Sailing Star on Sunday, Nov 8 - any questions?

[mousecrazy]

Ditto on the service questions - approximate wait times for service, attitude of staff and did NCL run out of things - beer, food etc...

 

Enjoy your trip - we're going in Dec so interested in your feedback:)

 

 

I waited about 10 minutes at the pool bar during peek hours. It really wasn't bad. The small, limited bar in the buffet is great for beer and wine and soda. I am not aware of anything running in short supply.

[mousecrazy]

can you see if they serve any snacks or menu items in Gatsbys.

 

Its listed on NCL but that might be removed from reality!!

 

 

 

cheers.

 

 

 

oh - and treat her gently - I'm doing thanksgiving on her..

 

 

Snacks at Gatsbys is a bar mix upon request. Nothing special. No menu items (food) available.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[mousecrazy]

Thanks for doing this for everyone! We sail in Dec and wondering how long it takes the ship to reach the Skyway bridge. I believe it takes close to two and half hours till you get right under it, and we don't want to miss it as we live right across Tampa Bay on the last piece of land you see heading out into the Gulf of Mexico. Don't want to be eating at that time. Curious about the MDR menus and which items each night, to help in deciding specialty. If you get anywhere near the kids club, I'd love to see the listed Splash Academy activities for the 3-5 age range, but I'd completely understand if you don't. Hope you have a great cruise with good service and great attitudes. Oh, and great weather too!

 

 

We passed under the bridge at 645. No announcement.

 

Sorry, I didn't get a pic of the main dining room menus or the 3-5 kids club. I can tell you that the youth staff is very professional and competent. They had lots of fun activities. Don't miss the circus performance on Sat. The little ones stole the show!!!

 

Have fun!

[mousecrazy]

Hey mousecrazy,

that's a great offer, thanks for that. I'll be sailing short after you on the 22nd of November, so any information is very helpful for me. I would also have an interest of a list (or a couple of names) of good bartenders/servers which has been able to make your day. Also, if you could take some pictures of actual bar menus like 5'o clock Somewhere Bar, The Sugarcane Bar or Bier Garten I would really lilke to see them before I get on board.

 

Thanks again for you offer, much appreciated.

 

Cheers Callimero

 

5 o clock Somewhere

 

Gatsbys

 

 

 

Holiday insert

 

Sugarcane

 

Edited November 16, 2015 by mousecrazy

[mousecrazy]

Biergarten had same menu as pool bar

 

 

[Callimero]

Thanks mousecrazy.. Hope you've had a great cruise [emoji106]

[mousecrazy]

Although I know NCL has freestyle/casual dining, I do recall that they designate one night on a 7 day cruise as the "formal" night (if you choose to), which I believe is the same night you can take pictures with the captain. I would love to know what night that is. Also, what night they have the white hot party. Thanks! I hope you have a great time!

 

 

Captain pictures are on Monday early evening for about 30 minutes in the atrium. I saw people dressed to the nines on every night!

 

The White Hot party is on Friday night on the pool deck at 10:45.

Edited November 16, 2015 by mousecrazy

[mikenhe]

Thanks for getting back to us. hope you had an excellent time!

[cruisetimeforme]

Thanks for getting back with some good news about the Star, for a change!

[boomonster]

So are the drinks at 5 OClock Somewhere bar included in the Ultimate beverage package minus the special cups? Sorry new to NCL .

[mousecrazy]

So are the drinks at 5 OClock Somewhere bar included in the Ultimate beverage package minus the special cups? Sorry new to NCL .

 

Yep! All drinks under $15 excluding special cups.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

[nw gardener]

Thanks for answering our questions, hope you post a review and sounds like you had a good time!

[mousecrazy]

Thanks for getting back with some good news about the Star, for a change!

 

I can see how some people might get sucked into the negativity...I heard a lot of complaints - but honestly, they were all petty in the big scheme of things. I don't find it horrible to wait for a drink, especially while watching 5 bartenders working their tails off. I saw more examples of "ugly American" than Star staff not working hard.

 

My family and I had a wonderful week and felt completely spoiled and rejuvenated at the end of it. The Star is a great ship with competent staff! There was a lot of things to do if you wanted to get involved. For those that say there isn't anything to do, I figure they probably just aren't very easy to please. The cruise directors staff were bubbly and inviting. They hosted all kinds of events from trivia to dance classes to various meets (like bridge, singles). The youth staff was great with the kids, our room steward, Jenifer (deck 12 starboard) was the best we've ever had. Her towel animals were the BEST and she worked her schedule around ours.

 

Some of the service times at the specialty restaurants was lengthy. But we planned a little extra time and it was nice to sit and chat about our day/life/dreams! I highly recommend that! All my meals were delicious! I especially liked that I didn't have to cook it! ha I ate lots of seafood and it was delish. We ate at LeBistro, Cagneys, LaCucina and Teppenyaki, as well as the buffet (I thought the food was generally tasty but lacked the variety I've had on other ships - the Pearl this summer) and Aqua.

 

I'm happy to try to answer any other questions any future cruisers might have.

[DreamingBig1]

How late was the ship usually hopping? Did things stay open later, or shut down early?

 

Thanks!

[DreamingBig1]

BTW: That's awesome that you had a wonderful time. It has perked me up about my impending cruise.

[mousecrazy]

How late was the ship usually hopping? Did things stay open later, or shut down early?

