Home From the Star Mexican Riv 12/27-1/4

[azgolfgirl]

(posted on another thread, but thought it should also have its own)

 

Had a great time. Sailed with my 28month old granddaughter, my mother (they shared a mini suite 11066) and my daughter (she and I had our own mini suite about 1/2 the ship away 11150 :p ).

 

OK..my recommendations and pitfalls:

 

1) Day 1 at Sea....if you want to get some sun by the pool, get a chair early! We waited until lunchtime, and it was too late.

2) Manzanillo...definitely go to the Turtle Experience. Totally awesome releasing baby (3 day old) sea turtles back to the ocean.

3) P.V...bought day passes at the Hotel Buenaventura. Don't recommend it. Food terrible, water was so rough, you couldn't go swimming. Wanted to do the Jungle Canopy and Zip Line tour, but it was sold out.

4) Mazatlan...There are men almost at the end of the gangway offering tours for $20 pp. TAKE IT! We saw cliff divers, toured the Cathedral, went jewelry shopping w/free cerveza, had lunch (not included) and did some miscellaneous shopping, plus a leisurely van tour all over the city for a lot less than the excursions offered by NCL

5) Cabo....Boat and Beach Tour through NCL. 40 minute boat ride around Land's End...saw sea lions, but no whales. Then off to a beach club for some serious sun time until 11:30 (due to abreviated stary in port). Well worth it. We were there so early that we had the beach to ourselves for about 1/2 hour. Nice and relaxing.

 

Food...Prior to NCL, I'd been on Celebrity and Crystal, so the bar was high. Found NCL's fairly bland. Things improved a bit near the end of the week, but I think that's because we figured out what not to order. Second night "Lobster Dinner" was a joke - one tail the size of a crayfish! Couldn't go wrong with the ever present Caesar Salad and baked potato.:)

 

Entertainment...GO TO KARAOKE EVERY NIGHT!!!! There were the usual terrible singers, but we also had some professionals on board who were outstanding! Also, Dave Heenan (the comedian) was hysterical. Saw him a couple of times. DD (who's 19) and I went to "Ship 'n Males" revue and had a blast! Another don't miss..the Talent Show the last night. Fallon the Magician was also decent. Sorry, didn't go to the "production" shows...not our cup of tea.

 

If you'd like any more info, feel free to email me -

muffyvanderbilt@hotmail.com.

 

Kim

[Nilla]

Wow thanks so much for the review! Always nice t read a review of the ship that we are sailing on in a few weeks! So I am wanting to knwo about the Shio N males thing! I have heard about this! What night was it on? Did they have drinks specials at all? That is all for now! THanks!:D

[azgolfgirl]

Wow thanks so much for the review! Always nice t read a review of the ship that we are sailing on in a few weeks! So I am wanting to knwo about the Shio N males thing! I have heard about this! What night was it on? Did they have drinks specials at all? That is all for now! THanks!:D

Nilla,

 

Ship n Males was Friday night at 11:45. Not as risque as the usual (no g strings), but HIGHLY entertaining! Don't want to ruin it for you, but one suggestion - bring a few "pesos"...you'll be glad you did.:p

 

Drink "specials"; ie: the Drink of the Day, ran $8!!! Don't fall for the line, "Would you like it tall?" I thought our waitress meant a highball glass for my Cape Cod, and I ended up paying about $3 extra for a stupid plastic souvenir cup! Also, don't waste your money on the souvenir glass. They tell you it's $8 for the first drink, then $1 off subsequent refills. That's still about $2 more than you'd pay without it, and you don't have to carry the glass around.

 

Kim

We did "sneak" a bit of vodka and Malibu onboard, but my bar tab was still $400!!!!! (And no, we're not alcoholics, nor were we drinking 24/7.) That covered 2 bottles of very overpriced wine and a few cocktails each day for 3 people.

[Nilla]

Wow! When I started cruising drink special where way cheaper under $4! I have heard people have ways of sneaking the booze on I may have to email you to get some tips on that! Thanks for the info! No G Strgins boo!

[azgolfgirl]

Wow! When I started cruising drink special where way cheaper under $4! I have heard people have ways of sneaking the booze on I may have to email you to get some tips on that! Thanks for the info! No G Strgins boo!

I know! I was shocked, even after reading posts here. The general nickle and diming really got to me after a while.

 

Wouldn't want to ruin it for others who prefer to BYOB, lest someone in authority reads this. My method hinged on the fact that I was traveling with a baby. I did hear of one other that involved an empty Sprite bottle. Email inquiry is welcome.:cool:

[Aliann]

Thanks for posting, I've been contemplating this cruise and all info is helpful. Sounds like you had a great time.

