Star Trip report 10/3 Free* cruise

[ggTexasGal]

1 hour ago, 7Contraveler said:

How do you get extra lat points? Always wondered

Gotta watch for "Specials" listed on NCL!  They come and go throughout the year.

[JIMESOPUS]

It's time for guess the food from O'Sheehan's. Seriously we didn't starve, minor hiccups with some of the food but nothing that would cause a meltdown. Wish I had a picture of the chili, baked beans instead of kidney beans. That tomato laughing back at me had me in stitches. 

[JIMESOPUS]

It's almost time to see if we had a great cruise

[JIMESOPUS]

time to get in shape for the Viva Indulge Food, 25 days to go oh my

[JIMESOPUS]

Last day of the cruise was unable to access the net, strong signal but nada. It was our third martini tasting and the largest one we ever attended on any ship, I think the final count was thirty trays.

 

We just spent over 24 hrs getting home, will post our final thoughts about those 10 days aboard the Star soon.

 

Jim and Carol 

[JIMESOPUS]

On 10/2/2023 at 7:41 PM, yankprintster said:

 

Technically, that code means 3 *extra* points per night (so 4 points per night unless you're in a suite, then it's 5.)

you are correct, we got 40 on this cruise and now have reached Diamond, which really doesn't mean too much after the free laundry / food at the platinum level.

[JIMESOPUS]

On 10/11/2023 at 4:42 PM, 7Contraveler said:

How do you get extra lat points? Always wondered

@7Contraveler Take a look at the Latitude insider rewards, right now it's only 2 for 1. 

https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program/insider-offer

Booking a cruise while aboard will give you extra points, here are our last three cruises. In my opinion, the best level is platinum, free laundry, and food. 

[JIMESOPUS]

Final thoughts - “Where’s the party “ This has to be the best cruise for us in a very long time. It was almost stepping back in time when Kevin Sheehan was at the helm and project “ Breakaway “ was in full swing.

 Still reeling from our trip back home, up at 4 AM and on the bus at 6 AM, left Heathrow at 1215 PM UK time, arrived in Chicago around 215 PM central time and finally landed at Hartford around 930 PM Eastern time, opening the house door at midnight. That song “Does anybody know what time it is “ is still playing in my mind after three cups of coffee so please bear with me.

 

The overall appearance of the ship, worn/stained carpets can be found if you look for it. Exterior rust, especially at the water line and around the windows. Crew can be found tackling those easy-to-reach areas almost every day and at Belfast, they rented a lift for some harder spots. Our cabin had issues with the laminate on the cabinet doors and table. Was reported from a previous cruise and a carpenter worked on it for several days. Everything else in our cabin worked, with no issues with flushing like we had on the Sun last May.

 

Cruise director/staff, hard to say anything bad or good since we didn’t see much of them. Only on the TV morning show or over the PA. Maybe that was our fault or maybe the “ shows “ put on by them are getting old and tired. We didn’t play bingo or deal or no deal, fortunately, those games were in the Bliss lounge.

 

Food, well for us we had no issues to get upset over.

 We found a great team at station five in Versailles MDR on our first night and requested that station whenever we went there to eat. Typical NCL MDR food, hit or miss on the daily special side but you always found something on the classic side of the menu. We had no reason to try the other MDRs.

O’Sheehan’s - all the food ordered was edible and hot but occasionally something arrived missing parts. No potatoes occurred occasionally in our morning breakfast, or the “ greens “ missing on the cheeseburger. The chili on some nights had baked beans instead of the typical chile beans, at least you knew the batch was fresh. Every day more and more passengers found O'Sheehan's and by the sixth day, you found waiting lines in the morning and at lunch.

Specialty dining, only Cagney’s and Moderno this time. While we loved the Cagney’s we were disappointed by Moderno’s even though the food came out of the same galley.

Cagney’s - love the smaller intimate restaurant, almost felt like a land-based steak house. The steaks cooked to perfection and even had four onion rings in my side cup. Seating in front of the galley line you had a show while eating, the pastry chef with the propane torch was the funniest part of the show.

Moderno - the meat and pork were overcooked while the other servings were perfect. Thankfully the salad bar was up to par.

We did venture to the buffet several times, there was plenty of seating and the entire staff was very busy cleaning. Even had a washy-washy greeter. The food for what we wanted was good, nothing spectacular just a great place to sit down and devour a chocolate chip cookie.

