Review of NCL Star Alaska 5-30-04

[Luanne]

Keep it coming Deb! . Aren't we terrible rushing you to get pictures up, Freestyle Dailies scanned and reviews written ! You will probably never book first sailing again. Thanks for the info so far.

 

Luanne

 

Norwegian Star June 20,2004

[SweetEmi]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Deb!! Sorry to hear about the Stars and Stripes...not very good planning I guess. Maybe it will all be gone come November...

 

So....the casino is where the disco was?? and the steak house is where??

 

Thanks again!

Emi

 

NCL Star-08/31/03 in Hawaii!

NCL Star-11/13/04 to Mexico!

Alaska summer 2005!

[littleboy]

thank you for the pictures I have booked marked them and have not looked at them yet I am going to copy the review also so if I missed something at the first reading I can catch it the second time. were are the going to post the dayly papers on this site or where your picture are. Everything that I have read so far has been very interesting and very helpfull.

Thank-you for doing this and I again say i will keep looking for more and I know everyone else that is cruiseing thanks you also.

[deb1835]

I am planning to post the dailys on the website I have. I'm testing one out as we speak!

 

STAR gazing in Alaska

 

NCL Star 5/30/04

Carnival Destiny 4/02

[didan]

Deb, Thank you so much for your review. It's so much fun to keep checking back for a new "chapter"! Can't wait for our cruise in August - it seems so far away! Looking forward to the rest of the review and the pictures!

[deb1835]

Dailys will be added to this page:

 

Freestyle Dailys

 

STAR gazing in Alaska

 

NCL Star 5/30/04

Carnival Destiny 4/02

[gsbw]

Thanks for the great reviews of each day.

 

Would you please email me your picture website at mcaruth935@aol.com

 

Thanks

 

Carnival Carnivale 5/87

Carnival Imagination 5/00

Golden Princess 11/02

Carnival Fantasy Christmas cruise 12/03

NCL Star, Alaska and wedding 06/20/04

[pazooter]

Deb - besides the lectures by park rangers, were there any activities that were Alaskan cultural in nature? We are interested in anything about the culture. Thanks in advance.

Cathy

[deb1835]

There were not any other activities that were cultural in nature. I was a little disappointed as I heard the Hawaii cruise had some.

 

STAR gazing in Alaska

 

NCL Star 5/30/04

Carnival Destiny 4/02

[12Cruise]

deb - All I can say is thanks!! I love the way you are posting your review...it makes it so much easier to follow. We specifically picked a ship that was going to Glacier Bay so I am glad that it was such a wonderful experience for you. I've always told my family that if we do nothing else while on this ship we will at least have seen Glacier Bay!

 

Where exactly were they set up to take pictures at?

 

Was there a lot of calving or has it just started?

 

Thanks again and have a great day!

 

12Cruise

 

Norwegian Star 06-27-04

 

 

[Jeannette]

Deb,

Could you send me the link to your photos as well? Thanks!

 

Jiamn2002@yahoo.com

 

NCL Star 8/8/2004

NCL Norway 2002

Carnival Triumph 2000

[deb1835]

If you're out on deck on either side of the ship there will be photographers roaming about. We just happened to be out there taking pictures and looking at the glacier and the photographer asked if we wanted our picture taken in front of it. We had pictures taken another time while we were out there so there was plenty of opportunity. I will scan in the picture tonight.

 

Calving at Margerie is constant. You start to hear a loud roar like thunder then can see the pieces of ice falling down and splashing into the water.

 

STAR gazing in Alaska

 

NCL Star 5/30/04

Carnival Destiny 4/02

[12Cruise]

Another question concerning the glaciers, deb. Is it so bright out there, from the reflection of the ice, that you had to wear your sunglasses to see?

 

Thanks again!

 

12Cruise

 

Norwegian Star 06-27-04

 

 

[littleboy]

Is it just me or was anyone else able to open the freestyle dailys I was able to see only Sun and one other in skagway evening. I know that Deb went to work today so I will have to wait for her to come home. If anyone was able to open anything could you email me them Thans

I found Sun daily very helpfull and interesting.

[deb1835]

12 Cruise, it was rather bright out there and my husband wore his sunglasses. I don't wear them and I was ok.

 

littleboy, I was uploading them this morning and then ran out of time and unfortunatelyhad to go to work! I finish uploading these later this evening and will post when I'm finished.

 

STAR gazing in Alaska

 

NCL Star 5/30/04

Carnival Destiny 4/02

[littleboy]

deb I am just so thankfull that you are doing this for you I hope you don't think I am rushing you I just tryed to opem them and they said I was going something wrong.I just sent your review to someone that is leaving this coming Sun.

[Luanne]

littleboy,
I was able to open one page from Thursday and was disappointed to hear that we have to tender into Ketchikan also. They have a special notice that talks about getting tender tickets.

Luanne

Norwegian Star June 20,2004

[deb1835]

[B]Friday 6/4/04[/B]

We arrived in Ketchikan early in the a.m. as promised. We ordered breakfast sent to the room so that we could get ready and eat at the same time. We decided not to do any tours in Ketchikan as nothing really interested us.

We had went to the library first thing on Thursday morning (9:00 a.m.) and got our tender tickets. We had tender #1, I believe were the first off of the ship after the tours. We arrived on shore about 7:15 a.m. and proceeded straight to Creek Street. The shops were just beginning to open and it was nice to be able to take pictures and look around before the throngs started.

We slowly worked our way back into the downtown area. We did most of our souvenier shopping in Ketchikan. We did notice on several items that we saw in other ports that the prices were at least $2-$5 cheaper.

