Review of the Star 5/28

[psdab]

We returned from our cruise yesterday and it was wonderful!!

 

On 5/28 we left our hotel at 11:30 and we were in our room on board by 1:00. It all went very smoothly.

 

We were all very worried because upon boarding we received the letter telling us that 3% of the passengers the week prior had been ill. None of us did get sick and the crew was working constantly to sterilize everything. They were requiring you to use the disinfectant before entering the restaurants. In the buffet, they were serving you, so people were not handling the tongs and I think this helped.

 

The service was great in our room and in the restaurants. We ate at Cagney’s, La Bistro, Market Cafe, Aqua and Versailles.

 

We were a group of 18 and none of us had any problems, everyone enjoyed the entire cruise. The sights are beautiful and the weather was great, it never rained on us except in Seattle.

 

We did the early departure. We carried our luggage off at 7:30 and were at the airport by 8:30.

[dgund]

Thanks for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. We will be on the Star this summer, also. Did you sign up for the early departure after you boarded the ship? Did you make reservations for the two specialty restaurants the first day?

[psdab]

You don't have to sign up for the early departure until 5:00pm on the last full day.

 

For La Bistro, we did make reservations early in the week, for Cagney’s, we called at 6:00 the evening we wanted to go and were told we could get in right away. It seemed that you needed to get reservations for the specialty restaurants that did not have an extra charge. We did not make reservations for Endless Summer on the first day and they did not have availability before 8:30 when we checked a couple of times.

[Hikini]

Thanks for letting us know you had a great time on the Star last week. We will be boarding on the 18th of this month and I can hardly wait!

 

Hikini:D

[Cholita]

Thanks for the review- glad you all had a great time! I'm going on the 6/18 sailing of the Star, so I was happy to hear that everything went smoothly!

[dgund]

Thanks for the quick reply to my questions. The information was very helpful.

[offwego]

Did you go to any of the shows? Which were worth missing and whichs ones were worth a second viewing?

 

Anything you found out after a few days you wished you had known when you got on -- such as a great place to sit and look out at the view, free cookies, a not to miss food etc

 

Did you do the Mystery dinner?

 

Thanks for helping us prepare for our trip!

 

Julia

[offwego]

When we were on the Dream, we were able to buy a photo package -- all the photos from the cruise for $250 I believe. With 4 people and 10 nights, we got a very large number of photos which made it a terrific deal.

 

I was wondering if they offered the same thing on the Star? We would love to take advantage of it if they do.

 

Julia

[Starward_Girl]

What movies were they showing? I would like to know about the shows also. Were they good? Which were the best? What time are they? We are going on the 6/25 Star cruise.

[psdab]

I believe they did have picture packages, don't know the details. They did seem to have different specials each day also.

 

I did see parts of shows but not all of any one of them, I did not see the magician but others in our group did and really enjoyed it. The shows were at 7:30 and 9:30.

 

The only movies I remember that they were showing were, Memoirs of a Geisha, Fun with Dick and Jane and Rumor Has It.

[achio4444]

We also just got back...reality is setting in! Back to work...

 

We went to the magician's regular show and his special show. Both were fabulous. We also ran into him in Seattle and chatted with him. Great guy. Very talented. We also went to the Chinese acrobat show. It was good, not what we were expecting, but we were entertained. We went to the first show with the comedian...he was OK, but we left early, because we were working on two hours of sleep and were exhausted.

 

Embarkation and disembarkation were both extremely smooth. The best of the four cruise lines I've been on, by far. Our flight landed at 12:50 PM, and we were on the ship, in our room, by 2:30! Now that's impressive. We did express disembarkation, so we got off the ship in about 5 minutes.

 

Movies? The Producers, Good Night and Good Luck, Rumor Has It, Fun with Dick and Jane. That's all I remember...we watched parts of some of them when relaxing in the room, but never watched a whole one.

 

We ate at Versailles, Aqua, Le Bistro, SoHo, Blue Lagoon, sushi at Ginza (twice), and the buffet. Buffet was very sanitary as they served the food. SoHo was excellent...great appetizers and the tempura chocolate cake is to die for! Ginza's sushi was so excellent, we went back again. Le Bistro was fun...great seared ahi tuna salad, and chocolate fondue dessert. We did the fire star there....definitely recommend it. We had great food in Versailles and Aqua...prime rib, lobster, grouper, sword fish. I definitely recommend the bbq grouper from Versailles/Aqua, and the cheese blintzes for breakfast.

 

The thing that amazed me the most about the ship was that with 2500+ passengers, we only waited to eat ONCE. 15 minutes on formal night. We never had to fight for a table at the buffet. We never had to fight for space on the decks for viewing or picture taking. We had the hot tubs to ourselves almost every time we went in. With that many people, I was amazed that everything wasn't more crowded. Very impressed.

 

We wanted to do the mystery dinner, but we had a tour scheduled already so we couldn't. That was a bummer.

 

Honestly, I don't have many tips to share, because everything just went so smoothly. It was our honeymoon, and honestly, it really couldn't have been any better!

 

Amy

[Hikini]

Congratulations Amy, on the wedding - and what a way to top it off by having a honeymoon cruise where everything went so well.

