Star 01/20/2013 review

[epaul78]

Hi I’m Melissa, posting under my husband’s handle. This is my trip journal from our recent NCL Star Cruise Sailing January 20, 2013. We have been longtime Cruise Critic lurkers but don’t post very often. I have to say the tips that we have picked up from everyone here were invaluable in planning this vacation. We enjoy good food and wine, but I wouldn’t say that we are overly picky. For this trip we decided that we would eat in every specialty restaurant on the Star, unfortunately since we didn’t have the opportunity to eat in the main dining rooms this trip, I can’t offer a comparison there, but I can give an overview of what we did experience. We are a huge fan of the NCL Specialty Restaurants. Even though they carry a small cover charge, we believe they are a great value and when you spend a couple thousand dollars for a cruise, what’s another couple hundred for a week long of truly memorable dining experiences without the crowds.

 

 

Other disclaimer, I am not a photographer, so while I offer some snapshots, I realize that they are not super awesome but bear in mind they were taken on a pocket camera and have had minimal, if any, editing. Also this is strictly a reflection of our personal experience; we were in a family suite (SJ) which has a few “perks” that are different from the “regular” staterooms. I’m including some of the beginning and end of the vacation and our time in NOLA but will try to keep that brief…

We live in Eastern Washington (State) and will need to fly out of Seattle, which is a bit over a two hour drive for us. Along the way we will drop off our neurotic dog at the kennel for his vacation. When we get to New Orleans we plan to stay at the Worldmark (timeshare) property located on St. Charles Avenue. We allowed plenty of wiggle room for travel snafus on the front side of the trip since stuff happens and we don’t want to miss the boat!

 

 

 

The itinerary includes two sea days; Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Roatan Bay Islands, Honduras; and Cozumel, Mexico.

 

 

 

I told Eric recently that one of the things I like best about cruising is that it is a true vacation for me. Usually when we travel if we stay at the timeshare or go camping I still end up cooking and cleaning. Also since the children enjoy the kids programs we get to have a family vacation and still have time to relax and reconnect with each other and do some grown up things too. I can’t take much credit for what is promising to be a great trip though. My role is that of the rubber stamper. I like to look at the reviews and cruise critic, but mostly I leave the research up to Eric, he is such a planner! Then when he has it mostly figured out, I give the proposed plan(s) the stamp of approval – I get the pleasure of the anticipation without the work of sifting through the many options and he enjoys the research part of things.

 

January 18 – Long day of travel today. Last night we stayed in Seattle and caught an early flight out. I am so glad that we did since the first flight leaving was delayed and I would have been so stressed if we were trying to make the ship today. We arrived NOLA at about 5:45 pm local time, our luggage somehow beat us here and it looks like everything arrived in one piece (I was worried about the wine). Eric arranged for “a car” from Airport Limousine, which we thought would be a regular town car but Carson was so excited when it turned out to be a limousine! Of course we hit week day rush hour traffic and it took about an hour to get to the apartment from the airport so it was nice to have some room to spread out and be comfortable after a long day of cramped airplanes. Not a bad tour of NOLA for $81 including tip.

 

 

 

We got all checked in at the timeshare, it has the feeling of a little French apartment, unfortunately the kids have to sleep together on the fold out sofa, but it’s only for a couple nights.

 

 

 

 

This is a shot from the unit's roof top terrace.

 

 

 

The kids are so wound up and excited. We walked down to Copeland’s Cheesecake Factory (I had crawfish ravioli, it was very rich and a huge portion. Eric had parmesan crusted chicken. Carson, my picky eater, ordered pasta off the kids menu which was a total deal at $3.95, except Justin’s order of popcorn shrimp was mostly French fries with a few shrimp and nobody’s meal came with any fruit, salad, or vegetable. We shared some cheesecake as well.) Overall the food was pretty good, but the service left a lot to be desired.

 

 

 

 

 

January 19 – (Saturday) We headed down to the river area via street car and bus ride for beignets and coffee at Café Dumond.

 

 

 

 

An all day bus/trolley pass was only $3 per person (you need to have exact change) and seemed like a good deal. I did notice that the tourists tend to take the trolley and the locals ride the bus, and it is easy to see why, the buses, while lacking the cute factor of the street cars, were much more efficient.

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed wandering around until the WWII museum opened. My 8 year old, Justin, is an airplane fanatic and is especially enamored of the old WWII fighters, so he and Eric went to the museum and Carson and I walked over to the LA State Children’s Museum on Julia Street. It is a reciprocal of the Museums of Science and Industry (along with the Museum of Flight in Seattle, OMSI, in Portland, and several others), so admission was FREE and Carson and I had a great time there. Later on we rendezvoused with Eric and Justin who proclaimed the WWII museum and especially the 4-D movie presentation to be “awesome”! Then we headed over to the French Quarter and ended up eating at Bubba Gumps for lunch because the Quarter is already in full Mardi Gras/ Superbowl swing and it isn’t the most kid-friendly environment right now. One thing that we especially liked about NOLA was spotting the Superbowl footballs all over town. Each one is painted differently and has status about the games that have been hosted in NOLA.

