Just returned from Star

[cacj]

We had a most enjoyable cruise!

 

Overall, the experience on the ship was very good to excellent. If folks are not enjoying themselves on this ship ... then they are working at not enjoying themselves....the entertainment was fantastic, the food was good or great and always plentiful and the cabin stewards efficient and most helpful.

 

If you have questions, please post them, but here is a quick review for now:

 

Embarkation: we arrived early, around 11 a.m. and had to wait until 2 PM because the Coast Guard was giving the ship the once over. The waiting area was very crowded and there was no organization as to where folks should sit...which would make it easier if they had numbered sections to sit in as they began calling boarding by pass numbers assigned as you walked in. They should split the seating by pass numbers so folks sit according to that number. After we boarded we heard that the later group of people who came to the port faced a down computer system and were delayed by at least an hour in the port.

 

First day: we made reservations at Le Bistro, looking forward to this as a special dinner to launch the cruise. We were treated to a nice dinner,but the steak was not as good as it had been on previous cruises....we think our waiter was a bit more into playing with the diners than actually bringing the food to the table at proper temperature and requested doneness. Since we were a bit disappointed, we didn't return to the restaurant, and in the past we would always dine twice at Le Bistro.

 

Buffet: we only had lunch at the buffet twice...this is not my favorite dining place, but the food was very good...no complaints at all on any of the choices we had. I just prefer Versailles for lunch, and other than the 2 lunches at buffet, we ate at Versailles all the other times.

 

Versailles: all meals and all service were very good to excellent.

 

La Trattoria: was good, not excellent. We ordered the veal marsala and were disappointed to find that the chef didn't take the time to pound the veal, it was thick and chewy...the marsala was thin and watery. Not worth the fee. Our wait staff were excellent however.

 

Other Specialty and Main Dining: We had planned to go to Soho and Cagney's .... even had the reservations set, but decided to cancel them and stick with Versailles....the rest of the meals were very good to excellent. We truly enjoyed the salmon (always available) and the rack of lamb. Our friend had the lobster tail (served during Puerto Vallarta stop) and enjoyed that.

 

Entertainment: Paul and Jill, the Cruise Director and Assitant Director, were fabulous. They work very hard at keeping things light and fun, and pack the day with lots of activities. We attended all the shows, and they were fabulous. Don't miss the Liar's Club one afternoon.

 

Murray the Magician is a great show, and Romano Frediani is beyond belief fantastic and absolutely amazing. The Jean Ryan Company were strong and energetic, with great voices and dance moves.

 

We spent time at Carousel Bar dancing to Mr. Motown, stan Sykes, and had a blast.

 

Ports: Shopping? Not for us....however, We visited only Puerto Vallarta, taking the city sights tour....pretty much not a great tour....but we didn't have high hopes for it.

 

Cabin: The cabin was always attended to, all our requests were quickly filled, and the crew were just great. Oh, and don't miss the crew show at 3 PM, it is well worth the 50 minutes to see it! Funny and heartwarming, with a finale that is not to be missed.

 

Spa: I had a great massage in the Spa during the stop in Mazatlan, and my DH enjoyed the day pass there.

 

 

Casino: We don't go to the casino, so cannot tell you about that.

 

OBC: We did have a little misunderstanding about the correct OBC posting to our account, but with a little conversation and sincere listening by the staff, we received what had been promised.

 

 

All in all, we are very happy we took this cruise, and we wish all of you as much fun as we had.:)

[NYY]

I'm glad to hear you had a nice time. Thank you for the review.

[Pretty Tricky]

I agree that the Star was a nice ship. In comparison to the trip we just took on the Spirit (March 8th) it looked like the Taj Mahal. Boy, the Spirit was a major disappointment. :eek:

[nyflush]

Thanks for the review:) Glad everything worked out with your OBC.

[Ms belp]

I agree that the Star was a nice ship. In comparison to the trip we just took on the Spirit (March 8th) it looked like the Taj Mahal. Boy, the Spirit was a major disappointment. :eek:

 

The Spirit was a "major disappointment" because she looked like the Taj Mahal? That is one of the things we are looking forward to, her Asian decor. Was there anything else that made you so disappointed?

[terrymtex01]

OP.. sounds like you had a good time. You just seem like the type of person who would have a good time, probably no matter what and I love that.

 

The Star is our favorite ship by NCL so far. I hated every thing about the buffet on the Star.. and for me to say I hated anything about the Star is a huge deal. I don't know if you have been on the Pearl, but her buffet is top notch to us. Arranged wonderfully and the food was so good. Everything else food wise I agree with you on. Well, except LeBistro. We ate there once on our first cruise aboard the Star, and to be honest, don't remember much about it other than it taking forever. I don't want to rush through a meal, but two hours is just too long for us.

