The Star - Panama Canal Cruise

[prairiedawn1946]

This was our first cruise with NCL too. Now that we have sailed with NCL we are bronze members of their Latitudes program so we can get priority boarding on future cruises.

Was lobster served in the main dining rooms? Thanks

[calex]

Was lobster served in the main dining rooms? Thanks

 

No lobster in the MDR... seafood night in the buffet on day 2 where they had pasta with lobster chunks that required a little effort to extract the meaty nuggets. They now have theme nights in the buffet from 5 to 9 PM. Other themes: Prime Rib Dinner, Taste of India, Caribbean Dinner, Italian Dinner, Spanish Dinner, Mexican Buffet, Grill Extravaganza. Each night there were some hits and some misses...

 

There was a noticeable effort to improve food quality and the temperature of dishes when delivered to the table in the MDR. Frequently, dishes were served with hot pads and the diners were warned the plates were hot. Hotel Director Hugo mentioned in a conversation that they do see what is written in CC reviews and they work on issues that get identified especially if there is a pattern of comments (i.e. food is luke warm).

 

Chris

[Oakman58]

Ditto what calex said. We ate in the Aqua dining room the night they served the pasta dish with chunks of lobster and while the dish was very good there wasn't a lot of lobster to be found. On our 14 day cruise the only night we had a long wait to be seated was the night we went to the early show and followed everyone else from the theater to the MDR.

 

We ate lunch almost everyday at the buffet andI felt the food was quite good with a good variety and something for just about anyone taste. The buffet exceeded my expectations. Pizza is never a good thing to get from a buffet...on any ship or land restaurant. I might be a pizza snob though. :D

 

I was surprised to find pretzel bread at the buffet, I love pretzel bread.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

I thought I’d go ahead and post a few more photos from our sea days and the other ports we visited on our Panama Canal cruise. If I post any opinions you don’t agree with, keep in mind that my wife and I were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary on this cruise so we’re not spring chickens. Feel free to disagree with me. My sister and her husband joined us on this cruise too. Also keep in mind that I’m neither a writer nor photographer so don’t expect a professional review.

 

November 3rd

 

As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, embarkation was a horrid experience. Here’s a photo of the line for registration. Everyone in the photo is in the same one line.

 

 

We no sooner boarded the ship than it was time for muster. We only had enough time to drop our carryon luggage in our room and then head down to our muster area. No photos allowed during muster, I wonder why?

 

Instead of the scheduled 4:00 PM departure, the Star left the port just after 5:30 PM.

Leaving the port in L.A.

 

 

 

My wife and I headed down to the Gift Shop at 6:00 for the free liquor tasting. Wow, the place was wall to wall people for this freebee. Even so, we still managed to get wiggle our way in and get a few of the free samples. If something is free, old retired folks like me are all over it.

 

At 8:00 PM we went to dinner in the Versailles dining room. We had no trouble being seated right away. Here are a couple of pics of the menu that night.

 

 

 

After dinner we were tired so we headed to our room and retired for the evening.

[HokiePoq]

I hope two of those groups book with Celebrity from now on! LOL! Just make sure to washy washy, especially after the stop in Costa Rica. Our ship picked up norovirus from there and it exploded on the ship by the time we got back to Miami making my voyage the first CDC reportable outbreak of the year!! :eek:

 

Remember... WASHY WASHY = HAPPY HAPPY! :D

 

This is what happened last winter as well, right after Costa Rica. Folks need to be extra careful there and not buy the great looking food the vendors on the streets have. We stuck to bottled beer in the cantina. On the second leg of the back to back from LA, it broke out after Cabo.

We found the Star just great. The only maintenance problem last winter was the condition of some seats in the theater. They were gradually being replaced, so hopefully that has already been completed.

Food was good and staff was wonderful.

Have a great cruise, all of you going on the Star!

[Oakman58]

November 4th

 

I always use the first sea day to explore the ship and get a feel for the layout, good exercise for sure.