We grabbed a tender back about 11:30. While we were on the tender, my mother struck up a conversation with the women sitting across from. She was also from FL (like my mother) and my mother told her she was originally from MA. Well, come to find out, this women's sister married my mother's first cousin. She was also originally from the same town that my mother grew up in! This just proves the point that it really is a small world!

We ate lunch at the Blue Lagoon and had fish and chips. They were pretty good (not like our haddock in New England though!) but slightly greasy.

We spent the afternoon milling around the ship and my husband and I entered the slot tournament. Unfortunately, it was a no win situation for us but we had fun anyway and a couple "free" drinks on NCL.

For dinner, we decided to try Aqua for lobster night. We went down to the dining room at exactly 5:30 hoping to beat the rush. This was not to be! The hall and staircase outside of the restaurant was packed. It took about 15 minutes to get, everyone was anxious to get in there and start pounding down the lobster.

We had a nice table with a booth on the back side. I ordered the lobser mousse with caviar, a salad and the lobster. Overall this dinner was a disappointment. The mousse was so-so and the lobster consisted of 3 very small tails. This size lobster would be thrown back in the water in New England. The waiter came over and sliced out the lobster. I was going to try to do this myself but the lobster had a good grip on the shell. Each tail consisted of approx. 2-3 bites (max) of lobster. It was quite tough to chew. Originally, I was going to order more tails but decided against it after eating them.

On the other hand, my husband doe not like lobster and ordered the pork tenderloin stir fry. I tasted a bite of the pork and lo mein noodles and was hooked! I should have order that instead of the lobster. I was saving room for dessert so I decided against ordering it.

We were not that crazy about this dining room and much preferred Versailles. Aqua has a low ceiling making it much louder with all of the conversation going on. I also felt like we were herded in out and to make room for more guests. It probably was just that particular night as people were clamoring for lobster!

We went to the nightly show in the theater, Cirque Asia. All of the performances by this company were enjoyed.

We decided to tun in early, missing our chance to attend the chocoholic buffet. I would have loved to sink my teeth into some of the sweet treats but also hate to see all the chefs hard work destroyed!

STAR gazing in Alaska
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=008080&cdt=2004;5;30;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

NCL Star 5/30/04
Carnival Destiny 4/02

[deb1835]

[B]Saturday 6/5/04[/B]

We ended up going back out into the open ocean on Friday after leaving Ketchikan so I made sure I took my Sea Calm before dinner and made sure I stayed out of the Spinnaker Lounge!

I woke up a couple of times during the night from the rocking (once to push the hangers in the closet so they wouldn't bang together!) I did not feel queasy this time as I think I figured out what was causing it.

We went down to Versailles again for a nice leisurely breakfast and went to the lounge to see if we won the free cruise. A woman who had won the bingo came the day before one the cruise! Some people are so lucky!

We ended up grabbing some food from Blue Lagoon again and ate a late lunch in our room. We wanted to watch the Preakness but it was not on the ESPN channel that we had a the ship. Instead, we watched the sad news stories of Former President Reagon's death.

We went to the Theater at 4:15 to see Jane L. Powell as we had missed her performance earlier in the week. She performed a number of blues songs. She has a good voice but we are not terribly fond of the blues and all the scatting.

My mother informed us early in the afternoon that we would be docking in Victoria later than expected due to bad weather the night before. My mother opted not to go on the excursion as we would not be back until late. We docked at approx. 7:15 and got on the tour bus. It is at least a half hour drive to Butchart Gardens.

The gardens were beautiful! Unfortunately, it started to get dark and there is limited lighting in the gardens so I was not able to get many pictures. We preety much ran through the gardens to take it all in, went to the gift shop, and just as we were getting a hot cup of brew, were informed by NCL tour staff we would have to leave because there was some sort of miscommunication between the gardens and the cruise ships (HAL Amsterdam had docked beside us) and the garden was closing.

The captain had decided to extend the tour time until 1:00 or 1:30 a.m. but there was no point in walking the city at 11:30 at night as I'm sure the only thing open were the night clubs!

We got back on the ship and went to the Farewell BBQ. We had some cold burgers and steak but were too tired and hungry to care! We listened to the Ironics perform for a short while and then went back to the cabin to finish packing and out out our luggage.

STAR gazing in Alaska
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=008080&cdt=2004;5;30;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

NCL Star 5/30/04
Carnival Destiny 4/02

[didan]

Deb, Thank you so much for the very informative review! How was it taking the tenders - I've heard some horror stories about long waits, etc. But it seems you got over in good time. Also, I would appreciate your sending me your web site address to your pictures. My email is [email]djoc13@comcast.net[/email] I can hardly wait for our cruise in August.

[mrtractor]

Deb,

Thanks for taking the time to write this terrific review!! I can't wait for the next installment!!!!!!

MrTractor<------is getting pretty fired up about the 7-25 sailing!!!!.....

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00ffff&cdt=2004;7;23;7;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Till We Head "North to Alaska"

[pazooter]

Deb - thanks for the final installments of your review. You have been so helpful for so many future cruisers, even though you were probably a little melancholy writing it up, now being off the ship. Hope to meet you sometime cruising. Cathy

[Luanne]

Deb,
Thanks so much for the reviews and answering our questions. If you have your pictures posted yet, I would like a link to them. My email is [email]mnlfhuere@charter.net[/email].

Thanks. Luanne

Norwegian Star June 20,2004

[12Cruise]

Deb - Again, thanks so much for taking the time to share with us your cruise to Alaska and your time on the Star. It is greatly appreciated.

12Cruise

Norwegian Star 06-27-04

[alonzo14]

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]Deb: Thanks so much for the last installments. Did the ship stay in Skagway until 8:00p.m. as the itinerary states?