you book them?

[ronmar7]

Hiya, thanks for such a detailed review - we sail on sept 24th !! Is the ship air conditioned ?? Would the dining area etc be a little cool at night ?? I'm a cold creature !!!

 

 

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[kevg1889]

Kev....Thanks SO much for the info on ZipTransfers. It was just what we were looking for. :) Since the ship docked at 8a, what time did you have them pick you up?

 

How far in advance did you book them?

 

 

 

We booked the transfer the day before we sailed - we didn't fancy carrying our luggage around so it was a last minute decision & a very good one! We chose a 9-15 disembarkation & booked the transfer for 9-45 he was waiting for us when we got through the baggage hall it couldn't have gone any smoother

 

 

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[kevg1889]

Hiya, thanks for such a detailed review - we sail on sept 24th !! Is the ship air conditioned ?? Would the dining area etc be a little cool at night ?? I'm a cold creature !!!

 

 

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The temperature in the Versailles was always perfect & it was exceptionally hot outside so I wouldn't worry about being cold

 

 

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[snow1]

Thanks Kevg for all your answers and great information on your transfers. Also we won't forget about your visit to Santorini.

 

 

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[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

kevg1889 ~ thanks so much for your detailed report. It's making me even more excited for my turn next June!

Hope your Mum is getting better.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[canadianeh934]

Awesome read and we have booked for next July and are excited.

 

One thing I noticed that was the same with the tender process of lining up for tickets for the tender is not required as it was the same as the Jade. We were on a back to back and had two tender ports and we lined up the first week at the first port but realized that it was just a control issue and never bothered at the next port nor the next week we simply got in line and got on a tender when we wanted to go.

 

Thanks for the review as I now know that we booked the right cruise as part of our Euorpe trip.