The Star - Panama Canal Cruise

[calex]

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.

 

Just wanted to pass this on to those of you taking a Panama Canal cruise in the near future...

 

On November 23rd when the Star was in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, our roll call group did a tour with GioTours with a group of 26 people and we had a fantastic experience. Our tour included a much longer crocodile safari boat ride (90 minutes) compared to those on the official NCL tour. The $69 fee included a nice lunch and the tour lasted 7 hours. See my post at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44050192&postcount=388 for a full description of the tour.

 

They do offer individual van tours if you do not want to be in a bigger group through your roll call.

 

Trip Advisor Review:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g309287-d2331147-Reviews-Gio_Tours_Day_Tours-Puntarenas_Province_of_Puntarenas.html

 

Website:

http://www.shorexcursionsincostarica.com/

[Oakman58]

Day 10

 

Dang we had to set our clocks ahead one hour again. I hate losing time even if it’s just one hour. After breakfast we took a walk around the promenade deck. The loungers and chairs were all full already this morning.

 

 

We relaxed on our balcony most of the morning. I did see a sea turtle pass by our ship.

 

After lunch we walked around the ship for a bit. Here’s a hint for anyone that has a cabin on a deck with the fish design in the carpet. The fish are swimming toward the bow of the ship.

 

 

We went to the casino and played some slots for a bit. My wife won $25 and I won $5 playing the slots. The winnings bolstered my wife’s confidence enough that she entered the slot tournament. Neither of us has ever seen a slot tournament before so we didn’t know what to expect. Wow, the slot tournament was intense just watching. DW gave it a good shot but, better luck next time honey. She did have fun though.

 

 

A selfie of me playing the slots.

I’m not a great Blackjack player but I’ve always wanted to play in one of those Blackjack tournaments on the ship. Today I decided it would be worth the $20 fee to enter. Unbelievably I won the qualifying round with a chip count of 2500. I won only because on the last round I bet all my chips and I was dealt a blackjack. The win means I get to play again for the jackpot.

 

At 5:30 we went to the Red Lion Pub for the trivia game, Name that Tune: Broadway. Geez, we really sucked at naming those tunes, but we all had a good time anyway.

 

We ate dinner at the Aqua again. I thought it was a strange selection to have Loaded Corn on the Cob on the starter side of the menu. I don’t remember what I ordered but I remember the chef’s signature dish didn’t sound like something I would like. Here’s a pic of the top half of the menu.

The Stardust Theater had a juggler comedian tonight so we went to the 7 PM show. He was a good juggler and very funny too. His show became absolutely hilarious for me when once again my sister was chosen (involuntarily) to go up on stage and assist. His plan was to knock a ball point pen out of her mouth with a yo-yo. Fortunately he had her wear a piece of safety equipment for the stunt…a WWII army helmet. The stunt was hilarious and yes he was successful knocking the pen out of her mouth. I think when my sister came back to her seat she was ready for a stiff drink.

 

HINT: If your cruise is fully booked and the Stardust has a good show, go early to get a good seat. More than a few people brought books to read while they waited for the show to start.

 

 

After the show we headed over to the Spinnaker for the 8:15 Perfect Couple Game Show. The first thing my sister did was get that stiff drink. This game show was an absolute riot, I was so glad we decided to attend.

 

After the game show we had one more drink and then called it an evening.

Edited December 24, 2014 by Oakman58

[Linda the Book Lover]

I am hoping Second City improv show will still be part of the entertainment in March. we loved them on the Epic.

[Oakman58]

November 13th Panama Canal Transit

 

Earlier this month I created a thread with photos of our transit through the canal. Here’s a link to that thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2133347

 

Here are a couple of other pics from that day.

 

The crew on the container ship in the lock next to us seemed to find the Star just fascinating as I found their ship.

 

 

One of our friends back here in Missouri asked that we waved to them from the front of the ship and she would be watching on the ship’s webcam. At our predetermined time we headed down to the bow of the ship to keep that promise. Here’s the computer screen shot she captured. Hard to see us, but we are between the hot tubs. I’m in a blue shirt and DW is in a green top.

 

 

Here’s another computer screen shot she captured from the Panama Canal webcam of the Star in one of the locks.

 

 

We ate dinner in the Aqua Dining Room again and two of my favorites were on the menu, escargot and chateaubriand. That meal did not disappoint, everything was excellent.

