Star Review 10/31-11/7

[azcater]

Trip Review for NCL Star 10/31/09-11/7/09

Vital stats: Myself and Husband (mid-late 30’s traveling with our 3 yr old son), first time on NCL, have cruised Disney and RCCL in the past.

Friday, Oct 30- flew from Denver to LAX with no issues. Did a one way car rental with Enterprise at the airport because we wanted to go to In and Out Burger and do some sightseeing on Sat. morning. We went to the In & Out on Sepulveda and it was amazing.. the planes from LAX were flying right over and they were so low it was a little scary but my 3 yr old LOVED it! Then we checked into the Crowne Plaza in Long Beach. Very nice hotel.. (you pay for every little thing though.. parking, internet, breakfast, nothing was included) however we got a great deal through Priceline so it all worked out. What was really nice is that Enterprise has an office at the hotel so all we had to do on Sat was leave the car and take the Enterprise shuttle to the pier. (no crowds waiting for the hotel shuttle!)

Sat, Oct 31-Embarkation- Went to the breakfast buffet at the hotel, expensive but decent food and much better than what you would find at a free hotel buffet. Decided to go visit the Cabrillo Beach and Aquarium area in the morning before heading to the ship. We had a nice visit, beautiful weather in LA. Went back to hotel, packed up, brought luggage down to the Enterprise shuttle area, returned car and were on our way to the pier. This was around Noon. It’s important to note that Enterprise at the hotel closes at Noon, so you can still leave the car, but you’ll have to wait your turn at the hotel shuttle (and there were quite a few waiting).

Arrived at the pier around 12:15.. dropping off luggage was a breeze with the porter. Sped through security, no line to get key cards at the NCL counter, straight up to the gangway and that’s where the big line was.. but it only took about 15 min to get through the line and on the ship. Went up to the Market Café for a light lunch and to wait for the cabin to be ready. Son was way over tired at this point from no nap..tried to keep him occupied, but everything was pretty crowded until the cabins were done. Finally the cabin was ready.. we had an AF Mini Suite (the next bump up from a balcony) and we LOVED the extra space and the tub. So worth it! Tried to get son to nap before the boat drill, nope.. not gonna happen. Boat drill and then sail away while we tried to entertain the little one. We had a quite evening and went to bed early. So nice to go to bed with just a gentle rocking of the ship.
The seas were so calm.. like glass.. the weather was beautiful!

Sun, Nov 1- Sea Day – Very lazy relaxing day.. I bought the day pass to the spa so I could go and relax while hubbie checked the ship out and got his casino card ready. ☺ Our son was introduced to the kids club and spent some time there in the morning and then napped in the cabin and then went back for some time in the afternoon/evening. His counselor Cricket in the 2-5 area was very sweet and was really enthusiastic with the kids. They had a small group and did lots of fun activities throughout the week. We tried dinner in the main dining room Versailles and it was very good. Couldn’t believe our son lasted through the hour and a half meal but having a window seat helped so he could play on the floor a bit and look out at the ocean.
I went to the Andrew Lloyd Weber show in the evening and it was really nice.. I love Phantom of the Opera so those songs in particular were great!
We spent a lot of time out on the balcony each day/evening just listening to the sounds of the ocean and the beautiful moonlit water. It was great to watch the happenings when we pulled into port and just gaze at the scenery (especially in Cabo!)

Monday, Nov 2-Cabo San Lucas- Lazy morning since I don’t think we got into Cabo until 11am.. but anyway.. we did the Yellow Sub Tour through NCL (the only way to book it) and we LOVED it. So easy to get off the ship, since tours have priority for the tenders to the pier. They did a little tour of the marina, lover’s beach and the arch, along with going down under to see the fish in certain areas. You don’t actually dive under water in the sub, it’s just the viewing area down below is under water. So, it was a great way to see the beautiful arch and beach area and we saw a ton of different fish down below. We even saw the sea lions. They give out cold bottled water on board. My son definitely loved this tour, perfect amount of time to tour. We got off the sub and strolled our son around the pier area looking at some of the shops right there and then he fell asleep in the stroller, so we ended up at the little taco place right as you leave the pier and head right towards the marina. It was a little hole in the wall place, but the food was delicious and we stuck with bottled beverages wherever we went. They had a mariachi band coming around to play for tips and we had them do Hotel California and it was terrific, a simple thing but one of the highlights from our trip. We had such a short amount of time in Cabo and with tendering.. we didn’t have much time to do anything after our son woke up from nap.. so we headed back to the ship and got ready for dinner, etc.

