NCL Star - Alaska 09/08/07 review

[atlantaCruise]

Sept 8th NCL Star to Alaska

 

Seattle – Arrived 2 days early, stayed at the Inn at the Market right next to the Pike Place Market. The hotel has a town car that will pick you up from the airport and allow you to use it during your stay. The Inn’s location allows you to walk all around Pike Place Market, shops, restaurants, liquor store and the Seattle Aquarium. There is a roof top garden where you can sit and watch the sunset or the ships come into port.

 

The Space Needle is a 10 minute walk, we had dinner here the 1st night in Seattle. It was a very good dinner and had great views of the city. The dinning area rotates continuously, about once every 30 minutes so everyone can get a view of Mount Rainier (54 miles SE of Seattle) and the sunset over the port.

 

Embarkation

 

Easiest ever, we arrived at the ship around 12:00 and walked right up to the agent to get our cards made then thru security. I was hand carrying a 1.5 liter bottle of wine, paid the $15 corkage fee and walked onto the ship (We told the gentleman collecting the fee we had more in our checked bags, he just waved his hand and said have a good cruise). The rooms were not ready and had all the hallway doors closed with someone guarding them all, asking you to go to the Market Café for lunch. Around 1:00 an announcement was made that the cabins were ready.

 

Cabins

 

There were 8 of us in 4 balconies, all on deck 10, 1 near the rear and 2 next door to each other but not connecting mid-ship, and ours was the 1st cabin forward right behind the Van Gogh suite (connecting room with the

 

suite) with good view of the bridge.

 

Our bags arrived about an hour after we made it to the room. We had the cheese platter given to us as a gift and we wanted our wine that we packed in the bag. I figured I would have to go collect the one bag but no one said anything.

 

Right after we pulled out of port (right on time) we noticed a very loud whistle coming from the connecting door. Our suite neighbors had their forward balcony door open and it was making an awful squealing sound. Found our cabin stewards and told them the problem and asked for some tape to tape the connecting door seams.

 

They made a call to maintenance and when we got back from dinner we noticed it was still whistling. We walked out onto the balcony and noticed that someone had put masking tape on the balcony divider. We just pulled it off and brought it in. Problem solved. No real problems with our room except for the AC. It worked but thought we had a ghost in the room. The AC has up and down buttons that has 4 red lights on top and 4 blue lights on bottom rather than actual degree ranges. You adjust with the arrows for either heat of cooling. Our buttons were worn out and with airflow from the balcony or hall door, or even by closing the bathroom door they would move on their own. The first night we had it on full cooling only to wake up hot, it had changed from 4 bars blue to 2 red. We lowered it back down and opened the balcony door and went back to sleep (the AC or heat would still work with the balcony door open. Who knew).

 

Our room stewards were great; we had towel animals 5 nights. The 2 couples that had rooms next to each other never saw their room stewards and on the 3rd night they still didn’t have any towel animals (1st cruise for 1 couple and 1st NCL cruise for the other). They ended up getting just one animal each. We asked our stewards and they said they were required to only do 3 animals a cruise, our stewards like doing them every night. The other couple further aft never saw their stewards either and they got 3 animals. The stewards for the cabins in mid-ship were not the friendliest of people, they had to be asked several times for the smallest things (replacement towels,

 

etc.) and didn't seem to clean the bathrooms very often, with drips of soap never having been wiped from the sink. (They waited to see how long it would sit there; a request had to be made for the bathroom to be cleaned properly)

 

(Someone was wondering if you can still smoke in the cabins, yes you can)

 

 

 

Package

 

We purchased the romance package. Sparkling Wine and chocolate covered strawberries were brought in around 3:00 on Sat. Cake and Champagne party was Sunday night at 6:00, we forgot. Wednesday night would be the hors d’oeuvres (we noticed it did not say canapés). We called and asked for the cheese tray instead (no one answered so we left a message), Wednesday we had more cheese! The package came with the picture from the cake and champagne party or you got $8.95 off an 8X10 (Which were $25 each). We had our dinner and wine in the Bistro on Sunday night (optional formal and lobster night).

