Just off the NCL Star May never sail NCL again

[spidybabe]

Hi Tina, we are cruising the Star Feb 28th we have never been on her. sounds like you enjoyed it! I know Roy (our favorite Butler is on) hope all is well. Any good tips for the ports?

 

Andrea

 

Hi Andrea

We loved the Star. Very similar to the Gem except no large spinnaker - bliss is now spinnaker and old spinnaker are beautiful suites. Really nice atrium, everything will feel very familiar to you. Tiny Teppanyaki with only 1 table. Casino and all staff / crew wonderful. Entertainment/events basically the same.

Ports: we shopped in Cozumel, highly recommend Victor Bodden tours in roatan (fun & sun) and native choice (Mayan ruins) in Costa maya. Both great tours. Just off ship in port area in Belize

Hope all is well. Been busy with my mom in and out of hospital. .In ICU now

Safe sailing-- enjoy

Edited January 26, 2016 by spidybabe

[DMH15]

Suite lunch is available starting noontime....

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

I agree. Always been my experience.

[Redheadtraveler]

I set sail January 31 and look forward to it. My daughter is traveling with me and since I'm recovering from Achilles Tendon surgery I will have embarkment assistance and disembarkment assistance. I don't know what to expect but feel fortunate that I will not have to stand or limp on board.

 

I've sail Norwegian on my very first cruise and the service, food and entertainment was great. The only complaint I had was that you could not get into any of the jacuzzis due to kids overflowing and trying to snorkel in them. Adults were just SOL on those.

 

I've read the comments on the Star and was concerned that some guests just totally hated everything about their entire cruise. However, I will not let their negative comments get in the way of me enjoying my cruise. I need this vacation and I intend to enjoy it.

[IrieBajan54]

Just another reason why I avoid the 4 oldest ships in the NCL fleet. I don't care how cheap they are selling or how good the itinerary is.

Edited January 26, 2016 by IrieBajan54

[karoo]

And now that they are adding the room on the 15th floor of the Jewel class ships it has taken away more space from the top deck as well as affected the view.

 

Oh no! Is the Spinnaker lounge being removed from the Jewel Class ships. I hope this isn't true. This is my favourite class in the NCL fleet. (Also the reason we disliked the Star Easter '15 and we'll never sail on the Dawn or the Star again.)

[Aquahound]

Oh no! Is the Spinnaker lounge being removed from the Jewel Class ships. I hope this isn't true. This is my favourite class in the NCL fleet. (Also the reason we disliked the Star Easter '15 and we'll never sail on the Dawn or the Star again.)

 

There were several reasons I will never sail Dawn again...and swore off any sister ship...but that reason right there was my number 1 complaint. That was a stupid move on NCL's part.

[tpnebraska]

I guess I don't understand. Having never sailed on the Star prior to 1/3/16, I don't know what the Spinnaker used to be. I found it to be lovely. We went early to a couple of "events" and there is ample room for anyone that wanted to be there. I was the gathering point for many events and it always accomodated everyone. The Star is not a "huge" ship. I think peoples expectations may be too high. My opinion is that people in general expect a megaship experience when sailing on a non-megaship. That's all I have to say about that!!

[breezy270]

I was on Star in April for the Mexican Riviera. When we embarked they were only serving beer and wine due to health inspections that did not allow them to serve any mixed drinks any hard liquor or any drinks that needed ice. This was all due to the inspection and not because the crew or ship was not prepared to serve the passengers.

[breezy270]

You're dead wrong. Turnaround day is an all hands evolution. You may not think the dining staff is doing anything different but they are. All the dining facilities and equipment need to be deep cleaned in the case of a surprise inspection by the USCG or CDC. You may not think the hotel staff is doing anything different, but they are up several hours earlier than normal preparing to get the rooms ready for the next guests. Who do you think stayed up half the night taking luggage from all the hallways down to the hold area?

 

If you think turnaround day is no different for the crew than any other day, you are very, very mistaken.

I completely agree. Turn around day is the hardest day for the crew. Often times the ship will change the jobs of some of the crew. They may have worked in the casino or pool previously and are now working in the dining room. That is a huge change. After getting to know the crew on a few cruises they said the hardest jobs by far are housekeeping and the dining room and kitchen work. They work long hours to give us a great cruise vacation. Often times I would see the same bartender that just worked all day at the pool bartending in the club or another bar around the ship later at night. That is not easy. I try no to let slow service or other issues bother me. I have nothing but time when I am cruising!!!

[Mammasan]

That is if my husband has his say we wont be coming back.

We did the Getaway last month. Had a great time Enjoyed everything.

 

Jumped on the chance to get an aft cabin and a taste of the "suite life". It was anything but sweet from start to finish!

 

As you begin to read through this you may feel I am being a bit picky. As these things began to transpire we only found them a bit irritating and not what we expected, however as the issues just kept building I decided to TRY to keep track of them.

 

It began with the propulsion issue. That actually didnt bother us. What bothered us was getting to the pier where the passengers had actually been disembarked the day before and finding a line of passengers waiting to get in that was so long it wrapped around the building. There was no side line for suite passengers. After standing in this line for about 20 minutes and it still not moving I went back to the front of the line and asked if there was another line for Priority Embarkation. He said usually there is but today we are only making a line for handicapped passengers. After waiting for almost 45 minutes they began letting us in. Once finally inside they did have priority lines. However the line again was not moving. Once we got to check in they apologized and said since this was the first day back from overseas they have lots of new employees and also they are having glitches with the system. We stood at the desk over 25 minutes and they were never able to key in our credit card despite having over 8 employees at one time looking at the terminal. We are still smiling at this point and saying its ok and we understand...really we did.

 

Now off to begin the "suite life" We were led to a small area for suite passengers. There was a buffet table set up with a table cloth and nothing on it. Did we really need anything? Probably not but I actually would have appreciated just a bottle of water but that was not available nor possible as they said they could give us nothing as the health inspectors were still aboard....sigh...We stayed in this room until almost noon.

 

Then came our lunch at Cagneys.........To be continued......

Just a suggestion for you and other passengers on cruise ships. Do not arrive too early to check in and board. It is so much easier to arrive once the original crowd disappears, which it always does.

[mommyto2girls]

Hi Andrea

We loved the Star. Very similar to the Gem except no large spinnaker - bliss is now spinnaker and old spinnaker are beautiful suites. Really nice atrium, everything will feel very familiar to you. Tiny Teppanyaki with only 1 table. Casino and all staff / crew wonderful. Entertainment/events basically the same.

Ports: we shopped in Cozumel, highly recommend Victor Bodden tours in roatan (fun & sun) and native choice (Mayan ruins) in Costa maya. Both great tours. Just off ship in port area in Belize

Hope all is well. Been busy with my mom in and out of hospital. .In ICU now

Safe sailing-- enjoy

 

Thanks Tina, Sorry to hear your mom is not doing so well :( . We chose Bodden Tours for Roatan and we have already done the Mayan Ruins but maybe we will do it one more time. We hope to see you again in the not too distant future!

Hope all goes well with you Mom.