 

More to come.....

[kwbound]

Excellent start. I'm excited to read more. We will be boarding the Star on 2/24.

[Freebythesea]

You have me on the edge of my seat! We are doing the same cruise in March and we live in Seattle! We are only coming a day early but we are staying for 3 days after the cruise. Looking forward for more. Your pics a sweet as are your children.

[epaul78]

January 20 – Embarkation Day! We grabbed breakfast at The Trolley Stop, a little diner down the street from us and had a great breakfast. The grits were amazing! We left the apartment at the appointed check out time of 10:00 and decided to go to the cruise terminal, even thought it was a bit on the early side, we had a lot of luggage and nowhere to put it. We got a ride with Mr. Charles in his big black suburban and he delivered us promptly to the doors that we needed to go to and to the gentlemen who were waiting to take out luggage off our hands. I was a bit worried about the crazy terminal factor, but we got into the right line, had our paperwork looked at and then we breezed through security, signed for the corkage fees ($15/each) for our 3 bottles of wine and then we were sent to the “VIP” seating area to wait for ticketing to open. It is good to be early!

When ticketing did open we were escorted to a ticketing agent to get all checked in, after that, the ticketing agent walked us over to the VIP Lounge to wait for our key cards and for boarding. There were some canapés, desserts, coffee, tea, and juice and a chance to relax and review the first daily.

 

 

 

 

David, the ship’s concierge, issued our key cards and then when it was time to board we were escorted to the ship by one of the butlers. Justin especially was excited to be one of the first (and possibly even The First) to board.

 

 

 

 

 

They took us directly to Cagney’s for lunch, even though we’d already had a good breakfast and snacking in the Lounge, somehow we managed to find room for more food. I ordered the flounder (sort of like fish and chips), Justin had a burger, Eric the French dip, and Carson (my picky eater) had plain pasta with butter and cheese, even though it wasn’t on the menu, we quickly discovered that no matter what the request, the excellent wait staff at Cagney’s will make it happen.

 

 

 

After lunch we went to get signed up for the kids program and had a tour of their area. Our room was ready very early so we were able to check out the family suite. This is going to be so much better for the 4 of us than the tiny inside room we had on the NCL Sky last time. There is a bathtub in the bathroom even! And most importantly, no one has to share a bed with Justin-the-sleep-thrasher or Carson, Mr. 5 a.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a great view out the window of our room and a bottle of champagne to enjoy with it. They have the football game on a big screen in the Main Atrium too, so we can keep tabs on the playoffs.

 

 

Soon we were saying goodbye to New Orleans and making our way down the Mississippi River. I always love the sail away party and I did have the drink special, but opted out of the take home glass. As soon as the luggage was delivered, Eric took the boys swimming; they couldn’t wait to test out all the different water slides. This was a good chance for me to unpack – plenty of room to actually put everything away too, we brought a lot of gear for the different activities that we have planned and I’m glad for a place to store it all.

 

 

 

 

The kids were looking forward to the Kids Club. As it turned out, they only had a few children signed up and they ended up combining two age groups- I think it ended up being a total of about 15 kids in the 6-12 group. We let the kids have dinner from the buffet, which they liked, then Eric and I went to La Cuchina for dinner.

 

 

 

The first night they had a special for a complementary bottle of wine with dinner – Tisdale Merlot, which we have had before, it was drinkable but not particularly noteworthy. The lobster linguini was so, so good. Eric had chicken parmesan which was also delicious. I wanted to come back so we could experience more of the menu. It seemed like the main dining room was pretty crowded (lobster night and all), but La Cuchina had several empty tables and my lobster entrée and free wine were great.

 

 

The kids were having a great time when we popped in to check on them, so we let them stay to play a while longer and meandered around the ship some more to get oriented.

[epaul78]

January 21 – Suite Life at Sea – I am loving the Lavazza espresso machine in our room. I asked Made, our butler, to clear the mini bar so we would have room for some milk in the refrigerator and it is great to wake up to a latte exactly the way I like it right in the stateroom. The other thing that is also a nice touch I think is the dial outside the room that we can turn to let Errol, our steward, know what’s going on so he doesn’t have to bug us.

 

 

When we leave in the morning we turn it to “Make up room”, when we leave for the evening we turn it for “Turn Down” to have the beds put out for the kids, and then we set “Do not disturb” when we want privacy. I think this is a great idea, much better than the little door hanger things.

 

 

 

 

 

I accidentally goosed myself with cold water in the shower this morning! That was a bit of a wake up! There are two showerheads in the shower, one is a rainshower and the other is a wand, but the selector is a little tricky, and I somehow switched it from rainshower to the want and got a blast of cold water right on my belly – yikes! Eric said he did the same thing. I’ll bet we don’t make that mistake a second time. The water in the shower is hot – enough. I would like to be able to get it just a smidge hotter though. On the plus side, we don’t seem to have an issue with a steamy bathroom, even though the water is hot enough to get a steamy shower, so that’s a plus.

