Feedback on Star

[Merriem]

We are booked on the Star in 2017 for New Zealand, Nd would like some feedback on this ship. It has some bad reviews. I am more than willing to change cruise lines . Just thought some people who had sailed on her might have some comments

 

The cabin is the owners suite with two balconies. Thank you.

[gpb11]

Physically the ship seemed in fine shape. Assuming the azipod stays fixed. :cool:

 

The main issues people had in recent weeks since the Star started her Caribbean 2015/2016 season were personnel related IMHO. I didn't encounter any sourpusses, all the staff I interacted with seemed fine, if sometimes confused and sometimes inconsistent. Those issues relate to under-staffing and training (potentially newness). While possible they might continue on unaddressed for well over a year, I'd be very surprised if that were to happen.

[herdingdogmom]

We are also booked on the Australia/New Zealand cruise. It will be our 4th time on the Star. I've only been in the suites on deck 12. The suites are very nice and the interior spaces of the ship are in in good shape after the dry dock earlier this year. There is no Haven area for suites nor a forward observation lounge or great outdoors which a lot of people dislike.

 

Who knows what the condition of the azipod and seals will be in 2017. Hopefully no more problems.

 

By the way, we are also on the Sun South America sailing with you.

Edited November 10, 2015 by herdingdogmom

[cliffd64]

We are booked on the Star in 2017 for New Zealand, Nd would like some feedback on this ship. It has some bad reviews. I am more than willing to change cruise lines . Just thought some people who had sailed on her might have some comments

 

The cabin is the owners suite with two balconies. Thank you.

 

Just got off the Star on Sunday! Had a great time! Stayed in a two bedroom family suite and enjoyed it very much! Our butler, Cipriano was awesome :)

 

Food was excellent, and we enjoyed most of the specialty restaurants as well as a couple of dinners in Versailles and Aqua :)

[Merriem]

We are also booked on the Australia/New Zealand cruise. It will be our 4th time on the star. I've only been in the suites on deck 12. The suites are very nice and the interior spaces of the ship are in in good shape after dry dock. There is no Haven area for suites nor a forward observation lounge or great outdoors which a lot of people dislike.

 

Who knows what the condition of the azipod and seals will be in 2017. Hopefully no more problems.

 

By the way, we are also on the South America sailing with you.

 

Amazing, on two cruises together. Small world. This will be our third cruise around the horn, and it is just as exciting as the first time..............which happened to be on the Norwegian Crown.

 

We have been to Australia a couple of times, but cannot seem to get to New Zealand. When this came up I booked it the first day and got a great deal.........we could switch to Celebrity or Seaborn, or a couple of others, but I was pleases to get that suite with the two balconies, and the perks were good. Besides I liked the price!

 

See you in a couple of months!

[jpcdds6]

Just got off the Star on Sunday! Had a great time! Stayed in a two bedroom family suite and enjoyed it very much! Our butler, Cipriano was awesome :)

 

Food was excellent, and we enjoyed most of the specialty restaurants as well as a couple of dinners in Versailles and Aqua :)

After all the negative reviews about the Star for the last two weeks your take is a pleasant surprise. Was Roel your concierge? I'm sailing Jan. 3rd.

[cliffd64]

After all the negative reviews about the Star for the last two weeks your take is a pleasant surprise. Was Roel your concierge? I'm sailing Jan. 3rd.

 

Roel was the concierge...

[jpcdds6]

Roel was the concierge...

If you don't mind me asking, how was he?

[cruzsnooze]

We sailed in a suite on the Star earlier this year. I wouldn't sail on her again for free. I am sailing on the Jewel in two months so it's not NCL it's the Star. The buffet was the worst I've ever seen and the seating arrangements were horid, long tables like a high school cafe. The butler was a waste of energy, do you need someone bringing you cookies at 3PM every day? I don't. I never used the concierge so no opinion there. Cagney's for breakfast and lunch was nice but the menu never changed and although for breakfast that was ok it was boring for lunch. The furniture in my suite had seen better days and needed to see a dumpster. The size of the suite was better then other cruise lines suites. I did like freestyle dinners and the wait was minimal if there was a wait.

The Star needs a refurbish IMHO.

