The Star 12/1 - 12/15 Panama Canal Transit -- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Awesome honeymoon cruise. We had a great time! (We were the couple in the Newlywed/Not-So-Newlywed Game.) Having said that...

The Good:

• Cruise Director Tom Hopkins was bright, witty and fun.
  
• Two of the omnipresent assistants (Jefferson from the Philippines and Meghan (?) from South Africa) will, IMHO, both be Cruise Directors in the future. They were everywhere and always witty, warm and approachable.
  
• The specialty restaurants (Cagney's, Teppanyaki and both times at Le Bistro) were outstanding. Great food. (NOTE: The SDP now only gives you one appetizer, one soup/salad, one entree and one dessert per person, unless multiple specialty waiters were all lying to us.)
  
• The production shows were excellent as well. The six dedicated singers, two singer/dancers and eight dedicated dancers were all exuberant and talented, and the shows were obviously well-rehearsed and skillfully planned.
  
• Professor Alan Dowty's multiple lectures on sea voyages (Bligh, Shackleton, etc) were very informative and entertaining.
  
• The Queens of Rhythm and Brenda Kaye put on very good shows. So did Felicia and Tea for Two in the Gatsby's area.
  
• The MDR food was fine, as were most of the buffet dishes.
  

The Bad:

• The non-production shows were a mixed bag. In particular, we walked out of both the ventriloquist act and the female singer on the last night. OTOH, comedians Jim David and Landry were pretty good.
  
• The Pink Elephants and Melodic Trio were awful.
  
• Carnival has four singers and four dancers performing to prerecorded backup tracks. NCL has twice as many performers and a live band. Therefore, you'd think they'd have more production shows than Carnival, but they don't. Truly an example of doing less with more.
  
• Too many seats in the Stardust theater were broken: the seat wouldn't lie flat but actually leaned forward, forcing you to brace your feet against the floor to avoid sliding off. My new wife referred to them as "ejector seats."
  
• The current location of the Spinnaker is ill-suited for its purpose. It's a converted restaurant area with too damn many big poles blocking views of the stage. The Jewel's Spinnaker was WAY better.
  
• They seriously need to fix the hard ice cream freezer near the pool. You could tell how long your ice cream had been there by how soft it was. More than a few hours, and it was softer than the soft-serve from the machines inside.
  
• O'Sheehan's has gone downhill. No more cheese sticks, no poutine, and a very limited menu.
  
• Ginza's food was very mediocre.
  

The Ugly:

• Two weeks in Cabin 6508 and they NEVER fixed the bathroom toilet paper holder (missing rod to hold the roll in place). The cabin steward for Deck 6 just plain sucked, with the nadir being my need to chase him down right after Turn-Down service to get a spare roll of TP. There was also the laundry I'd submitted for Express Service, which was delivered a day late (and only after I complained to Guest Services) because, according to the Laundry people, it had been finished on time but never picked up by the steward: I had the Express service charge removed. Normally, we tip our cabin steward extra (were planning on $20 cash twice during the cruise) but we ended up transferring part of his share of our DSC to the restaurant staff because he was so lousy.
  
• My wife went to buy me a Panama Canal lanyard for work (to hold my badge). They had two in the display case. The woman behind the counter flatly refused to sell her one, as it would "upset the balance" of the display. On the third try, she got someone to sell it to her. Never had a cruise ship gift shop refuse to sell an item before.
  

I guess you better stay with carnival.

Thanks for the review.

Glad you had a good time! Thanks for the review.

Thank you for your thoughts. We are on the Star in 7 days.

Thanks for the review. Was that cabin quiet overall, were there times that it was loudy/noisy? (We're booked in 6500 and 6502 for that same cruise next year).

Awesome honeymoon cruise. We had a great time! (We were the couple in the Newlywed/Not-So-Newlywed Game.) Having said that...

 

The Good:

• Cruise Director Tom Hopkins was bright, witty and fun.
  
• Two of the omnipresent assistants (Jefferson from the Philippines and Meghan (?) from South Africa) will, IMHO, both be Cruise Directors in the future. They were everywhere and always witty, warm and approachable.
  
• The specialty restaurants (Cagney's, Teppanyaki and both times at Le Bistro) were outstanding. Great food. (NOTE: The SDP now only gives you one appetizer, one soup/salad, one entree and one dessert per person, unless multiple specialty waiters were all lying to us.)
  
• The production shows were excellent as well. The six dedicated singers, two singer/dancers and eight dedicated dancers were all exuberant and talented, and the shows were obviously well-rehearsed and skillfully planned.
  
• Professor Alan Dowty's multiple lectures on sea voyages (Bligh, Shackleton, etc) were very informative and entertaining.
  
• The Queens of Rhythm and Brenda Kaye put on very good shows. So did Felicia and Tea for Two in the Gatsby's area.
  
• The MDR food was fine, as were most of the buffet dishes.
  

The Bad:

• The non-production shows were a mixed bag. In particular, we walked out of both the ventriloquist act and the female singer on the last night. OTOH, comedians Jim David and Landry were pretty good.
  
