The Star - Panama Canal Cruise

Norwegian Star Panama Canal Cruise Nov 3rd – Nov 17th.

I was somewhat apprehensive about the Norwegian Star because of the number of negative reviews I had read about this ship referring to it as “old and tired.” My apprehension was unnecessary; we found the ship to be beautiful and well maintained.

Our overall cruise experience was excellent, with the exception of embarkation.

EMBARKATION: A couple of days before our cruise we received a number of phone calls from Norwegian informing us that due to limited seating in the Los Angeles terminal we should not arrive before 1:00 PM. Apparently most folks took this advice because it seemed as though the entire ship load of passengers showed up shortly after 12:30 causing a huge line to form going through security and then registration. We arrived at the terminal at 12:35 and it was 3:25pm when we were finally walking up the gangway to the ship. We were standing in line that entire time. My feet were killing me. I know it was after 5 PM when the last of the passengers were finally boarding the ship.

OUR ROOM: We purchased a guaranteed balcony and were assigned to cabin 9612. Our bed was very comfortable and the room was very clean. The carpet looked to be in excellent shape and the bathroom was spotless. Our room had a flat screen TV, coffeemaker, and safe. The ice bucket in our room always had ice in it day or night thanks to our room steward. The only fault I could find with the room was the liner of the balcony curtain had a few tears in it. This could only be seen from the balcony looking in. The other minor issue was a small piece of trim on the refrigerator was broken. HINT: The toilet area in the bathroom is very tight. If you are a big or tall person you might have issues with it.

THE FOOD: All of our evening meals were excellent. We ate at both the Versailles and Aqua dining rooms. The Waite staff was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. We usually ate breakfast at the Market Café and felt the food was very good with excellent choices. On two occasions we ate lunch from The Grill (by the pool) and felt it was just OK. We also ate at two specialty restaurants, Cagney’s Steakhouse, and Le Bistro. Both of those meals were excellent.

THE STARDUST THEATER: This is the only true negative comment I have for the Star. The seats in the theater were uncomfortable, close together, and without cup holders. If you ordered a drink you had to hold it in your hand for the entire show.

THE STARDUST SHOWS: The nightly shows at the Stardust really exceeded my expectations. My two favorite shows were Chris Pendleton’s comedy routine and “Paradis” a Parisian nightclub parody. Both shows were Vegas quality. Other shows included a comedian/Juggler, hypnotist, comedian/magician, acrobatic/aerial act, a variety show, the Second City Troupe and others I can’t remember. The only show that really fell flat was the comedy routine of Sam Fedele. I didn’t think his routine was funny and neither did most of the audience. At one point he tried to embarrass the audience into laughing at his routine.

ENTERTAINMENT STAFF: I can’t say enough good things about this group of folks charged with keeping the passengers entertained. Every one of them did an outstanding job during the cruise. They were always smiling and made a point of learning passengers’ names.

If you don’t enjoy cruising on the Star then I believe the problem may lie within you and not the Star. That’s my opinion of course.

Thanks for your review. Can you update who the officers are on your sailing?

thanks

Glad you had a good time. We were watching you go through the locks.

Hi Oakman, or should I say next door neighbour, we were in cabin 9610!

I fully agree with your review, I think it was very fair.

The embarkation was a nightmare. This was our first time on NCL and we have never queued for so long to check in with other cruise lines. It would certainly make us think twice about choosing NCL again, well over 2 hours standing in line to check in is not the best way to start your holiday and we got there at 11.30. We didn't receive any messages about checking in later. I felt sorry for the older and frailer people who were struggling with having to stand for so long.

Interesting to read your comments about Sam Fedele. We didn't find him at all funny, but thought it was because we were Brits and didn't understand US humour. However we thought Chris Pendleton was excellent.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and it was good to meet you on the balcony!

Thanks for your review. We have been on the Star many times and look forward to our Panama cruise coming up.

Thank you so much for your great review!

Our Panama Canal cruise is coming up.

So glad to hear that the STAR is in good shape.

I have a few specific questions:

Bands and DJ onboard:

How were they and what kind of music did they play?

How often was kareoke at night and would you know what time they had this onboard?

Were the production shows twice in the evening (early and late) or just one show?

Was the boarding on embarkation day a problem because there is construction in the terminal or was it just too small. Were any other ships in port that day?

How was the food at the Blue Lagoon?

Thanks and I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. :)

Don

BTW....Going through the Canal....were you going north or south?

Thank you...This was very good to hear as we are on a Panama Canal cruise on January 19th.

The Star is a great ship and is crewed by some awesome people. I was on the Star at the beginning of the year and while she didn't go into dry dock, they were ripping up the carpeting on port days all over the ship and changing it out and refreshing it. The ship was immaculate. The only complaint I had were the crabby old people who were crabbing about nearly everything and just an overall annoyance during the cruise! The only place to escape them was in the gym!! Dinner took longer because of the constant complaints made by them about service, food being wrong or too hot or too cold. I had no issues at all during my sailing with food but every night in the dining room would be all these negative comments. It's the most negative bunch of people I've ever sailed with!

OP - Glad you enjoyed your cruise! :)

Dongordon - On the Star in January, all shows were repeated except the Welcome Aboard variety show which was only done once. All others have an early and late show. Karaoke was offered nightly at the start of the cruise in the Red Lion Pub but as fewer and fewer people participated it was moved to every other night.

The Star is a great ship and is crewed by some awesome people. I was on the Star at the beginning of the year and while she didn't go into dry dock, they were ripping up the carpeting on port days all over the ship and changing it out and refreshing it. The ship was immaculate. The only complaint I had were the crabby old people who were crabbing about nearly everything and just an overall annoyance during the cruise! The only place to escape them was in the gym!! Dinner took longer because of the constant complaints made by them about service, food being wrong or too hot or too cold. I had no issues at all during my sailing with food but every night in the dining room would be all these negative comments. It's the most negative bunch of people I've ever sailed with!

