Just Off Star - Reykjavik to Southampton - Random Thoughts

[casofilia]

@yyhay

 

A general comment not specific to the Star.    I would not pay USD49 (Plus the 20% if applicable) for either.   We do Moderno regularly when we have "Free at Sea" and/or Latitudes and still enjoy it but is is nowhere near as good as it was 3 years ago,   We do Teppanyaki only when we have "Free at Sea" quite regularly.

[ahd]

1 hour ago, yyhay said:

Thank you so much for sharing the Norwegian Star details.    We will be on the same sailing on August 14 about a month away! We are thinking of getting the SPECIALTY DINING just for dine in the Moderno Churrascaria and/ or Teppanyaki? Does it worth $49/pax?  We still haven't book the shore excursion at Alesund and Haugesund at Norway and Edinburgh, Lerwick, Kirkwall at Scotland. How's the quality of those offered by NLC?  Any feedback for the gym and thermal spa facility?  Thank you for any recommendation and information you provided.  

We were on this cruise also. Had an awesome time.

We don't do cruise company excursions generally, but we did the Kirkwall/Orkney one called 'ancient treasures of orkney.' the tour was awesome but the guide (while very nice) was terrible. She was very hard to understand  and did not add anything/was not a good guide.  We did our own tour of Alesund ( the little train right In front and then walked around, thought about doing one of the tours of outer Islands but didn't) and Edinburgh (we did one of the hop on busses). The queen was In Edinburgh and the traffic was awful /we had a hard time getting a taxi initially.  

[hoopslover]

1 hour ago, ahd said:

We were on this cruise also. Had an awesome time.

We don't do cruise company excursions generally, but we did the Kirkwall/Orkney one called 'ancient treasures of orkney.' the tour was awesome but the guide (while very nice) was terrible. She was very hard to understand  and did not add anything/was not a good guide.  We did our own tour of Alesund ( the little train right In front and then walked around, thought about doing one of the tours of outer Islands but didn't) and Edinburgh (we did one of the hop on busses). The queen was In Edinburgh and the traffic was awful /we had a hard time getting a taxi initially.  

How was the hop on hop off bus in Edinburgh?  From your comment about a taxi I think that you did it all on your own.  We have booked the "On your Own" for transportation and then get the hop on when we get there. Any suggestions will be appreciated. 

We will be there on the Star in September

[ahd]

3 minutes ago, hoopslover said:

How was the hop on hop off bus in Edinburgh?  From your comment about a taxi I think that you did it all on your own.  We have booked the "On your Own" for transportation and then get the hop on when we get there. Any suggestions will be appreciated. 

We will be there on the Star in September

We were planning to taxi/Uber, but the waits were like 40 min to get from the harbor to the royal mile. (We had tendered to the harbor, can't remember the name of the harbor.) There were volunteers there that had general tourist information and also a rep from a bus company. You can take a City bus for a few pounds to the royal mile area, or buy a ticket on the spot for a hop on/off bus right there. (It was a blue and yellow bus, not the red;the stop was a 90 second walk from the tender).

Later, I was able to get a taxi (i think from Edinburgh city taxi--download the app and enter payment info in advance) within a few min to take us back to the harbor. We could have waited for the bus again, but the traffic was so bad. 

The 'on your own' bus leaves and comes back at rigid times. That might work for you or you may find that you would want more flexibility with a bus or taxi. depends also on the size of your party (if you are a party of 1 and don't want the  Lothian city bus), the excursion might make sense. If you are two or three people, the cost might be a wash.

[annmarz]

4 hours ago, yyhay said:

Thank you so much for sharing the Norwegian Star details.    We will be on the same sailing on August 14 about a month away! We are thinking of getting the SPECIALTY DINING just for dine in the Moderno Churrascaria and/ or Teppanyaki? Does it worth $49/pax?  We still haven't book the shore excursion at Alesund and Haugesund at Norway and Edinburgh, Lerwick, Kirkwall at Scotland. How's the quality of those offered by NLC?  Any feedback for the gym and thermal spa facility?  Thank you for any recommendation and information you provided.  