[jpcdds6]

We sailed in a suite on the Star earlier this year. I wouldn't sail on her again for free. I am sailing on the Jewel in two months so it's not NCL it's the Star. The buffet was the worst I've ever seen and the seating arrangements were horid, long tables like a high school cafe. The butler was a waste of energy, do you need someone bringing you cookies at 3PM every day? I don't. I never used the concierge so no opinion there. Cagney's for breakfast and lunch was nice but the menu never changed and although for breakfast that was ok it was boring for lunch. The furniture in my suite had seen better days and needed to see a dumpster. The size of the suite was better then other cruise lines suites. I did like freestyle dinners and the wait was minimal if there was a wait.

The Star needs a refurbish IMHO.

 

The Star went through a refurb in late March 2015. Was your cruise before that?

[mypleasure]

We sailed on the Star in June this year. The ship had recently been in dry dock and had been spruced up quite a bit and was looking good. We had a balcony cabin and did not have any kind of suite or VIP priveliges. We didn't get a suite this time but I have always found that telling the Butler I don't eat cookies works. Askng nicely works wonders I find.

 

It was one of the best cruises we have ever been on on any ship. We booked it for the itinerary and it delivered on that front. We found our room steward to be above average/very good and he was very accomodating to work around our schedule. We found service everywhere to be good to excellent. We enjoyed all the restaurants except Teppanyaki to be very good/some excellent. Service in Teppanyaki was good but it is a place I have avoided for 16 cruises and will never visit again. I hated the food and after the meal I made my only visit to the buffet the whole cruise as I needed some food! Bar servers were all good, remembered us and seemed attentive.

 

I have been very surprised to read all of these recent bad reviews of the ship and it's staff. I know that the senior management on board has changed a lot since June and wonder just how much the change in leadership has affected the staff. I also wonder how much the shift from the European season of longer cruises and a slightly different type of guest has also impacted things. They may also have lost experienced staff to the new build to be replaced by rookie crew who need a little time.

 

We are unsure whether to book Australia and New Zealand for 2018 or 2019 at the moment but if the Star is the ship that is going there we will not be put off at all.

[All-ready2cruise]

Roel was the concierge...

 

We were on the Star in a 2br suite for 25 days and while we did experience some issues with other staff, Roel Gonzales and Cipriano, our butler, Jun our steward, were all topnotch.

 

If you don't mind me asking, how was he?

 

Roel, Cipriano, Lucille (hostess), Shane (hostess) and Bremelin are all leaving end of November for Christmas with their families. Some haven't been home for Christmas for 12 years, we wish them all a very happy holiday.

[cruzsnooze]

The Star went through a refurb in late March 2015. Was your cruise before that?

 

Yes it was a few months before that so things have changed I would hope.

[maja651]

Christopher is now the concierge. We just got off the ship today. We had an absolutely amazing time! Mark Santos was our butler and he too was superb. We spent most of the time in the Garden Villa and why not? That room has everything you could possibly need! I will post a review later this week with pictures and details.

[gacruzguy]

Welcome back from your cruise, glad you had a great time. We are thinking about booking the Garden Villa on the Star but were getting nervous based on the recent bad reviews.

 

How was the room? I have heard people say it needs to be updated, what is your opinion?

 

How was the concierge? I have never heard of Christopher.

 

Is it truly spectacular service like they say? We always stay in suites but have never done the Garden Villa. Thinking about trying it as I have heard the service is spectacular, but am doubting that from the recent ship reviews.

[maja651]

Welcome back from your cruise, glad you had a great time. We are thinking about booking the Garden Villa on the Star but were getting nervous based on the recent bad reviews.

 

How was the room? I have heard people say it needs to be updated, what is your opinion?

 

How was the concierge? I have never heard of Christopher.

 

Is it truly spectacular service like they say? We always stay in suites but have never done the Garden Villa. Thinking about trying it as I have heard the service is spectacular, but am doubting that from the recent ship reviews.