 

Entertainment - Main theater, we only went to see the main production shows and avoided the guest entertainers. Have to say this cast was more athletic, and better choreographed than the production cast on the Sun, maybe a different set of standards for the European market?

 

Music throughout the ship with different genres at each location. You could find a piano singer in the Atruim, the house band in the Bliss, or the Showband down in Gatsby’s. Wait a few hours and someone new would play, like the V Strings trio replacing the Latin Infusion at Gatsby’s. This had to be the best mix of music on a cruise in a very long time.. 

 

Time for more coffee

[ColdCruise]

@JIMESOPUS Really loved your photo of the laughing tomato at O’Sheehans!

Edited October 15, 2023 by ColdCruise

[mking8288]

Welcome home ... getting late so I will catch up reading your most recent post in the morning.  

 

No kidding, I thought the issues with O'Sheehan's was just with our Escape recently b/c DW joked that did they run out of dishes and are using surplus ones from the sushi bar, those tiny plates are typically use for sushi rolls and too small for breakfast platters.  They looked like weight watcher sized - good for calories counting.  Four of us asked for toast, and they literally brought 4 pieces of toast, 1 for each of us 🫢 🙄 😬 - except we didn't ordered any dietary specials, never did and no plans or need to do so ahead. 

[JIMESOPUS]

Hydration, ie Bar(s). We had every intention to visit all the bars, sit down, and look around. We didn’t get too far. 

Our first stop was Gatsby’s down on deck #6 midship. We found music, great table service, comfortable seating, and Lady Gaga. She was one of the sweetest servers we ever had on any cruise but she was super efficient and fast. 

 Eventually seating at the bar opened up and we relocated. Within several hours the venue morphed into a different era. We heard someone yell shots and magically there were shots for everyone at the bar, not once but multiple times during the night. We realized that the music went from the piano singer to a Latin vibe. Folks who had been sitting at tables are now dancing the Zumba. Three words could be heard throughout the night, Ooh La La. We got back to the cabin around 1 a.m. 

The next morning sitting at O’Sheehan’s for breakfast we both agreed that was one of the best nights at any bar in a very long time, and we had to go back.

Walking past the bar in O’Sheehan’s we heard someone call our names, it was the bartender from Gatsby’s, Gusti. We found out that the team at Gatsby’s had one mission, to make everyones cruise very enjoyable. The closing time in the daily was midnight but most nights it was after 1 am, they would and could make any drink you wanted.

We found out later on that the mission statement for the entire ship was to make everyone cruise the best one ever.

We did go back, every night. Ooh La La

I should also add that we did visit the other bars throughout the cruise, their service at each location was great but for us, we always retreated back to Gatsby’s.

 

[JIMESOPUS]

The Star, random thoughts 

Elevators - Mid-ship elevators will be your friend. 

Embarkation day waiting for your cabin - Internet cafe on deck #9, almost a hidden floor, right above O’Sheehan’s, grab a drink and follow the stairs up.

Spice H2O, is a wasted space for us and for an itinerary like this, except for the couple who spent hours in the port side Hot Tub ( we used this area as a walking path and they seemed to be there almost every day ).

Casino - Surprised by the newer titles on the slot machines, didn’t smell smoke but I saw people smoking.

Deck #6 MDRS separated by the common galley, you need to go up to Deck #7, cross over then back down to Deck #6 aft for the Versailles MDR. Some folks attempted to walk through the galley more than once. 

Ginza MDR is packed every night.

Aqua MDR, the entry door is located between the elevators and it appeared to be very dark in there.

Versailles MDR, the same food as Aqua, and window seats are a hot commodity. 

If you love race cars, Syd's, Improv, and long lines this ship isn't for you. 

Our cabin, 8618 - loved the location except for the very narrow hallway, noise from the Atrium, elevators, and passengers didn’t bother us, except for the guy who ran into the wall with his scooter.

Cabin Steward, felt sorry for him. He actually had cabins on the other side of O’Sheehan’s. So once he finished our side he had to go down an elevator to deck #5 cross over then back up to deck #8.

 

I’m sure there is more but I’m babysitting a bad well pump switch until the parts arrive and now got a no heat call from my daughter.

