The Star - Panama Canal Cruise

[dongordon]

Day 6 continued

 

Heading out to for our ride to the Beach Escape. The Star looked so much nicer than the Statendam.

 

 

We passed by a rock formation that looked like a face. Our guide told us the locals had a name for it but I don’t remember what it was. I hope you can see the face with the heavy brow, nose, and lips.

 

 

We also passed a blowhole in the rocks. Not a great photo of it but good enough.

 

 

Here’s a photo of the beach.

 

 

The water was perfect for swimming and the one negative about this excursion was the vendors that were constantly coming by trying to sell everything from sunglasses and bracelets to souvenirs. There were a lot of vendors at this beach and each one must have come by us at least three times. They really detracted from this beach experience.

Here’s a picture of a photo vendor wanting to take a picture of our group.

 

 

Our beach escape included a lunch and beverage at the outdoor restaurant. I had a couple of beers with my lunch. I was surprised to discover there was a fifty cent charge to use the bathroom by the restaurant. Oh well, at least the attendant kept the bathroom clean.

 

Someone asked in another thread if the dent was still on the stern of the Star so I thought I’d include a photo of that dent.

 

 

We were back to the Star by 3:00 PM and after freshening up we headed to the Spinnaker for the 5:30 Trivia, Name That Tune: The Beatles. I thought this would be easy for us but they played a number of rather obscure Beatles tunes. Our group of four only managed to get 10 of the 20 tunes correct.

 

The main entrees at the Aqua dining room were a bit unusual tonight, at least I thought so. The Chef’s Signature Dish was the “Texas” gourmet burger. Also on the menu were:

 

Baby Back Ribs & Bourbon BBQ Sauce with Southern Fried Shrimp

Cajun Chicken ‘Mac and Cheese”

Vegetable Burrito

Sirloin Steak Au Poivre

Grilled Sausage Trilogy – Bratwurst, Knockwurst, Italian

Kung Pao Chicken

Atlantic Salmon Bake

 

I opted for the Salmon and it was very good. What surprised me about the Salmon was the skin was completely removed. Every restaurant I’ve eaten at always served the Salmon with the skin on.

 

After dinner we went back to the Spinnaker for the 8:00 Game Show, Sing it, if you know it.” There was a lot of audience participation in the game and we had a blast at that show.

 

The show in the Stardust tonight was TerranceB – Celebrity Hypnotist and we went to the 9 PM show. My sister was involuntarily selected to be one of the subjects and called up onstage for the show. I laughed my butt off for the rest of the show.

 

After the show we went back to our cabin and called it a night. As we left the theater the movement of the ship was quite noticeable.

 

Would you recommend the "Beach Escape" in Huatulco?

Was it a ship excursion>

 

Thanks.

Don

[Linda the Book Lover]

Under two weeks Don :D

 

Interesting dent picture...I will check on it when we board in March after the dry dock.

[js4rq]

Huatulco looks pretty!! :D

[dongordon]

Under two weeks Don :D

 

Interesting dent picture...I will check on it when we board in March after the dry dock.

 

Yep Linda.....in two weeks at this time, I will be on the STAR!!

 

Can't wait! :D

 

Don

[Oakman58]

Thanks for the times. Being used to the times on another line, I think we messed up our reservation times. Made most of them at 7:30 most of which are in specialty restaurants. Guess we either need to move them up to 7:00 or back to around 8:30. 1 1/2 hours in a specialty is rushing it to make the 9:00 shows. From your recent experience do you agree?

 

Yes, 7:30 at the specialty restaurants might be cutting it close for the 9PM show. I would change it just to be safe.

[Oakman58]

Would you recommend the "Beach Escape" in Huatulco?

Was it a ship excursion>

 

Thanks.

Don

 

Yes it was a Norwegian excursion. As long as you don't mind vendors constantly pestering you this is a great excursion. Keep in mind there was a nice swimming beach right at the port.

 

Edited December 22, 2014 by Oakman58

[dongordon]

Thank you Oakman.

 

Great thread and photos....thanks.

Don

[Oakman58]

I'm rushed today and didn't proof this so excuse any errors.

 

 

 

Day 7

 

The Star arrived in Puerto Chiapas just before 8 AM and soon after dancers were on the dock to welcome passengers.

 

 

 

 

We didn’t have a shore excursion planned for today nor did my sister and husband so this would be another day of hanging around the ship and the port.

 

Happy Anniversary to us. November 9th we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. When we returned to our cabin from having breakfast at the Blue Lagoon our room had been decorated for our anniversary. I had ordered the anniversary package online a couple of weeks before our cruise to surprise my wife. That didn’t happen, within a couple of days of placing the order she found it on our invoice. Forty years we’ve been married and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to surprise her. Here are a few pics of our room and the cake. BTW, being the clumsy oaf I am I messed up the icing on the cake right off the bat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

Day 7

 

The crew had an emergency practice drill today so the emergency floor lighting was turned on during the drill and crewmen were at their stations wearing safety vests.

