SakeDad's OFFICIAL REVIEW of Star Repo 4/24/08 Cruise...LONG

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

Thanks for a great review!

 

Very helpful to us as we plan our first West Coast cruise on the STAR this fall!

 

:)

[Carnac767]

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time. 85 MPH on the freeway to San Pedro? Now that is scary. How come he was driving so slowly? :)

[grannyp]

Hasn't your TA mentioned that HAL has a choice of traditional fixed seating or open seating in its dining rooms. Based on numerous posts on the NCL board, many people think NCL is the only line with a variety of dining choices. In addition to the dining room, you can also casually dine in the Lido, with about the same menu as in the dining room, or eat in the Pinnacle Grille, or have room service bring your meal from the dining room menu.

 

Princess also has a variety of dining options and RCCL is trying anytime dining on some of its ships.

 

I don't quite understand what you mean by "NCL does not give TA%"?

I knew about Princess from my own research, but she did not tell me about HAL anytime dining. As for the % I mentioned. Some TA's as I understand it are told to push certain lines because of incentives given. She really did not help me with NCL. I ended up the three times I used NCL going through their own TA. Much easier.

[thecatsmeow]

Thanks for the great review. I always like to hear about both the likes and dislikes. NO TOWEL ANIMALS?!:eek: I hope they have them in September. I look forward to them when I return to my cabin in the evening.

 

Joyce

[soazlaney]

We were on the Star in January and had a towel animal 5 out of the 8 days. I think it depends on your room steward. We loved the Star.

[legalwife]

Sakedad

 

Most of us knew we could count on you for an informative review and you came through for us! Thanks so much for all the info and comments that were very helpful for those like me that are new to NCL. I still don't know what a Lychee ??? Martini is though. I will have to look it up.

 

Welcome back!

[arpie05]

thanks so much Nathan for your review. I had been anxiously awaiting to hear how your trip was, as I will be on the Star May 16. Someone had put in a previous post that the Star had already received 2.0 which I thought was interesting there hasn't been much else said about it. I'm glad for me that it will be done in time for my trip! Thanks again for your posts. PS - How far of a drive to Hoover Dam from LV - we will have a day in LV on our return home from cruise due to flight schedules and thought it would be nice trip as it was closed when I took my son there in Dec 99.

[SakeDad]

thanks so much Nathan for your review. I had been anxiously awaiting to hear how your trip was, as I will be on the Star May 16. Someone had put in a previous post that the Star had already received 2.0 which I thought was interesting there hasn't been much else said about it. I'm glad for me that it will be done in time for my trip! Thanks again for your posts. PS - How far of a drive to Hoover Dam from LV - we will have a day in LV on our return home from cruise due to flight schedules and thought it would be nice trip as it was closed when I took my son there in Dec 99.

The drive should only be about 30-45 minutes from the airport. But they are doing construction on a new bridge there so allow for delays just in case. But it's a beautiful drive past Lake Mead and through Boulder City. You would take 215 E through Henderson to 95 South.

 

BTW....my cruise pics are up at the link below....FINALLY!:rolleyes:

[arpie05]

Your pictures are great - and thanks for the LV info!

[nlt46]

I have cruised Princess' anytime eating and I must say it was not nearly as good/organized as NCL. I read on RCCL that they are trying free to eat on several ships. It does seem with HAL doing it too, that NCL has started something and many of us won't go back.

I enjoyed your review. Nancy

[JetWestInc]

Great review, Nathan, I was going to write one of my own but it would cover the same points and not be nearly as detailed, so.....

 

Anyway, just curious...did anyone meet their room steward? We NEVER saw or even heard from ours. We saw people cleaning the room, but there were a total of about 6 different people. Is this normal on NCL, or did we just get a poor steward?

 

And a question...what is the Jones act? Me and my DW were thinking about booking the repo and the YVR-SEA Alaska B2B and didnt....

 

Don

[nlt46]

I have cruised Princess' anytime eating and I must say it was not nearly as good/organized as NCL. I read on RCCL that they are trying free to eat on several ships. It does seem with HAL doing it too, that NCL has started something and many of us won't go back.

