LIVE from the STAR (Aegean/Egyptian) Nov 21-Dec 3

[Casshew]

Hi everyone, I'm live from the Star. Sailing right now to Naples after departing Rome today.

 

The Star looks just like the Golden, lol. Everything seems to be the same, things look fine - carpets are a little tired looking on the stairs, haven't really been around to see much as of yet. We arrived at 4:45pm today and muster was at 5:15pm. Christmas decorations are up in the Atrium and I saw a Christmas Tree in the Vista lounge.

 

Following muster we had our first meet and greet at the Promenage Lounge, Toto2kansas, Anubi, WeBeGone, Lynart, YoPhilly, Ladybug, WeBeSailingNow, MsDolly, Nonnybird, fiveoclocksomewhere and more...(sorry I'm going brain dead) also the infamous TONY! (T&J) it was a fun first meet and we have another one in 2 days at Skywalkers.

 

Andiamo (Vicki) was upgraded to the Family Suite! (from an inside!) We are all delighted for her as she planned our private Egyptian Overnight and saved us a bundle of money. (Princess=749.00 Vicki=210.00!) and our itinerary is better IMO.

 

Had dinner at the buffet, prime rib and things looked good - I ate light just fruit and veggies as I've been eating too much the past few days.

 

Flight to Frankfurt was great - we had first class seats (on points) the wait inFrankfurt (almost 5 hours) was long and awful, terrible airport and the Lufthansa Seantors lounge was horrible. Flight to Rome was on a plane so old it had ashtrays in the arm rests :eek: I can't remember the last time I saw an ashtray at a plane seat.

 

Hassler Hotel in Rome was WONDERFUL, we had a room overlooking the Spanish Steps, it was just amazing. Tour today with Roman Odyssey, our guide was Rahul who was just outstanding - our driver was Lorus, we went to the Colosseum, Forum, Trevi, Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chaple - Rahul knows everything about everything and can answer anything you can think of, he was the perfect guide for us and it's a day I'll never forget. Weather has been great... arond 18 in Rome yesterday (72ish) and 16 today (65ish) sunshine, and a little cloudy today - but no rain!) hoping tomorrow will be good too. Perfect weather for touring so far. :)

 

Precruise dinner with Cruise Critic folks was a lot of fun... we had salad, bruschetta, 2 types of pasta, a mixed grill of sausage, lamb & beef with potatoes and tiramisu, coffee, wine and mineral water - all for 40Euros per person. Vicki arranged it was and was a great hostess. Singers with accordians serenading us as we ate, great italian songs. :)

 

We boarded the ship pretty late 4:45pm - there were still people getting out of cars at the port... luggage came to the room within 10 minutes.

 

Room steward is Hilbert, very sweet fellow... got me extra coathangers for all our clothes :rolleyes:

 

21 kids registered at the teen club (13 to 17) Noel is up there for the meet and greet right now.

 

If you have any questions I'll be back to check this post tomorrow.

[Druke I]

Hope you have a good cruise. Sounds like you have a good group of Cruise Critic types aboard.

 

Ask Tony (of T&J) if he has been able to blow the ship's whistle (horn) yet.

 

It was something we were both trying to accomplish. I am still unsuccessful!

[Pam in CA]

Sounds like a great CC group on your cruise and I'm glad the weather has moderated somewhat.

 

I agree that Frankfurt airport is the pits; Munich is much better. As for old planes, we had a prop plane (Lufthansa) on our Athens to Munich leg last Sunday with so little extra room that you had to give them your carry-on to put in the luggage dept. since it wouldn't fit under the seats.

 

Have a great time and let us know what you're doing. :)

[WannaCruise365]

Thank you for the live thread,,so glad your all there,,and on the Star,,please say hi to Toto,,Sue for me,,from Suzan...............Really looking forward to hearing all about this cruise,,as would love to do same in the future..ENJOY,,RELAX...

[1stCruiser]

Cass - Thanks so much for starting a "live from" thread. Now I can live vicariously through all of you until it's my turn next year!

 

Great to hear about Vicki's upgrade - maybe that will convince her to take the cruise with us for a third time next year!

 

Please keep the details coming...Have a fantastic time!

 

Laura

[Colo Cruiser]

Enjoy the Star. :)

[BJS]

Thanks for post.

