Star review from a 1st timer. Will be long with pics.

[mafig]

That's what I've read on here. I don't think I've read even one post where someone said the lobster was "OK." However, I know DH will still want to go to the main dining room for it. Because we have (luckily) a nice OBC that may be the only night we go to the main dining room also.

 

Oh, and what time did you go to dinner that first night? We'll probably be going AFTER going under the bridge.

[Stickman81]

Very much enjoying your photos included review :) Hubby and I will being doing the same cruise this coming March which will be our first NCL cruise and looking forward to it very much especially since other than Cozumel we have not been to the other ports.

 

Thanks again for sharing, and glad you had a wonderful anniversary on the Star.

 

Thank you!

[Stickman81]

Was lobster on the menu the first night?

 

Yeah - Not real sure about that one.

I'm glad to see that someone else was able to answer your question.

 

Thanks!

[Stickman81]

That's what I've read on here. I don't think I've read even one post where someone said the lobster was "OK." However, I know DH will still want to go to the main dining room for it. Because we have (luckily) a nice OBC that may be the only night we go to the main dining room also.

 

Oh, and what time did you go to dinner that first night? We'll probably be going AFTER going under the bridge.

 

We went to dinner in Aqua on the first night at 1800.

We did miss seeing going under the bridge.

[Stickman81]

DAY 2 –

DAY AT SEA.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011.

While I did not keep too many notes about this day we stayed busy exploring the ship and getting to know where things were at. We were too late to have breakfast in Versailles and went to the “Blue Lagoon” for breakfast. In our opinion, we were a bit underwhelmed with breakfast here as compared to other locations. The food and service was fine, but just not as good as elsewhere on the ship. We had standard breakfast fare. Mine included scrambled eggs and sausage.

After breakfast we walked around the ship and then had lunch in the buffet, “Market Café” on Deck 12. We quickly learned that the buffet is divided between a port and starboard side. We had gone to the port side where two of the three buffet stations were opened. We selected our meal and easily found a table. After eating lunch, I found the starboard side of the buffet. There were a few more different items out for the lunch selection as well as deserts. The starboard side was also more crowded. We found the port side to be less congested during each of our visits to the Market Café.

Our Meet & Greet was scheduled for 1130 in Le Bistro restaurant. There we meet up with some of the other Cruise Critic members that had posted in the Roll Call. It was nice to put faces to screen names and visit with everyone even if only for a brief time. At the Meet & Greet we were introduced to the senior leadership that run the daily operations on-board and, the Captain stopped in to welcome us aboard. What a special treat and a privilege to meet these busy people at a small gathering. We met the Hotel Director, Yannis, the Food and Beverage Director, Vikramraj, the Executive Housekeeper, Hal, the Guest Service manager, Jocel, the Executive Chef, Barrington, the Restaurant Manager, Marek, the Beverage Manager, Aldo and the Group Service Coordinator/Access Officer, Lucille. At the Meet & Greet is where we were advised we would be receiving invitations for the bridge tour on Saturday.

We had dinner reservations in Cagney’s at 1900 and were seated immediately. Again we had prompt and friendly service. Roni and I both ordered the five ounce filet mignon. We are not big eaters and thought this to be a nice sized portion. The food was served quickly and was delicious. The steak was cooked as requested and was piping hot. We had desert and about 1950 and were out a short time later.

Tonight, our first towel animal made its appearance in our cabin. Our cabin attendant, Rona did a wonderful job with everything. I swear there must be some sort of notification system to let housekeeping know when you had left your room. The room was always neat, tidy and clean and we had a full ice bucket in the late afternoon, early evening.

The seas became a bit rougher during the evening. I had seen on the ship’s information channel on television that the seas were up to twelve feet. There were reports that the seas were even greater than that (21 feet) but I cannot confirm. What I do know is that the rolling got worse later in the evening and at one time I thought I might have been rolled out of bed. I never did feel ill and was a bit surprised looking back on it now. Initially we had taken the non-drowsy version of Bonnie. We had taken it on Sunday as well as Monday morning. I am not sure if the Bonnie was still working or if the sea conditions just did not bother me.

View from the balcony on Day 2.

We are on Deck 10, Cabin 10572. Deck 11 above creates an overhang of sorts.

Breakfast in the Blue Lagoon.

Not my most favorite but still fine.

Looking aft from the Bier Garten.

Jogging track looking aft.

Jogging track looking forward.

NCL -

[Stickman81]

A couple more pictures.

Spinnaker Lounge.

[Stickman81]

More pictures from Day 2 at sea.

Light lunch in the Market Cafe buffet.

We thought it was pretty good and, like I said, I'm a bit of a picky eater.

Flourless cake for desert.

