Live Report- Norwegian Star May 11th-21st 2023. Is this my last time on a small ship?

[ConnieTact]

Sadly, I would not recommend this tour. The coach was late leaving, hit traffic and was freezing cold. We didn’t stop until we got here so no way to tell them we were cold as yelling from the back didn’t work! 😅Also tour guide didn’t know how to use his mic so nearly all of it could not be heard. 
He was alerted twice by my calling out but I gave up on the end. Apparently he put the mic between his legs so that’s why we couldn’t hear him. 

Our ships in the background of that third photo- across the bay!

 

[ConnieTact]

The caves were brilliant though and the guide there was clear and very good at reminding us to keep our heads down or when things got slippery. I recommend the caves.

[ConnieTact]

Things have improved on way back with warmth and he took it onboard that he needed to hold the mic to his face for us to hear!

We were told, no time to stop there but nice restaurant. Beautiful castle there but no time to stop. This is a great view but, no time to stop.

I’ll be glad to be back onboard and looking forward to my dinner having skipped lunch today! Wouldn’t mind a cuppa either! 😅

 

[ConnieTact]

Just joined very long line for tender. 

[insidecabin]

40 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

Oh! Sorry for the misinformation- thank goodness inside cabin is here to correct me! Thanks! 😊

I have my cold drinks in the water cups.

 

Save single use plastic option.

[insidecabin]

Ouch, they have the ferry and a few tenders working hopefully not too long a wait

 

We are in the buffet(19:15) can just see a tender leaving.

 

Pork is very good.

[insidecabin]

They used the support vessel to do the last run.

 

It left around 17:40-17:45(1st pic)

Pulled along side 19:55

Then sped off 20:08

We left immediately as they had already pulled up the tenders and secured the tender staging.

 

 

Not sure what is happening this morning in Dingle, they called first tender number at 7am first I saw leave was 7:20 

 

Lovely day so far and not too cold(less wind)

Forecast does have rain.

 

 

[insidecabin]

Another lazy start headed to tender 9:50.

(Open tender was around 9am)

 

Line was forming and a few not happy,

Line started moving at 9:59

Tender loaded and off at 10:04

 

They started loading the next one immediately.

 

A little choppy today starting out from the ship but smooth one a bit into the bay.

[ConnieTact]

3 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

Another lazy start headed to tender 9:50.

(Open tender was around 9am)

 

Line was forming and a few not happy,

Line started moving at 9:59

Tender loaded and off at 10:04

 

They started loading the next one immediately.

 

A little choppy today starting out from the ship but smooth one a bit into the bay.

Thanks for todays Tender information.

I heard 1st call at 7 for group 1

then 7.07 group 2

next, 7.16 group 4

lastky, 7.36 groups 1-12

then I put in earplugs and went back to sleep! 😂

I understand the journey to the shore is a longer, half hour.

plastic tender home is 8pm.

[insidecabin]

10:29 started unloading and another full one has just arrived.

[ConnieTact]

We had a disappointing specialty meal in La Cucina last night. 
Our starters we good, I had lasagne and MrCT had the risotto. Both were tasty, serviced hot and delicious.

For our mains we both chose pizza.

Mine was overly cheesy and I could barely see or taste the tomato.

I had two bites but knew I didn’t want it. So asked for it to be taken away.

I have never known my Mr CT leave pizza before but he got through half of his then stopped.

The desserts were good. I loved my fabulously creamy panna cotta and Mr CT enjoyed his tiramisu but just ate half as it was so rich and overly large portion.

IAlthough we said hello to the manager as we walked in, and he returned the greeting, he did not approach us at any time throughout our meal. I beckoned him over before we left, to explain why we didn’t eat our food, as we thought it important to get feedback for future information. He listened, said “I’m not charging you!” Turned, then walked away!

I was surprised at this and left doubting his suitability for the management role. 
Maybe he gets a lot of complaints but part of being a manager is to deal with these. I was not complaining, just explaining. So I was further surprised at his cold attitude and lack of people skills.

Although happy we didn’t have to pay, we won’t return to La Cucina.

[ConnieTact]

Somehow the pizza photos didn’t load- here they are! In all their cheesy glory! 

[ConnieTact]

Views are lovely from the middle of Dingle Bay!

Even view from the room. 

[insidecabin]

51 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

Somehow the pizza photos didn’t load- here they are! In all their cheesy glory! 