 

On my walk around the Promenade deck I thought there should be a few more chairs and loungers available. During the cruise people were always reserving a seat on this deck with their books or other personal items.

 

 

I promised myself that I would use the fitness room everyday on this cruise so I had to check that out. The equipment in the fitness room was clean and everything seemed to be in good working order…I think. It turned out that I broke my promise and never did get to the exercise room. A couple of pics of the fitness room.

 

 

 

The Video Arcade was near the fitness center so I checked that out. During the entire cruise I never saw anyone in there. That didn’t surprise me though since I think 95% of the passengers were in my age bracket (old to older).

The Video Arcade.

 

Our cabin was close to the Internet Café so we checked that out and purchased the 250 minute plan for $100. If you purchase the plan on the first day you get an extra 20 minutes for that price. During the duration of our cruise there were always computers available for use in the Internet Cafe. Actually I was surprised how few people actually used the ship’s computers. Here’s a pic of the Internet Café. BTW, we could access the Internet on our tablets in our cabin.

 

 

Nov 4th continued in my next post.

[Oakman58]

We ate lunch at the Blue Lagoon and while the menu was limited, the food was always good there. After lunch we went down to the Java Café and bought a six bottle wine package.

 

The menu at the Blue Lagoon.

 

I spent quite a bit of the afternoon on our balcony watching the ocean roll by. I love cruising. My wife did the bingo thing in the Spinnaker Lounge…that’s really a ripoff.

 

I love having a balcony.

 

At 3:15 we headed to Gatsby’s Champagne Bar for the scheduled 3:30 Martini Tasting. You get six 3oz. martinis for $15. When we arrived, a seminar The Classic Masters, was still going on and ran late so it was closer to 4:00 before the Martini Tasting began. Because the tasting started late the staff gave all of us at the tasting a seventh 3oz martini. Woo Hoo, we’re having fun now baby.

 

The martinis we tasted.

 

 

 

We had dinner reservations at Le Bistro French Restaurant that evening. Because of the martinis I don’t have any photos of this meal and I don’t remember what I ordered. I do remember saying my meal was excellent but for all I know that could have been the martinis talking.

 

By 9:00 I was somewhat sober again so we went to the Stardust Theater for the Comedy of Sam Fedele. Even the alcohol in my system wasn’t enough to make him funny. This was the only show that my wife and I didn’t like.

 

After the show it was back to our room for a glass of wine before we retired.

[calex]

We found the Star just great. The only maintenance problem last winter was the condition of some seats in the theater. They were gradually being replaced, so hopefully that has already been completed.

 

Food was good and staff was wonderful.

Have a great cruise, all of you going on the Star!

 

I would second your observations with what we experienced in November 2014 aboard the NCL Star. Most of the seats in the Stardust Theater SUCK big time. Not only are the cushions/springs worn out, but, a lot of the seat bottoms over-extend when folded out. The seat bottoms actually slope downward and you slide forward and need to constantly reposition yourself by sliding to the back of the seat. These are the most uncomfortable ship theater seats I have experienced. I sure hope NCL makes it a priority to update these uncomfortable seats.

 

It would be good to hear other CC'ers experience with these theater seats. NCL monitors these threads and if they see a pattern of concerns expressed, they are more likely to take action to correct the problem.

 

Chris

[Oakman58]

I totally agree with you about the theater seats calex, the seats over extending drove me nuts and made it uncomfortable.

[sfaaa]

Enjoy this thread immensely since I will be on the Star Panama Canal cruise in the new year.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Free tastings,desserts (I will skip the dinner and have a salad to leave room for all of the desserts except the pineapple cup thing), and oh yes the ever favorite martini tasting. What a great cruise I am looking forward to..thanks for all of the great pics.:)

[Love my butler]

This was our first cruise with NCL too. Now that we have sailed with NCL we are bronze members of their Latitudes program so we can get priority boarding on future cruises.

 

Remember, the latitudes lines can get you quicker check-in but priority boarding is only for VIPs.