 

Thanks!

 

Honestly, I can't really say. I'm one of the early to bed (my kids are still young). But I do know the White Hot Party went into the night...and everyone there were there to party! Definitely not to be missed.

 

Also, the Spinnaker was PACKED for the Quest game/comedian on the last night. Lots of great laughs...but get there early, standing room only!

[mousecrazy]

BTW: That's awesome that you had a wonderful time. It has perked me up about my impending cruise.

 

I'm so glad my posts are encouraging you. As many have said before...life is what you make it...and vacation time is no different! I truly hope you enjoy the Star in 20 days!

[lb0103]

We were also on this cruise and I will verify all the GOOD things that have been said. I was worried about the bar service as there was so many drinks I wanted to try. The only problem I had was after trying a "few" deciding which I liked best. The longest waits I felt were in the the Stardust, and I just got a drink before we went in. The comic was the BEST, he was really good, but will be going off the ship soon, before the holidays.

 

I am sure the Spinnaker is open till 2AM our room was under it, but even that the noise was not to bad.

 

Service is all the dining rooms was great.

 

The only "issue" we had was the hostess in Versailles, we made reservations and she put is off the side, I called it timeout and ignored us. DH went to maitre'd told him the story and sat us as soon as table opened up, service was great once seated. Funny thing is we had the same problem on the Dawn 3 years ago in the Venetian with the hostess.

 

Divers were in the water on 11/8 and 11/15 don't know doing what but we were on time at all the ports and getting back.

 

We are not fans of "free style" but we worked around it and had a wonderful time. As already said it is what you make of it. If you want to complain about trivial things then go ahead and waste your vacation time. If you have a real problem NCL really tries to work with you, IF they know about it.

 

We would sail NCL again if the itinerary was what we were looking for. I don't think we would book the bigger ships as the scheduling seems even worse on those, but size of the Star seems just right for us.

 

Our biggest surprise was the age of the guests. From families with 1 yr olds to many scooters and wheel chairs/walkers. It really was very diverse.

[Cruiser42]

Please disregard everything you have read on CC and go in with an open mind. Come back and report your experience. Cruising on Jan 3rd and I am close to not coming back to cc as the only people that post are the 1% that had bad experiences.... Have a great time and give us an honest brief review!!

;)

 

EXCELLENT advice ! We just got off the Star and it was one of our best cruises ever!!!!! The food in the MDR/Versailles was fantastic ! The only bad experience we had was in La Cucina. Food and service both bad. Everything else was wonderful !!!!! Staff was excellent ! Happy, smiling, helpful - everything you've come to expect. Was the pool bar service slow? cant help you, I never go to the pool. Everywhere else on the ship the service was great! We had one of our best cruises ever (and I was so worried after reading reviews here - I'll never worry again). I just submitted my review so it should be out soon. LOVED LOVED LOVED IT !!!!!!!!!!!

[geoff127]

Thanks for all the information. I do have a quick question. On the drink menu at Gatsby's and Sugarcane it says "20% discount for Ultimate Beverage Package." Does that mean those bars/drinks aren't included, or does that mean if you pay for dinner there it's discounted 20%? Thanks!

[cruisetimeforme]

Pretty sure that is in reference to ordering the mojitos special of multiple small drinks, etc., not if you were ordering one drink there. Those type of drinks specials or when they have drinks served in keepsake type of glassware are never included in drink packages

[42go]

Thanks for the review! I completely agree about having an open mind when cruising. We will be on the Star for Thanksgiving. We like to dress up - my husband and son like to wear their tuxedos and my daughter and I like to wear cocktail dresses. We always eat dinner in the dining room - will we be over dressed?

[tim4mel]

Thanks for the review! I completely agree about having an open mind when cruising. We will be on the Star for Thanksgiving. We like to dress up - my husband and son like to wear their tuxedos and my daughter and I like to wear cocktail dresses. We always eat dinner in the dining room - will we be over dressed?

 

We will be on the sailing with you. I have read that many dress up. When my daughter goes she wears a floor length formal. Such variety. Come on over and join the roll call if you haven't yet.

[cruzincurt]

Thanks for doing this for everyone! We sail in Dec and wondering how long it takes the ship to reach the Skyway bridge. I believe it takes close to two and half hours till you get right under it, and we don't want to miss it as we live right across Tampa Bay on the last piece of land you see heading out into the Gulf of Mexico. Don't want to be eating at that time. Curious about the MDR menus and which items each night, to help in deciding specialty. If you get anywhere near the kids club, I'd love to see the listed Splash Academy activities for the 3-5 age range, but I'd completely understand if you don't. Hope you have a great cruise with good service and great attitudes. Oh, and great weather too!

 

We've been on several out of Tampa that go under the bridge between 7:00 - 7:30. Seems to take 2 - 2 1/2 hours after leaving the pier.

[spidybabe]

We've been on several out of Tampa that go under the bridge between 7:00 - 7:30. Seems to take 2 - 2 1/2 hours after leaving the pier.

 

We have always sailed from NY with its wonderful views and going under the bridge. This will be our first time sailing from Tampa. Thanks for the info about the Skyway Bridge( we will be looking out for it). Is there anything else not to miss when sailing out of Tampa?? Or even anything not to miss in Tampa?

Thanks for any info

Safe sailing