 

Later in the morning we did get off the ship to check out the shops and the bar at the port. As soon as we walked into the shop area at the port we were greeted by these “death” characters. I know skeletons play a role in Mexican culture and folk art, but with seven more days of an ocean cruise I’d prefer not to be reminded of death. There was also a Marimba band greeting passengers.

 

 

There was a very nice park area at the port and one of the shore excursions, Mexican Cooking Class, took place right there. To be honest I can’t believe they charge $99.00 for this excursion.

 

 

After walking around a bit we headed over to the bar for a drink or two. The bar even had a pool just outside.

 

 

We walked back to the ship to have a late lunch. There was always a cool towel awaiting passengers returning to the ship.

 

 

 

We grabbed some hamburgers from The Grill by the pool and sat in The Oasis to eat. The food at The Grill is your basic burgers, hot dogs, and chicken. The food is OK but the buns were always very dry. I guess that’s to be expected of buns sitting in the open air.

 

After eating I went back to our cabin to get our anniversary cake to share with my sister and her husband. The cake was very good and way too much for the four of us so we shared it with some folks at the table next to us.

 

Later in the Afternoon we went up to the Bier Garden for some adult beverages and played the game Left, Right, Center. My brother-in-law was the big winner.

 

The Star departed Puerto Chiapas at 5 PM and those same dancers from this morning were there to wave good-bye to everyone.

 

 

The Harbor Pilot departing our ship.

 

 

 

We had dinner reservations at Cagney’s Steakhouse. I ordered the Bison Strip Steak while everyone else ordered the Filet Mignon. All of the steaks were cooked perfectly (medium) and melt in your mouth tender. After dinner the staff of Cagney’s brought a small anniversary cake to our table and sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart to us. A nice touch and my wife was thrilled by this unexpected song.

 

The show at the Stardust was Second City’s Improv Troupe. We really laughed at this show but there was one improv routine that didn’t hit the mark. Still it was a great show and very funny.

 

We finished the evening with a nightcap at the Spinnaker before retiring to our cabin.

[Oakman58]

I wanted to add a few photos of the hard working crew. As I said in a previous post, the days we were in port the ship was a beehive of crew activity performing maintenance in the public areas. While the ship wasn’t perfect, I thought the Star was in excellent condition.

 

Hard at work cleaning a spot out of the carpet.

 

 

I have no idea what this crewman was doing.

 

 

I wonder how many gallons of paint Norwegian goes through in a single year?

 

 

 

If a working crewmember saw you watching them they would always take time to stop and wave and give you a greeting. The crewman in the upper left of the pic saw me with the camera and stopped to wave.

I tried to get a random photo at the Jave Café and these three decided to pose for me. So much for random. After I took the photo they waved and went back to work.

 

 

Here’s a photo of the crew catching fresh fish for us. OK I’m just kidding, I like the this photo so I posted it.

[HokiePoq]

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

 

Can't speak to this fall, but Oh What a Night Four Seasons Tribute group was on last January-February. I have seen two different Four Seasons tribute groups on cruise ships. Enjoyed both of them. The one on the Star last year was George Solomon's group. George also did a solo show which was very entertaining. He is a Vegas performer.

[HokiePoq]

In reference to the Statendam, it is my understanding that it is being sold to P&O. I imagine P&O will paint it to their specifications.

[Oakman58]

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

 

I'm sorry dongordon I missed seeing your question. Yes, the Jersey Boys Tribute was in the Stardust Theater. I glad you're enjoying my posts and I hope you have a great time on your Canal cruise. I wish I could afford to go again. I'd be on the cruise with you.

[Oakman58]

Day 8 Sea Day

 

We ate breakfast at the Market Café and the condiment tray had a sign on it saying Prime Rib would be served for dinner at the Market. I took it for granted that Prime Rib would be served in the main dining rooms too but I discovered that night no prime rib in the Aqua.

 

 

We went to the Wii Bowling Tournament that was scheduled at 11:00 in the Red Lion Pub and had a ball. I really ended with a sucky score. My excuse for the poor score is I was distracted by the smell of popping corn in the Red Lion Pub. There was a corn popping machine in the pub and every day they would make popcorn and put it in small bags for the passengers to take.

 

We ate lunch in the Versailles dining room.

 

 

Here’s a pic of the lunch menu that day.

We spent much of the afternoon in The Oasis on deck 12 playing board games with my sister and brother-in-law. Just a point of fact, I have never seen so many electric scooters on a ship as I did on this cruise.

 

Later we went to the Red Lion Pub for the 5:30 the ABBA trivia game. It was fun but our team didn’t do very well.

 

We ate dinner in the Aqua again and I was disappointed there was no Prime Rib. Instead I had the boiled red ruby rainbow trout.

 

Our last stop of the evening was the Spinnaker Lounge for the Not So Newlywed Game. We all enjoyed that show. Afterward we had a nightcap and called it a night.

[Linda the Book Lover]

I am so enjoying your pictures and I laughed about crew waving etc. Nice to know there are nucertain folk working on the Star.

[js4rq]

Gorgeous photos! Looking forward to more. ;)

[dongordon]

I'm sorry dongordon I missed seeing your question. Yes, the Jersey Boys Tribute was in the Stardust Theater. I glad you're enjoying my posts and I hope you have a great time on your Canal cruise. I wish I could afford to go again. I'd be on the cruise with you.