 

 

 

One other gripe this morning is the hairdryer. It is in a drawer in the main room and at first I thought the cord must have somehow gotten back behind the drawer and become stuck. It took me a few minutes of tugging on it to realize that it is actually hardwired behind the drawer. My hair is pretty long and the only way to use the hairdryer on all my hair is to sit in the chair right next to the drawer and even then I can’t quite extend my arm far enough because the cord is a bit short. Not a big deal, mostly just annoying. However I would rather have this set up that one of those skimpy small wall mounted ones, those always suck my hair in the back, at least this is a good hairdryer and it doesn’t take up an outlet (we have 2 “regular” two prongers on our bar).

 

 

We went to Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch both today. I really enjoyed the crab cakes benedict especially since the poached eggs were not under or over cooked, they were exactly the right amount of runny. The French toast was also a hit. We had French press coffee and there is a continental buffet as well with juice, fruit, pastries, cereal, cheeses, and smoked meats. Carson had his morning specialty, a plain waffle with peanut butter and syrup. Breakfast only took about 20 minutes, even with table service, so that was fantastic. Lunch was about the same- good food, quickly served, in a relaxing and quiet atmosphere. And the carrot cake was very tasty.

 

 

 

I always say I’m going to go easy on the first night of a cruise and I always over-do it! Too much to eat, too much to drink, and then a sea day! At least it is smooth sailing. The kids tested out all the slides and pools again and we went to the magic show and the cruise critic gathering and signed up for the bridge tour. It was sort of a laid back day for us, but enjoyable nonetheless. In the evening, the boys refused to leave the kids room because of Hollywood Night so we had an intimate Teppanyaki dinner. There were only 6 of us and it was a great show and meal – one that I would highly recommend and would do again! Unfortunately I forgot the camera! After dinner we went to a VIP reception in the Spinnaker with the captain and crew and then called it an early night.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[camz]

Great review! Looking forward to what comes next.

[Lena B]

Thanks for the great review! We leave in less than 2 weeks now - I can't wait to hear the rest!

[horseymike]

hi Melissa. thanks for your review. Do you think the divider in your stateroom

would be strong enough to block out a snoring cabinmate on the other side of the divider?:confused: Thanks

[canehdn]

your review. Looks like you had a great time. Good pictures and your little guys are adorable. Looking forward to the rest of the review. Thanks for sharing your experience and photos.

 

Cdn in KS

[SMSACE6]

Im enjoying your review very much. I have been to New Orleans several times, but all more than 10 years ago. It has always been my plan to take a cruise out of New Orleans some day.

 

Looking forward to more of your review. Thanks for posting it.:)

[valleyvillage]

LOVING this! Thanks for the memories. Your boys are aaahsome!:D

[Love my butler]

Have enjoyed Made as our butler in the past. He is fantastic.

[epaul78]

HORSEYMIKE....I think the divider would help but is far from sound proof. The solid part of the divider only extends out about 6 feet or so from the wall.

[epaul78]

January 22 – Costa Maya, Mexico. – Our room is so quiet, we all slept pretty well. Cagney’s for breakfast again. The service as always was fantastic and no problem with Carson’s special waffle order, in fact, so far anytime I have asked for anything the response has always been, “of course!” they even brought the kids hot chocolate. Yesterday was cool and breezy but the weather warmed up a bit today, although there was a little rain in the morning, it wasn’t cold.

 

 

 

We received a card in our room for priority disembarkation, so far I really like the way that we have been able to avoid the crowds, between the amazing check in experience and the ability to eat at Cagney’s at our convenience and always be able to get a table, and not having to get into a long line just to get off the ship, I really feel the value of the extra cost associated with our stateroom. Eric and I really dislike crowds and the kids get tired of looking at butts all the time. Our concierge, David, can ease the way if given the opportunity, as with the priority disembarkation.

 

 

 

Eric arranged for us to go to Maya Chan today. It was a bit of a thrill ride to get there, but we just took it as part of the adventure. Getting out away from the cruise ship terminal really gives one a better feeling for the place. Driving around on these horrible roads and looking at some of the huts with cisterns on the roof for fresh water really highlights the economic disparity between our standard of living and that of the local community. Although I did notice that even with the extreme poverty quite a few of the huts had satellite dishes rigged on top of their palm leaf roofs. Still it made me mindful of my own good fortune.

 

 

 

Maya Chan was like visiting family. The guacamole totally lived up to the hype and our palapa area was very comfortable.