 

We will board on Dec. 3rd. Keep the weather nice for us!:D

 

I guess your fight information will be a preview of what we can expect on our Lufthansa Miami - Frankfort- Rome flights. Agree that Frankfort airport is pretty bad and extremely bad with less than two hours to make connections. Doesn't sound like the longer wait will be great but the alternative is a disaster.

[LARGIN]

Have a great cruise.. The Star is on my try list..

[cruisemom42]

Have a great time -- I know you will. Wish I was going again.

 

Please say hi to Vicki and Tony for me!

[TorontoTL]

Lot's of CC'ers on your cruise. I am sure the lot of you will have a great time.:D

[Rat]

Hi Cass, thanks for checking in! ;) Hope you, Noel and the rest of the gang are having a great time!

[Spicester]

Hello there my friend! Wish we were there with you guys. Big sigh. Can't wait to read all your reports! SuAnne

[Casshew]

Hi everyone, thanks for the good wishes :)

 

Please say hi to Vicki and Tony for me!

I will!

 

Hi Cass, thanks for checking in! ;) Hope you, Noel and the rest of the gang are having a great time!

 

Ray, things just aren't the same without you aboard :(

 

Hello there my friend! Wish we were there with you guys. Big sigh. Can't wait to read all your reports! SuAnne

 

Hi SuAnne, we are having a great time... say Hi to Hayley for us.

 

Well, last night I caught up on some sleep, this morning was an early start as we had a private tour booked with YoPhilly (Nancy & Ken) and Suffolk (Marianne & Jim) We started out with a drive to Sorrento... on the way our driver stopped and herded us into a furniture store?!? We had a demonstration on inlaid wood and the hardsell to buy tables lol once we escaped everything got back on track again and we enjoyed shopping and a wonderful visit to Positano - what a gorgeous place, we walked on the beach and had a cappucino - it was a glorious afternoon with sunshine and 70's as the temperture.

 

We also had a terrific lunch in a little restaurant on the cliff Panorama Restaurante' - it was a set menu for 20 euros, anitipasta, bruschetta, fish, grilled vegetables, these little fried dough things that we all loved, meat & cheese... and then 3 types of pasta, ravioli, penne & gnocci, dessert, coffee, lemoncello (spelling?) red and white wine, mineral water - at 20euros it was a steal, wonderful food and service. Even Noel liked it and she hates everything :rolleyes: private tour was 135.00 per couple. Recommended (except for the furniture thing)

 

Last night was quiet on the ship, I suspect all went to bed early after transatlantic flights.. casino was quiet - I put 20.00 in a machine on the 3rd spin won 200.00 :D

 

Tomorrow is a sea day... I'll pop back if anyone has any questions.

 

For those of you sailing on Dec 3rd, look forward to a nice time on the star - assuming there is any food & booze left after this crowd.

 

Tomorrow is our official cruise critic meeting at skywalkers... talk to you later

 

Cass

[BJS]

Casshew

Are they using the new or old menus?

 

What type of guest lectures did they offer today being a sea day?

 

Enjoy -

 

PS: Sure hope they stock up on more food and booze for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

.

[Pam in CA]

Are they using the new or old menus?

We had the new menus on the Royal Princess 11/4-16 and I have to say that we really didn't like them. We didn't think there was as much variety and didn't like many of the items on the menu. Some nights, it seemed that every single entree had a mushroom sauce (an exaggeration but if you don't like mushrooms, you don't have much to choose from) and the soups and salads weren't nearly as appetizing as I remember from the past.

[Casshew]

Old menus... not that there is anything wrong with that! Tonight was thanksgiving, they had turkey and at least 8 pumpkin dishes (ie) pumplin ravioli, pumpkin soup, pumpkin polenta, pumpkin creme' brulee.

 

I had the fruit plate for dinner (coz I had too much food at lunch) Noel had fettucini alfredo. We ate at 6:30pm (anytime)and had to wait 10 minutes for a table for 2. When we left the dining room at 7:20 - there was a huge line up right out the door. The other anytime dining room was the same... big lines.

 

I'm a bit lonely tonight... wandering around on my own, haven't seen anyone from the board - except Vicki who I said hello to for you all, and suffolk who I ran into at the comedian (he was really good!)