 

We exchanged our sparkling wine and the wine in the Bistro for different wines. They gave us a $22 credit on the wine that came with the package.

 

Latitudes Party

 

The party was Sunday, a few hours after our meet and greet. The drinks were flowing; they were almost throwing them at you. You never had to wait long before someone would come over and hand you something or take your order.

 

Prizes were given out; Captain Lars made a speech and cut up the staff. He would be a great CD if he didn’t already have a job. Some had asked about the latitude pins, they were in the room waiting for us when we got in on Saturday, look like all the others except it had Star on it. The best Latitudes party we have attended.

 

Food

 

FYI 2 for 1 special every night from 9:00 – 10:00. You could reserve anytime during the day for the following night.

 

This is the 1st time were not happy with the specialty restaurants at any time. The food was good but the service was beyond better in the main dinning room. There were 8 of us at Le Bistro so our waiter was busting his tail but no one would help him out. His assistant was new and she did a good job with the drinks but he wasn’t letting her do much else, the head waiter in there was wandering around, she wasn’t any help nor did she seem to notice the issue the larger tables seemed to be having. This was lobster night, on previous cruises we were able to get lobster free in Bistro. We were told before we went that it has changed and you can only get it in the main dining room for free. This was no big deal for us. The fondue is not on the menu, we had heard you can still order it so 3 of us did. They did tell us it would take a few minutes as it is prepared somewhere else and not in the Bistro kitchen. It took almost 10 minutes to be served the fondue. It came with a platter of fruit, mostly pineapple, strawberries, honeydew and cantaloupe. Service was slow, long waits between courses and hardly an apologetic comment from any of the staff.

 

We ate at Cagney’s the next night. The food again was good but the server was extremely rude. We had reservations at 9:00 so we are not sure if she was having a hard night or just tired. When we asked for fondue for desert she just took the order and left. When she returned with something else we asked why we were not served the fondue. She said fondue is not available and "this is the only chocolate on the menu". We mentioned we had it at Bistro when it was not on the menu, and were under the impression we could order it here as we had on previous cruises. She replied in a rather uppity tone, "this is Cagney’s, not Le Bistro", and walked away.

 

We did eat at Ginza one night and La Trattoria and had better service than the previous nights at the specialties. We ate in the main dining room the other nights. We tried to get into Endless Summer on our Prince Rupert day around 7:00, we walked by and noticed there were only 4 or 5 couples in there so we thought we could get in. We were told with no reservations we couldn’t eat. So we went down to Ginza with no reservations and got right in. After we ate there we went back through and noticed Endless Summer was

 

still mostly empty. Perhaps there was a communication problem.

 

They had 4 or 5 selections each night as the main course, chicken, fish, meat, lamb…the chilled soups and salads (soups were very good). Nothing fancy about the food as usually in the dining room but the service was the best ever. We meet Dhuri the senior waiter on the first night and he would always check on us there and at the Café for breakfast where he worked for breakfast and lunch. Dhuri, by far, was the best and most attentive of any member of wait staff we have had on any cruise, including NCL. He was entertaining, constantly checking on us even if we just happen to be in the area. He is a good example of why people follow a specific crew member from ship to ship.

 

The general service in the main dining room has improved dramatically, with all forms of etiquette followed closely (crumb scrapers being used, correct ordering and serving etiquette, ladies first, etc.) We did not see this same attention to service detail in any of the other specialty restaurants.

 

All menus had been changed in every restaurant. The only area which seemed to have improved were the main dining rooms, all other areas have slipped in service quite dramatically.

 

Midnight (11:00pm – 12:00 midnight) Chocolate buffet Several ice sculptures, cakes, chocolate dipped fruits, brownies, cookies, ice cream. We went to watch one couple that was with us, it was their 1st cruise. Lots of sweets and all very well presented.

