Star 4/22/05 Review, Long

[Sunnygirl35]

I hope this can help some of those going to the Mexican Riviera in the fall. This was our sixth cruise, the first with the benefit of this website. Read the boards, ask questions, there is a ton of good info.

CRUISE TIPS: Check out the Barong Spa. There is no charge for the hot tubs, fresh water lap pool, and there are nice loung chairs that look out the rear of the ship. Very nice and relaxing. Don't have film developed on board. The quality is poor. I had my money returned to me. We tried two of the surcharge restaurants. ( Cagney's and Le Bistro) They were both very good. We felt the other dining rooms were of good quality as well. Book excursions on your own. The cruise excursions can be very overpriced and not worth the extra money.

ACA: There was a lot of begging and vendors don't take no for an answer. We went to see the cliff divers. You can easily cab it on your own. It is very close to where the ship is docked. You might want to have dinner at LaTrattoria on this night. It affords a great view of Fort San Diego and you may be able to see some of the light show.

IX/ZHIU: Grab cabs or water taxis. This is a cell for a cab driver named Omar 755-107-8516. He is a local and speaks English very well. He was recommended by another CC. He was off the day we were there but the other cabbies all spoke highly of him. We went to La Ropa beach. We heard that Las Gatas was nice also. At La Ropa you can rent beach chairs for $5 each or free with $5 food or drink order. DO NOT BOOK ZIP LINE TOUR IN IXTAPA There are only three traveses, it is in poor condition and we heard the crew was very rude. A fellow passenger fell through a platform.

PV: This is the place if you want to do the zipline. Book through canopytours-vallarta.com $63 pay on site. We had fifteen traverses, the crew was awesome, and Sylvie will answer any questions if you email her. There is a nice place at the end of the Malecon for shopping. It is called Rio Cuale. Not big stores, just local artisans, souvenier type stuff. It's pretty, shaded,and along the water. We stopped at the Blue Shrimp for the lunch. It was a bit pricey but worth every cent ( or Peso)

CABO: We had a great water taxi guide. His name is Israel and his taxi is Selina. He picked us up when he said he would and speaks English well. We went to Lovers Beach and Medano Beach. Lovers beach is very picturesque but not good for swimming. It's too rough. Medano beach has restaurants on the beach. The Office (restaurant) has tables and chairs under a tent on the beach. Billygans and Mangoes are next door. Free beach chairs and two for one drinks. We checked out Cabo Wabo for lunch. Great burgers!

We had a great time, met fellow cc's and told everyone I met to try this website for their future cruises. Hope this helps.

[camaj]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Star in three weeks. What kind of entertainment did they have onboard?

[Sunnygirl35]

Camaj, We had an awesome magician Shaun Farquar from Canada, Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber, an Elton John imitator, and comedienne. All fairly good.

[johnql]

Camaj, We had an awesome magician Shaun Farquar from Canada, Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber, an Elton John imitator, and comedienne. All fairly good.

I thought the magician was great! He put on two entrancing performances on my sailing back in March. Highly recommended.

[CathyCanada]

We did the Star in Feb. and the best form of entertainment was found in the Cruise Director! He was a hoot!!

 

I thought the food in the regular dining rooms was good, but in the alternative dining rooms, it was outstanding! The only one we didn't do was Cagney's. We took advantage of the specials they had during port days and really enjoyed it.

 

Cathy

[ikajus]

I've been meaning to write a review, but haven't gotten around to it. i actually wrote one on the member reviews page, but who knows what happened to that. I agree with everything you said, and I'm glad you got your money back for your pictures. they were pretty bad. i just hope that they didn't mess up your negatives. hope you're adjusting well to working again. my students are driving me nuts! it truly was a vacation for me.:)

 

to everyone else: you can get some pretty good deals at the spa on sea days. just check the freestyle daily. on port days they give specials (and you can do them even after the ship has left port...good for those 6 hour port stops.) my wife and I got a 25 minute massage and 25 minute facial for $75 each. not bad....compared to the regular priced treatments.

[Wendolyn]

Those are really very good prices- I am a hairstylist, and it would cost more than that in my salon. (And we are a mid-range salon). I am tempted to get these services when we cruise, even though I haven't done so since school! (Nearly 20 years ago). We are cruising with my MIL, and I may surprise her with a spa day.:)

[cabobound]

Hey Sunny Girl - My new husband and I were married on the Star (4/22) before it left port in L.A. Our room was wonderful, I love the new bathroom set-up and the two housekeepers who took care of us (Chris & Lea) went above & beyond anyone else on the ship except for maybe Heidi in the Pub Room Lounge. These are wonderful people who truly do their best and deserve a good tip. We didn't really care for the tipping procedure.....we like tipping people whom we have come to know, depend on and rely on, that is why you tip not because they happen to be on the same ship and did feel that NCL nickels & dimes people to DEATH. Look at your room card receipts....there is already a gratuity taken at that time, then the $10 pp-per day thing and finally we WANT to tip people who really deserve it. Thought NCL was a little cheap with things like water & soda charges and they seemed to give less quality service on all counts the longer the cruise went on. Too bad. I agree with your take on the excursions, research for yourself and then decide (PV horseback ride.....so horrible that it is the sole reason we will not cruise with NCL again).