BayouDoc

Is Star class only on certain ships?  Is it owner's suite and up or what?

I found the Pizza on Silversea to be one of the best I've ever had.  On Seabourn it is merely good.

Garden Villa on the Dawn.  Over 5,000 sq ft.  2 of the 3 bedrooms are more like owners suites with large rooms, big windows, and huge bathrooms.  The 3rd bedroom is also nice, more like a penthouse room.  There is a large living area with a player baby grand piano, dining table for 8, and a kitchenette or bar depending which GV you have (we had the kitchenette).  Large tinted one-way windows overlook the pool deck.  The room is 1/2 the width of the ship.  There is a large open patio area with outside table for 8 and another table for 4,  a full size hot tub, and a steam room.  This area opens via a locked door to the sports deck.  From this outside patio area there is a stairway up to your private sundeck which is about 1/2 the size of a tennis court.  A full bar with blender, ice, mixers, and 6 bottles of liquor was included.  We were treated like royalty wherever we went on the ship.  At the end of the cruise we were personally escorted past all the lines to customs and then to included minibus (with refreshments) for transportation to our hotel.  This was in 2016 and the cost per person for 7 of us was about the same as if we were in 3 penthouse suites.  The prices now seem to be 30-40% higher so most likely this was a one off for us.

I've found nothing that works better than biohazard tape and a pre-printed sign that says "Keep Back!  EBOLA"  Nobody will mess with your chair then, no matter how long you leave it.

If you purchase alcohol in the ship's store during your first week, can you pick it up on the last night of the first week and put it in your room or your luggage and enjoy it during the second week?

The app apparently only works on Allure OS, Enchantment OS, Oasis OS, Serenade OS, and Symphony OS

I have gone out of NO about 7 times and live in Louisiana. Weather in NO in November is usually nice, 70's are typical. Be prepared and watch the weather as cooler temperatures and rain are possible. Haven area is nice and adequate for Jewel and Pearl but they will need to find a larger area for the Breakaway. Because of departure time and DST, most of the trip down the Mississippi is in the dark. By the time you wake in the morning it is usually warm enough to enjoy the pools and outside of the ship. The sea temperature is still fairly warm in November, even in the northern gulf.

We enjoyed him on the Pearl in August, 2017

My wife and I are in our 60's and are also platinum. We also feel like a change. We always cruise in either the Haven or suites. The suite experience is more expensive and not as good as it used to be. It used to be that you would truly enjoy freestyle cruising with a concierge who would almost always get you a reservation for dinner when you wanted even with fairly short notice. Now it's not a sure thing because so many people receive SDP as a perk. Our last cruise this summer on the Pearl, the concierge wanted us to write down our dining requests for the entire week in the embarkation lounge before even boarding the ship. We tried Silversea and found them to be less crowded, have better food, and better service for a lot less than the Haven. We have a Haven Penthouse (S5) booked on the Gem out of New Orleans for January of 2019. Apparently the Breakaway is replacing the Gem on this voyage. The S5 is smaller and the balcony is 1/2 the size on the BA. If they offer me the same fare, we will pay about $12000 plus tips for the Butler and Concierge for 11 days in the Haven. If we change to Silversea, we can do a 14 day cruise for $10000 with everything, including all gratuities, except specialty dining and shore excursions. It seems like to me that there have been some improvements in the MDR menu and I think the perks packages on the whole are good for most. However, the very special experience of the "suite life" has eroded and the cost has exploded. Unless I'm made an offer I can't refuse, it's good-bye for now NCL.

I wonder how the rum distillery on Tortola did.

What are the options for lunch on embarkation day? We are staying in a grand suite, does this make any difference for dining either on embarkation day or other days? There are no butlers, right? Will the concierge make your dining reservations for you? Apparently suites may order room service from the MDR menu, is this served by the regular room service or are there staff appointed for this "suite" duty? Are seats reserved in the theater, how about by the pool? How does priority disembarkation work for ports and at the end of the voyage? We sailed on Rhapsody OTS in about 2005 but since then have only sailed suites on Norwegian or Silverseas so we're essentially newbies. Any other tips would be appreciated. Sailing on the Vision OTS out of Galveston this January.