 

Dress Code

 

Hot topic always and every night of the cruise; there signs out front of

 

each: No shorts or beachwear after 5:00 pm…that’s it. We saw blue jeans, sweat pants and 2 couples in jogging suits at Cagney’s. We asked about it in Cagney’s and were told by the seating hostess that you can wear whatever you like except shorts. We took pictures of the signs in front of each dining venue. The freestyle called Cagney’s and Bistro "designated areas" and said no jeans, shorts or beachwear but no one seemed to mind or care what was worn.

 

Ports

 

Ketchikan - We took the kayaking tour to Eagle Island, the eagles were out to lunch while we were there.

 

Juneau – Did the floatplane trip to Taku lodge for the salmon bake. Must do trip!

 

Sawyer Glacier – Captain Lars heard from the Pearl Captain that Sawyer was too foggy so we went out to Endicott Arm. We saw seals, bears, more seals and glaciers. Captain Lars said this was the best weather he had seen in a while, we had a perfect view of the glacier.

 

Skagway – Did the White Pass/Yukon Railway tour. Another must do.

 

Prince Rupert – We did not have any plans here, we walked around downtown and Cow Bay for a while then went back to the ship.

 

Disembarkation

 

NCL had colored tags allowing you to pick what time you wanted to get off the ship. We picked the 0900 time slot (0940 was the last one to be called).

 

The mass exit was pretty smooth to be around 2200 people that were upset their vacation was over. We found our bags in the warehouse, handed the customs form to a lady as we walked out the door. Easiest ever (don’t you wish Miami was like this). We went out to find a taxi and the limo guys come at you. We found one for $40 to our hotel in Renton (near the airport). The four of us that were traveling together with 7 suitcases and 4 carry-ons all fit with no problem.

 

The weather was great the whole trip and overall we all had a great time. We even took advantage of the specials they pushed all week; $250 deposit on your next cruise to be booked within 12 months and travel within 30 months.

 

We received $100 credit on our current shipboard account for this future cruise and no other deposit will be due when we book the next one.

 

We took around 1000 pictures between 4 (1Gig) memory cards and 10 rolls of film, will post them once we have time to resize some to fit on webshots website.

 

All in all, this was not the best NCL we ever had, but thanks to 5 specific crew members, our trip was better than it would have been. Thanks to Dhuri, Captain Lars, Tony Lockett and our wonderful stewards.

[brunolvr]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a nice review, Atlantacruise! I hope you enjoyed Alaska! Are you going to post any pictures that we can enjoy?

 

We also did the Taku Lodge Flight & Feast last year and really enjoyed it. This year we went whale watching with Captain Larry and also enjoyed that. For our cruise next May, we think we'd like to fly to Taku Lodge once again. Did you happen to see any bears while there?

 

Welcome home! Glad to hear you didn't let the "little" things spoil your cruise!

[ute_fan]

Nice review! Glad the weather was so great for you guys.

[atlantaCruise]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a nice review, Atlantacruise! I hope you enjoyed Alaska! Are you going to post any pictures that we can enjoy?

 

We also did the Taku Lodge Flight & Feast last year and really enjoyed it. This year we went whale watching with Captain Larry and also enjoyed that. For our cruise next May, we think we'd like to fly to Taku Lodge once again. Did you happen to see any bears while there?

 

Welcome home! Glad to hear you didn't let the "little" things spoil your cruise!

 

Thanks, we will post some pictures once we have time to resize them so they fit on webshots.

The Taku lodge was great! We didnt see any bears but have proff (photos) for the age old question about what a bear does in the woods!

 

Any day sailing is better then working!

[atlantaCruise]

Nice review! Glad the weather was so great for you guys.

 

We really lucked out! No rain for 3 days in Seattle and the Captain said it was the best he had seen in a while! The cruise before us didnt get to see the glacier due to rain he said.

