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Star Review - July 17-24

KeystoneCruiser

By KeystoneCruiser,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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ethelberga

ethelberga

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I've been to the castle twice on non-cruise vacations and I've enjoyed it both times. It's not a super amazing giant castle, but I liked it. There's some on-going restoration work and I enjoyed seeing the in-progress rooms. One rooms on the main floor has a beautiful piano that I got to play when I was there as a teenager. They also have a piano in the ballroom upstairs and I wish I'd played that last year when I was there but apparently I lost my nerve when I grew up.

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KeystoneCruiser

KeystoneCruiser

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Wow! That's great! You wouldn't happen to have photos of the rooms to share online, would you???

 

I don't have a digital camera or a scanner (I'm cheap) and my pictures won't be back from developing until Friday.

 

But if you look at the Balcony Cabin picture in the brochure, that is exactly what it looks like. Even the pictures on the wall were the same as in the brochure. I thought I had the "model" room, until I found that the pictures in our other rooms were the same.....lol!

 

Like I said in my review, we had plenty of space and I just love the bathroom set-up on the Star. Remember the cabins are smaller than hotel rooms. (you want small, try the cabins on the Pride of Aloha!)

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marilynbn

marilynbn

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Keystonecruiser- we must have the same taste in vacations as we were on the Aloha last summer as well. We did the repo from SF to Hawaii. I was also on this July 17th sailing and I could not believe the great weather we had. Glacier Bay was a glorious day. I will never forget waking at 6am on that morning and walking out on our balcony and seeing the serenity of the Bay as we entered it so slowly and quietly. The water was like pale green glass! Amazing!! We love the Star and had been on her this past Jan. to Mexico. We were in an AF mini suite with our 14 year old and loved the spaciousness of the room. I agree though that they need to put a small light in the closet so you can see those back shelves. The use of space is great but there needs to be a light in there. I actually put this on the comment card. I had no negative experiences at all. We had reservations for the entire week made on the first night and never waited on any food lines except up at the buffet and at chocoholics buffet. I didn't see many of the shows since they were repeats from our Mexico cruise but we saw Fred Klett, the comedian 3 times! He is hysterical and each show was great. Loved liars club! We actually booked a Caribbean cruise on board for Jan. 2007...any plans for you? :)

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brunolvr

brunolvr

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Keystonecruiser- we must have the same taste in vacations as we were on the Aloha last summer as well. We did the repo from SF to Hawaii. I was also on this July 17th sailing and I could not believe the great weather we had. Glacier Bay was a glorious day. I will never forget waking at 6am on that morning and walking out on our balcony and seeing the serenity of the Bay as we entered it so slowly and quietly. The water was like pale green glass! Amazing!! We love the Star and had been on her this past Jan. to Mexico. We were in an AF mini suite with our 14 year old and loved the spaciousness of the room. I agree though that they need to put a small light in the closet so you can see those back shelves. The use of space is great but there needs to be a light in there. I actually put this on the comment card. I had no negative experiences at all. We had reservations for the entire week made on the first night and never waited on any food lines except up at the buffet and at chocoholics buffet. I didn't see many of the shows since they were repeats from our Mexico cruise but we saw Fred Klett, the comedian 3 times! He is hysterical and each show was great. Loved liars club! We actually booked a Caribbean cruise on board for Jan. 2007...any plans for you? :)

The Star mini-suites do have lights in the closet. You have to look really hard for the switch (find it before you fill the closet up with clothes). It's straight back on the back wall of the closet. I would have never found it if I hadn't read about it on these message boards.

 

If you take a look at my pictures of the mini-suite, you can see how bright and light the closet is as I took a picture of it from across the room with the door open.

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brunolvr

brunolvr

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I have a question regarding the safe in each room on the Star. We have an inside cabin on deck 10. Is the safe large enough to store an average size camera?

 

Thanks!

Yes, the safe should be able to hold an average size camera.

