NCL Star review 2/19 and Suite 12002

[ctmama4]

Just off the Star in (cold!)Mexico and a few thoughts...I'll end with the positives :-)

 

Not so good:

- feel pushed to the pay dining, as the main dining rooms are small and have significant waits from 5:30pm opening until at least 7pm. They give you a pager like you're at the Outback.

- Market cafe up top is pretty ugly - like a cafeteria. Food fine, just not a pleasant place to eat.

- They don't give away much at Bingo. They're taking in at least $1,500 per session and winners only get $90-$200 (4 games per session).

- Boat seems a bit disjointed, hard to get from 1 end to the other on several floors. From our 12th deck cabin I had walk through the Market cafeteria every time I wanted to go to the kids club, spa or fitness center.

- no water bottles provided in fitness center. you have to buy at the juice bar. Very hot in there, treadmills face a wall, not windows, several treadmills just quite on people(shut off) in the middle of their workouts.

- Very slow service in upgrade Ginza sushi dining. Asian fusion menu just ok. Note: their "lo mien noodles" are just Ramen noodles from pack like at home.

- No lounge chairs immediately around pool. Tiered seating above the pool, but if you need to be near small children, there are only dining tables/chairs.

- Shower in suite backs up b/c the drain is too small for the large rain showered, so you end up standing in a few inches of water during shower - kinda gross.

-** Don't know if it's b/c the room is directly on the front of the ship, but it makes the worst creaking sound - like you're in a styrofoam box! Very weird, but it's at the top and sides of the room joints. Squeek, squeak, squeak all night. I'm a light sleeper and even with ear plugs, I did not sleep well. Never noticed this on other cruise cabins before.

 

OK, here's what we most enjoyed about our trip:

- Suite was gorgeous, views great, didn't miss a balcony (maybe b/c it was so cold on our trip)

- Suite butler Wilfredo very accommodating. Brought us room service and DVD's several times.

- Suite concierge (Patrick), while not the most friendly/outgoing, was efficient -getting all the dinner reservations and reserved show seating we needed.

- Lunch and breakfast at Cagney's is a great suite perk. Very nice food.

- We were pleasantly surprised with the entertainment. Did not go to hypnotist and the "family friendly" Second City show wasn't so family friendly, but the other shows were great. My kids especially liked Justino the magician who performed several times during the week.

- Enjoyed the food at Tepanaki the best.

- Had no problems carrying on a box of wine bottles. Just paid the corkage right at security and concierge who escorted us onboard brought it to our room.

 

Overall, we enjoyed the trip but not sure it was worth the $5,200 for the suite for the week. Our 2nd NCL cruise and may try someone else next time. If you have warmer weather, it will help!

 

I'm happy to answer any questions or post pictures if anyone would like. We have several of the cabin.

[dexddd]

Thanks for the info.

 

Did you actually have to wait for the MDR or did you get past the lines because of your room category?

 

Can you describe the size of the pull out couch for the kids to sleep on? Did that area stay dark enough in the early morning with the drapes?

 

Did the Butler refill the refer with the water/sodas regularly?

[faymuiheng]

Thanks for the mini review...

 

could you post the pics? We are booked in a family suite up to Alaska, and would love to see some more pics of the suite itself.

 

Did you notice if there was a docking station for an IPOD?

[Susie51]

Thank you for your review.

[SeattleCruiselover]

Thanks for the mini review...

 

could you post the pics? We are booked in a family suite up to Alaska, and would love to see some more pics of the suite itself.

 

Did you notice if there was a docking station for an IPOD?

 

There is NOT a docking station for an IPod in an SJ suite. Have to bring your own.

 

There are many pictures of the newly renovated Star in the photogallery under Norwegian Star Alaska 2010 in my sig line.

[marnie2005]

I would also be interested in seeing pics of your cabin as I have one booked for October...Thanks so much!

[Hikini]

We sailed in a family suite on the Star last September and have the same suite booked again. If interested in pictures, email your own email address to me at hikini@gmail.com.

 

I will have time to email the pictures to you this weekend, if not before.

 

We LOVED the family suite. We didn't hear the same creaking sound that this poster mentioned, but we did have something similar happen in a mini suite while on the Pearl. It happened on the wall right at the head of our bed every night but DH pushed on the wall one night and the sound stopped. We managed to get it to stop every night after that. I wondered if it was caused by vibration because at night was when we were probably moving at full speed and if there's going to be vibration, that would be the most likely time.

 

And to the original poster - thanks for putting your thoughts on "paper" for everyone.

 

Happy Cruising all!

Hikini:D

[faymuiheng]

Why can't I see the signature line? I must've blocked it on something when I was updating my profile....

 

 

There is NOT a docking station for an IPod in an SJ suite. Have to bring your own.

 

There are many pictures of the newly renovated Star in the photogallery under Norwegian Star Alaska 2010 in my sig line.

[faymuiheng]

disregard...

 

I found it... ha ha

[Chipster2]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Glad that you enjoyed your trip. Looking forward to being on the Star soon.

[fightpiter]

We were in 12000 on the 12th through the 19th. I noticed the squeaking as well. It didn't bother me but I did definately hear it. I thought that Patrick was great as was Wilfredo. The stewards, Nanci and Sebi went out of their way to take care of the suite and to accomodate my kids. Overall we had a great time.