I enjoyed your review. Nancy

[klbermudez]

Great review! I just got off the Star today and really agree with everything you wrote. We had Juniser as our waiter at La Bistro and he and all the La Bistro staff were the best part of our trip! It was the only restaurant where you could see the staff helping out each other and the food was wonderful.

 

We stayed in Vancouver prior to the trip and must have had some bad fish and chips because both my husband and myself were sick most of the trip. Wish NCL had a better room service menu because we didn't venture out until almost our third day - one of us ended up being the "buffet runner" to bring back food to the other person in the room.

 

Anyway - it was a good trip, beautiful sights to see but I think I'm ready to try another line just to see what it's like because I would love to have some pampering and NCL isn't quite the line for that.

[sjbdtz]

Wow, a little harsh aren't you? The man prefers another cruise line. It's really not a big deal. He didn't trash his cruise and gave a very balanced review that reflected his opinion. Everyone has their own choices, and it is his right to not be thrilled about NCL.

 

I think that the unfortunate thing is that SakeDad is comparing premium treatment (suite) on HAL with a basic cabin on NCL.

 

If he had the benefit of concierge and butler service as well as the larger cabin, NCL would probably sway him (based on my own experience ;) )

 

Of course we usually eat in the premium restaurants, too.... so maybe that colors our perception....we just budget it at the outset, and never worry about it.

[sjbdtz]

Thank you Sakedad. You answered quite a few of my unanswered questions, especially the ones I had about the spa, the steam room and sauna. Seems like other posters have mentioned in more than one occassion that you have to pay the whatever fee ($20 x day or $95-120 per package) in order to just enjoy the sauna and steam rooms which are free every where else!!!

Again, thanks, it was a pleasure reading your review.;)

 

Actually, I think this is another area of contention.... if the Star is the same as Dawn, Jewel, Gem, etc..... then there ARE heated loungers in the spa area..... there's a basic steam room, and then the spa steam room..... two different areas.

[niso2]

Great Review and Pictures!! Brought back memories of our first NCL Star cruise.

Thank you!

[CruisinMaterial]

SakeDad - Sure sounds and looks like your bar bill was a goodie! :eek: Good to know about a ship that actually hosted a martini tasting event. Neither the SUN or the JEWEL could get enough passengers to conduct the "tasting" ;) . It's a fair and balanced review and hopefully you'll give NCL a try. They do sail to quite a few exotic places for really good steals compared to HAL.

 

ALL - NCL = Motel 6? I don't think so! Motel 6 where I live is ghetto! :p NCL isn't ghetto (I could tell you a line that is... but who wants to incite riot behavior? LOL :eek: )

[Salt air hair]

I think that the unfortunate thing is that SakeDad is comparing premium treatment (suite) on HAL with a basic cabin on NCL.

 

If he had the benefit of concierge and butler service as well as the larger cabin, NCL would probably sway him (based on my own experience ;) )

 

.

 

DH and I have never taken a suite on any ship (just like to cruise to much) and a NCL basic cannot compare to a HAL basic. And before anyone gets riled by this comment I've sail on NCL 7x's to HAL's 1x. SakeDad hit on point.

[Tobintemp]

Anyway, just curious...did anyone meet their room steward? We NEVER saw or even heard from ours. We saw people cleaning the room, but there were a total of about 6 different people. Is this normal on NCL, or did we just get a poor steward?

 

We meet ours the first evening. They intoduced themselves and asked if our cabin was okay and if we needed anything. We were on for the 8 day Mexico prior to the 3 day up to Vancouver and everyday we ran into them and they would ask about our day ashore, how our dinner was, how we were enjoying our cruise etc. We got towel animals at least half the nights and they would also leave us extra towels.