 

 

At 8:00 we were in the Spinnaker Lounge again to watch The Weakest Link Game Show. The show was just OK and not nearly as entertaining as the other shows we had seen in the lounge.

 

The Stardust Theater show was Marrambolia featuring the acrobatic duo of Maria and Dmity. It was a combination aerial act, acrobatics, and dance. For me the show was just OK but the rest of the audience gave them a standing ovation at the end of their performance. I think I’ve seen to many similar acts, in Vegas, Branson, etc., to be impressed with this style of entertainment.

Edited December 24, 2014 by Oakman58

[jebby]

I am Joyce, Oakman's DW. I also enjoyed the comedian/juggler. The ship was really rocking and rolling as he was trying to balance on a ladder and juggle at the same time. Added some extra suspense to his acts.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and great photo's.

[Oakman58]

Day 12 Cartagena

 

As I stepped out onto our balcony this morning I was greeted with about an inch of standing water. I have no idea where the water came from but it was clear water so I guess an overnight rain caused this. Regardless, by the time I got my camera out and turned it on the water was already starting to drain rapidly.

 

 

As we approached Cartagena I was surprised to see a fisherman in the ocean with such an incredibly small boat. I hope he at least carried a floatation device with him.

 

 

I was shocked at the modern skyline of Cartagena as it came into view. After the other ports we had visited I wasn’t expecting to see such a large and modern city.

 

 

It is easy to tell the country of Columbia is 90% Catholic with the large statue of Mary and Child in the harbor.

 

 

The Coral Princess and Celebrity Equinox were already at Cartagena as we approached.

 

 

The Coral Princess had just completed a partial transit of the Panama Canal and her bruises from the locks were showing on the lower starboard side.

 

 

 

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

Day 12 continued.

 

I’m looking for information from more knowledgeable cruisers than I. What in the heck are the two large silver tubes/cylinders on the Coral Princess that look like jet engines?

 

 

I always enjoy looking at what’s going on at the other ships in port so I had to take this photo. I’m not sure what this crewman was doing but it looked like he was about to pee. HEY LADY, you might want to move!!

 

 

Our shore excursion today was Exploring Magnificent Cartagena. HINT: We left the Star for our excursion at 10:30 AM and returned at 3:45 PM. During this time we didn’t have a chance to grab a lunch and we were very hungry by the time we returned to the ship. Take a snack with you if you’re doing this excursion.

 

Our first stop on the excursion was the La Popa Monastery which sits atop a very high hill and offers a spectacular view of the city below.

 

 

From the top of the hill we could see the three cruise ships in the harbor. The Norwegian Star, in the middle, had two refueling barges next to her.

 

 

Bernie our tour guide for this excursion was very energetic, personable, and knowledgeable. This is a picture of him telling us some of the history of the monastery.

 

 

The chapel at the monastery was beautiful and finished in gold leaf.

 

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

Day 12 continued.

 

Our next stop was the castle fortress San Felipe de Barajas. I was expecting a tour of this fort but instead we had a 5 minute stop to take a picture. 5 minutes was just enough time for everyone to get off the tour bus take a couple of quick pics and get back on. I was pretty disappointed that we didn’t have a lot more time at the castle. I guess I should have researched this more.

 

 

Columbia provides 70% to 90% of the emeralds for the global market. So naturally our next stop was a store that specialized in emerald jewelry along with other souvenirs. Hmmm, I didn’t see any mention of this in the description of the excursion.

 

 

Next stop was Las Bovedas Artisan Center. From where our bus dropped us off we had to walk a few blocks passed a legion of vendors. Bernie had us stop at specific vendors to look at their wares. Hmmm, I’m beginning to think Bernie is making a commission at some of these stops.

 

 

The Artisan center was built as a dungeon and a place of storage. We walked the streets of the old city and visited the Inquisition Palace once used as a place of torture in the 1600’s to punish crimes against the Catholic faith. Here are a couple of pics of devices used to torture people in a most inhumane and unchristian manner.

 

 

 

 

We also wandered the Plaza de Bolivar and then visited the beautiful Monastery of San Pedro Claver. The skeletal remains of this saint are interred in the base of the altar in the chapel.

Continued in my next post.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

Day 12 continued.