[cruz-ing]

We LOVED the family suite. We didn't hear the same creaking sound that this poster mentioned,

 

Per chance do you remember your suite number?

[cruz-ing]

- feel pushed to the pay dining, as the main dining rooms are small and have significant waits from 5:30pm opening until at least 7pm. They give you a pager like you're at the Outback.

 

I thought one of the perks of the suite was they would make reservations for you at the MDR and you could bypass the lines. Did you try this or am I misunderstanding this suite perk?

[newmexicoNita]

I thought one of the perks of the suite was they would make reservations for you at the MDR and you could bypass the lines. Did you try this or am I misunderstanding this suite perk?

 

yes, you are right, whenever you have service that includes the conceirge they will make reservations for you in specialty dining rooms or regular ones, even on short notice. We have used this service many times.

 

Nita

[klingoncruiser]

Thanks for the comments

[SnookieUSA]

Does anyone have a list of the entertainment?

Thanks in advance

S;)

[ctmama4]

To answer a few of the above questions:

- yes, we were able to get past the lines in the MDR a by making a reservation with our concierge, but he walked us through crew doors/hallways and into back entrances. It felt weird and a little secretive, the concierge didn't mention specifically that it was a set privilege of suites. We didn't feel quite right about it so got a pager the last time. Maybe it was ok, we just didn't get that feeling from the concierge.

- yes, sodas/etc. refilled daily

- yes, room dark enough with drapes

- main room has a pull out sofa - nothing special, but my kids (7/10) didn't complain

- yes, we had an ipod dock in our suite

 

If I can figure out how to post picture, I will tomorrow.

Thanks

[ctmama4]

A few pictures from the room. the one with my son shows the kids' "secret play area" behind the curtains. They played here each morning before we woke up :)

[ctmama4]

sorry, wrong picture. here's one more..

[dexddd]

Thanks for the pics, we are in this room in August to Alaska.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, we have foregone suites for some period of time as they really do command a premium. You can almost go on two cruises for the price of a suite.

 

Kirk

[CTKath]

Thanks for the pics, we are in this room in August to Alaska.

 

Now keep it nice for us, as we're borrowing it in November! ;)

[dexddd]

Roger

[shipper1964]

Just off the Star in (cold!)Mexico and a few thoughts...I'll end with the positives :-)

 

- Shower in suite backs up b/c the drain is too small for the large rain showered, so you end up standing in a few inches of water during shower - kinda gross.

-** Don't know if it's b/c the room is directly on the front of the ship, but it makes the worst creaking sound - like you're in a styrofoam box! Very weird, but it's at the top and sides of the room joints. Squeek, squeak, squeak all night. I'm a light sleeper and even with ear plugs, I did not sleep well. Never noticed this on other cruise cabins before.

 

OK, here's what we most enjoyed about our trip:

- Suite was gorgeous, views great, didn't miss a balcony (maybe b/c it was so cold on our trip)

- Suite butler Wilfredo very accommodating. Brought us room service and DVD's several times.

- Suite concierge (Patrick), while not the most friendly/outgoing, was efficient -getting all the dinner reservations and reserved show seating we needed.

- Lunch and breakfast at Cagney's is a great suite perk. Very nice food.

- We were pleasantly surprised with the entertainment. Did not go to hypnotist and the "family friendly" Second City show wasn't so family friendly, but the other shows were great. My kids especially liked Justino the magician who performed several times during the week.

- Enjoyed the food at Tepanaki the best.

- Had no problems carrying on a box of wine bottles. Just paid the corkage right at security and concierge who escorted us onboard brought it to our room.

 

Overall, we enjoyed the trip but not sure it was worth the $5,200 for the suite for the week. Our 2nd NCL cruise and may try someone else next time. If you have warmer weather, it will help!

 

I'm happy to answer any questions or post pictures if anyone would like. We have several of the cabin.

 

I've booked the same room for the Mex Riviera at the end of the month. I hope they fix the squeaking noise. My kids would love to see some picture of the room layout if that's possible.

 

Whats this perk regarding Cagney's lunch and breakfast?

 

Any other perks with the suite? My first cruise.

[rsohn65820]

I've booked the same room for the Mex Riviera at the end of the month. I hope they fix the squeaking noise. My kids would love to see some picture of the room layout if that's possible.

 

Whats this perk regarding Cagney's lunch and breakfast?

 

Any other perks with the suite? My first cruise.

 

Hi if the cruise you are going on is the one on April 30th we have a great group of people on our roll call. We will be having a meet and greet on board. If you are interested you can get to the roll call by clicking on the link in my signature.

 

To answer your question about Cagney's. One of the perks for suite passengers in that they can dine in Cagney's restaurant for breakfast and lunch. It is a very relaxing place to be able to eat. If you do a search here on Cagney's for suites you will be able to get all kinds of information and someone even posted pictures of the food a while back.

 

Some of the other perks that come with suites is Priority embarkation. There is a special area for suite guests to wait to board and then you will be one of the first ones on board. Also Priority tendering, so in Cabo you can be one of the first ones off the ship. You will also have a butler and concierge. I am sure that there are other things that I am not thinking of right this minute. Someone else may be able to remember any thing I have missed. Also if you do a search on suite perks you will get a lot of information. If you have any other questions I can try to answer just let me know, we have been on the Star twice and will be going again at the end of this month.