Tuesday, Nov 3- Mazatlan- We took the advice of family cruisers and went to Stone Island on our own. Loved it, but I feel compelled to share a few things. Our son is always up at the crack of dawn so when we got into port at 8am, we got off the ship and made our way over to Stone Island via the instructions given on the board. Head to the right, walk down the street towards the left, take a water taxi, walk over the berm, you’re there.. um not quite how we experienced it. We followed the instructions but had to take our stroller (no way our 3 yr old would have made it that far walking and the heat and humidity was tough on us. We had just come from 3ft of snow and freezing temps, so the walking that far in the heat and humidity pushing a stroller loaded down with all of our beach crap really made me wish we had just paid for a quick taxi ride to the water taxis. I know it’s not that far for two adults to walk with just a tote bag for the beach, but a family with kids, not so much. The water taxi over was cheap and easy, but again walking to the beach area over the stones, was NOT FUN. It turns out there is an easier way for families to walk over, which is head to the left down the dirt road and then take a right down the dirt road and then you’ll see the various restaurants along the way. We never made it to Victors or Lety’s because they were just too far down the way. We had too much stuff and the stroller (that now had to be broken down and carried along the beach).. that we stopped at the first place that had shade and chairs and looked halfway decent. Which was (Esteban’s ???) I can’t remember the name but it was only a ¼ of the way up the beach with ropes around the eating area and tons of shade.

So, it’s important to note that none of the places were open before about 10am.. so we sat in the chairs and enjoyed the beach, hoping it was ok to be there.. and also that the tide is high in the morning, so the water was coming up all the way to the eating area and there really was no beach to sit and dig in until about 10-11am. For families with young children, it’s tough because our prime play times are early morning with nap around Noon- so it didn’t give us much time to eat, play in the sand, etc, before we needed to start making the trek back to the ship.

I also wanted to add that I was a little disturbed at the amount of trash in the water.. maybe from the hurricane earlier?? I don’t know.. but it was little scary.. we came across a few pieces of broken glass and some metal pieces that I’m really glad we didn’t step on.

We really did enjoy the time at Stone Island and were glad we went. The restaurant called a taxi to take us back to the water taxi area and it was like $3.. no big deal.. and saved us trekking with a tired toddler on the way back. So, we decided after that.. instead of going back to the ship.. that we would have a taxi take us around and show us some of Mazatlan since we hadn’t been there before. I sat in the back and our son napped while the taxi driver drove us around showing us incredible views and some of the more “real” areas of Mazatlan. It was really interesting and we enjoyed the hour impromptu tour for $20. We never did make it to the Golden Zone.
We went to dinner at Cagney’s

Wednesday Nov 4- Puerto Vallarta- We took the advice of the forum and went to the Krystal resort.. Again decided against a taxi (really wish we had just taken a taxi).. Our ship docked further away from where I think most people have come in at. So it was a bit of a walk just to get over to that round building and then start from there. It’s hot and humid even early in the morning.. so with our stroller and all of our crap, probably just better to take a taxi. But.. anyway.. the walk was fun for most of the way but then they are doing construction on a hotel right next to the Krystal.. so it was interesting navigating through the construction zone with all the noise, trucks, mess, workers staring, etc. LOL.. anyway.. we got to the resort and it was awesome. The pool area is great, couldn’t ask for better. No one charged us anything and never even asked us to buy any drinks or food.. we had to hunt a waiter down to order stuff. The surf was way to rough to really swim in, it was crashing pretty good. But it was fun to walk on the beach and hang out under the chair umbrellas, etc. However, we would NOT go here again.. the beach vendors were relentless. It really ruined what could have been a very relaxing day. I am not exaggerating when I say that they would come by and hawk their wares every 2-3 minutes. Some of them 4-5 times again and again, even after we said no gracias. Even when you went back up to the pool area they would peek over the wall and whistle and make noises to get your attention until you acknowledge them and say no.. it really was ridiculous.. all I wanted was some time to close my eyes and relax and they wouldn’t leave us alone. But the good thing to come out of all of it, was we did end up buying from a man named Jaime and he was selling wooden lemon scented boxes that he says he hand carved, they were beautiful and exactly the souvenir I was looking for. I also bought a wooden violen for my son and he hand carved his name and Vallarta 2009 on it and it was beautiful. So, highly recommend the resort.. just know that you will be constantly pestered by the vendors both on the beach and in the beach facing pool.
We went back to the ship for son’s nap and then took a taxi out to the malecon (boardwalk) area right at sunset. It was gorgeous. Stopped in at Hard Rock for the obligatory shirt for hubbie. ☺

Thursday Nov 5- Sea Day- Relaxing.. played bingo.. drank.. what’s more to say.. ☺

Friday Nov 6- Sea Day- Just lazed around the ship, I did the day pass to the spa (so relaxing!) Went to Ginza, had a wonderful dinner!

Saturday Nov 7- Sad to go home. Getting off the ship was a royal nightmare! There had to be something going on this day.. they were delayed 45 min letting folks off and then when we tried to leave so we could catch our LAX transfer, it was jam packed in the hallway, so bad we couldn’t get off the elevator. No one was moving.. there was no air in the elevator it was ridiculous. We waited at least 15 min and then the line finally started moving. The whole process took at least 45 min to get off the ship and get through customs. Then we waited and waited for the transfer bus to fill up and leave. Got to LAX, the driver dropped us off way past Terminal 1, so we had to track down a luggage cart before we could even make the trek back to Terminal 1 where there about a billion people lined up for check in and security.. it was a nightmare… I will never fly Southwest out of LAX again.. I’m so glad we changed our 11:45 am flight because we would have missed it for sure. We were barely checking our bags at 11am and still had to get through security.