I cant speak to Moderno or Teppanyaki since we didn't visit them. Also did not visit gym but it looked big and nice. One of my companions used the thermal spa every day and loved it.  She said to book it right away when you board.

 

In Alesund, we rode the inexpensive City Train for an overview of the city.  We also on our own visited the city museum.  NCL tours in Edinburgh (City highlights and Castle) and Kirkwall (Orkey Islands) were very good.

[Mlake09]

One last question- did you find it easy to get to the port from downtown? We’re going in a few days early and will need to make our way over independently. 
 

[mpk]

On 7/4/2022 at 7:22 PM, annmarz said:

Itinerary:  Iceland was the main draw and it did not disappoint!  Spectacular and very cold!

 

I read some threads about biting flying insects (midges) during the short Iceland summer.  With the cold, I assume you didn't experience any?

[hoopslover]

19 hours ago, ahd said:

We were planning to taxi/Uber, but the waits were like 40 min to get from the harbor to the royal mile. (We had tendered to the harbor, can't remember the name of the harbor.) There were volunteers there that had general tourist information and also a rep from a bus company. You can take a City bus for a few pounds to the royal mile area, or buy a ticket on the spot for a hop on/off bus right there. (It was a blue and yellow bus, not the red;the stop was a 90 second walk from the tender).

Later, I was able to get a taxi (i think from Edinburgh city taxi--download the app and enter payment info in advance) within a few min to take us back to the harbor. We could have waited for the bus again, but the traffic was so bad. 

The 'on your own' bus leaves and comes back at rigid times. That might work for you or you may find that you would want more flexibility with a bus or taxi. depends also on the size of your party (if you are a party of 1 and don't want the  Lothian city bus), the excursion might make sense. If you are two or three people, the cost might be a wash.

Thank so much for the information.  With the $50 shore excursion credit and platinum discount the cost for transportation wasn't that much.  Did you enjoy the hop on?  Why didn't you take it back to near your tender point?  Just trying to decide what to do.  Thanks

[ahd]

3 hours ago, hoopslover said:

Thank so much for the information.  With the $50 shore excursion credit and platinum discount the cost for transportation wasn't that much.  Did you enjoy the hop on?  Why didn't you take it back to near your tender point?  Just trying to decide what to do.  Thanks

Bad traffic and cranky pint -sized travelers led to the spur of the moment taxi decision; we were interested in efficiency at that point;) would recommend the hop on/hop off bus. They seemed to be operating regularly and have a good route. For one person and with the discounts, the formal excursion bus would make financial sense for sure.

[ahd]

1 hour ago, ahd said:

Bad traffic and cranky pint -sized travelers led to the spur of the moment taxi decision; we were interested in efficiency at that point;) would recommend the hop on/hop off bus. They seemed to be operating regularly and have a good route. For one person and with the discounts, the formal excursion bus would make financial sense for sure.

(I think the hop on hop off was around 17 ish pounds per person). Also there was an insane amount of construction on the roads from Lieth (the tender port area) to the royal mile area.

[annmarz]

10 hours ago, Mlake09 said:

One last question- did you find it easy to get to the port from downtown? We’re going in a few days early and will need to make our way over independently. 
 

A transfer to the port was included in our pre-cruise package.  But the port is very close to the downtown. You should have no trouble.

[annmarz]

7 hours ago, mpk said:

 

I read some threads about biting flying insects (midges) during the short Iceland summer.  With the cold, I assume you didn't experience any?

We did not notice any insects at all

[Theprincessr]

Thank you for sharing. We are sailing the reverse of this cruise Aug 4th. Was the kid zone open?

[ahd]

21 hours ago, annmarz said:

A transfer to the port was included in our pre-cruise package.  But the port is very close to the downtown. You should have no trouble.

We used a taxi. You can call or use an app to set it up.

 

 

[annmarz]

12 hours ago, Theprincessr said:

Thank you for sharing. We are sailing the reverse of this cruise Aug 4th. Was the kid zone open?

yes

[annmarz]

A few final thoughts - from the perspective of being at home for 5 days:

 FYI - I am a very experienced cruiser, 43 cruises on many  lines and all types and sizes of ships (this was my 3rd on Norwegian.)