 

We love the Star and can't wait to get back on board.

 

Do you remember the name of the comedian?

[ugagirl]

Did you go to any of the shows? Which were worth missing and whichs ones were worth a second viewing?

 

Anything you found out after a few days you wished you had known when you got on -- such as a great place to sit and look out at the view, free cookies, a not to miss food etc

 

Julia

 

Hey Julia

We were on the 5/28 cruise as well and have nothing but good things to say as well. One thing...remember you can get desserts to go:D Tiramasu (sp?) from La Trottoria....delicious! We did not eat in the rest. but asked the hostess for one and took it to our cabin for a late night treat! Cookies and cake always available at the Blue Lagoon. Hope your trip is awesome!

[brunolvr]

Congratulations Amy, on the wedding - and what a way to top it off by having a honeymoon cruise where everything went so well.

 

We love the Star and can't wait to get back on board.

 

Do you remember the name of the comedian?

The one, the only, Shawn Farquhar. He had 2 shows on Thursday night and another one (Close Up Magic) at 1:45 on Saturday which we weren't able to attend.

[Hikini]

The one, the only, Shawn Farquhar. He had 2 shows on Thursday night and another one (Close Up Magic) at 1:45 on Saturday which we weren't able to attend.

 

Do you remember the name of the comedian?

[hannahsdad]

This week and last has been Johnny Pinney. Next week and for the next while it will be Sam Greisbaum.

 

Cheers,

 

Shawn

[Hikini]

This week and last has been Johnny Pinney. Next week and for the next while it will be Sam Greisbaum.

 

Cheers,

 

Shawn

 

Fun! Sam was on our cruise on the Sky in 2003. In fact you and Sam were on the Liar's Club panel together, which made for a very lively show! We loved Sam's humor - so now I'm even more jazzed for our cruise.

 

Hikini:D

[brunolvr]

Do you remember the name of the comedian?

Sorry about that! I'm still not all the way back yet! I read it as "magician" not "comedian".

 

I did not care for the comedian (John Pinney) on our cruise. We saw him on the Welcome Aboard Show on embarkation night and that was enough for us.

 

We had planned on going to the Liar's Club but it wasn't until 10:45 on Chocoholic Night and since we were invited to get in early to take pictures and partake of the goodies, well, chocolate won!:rolleyes:

[Hikini]

 

We had planned on going to the Liar's Club but it wasn't until 10:45 on Chocoholic Night and since we were invited to get in early to take pictures and partake of the goodies, well, chocolate won!:rolleyes:

 

Heh heh! I can't say as I blame you for that! But I'm sure you missed a really fun program. We were on the Spirit last year, and the Liar's Club just wasn't the same without Shawn on the panel. We were spoiled having him for 2 previous cruises. So I'm really excited he'll be on this cruise with us again. He's going to think I'm stalking him! :D

[Hikini]

Brunolvr - one more question about the Liar's Club - where was it held? Last time on the Star it was held in the Spinnaker's Lounge. I'm just curious if it is there again.

[ugagirl]

Brunolvr - one more question about the Liar's Club - where was it held? Last time on the Star it was held in the Spinnaker's Lounge. I'm just curious if it is there again.

 

We went to the Liar's Club and it was in Spinnakers......and very crowded! It was great! PS>>>>>>DO NOT VOTE FOR SHAWN!!! He is a 'great' LIAR! (And for those of you who were on 5/28 cruise...I was NOT in group 12:D )

[Hikini]

This will be our 3rd sailing with Shawn Farquhar on board - and yes, I know he is a great liar! He's hilarious!

 

On the first cruise with him, our group was the only group that voted for Shawn on a certain word and we were the only group that got it right. Shawn's answer was so far out and ridiculous that no one thought they should vote for him. When our group hollered out that we wanted to vote for Shawn he said "I'll have what they're drinking!":p

[ugagirl]

This will be our 3rd sailing with Shawn Farquhar on board - and yes, I know he is a great liar! He's hilarious!

 

On the first cruise with him, our group was the only group that voted for Shawn on a certain word and we were the only group that got it right. Shawn's answer was so far out and ridiculous that no one thought they should vote for him. When our group hollered out that we wanted to vote for Shawn he said "I'll have what they're drinking!":p

 

Hikini~Hope you and your family have an awesome cruise. As Brunolvr has said so many times in her review, our cruise was unbelievable. This was our third AK cruise and it just keeps getting better.I am having cruise blues now and wishing I could go again.......NOW! Happy vacation!

[Hikini]

I'm having severe cruise anticipation right now! It was a very nice afternoon here in Seattle (can't say the same for this morning!) and we went for a drive to get some different vantage points of the Star while it was in port. I got some nice pictures.

 

Then we watched it go by after it left port this afternoon. I could picture the sail away party and smell the BBQ on the pool deck, and hear the music.

 

It is now less than a week away and I'm getting SO anxious.

 

I have so much to do this week to get ready, but also all kinds of other things going on. We have 8 members arriving from out of town, so have to get ready for company, along with several appts and things to do. It's never dull, that's for sure!

 

Thanks for your good wishes!

 

Hikini:D

[brunolvr]

oops, posted my review in the wrong thread!