Tonight we check in once again, this time Viva part #1

 

I asked Carol to press my T-shirts today, Ooh La La wasn't her response

[mking8288]

To get you & others going, a sneak preview of Viva, her OL and Messina, Italy - regards from our friends currently sailing her ... they are having a blast ashore & onboard.  They are more RC & Princess loving but all smiles 😀 

 

 

 

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

Well, the well is fixed, daughter heater is now waiting on parts, fortunately, they have a pellet stove, getting cold in the Catskills and the leaves are already falling.

 

Several more things about the Star cruise.

 

Tendering - painfully slow, the reason for this is that passengers should never attempt if they are physically challenged. A gentleman who rode a scooter every day, not the guy who hit the wall but a different one, had to go. I get it, you paid for a cruise and you want to see Dublin, but it took him over 10 minutes to get down the ramp and onto the tender, I was there and watched the crew struggle to get him on safely along with his three-wheel walker. He tried to get off first but the crew stopped him and made him wait until the rest of us got off, he wasn't a happy camper.

 

Itinerary changes, things happen. Most seasoned PAX understand this could happen on any cruise but we seemed to have a lot of whinners aboard, for us it turned out to be a blessing, overnight in Cobh then an early morning train to Cork who would want more? I was talking to several guys at a pub in Cobh, one guy said " Only a damn fool or a fisherman would sail off the West Coast of Ireland this time of year "  

 

The Internet was bad really bad -  signal strength was great but between the ship and the satellite there was nothing. An orange screen was posted throughout the cruise in the Internet cafe warning of wifi interruptions. Was surprised that the free Cruise Critic site worked and that was even able to upload pictures.

 

Consumer Celluar ( not a sponsor ) worked !! Decided to downsize and break the umbilical cord to the outside world, and recently dropped my phone carrier after many years. Found here in the threads about Consumer and international calling. So thanks to the member who posted.

 

Jim 

[lgdesign]

3 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Well, the well is fixed, daughter heater is now waiting on parts, fortunately, they have a pellet stove, getting cold in the Catskills and the leaves are already falling.

 

Several more things about the Star cruise.

 

Tendering - painfully slow, the reason for this is that passengers should never attempt if they are physically challenged. A gentleman who rode a scooter every day, not the guy who hit the wall but a different one, had to go. I get it, you paid for a cruise and you want to see Dublin, but it took him over 10 minutes to get down the ramp and onto the tender, I was there and watched the crew struggle to get him on safely along with his three-wheel walker. He tried to get off first but the crew stopped him and made him wait until the rest of us got off, he wasn't a happy camper.

 

Itinerary changes, things happen. Most seasoned PAX understand this could happen on any cruise but we seemed to have a lot of whinners aboard, for us it turned out to be a blessing, overnight in Cobh then an early morning train to Cork who would want more? I was talking to several guys at a pub in Cobh, one guy said " Only a damn fool or a fisherman would sail off the West Coast of Ireland this time of year "  

 

The Internet was bad really bad -  signal strength was great but between the ship and the satellite there was nothing. An orange screen was posted throughout the cruise in the Internet cafe warning of wifi interruptions. Was surprised that the free Cruise Critic site worked and that was even able to upload pictures.

 

Consumer Celluar ( not a sponsor ) worked !! Decided to downsize and break the umbilical cord to the outside world, and recently dropped my phone carrier after many years. Found here in the threads about Consumer and international calling. So thanks to the member who posted.

 

Jim 

Can you elaborate or point me in the right direction regarding Consumer Cellular and International calling?

[JIMESOPUS]

1 minute ago, lgdesign said:

Can you elaborate or point me in the right direction regarding Consumer Cellular and International calling?

Sure no problem, here is a link that was used with all the information, wished I remembered who posted the original comment.

We used the phone in the UK and Ireland, worked great especially when our driver got lost at Heathrow, and his GPS failed.

https://xtrium.com/will-my-consumer-cellular-phone-work-in-europe/

 

[lgdesign]

7 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Sure no problem, here is a link that was used with all the information, wished I remembered who posted the original comment.

We used the phone in the UK and Ireland, worked great especially when our driver got lost at Heathrow, and his GPS failed.

https://xtrium.com/will-my-consumer-cellular-phone-work-in-europe/

 

Thanks... I had read it was possible but it's nice to have it explained so thoroughly!

[Panhandle Couple]

Thanks Jim!!

 

I know it takes time and effort to do these, and enjoyed the pictures from all the pubs.

 

[ColdCruise]

Thanks for a thoughtful trip report @JIMESOPUS appreciate the pictures, onboard and ashore.hope we meet up one a ship someday 🚢 🚢