 

 

 

 

 

I had a great massage for only $35. And at the end, as I was laying on the table facedown and sort of dreading the fact that it was over I lifted my head up and saw palm trees and beach and calm blue ocean, so it wasn’t so bad! There was a little wedding at Maya Chan and we got to watch the couple take their vows under a billowing canopy. Carson had a blast playing in the sand, splashing in the shallows, and throwing the football around with his dad. Eric and Justin went snorkeling close to the shore – apparently the reef is a short kayak trip out, but they decided to stay nearby. I went out too and while the water wasn’t crystal clear I found myself surrounded by a current of small silvery white fish. They keep the beach area at Maya Chan very nice, but driving in and snorkeling in the grass you can sure tell that you’re in Mexico, lots of garbage in the water and on the shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were showers and a bathroom to get the ocean water off and lots of recreational gear available to use. We had a lot of fun just hanging out at “Uncle Mark’s” it was very casual and relaxed. The food was unbelievable and very authentic and the drinks kept on coming. I even had a “drunk Dairy Queen” with Oreo cookies and I don’t know what all else was in it. In the afternoon it started to get a bit overcast and windy and just as we were starting to think about heading back it was announced that a van was coming if we wanted to go on it. That turned out to be perfect timing, we had just enough time to browse around the port area a bit and see the dolphins before it started to rain.

 

 

 

We made it back to the ship and everyone got cleaned up – I even took a bath in the bathtub because, well, it was there. The water in the tub is a lot hotter than in the shower and I used the jar of bath salts too and had a relaxing time. We were so full from lunch that we had David, our concierge, move our dinner reservations around and skipped dinner. I did find a new favorite cocktail and Eric won some money in the casino – he always wins and I have horrible luck, so I just parked myself at a penny slot so not spoil his mojo. We caught Second City, there were some funny bits, but overall we thought it was just okay. The kids were having a super time at the Super Hero party in the kids room and were mad when it was time to come out.

 

 

 

Did I mention that the Star is a magic ship? Well it must be! That or our butler has our stateroom bugged.

 

 

 

Last night I said aloud that I wished I had some brie. It was sort of late (for us, notice that I don’t talk about the night club at all?) and I didn’t want it enough to go looking for it, but I was sort of in the mood for some Brie and said as much to Eric. Well tonight, *poof* brie in our stateroom, along with replenished fruit in our fruit bowl and cookies, and some other goodies. Every night Made brings us something special.

 

 

 

Sometimes we pick up a drink and wander around with it, yesterday we ended up with empty wine glasses in our room after the cocktail party. Between that and the bottles of wine that we have sitting out… *poof* a set of stemware has appeared. If we want to enjoy our own wine I guess we can now that we don’t have to drink out of a water glass or straight from the bottle. Just like magic.

[Toola99709]

Thanks so much for the details and wonderful pics. We leave on the 24th. It was -48 here this week and I can't think of anything else. Toola:D

[epaul78]

January 23 – Belize City, Belize. We have a full day excursion in Belize today so we arranged for room service in our room at 7:00. This way we have a little more time to get ready. Made was very prompt with breakfast and he came in and set a lovely table including linens and cutlery. Everything was hot a tasty.

 

 

We booked the river and Lamanai ruins excursion through NCL for today in large part because of the tendering issue. I found it interesting that here the tender service is provided by a vendor from the port and not by the ship's tenders. We had to meet at 7:45 in the Stardust Theater and then follow the usual process of organized chaos to get off the ship. (Too early for priority disembarkation today.) There were 2 other ships in port with us, all using tenders arriving at the same dock. There was the usual “photo op” at the end of the dock but because everyone was funneled to the same place it caused quite a bottleneck. Oh and it was raining too.

 

 

 

We found the guy holding the sign for Lamanai River & Ruins easily enough, then we had to stand around and wait for some more people, all the while different groups were coming through our line and trying to get around to get in the shops and out of the rain. Then we were led to a different area to stand around to wait to get on a bus. (oh David, where are you now?)

Finally on the bus and on our way, we had some interesting commentary about Belize the country and the people from our local tour guide Bernard. I didn’t know that there are actually two Amish communities in Belize that provide goods to the rest of the people and there is an abundance of local produce, meat, coffee, cashews, and many, many different ways to make alcohol out of almost anything. There is mandatory education through 8th grade, something the Beliezans are very proud of, and there is also a national healthcare system but no form of welfare. It was a long-ish drive, Justin and Carson did pretty well, and Eric and I liked looking at everything out the windows and listening to Bernard speak about his country.

 

 

 

We arrived at the boat landing, along with 4 other big busses! They had some drinks and snacks set up but we were all still full from breakfast. The bathroom setup was completely insufficient for the number of groups that they had, it was at least a 20 minute wait just for the opportunity to pee. When it was time to board the riverboat we were delayed because some of our group were still in or waiting for the restroom.

 

 

 

It was a long, wet, and windy boat ride to the ruins. There were lots of other boats there. I was a bit disappointed to learn that we were expected to stay with our group the whole time – no exploring solo. Also there was no group identification other than looking for Bernard or our other guide, Captain, so that was a bit confusing when we would get our people mixed in with other people.

 

 

 

 

Again we found the facility not equipped for the volume of people and a huge, huge line at the restrooms leaving no time to look in the museum or look at anything before the group was ushered off to the ruins.