 

Noel is at the teen centre and I'm wandering around on my own... just caught the show in the wheelhouse bar, great singer & musicians. :) but still, I feel like people are looking at me wondering why I'm all alone. lol

 

Lost my budget for the day in the casino :D but tomorrow is another day.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day... 1:30pm is the infor meet for the cairo overnight and 2pm is the official CC meet and greet at skystalkers.

[sailors2]

What a wonderful thing you're doing with the LIVE! It is nice to be able to follow what you are doing.

Judy

[Casshew]

Sea Day... 68 degrees partly cloudy, calm seas.. nice day. :)

 

Cruise Critic meeting is at 2pm, Egyptian overnight meeting is at 1:30pm - both at skywalkers.

 

The patter is screwed up and lists the CC meeting at NOON in the Wheelhouse Bar... not sure why this happened but I hope it doesn't mess up the meeting. :eek:

[haggis]

Will follow your live thread with great interest Cass. Enjoy your trip.

Jimmy

[cruisemom42]

Noel is at the teen centre and I'm wandering around on my own... just caught the show in the wheelhouse bar, great singer & musicians. :) but still, I feel like people are looking at me wondering why I'm all alone. lol

 

I hear you! My DS is the same way. Once he finds some friends onboard it's "Mom who?" However, it's better than having them be bored and not happy, right?

[Carolyn R]

Rat, LOL! I was trying to squash that bug on my screen!

 

Have a great trip and say hi to Tony and tell him we miss his travelogue. Can you ask him if he has another website for his blog?

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

It's great to have this live thread Cash - THANK YOU! We will board the Star on Dec. 3. Can we assume that the outside weather will stay in the 60s for the whole cruise? Realistically, what kind of clothes should we be bringing? What are people wearing on the ship? Do you see shorts and tees? are the outdoor pools being used? Are the Christmas decorations beautiful? Will watch for more posts from you, darlin'. Thanks, wish I was on board right now so we could explore the ship together! Denise and Alan

[Casshew]

Have a great trip and say hi to Tony and tell him we miss his travelogue. Can you ask him if he has another website for his blog?

 

Tony is reading this thread.. so he knows you are saying hi!

 

Okay, here I am live from Formal Night where I saw MANY jeans in the dining room... not that I was looking, just they happened to be there, right in front of me. No one was turned away.

 

Noel and I were dressed up though, as were many others - lots of sparkle around the Star tonight.

 

Okay, it was a nice relaxing Sea Day and it was generally agreed that we needed such a day to rest and catch up on our sleep as well as recover from our transatlantic flights to Europe.

 

Vicki held her Egyptian Overnight Info meeting and it ran long with questions from the crowd. We have 3 buses and around 90 people. I had to leave early because I made it to the finals in the slots tournament - later when I returned to skywalkers the meet and greet was pretty much over but from what I heard was successful.

 

We all surrendered our passports today, When we recieve them back they will already be stamped for visiting Egypt as a cruise passenger - staying under 72 hours.

 

Nice weather today, smooth sailing. Dinner tonight was another plate of fettuccini alfredo for Noel and I tried the bowtie pasta with veal, no appetizers or desserts for us, we were in and out like lightning. again quite a line as we exited the dining room at 7:30ish. For those on anytime dining - the earlier you are the better chance of not having any wait at all.

 

Someone asked about the christmas decorations, it is basically just in the atrium area, garlands and wreaths... there are a few 6 foot decorated trees here and there in the ship... understated but nice. :)

 

Today was a drinking day for me (I'm not much of a drinker) had a cocktail with Vicki at the Promenade Bar and with Toto in the Casino Bar... had another with dinner (hic)... I'm becoming a lush.

 

Tomorrow we are in Athens... thanks for following along... I will try to see who the lecturer was, I have the patters in the cabin.

 

Movies onboard FYI, are things like The Queen and Road to Taribithica (spelling?)

 

hi Haggis! saw no one in kilts tonight, how very very disappointing. :(

[Nymue]

Cass !!!!!

 

Sounds like you are having a wonderful time!!!!! Hugs to you and Noel!

 

Anne

[tango55]

Hi there - enjoying your thread! We have friends on board at the moment - if you see Norm & Linda - say hi for us!! They're not CC members though.

 

We sailed on the Star from Oct. 4-16 and loved it! We were in C753 (corner aft balcony and it was great)

 

Have a great cruise and keep the live posts coming!

 

Terry