Don't know how they make a cake without flour, but it was really good! :D

[Stickman81]

Dinner on the evening of Day 2 was in Cagney's.

We both had the five ounce filet as well as a starter and a desert. You can get more if you like, just ask for it.

 

 

 

 

Our first towel animal of the cruise.

I enjoyed seeing them in the evening upon our return to the cabin.

Important notices and mail sometimes came along with the animal.

In this picture you see our notification to turn our clocks back one hour as we were going into the Central Time Zone.

[shepherdqueen]

I am really enjoying your review. Less than 5 months before we sail!

[Stickman81]

DAY 3 –

ROATAN, HONDURAS.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2011.

We had breakfast in Versailles this morning at about 0830. I had the Eggs Benedict and Roni had fried eggs, bacon and hash browns. Breakfast was good and fast.

WOW – we really enjoyed Roatan. Perhaps because it was our first stop and perhaps it was because we took a ships excursion to Maya Key. Maya Key is a small island just off the shores of Rotan itself. The island was clearly visible from the aft of the ship while we were docked.

This was the only excursion I had booked before we departed on the cruise. I chose this for many reasons but it boiled down to a few main factors. The excursion did not require us to do anything that Roni was not able to do. A car accident one year ago is still causing problems and pain with the compression fracture of Vertebra T-11. Any activities like Zip-line or dune buggy adventures were out of the question. There also was ample shade on the island. Roni has fair complexion and sunburns easily. The transportation back to the ship’s dock was every half hour so we did not feel as though we were stranded on the island until they decided to release us.

We docked on the starboard side of a nice pier. We disembarked through the forward gangway from Deck 4. Disembarkation was a breeze with little waiting. Perhaps it was because we did not need to be first of the ship. To disembark they swiped the room key through the computer. I say room key as I am not quite certain what it should be called. I have heard the term Sea Card or Key Card and may refer to them by any of those names.

Once on the pier we walked a short distance to the aft of the ship where a local greeting committee was playing music and dancing welcoming us to Rotan. Near the aft of the ship were the shore excursion groups. They were easy to find and had clearly printed signage. We found the tour operator for Maya Key and gave him our tickets. At the end of the pier, we loaded onto a nice sized pontoon boat with about twelve other passengers and were quickly on our way. The ride was a short one, lasting only about five minutes to Maya Key. We were greeted warmly and given information about the island and what time lunch would be served. As we started up the pathway to the food and beverage area we passed by two White-capped Pionus parrots on some branches that were affixed to some trees.

We explored the immediate area and then changed into swimwear. We easily found some lounge chairs in the shade on the beach. We stayed long enough to put our feet in the water and lay in the shade and absorb the surroundings. After a short while, we made our way to the area where the food was to be served. They had a very nice selection of food including a grilled chicken, what was supposed to have been grilled fish, but to me it was fried. There was a wonderful rice and bean mix and fried bananas. There was also salad and perhaps another item which I don’t recall at the moment. Lunch was served from about 1100 to 1300. There was plenty of food and it all tasted good. After lunch we explored some more of Maya Key finding the other animals and, walking around the island itself.

Maya Key is a refugee, rehabilitation center and home to several animals that are indigenous to the area. As I mentioned earlier, we saw two White-capped Pionus Parrots when we first arrived at the island. There were also Scarlet Macaws, Military Macaws, Red-Lored and Yellow Naped Amazons and a few other birds that I am not familiar with. There were signs for the Margay and Jaguar but we did not see them. There were Toucans and some monkeys as well.

We headed back to the port at about 1400. We did a little shopping in the port terminal. Roni got jewelry and I got a t-shirt. Come to think of it, she got a t-shirt too.

We were back on-board by about 1530. I watched the sail-away from Deck 7 (Promenade). It was interesting to watch how the ship moved sideways (perpendicular) away from the dock before moving forward.

We went to dinner in Endless Summer at about 1900. We had Taquitos for a starter. This however was not my favorite meal. As I said, I am a bit picky, but not averse to trying new things. I tried the Lobster Tacos. I did not care for all the healthy stuff that came inside the tacos, and, the hard shells they were a bit soft already. I made due with moving both lobster fillings to a tortilla and I was fine with the meal. Roni had “II Popo”. It is seasoned chicken with vegetables cooked on a mini spit-like contraption. They bring this to your table on a separate wheel around cart that has a special hanger for the spit. The meal states that it serves two. We asked specifically for the meal to be for one, as they had offered it this way verbally. When the meal came, we both could have grazed off of it for a few hours. I would hate to see what they consider a meal for two. I tried to help out, but we still ended up leaving food, which, is something I hate to do. This was one of two meals that, in my opinion, had too much food. All the other portion sizes were just right, again, in my opinion.