 

Check-in and boarding are two different things.

[jertom]

Thanks OP,

We are enjoying this thread as we get ready for our Canal cruise Jan 19.

[Oakman58]

November 5th Cabo San Lucas

 

Nuts, we lost an hour when the ship crossed a time zone and we set our clocks back. Didn’t really matter though since our shore excursion, Land End and Scenic Tour, didn’t have to meet in the Stardust Theater until 10:45. We would be taking a tender to shore at Cabo.

 

The scenery is beautiful coming into Cabo is beautiful. The Arch comes into view as the Star approaches Cabo.

 

 

Because of rough seas tendering was running very late. It was 11:20 when our tour was finally called to board the tender boats. They weren’t kidding about rough seas, the tender was really bouncing up and down as we tried to board it. All of us old folks did a good job getting on the boat without falling.

 

Once onshore we were escorted to a tour boat that would take us out for a view of The Arch and Land’s End. Here are some pics.

 

A view of The Arch from our tour boat.

 

 

 

 

Some seals resting on the rocks at Land’s End.

 

 

Another view at Land’s End.

 

 

After our boat tour we boarded buses for our scenic stop at Sunset Da Giorgio’s restaurant. As we drove through town we could see some of the damage from September’s hurricane Odile. The first thing everyone did after arriving at the scenic stop was to head to the bathroom.

 

A view from our scenic stop.

 

 

 

The seas were still rough when we got back to the ship but I found getting off the tender easier than when we got on.

 

The last tender of the day heading back to the Star.

 

Instead of taking in the Band on the Run show at the Stardust, we went to the Red Lion Pub for some Karaoke and a couple of pre-dinner drinks.

 

Prime Rib was on the menu tonight so just after 8 PM we headed over to the Aqua dining room. I can honestly say the prime rib we were served was some of the leanest I’ve ever seen. The flavor of the meat was as good as or better than any I’ve ever had. We had an outstanding meal that night.

 

 

After dinner my wife and I headed back to our cabin for a glass of wine before retiring.

[Oakman58]

Remember, the latitudes lines can get you quicker check-in but priority boarding is only for VIPs.

 

Check-in and boarding are two different things.

 

Yes they are two different things but a quicker check-in for our cruise would have meant not standing on your feet for over two and half hours.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Oakman58

[ORD1166]

Oakman58,

 

Thanks for the review. It looks like you had a great trip, with the only problem was boarding in LA:rolleyes::mad:. I am reading this with great interest as we will sail on the Star in Feb from MIA to LA thru the canal. This will be our first time on NCL. We are Diamond Plus on Royal. Looking forward to trying something new and the Panama Canal is a bucket list item to be checked off:rolleyes:. Keep the info coming and the great pictures.

 

Thanks much and hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

Vic

[dongordon]

Norwegian Star Panama Canal Cruise Nov 3rd – Nov 17th.

 

I was somewhat apprehensive about the Norwegian Star because of the number of negative reviews I had read about this ship referring to it as “old and tired.” My apprehension was unnecessary; we found the ship to be beautiful and well maintained.

 

Our overall cruise experience was excellent, with the exception of embarkation.

 

EMBARKATION: A couple of days before our cruise we received a number of phone calls from Norwegian informing us that due to limited seating in the Los Angeles terminal we should not arrive before 1:00 PM. Apparently most folks took this advice because it seemed as though the entire ship load of passengers showed up shortly after 12:30 causing a huge line to form going through security and then registration. We arrived at the terminal at 12:35 and it was 3:25pm when we were finally walking up the gangway to the ship. We were standing in line that entire time. My feet were killing me. I know it was after 5 PM when the last of the passengers were finally boarding the ship.