 

Things I did right:  

 

1.There is always something to learn from my fellow cruisers.  A cabin hack I recently read about on these boards that worked well for me was bringing blue painters tape to easily attach important things to the walls.    And of course, I always bring a magnetic clip or two.

 

2.  I don't like to feel like I have to ration drinking water.  I bought a water bottle with a built in filter and used it the whole trip, beginning in the airport and while onboard.  It was a bit heavy in my backpack but I saved a lot of money and had an endless supply of good water for free on the trip.  And yes, NCL lets you bring personal water on and off the ship.  People were tossing full water bottles at embarkation - totally unnecessary.

 

3.  Ponchos and waterproof jackets with hoods work better in rainy, windy Iceland than umbrellas much of the time.

 

4.  As I have learned many times - approach the entertainment with an open mind and go for it. I thought a guitarist would be boring, but he was one of the best acts of the entire cruise!

 

Things I wish I had done differently:

 

1.  I wish we had eaten at Cagney's twice instead of wasting a meal at Le Bistro.

 

2.  Why oh why didn't I bring a lanyard for my cruise card and ID on this trip?  And why didn't I just buy one onboard? So much handier than digging it out of my bag all the time or worrying it would fall out of a pocket.

 

3.  I wish I had tried for an upgrade from an Oceanview Balcony to a Club Balcony.  The slightly extra room and the tub would have been nice.

 

I may have more thoughts later!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pdmlynek]

On 7/4/2022 at 10:22 PM, annmarz said:

...

Iceland was the main draw and it did not disappoint!  Spectacular and very cold!  Many pax were unprepared for the weather.

...

Thank you for letting us know.

 

It is surprising that it was very cold.  Iceland is relatively mild and warm year round given how far north it is. In summer the temperature in Reykjavik hardly goes below 10 C, and in winter in barely reaches -10 C.  

 

Just how cold was it when you visit?

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Yay, We are on that sailing, too.  Have you joined the roll call?

Edited July 9, 2022 by MagnoliaBlossom

[ahd]

On 7/8/2022 at 9:45 AM, Theprincessr said:

Thank you for sharing. We are sailing the reverse of this cruise Aug 4th. Was the kid zone open?

Nothing for children under 5. Not even opportunity for parents and kids to play together. There were options for older kids, although mine wasn't interested and other parents were complaining that the hours were quite reduced.

[annmarz]

12 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

Thank you for letting us know.

 

It is surprising that it was very cold.  Iceland is relatively mild and warm year round given how far north it is. In summer the temperature in Reykjavik hardly goes below 10 C, and in winter in barely reaches -10 C.  

 

Just how cold was it when you visit?

It was in the 40's.  But the wind chill coupled with the occasional rain made it feel very cold.

[teachberry]

Thanks for your information. We will be on the July 25 and Aug 4 Star cruises. Is there an "observation lounge" or a place to sit inside and view the beautiful scenery?

[nextcruiseonmymind]

What time were the production shows? Did they have the typical 2 shows on those nights? Read somewhere tat they were only doing one show.

 

Appreciate the info.

[Mlake09]

On 7/9/2022 at 9:26 AM, pdmlynek said:

Thank you for letting us know.

 

It is surprising that it was very cold.  Iceland is relatively mild and warm year round given how far north it is. In summer the temperature in Reykjavik hardly goes below 10 C, and in winter in barely reaches -10 C.  

 

Just how cold was it when you visit?

We are here now and it was cold, windy, and wet today! We are  from New England, but even though the temp was between 11-13 C, it felt much colder. We are wearing rain pants and coats over down coats, with a hat. I am a little worried about how cold the ship decks will be, given that we are staying in the south right now and aren’t on the water yet!

[sjbdtz]

On 7/4/2022 at 10:44 PM, casofilia said:

@annmarz

 

Who were the officers please?   Thanks

Tony Winkler is the General Manager (Hotel Director)

[casofilia]

@sjbdtz

 

Thanks; he's not one I know.

 

Mike