I see they say no bottlewater or soda can be brought on board. How picky are they about that? Like if Ihave a bottle or two in my backpack at boarding, will they really take thatsingle bottle? Yesthey will

Beverage package. Does it include coffee an virgin drinks? I am not a hugedrinker, I will have a few at night but not out in the sun while watching mykids. Can I get something like a virgin frozen Pina Colada? My MIL is a bigcoffee drinker and spends a lot of our trips on the search for the best cup ofcoffee. How is the coffee in general, is there better coffee available with thepackage? And do they restock the room coffee make coffee without a charge? On theJewel class ships, even though regular coffee is an included “free” drink, the only bar which serves coffee drinks isthe Java café in the atrium. All coffeeand coffee drinks incur a charge here with or without Ultimate BeveragePlan. Virgin drinks are includedin the UBP. Free coffee is so-so. I haven’t tried the for fee specialtycoffee. I’ve only cruised in suites andthe coffee pods are replenished without extra charge. The UBP includes only fountain drinks fromthe bars, beer, wine, mixed drinks. Nocoffee, no bottles of water.

Kids clubs. How are they? We loved Disney, but hey, it is Disney and no one isgoing to truely compare. But Royal's kids clubs were the only bigdisappointment over and over on their ships. They just play a variety ofelimination games with slightly different rules, which is great if english isyour first language and you are good at those games. But for the 80% of kidswho aren't the ones winning over and over, it gets old quick and they don'tenjoy it. It was especially frustrating for my child who has autism, these arenot inclusive games. What are everyone's experiences? This November on the Dawnour 4 y.o. grandson had a ball.

Harvest Caye. Anyone have prices or menus? I see reviews that people mostlydislike the high prices. Do they have any type of tram service? There are trams from theboat to the shore and back. Most peoplejust walk. If you rent a Cabana, theywill take your group there on a golf cart. I thought the food and drink prices were similar to a public port.

A power bar is an item which I have seen recommended on this board many times. I have always brought one (I am platinum) without problem. My power bar was seized from my carry-on in Seattle Aug. 13th. I had to stand in line the last night of the cruise to get it back. This seems to be a new policy, at least it is to me, and I will no longer bring power bars or extension cords along.

We sailed in the GV on sister ship Dawn. No vibration or smoke. You are on the top of the ship so in rough weather the motion may be a little greater. Other than that, it's like you have a 96,000 ton private yacht. It was a great experience but with price increases over the last 2 years I'll not repeat it.

Can you order a bottle of booze for the room? Yes, call customer service before the cruise and you can order a liter bottle with set up for about $80-$90. I don’t know if you can do this once on board.

Can I get cranberry juice on my bev package at the bar to take back to the room? I think you can probably get a glass of cranberry juice included from a bar since soft drinks and virgin drinks are included but I’m not certain since bottled water and specialty coffees are not.

What else can I expect to be charged for? Cover for shows etc. Although reservations and extra charges for some of the shows on the larger Norwegian ships are required, all the evening entertainment is open and free on the Star. There may be a for fee reserved lunch murder mystery offered, if so you must sign up early as it fills quickly. Use of the spa requires either a day pass or weekly pass.

I've read you have to make reservations for everything. Kind of takes away from the free style thing but we'll go with the flow. There will be 6-8 of us. What kind of issues can we expect to run into? If you all want to sit together for meals it would probably be a good idea to make reservations, even in the main dining room. We never had any problem when there were just 2 of us but when we sailed with 7 it could be a problem even with the help of the concierge.

How much are the ships gratuities (for cabin steward, dining room folks etc) for a mini suite? If booked prior to 4/01/17, $13.50 per person a day. If after 4/01/17 $13.99 pp a day. Gratuities are added to drinks purchased and specialty restaurant charges at 18%.

You probably cannot board with your friends, if you get to the port by 11:00 you will get to board at a reasonable time.

Lobster tails are not to be had!

Main dining room sometimes offers steak but personally I would not recommend it. Cagney’s or Le Bistro have good steaks. Haven’t tried one at the Italian restaurant.

The eastern Caribbean has a overall drier climate. From a weather internet site you can compare rainfall month by month between Cozumel and Tortola for example. Western Caribbean definitely has a rainy season in winter and early spring.