 

OUR ROOM: We purchased a guaranteed balcony and were assigned to cabin 9612. Our bed was very comfortable and the room was very clean. The carpet looked to be in excellent shape and the bathroom was spotless. Our room had a flat screen TV, coffeemaker, and safe. The ice bucket in our room always had ice in it day or night thanks to our room steward. The only fault I could find with the room was the liner of the balcony curtain had a few tears in it. This could only be seen from the balcony looking in. The other minor issue was a small piece of trim on the refrigerator was broken. HINT: The toilet area in the bathroom is very tight. If you are a big or tall person you might have issues with it.

 

THE FOOD: All of our evening meals were excellent. We ate at both the Versailles and Aqua dining rooms. The Waite staff was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. We usually ate breakfast at the Market Café and felt the food was very good with excellent choices. On two occasions we ate lunch from The Grill (by the pool) and felt it was just OK. We also ate at two specialty restaurants, Cagney’s Steakhouse, and Le Bistro. Both of those meals were excellent.

 

THE STARDUST THEATER: This is the only true negative comment I have for the Star. The seats in the theater were uncomfortable, close together, and without cup holders. If you ordered a drink you had to hold it in your hand for the entire show.

 

THE STARDUST SHOWS: The nightly shows at the Stardust really exceeded my expectations. My two favorite shows were Chris Pendleton’s comedy routine and “Paradis” a Parisian nightclub parody. Both shows were Vegas quality. Other shows included a comedian/Juggler, hypnotist, comedian/magician, acrobatic/aerial act, a variety show, the Second City Troupe and others I can’t remember. The only show that really fell flat was the comedy routine of Sam Fedele. I didn’t think his routine was funny and neither did most of the audience. At one point he tried to embarrass the audience into laughing at his routine.

 

ENTERTAINMENT STAFF: I can’t say enough good things about this group of folks charged with keeping the passengers entertained. Every one of them did an outstanding job during the cruise. They were always smiling and made a point of learning passengers’ names.

 

If you don’t enjoy cruising on the Star then I believe the problem may lie within you and not the Star. That’s my opinion of course.

 

Thanks so much for the review and the photos....It provided more excitement for my upcoming Canal cruise in about two weeks.

The photos of Cabo are fantastic....can't wait to go there! :)

 

Question:

Did they have the Jersey Boys Tribute onboard at the Stardust theatre?

I viewed the show twice on other NCL cruises and it was one of the highlights of the cruise receiving standing ovations both times.

 

Thanks again....great thread!

 

Don

[Oakman58]

Oakman58,

 

Thanks for the review. It looks like you had a great trip, with the only problem was boarding in LA:rolleyes::mad:. I am reading this with great interest as we will sail on the Star in Feb from MIA to LA thru the canal. This will be our first time on NCL. We are Diamond Plus on Royal. Looking forward to trying something new and the Panama Canal is a bucket list item to be checked off:rolleyes:. Keep the info coming and the great pictures.

 

Thanks much and hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

Vic

 

You get the better deal going from Miami to L.A since you will cross three times zones thus gaining 3 extra hours for your cruise. We lost those three hours on our trip to Miami.

[Oakman58]

November 6th Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

 

 

We had to move our clocks ahead one hour as we crossed another time zone. Even so, I was up early enough to watch the sun rise out of the ocean and into very cloudy skies.

 

 

We would be staying on the ship most of the day since we didn’t have a shore excursion planned for today. My sister and her husband would be leaving the ship for an excursion so we would have the ship to ourselves so to speak. We decided to have breakfast in the beautiful Versailles dining room. The Eggs Benedict and country potatoes I ordered were excellent.

 

Quite a few passengers departed the ship for their shore excursions. Here’s a picture of the many tour busses lined up and waiting for passengers.

 

 

On days when the ship was in port crewmen seem to appear from everywhere to perform maintenance on the ship. Here’s a photo of two crewmen painting areas on the outside of the ship that needed attention.

 

 

We did get off the ship for a short time and do some shopping at the local vendors at the port. My wife was able to negotiate a good price on a swimwear cover-up so she bought it. She loves to dicker on prices.

