Returned from NCL Star Mex Riv Mar 11

Just a quick note to say that we were pleasantly surprised with the improvements we found on the Star. The dining has definitely improved from our last experience. Chefs seem to have been given the choice of better quality ingredients and have been given permission to use their talent and imagination.

Drink service was prompt, and there seems to be an expanded choice of wines and libations since last time. The process of awaiting receipts has stopped...that was a real improvement to service. Also, one stateroom card is all that is required for 2 drinks, (we were 2 in the cabin) so that helped speed things up.

Staff and crew were very hospitable.

The dilution of platinum benefits (i.e. dinner vouchers and cocktail parties) was the only minus. The so-called Latitudes party is not special at all, it is not exclusive, the people were let in with no check, so many who attended were not really "qualified" which seems to be what NCL wants, as the party was just an opportunity for Cruise Next advertising. Snacks were one round only. Music was okay.

We had a great time. The shows were very good, especially Marambola, the acrobatic act. High energy in the Production dancers and singers. Felicia at the piano bar, so good! The trio at the Atrium, fun and varied music. All in all, we found the experience to be very good.

Just a quick note to say that we were pleasantly surprised with the improvements we found on the Star. The dining has definitely improved from our last experience. Chefs seem to have been given the choice of better quality ingredients and have been given permission to use their talent and imagination.

 

Drink service was prompt, and there seems to be an expanded choice of wines and libations since last time. The process of awaiting receipts has stopped...that was a real improvement to service. Also, one stateroom card is all that is required for 2 drinks, (we were 2 in the cabin) so that helped speed things up.

 

Staff and crew were very hospitable.

 

The dilution of platinum benefits (i.e. dinner vouchers and cocktail parties) was the only minus. The so-called Latitudes party is not special at all, it is not exclusive, the people were let in with no check, so many who attended were not really "qualified" which seems to be what NCL wants, as the party was just an opportunity for Cruise Next advertising. Snacks were one round only. Music was okay.

 

We had a great time. The shows were very good, especially Marambola, the acrobatic act. High energy in the Production dancers and singers. Felicia at the piano bar, so good! The trio at the Atrium, fun and varied music. All in all, we found the experience to be very good.

Glad to hear you had a good time!

We were on the Star in the same itinerary back in December! We had fun too!

If others are interested, here is a link to my pictorial review from that cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2581330

Thanks for sharing your comments!

Thanks for the positive heads-up. Any word on further renovations to Star a la Dawn? I'm on a 12-night sailing in November 2019, and I'm hoping for some work to be done.

Thanks for the positive heads-up. Any word on further renovations to Star a la Dawn? I'm on a 12-night sailing in November 2019, and I'm hoping for some work to be done.

Star dry dock will be May of this year!

Thank you for your report and glad you had a great time.

Keith

Thanks. How were the ports?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Sailing her this weekend same itinerary, I had hoped I miss read about the parties/mixers, (guess not) we always liked the officers mixer for the upper levels, latitudes party was always so so for us. How warm was it on the sea days and in the ports? We don't do many winter cruises....

Sailing her next month thru the PC. Glad to hear good comments. Btw when you say “last time” when was that? We sailed Star in Jan 17.

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Sailing her this weekend same itinerary, I had hoped I miss read about the parties/mixers, (guess not) we always liked the officers mixer for the upper levels, latitudes party was always so so for us. How warm was it on the sea days and in the ports? We don't do many winter cruises....

Looks like you will have high 70’s to mid 80’s in port. LA will be colder with a high of 60 for Friday and Saturday. Sea days should be low 70’s.

Star dry dock will be May of this year!

That’s weird because we have a cruise on the Star 6/3/18, So when you mean dry dock, you mean just for the month of May?

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Thanks for posting this. I'm on this itinerary in 10 days for my first cruise (first cruise for husband and kids, too). On the first two sea days, was it warm enough to really enjoy the pool? We're from Northern California, so we're expecting cool nights per the norm for us. Feel free to share anything you think may be good knowledge for newbies. Thanks again!

Just a quick note to say that we were pleasantly surprised with the improvements we found on the Star. The dining has definitely improved from our last experience. Chefs seem to have been given the choice of better quality ingredients and have been given permission to use their talent and imagination.

 

Drink service was prompt, and there seems to be an expanded choice of wines and libations since last time. The process of awaiting receipts has stopped...that was a real improvement to service. Also, one stateroom card is all that is required for 2 drinks, (we were 2 in the cabin) so that helped speed things up.

 

Staff and crew were very hospitable.

 

The dilution of platinum benefits (i.e. dinner vouchers and cocktail parties) was the only minus. The so-called Latitudes party is not special at all, it is not exclusive, the people were let in with no check, so many who attended were not really "qualified" which seems to be what NCL wants, as the party was just an opportunity for Cruise Next advertising. Snacks were one round only. Music was okay.