 

 

 

 

The ruins were really neat. It is about a mile, maybe a little more, of hiking to see the different areas. Unfortunately a lot of people were not prepared for hiking or for rain. It rained most of the time. There were cheap plastic ponchos available to purchase but no solutions for folks who picked the wrong excursion to begin with. If you have a cane, a walker, or any kind of foot or leg problems, this is not the trip for you! Especially not in the rain! The paths, while not strenuous, is rocky with lots of roots and today it was also wet and muddy, so those cute little wedge sandals are probably not a good choice of footwear, even shoes and socks are bad because, as Eric found, they got soaked through. I had my Tevas and they were great for this but I found some of the rocks to be quite slippery, especially climbing on them. The ruins and jungle were quite interesting, Captain’s theory about aliens, not so much. I wish we had more time for the museum or information about the ruins on the bus ride to have a better appreciation for what we were seeing. If I had it to do over I would have done some advance reading. It must be a challenging tour to try to operate given the time constraints.

 

 

 

 

 

We never did get the chance to see the museum, or the bathroom again before we were back on the riverboats. Then it was full throttle on the ride back. Unfortunately this rush, rush, rush, combined with the stand in line and wait, wait, wait made for a frustrating experience. Also the speed boat ride, while it would probably be fine on a nice day was cold, wet, and miserable. A few times the driver slowed up a bit and everyone had a chance to sit up and look around at the jungle and get a break from the wind and water and then it was okay. Maybe instead of being in such a hurry to get everyone back to the dock for lunch (and presumably the opportunity to buy some drinks and a souvenir) a sack lunch and a slower cruise down the river would be better and something to be enjoyed rather than endured.

 

 

 

 

It was already 2:30 when we got back for “lunch” (and we have an early dinner reservation). Justin and Carson were such troopers, they never complained once, but it is getting late and we are all cold and damp and just done with the crowds and the whole thing. Bernard wouldn’t let us leave on an earlier bus (I asked twice to go) and we were forced to wait for everyone to stand in line to go through the buffet and then eat their food and get on the bus before we could go. (David? A little help here? Please?) Once we finally got on and off the bus then we had to go wait in line at the pier to get on the tender.

 

 

 

In all, it wasn’t a bad day, but too much waiting in line and waiting around and not enough history and hiking. The boys were champs and they were hungry champs ready for some hot food and a warm bath when we got back on board. We got cleaned up and then they ate from the buffet and were excited to play at kids club.

 

 

 

Eric and I had dinner at LeBistro. He had the onion soup which I got to taste too (natch) and it was very flavorful and delicious, and also pork tenderloin with apple and sweet potato (I don’t recall the French name on the menu for it) and a chocolate napoleon. I ordered escargot, which usually gives me indigestion but I like so I eat it anyway, and a salad with candied walnuts and smoked duck, then the bouf with what I could best describe as a steak with mushroom gravy and a beautiful scalloped potato and the most awesome crème brulee. We brought our own wine to dinner. The service was fabulous and our waiter was especially personable. (And I didn’t even have indigestion after all.)

 

 

We were all tired and it was so nice to go back to a beautiful, comfortable stateroom after a yummy dinner. Errol our steward does such a great job, his are some of the invisible (or nearly) hands that make the Star so magical. Leave the room, turn the dial by the door and *poof* perfect fresh room waiting for our return.

 

 

 

[epaul78]

January 24 – Roatan, Honduras. – We awoke to rainy skies this morning and were having second thoughts about the “Beach Break” excursion to Tabyana. Unfortunately the 48 hour cancellation policy for ship excursions means that we pay whether we play or not. So even though it was raining we decided to go ahead.

 

 

 

Had breakfast at Cagney’s again. I can’t get over the excellent service. The staff know us now, greet us by name, know how we take our coffee and what the kids like to eat, and are always so friendly and pleasant. Justin had two helpings of the challah French toast today and the banana walnut pancakes are also very yum. Later I was glad for the substantial breakfast since lunch was not great.

 

 

 

We had an easy meet up for the excursion. This port is very pretty and the water is very clear. I could stand at the dock and see fish swimming all around just right there. The vendors were friendly but not pushy which I liked too. Sometimes “The Walk” off the ship to the transportation area is a bit much because the different vendors are so aggressive and take advantage of the unwillingness of the cruise passengers to be rude. That wasn’t my experience at Roatan.

 

 

 

It was a comfortable ride to Tabyana, again one of my favorite parts of the excursion was the chance to see a bit of the countryside and the people who live here. It was raining when we arrived at Tabyana, we headed right down to the water and Justin and Carson were excited to see the trampoline out in the water with a giant slide and obstacle course – then we found out it was $10 each to play on. Right then I figured out that Tabyana is no Maya Chan! The snorkeling was very good though. I am glad we brought our own gear and we enjoyed the water in spite of the rain.

 

 

 

 

The snorkeling was just awesome. We didn’t have to go very far out at all and the reef was right there. I went out solo quite a way and was floating on my back trying to sort out a camera problem and one of the guides doing the snorkel groups checked on me, so even though the large groups were a bit annoying to encounter sometimes (look up once in a while, people!) at least they did keep a bit of an eye out for the other swimmers.