 

We ate lunch at the Market Café (buffet). Since many passengers were ashore I took this opportunity to take some photos of the food on the buffet line. Because of the limit on the numbers of photos in one post I put the buffet photos in my next post.

 

In the afternoon we spent some time on our balcony, walked the promenade deck to get a little exercise, and lazed around the pool.

 

 

Is it just me or does it seem as though every cruise port must have a pirate ship for parties or excursions?

 

 

By the way, at Puerto Vallarta there is a Walmart and a Sam’s Club directly across the street from the port. For those who enjoy soda I think this would be a good place to pick up a case or two to bring back to the ship.

 

 

Later we played a game of Trivia with the cruise staff in the Spinnaker Lounge. The cruise staff was really a fun group of people and always did a great job keeping folks entertained.

 

We ate dinner in the Aqua dining room and afterward went to the Stardust Theater for the show, Oh What a Night, a musical tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The show was very entertaining.

 

Then it was time to head to our cabin for a glass of wine to end the evening.

[Oakman58]

Nov 6th

 

 

 

As I said in my previous post, here are photos of some of the food that was available at the lunch buffet. I’m sorry I didn’t write down what the hot foods were but I do know on this day there was beef stew, rice, a pasta dish, and yada yada yada.

 

 

 

 

There were always sandwiches available and the type of sandwich varied from day to day. On this day they had tuna on a croissant and salami and pickles on Cuban bread.

 

 

Pizza was available at the lunch buffet everyday too.

 

 

There was always a good selection of desserts including cheesecake. YUM!

 

 

Along with the soft serve ice cream machine at the buffet there was also hand-dipped ice available next to the topsides bar by the pool.

 

 

[mimmy52]

I'm so glad you're posting a review. I'm really enjoying it. Great pics!

ML

[Linda the Book Lover]

Once I saw the ice cream pic and info I knew where I will always be able to find the DH. LOL

[ranchette]

Nov 6th

 

 

 

As I said in my previous post, here are photos of some of the food that was available at the lunch buffet. I’m sorry I didn’t write down what the hot foods were but I do know on this day there was beef stew, rice, a pasta dish, and yada yada yada.

 

 

 

 

There were always sandwiches available and the type of sandwich varied from day to day. On this day they had tuna on a croissant and salami and pickles on Cuban bread.

 

 

Pizza was available at the lunch buffet everyday too.

 

 

There was always a good selection of desserts including cheesecake. YUM!

 

 

Along with the soft serve ice cream machine at the buffet there was also hand-dipped ice available next to the topsides bar by the pool.

 

 

 

Love your review we will be on the Feb. 2nd. cruise from LA to Miami. Can you tell me what time you were able to debark in Miami? We have a 12:00 flight out of Fort Lauderdale and I hope we will make the flight.

 

Jill

[jertom]

Quote:

 

"and afterward went to the Stardust Theater for the show, Oh What a Night, a musical tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The show was very entertaining."

 

Great to hear that. We saw the show on another cruise and we would see it again if it is on our Jan 19 cruise !

[Oakman58]

Love your review we will be on the Feb. 2nd. cruise from LA to Miami. Can you tell me what time you were able to debark in Miami? We have a 12:00 flight out of Fort Lauderdale and I hope we will make the flight.

 

Jill

Ranchette:

Passengers who carried all their luggage off the ship were the first to leave. With the flight time you have ranchette I would plan on carrying all my luggage off so you can be in the first group to leave.

 

We had the crew take our luggage off so our experience was quite different from those who carried theirs off. Debarking in Miami was slow. We were told that Customs was being very thorough which caused long lines. It was 10:00 when our group was finally called and the line to leave the ship was still long and wrapped through the Atrium area. Once we retrieved our luggage the lines were still long and slow to get through Customs. We had a late afternoon flight from Miami so I wasn’t concerned about the slow process. For whatever unknown reason the Customs line suddenly started moving quite quickly and we zipped through Customs. We took a taxi to the airport and arrived just a bit after 12:00.

 

I hope your cruise is as good as ours.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Oakman58