All in all a great trip, we won’t be cruising the Mexican Riviera for a while, at least not until we’re able to take our son snorkeling or on boat tours with us. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and better sailing conditions.

Impressions of the Star: Food was just Ok in the market café (buffet area). We tired of eating there after a couple days and starting eating at Blue Lagoon and loved it! Then decided to try the specialty restaurants because we were tired of everything else. Versailles was good, but we got tired of 1.5-2 hr dinners.. Our cabin steward was great. Seemed well maintained, the staff was friendly. The kids club was great, our son had a great time, very thankful that he was able to make friends and have fun.

Oh and if you’re in the mood for a great drink.. you have to try the speakeasy martini.. our waiter recommended it the night we went to Cagney’s and it is delicious!

[rsohn65820]

Great review. I will be working on my review later in the week. Glad you had a good time. Sorry you couldn't make it to the meet and greet. I totally agree about Mazatlan. The water in the harbor was full of garbage. We got off the ship and did a tour with Mazatlan Frank. Frank was great and he took us all over the city. He really loves Mazatlan. To me the town seemed very dirty with graffiti every where. If we do the Mexican Riveria again we would not get off the ship in Mazatlan. We loved Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.

[roger001]

Not trying to hijack....but if you don't mind I'll add a few thoughts on the cruise also. First, wow....the tribute to the Four Seasons done by the Vegas group on the Monday night, super great. I loved it and them. Second, although the staff and crew on the Pearl were wonderful this past June, if it's possible, I believe the Star bunch were even more wonderful. I've never met a nicer and more genuinely friendly group of persons. Mazatlan...the shrimp. We did a tour that had a lunch stop up in the Gold Coast area. I've never seen more and bigger jumbo shrimp served. I ate until I was almost sick and we couldn't finish all of them. Reference the mess at LAX and SWA. When I saw the huge lines, I was in shock. However, to the credit of both SWA and TSA, I thought it moved really fast. I expected maybe 2 hours getting through all of it, but it went very quickly, 30 - 40 minutes. I really don't blame them. I think 3 cruise ships arriving at the same time was the issue. For those yet to travel, I really recommend a sit down breakfast each morning in the MDR. Good food cooked as you wish in a nice setting served by very nice persons. For the evening meals at the MDR, we had no delay at all...but we eat later after a few adult beverages in the lounge. Wonderful ship, wonderful cruise (super price on it I thought), and wish I was still on it as I head out to do yard work.

[azcater]

Thanks for the input.. I forgot to mention.. yes.. you must eat Garlic Shrimp in Mazatlan.. absolutely to die for!

[TeacherJenn]

We are on the Star in December. Our son is 2 1/2 and also an early riser. We have been trying to figure out what to do in Mazatlan. I am thinking we might pass on that and just hire a taxi and go into town.

On another note, did your son like the kids club?

[swedish weave]

Originally Posted by TeacherJenn

We are on the Star in December. Our son is 2 1/2 and also an early riser. We have been trying to figure out what to do in Mazatlan. I am thinking we might pass on that and just hire a taxi and go into town.

On another note, did your son like the kids club?

If you are open to suggestions, do the taxi tour of the city first and have him drop you off at the water taxi terminal after you see the city. Stone Island is primitive and nice, and most people enjoy it very much.

[Pianoman6582]

Originally Posted by azcater

Trip Review for NCL Star 10/31/09-11/7/09...
All in all a great trip, we won’t be cruising the Mexican Riviera for a while, at least not until we’re able to take our son snorkeling or on boat tours with us. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and better sailing conditions.

Impressions of the Star: Food was just Ok in the market café (buffet area). We tired of eating there after a couple days and starting eating at Blue Lagoon and loved it! Then decided to try the specialty restaurants because we were tired of everything else. Versailles was good, but we got tired of 1.5-2 hr dinners.. Our cabin steward was great. Seemed well maintained, the staff was friendly. The kids club was great, our son had a great time, very thankful that he was able to make friends and have fun.

Oh and if you’re in the mood for a great drink.. you have to try the speakeasy martini.. our waiter recommended it the night we went to Cagney’s and it is delicious!

Great Review! My Lee and I were on the Star in September. We have to say that the weather in September is just too dang hot! You know it's hot when the locals are sweating and complaining about the heat! But we made the best of it and had an amazing cruise!

Did you introduce yourself to the greatest Cruise Director in the Galaxy, Ray Carr (there was a vote)? Ray has been our CD for 5 cruises this year and we're kinda bummed that he's not going to be the CD for the cruise that we start on (GADS!) Saturday! Eek, indeed!

Happy Cruising
And I Thank you
JWK: Cruisin' (or about to be anyway)