My wife and I are in our 60's and have been cruising Norwegian suites and haven for the last several years. We cruise to enjoy and mostly veg out. We decided to try RCI to see how their suite program is. We are booked on the Vision OTS out of Galveston in January in a Grand Suite.

1. Is there a designated suite venue for breakfast and lunch? If so, where?

2. What hours is the concierge lounge open?

3. How do you contact the concierge and what are his hours?

4. How does dining in the specialty restaurants work?

5. Is it advisable to make specialty dining reservations on line before sailing or can the butler or concierge make them for you at a desirable time on board?

6. Is it hard to get reservations?

7. Can the concierge or butler make your "My Time" reservations for you?

8. Can you order room service off the main dining room menu, specialty dining menu, or only the enhanced room service menu>?

9. Are room service meals served by general wait staff or by a butler?

10. Is there any extra charge for meals served in your suite?

11. What venues for lunch (VOS) are open on shore days? Sea days?

12. Does the "Chef's table" have more than one menu on a week cruise?

13. Do the Specialty restaurants change menus during the cruise?

14. Are there reserved chairs and a designated suite area by the pool?

15. Is there reserved seating at the evening shows for suite guests every night or only on formal nights?

16. Anything else we should know about suite benefits?

17. If you have sailed both on Norwegian haven and grand suite on RCI, any general comparisons?

The fair value is whatever people are willing to pay. I also am looking elsewhere as the suites I like to cruise in (H3 in Jewel class) have gone up 40-50%. Because of the popularity of the haven concept, other cruise lines have increased the perks for suite passengers. Since I like the medium size ship, I will be trying out a Grand Suite on Vision OTS. 5 day cruise with their recent sale was under 2k for 2 including fees and travel insurance. We will pay for our drinks since we would not even come close to the price of a drinks package and we will probably buy the ultimate dining plan which I think is about $175 a piece. I will continue to watch the prices on NCL and see if the market drives them down. Time will tell.

Luddites of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your cell phones!

Sometimes I think in a few more generations the only places where people will be found who have attention spans longer than 2 minutes will be where they are too poor to have modern technology. Another thing happening at least in many schools in the States is that cursive writing is no longer being taught. I wonder if this will have any neuro-developmental consequences down the line.

Jeff, I have some thoughts on why we sometimes seem to know things we should have no way of knowing. I saw a documentary once about “idiot savants”. These unfortunate people have certain areasof their brains damaged and usually need lots of help with daily life but canperform incredible calculations or feats of memory. There was one fellow who could scan books andrepeat upon request exactly what was written on any random page. He has thousands of books memorized. Our brains may well hold memories ofeverything we have ever seen or heard. There are literally trillions of neural connections. In order to not be overwhelmed by all thisdata, healthy brains will edit what information is available for easyrecall. Perhaps somewhere in ourmemories we have recordings of what we heard in our delivery rooms or what weoverheard on the radio when we were 2 years old. I don’t think memories are passed down by DNAbut environmental influences can influence the expression of genes. You may want to read on “epigenetics”. I have read some sci-fi books whichpostulated RNA as a repository of memory, but I think this is strictlysci-fi.

I will be boarding the Spirit on Monday for my first Silversea voyage. I've enjoyed lurking near the cooler these past few months and I couldn't help but to comment on this interesting topic.

We are on our first SS cruise on the Spirit 3/20 out of Ft. Lauderdale. Seems that roll calls aren't very popular on SS. The cruise will reprise most of our honeymoon in 1983 visiting St Marteen and Tortola. We also stayed on Saba then but I don't know of any cruise which stops there. It will be interesting to see how things have changed in 34 years.

good news is that we won't have to worry about that grifter Hillary stealing furniture from the white house again----bad news is that our next president is going to be Donald Trump!

Thanks Aussie, I guess we could put a rollaway into any of the rooms, was there the most room in 14000?

There was a recent You tube video of Dawn GV 14502 and the chair which converts into a bed is no longer there post dry dock. Does anyone know where the 7th passenger sleeps now? Do they bring in a rollaway? We have a 4 y.o. who we were planning on putting in the chair/bed.