[4 cruisers]

Loved reading your review! We're on the Star for the third time over Thanksgiving. We sailed with Tony Locket on the Star in Hawaii a few years back. Did he happen to say when he is getting off next? We have our fingers crossed that it will be AFTER our trip in November!

 

So you didn't get to Soho then? I think Ginza was our favorite the last time (we just did the repo to Vancouver in May).

 

Was there a murder mystery on your trip?

[atlantaCruise]

Loved reading your review! We're on the Star for the third time over Thanksgiving. We sailed with Tony Locket on the Star in Hawaii a few years back. Did he happen to say when he is getting off next? We have our fingers crossed that it will be AFTER our trip in November!

 

So you didn't get to Soho then? I think Ginza was our favorite the last time (we just did the repo to Vancouver in May).

 

Was there a murder mystery on your trip?

 

He is a blast isnt he?! Not sure when he is up for leave, he did say he was on the Star for about 5 months now I think.

 

We were going to try Soho after Ginzu but ran out of time and loved talking with Dhuri in the main dining room.

 

Not sure about the murder mystery, I dont remember seeing anything about it but was not looking for it either. Sorry.

[4 cruisers]

Yes, Tony made our trip extra special! We had our two sons with us and we all hung out with Tony quite a bit! Even had dinner with him one night....truly a dinner to remember!

 

We were told that he might be departing the Star the week before we get on board! Darn!!!! That will be the second time we missed him by one sailing! Well, we're hoping he might be delayed a week!:o

 

Was Captain Lars a bit difficult to understand? Just curious if that was the captain on our Hawaii Star cruise.:confused: IF so, I have a funny story.

[atlantaCruise]

Yes, Tony made our trip extra special! We had our two sons with us and we all hung out with Tony quite a bit! Even had dinner with him one night....truly a dinner to remember!

 

We were told that he might be departing the Star the week before we get on board! Darn!!!! That will be the second time we missed him by one sailing! Well, we're hoping he might be delayed a week!:o

 

Was Captain Lars a bit difficult to understand? Just curious if that was the captain on our Hawaii Star cruise.:confused: IF so, I have a funny story.

 

 

We had snacks with him, he hooked us up pretty good.

I think its the same captain, one couple with us had him on a Hawaii cruise a couple of years ago, different ship. We understood him pretty good, he said, "Here, drink this!"

Whats your story??

[SweetpeaOne]

Thanks for sharing your review. Glad you had a great time.

[doodlesinkentucky]

:D Hey, great review! Very accurate! Despite some of the speciality places not being up to par, it was an outstanding cruise!

 

Love Captian Lars!:p I hope to cruise with him a third time someday!

[4 cruisers]

Here goes....LOL! We were invited to the "special" party since we were CC's and James Deering (Hotel Director) was very active at that time, plus we were repeaters....our then 22 year old son was with us...Captain Lars was very happy to talk to him a good part of the cocktail party. We wondered what our son had talked about (he is an amazing P.R. person to this day) and he just laughed and said, "To tell you the truth, I had a heck of a time understanding what he was saying, so we just laughed and laughed and had a great time!" It was SO our son! And apparently SO Captain Lars too! With our luck, he's probably getting off when Tony is!:( Oh well, one of these times we're bound to re-connect!

[atlantaCruise]

Here goes....LOL! We were invited to the "special" party since we were CC's and James Deering (Hotel Director) was very active at that time, plus we were repeaters....our then 22 year old son was with us...Captain Lars was very happy to talk to him a good part of the cocktail party. We wondered what our son had talked about (he is an amazing P.R. person to this day) and he just laughed and said, "To tell you the truth, I had a heck of a time understanding what he was saying, so we just laughed and laughed and had a great time!" It was SO our son! And apparently SO Captain Lars too! With our luck, he's probably getting off when Tony is!:( Oh well, one of these times we're bound to re-connect!

 

Maybe you will luck out and both will be there. Only 7 weeks to go for you. Let us know how it turns out.