 

 

I didn’t like all the hawkers on the “private” beach trying to sell stuff. And they wouldn’t go away. No I don’t want my hair braided (we’d be here all day), don’t want to buy a shell, don’t need earrings, don’t need to rent any equipment, don’t need a bracelet, or an ice cream, or anything but to be left alone! I also didn’t like the constant pressure to tip – tip your driver, tip the lunch workers, even a basket in the bathroom for tips! I sort of thought that for the price of coming – about $220 for 4 of us, that the staff would be compensated. Molino, the guardian of our section of beach chairs, watched our stuff, answered questions, even covered our gear with an umbrella so our towels didn’t get soaked, so I had no problem tipping him, and he didn’t solicit a gratuity.

 

 

There was a little break in the rain around lunchtime and there were hot dogs and some fruit and stuff to eat. It was “fine” but again I guess we just got totally spoiled at Maya Chan, the food there was so good. Then again I wouldn’t have wanted to be eating iguana and I didn’t get a chance to try any of the local cuisine, except for a weird melon that was sort of a dark pink color but tasted a little bit like dirty socks and cantaloupe. It started raining again, so we decided to grab one of the regularly running shuttles back to the port. It was a bumpy ride since the roads aren’t in great shape, but we enjoyed the scenery.

 

 

Back aboard the Star, we went swimming and got cleaned up and the boys went in for Port Play while Eric and I went back out to poke around and do some shopping. Chatted a bit with the gal at the Rotary booth in port about their efforts to help the local people, also purchased some Honduran coffee and cigars and some locally made souvenirs.

 

 

 

We went back aboard for sail away with cocktails on deck before our dinner reservation at Cagney’s.

 

 

Mmmm Cagney’s. I should just eat every meal there. Dinner was unbelievable. I did filet mignon with lobster and it was completely perfect. In fact, the meat was so tender I said to Eric that I could probably cut it with a butter knife. Then I DID cut it with a butter knife. Then, just to see, I successfully used the side of my fork to cut the meat– it was THAT melt in your mouth tender.

 

 

 

After dinner we went to a wine and cheese art reception. We had a bottle of our own wine with dinner so didn’t need any wine or cheese, but it was very interesting to learn more about the art that we see all over the ship and about the different artists. It is clear that the gallery staff are very passionate about what they do and love to share their knowledge. Eric and I don’t agree on art or light fixtures, but we did agree that we can’t afford to take home a Chevall even if we both loved it.

 

 

 

Yesterday we were down at guest services and Eric wanted to get a copy of our charges, while we were there I noticed a “Tell Yanis” box and decided to drop him (the hotel director) a note to compliment our room and service. I also mentioned the cord on the hairdryer is a little short – just as an FYI, I expected nothing of it but when we went back to the room today, *poof* I had a new hairdryer with a plenty long cord and it was wired to one of the European outlets so it didn’t take up a plug! Yay! Even if the butler does have our room bugged, I don’t think I complained out loud and they’re not mind readers – they can’t fix something if they don’t know that it is a problem. Not everyone has really long hair so it probably isn’t even an issue for most people, and it wasn’t even a problem so much as a minor annoyance, well, not annoyed anymore, Thank You Yanis!

 

 

 

Whatever the issue is, they can’t fix it if you don’t speak up! We also received a courtesy call from guest services today enquiring about our satisfaction, at this point, I have nothing but good things to say about the ship and her crew.

 

 

 

We are also really enjoying an afternoon cappuccino in our stateroom. At some point the magic ship noticed I like sweetener in my coffee so along with the milk in the refrigerator there was *poof* a container of sweeteners so I don’t have to raid from the restaurants.

 

Our steward also left one of our most favorite towel animals of the trip.

 

[epaul78]

January 25 – Cozumel, Mexico – A little rain this morning as we were pulling into port. Are we ever going to have sunshine? I must have asked out loud because the Star worked her magic and the skies cleared and it did end up being a beautiful, sunny day. But not before I had obtained an umbrella from David, which also served the useful purpose of fending off the overzealous street hawkers that we would encounter in port.

 

 

 

Eric and I went out on our own today. The boys wanted to do Port Play and we promised to come back to check on them at lunchtime. We were on the hunt for good quality tequila and some non fake, non Cuban cigars. We liked browsing around in the shops, “almost free today!” but we were not having much success on our mission. I got to chatting with a Canadian expat who steered us to Blue Agave where Eric got to taste several different kinds of tequila. The proprietress told us incorrectly that we could bring back 2 liters of alcohol duty free per person (nope, 1), but was otherwise very knowledgeable about her inventory. The tasting was free and everything was clearly priced and “haggle free”.

 

 

 

We were back at the ship for lunch – nothing was going to beat Maya Chan, and we have a lot of authentic Mexican food at home, so we ended up eating by the pool and hanging out with the boys for the rest of the afternoon. I had a rum concoction in a pineapple that was very yum.

The Star and the Dawn were parked at the same pier and it was party time in the late afternoon. Crews were lined up from both ships having a dance off and it was great fun to watch.