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marilynbn

marilynbn

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Brunolvr- I can't believe that I missed that!! I looked all around in the closet. I didn't see a light or a switch. It sure would have made things a lot easier if I had known about this "hidden" feature. I practically had to climb in the closet to see the stuff I had put on those shelves!! AARGH! Well its just another testiment to the value of these boards. Marilyn :)

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KeystoneCruiser

KeystoneCruiser

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In my safe, we put two cameras, two cell phones, two wallets, a pair of bioculars, our passports, shore excursion ticket envelope, film rolls that were used up(to keep from getting them mixed in with those that were unshot). It was tight at times, but it all fit!

 

Marilyn: It wasn't the darkness of the shelves in the closet that I didn't like (I found the light by the way in our balcony cabin). It was, as you said, having to climb over everything to get to them. Since those shelves are in the area between the closet and the cabin door, I just think it would have been nicer to have them assesible from the front. The plain panel below the safe is the side of those shelves. How nice would it have been to have made that a door to access the shelves instead of side loading from the closet? Nothing that would ruin my cruise, just something that I would have done differently.

 

As far as next year, we haven't decided yet. We usually figure these things out when the whole family gets together for Christmas. I've done Hawaii twice, the carribean does not really appeal to me that much and the New England itinerary is at the wrong time for those of us in education. Alaska would might be nice again or maybe take a year off and do a land vacation.

 

We had a large group, so even when we went to the main restaurants, we had reservations so no waiting for us either. It was just funny to see the people push ahead of you to get into the main restaurants.

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brittany21

brittany21

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Keystone cruiser,

that is a fantastic review, i would love to take a cruise of alaska, after the POaloha i think that me be our next venture. Do you have any pictures posted online yet? Im very happy that you and your family had such a good time.

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vacationfool

vacationfool

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Hi, loved your review! would you recommend raingear and binoculars? we will sailing on the ncl star in September 05. trying to decide on binoculars...what kind...as well as rain gear.. would just a rain jacket be fine? do they sell or offer binoculars on board ? Did you see any wildlife..bears, whales etc while on the ship? Thanks--

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KeystoneCruiser

KeystoneCruiser

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Hi, loved your review! would you recommend raingear and binoculars? we will sailing on the ncl star in September 05. trying to decide on binoculars...what kind...as well as rain gear.. would just a rain jacket be fine? do they sell or offer binoculars on board ? Did you see any wildlife..bears, whales etc while on the ship? Thanks--

 

 

Binoculars are a must, especially if you want to see whales. I bought a cheap pair of binoculars at Meijers (like Wal-Mart) for $34.00 before I went (last minute thought) They were more than adequate. (Glad I didn't buy the $65 ones that my brother did, he was always borrowing mine because you could see more...lol) I did not see any binoculars for sale on the ship, but of course I wasn't looking for them. If you take the Mendenhall Galcier and Wildlife quest, the wildlife boat provides binoculars, but I would still have your own for Glacier Bay.

 

As far as raingear, we took some lined rainjackets but ended up we didn't need them. We have been told that we had the best weather of the whole summer...no rain, and that is extremely rare, so yes take a rainjacket. I took the lined rainjacket with me for warmth on the Mendenhall Glacier and Wildlife quest for warmth and found I was carrying it more than wearing it! But it was July compared to your September cruise, so I would take them.

 

As far as wildlife, we saw lots of whales, some dolphins and some sea lions but never did see any bears. Ships have to stay a certain distance away from whales and so you have to watch carefully. Look for plumes of water spurting up from the ocean and keep watching that area and you should see them briefly surface. You won't see a whole whale out of the water, just the tops of them. We saw whales and dolphins from the ship sometimes, but we saw the most wildlife on our Juneau Mendenhall Glacier and Wildlife Quest. From our boat we saw humpbacks, orcas, (extremely rare we were told to see both species in the same water area at the same time), sea lions, otters, eagles and some sort of sea gull. A really great tour!

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