First Time on Star - Any Hidden Gems, Tips?

[annmarz]

We will be sailing on Star this summer. Have been on Bliss and Getaway. Anything special, not-to-be missed about Star?

[Sailing12Away]

I'll let you know in a week when I hop on board....

[dolls123]

On 5/3/2022 at 7:35 PM, Sailing12Away said:

I'll let you know in a week when I hop on board....

Thanks! My first time on the Star will be in September

[Sailing12Away]

Lovely ship, feels a little smaller than the jewel class ships. I think we're sailing at about 50% capacity this week.

[dexddd]

On 5/3/2022 at 8:48 PM, annmarz said:

We will be sailing on Star this summer. Have been on Bliss and Getaway. Anything special, not-to-be missed about Star?

Where is your room?

 

Been on Star twice.  Deck twelve has buffet and pool.  Spice H2o added 12 aft.  To quickly get from front to back outside, use deck 13.  Also been on Dawn which is nearly identical.

 

Deck 13 forward has a hot tub. Deck 14 above pool has another bar.  Port side pool was smoking if or not your thing.  Used to have some casino games there.

 

Somewhere center or forward stairs has a display of awards and history of where she has been.

[hawkeyetlse]

A lot will depend on how much more the ship fills up over the summer. Currently with the ship only half full, there are things like only one show per evening (at 8:00 pm), only one MDR open, reduced hours for some of the bars. And not much energy at the late night parties.

 

On the plus side, of course, venues are almost never crowded. And they still put on more or less a full program of activities, games, musicians. The resident band Ice Bucket is great! The karaoke list is pretty bad, so expect to hear "Sweet Caroline" many many times.

 

It will be a very different experience from the megaships you've done before. No Howl at the Moon, no dinner show, nothing much happening in the Atrium or at Spice H2O. There's still plenty to do if you get into the spirit of things, and plenty of bars to choose from…

 

[Named-Tawny]

On 5/14/2022 at 10:59 AM, Sailing12Away said:

Lovely ship, feels a little smaller than the jewel class ships. I think we're sailing at about 50% capacity this week.

There's nothing like the Jewel Class's Spinnaker lounge (bar/observation forward lounge) on the Star, yeah?

It was such a great place to while away some time.

[hawkeyetlse]

14 hours ago, Named-Tawny said:

There's nothing like the Jewel Class's Spinnaker lounge (bar/observation forward lounge) on the Star, yeah?

 

Not for over 10 years now. Converted into suites two or three refurbs ago. They "moved" the Spinnaker Lounge down to a mostly window-less area Deck 7 Aft and renamed it the Bliss a couple of years ago. I think the same has happened to the panoramic observation lounge on all other ships, too.

 

The bars with the best view are now Sky High (but it's outdoors and one half of it is smoking), or Sugarcane (but it only has about 8 seats around the bar, so not a place for lounging).

[milolii]

This is the situation  on many of the jewel ships now. Not sure which ones still have the the spinnaker lounge..  The  star does not, as noted above. 

[scar4711]

5 hours ago, milolii said:

This is the situation  on many of the jewel ships now. Not sure which ones still have the the spinnaker lounge..  The  star does not, as noted above. 

All 4 Jewel class ships still have the Spinnaker Lounge on deck 13. 

[cassie55]

On 5/15/2022 at 10:12 PM, hawkeyetlse said:

A lot will depend on how much more the ship fills up over the summer. Currently with the ship only half full, there are things like only one show per evening (at 8:00 pm), only one MDR open, reduced hours for some of the bars. And not much energy at the late night parties.

 

On the plus side, of course, venues are almost never crowded. And they still put on more or less a full program of activities, games, musicians. The resident band Ice Bucket is great! The karaoke list is pretty bad, so expect to hear "Sweet Caroline" many many times.

 

It will be a very different experience from the megaships you've done before. No Howl at the Moon, no dinner show, nothing much happening in the Atrium or at Spice H2O. There's still plenty to do if you get into the spirit of things, and plenty of bars to choose from…

 

We're on the Star in July. I hope they revert back to 2 shows.  We prefer to see the 7.30 show then eat.  8 means eating a little later than we'd prefer but eating to finish by 8 is too early. 

[Named-Tawny]

15 hours ago, hawkeyetlse said:

 

Not for over 10 years now. Converted into suites two or three refurbs ago. They "moved" the Spinnaker Lounge down to a mostly window-less area Deck 7 Aft and renamed it the Bliss a couple of years ago. I think the same has happened to the panoramic observation lounge on all other ships, too.

 

The bars with the best view are now Sky High (but it's outdoors and one half of it is smoking), or Sugarcane (but it only has about 8 seats around the bar, so not a place for lounging).

Yeah, I thought so.  Dang.

Spinnaker on the Pearl was such a lovely place to spend time.  Comfortable, great views, and just a pleasure any time of day.

[Marbella18]

Can you confirm that there is an indoor open to everyone or is this only available if you have spa passes. We are on the Star in October and it could be useful that time of year!

[Marbella18]

Sorry I meant to say indoor pool 😝

[hawkeyetlse]

The indoor pool is in the thermal suite, only accessible with a spa pass.

[dexddd]

On 5/15/2022 at 4:21 PM, Named-Tawny said:

There's nothing like the Jewel Class's Spinnaker lounge (bar/observation forward lounge) on the Star, yeah?

It was such a great place to while away some time.

There was but replaced with mostly suites on Star and Dawn 2010 & 2011 or minus a year.

[Sailing12Away]

The best shows to us on the Star this past week were the rock band Ice Bucket. They would play 1-2 sets by the pool before sail away, and then later in the evening they did shows in the Bliss lounge. Queen, Bon Jovi, Beatles.... a little bit of everything. They were a lot of fun for us and a super nice group of guys that would chat with everyone and take photos at the end too.

[Sorrento Traveler]

I did Alaska on the Star years ago. Someone on here gave the tip that on scenic cruising days (especially Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm) don’t fight the crowds on the front of the ship. Go to the bar on the back of the ship, grab a bite from the grill right there and sit in comfort and watch the exact same scenery, just in reverse.  We followed the advice going up Tracy Arm and when we got to the glacier and turned around there were maybe 50 people on the back of the boat and we had the glacier all to ourselves.   

[firstimer2009]

We were on Star for a Med cruise in Sept 2019.  Loved the H20 Spice area leaving port.  We tried to hit that everyday.  It would be great to be on the ship not at full capacity but I know there are trade offs. 

[BrianC-80]

Just got off the Star last week, and have been on it three times now. 

My favourite lesser used spot is the Mojito bar up on 14 midships next to Cagney's/Moderno. Exit the lifts, turn right and follow the wall around into Moderno. Warning though - pineapple and coconut mojitos will go straight to your head. 😉 

For one of the best easily accessible and crowd free view points, go to Spice H20 at the back of 13 and then walk up the outdoor stairs to 14 where the helipad is. You get a full panoramic unobstructed view from the back of the ship.