[Pengawin3]

AZgolfgirl:

what time did embarkation start in San Pedro?

what time did you embark and how was the line?

any ideas on when the crowds were highest? (I'd rather breeze thru a line a little later in the day than wait around for 3+ hours, know what I mean?)

We're on the 1/12 cruise!

Thanks in advance,

Laura

[tequilamary]

Hi, thanks for the review, we are going on the same cruise 2/5/06 and your comments were very helpful. I hadn't heard about the male revue, sounds like something the girls and I will have to check out! Lynn

[electricron]

If one lobster tail wasn't enough, why didn't you order another?

 

You can have as many lobster tails as you can reasonably eat, and you have time for. You could have also left and came back to eat dinner again if you wished.

 

Blaming NCL for lousy service because you didn't have the guts to order lobster tails twice, or three times isn't their fault, but yours.

 

Although it appears you still had a grand time and a great cruise on the Star, I wish your next cruise on whatever cruise line and ship of your choice is better.

[flyingpirate]

Electricron,

 

AZgolfgirl wrote that lovely review but thank you for pointing out the one negative.

 

I love NCL more than the next gal, but the food does leave a bit to be desired.

[azgolfgirl]

If one lobster tail wasn't enough, why didn't you order another?

 

You can have as many lobster tails as you can reasonably eat, and you have time for. You could have also left and came back to eat dinner again if you wished.

 

Blaming NCL for lousy service because you didn't have the guts to order lobster tails twice, or three times isn't their fault, but yours.

 

Although it appears you still had a grand time and a great cruise on the Star, I wish your next cruise on whatever cruise line and ship of your choice is better.

 

Electricon,

Thank you for your advise. I'm well aware that I could order as much as I wanted. However, I chose not to order more of what I considered to be an inferior (in quality and quantity) offering.

I did not blame NCL for lousy service. Please quote where I did. On the contrary, service was exceptional.This is simply my opinion and that of my fmaily.

I find your "attack" regarding my "guts" uncalled for.

[vjblk]

I don't usually respond to these types of things but had to this time.

 

Boy Electricron you sure made some uncalled for remarks. No where in her review did she blame NCL for lousy service. What were you reading? All she mentioned that she thought the lobster tail was small. No mention of service at all or that she wouldn't sail NCL again because of it.

 

Your off the cuff remarks were way off base and that seems to happen alot with you!

[azgolfgirl]

I don't usually respond to these types of things but had to this time.

 

Boy Electricron you sure made some uncalled for remarks. No where in her review did she blame NCL for lousy service. What were you reading? All she mentioned that she thought the lobster tail was small. No mention of service at all or that she wouldn't sail NCL again because of it.

 

Your off the cuff remarks were way off base and that seems to happen alot with you!

 

:) Thanks Valerie!

Kim

[vjblk]

No problem Kim. I've been a lurker here for a long time. Read alot of posts and I hate to read the ones where posters get bashed for something they didn't even say. Especially those that tend to jump down anyone's throat for saying the slightest negative thing about NCL. If the negative is constructive it's helpful to everyone and should be said.

 

I've seen alot of ElectricRon's posts and sometimes they can definitely rub you the wrong way even though he might not intend that. Like I said, I don't usually reply but his response just irritated me today. I liked your review and thought it was helpful and didn't deserve the "attack".

[nrgbunny]

I too was on the Dec. 27 sailing of the Star. I'm a big fan of NCL, but, this was the worst cruise experience for me ever! Due to this being a holiday sailing, there were MANY large groups (15, 17, 19, etc.) traveling together and demanding to be seated and served together. To accommodate this, ALL of the restaurants accepted reservations during this week. Thankfully, our group of five was small and were easily accommodated. However, I saw many rude passengers being very unreasonable with an obviously over-taxed staff.

 

Everything said about "lobster" night is echoed by my family. The "tails" were crawfish size and very poor quality - definitely not worth ordering more. On one night we had made reservations in Cagney's, one of the specialty restaurants, specifically to enjoy their Surf 'n Turf. Imagine our dismay when we were ready to order and found out that only the "turf" was available. No lobster worthy of being served was on board (per the waiter) - so they removed it from the menu that week.

 

Our cabin service crew was so poor, all of our party cancelled out of the daily service charge in lieu of tipping those staff who were providing excellent service.

 

While there were highlights of the trip, it is difficult finding them. I really felt sorry for the staff - they took the brunt of the complaints (and any visit to the reception desk allowed you an ear-full from a seaming endless supply of unhappy passengers). NCL should be ashamed of itself for allowing their staff to be staffed at their standard levels during a travel time when the ship exceeds normal capacity. Many of those poor staff people were working their bottoms off and still could not achieve their usual level of service.

 

While I look forward to my next cruise on NCL (transatlantic) with much anticipation, I have learned a lesson and will never travel a holiday week again on a large ship.