 

The room was absolutely fabulous! There is new furniture in the living area and bedrooms. They have also put in new carpet. The service was absolutely over the top! Honestly, we wanted for nothing. Chris and Mark treated us like royalty. For example, for the suites party, Mark escorted us to it from our room. Whenever we left the ship, Mark escorted us to Chris to get to the front of the line, even in front of the suites. They treat the GV peeps like the number one VIPs. It is absolutely worth every penny. Remember, as I am sure you know, you need to tip very well in the GV. :)

Edited November 15, 2015 by maja651

[maja651]

https://nclstargardenvillanovember2015.shutterfly.com/#%3aemid%3dsite_sitecreated%26cid%3dSHARE3SXXXX

[phillynick]

Our good friends had that suite when we went through the Panama Canal, it was beautiful, convenient and spacious.

[gacruzguy]

Thank you for your feedback and pictures, it looks great! I am glad you had a great time. We want to decide by the end of November if we are going to do it. A few more questions, if you do not mind as I would love your feedback since you just experienced it.

 

In regards to tipping, did you tip all at the end or did you tip as the week went on?

 

What would you recommend be the budget I tip for each person? Just trying to get an idea so we can budget it.

 

Thanks so much for your information.

[corakari]

We have booked a suite for the Hong Kong to Sydney cruise in 2017 but with all the mixed Star reviews, we need to get some positive feedback. It seems that people staying in suites were pleased with most of the service but not all of it. We sailed on the Gem in 2009 Western Med and had a wonderful time, great service, food, etc. Is this the same NCL we are wondering? Also, do you know if breakfast and lunch are still available in Cagney's? One of our favorite things about the last cruise. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Big Timber]

https://nclstargardenvillanovember2015.shutterfly.com/#%3aemid%3dsite_sitecreated%26cid%3dSHARE3SXXXX

 

Thank you so much for posting these photos. The furnishings look so much better than other pictures I had seen before the upgrading. We are booked in 14500 the end of September, 2016. Were you in 14000 or 14500? Thanks again for your positive comments about the Garden Villa. It makes us even more enthusiastic about our cruise.

[maja651]

Thank you so much for posting these photos. The furnishings look so much better than other pictures I had seen before the upgrading. We are booked in 14500 the end of September, 2016. Were you in 14000 or 14500? Thanks again for your positive comments about the Garden Villa. It makes us even more enthusiastic about our cruise.

We were in 14500. It was such a fabulous cruise! You will LOVE the GV!

[maja651]

We have booked a suite for the Hong Kong to Sydney cruise in 2017 but with all the mixed Star reviews, we need to get some positive feedback. It seems that people staying in suites were pleased with most of the service but not all of it. We sailed on the Gem in 2009 Western Med and had a wonderful time, great service, food, etc. Is this the same NCL we are wondering? Also, do you know if breakfast and lunch are still available in Cagney's? One of our favorite things about the last cruise. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

The service we had was exceptional. Maybe because we were in the GV, not sure, but we did not encounter any bad service anywhere on the ship.

 

Lunch and breakfast us at Moderno now, but the same suite menu. You can also have it delivered to your room, and we did most days. :)

[maja651]

Thank you for your feedback and pictures, it looks great! I am glad you had a great time. We want to decide by the end of November if we are going to do it. A few more questions, if you do not mind as I would love your feedback since you just experienced it.

 

In regards to tipping, did you tip all at the end or did you tip as the week went on?

 

What would you recommend be the budget I tip for each person? Just trying to get an idea so we can budget it.

 

Thanks so much for your information.

 

We tipped at the end. Tipping is really subjective...so many opinions on it. We chose to tip the room steward $70 extra per room, the butler $180 per person (5 people), and the concierge $600. I hope those are considered good tips. I am really not sure. We normally tip about $200 total to the butler (for suite with 2 people) and tip the concierge about $100 (we normally do not use that service very much but we did use it a lot more on this cruise).

 

I really hope by stating how much we tipped does not open up some kind of tipping debate by other people. :rolleyes:

[corakari]

The service we had was exceptional. Maybe because we were in the GV, not sure, but we did not encounter any bad service anywhere on the ship.

 

Lunch and breakfast us at Moderno now, but the same suite menu. You can also have it delivered to your room, and we did most days. :)

Thanks for the info. Is Moderno similar to Cagney's? We thought the food was exceptional for breakfast and lunch. As to your tipping info, that is personal true, but your honesty about it is very refreshing. Glad you had a great cruise and we enjoyed your photos.:)