 

After leaving the monastery we waked back to our tour bus and I think most of us were tired and ready to head back to the ship. When Bernie announced that our next stop would be the Pierino Gallo shopping center many groans were heard from the passengers. Our 30 minute stop turned in to 45 minutes at this shopping area because Bernie took a couple of female passengers to a better emerald shop not in the shopping center. I’m thinking commission again. The shopping center even had a casino.

 

 

 

By the time we finally started back to the ship I was daydreaming about doing this to Bernie.

 

 

Some of the crew welcomed us back to the ship with song and dance.

 

 

We were very hungry by the time we were back onboard the Star so we headed right to the Blue Lagoon for a snack.

 

There was a beautiful sunset just before the Star departed Cartagena.

 

 

We went to the early show in the Star Theater which featured the magic/comedy of Eric Buss. Eric was on season 7 of America’s Got Talent and at one point in his act threw a nasty dig at Howie Mandel. While I thought this shot a Mandel was tacky, Eric’s show was great. If Eric Buss should be on your ship be sure to take in this show.

 

We ate in the Aqua Dining room again and tonight’s menu offered a lot of good choices although Spinach Beignets didn’t sound very taste tempting to me.

 

 

The White Hot Dance Party began at 10:00 in the Spinnaker Lounge and was a lot of fun. I surprised myself by staying up til 11:30. I don’t do that very often.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Oakman58

[Linda the Book Lover]

I wish I could remember the answer to the Coral Princess question but all I remember is what a great time me had...lol

[Oakman58]

I wish I could remember the answer to the Coral Princess question but all I remember is what a great time me had...lol

 

 

I hope you will be writing a review when you come back from your cruise on the Star in March. I hope you have as much fun on the Star as we did.

[Linda the Book Lover]

I am planning on writing a review but don't look for photos. I am known for not being the best picture taker but I will try and see what happens. I usually use my phone (alas point and shoot photos for me) but I actually just purchased a new Samsung camera (clones with my phone) that I will taking with me. Now if I can just put down the binoculars and stop saying look at that and pick up the camera. LOL

[js4rq]

Wow look at that skyline....

 

We were considering doing the Exploring Magnificent Cartagena tour, but didn't think it'd be a long day (and without lunch too)...might have to look into other similar tours!

[Oakman58]

I am planning on writing a review but don't look for photos.

 

Photos are nice but I'm more interested how much or how little folks enjoyed their cruise, especially when it's a ship I've been on.

[Oakman58]

Wow look at that skyline....

 

We were considering doing the Exploring Magnificent Cartagena tour, but didn't think it'd be a long day (and without lunch too)...might have to look into other similar tours!

 

I really thought instead of one of the stops for shopping, a quick stop for a sandwich would have been nice. If you take this tour pack some candy bars, chips, or some other snack.

[Oakman58]

Day 13

We had rain overnight but by sunrise the weather was dry and sky was partly cloudy. During the early morning hours we did continue to sail past some rain squalls on the horizon.

 

 

Every so often the cloud formations would produce a beautiful rainbow for a brief time.

 

 

We spent most of the morning relaxing on our balcony recovering from last night’s While Hot Party. Here’s a picture of the size of the balcony for cabin 9612. I stood on one of the chairs to take this photo.

 

 

In the afternoon we played the slot machines for a short time in the casino. My wife won a couple of bucks while I did a good job negating those winnings and then some.

 

At 4:00 we joined my sister and brother-in-law at the Star Bar for the margarita tasting. For $15 we sampled four decent sized margaritas. The Star Bar filled to capacity for the tasting. It’s funny how alcohol works on people. At the beginning of the tasting in the Star Bar we were all strangers to one another, yet by the third margarita we were all laughing and conversing like we were all best of friends.

 

The menu in the main dining room offered some good choices. I ordered the roasted turkey and it was quite good. A gentleman at the table next to us ordered the BBQ mixed grill and it looked delicious. In fact it looked so good I was wishing I had ordered the BBQ.

 

 

The show at the Stardust Theater was “Paradis,” a tribute to the famous Parisian Cabaret. I thought the show was excellent. After the show we called it a night and headed to our cabin.

[jebby]

For those who noted that Oakman stood on a chair for the photo on the balcony, please know that I was very upset when I realized that he was doing that. He thought that I could not see him because the drapes were half shut. I saw his reflection and almost had a heart attack when I saw what he was doing. I was not happy and let him know it.

[mimmy52]

Fantastic photo of the rain squall!