 

Oakman....

 

I posted this link on my roll Call and suggested that all view your wonderful review and photos.

I wish you were on the cruise with us!! :D

 

Don

[Oakman58]

Thank you for the kind words everyone.

[pambo]

There was a very nice park area at the port and one of the shore excursions, Mexican Cooking Class, took place right there. To be honest I can’t believe they charge $99.00 for this excursion.

 

http://i521.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps1919ca56.jpg

 

 

So is this the class that is one of the ship's excursions? I signed up for this for our January cruise. It stated that it is at a resort within walking distance of the port. Do you know anyone who took it?

 

Thanks - I appreciate your wonderful review...the photos and comments are all so helpful.

 

Pam

[Oakman58]

Day 9

 

I loved being on our balcony as we would come into the various ports of call. There were always so many interesting things to see.

 

I watched quite a few fishing boats as we came into the harbor at Puntarenas. It was easy to spot the successful fisherman as they were the ones with birds harassing them. I believe the birds in this picture were Frigatebirds but I’m not positive.

 

 

The Harbor Pilot’s boat came flying towards us at such a high rate of speed I thought he was going to ram us. I was thinking to myself that I hoped he got that need for speed out of his system before he took over our ship.

 

 

The Celebrity Infinity was already in port as we came in. Tour busses came right out on the pier to pick up passengers for their excursions. With two ships in port there were a lot of busses on the pier and hundreds of passengers waiting to board. Organized mayhem I thought.

 

Our excursion today was Pacific Train, Boat, and Bus Adventure and was my favorite excursion of our cruise. The first part of our adventure was a bus ride to where we would take a train “that has been in service for more than 50 years and participate on a scenic ride through rural countryside and tropical fields.” During the bus ride to the train our tour guide, Cynthia, talked about the history and culture of Costa Rica.

 

The train was certainly old but our ride wasn’t very scenic. Basically it was farm fields, trees, and a few houses. At one point we crossed a river on a bridge that looked as though it hadn’t been cared for in 50 years. The bridge was very rusty. Here are a few of pics.

 

 

Boarding the train for the ride to nowhere to see not much.

 

The interior of the passenger cars was quite beautiful.

 

The river we crossed on the rusty bridge.

 

Another picture from our "scenic" train ride.

 

Day 9 continued in my next post.

[Oakman58]

Day 9 continued.

 

Once the train ride was over we boarded the busses again for a long ride to where we would take a boat ride through the Mangroves on the Tarcoles River to see the variety of birdlife, iguanas, and crocodiles.

 

This boat ride was awesome. We saw a lot of exotic birds. Unfortunately, most of the birds were far enough away I couldn’t get good pictures of them. The crocodiles were easy to photograph since the boat was able to get quite close to them. The section of the river we cruised was teaming with the crocs.

 

As soon as we boarded the boat and left the dock we began seeing wildlife. I believe these two birds are Anhingas.

 

 

 

We started seeing crocs right away too.

 

 

This crocodile didn't seem to care how close the boat came to him.

 

A Spoonbill on the right and an Ibis on the left.

 

 

Another closeup.

 

We were told by our guide that crocs hold their mouth open to help regulate their body temperature.

 

 

After the boat ride it was a very long bus ride though the countryside to get back to our ship. It was 3:45 by the time we were back onboard the Star. Since we had eaten very little food during the tour we headed straight to the Blue Lagoon. I ordered some of the buffalo wings with hot sauce. This was the second time I’ve ordered these and it was obvious to me they don’t know how to make hot sauce hot. Don’t get me wrong, the wings were good, just not spicy hot.

 

We went to the early show in the Stardust to see the comedy of Chris Pendleton. OMG, that woman was hilarious and really knew how to deliver a comedy routine. She had the theater roaring with laughter. If you get a chance to see her act in person, do so.

 

After the show we went to the Spinnaker for the 8:15 Second City improv show. The show was good but I think some of the improv fell flat again. We called it an evening and retired to our cabin when the show ended.

[js4rq]

What did you think of the Pacific Train, Boat, and Bus Adventure tour? Would you recommend this tour?

[my_crib_too]

Keep in mind there was a nice swimming beach right at the port.

 

 

This picture brought back some great memories for me from our PC cruise a few years back.

 

This picture faces away from the sandy part of the beach. Nice beach! Beer, soda, food, and chairs available. We also walked to the town square and purchase cold Leon beer from a small store. Very cool little town. Really enjoyed this stop and we hope to return some day. Thank you for posting this picture. :D The Leon beer was very good.

[Oakman58]

What did you think of the Pacific Train, Boat, and Bus Adventure tour? Would you recommend this tour?

 

 

To be honest, if I could do it over again I would have done the Jungle Crocodile Safari which is $20 per person cheaper. In my opinion I thought the train ride was a waste. My wife felt this way too.

[Shipboard Babe]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. Like DonGordon, I will be on the 1/4/2015 sailing along with my DH, sister, and brother-in-law. I'm looking forward to the warm weather, and all of the different ports we'll see.