[Medic1330]

(posted on another thread, but thought it should also have its own)

 

Had a great time. Sailed with my 28month old granddaughter, my mother (they shared a mini suite 11066) and my daughter (she and I had our own mini suite about 1/2 the ship away 11150 :p ).

 

Kim

 

Kim- I will be staying in the same stateroom (11150) on the 1/20/06 cruise :) . Strange question, but do you recall if your luggage tag said that the stateroom was mid or aft? I changed staterooms after the luggage tags were printed and NCL had said to cross off the old stateroom, write in the new and leave blank which part of the ship 11150 was in because it was borderline of both. If you happen to think of it, I would appreciate the info, so I could write it on my luggage tags. Glad your trip was excellent, am looking forward to mine. Thanks.

 

Robin

[judyf]

Thanks for the great review! I enjoy reading what others think.

 

Thanks for posting.

[electricron]

Electricon,

Thank you for your advise. I'm well aware that I could order as much as I wanted. However, I chose not to order more of what I considered to be an inferior (in quality and quantity) offering.

I did not blame NCL for lousy service. Please quote where I did. On the contrary, service was exceptional.This is simply my opinion and that of my fmaily. I find your "attack" regarding my "guts" uncalled for.

I guess you didn't mention anything about lousy service, after all. Sorry!

I admit to over reacting to

Second night "Lobster Dinner" was a joke - one tail the size of a crayfish!

Maybe I'm going blind, but I don't see any mention of inferior quality of the lobster tails in your first post. On a second reading of it, all I see is a complaint about it's size. Which brings up my response, to order more servings if you thought the size of the lobster tail was too small, is sound advice.

[azgolfgirl]

Kim- I will be staying in the same stateroom (11150) on the 1/20/06 cruise :) . Strange question, but do you recall if your luggage tag said that the stateroom was mid or aft? I changed staterooms after the luggage tags were printed and NCL had said to cross off the old stateroom, write in the new and leave blank which part of the ship 11150 was in because it was borderline of both. If you happen to think of it, I would appreciate the info, so I could write it on my luggage tags. Glad your trip was excellent, am looking forward to mine. Thanks.

 

Robin

 

Robin...11150 was AFT.

If you have Hariri as your Cabin Steward, tell him Miss Kim and Miss Jessica said "hi". And, if he is and you're one who likes to make coffee in your stateroom, you'll need to leave him little reminder notes to replace your coffee, sugar and Coffee Mate. He was a dear, but I think a little overworked from the New Year's Eve crowd.

Have a great time! And enjoy the extra great hangers I forgot in the closet.:p

Kim

[gary]

Electricron:

 

Thank you for taking the time to correct your self and apologise.

[mkdawnt]

I know! I was shocked, even after reading posts here. The general nickle and diming really got to me after a while.

 

Wouldn't want to ruin it for others who prefer to BYOB, lest someone in authority reads this. My method hinged on the fact that I was traveling with a baby. I did hear of one other that involved an empty Sprite bottle. Email inquiry is welcome.:cool:

 

Okay I can't find your email but want to know.... we are traveling with a baby too and would like to know your "method"

[cruise chick21]

i went on that same exact cruise! the New Years Eve Cruise! 12/27/05- 1/04/06 It was GREAT!!

 

 

 

~Cruise Chick21

[cruiser-dude]

Electricron:

 

Thank you for taking the time to correct your self and apologise.

 

Ditto!!!

[disney_leonard]

Was on the same cruise - cabin 11608. Have to echo the thoughts about the lobster. Don't know where they came from but they were not good and no reason to order more! Staff was overworked and did a great job. We somehow missed the news about needing reservations for New Year's Eve. When we got to Aqua we were told by the Maitre D that they had scheduled two seating's and they were full. No offer to help us. When we showed him the Freestyle Daily that had the usual open times and no mention of reservations required he said that they announced it and the Freestyle Daily was wrong (like somehow that was our fault). We ended up at reception (part of the endless parade) with other people who missed the news and they called Versailles and got us seated with no problem. I still don't know why they suspended Freestyle dining for that night. There was nothing special done as far as dinner was concerned. People came and went just like any other night.

 

Overall we had a great time but not our best NCL cruise. In the past we booked a mini suite and had a bottle of champagne waiting for us but this time nothing. I think they were overwhelmed with the number of people.

 

The New Year's Eve parties were great and the crew really had as good a time as anybody which was great to see.

[azgolfgirl]

Okay I can't find your email but want to know.... we are traveling with a baby too and would like to know your "method"

 

My email address is muffyvanderbilt@hotmail.com

I'll be more than happy to share my "method". It worked like a charm.

Kim

:cool: