Reveiw of 08/08/04 Norweign Star Part 3

[alonzo14]

Some more thoughts on the food. Food: I wasn't impressed with the market buffet's food or decor. In my humble opinion NCL has the worst buffets of any cruise line we have sailed. We did eat there twice for breakfast and it was fine. They have an omlette and waffle station for breakfast and a sandwich and fruit station for lunch. The seating was inadequate and there were some bottlenecks in the traffic flow. We ate in the Blue Lagoon twice. It serves hamburgers, hotdogs, potato weges with cheese and bacon, chicken wings, fish and chips, fried rice and noodle dishes. You can go through any time of the day or night and get coffee, cocoa, iced or hot tea or milk. Their banana breadf and pound cake are great. You can get it off the tray as you walk by. And in the morning they also have pastries and fruit. Entertainment: We thought it was great. I also think NCL had some of the best entertainment at sea. If you get an opportunity go to the Carousel Lounge in the evenings to see Stan Styes. He is terrific. He plays and sings a lot of 50's and 60's music. There was a guitar player in the Red Lion Pub,but we didn't get to hear him. There was a piano croonerfrom &00p.m. on in Gatsby's.The Norweign Showband entertainedin the Spinnaker on some nights. The Ironics are the ship's party band. They sing and play at the Sailawayt party and some of the BBQ's and late at night in the Spinnaker Lounge. There were three production shows during the week. Each one was better than the last. The best being Cirque Asia featuring the Chinese Acrobats. Jane Powell gave a concert one evening. She has a great voice. They had a ventiliquest one evening and a comedian on two evenings. The comedian did two late night comedy shows also. There was some other events that I'll mention as I go along. They also had movies in the cinema three times a day. The seats were comfortable. You may have read about the theater seats slanting downwards when you sit in them. This is true. HOWEVER there are some that only do this slightly. When you get into theater; the first section on your left or right depending on which side you entered has somew of these seats. There is a pedestal with a pitcher statue on it and stairs that lead up the aisle. If you take the stairs, go up three or four rows and the 3rd or 4th seat down will have a seat with minimal slant. Also, to the lower level back side there is a few rows of only four seats to a row. The third seat down is another slighly slanted seat. The theater is beautiful with good sightlines. Day 1: We woke to beautiful weather and smooth seas. We did have somw movement the night before as the ship picked up speed to get to Juneua,but not much. It was a great day at sea!! We continued to explore the ship after having breakfast in the Versallis. They have one specialty egg dish a day. The service was great. The casino opened at 9:00a.m. We spent some time in there giving it our money. The casino is HUGE. The shore excursion desk, barong spa and galleria shops opened soon after this. We did some browsing. They have a gift and port of call shop off the Grand Foyer. And another big shop with sections for clothing, gifts, perfume, food items and jewelry located on Deck 7 aft. We later went to the Barong Spa. They have an area with a indoor pool, Hydortherapy pool and whrirpool. They also have showers and you can get towels too. At the back there are loungers lined up facing floor to ceiling windows. The whirpools were plenty warm. They have spa and ship tours on embarkation day. Every day from 1:oo-to 5:00p.m. in the juice bar they serve ice cream for free. They have Haagen Daas for a price at the grill by the pool. They had a walkathon followed by low impact aerobics. The spin to win free slot pull thaty you get with your documents is from 9:00 - to 11:00am. At 9:15 there was an Upper Body Dumbell Worlkout. They also had Baloon Flower making in Gatsby's on Deck 6. They had tria contests throught the day. They had a lecture on your handwriting and personality in the Carousel Nightclub on Deck 6 fwd. They had peemptive bidding with the bridge instructor in the card room on Deck 12 fwd and also Yoga in the gym. At 10:15 they had a Bad Hair Day Seminar in Gatsby's. At 10:30 they had Free Card Bingo Freenzy in the Spinnaker Lounge on Deck 12. Behind the stage dance floor there is an area with small windows. This is where you can see the bridge. So go by and take a lookat it. Also at 10:30 they had Sushi Making in the Ginza Deck 7 miship, smoothie tasting at Topsiders Pool Bar, and a emerald and tanzanite presentation in the Carousel Nightclub. There was a skincare clinic in the Barong spa at 10:45 and a Fitness Center Orientation. These were followed at 11:00 and 11:30 by table gaming lessons in the Casino and a basketball freethrow tournament. Whew I've woeked up an appetite already. We went to luch in the Versallis. For luch each day there was the buffet, pool grill or a sit down lunch in the Versallis. At noon there was a cooking demonstartion in Gatsby's a veteran social in the Star Bar Deck13 midship and all you can eat sushi in the Ginza.. at 12:30 they had a lectur on wine. At 1:00 they hadthe Friendly Feud, Walz and Swing Dance Class,in the Carousel and Spinnaker. There was a scavenger hunt at 1:15 in theJava Cafe followed by a men's ping pong tournametand Victory at Sea slot tournament. At 1:45 there was a martini presentation in the Carousel. At 2:00 and 2:15 there was a social bridge play and movie trivia. At 2:30 ther was a Juneau and Skagway port and shopping talk. At 3:00 to 3:30 they had a fitness lecture, blackjack tournament, bingo and detox lecture. From 4 to 4:30pm they had an art auction, spiining class, a destination lecture in the cinema, five minute mystery in the Java Cafe. All the musical entertaimnet began at 5:00p.m. There was also a chess meet,friends of Bill W, professional portraits taken,yoga,walk a mile, and a service club meeting. The restaurants opened at 5:30 for dinner. At 7:00 they had a college students meet and a singles meet. From 7:00 to 8:00p.m. was the Welcome Champagne Reception in the Grand Foyer, Red Lion Pub, Carousel and Gatsby's You could have your picture taken with the captain. This was an optinal formal night. monday nigjht was the Captians Gala Dinner with the Versallis being the optional formal dining room. At 7:45 and9:45p.m there was the production Music of the Night in the theater. A tribute to the big band era with the cruise director was at 9:00p.m. followed by a big band dance at 10:00p.m. They also had karoke in the Carousel. Then at 11:15 there was a New Years Eve Party with the cruise director, Ironics and the showband. 50 first dates was showing in the cinema at noon, 2:00pm., 7:pm, & 9:00p.m. What a full day!! We went to bed early after the show as the time was 2 hours behind us in Dallas Texas Thanks for bearing with me. Stay tuned tommorrow for the next installment.

[pcann]

That was super! I love your details to everything. You could write a book! I can't wait for the next edition. This is almost like the anticipation for the next Harry Potter books :)

[TamaLee]

alonzo14 -

 

Thanks for your great reviews. I know someone has asked you before, but can you put your review into paragraphs rather than one big block of text? My poor old eyes are getting worn out!

[alonzo14]

Tamalee: I'm so sorry. I have a confession to make. I can feel myself getting smaller now! I am somewhat computer iliterate. I thought I had done that in this last installment, but after I posted I realized it was the same. If someone wants to instruct me in this I will appreceate it. I do need to go ahead and make my next installment today. As a matter of fact I was going to post one now! I will see of I can fix this, but you mayu have to endure one more like these. Thanks for bearing with me.

[TamaLee]

I'm going to guess that you are just typing into the CC text box so you should just be able to hit the enter/return key a couple of times between paragraphs. That should work.

[Shellbelle28]

Tamalee: I'm so sorry. I have a confession to make. I can feel myself getting smaller now! I am somewhat computer iliterate. I thought I had done that in this last installment, but after I posted I realized it was the same. If someone wants to instruct me in this I will appreceate it. I do need to go ahead and make my next installment today. As a matter of fact I was going to post one now! I will see of I can fix this, but you mayu have to endure one more like these. Thanks for bearing with me.

Don't feel bad, we were ALL new at this at some point!

 

Only ONE question... what is "At 3:00 to 3:30 they had a fitness lecture, blackjack tournament, bingo and detox lecture" Detox??? Dang, I like to wait till we get back home to detox!

[zimmerjulie]

Thanks alonzo!

 

This will be a good post to reference when people ask, "Is there anything to do onboard?":D

[alonzo14]

Zimmerjulie: The detox lecture tells you how to reduce cellulite and lose inches!

 

Tamalee: You are absolutely right! My husband helped me with this last night. I hope this helps everone read my review easier. Thanks.