 

And I also agree with the Port of LA Terminal. It was the most uncomfortable todate and very unorganized.

 

Glad you had a great cruise and thanks for posting.

[hello]

cacj -- glad you had a nice cruise -- we've always enjoyed the Star (although we always enjoy cruising -- period) -- can't wait to be on her again.

[Pickels]

CAJA,

Thanks for the review, concise and informative. Glad you had a great time. We're on the Star Saturday, can't wait.:o Once we get on the ship, I always look for the "pause" button. But, never seem to find it. Time goes by so quickly when you're having fun! ;)

[cacj]

OP.. sounds like you had a good time. You just seem like the type of person who would have a good time, probably no matter what and I love that.

 

We do try to have fun...but I have to credit the Cruise Director and his staff for making this trip so entertaining! Of course, I prefer to find the fun in things, and we love to enjoy what we had looked forward to for so long. On the other hand, we did travel with a friend, and pretty much nothing pleased him....it goes to show you how things are so subjective. After 3 days of his bellyaching, I just turned my ears to the off switch and decided he was never going to find anything of which to approve. That way, his criticisms were unimportant and didn't detract from our good time.

 

The Star is our favorite ship by NCL so far. I hated every thing about the buffet on the Star.. and for me to say I hated anything about the Star is a huge deal. I don't know if you have been on the Pearl, but her buffet is top notch to us. Arranged wonderfully and the food was so good. Everything else food wise I agree with you on. Well, except LeBistro. We ate there once on our first cruise aboard the Star, and to be honest, don't remember much about it other than it taking forever. I don't want to rush through a meal, but two hours is just too long for us.

 

We have sailed the Star when she was in Hawaii, and loved the layout except for the buffet. I had forgotten about it. It is convenient to have a buffet, a place where you can pick up something quick, but we do prefer a more dining room oriented experience. I will look forward to experiencing the Pearl some day....it would be great to compare.

 

As for Bistro, we actually enjoy a lingering evening at the table....so our staff rushed us too much...plus at one point the waiter sat down with us, in fun, but it wasn't what we wanted, we would have preferred a different attitude....it isn't that we were being snobs, it was just that he crowded us so much that we didn't have any really intimate conversations. To us, the ambience is just as important as the meal.

 

And I also agree with the Port of LA Terminal. It was the most uncomfortable todate and very unorganized.

 

Glad you had a great cruise and thanks for posting.

 

On the disembarkation, it was a bit less so, but we took the tour bus off the ship, seeing the LA area....a bit pricey for what we got.

 

Thanks for your comments!

[vbecky]

Glad you had a good time. We will be on her the 28th of this month and I can't wait!!!! Quick question for you can we make reservations at the main dining room for dinner? Thanks

[dyslexic pirate]

We were on the Star cruise the week before yours. We saw all the Coast Guard Officers with the ship's officers hustling toward the bridge with lots of clipboards as we were disembarking. (we were in forward mini suites right next the entrance to that area)

 

We wondered if your boarding was delayed. We also wondered if the Coast Guard visit had anything to do with our ship being delayed in Mazatlan until midnight for an unplanned safety inspection of the hull.

 

Of course there was lots of speculation about that inspection. Everything from standard inspection for barnacles to a bomb threat to the problem of drugs being smuggled out of the country. (special packaging encases the drugs and then an adhesive is applied by a scuba diver and then the drug package is removed by another scuba diver at another port - very James Bond type stuff - but it does happen.)

[MPCakes]

Can you tell me what exchange rate for the Peso was being used on shore?

 

Thanks,

 

MPCakes

[cacj]

Glad you had a good time. We will be on her the 28th of this month and I can't wait!!!! Quick question for you can we make reservations at the main dining room for dinner? Thanks

 

We never asked about making reservations at MDR...however, only 2 nights were we in a queue for a table, ....the one night we waited all of 3 minutes for the table (we did put our name on the list)...and on Friday, the last night of the cruise there was a bit longer wait....I think this is because it is the last night...everyone wants to see the last show and be out of MDR early to pack or party.

 

We did see a large family who the host had offered to set up reservations for his family....then when they showed up, the table was not available, so they had to wait a bit. Eventually it worked out for them.

 

On another night, there was a slight wait, but we also wanted to experiment with the idea of "sharing" and meeting new people...that was a mistake

 

...we made the "mistake" of accepting a table with others (one of whom was happy to tell us that his wife was ill for 3 days and that he was "so far lucky not to get it yet")....this freaked me out, as my DH was next to him, but luckily, no contagion spread, (of course, we ate very fast, and rushed away ASAP)....luckily,we never felt any after effects....it taught us though not to accept invitations to share at a table....I really thought the guy was nuts to tell the hostess that they would be glad to share a table, knowing he was in contact with someone ill in her cabin.