• The Pink Elephants and Melodic Trio were awful.
  
• Carnival has four singers and four dancers performing to prerecorded backup tracks. NCL has twice as many performers and a live band. Therefore, you'd think they'd have more production shows than Carnival, but they don't. Truly an example of doing less with more.
  
• Too many seats in the Stardust theater were broken: the seat wouldn't lie flat but actually leaned forward, forcing you to brace your feet against the floor to avoid sliding off. My new wife referred to them as "ejector seats."
  
• The current location of the Spinnaker is ill-suited for its purpose. It's a converted restaurant area with too damn many big poles blocking views of the stage. The Jewel's Spinnaker was WAY better.
  
• They seriously need to fix the hard ice cream freezer near the pool. You could tell how long your ice cream had been there by how soft it was. More than a few hours, and it was softer than the soft-serve from the machines inside.
  
• O'Sheehan's has gone downhill. No more cheese sticks, no poutine, and a very limited menu.
  
• Ginza's food was very mediocre.
  

The Ugly:

• Two weeks in Cabin 6508 and they NEVER fixed the bathroom toilet paper holder (missing rod to hold the roll in place). The cabin steward for Deck 6 just plain sucked, with the nadir being my need to chase him down right after Turn-Down service to get a spare roll of TP. There was also the laundry I'd submitted for Express Service, which was delivered a day late (and only after I complained to Guest Services) because, according to the Laundry people, it had been finished on time but never picked up by the steward: I had the Express service charge removed. Normally, we tip our cabin steward extra (were planning on $20 cash twice during the cruise) but we ended up transferring part of his share of our DSC to the restaurant staff because he was so lousy.
  
• My wife went to buy me a Panama Canal lanyard for work (to hold my badge). They had two in the display case. The woman behind the counter flatly refused to sell her one, as it would "upset the balance" of the display. On the third try, she got someone to sell it to her. Never had a cruise ship gift shop refuse to sell an item before.
  

thanks for a fair and objective review. Yes, we have had some less than good stewards from time to time, mainly on the larger ships. That is too bad, all they do is screw themselves out of the extra tips many of us give them. We have only beem on the Star once, and were not as crazy over the ship as we are over the Jewel class ships. Again, thanks for the review and hope you have many wonderful married years ahead of you.

Congratulations on your wedding/honeymoon.

Thanks for your report.

Keith

Thanks for the review. Was that cabin quiet overall, were there times that it was loudy/noisy? (We're booked in 6500 and 6502 for that same cruise next year).

During the shows, you could hear a little bit of bass. When people were coming/going from the theater, you could hear them. Overall, it was the quietest cabin we've been in, as there's very little foot traffic outside of show times.

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Here is part of my review from a few years ago, maybe 2014. We took a transatlantic on it. Interesting that the theater broken seat issue hasn't been fixed! We take a TA almost every year and would not do one again on the Star.

While our room steward was very pleasant and efficient and the room was comfortable, the room itself had a few problems. Our refrigerator didn’t work properly and it was finally declared not working. We didn’t get a new one for 10 days. The worst problem was the toilet that occasionally didn’t flush. You could hear a whooshing sound which was the vacuum attempting to work somewhere faraway in the system (a plumber came to try to solve the problem and said that it would flush eventually but the problem was “elsewhere”). So, would it flush in 10 seconds or 15 minutes? Obviously, not a good situation.

Another problem was the ship’s water system. The entire ship had an emergency repair announced which meant no water available between midnight and 3 AM on one day. No problem, we thought. Wrong! In the morning, our faucet spurted dirty water with lots of air in it. We called the plumber who spent about 15 minutes in our room working on the problem and then he replaced the filter.

The stateroom was just fine with enough storage and closet space. The bathroom was a good design with a big enough shower and doors for the toilet area. It was convenient to The Blue Lagoon restaurant and I went there or the coffee station early each morning to get my coffee.

The NCL Star is a bit of a puzzlement and has positive and negative features. The staff was all outstanding, friendly and hard working. A pleasant greeting was given whenever we passed. They are in process of doing some work before the drydock in Feb, 2015. New carpeting was being put down in many areas of the ship during the TA and it looks very nice.

The one big problem with the Star was one that was caused by a corporate decision. Several public areas, including the forward lounge on the 13th deck were converted into penthouses and even an officer said it was a mistake during a Q & A session. The result is there are few public places to enjoy quiet times. It did seem like a shopping mall at Christmas time when the weather was a bit cold or during the middle of the day. People looking for a quiet space were many times found in the Spinnaker or like places while an activity was also taking place.

Another issue that has been reported many times in other reviews is all the broken seats in the theater. The captain said they had received the parts/springs for repairs but that must be in the future.

DO you recall the name of the cabin steward, Going to be in one of the four deck 6 cabins next week and would like to be forewarned if we have the same guy.

Enjoyed the report. thanks!

Thanks for what, IMO, was a very fair review. We'll be on the Star in April for the Panama Canal transit, so I was wondering how you enjoyed the transit. Where there places you recommend for viewing, both inside and outside?

