Norweign Star Review 08/08/04 Part 2

[alonzo14]

Stateroom: We were in a category HH forwaed with a port hole. They are somewhat larger than the insides. You could open and close the lid to the porthole. You cannot open the port hole window, those days are over. It was pleasantly decorated with modern furniture. It had two chairs to sit on. It had medium cherrywood paneling. We managed to get one of our suitcases under the bed. There was room for the other one in a corner. There is an area above the bed or beds that has a sort of window seat and there we put some of our carry-ons. The bathroom is divided into sections. As you go in to your left is the shower with a sliding glass door. No more friendly shower curtains! Straight ahead was the sink. There was no medicine cabinet, but there was some shelves to put things on. And to the right was your toliet and it also had a sliding glass door. We had plenty of places to put our clothes and had room left. There were two shelves above the closet and two additional ones for your lifejackets. To the left of the closet was a little compartment for the safe which works on a 4 or5 number combination that you select. There was a space under the t.v. cabinet that had coffee and teas and a hotplate. Near here there was a closed cabinet space for the refrigerator that kept everything cold during the week. The ice bucket was kept in there. There were two shelves above the t.v. cabinet. There was a dressing table with a stool and a powerful professional hair dryer in a holder on the table.The beds were very comfortable. At night they put white duvets on the beds which are comfortable as well. These cabins coud be a little cramped for three people. There was an upper berth for a third person in it. Service: The service all over the ship was great. We met our cabin stewardess and her assistant when we came back from lunch on the first day. We requested our beds be pushed together and that eveing when we came back to our cabin they had them pushed together. We did tip them some. My husband approached them the first morning at sea. He opened up his wallet and their eyes got as big as saucers. He gave them each a 5:00 bill and told them this was our appreciation for their service that week. They could not thank him enough. They remembered our names during the week. When we left our cabin for breakfast and again for dinner and came back our our stateroom it was already made up or turned down. Waiters and Bar tenders: Some have said that having automatic tips taken up front causes bad service. Well, this is not true, at least on this ship.Our glasses were always full and entrees brought in a timely fashion. Our bread was replaced when needed The waiters were polite. They were laid back and friendly, yet professional. They addressed you madam and sir. We were able to talk to some of them more at length about their home and family. They work ten months and are off two months. The ones we talked to had small children at home and were married. You could tell how much they missed their families. We requested a certain team in the Aqua when we ate in there. Their names are Dominique and Dennis. If you eat there ask for them. They will give wonderful service. They only work there at dinner. I loved the way Dominque would laugh and sometimes joke with us. He is a sweet guy. The bartenders were also friendly and were around to give you service if you wanted something to drink. Other staff we passed would smile and say hello. We had a problen once with our safe sticking and there was someone there to fix it after my husband called. Thses people work hard and I admire their attitude and work ethiic. Restaurants: The first night we tried the Teppanyaki Room in the Ginza. It was very good and more food than we could eat. The second night we tried the Le Bistro. This has a 15:00p.p. cover charge. It was very special and we thought the food was excellent. I had the chocolate fondue which was heavenly! For me this is one of the reasons to eat here. They had great desserts. Tuesday we ate in the Aqua and met Dominque and Dennis. In some ways I like this retaurant more than the Versallis. It is more friendly and laid back. It is calming with the little twinkle stars on the ceiling. The banquet chairs are more comfortable than the regular chairs. The food here was very good. Wedenesday we ate in the Endless Summer. This is the tex-mex free restaurant. The food here was good as well. I LOVED their chocolate cheescake. My husband ordered enchiladas. Well, these are not your typical enchiladas. The are two HUGE burritos with chicken and I don't remember what else. You will probably only be able to eat just one. My husband said they were good. The fajitas were good also. The service was good, but a little less so than everwhere else. The view from the floor to ceiling windows is magnificent! OOps, I meant to say Thursady we ate in the Endless Summer. Wedensday we ate in the Versallis. The food was very good to excellent. It is the formal diing room and is the one used for the optional formal night. One tip to get there is that you have to go to deck 7 to the aft stairwell. It is located down a small filght of stairs. There is another flight of stairs inside the restaurant. They will ask you at night in this dining room if you wish to share a table, but it is up to you. Friday night we ate in the Aqua again. If you ask for tea in the dining rooms you will get it in a small glass. The water is in the long stemmed big glasses. I told Dominque that I was from Texas and that was not a glass of tea. I pointed to the water glass and told him that that was a glass of tea. He looked a bit bewildered as he does try hard to please. He said that it was company policy to put tea in those size of glasses. I told him that it was o.k.. I would let him offf the hook this time! But he made sure my glass was always full. The last night we ate in the Versallis next to the window. The food was great. Our waitress was in a good mood and was singing as shw waited on us. She had a good sense of humor. If you want dinner at a certain time in a certain diing room and even at a certain table you may do this. Just go to the restaurant the day you embark and request it. If your want a certain waiter or to sit next to a window they will try to accomodate you also. Well, this is all of my Part 2 review. In my next review I will tell you about the entertainment, and day 1 and 2 's activities. Thanks for reading!

[didan]

Alonzo,

Thank you so much for this great review! It is very detailed and must be a lot of work for you. Know that it is very much appreciated. It is making me so excited to leave next week. Can't wait for the next installment!

[cruise 'n shopper]

Thanks for all of the detail. We are leaving next week and this is helping the anticipation to build! Great timing.

 

Do you recall what time you arrived in Juneau? As others have said, our documents for 8/29 say 9:00 a.m., but people on this board have mentioned that it was later in the day.

 

Thanks!

[Lloy937b]

Thank you for all the great information! We will be on the Star this Sunday. Can't wait.

[alonzo14]

Yes it does take some work, but I am glad to do it. We got to Juneau at 12p.m. That has been the standard time. There has been a lot of confusion over this and I don't know why they even put that time on the documents. I have been a little slow at getting to my next installment,but will do that today.

[pcann]

bump