Thanks for the warning, we were going to use a voucher so no charge is not helpful as we are not keen on Moderno the other alternative for the voucher.

 

Let's sea how our Cagnies goes tonight.

 

 

[Tak8]

Especially for those on board now, thoughts on a cruise vs.a land Ireland vacation?  In reading through all the posts so far, my one concern is the tendering/waiting for the return tender.  Do you feel you lost potential port time in the process?  How much of a negative was the process for you?  I keep going back and forth between this itinerary next May or a 10 day tour of Ireland with 2 nights in each hotel that cuts down on the packing/unpacking issue.  

[ConnieTact]

5 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Thanks for the warning, we were going to use a voucher so no charge is not helpful as we are not keen on Moderno the other alternative for the voucher.

 

Let's sea how our Cagnies goes tonight.

 

 

You can use your voucher anywhere! David confirmed this to me the other night. Hope that helps. 

[ConnieTact]

2 hours ago, Tak8 said:

Especially for those on board now, thoughts on a cruise vs.a land Ireland vacation?  In reading through all the posts so far, my one concern is the tendering/waiting for the return tender.  Do you feel you lost potential port time in the process?  How much of a negative was the process for you?  I keep going back and forth between this itinerary next May or a 10 day tour of Ireland with 2 nights in each hotel that cuts down on the packing/unpacking issue.  

I’ve loved it. I feel we’ve seen a lot and if you take excursions at each port you see even more! 
So, my vote is for this cruise!

[ConnieTact]

Last night after dinner we went to the Bliss lounge to the 80s night. It was really fun with a screen showing music videos along with great hits. A fab night!

 

[ConnieTact]

The sky was also very pretty,

[DPGat4]

2 hours ago, Tak8 said:

Especially for those on board now, thoughts on a cruise vs.a land Ireland vacation?  In reading through all the posts so far, my one concern is the tendering/waiting for the return tender.  Do you feel you lost potential port time in the process?  How much of a negative was the process for you?  I keep going back and forth between this itinerary next May or a 10 day tour of Ireland with 2 nights in each hotel that cuts down on the packing/unpacking issue.  

Unless you are really stuck on NCL, I would suggest you look at other lines who might do similar cruises.     In 2019 we visited the East coast of Ireland (Belfast, Dublin & Cork) and some Scottish ports - this was with P&O and we didn't have to use any tenders.   Our last stop was meant to be Guernsey in the Channel Islands - that would've been a tender but our captain wouldn't let us off.    He claimed the sea was too choppy for the demographic on the ship 🤣.     It was annoying because a sister ship was anchored off our starboard side and they were tendering in 😕

We chose this cruise (we are on the 21st May clockwise version of this current one) because we hadn't visited the West coast.  However, I never looked into it enough and if I'd have known about so many tender ports, I might not have booked this one.  

[insidecabin]

2 hours ago, Tak8 said:

Especially for those on board now, thoughts on a cruise vs.a land Ireland vacation?  In reading through all the posts so far, my one concern is the tendering/waiting for the return tender.  Do you feel you lost potential port time in the process?  How much of a negative was the process for you?  I keep going back and forth between this itinerary next May or a 10 day tour of Ireland with 2 nights in each hotel that cuts down on the packing/unpacking issue.  

We have opted for the light option no tours just get off and walk around.

 

It's worked as a taster but we can do these easy late booking if they get cheap when available.

 

The east coast(Cobh,Dublin,Belfast) is covered by round Britain cruises so a land base western could probably give better coverage of that side and central ROI.

 

This itinerary doing both side is relatively rare not many do it and often just once in a year.

 

There are other lines that do the ports on smaller ships with NCL being the budget option.

 

[insidecabin]

Do check each itinerary carefully they are not all the same, some have poor port times.

[insidecabin]

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Edited May 18, 2023 by insidecabin
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[Tak8]

Thanks for the replies.  I did a British Isles cruise on Princess in '17.  Had 2 days in Dublin, 1 in Belfast, missed Cobh due to weather, plus hit Scotland for 3 and Le Havre for 1 day.  The all Ireland aspect is what draws me to this itinerary.  I'm just comparing to the land based 10 day I found.  I love to cruise, but figuring out which way to go for this type itinerary is difficult.

[ziggyuk]

The Cliffs Of Moher from Galway were really worth a visit, stunning.