[Linda the Book Lover]

For those who noted that Oakman stood on a chair for the photo on the balcony, please know that I was very upset when I realized that he was doing that. He thought that I could not see him because the drapes were half shut. I saw his reflection and almost had a heart attack when I saw what he was doing. I was not happy and let him know it.

 

I figured he looked to see if you could see and thought he would hurry and do it before you noticed. My DH will sneak and do something he shouldn't knowing full well he would be in a world of trouble if or when I caught him. I get the mischievous "little boy" grin when I catch him and the man is 70! LOL

It is a good picture though and he is lucky he did not fall.

[Oakman58]

I figured he looked to see if you could see and thought he would hurry and do it before you noticed. My DH will sneak and do something he shouldn't knowing full well he would be in a world of trouble if or when I caught him. I get the mischievous "little boy" grin when I catch him and the man is 70! LOL

It is a good picture though and he is lucky he did not fall.

 

That's what husbands do Linda. :D

[Oakman58]

Day 14

 

Nuts, this is the last day of our cruise. This has been the best cruise we’ve been on and we were not ready for the cruise to end.

 

Overnight there was a little rain again but we woke up to partly cloudy skies again. My wife walked out on our balcony and caught a rainbow.

 

 

We did a little packing during the morning in preparation for our departure tomorrow.

 

Earlier on the cruise we made reservations for the comedy murder mystery lunch in the La Cachina restaurant at 12:00. The murder would be investigated by the Second City NCLIS team. Here’s a pic of our lunch menu.

 

 

There was quite a bit of interaction with the audience and I think everyone in attendance enjoyed both the lunch and the murder mystery, I know I did. The actors and action were so fast I couldn’t get good photos of the murder mystery but I did get couple of pics of the players. The Second City Improv troupe was very entertaining and the food was good, well worth the $20 pp charge.

 

Here’s a picture of the ship’s “lounge singer” and one of the suspects in the murder.

 

 

This is a pic of the ship’s “fitness instructor” and also a suspect.

 

 

After the lunch and murder which were just over two hours long, I headed over to the casino. I wanted to watch the last Blackjack qualifying round which would be followed by the Blackjack Tournament finals. I mentioned in the Day 10 report that I won my qualifying round for the tournament.

 

HOLY COW!! I won the Blackjack Tournament…WOO HOO! I was flying high for the rest of the day.

 

Had I been thinking clearly I would have treated the four of us to dinner at one of the specialty restaurants to celebrate my win but I was too excited to think straight. We ate dinner in the Aqua Dining room and I was still so excited I couldn’t hold my camera steady enough to take a good picture of the menu.

 

Chris Pendleton was in the Stardust Theater and for her show tonight she blended her excellent violin play with her comedy. Once again her show was funny, entertaining and first-rate.

 

November 17th Day 15, Debark the ship in Miami.

 

We didn’t carry our luggage off the ship so after breakfast we waited in the small lounge area by the Blue Lagoon for our turn to be called to disembark. The line to debark was slow and very very long and we were told that Customs was being very thorough causing the delay. We weren’t concerned because we had late afternoon flights from Miami.

 

Eventually we made it off the ship, found our luggage in the claim area, passed through Customs, and took a taxi to the airport arriving around noon.

 

Arriving back in St. Louis, MO we discovered the area had recent nasty weather so before we could drive home I had to scrape snow and ice from the windshield of our car. Brrrr, I only had a sports coat for protection from the elements.

[Oakman58]

Here’s the breakdown of where the crew called home.

 

 

My favorite food on the Star was the French Onion Soup for the starter, I ordered this at four different meals. Prime Rib was my favorite entrée, and the Warm Chocolate Volcano was my favorite dessert. Here’s a picture of what the bottom half of the menu looked like.

 

 

Here’s an interesting fact from the Freestyle Daily, there are over 220 chefs that prepare and serve nearly 18,000 meals a day to both crew and staff.

 

I can’t think of anything else to add so I guess this is the end my report on our Panama Canal cruise aboard the Norwegian Star.

[dongordon]

Oakman...

 

Your review with all the photos was the best review I have ever viewed on these boards and with my Panama Canal cruise only a week away, it was so helpful and added to the anticipation of the upcoming cruise. :)

 

Thanks so much!!

 

Don

[Oakman58]

Wow that was one of the best compliments I’ve ever been paid dongordon. Thank you for making my day.