It's sad the Spinnaker Lounge is a shadow of its former self. We were on the Star in September 2007 on an Alaska cruise. It was a fabulous place to view Glacier Bay when it got too cold outside. Since I expect we'll have the opposite problem in Panama, did you find or need an inside viewing spot?

Did you do any excursions? How were they?

The Star was our very first NCL ship, and we loved her., so we're planning on another great cruise, even if she has a few age spots. We do too!

Congratulations on your marriage!

I guess you better stay with carnival.

A bit extreme? The review is balanced and the OP acknowledges good points as well as bad.

Thanks for your review RaiderDuck.

I was on the same cruise and with a few exceptions I agree with this review. The Star Theater is in desperate need of repair in my opinion. After the first night our group moved up to the balcony seats and discovered worn and in one case torn upholstery on those seats. NCL has waited way too long to rehab the theater seats.

Jefferson on the cruise director’s staff would definitely make a great cruise director. He is outstanding in dealing with passengers. BTW, I hope you saw him on the last night of the Dance Clash competition in the Spinnaker Lounge. His dance routine with his passenger partner was inspired, impressive, outrageous, hilarious, and one of the most entertaining moments on the cruise. His brilliant choreography made his passenger partner almost look like a professional dancer. I hope NCL realizes what an outstanding and talented employee they have in Jefferson.

The ventriloquist was the most stale act I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship…or anywhere for that matter. We finally gave up on him and left the theater.

One surprising thing for me was the fact that we only got towel animals every other night. I thought it was just our room steward but my sister and her husband who were in a front facing suite only received them every other night too. I wonder what’s up with that?

Thank you for your review. We are sailing on the February 16th Panama Canal cruise and glad to hear the good, bad and ugly. Looking forward to the cruise and will watch out for those broken theater seats.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience of the Star. Always eager to hear anything about the Star as we too will be on this ship in February.

thanks RaiderDuck.

I love your format of the good, bad and ugly. It has been 2 years since we sailed on the Star and it seems she is still almost on her last leg. We loved our cabin but alas it seems like there are some public areas which could use a tweak or two.

I'll be on Star in April for the TA to Barcelona. My first NCL cruise. Just took my 31st cruise last month but have just never tried Norwegian. Am doing this, spending 3 nights in Barcelona, then boarding Carnival Horizon for the westbound Barcelona-NY TA.

Good thing I don't go to a lot of shows because it sounds like the theatre is a bit of a mess.

Figured I'd be eating in O'Sheehans a lot. Hope I enjoy it! Of course, I won't be able to compare it to what it was in the past.

I'm in an interior, and like to spend my sea days somewhere relatively quiet, as I like to just sit and read. I'm not a sit-by-the-pool-and-drink-and-bake person! ;) I'll be unhappy if I can't find anywhere relatively quiet. I don't cruise to spend my time in my inside cabin just to get away from the noise. Am thinking about buying a spa pass as I've read that's a good place to get away from the masses of humanity on days when the weather isn't great, but not sure I want to cough up the extra money to do that.

I'm not going to get too worked up about positive or negative comments. I often read comments from people that have been on the same sailing as I and see that they had very different experiences. The people in the cabin next door can have a cruise that's very different from me. Just depends on expectations, and the choices you make when you're on the ship. Things that are important to one cruiser don't matter to the next. Dinner in one restaurant on one night can vary greatly from dinner the next night!

I'm sure I'll enjoy myself. I do hope so as I'd hate for my first experience on NCL (and 14 nights at that) to give me a bad impression.

Thanks to OP for sharing your thoughts.

I guess you better stay with carnival.

Very inappropriate comment. If you don't have anything constructive to say, simply move on to the next thread.

Can you talk a little bit about the actual canal transit? How long does it take? Is it interesting to watch? What can you see?

Considering this cruise with my family next year. Thanks!

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Can you talk a little bit about the actual canal transit? How long does it take? Is it interesting to watch? What can you see?

 

Considering this cruise with my family next year. Thanks!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Forums mobile app

On the subject of the canal transit - I understand there is a fee of c. $50 or so (the $300K fee the cruise line is charged for the ship to transit divided by all the guests) - is this built into the fare or charged separately? Obviously not a deal breaker but just curious to see how it is billed.

Can you talk a little bit about the actual canal transit? How long does it take? Is it interesting to watch? What can you see?

 

Considering this cruise with my family next year. Thanks!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Forums mobile app

If it is a full transit it takes all day. Depending which way you go, you go through a set of locks then cruise for several hours then another set of locks. The locks themselves are very interesting due to it being so tight.

On the subject of the canal transit - I understand there is a fee of c. $50 or so (the $300K fee the cruise line is charged for the ship to transit divided by all the guests) - is this built into the fare or charged separately? Obviously not a deal breaker but just curious to see how it is billed.

As I recall they base the fee on several factors such as size of ship, number of passengers, etc.

It has been a long time since we sailed PC but I always remembered the fee being built into the fare whether it was the base fare or taxes/port charges.