[cacj]

Can you tell me what exchange rate for the Peso was being used on shore?

 

Thanks,

 

MPCakes

 

Someone told my husband it was something like 10...but we didn't buy anything so I cannot tell you for sure.

[NW Pacific]

WE were on the Star 02-18-09--03-07-09, we went on the "behind the scenes tour" and were told they were getting ready for the upcoming Coast Guard Inspection, which is done twice a year.

The exchange rate in Mexico is 14 pesos to $1.00 when we were there, the highest it has been in all our experiences in Mexico, which have been quite a few.

We never waited to be seated in the main restaurants and the food delivery was FAST. We ate at Soho, Cagneys and Le Bristo, Soho our favorite, service was also very fast, sometimes I would not have finished one course before the next one came! fantastic time!

[AdoptAtty]

Soho our favorite

 

NWPacific, can you tell us anything about Soho? I have found very little about it and the food offered. Thanks!

[NW Pacific]

Soho Restauarnt is advertised in The Freestyle Daily as a high-end Pacific Rim restaurant. It is $15.00 pp and for an extra surcharge you can pick out your live lobster for dinner. We had rack of lamb and szechwan encrusted beef tenderloin, both delicious. LOcated on deck 6 mid. I think it is the best deal for a cover charge restaurant.

[mking8288]

We're embarked on the STAR 3-7-09 to Mex. Rivera & had to agree that the pier was very disorganized. We learned that many new/first-time/first LA World Port cruisers didn't know about the numbered boarding system and ended up spending more time waiting, and our Latitude status didn't make any difference aside from the quick check-in at the dedicated lanes (which took about 10 minutes) We shuttled over from the nearby CP hotel before noon and the porters quickly took care of our luggage, but we didn't reach deck 7 until 2 p.m. - found our stateroom & luggage already there, and made a b-line for the main dining room.

 

NCL could better help 2,600 cruisers each week by alerting every cabin on what to expect, at-every-step-of-the-embarkation-checkin-boarding process at the World Cruiseport. There're easily 1,500 people in the huge indoor terminal subdivided into 2 sections waiting & wondering, and no PA announcement or overhead signs, and the process could be improved - as I just finished our post-NCL survvey earlier.

 

Main dining room was good, we're surprised to see that they had more small tables for 2 or 4 (compared to last Sept. when we sailed her in Alaska out of Seattle) and usually seated quickly. There was a large group of like 65 people on Day 2 so we waited 20 minutes, but otherwise great at the main dining. There seemed to be a long line at Aqua every evening, which we couldn't understand (it was closer to our cabin) and we just walk over to the main dining room.

 

We tried the buffet only once and were disappointed at the lack of variety and quality/appearence/choices (we remember the wide choises of items from years ago sailing on the Dawn & Crown) - by the time we find a table & sit down, the food are barely warm. So we just avoided it the whole time - Le Bistro & Sushi were good (at extra charges) - and lobster tails (1/2 of it) served twice in main dining and extra portions allowed.

 

Local Mexico stores will offer $1 USD to 10 peso only or quote USD prices, we used the Currency Exchange just outside the pier terminal building at Mazatian with 1:14 rate with no fees, and had a ball shopping for inexpensive souvenir gift items at the local Walmart in Pureto Vallarta, among other things using the peso - just a 10 minutes walk from the pier, around the gates. Next to Walmart, the Liverpool Mall had a Starbuck upstairs & we saw a few NCL crews surfing with their laptops there.

 

The only other comment that I would add is that the Jean Ann Ryan company need to come up with some new musicals as I think we are seeing too much repeats and getting a bit tired of them (although, they are good & very talented, etc.) and the theater was 98% packed on the last night.

[hello]

Thank you, mking, for your comments -- can't wait to board -- but hope our embarkation goes a little more smoothly!!

[cacj]

I totally second the comments about embarkation. There was one gentleman who had a large voice, but with no PA, who would call out the boarding for the group number. Many people never heard it.

 

When we arrived and asked for Lattitudes boarding lane location we were told "it is all Lattitudes" and pushed toward the huge line...no distinction for status. However, we were there early enough to beat the computer melt down, so only waited in line about 15 minutes or so. Once at the agent, the docs and key card photos were taken quickly and we were directed to the seating area which was chaotic.

 

I would much prefer if they had assigned group number areas to sit in, with group 1 being closest to the boarding area, etc.

 

When I asked an NCL staffer in the area "is this typical or is it just because the Coast Guard is delaying boarding," she replied "this is how it is every week."

 

I hope not.