 

We had a great time. The shows were very good, especially Marambola, the acrobatic act. High energy in the Production dancers and singers. Felicia at the piano bar, so good! The trio at the Atrium, fun and varied music. All in all, we found the experience to be very good.

love to hear it. As for the latitude party, we simply stop going to them a few years ago. They were too crowded and yes, a sales pitch only.

That’s weird because we have a cruise on the Star 6/3/18, So when you mean dry dock, you mean just for the month of May?

 

 

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We were told that the dry dock will be going on for 3 weeks after the Transatlantic crossing in May and there will actually be some going on during the crossing. Looks like it will be 5/6 to 5/24 per scheduled sailings in Europe.

We were told that Le Bistro and La Cucina will be switching locations.

Also that the Family Suites will be getting the windows fixed...hooray!

We sail again in March 2019 so it will be fun to see the changes :ship:

She should be nice and shiny for your June cruise!

I was also on this cruise and had a fantastic time. Felicia was very good, but the Freestyle Daily listed a couple of her shows as sing along. She did not want anyone singing along. We opted to listen to the guitarist Jason. He was in the Five O'Clock Somewhere Bar most of the time. He was really good. Food was good bartenders friendly. Buffet left a lot to be desired, but I am not really a buffet person so that is subjective. I preferred the main dining room or O'Sheehan's for breakfast. Ports were warm 85 degrees in Manzanillo. Other ports also very warm.

Candi

Did they really do away with food voucher for Platinum members?

Did they really do away with food voucher for Platinum members?

No...they will be in your stateroom upon arrival.

Let's see if I can remember the questions asked above.

Out of LA the weather was grey and cold, but the first sea day was well attended at the pool. The last sea day, too cold, bleak and windy.

The ports were sunny and warm. We did not get off the ship to do any excursions as this is about our 5th Mex Riv cruise. And, my DH has some health issues that make being away from the ship for length of time a bit hazardous. We would love to do a Pacific Coastal thru NCL, but alas, all they offer is this cruise during the winter months.

Our last Mex Riv was on the Jewel, if I remember correctly, our last NCL Star cruise was a bit further back in time. The UBP was just being rolled out fleetwide, at that time on the Jewel, and it was just chaos and the choices were so awful for many wines and libations.

Pre mixed mixers are too sweet and syrupy.

There is no upper level officers Latitudes cocktail invite at all any longer. Just one open 45 minute Latitudes free for all.

The vouchers for Platinum are a silver fold out, with three coupons attached that you must bring to the restaurant of your choice. They have it in their system that you have a voucher and they ask if you will be using it tonight, you are asked for the voucher at that time. We used ours for La Cucina and for Le Bistro, as we don't enjoy Moderno food at all.

We did not have any issues with the buffet, but we hardly used that, as we dined mostly at Versailles or a specialty. On port days we grabbed lunch at the buffet or O'Sheehans.

Oh, they had prime rib on the menu for main dining on the first night. For those who like it. We are seafood folks mostly, so we did not order the p.r.

We did not hear about the dry dock plans, but we noticed a lot of fresh carpeting thru the ship. The balcony had a few "rough" edges of wear and rust, but the stateroom was in good shape.

My husband found the bed comfy, me less so. Our steward was top notch. No request too small or overlooked.

We used the continental breakfast several mornings, and attended Versailles for the remainder, and the buffet once.

The usual annoying repetitive announcements for art auction and days events happened, but we tuned them out eventually and just let them yak on.

We didn't get to see Jason at 5 oclock...glad to know he was enjoyable.

I hope that covers some of the questions posed.

Thanks for the review! Will be on the Star later this month!

Yes, thanks much!

My daughter and her boyfriend went on this cruise. They really enjoyed themselves and I understand he made quite the splash. But that’s what happens when you’re 6’4 and look like a big blonde Viking

We were told that the dry dock will be going on for 3 weeks after the Transatlantic crossing in May and there will actually be some going on during the crossing. Looks like it will be 5/6 to 5/24 per scheduled sailings in Europe.

 

We were told that Le Bistro and La Cucina will be switching locations.

 

Also that the Family Suites will be getting the windows fixed...hooray!

 

We sail again in March 2019 so it will be fun to see the changes :ship:

 

She should be nice and shiny for your June cruise!

Aww! Ok well thank you so much!

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That’s weird because we have a cruise on the Star 6/3/18, So when you mean dry dock, you mean just for the month of May?

 

 

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usually dry dock doesn't last all that long. It would be easy for them to do what upgrades they want to in a month.

i think the latitudes cocktail parties are not as big now because everyone has UBP. the point of the parties in the past, for many, was the free booze.