 

 

 

 

We fed the kids at the buffet again – we always gave them the choice and they always just wanted the buffet followed by kids club. Tonight we ran into our favorite waitress from Cagney’s, Talimenia, at the buffet and she noticed that Justin was not liking his pizza so she had a special one made up for him with pineapple and olives, just the way he likes it! We sure weren’t expecting service like that at The Market Café. Earlier in the cruise I did ask one of the chefs for some peanut butter for Carson, it was not a problem (it never is) and he went to some trouble to track down a bowl for us to have for Mr. Picky.

 

 

 

In the evening we enjoyed the sunset, cocktails, and sail away. Later, we dined at Ginza. We thought it was just okay, it probably didn’t help that we were looking into the Teppanyaki room at what we weren’t eating! I want Teppanyaki! I did order a la carte from the sushi bar and that was good, my entrée was in sort of an odd gelatinous gravy sauce and I didn’t particularly care for it. Everything was served family style, so Ginza would probably be a lot more fun to do with a group of people so that everyone could pass around and share. This is the one specialty restaurant on the Star that I believe is overpriced. For what you get, I believe $5-$10/person would be more fitting and would attract more diners. We skipped dessert in favor of the Chocoholic Buffet.

 

 

 

 

Once a week the crew sets up a chocolate buffet that spans one entire side of the Market Café. This is a highly anticipated event and draws a huge crowd. We got a sneak peek into Candyland by invitation from David and were able to see the artistic confectionary creations of the culinary crew. The ice sculptures were amazing as well. Unfortunately we were on a tight schedule to catch Shark Bait but it was enough time to take it all in and even sample some of the goodies, but not so long that I could gorge myself – a real possibility in the face of all that deliciousness.

 

 

So we hustled off to the theater and ran into David (again). “That guy must have some kind of portal to get around the ship like that!” Eric exclaimed.

 

 

Shark Bait was great, we really enjoyed their show. And back in the state room later we found the evening treat – chocolates! Justin attacked them before I could get the camera out though.

[epaul78]

January 26 – At Sea – The last day is always bittersweet. Justin is sort of cranky today, I think the kids are tired. Carson wanted to go to kids club and Justin decided to tag along with us on the bridge tour. It was very interesting, but the highlight had to be getting to see a whale! Afterwards we had a bit of an impromptu cabin crawl – I got to meet our neighbors in the suite next door and see the mirror image of our stateroom. I also asked them if they could hear us (I worry that the kids are too loud) but they said they hadn’t. We also got to check out some of the other cabins.

 

 

 

 

One thing I did wonder about at first was why the outdoor jogging track isn’t open until 8 am (not that I actually wanted to jog! Ha ha), but I could see people out running and weaving around the deck chairs and I wondered (aloud) why isn’t that running track open yet? Well then we were on deck 12 aft one morning just after 9:00 waiting for the boys who were in the restroom and I heard: thud, Thud, Thud, THUD, THUD coming from the ceiling. What is that? Ahhh, jogging track! So glad I don’t have a room under that!

 

 

We spent some time today sorting out our paperwork, filling out comment cards for our Vacation Heroes and figuring out tips.

 

 

 

In the afternoon, the kids put on a circus, unfortunately there weren’t enough children to do it in the theater so a few of them performed some tricks by the pool. They were great! And because the sun was shining and there were a lot of people out, they actually probably had a bigger audience than they might have had in the theater.

 

 

When we went to get the kids for dinner, it was obvious that they were feeling tired, they had been watching a movie and both Justin and Carson had that “glazed” look. Carson said he missed Mommy. We decided to have them eat with us in the restaurant for dinner, the reservations extension was busy, but a quick call to David sorted that right out.

 

 

 

Moderno is the “Brazilian Steakhouse” and it is a very different type of meal. You have a salad bar, and there are both familiar and unusual offerings on it, for example there were different hard salamis – like pepperoni and there was a spicy melon salad, but there was also a cheese plate with brie on it (possibly the ship’s magic offering to me, but I don’t think there’s a lot of brie in Brazil…) and mozzarella, tomato, and basil together. Then instead of ordering an entree, the servers come to your table with giant spears of meat and cut chunks off for your plate. There are sides – rice, potatoes, fried banana, and beans served family style, and a couple of sauces. Dessert is ordered regularly off the menu. There are color coded cards on the table and if you want more you have you card to green and if you don’t you put your card to red – in theory, it seems like the servers came by no matter what color the card said.

 

 

 

It is a neat concept in that you can try everything on the menu, which I like, because I always get food envy over what someone else orders, even if I love my own dish. Eric is pretty used to this by now and offers up a forkful of what he has most of the time. The downside is that the walking rack of meat might not be what you expect. I had a hunk of very garlicky meat and a bit of steak that was quite rare for me. The other thing with this style is that the meat doesn’t stay hot when they’re walking it around; also the pacing of the meal is set by the parade of meats and not by the diners. It was not a good choice for us with two tired kiddos and when we were thinking about trying to catch the “early” show.

 

 

I really liked the fried banana and the chorizo was yum too. My least favorite of the meats were the ribs which I found to be dry and stringy. The chicken breast was very good and they also gave us this cheese bread, I don’t know what was in those things, they look like little bread marbles, but when hot they were really good. Even Carson liked them.