Norwegian has a system where, if you tell them about it (or perhaps they see the information or your Travel Agent tells them) will help you celebrate special occasions. Although it was not our actual anniversary, we got a wonderful surprise. Several servers came to the table carrying a small cake. Well, it could realistically feed four people. They told me up front that I had to finish the last line. As bad as I detest the idea of someone singing at my table, especially for my birthday, it ended up well with only a little embarrassment on my part.

We were able to see the 2130 showing of “Duo Amaury”, the aerial act. We both enjoyed the show and marveled at the strength and many hours of practice it must take to perform these types of acts.

Pictures in the next post as they are uploading now.

 

[Stickman81]

Roatan and Maya Key -

 

Arriving in Roatan.

 

 

 

 

Maya Key as seen from the Barong Spa.

 

Just behind Maya Key you can see the runway for the airport in Roatan. Aircraft pass right over Maya Key.

Look to the left of the picture and you will see the control tower on the side of the hill.

 

Port area of Roatan as seen from the Barong Spa.

 

Can't help the water on the outside of the windows - sorry.

 

 

[Stickman81]

Breakfast rolls served before breakfast in Versailles.

Roatan - 12.20.2011.

 

 

 

 

Docked in Roatan.

 

 

The Star as seen from the boat going to Maya Key.

You can see some of the life boats from the Star have been deployed.

I never asked why but presume it was for practice or testing.

[Stickman81]

White Capped Pinous Parrot on Maya Key.

Maya Key is home, refuge and rehabilitation center for several indigenous animals.

 

 

Dining area on Maya Key.

 

Pool area on Maya Key.

 

Awesome beach area.

 

Snorkeling is best at the end of the pier.

 

Beach area as seen from the pier.

 

[fergusonvt]

Great review and pics! Looked like awesome weather in Roatan. I can't wait.

[Stickman81]

Maya Key -

12.20.2011.

 

Scarlet Macaws.

 

View of the Star from near the top of Maya Key.

 

Red-Lored Amazons.

 

One of two buildings at the top of Maya Key that house historical information.

 

Lunch as provided by the excursion on Maya Key.

As I said before, I'm a bit picky, but this was good!

 

[Stickman81]

Great review and pics! Looked like awesome weather in Roatan. I can't wait.

 

Thank you.

 

The weather was awesome.

We were lucky as there had been a lot of rain in the area the week before.

[cndycruiser]

THANKS for posting all the pics and the review! Leaving in a little over two weeks and SOOOO excited! Haven't cruised in a few years and so ready for one!

[Stickman81]

Maya Key -

12.2.2011.

 

I took a ton of pictures on Maya Key.

It was gorgeous!

 

 

Walking around Maya Key.

 

Yellow-Napped Amazons.

 

Nice shot -

Great place to be!

 

Military Macaws -

 

 

Aircraft on short final for Roatan.

 

 

[In Toronto]

Wonderful - Keep it coming!!!!!

 

Ellen

[Stickman81]

Last picture post for Maya Key.

 

Walking around Maya Key.

 

On our way back to the port.

 

Back in the port terminal of Roatan.

It was a very nice facility.

 

The wife got jewelry.

I got a Harley shirt.

Wait, come to think of it, she got a shirt too. :confused:

[Stickman81]

Wonderful - Keep it coming!!!!!

 

Ellen

 

Thank you.

Will do.

 

The above is it for today.

Still have lots to do around here.

 

:cool:

[Stickman81]

Okay, so I lied -

Here are a couple more that I could not resist sharing.

 

 

[russianmom]

Great review and photos. I have to wait 11 more months...:(:(

[polySeraph]

WOW – we really enjoyed Roatan. Perhaps because it was our first stop and perhaps it was because we took a ships excursion to Maya Key. Maya Key is a small island just off the shores of Rotan itself. The island was clearly visible from the aft of the ship while we were docked.

 

. . . . We headed back to the port at about 1400. We did a little shopping in the port terminal. Roni got jewelry and I got a t-shirt. Come to think of it, she got a t-shirt too.

 

 

Hi Stickman81! Great review! I really love all the wonderful photos.

 

I have a question about your Maya Key excursion. How long does the excursion last? The description on the NCL site says that the Maya Key excursion lasts around 4 hours, but it sounds like you were there for more than 4 hours. Could you have stayed there for the whole day (if you had wanted to) or do they have fixed times for the excursion to begin and end?

 

Thanks and keep those wonderful photos coming!

[khut]

Okay, so I lied -

Here are a couple more that I could not resist sharing.

 

 

 

REALLY am enjoying your thorough review! We leave in 9 days on the Star and not having been on NCL for MANY years, are excited to try something different and you most certainly are helping with our anticipation of a great cruise!!