Live from the NCL Star July 23-August 15, 2023. Will I survive 23 days without the beverage package?

[YVRteacher]

13 hours ago, purpleally said:

Yvonne, I missed you by one day. We had a day of sunshine and then partly cloudy day doing the Golden Circle tour. 
we walked downtown to get the famous hotdog

How was the hot dog?

[www3traveler]

Hi Sweetie,

Are you on board yet?

Can not wait to hear about your adventures.

How are you?

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and prayers always

[YVRteacher]

3 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

@YVRteacher Just wanted to wish you a great cruise from Reykjavik to Tromsø, and sincerely hope that you will be feeling better very soon! Looking forward to meeting you in person in a couple of weeks! 

I look forward to meeting you! My heart tells me this will be a wonderful 23 days on board the NCL Star!

[YVRteacher]

5 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Hi Sweetie,

Are you on board yet?

Can not wait to hear about your adventures.

How are you?

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and prayers always

Good morning from Reykjavik, Mandy! I’m currently eating an Icelandic breakfast of Skyr, homemade crunchy unsweetened peanut butter, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds and sliced apples and bananas. 
The taxi is picking me up at 10:50am and my port arrival time is 11:00am.  I have time to go for a walk to the harbour.

[YVRteacher]

I am feeling way better today. A good sleep, lots of water and fresh air helped.  Maybe that nose spray helped too. I’m not coughing at all, my head is fine and my face doesn’t hurt.  I am relieved that I will “pass” the boarding health questionnaire!

[purpleally]

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

How was the hot dog?

Worth the walk!

[LauraAnneC]

Have a wonderful cruise Yvonne. So glad you’re feeling much better today!

[YVRteacher]

That was one of the best embarkation experiences ever. I left the hotel in a taxi at 10:50am and was on board the Star at 11:05am. There was a little bit of a washy washy incident where they started washing the windows above the gangway just as I was about to cross the threshold onto the ship and I got a free, albeit cold, shower. I dropped my luggage off in Bliss lounge and have already explored the ship. That forward hot tub is enticing!

 

[lepidoptera]

I’m so glad you are feeling better and boarding went smoothly! 

[Travelicious]

Glad you are feeling better!  

[YVRteacher]

I am still in awe with the ease of boarding.  There was a holding pen of people crowded together and I think they were people who had an early port arrival time. 11:00am seems to be the perfect arrival time for cruises departing from Reykjavik.

 

While I was exploring the Star I took myself on a spa tour. A spa salesperson found me and took me to all the places I had just been. She then told me the price for the thermal spa for this 12 day cruise is $329.  I said no way. She then said that was the price that included the free scrub but the price without the scrub was $279.  How is the scrub free if it costs $50 more? This is the kind of math my dad does when he doesn’t want me to know how much he really lost in the casino! I sat on a hot ceramic lounger to test it out and those things are back breakers! Holy uncomfortable, Batman.  No spa pass for me on the Star. I prefer to leave a cruise with my spine in alignment.

Lunch was an experience. Not a good one. I ordered the tomato soup and the crustless vegetable quiche. The soup was very good.

The first plate of food I was served had a pile of rotten lettuce on it. I told the waiter this never should have been served.  The second plate of food looked like this

and tasted like garbage pudding.  I honestly can’t believe that this came out of the kitchen and that the chef, the line cook and the waiter all thought it was satisfactory. The special diets coordinator came to talk to me and so did the assistant maître d. I showed him the plate and asked him if he thought it looked good. He said “no ma’am, it does not look good.”

 

He recorded my food preferences which include protein with each meal and said he appreciated the feedback. I appreciate how the staff handled this and we move forward from here. I got the impression they do want to make things better.

 

The Versailles dining room is so crowded with tables and chairs it looks like a warehouse sale for out of date furniture. The ceiling is nice and so are the lamps. There. I said something positive.

 

The waiter offered tea or coffee and I said tea would be lovely. I am now sipping apple cinnamon tea with honey and I think this will be my drink of choice on this cruise. It’s soothing and tastes like comfort in a mug.

 

They brought me some edible food.  I specifically said not to bring a huge a plate of food.  They didn’t. 

They brought two huge plates of food and two additional bowls of Indian food.  Do you see all those red flecks in the stir fry?

Those are hot peppers. Canadians are not spicy people! I tried to eat it but it was like dragon fire 🔥 in my mouth. The lentil dal was delicious. I didn’t have dessert because by the time I finished my food the dining room staff were swooping up the tablecloths and clearing away all remnants of lunch. 

 

After lunch I went to the Cruise Next desk to sign up for all the things. The CN consultant was a nice guy named Jefferson. He has been on board for two months and 20 days and he leaves for vacation when we get to Tromsø. His next ship will be the Jade which has some amazing itineraries coming up. When I handed Jefferson my key card and he saw that I am Diamond Latitudes he smiled and said, “welcome home!” 

 

I am already loving the musicians on the Star. We have Justin on the piano and Andrei playing sax.  Andrei looks like he has some sort of delightful secret running through his mind while he plays. His saxophone looks well-loved and well-traveled.

 

[YVRteacher]

These were delicious!