 

OP - Glad you enjoyed your cruise! :)

 

Dongordon - On the Star in January, all shows were repeated except the Welcome Aboard variety show which was only done once. All others have an early and late show. Karaoke was offered nightly at the start of the cruise in the Red Lion Pub but as fewer and fewer people participated it was moved to every other night.

Great information....thanks so much! :)

I thought all the "crabby" people were on Celebrity!! :D

Don

Great information....thanks so much! :)

I thought all the "crabby" people were on Celebrity!! :D

 

Don

I hope two of those groups book with Celebrity from now on! LOL! Just make sure to washy washy, especially after the stop in Costa Rica. Our ship picked up norovirus from there and it exploded on the ship by the time we got back to Miami making my voyage the first CDC reportable outbreak of the year!! :eek:

Remember... WASHY WASHY = HAPPY HAPPY! :D

Thanks for your review. Can you update who the officers are on your sailing?

 

thanks

Sorry it took me so long to respond I was without Internet for awhile. I'm sorry to say I didn't write down any info on the officers on the Star.

Thank you so much for your great review!

 

Our Panama Canal cruise is coming up.

So glad to hear that the STAR is in good shape.

 

I have a few specific questions:

 

Bands and DJ onboard:

How were they and what kind of music did they play?

 

I thought all the bands were good and really enjoyed the pool side band Xcite. Our cruise was mostly older folks and the bands played mostly music of the 60's, 70's, and 80's with a little Jazz and dance music throw in at the Spinnaker Lounge. The Melodic Trio played easy listening music from that same time frame in the Grand Atrium most nights.

 

How often was kareoke at night and would you know what time they had this onboard?

 

I believe they had karaoke almost every night in the Red Lion Pub and a few nights in the Spinnaker Lounge.

 

Were the production shows twice in the evening (early and late) or just one show?

 

Production shows were at 7 PM and 9 PM in the Star Lounge.

 

Was the boarding on embarkation day a problem because there is construction in the terminal or was it just too small. Were any other ships in port that day?

 

I don't know why embarkation was so slow other than everyone showing up at about the same time. Here's a pic, everyone you see is in the same line to get up to the registration.

How was the food at the Blue Lagoon?

 

The menu in the Blue Lagoon is limited but I thought the food was very good.

Thanks and I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. :)

 

Don

 

BTW....Going through the Canal....were you going north or south?

I hope your cruise is as good as the canal cruise my wife and I were on.

Sorry it took me so long to respond I was without Internet for awhile. I'm sorry to say I didn't write down any info on the officers on the Star.

no worries. i'll find out soon enough.... tomorrow...yipee!

thanks Oakman.

I hope your cruise is as good as the canal cruise my wife and I were on.

Thanks again Oakman...very helpful information!!

Enjoy the holidays!! :)

Don

Thanks for the review. We are counting down our days to our Star cruise.

Hi Oakman, or should I say next door neighbour, we were in cabin 9610!

I fully agree with your review, I think it was very fair.

The embarkation was a nightmare. This was our first time on NCL and we have never queued for so long to check in with other cruise lines. It would certainly make us think twice about choosing NCL again, well over 2 hours standing in line to check in is not the best way to start your holiday and we got there at 11.30.

This was our first cruise with NCL too. Now that we have sailed with NCL we are bronze members of their Latitudes program so we can get priority boarding on future cruises.

I was also on this cruise, I think the embarkation issues are unique to the LA terminal. We previously have cruised NCL out of Miami and found the embarkation to be very smooth and quick there, LA was not at all the same experience. We were in a suite and even with that "priority" embarkation experience it was far below the experience that we have had with NCL in Miami. So depending on which direction future canal cruisers are heading will matter.

Also I came across another thread from this same sailing 11/3 to 11/17 LA to Miami with a nice little pictorial of the canal crossing so be sure to check that thread out as well

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2133347

This is not to be taken as a negative comment but just a comment in general. Our room steward did an outstanding job keeping our room clean, taking care of our needs, and our ice bucket always had plenty of ice in it regardless of the time of day. However, either her weakness was making towel animals or my weakness is identifying towel animals. Most days I wasn’t sure what the animal was supposed to be. Not important, I just thought it was funny.

At least they look cute!! :D

Betteer than nothing! :D

She tried...and that is a "good thing! " :)

Don

I think I can explain why the embarkation was so slow at Los Angeles. The people who check you in work for the port and are familiar with Princess computer systems because they handle their ships quite often.

NCL doesn't use the port as much, and the people don't know the computer system. We had a pretty long wait and there was only one couple ahead of us.

Great towel animal pics...I just hope I get plenty of them. :)

We loved the Star when we sailed her a few years ago from NYC to Bermuda. Wonder if the dent is still in the back from when we broke mooring during a quick gale wind/rain storm?

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Sorry it took me so long to respond I was without Internet for awhile. I'm sorry to say I didn't write down any info on the officers on the Star.

We were on the Star on the return trip to Los Angeles from Miami on November 17th. Here are some of the key players on board during our Panama Canal Cruise:

We loved the Star when we sailed her a few years ago from NYC to Bermuda. Wonder if the dent is still in the back from when we broke mooring during a quick gale wind/rain storm?

It is still there...

It does not sound like it is going to be repaired when the Star goes to drydock in Portland, Oregon in March 2015.

We loved the Star when we sailed her a few years ago from NYC to Bermuda. Wonder if the dent is still in the back from when we broke mooring during a quick gale wind/rain storm?

 

 

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No need to wonder no more... the dent is still there.

Huatulco, Mexico - Tuesday, November 25, 2014