Back to Back cruising and other questions on Star

[kiwicruiser]

Having cruised with Princess many times, for a change we are looking to book the 8 day Mexican Riviera on Star, departing Jan 27th 2008. We would really appreciate answers to the following questions:

 

What are the positives and negatives of doing a back to back cruise on the same itinerary? Doies NCL offer a discount for back to backs? Is it possible to retain the same stateroom?

 

As we will be coming from New Zealand, we would like a longer cruise than 8 days and this seems to be the best option.

 

What is the weather likely to be like in January / February - hot enought to swim?

 

Which side of the ship is better for a balcony cabin cruising Mexico - starboard or port?

 

Any suggestions for the best balcony cabin on star?

 

Many thanks

 

Kiwicruiser

[BeachBumMama]

Sorry I can't answer your questions but 'thanks' for asking. I'm looking at the Star for next March and was thinking about the back to back. I'm sure there is someone here who knows more so we'll just have to wait it out.

[dwrist]

We would book a B2B with no hestitation. It is a beautiful ship and you could find plenty to do. Food would be repeated and the shows would be repeated.

 

Best balcony staterooms--8176, 8676, 9238, 9738, 10230, 17230, they are aft overlooking the wake, beautiful view with no wind. You have a 180 degree view. They tend to be booked early.

 

We believe the starboard side if you book on the side.

 

Jan/Feb weather can be iffy, some fog and cooler weather but once you are south, it warms up--80's degrees F. We were swimming in Feb.

 

Hope this helps. :)

[TDSeest]

While I can't answer all of your questions, I can answer your question regading Back-to-Back cruising as I've done this on the Dawn and the Sun, and a friend of mine did 3 back-to-backs on the Start in November.

 

If you reserve through NCL or an agressive travel agent, you can get the same stateroom. I've never received a discount for doing this, other than not having to pay for air travel, etc. for more than one cruise.

 

When you return to port at the end of each cruise, you'll have to go to the service desk (reception desk) on the ship, and they'll get you a new key card for the next week. In my case, they've allways settled the credit account at the end of each week. If you use internet cafe minutes, talk to the internet cafe manager and you can carry over your left over minutes for the following week(s).

 

If you can't get the same room, the room stewards will move your luggage to the next room for you. You just get a new ID.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Tom

 

 

Having cruised with Princess many times, for a change we are looking to book the 8 day Mexican Riviera on Star, departing Jan 27th 2008. We would really appreciate answers to the following questions:

 

What are the positives and negatives of doing a back to back cruise on the same itinerary? Doies NCL offer a discount for back to backs? Is it possible to retain the same stateroom?

 

As we will be coming from New Zealand, we would like a longer cruise than 8 days and this seems to be the best option.

 

What is the weather likely to be like in January / February - hot enought to swim?

 

Which side of the ship is better for a balcony cabin cruising Mexico - starboard or port?

 

Any suggestions for the best balcony cabin on star?

 

Many thanks

 

Kiwicruiser

[kiwicruiser]

Thanks everyone for your responses. i was surprised that ther is nmo back to back discount - I'm sure other cruise lines do so.

 

Back to back on the same itinerary has always seemed a bit of a waste to me so great to have some encouraging comments.

[Cruise_More_Often]

There are probably discounts on some back to back cruises. We are doing a 14-day Caribbean itinerary next winter that NCL is also offering as two separate 5-day and 9-day cruises. The 14-day cruise is less expensive than the cost of the two separate cruises.

[NCL_Cruiser]

As we will be coming from New Zealand, we would like a longer cruise than 8 days and this seems to be the best option.

 

Kiwicruiser

 

Have you considered coming in at the end or beginning of the season? You can connect the Mexican Riviera with a Pacific Coastal, enjoy a longer itinerary without repeating ports, and get a discount for the B2B....:)

[kiwicruiser]

Thanks for the suggestion. However I am going to a conference in Long Beach which ends the day before this cruise begins so was too good an opportunity to miss having never visited Mexico before.

[Lotteryfan]

I am doing a back to back cruise on the Norwegian Spirit next month. These were actually two different cruises going to two different kinds of ports. The first was a six day cruise to Florida and the Bahamas, while the second was an eight day cruise to Bermuda, Tortolo, and St. Thomas.

 

I had no preference for either cruise but wanted something that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. The more I kept researching prices, the more I discovered that if I combined the two cruises it would be much cheaper , per day, and then I found the cruise agent whose price was so low that I had to book.

 

However, NCL was packaging back to back trips with several of their departures to these ports so that was half the battle. If you want to do the same exact cruise for two weeks running, I'm not sure whether NCL has any special deals on that since most people don't do those back to back trips.

 

One other thing to mention about back to backs...or at least in my case. I guess I stood out like a sore thumb after my reservations were hit for final payment because exactly one day after final payment I was offered an upsell at a rediculously low price from a balcony cabin to the Honeymoon and Wedding Suite, AB.

 

My suggestion to you would be to take the one week cruise and then spend another week in southern California doing all the tourist things like Disneyland, SeaWorld, Hollywood tour and the like.