 

[carohs]

Good morning! So far you've had ups and downs but you're on vacation on an amazing itenerary. Looking forward to following another of your reviews! At least the worst of the cold symptoms happened between ships; glad to hear you're feeling better 😀

[www3traveler]

I think tomorrow I would track down the Food and Beverage Director and Restaurant Manager show them your food pictures and have a discussion with them.  You mght mention that you have just come from the Spirit and Hasan.

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

 

 

[SenatorsFan]

Good news that you are feeling better and are now on board! I hope the food is much improved from here on out. Bon Voyage! 🥰

[AKR2011]

Have an amazing cruise! I'm happy to hear that they made you some new food after your lunch debacle. ❤️⚓️

[Seas2mountains]

18 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Where did you cruise when you were on the Star?

Thank you for all the detailed information on your hotel in Reykjavik!!  It does sound small from your description. I know my husband and his neck would probably not appreciate that elevator!  Wow!

Your information on possible hotels is very helpful as we are considering the Star Iceland/Greenland itinerary for June 2024. We have not been on the Star but have been on her sister, the Dawn. We love Los Lobos on the Dawn and wish it was on the Star, too. 

 

When I was researching the Star before knowing that you were going to on the ship and doing a live review, I noticed the information about Spice H2O from NCL and a YouTube video and wondered if it is usable space on a colder weather cruise. Well now that you are on the ship, I'm sure you will cover this in your review.😀  Sorry to hear the heated tile lounge chairs were not very comfortable. We all got spoiled on those hot ones on the Spirit. 

 

Now we have some ideas for traveling in Reykjavik and I will closely watch your review for ideas and excursions for the ports that are in common.  Norway was beautiful when I traveled there many years ago on land and with boat trips.  It's exciting to follow along with you as I do want to return on a ship.

 

So glad to hear you are feeling better. Enjoy Day 1 and the many more ahead. I'm curious how full your ship might be as I hear this itinerary isn't always full. Thank you again for all the time you take for this wonderful live review!

[insidecabin]

H2O is covered but if it's cold it will be cold and you need to wrap up.

 

The bar area is much better

doors both ends full height windows but small space if people find it.

[YVRteacher]

There are 2221 passengers on board and Guest Services has a sign up stating the ship is full and there will be no stateroom changes. On NCL’s website it states passenger capacity for the Star is 2348.

 

Latitudes=

Ambassador 2

Diamond 19

Sapphire 84

Platinum 115

Gold 112

Silver 172

Bronze 259

 

[bluesea777]

Yvonne, I'm so glad you are safely on the Star! You sure had good flight over and had a good two days on Reykjavik. We have been to Reykjavik & Iceland several times and love that city and country.
 

We were on the Star a year ago this month for the Iceland & Greenland cruise but sadly we had to skip Greenland due to some nasty storm brewing up in the ocean between Iceland and Greenland, and went east to Norway. Greenland had been on numerous ppl’s bucket list and needless to say there were unhappy ppl … d@mn Mother Nature! NCL was so kind enough to refund 25% of our cruise fares. 
 

Now after that we have been complementing trying to do the Iceland & Greenland cruise on the Star in 2024, but lately, so far this season Star hasn’t made to Greenland ports 100% of the time. Latest cruise (the one before yours) Star made it to only one of the 3 Greenland ports. And I noticed on CruiseMapper that a couple of other ships did make it to the “missing” ports or in their vicinity. This is making us feel reluctant in booking and going on the I & G cruise in 2024. I’d (and I’m sure @Seas2mountains would agree) like you to do me/us a favour … ask appropriate staff/crew about why they have been missing the Greenland ports in the last few cruises. And also ask if they’re worth going (after the back to back Alaskan cruises on the Spirit!!!). Thanks!

 

We’ve been on Star twice so far, still not our fave ship but it is dependent on the itinerary. 
 

Carry on enjoying the cruise and I look forward to reading more of your dailies!

 

 

[bluesea777]

7 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

There are 2221 passengers on board and Guest Services has a sign up stating the ship is full and there will be no stateroom changes. On NCL’s website it states passenger capacity for the Star is 2348.

 

Latitudes=

Ambassador 2

Diamond 19

Sapphire 84

Platinum 115

Gold 112

Silver 172

Bronze 259

 

 

So, there are over one thousand and four hundred NCL virgins .... it's a game - how many orange/gold/tan cruise cards can you spot? 😁

 

 

[Tak8]

Looking forward to following your journey. Enjoy the cruise.

[Seas2mountains]

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

Latitudes= Ambassador 2 Diamond 19 Sapphire 84 Platinum 115

Wow! That's a lot of people who may be requesting the Behind the Scenes tour, Dinner With the Officers, the wine tasting, and the Sail and Sustain Mixology. 

[bluesea777]

21 minutes ago, Seas2mountains said:

Wow! That's a lot of people who may be requesting the Behind the Scenes tour, Dinner With the Officers, the wine tasting, and the Sail and Sustain Mixology. 

The latter 2 are for Diamonds and above. 
 

WE get to experience them on our next cruise!!! We made Diamond during our last cruise!

 

 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 7/20/2023 at 12:07 PM, Travelicious said:

I can’t imagine what someone said about your grammar.  Sorry that happened to you.  I hope you’ll continue to share, as there are many more of us that thoroughly enjoy your writings than the very few who seem to have issues with everything.

There are no shortage of butt holes on any forum, but if you can, picture them naked in the atrium, with laryngitis and no identification.  Then, post away! 😉