We ordered one of each dessert to share. Justin had a meal from the kids menu and also shared with us too. I loved the flan and the papaya crème was a big hit with everyone, nobody was a fan of the rice pudding though. One of the servers came by with a cooked pineapple that was sugared and spiced on the outside and it was delicious too. I don’t know if it was a side or a dessert but Justin and I both enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

The ambience of Moderno is off. It is across the sky from The Blue Lagoon, and most people end up walking into it from the rear or some people walk through it. Where we were sitting overlooked the elevators and piano music floated up from the stage in the center of the Atrium. Sort of weird for the Brazillian theme. Also our table was way too small for 4 and we ended up juggling plates around. For this type of meal one needs to have some space to spread things out, since the sides are family style and there are extra sauces. Our table would have been tight even if it was a “regular” table service meal.

 

 

 

I wouldn’t be opposed to trying Moderno again, but I wouldn’t take tired, crabby kids and I would allow a lot of time for the meal. Unfortunately we had to dash off to catch Elements – the grand finale show of the cruise. I’d read in the daily that they have to close the doors and you won’t get a seat if you’re late, so we were rushing to make it to the theater. Oh no! Packed house! Bummer.

But wait. David to the rescue! “Mr. Paul, come with me…”

*poof*

Awesome seats. Great view. Great show. .

Justin loved it.

Carson fell asleep.

And then when we got back to our room, the tequila had been delivered (they store your liquor purchase for you until the last night) and it is time to start packing. Boo hoo, so sad to go!

[epaul78]

January 27 – Arrival at NOLA. Last night was the first night that we had a noisy hallway. I’m a light sleeper though, and I was also a bight anxious about having to leave. There isn’t a clock in the stateroom (there never is, why is that?) so we bring our own but it doesn’t have glow in the dark and I couldn’t see it. That’s the worst thing, when you have to get up at a certain time but you can’t see the clock and it’s dark. So I’m woken up by thumping in the hallway and then I stay awake wondering what time it is. Ugh. Most of the cruise, Carson is opening curtains at sunrise but not today, everyone is tuckered out.

 

 

 

Finished getting packed, had our last breakfast at Cagney’s and thanked the staff.

 

 

 

 

Said goodbye to Made and Errol and gave them their gratuities and then made our way down to Deck 7 and a big, fat line! Yikes! But then, David to the rescue. Somehow he slipped us away from the crowd and out a door to a disembarkation area – no line! We were off the ship within seconds. Between last night and this morning, I really wish we could have put some extra cash in the sealed envelope that I have for him – he has been awesome, smoothing the way and making things easy. Even Customs was a breeze, we had our forms in hand, and Eric has some experience with this so it was no hassle.

 

 

 

It was a bit of a pain dropping our luggage with the transport service, mostly they didn’t have enough people working or space at their area. It was $25 for 4 bags to be taken to the airport and stored for us, then they gave us an option for transportation too, we signed up for it but had to get over to the flea market area and we were planning on the aquarium. I called Mr. Charles and he said $56 for four of us to the airport ($14 per person) and he’d pick us up at the aquarium so we arranged for that.

 

 

 

The Audubon Aquarium is only a few blocks from the cruise terminal. We walked over there and stumbled upon a very well managed feral cat colony so we spend some time watching the kitties before the aquarium opened at 10:00. It was awesome and we were there until 12:15, which was exactly the right amount of time. They also have a parakeet enclosure for wild budgies and the kids loved that. I noticed a pass is available for the other Audubon facilities that’s good for 14 days, if we come back to NOLA, I will probably get that for the front and back ends of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Charles (Charles Ritz Enterprises) picked us up promptly as promised and once again made sure we were right where we needed to be.

 

 

 

 

We had a great trip. The crew was absolutely fantastic. Special recognition has to go out to the kids club staff, Cagney’s wait staff, our butler Made, Concierge David, and Steward Erroll.

 

We're now back home in the cold Pacific Northwest and have already started planning for our next cruise. So the anticipation begins!

 

Hope you all enjoyed reading about our cruise and feel free to ask questions.

[horseymike]

The way you have written it is just like being there.:) Hats off to you folks for your time and effort ! (good pics too.)

[Love my butler]

One of the best reviews I have ever read. Excellent job with the writing and the photos. I am impressed and having sailed on the Star many times, agree with just about everything you wrote.

[SakeDad]

Thank you for sharing!!! Great review and extremely well written. I will be back on the Star in less than 2 weeks. The 1st time was a 3 day repo so it will be fun to experience a full week and all the changes made to her in dry dock since the last time I was onboard. You have made me even more excited.:D

[HouNew2Cruise]

... The food was unbelievable and very authentic and the drinks kept on coming. I even had a “drunk Dairy Queen” with Oreo cookies and I don’t know what all else was in it.

 

Oh the Maya Chan Mudslide! Vodka, Bailey's, Kahlua, ice, chocolate syrup, and Oreo cookies. I always have to get me one or two of those.

 

Really enjoyed your review thanks. Your pictures were fine, nothing to worry about there.