[blitheone]

Anyway, just curious...did anyone meet their room steward? We NEVER saw or even heard from ours. We saw people cleaning the room, but there were a total of about 6 different people. Is this normal on NCL, or did we just get a poor steward? /quote]

 

Our room stewards have always made it a point to introduce themselves on Princess. However, we'd never met our NCL stewards...until last week (April 27th sailing on the Star). Charles (from Mauritius) was friendly, highly professional.....and---wooohoo!--he gave us towel animals! (Yeah, so I'm a little shallow....;) )

 

I don't understand why it's not the norm for stewards to introduce themselves. Okay, perhaps putting yourself out there makes the clientelle request more individualized service (creating extra work); some also believe it's more professional to remain in the background. However, we're a lot more apt to tip extra if we know just who it is we're tipping.

[Tobintemp]

Actually, I think this is another area of contention.... if the Star is the same as Dawn, Jewel, Gem, etc..... then there ARE heated loungers in the spa area..... there's a basic steam room, and then the spa steam room..... two different areas.

 

The Star - Barong Spa is different than the other ships you mentioned. There are no heated loungers.

[SakeDad]

DH and I have never taken a suite on any ship (just like to cruise to much) and a NCL basic cannot compare to a HAL basic. And before anyone gets riled by this comment I've sail on NCL 7x's to HAL's 1x. SakeDad hit on point.

Thanks! By no means was I putting NCL down, just think HAL has a better product for my (expensive!:rolleyes:) tastes. Having said that, as I said in the review, there is absolutely no reason NOT to sail w/ NCL that I experienced. We had a great time and most of the food was OK to good.

 

Oh...and I've been in Motel 6's....YEARS AGO!...and NCL is no Motel 6!!! Not even on it's worst day!

 

Anyway, just curious...did anyone meet their room steward? We NEVER saw or even heard from ours. We saw people cleaning the room, but there were a total of about 6 different people. Is this normal on NCL, or did we just get a poor steward? /quote]

 

Our room stewards have always made it a point to introduce themselves on Princess. However, we'd never met our NCL stewards...until last week (April 27th sailing on the Star). Charles (from Mauritius) was friendly, highly professional.....and---wooohoo!--he gave us towel animals! (Yeah, so I'm a little shallow....;) )

 

I don't understand why it's not the norm for stewards to introduce themselves. Okay, perhaps putting yourself out there makes the clientelle request more individualized service (creating extra work); some also believe it's more professional to remain in the background. However, we're a lot more apt to tip extra if we know just who it is we're tipping.

 

Mine (Victor) made it a point to introduce himself, as did his assistant and I can't remember her name. But she always was very pleasant in the hallways when I saw her. The only thing I asked Victor to do was seperate the beds as we are mother and son, no problem. They did a great job taking care of the cabin and their carts seemed to always be around during the day so I know they were pretty busy.

[SakeDad]

The Star - Barong Spa is different than the other ships you mentioned. There are no heated loungers.

There are NO HEATED LOUNGERS on the Star:( ...trust me, if there were I would have been in them!:D

[buggins0402]

Great balanced review. Thank you so much for posting it. And, I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise - because I've enjoyed your prior posts!

 

I just wish there was a NCL/HAL cloned together ship - where one received the HAL pampering and food (from what I'm hearing), with the NCL Freestyle. We might just have to try HAL sometime (even though I'm pretty incorrigible and hate timetables that I don't self-impose). But, at the same time, I love to be pampered at a reasonable price point. Hopefully, 2.0 will solve this personal issue of mine.

[mtwingcpa]

Anyway, just curious...did anyone meet their room steward?

 

I ran into my steward on the first night and he introduced himself. But, had it not been for that encounter, I'm not sure that he would have gone out of his way to do so. That's OK by me...I prefer non-invasive "background" service. But, in any event, he was very friendly.

 

And a question...what is the Jones act? Me and my DW were thinking about booking the repo and the YVR-SEA Alaska B2B and didnt...

 

As I understand it, the Jones Act (a very old law) provides that only US flagged ships can carry passengers between US ports. The cruise we just took from LAX to YVR was OK because it wasn't between US ports. But if you B2B'd YVR to Alaska and back to SEA, you arguably would have been traveling between US ports (LAX to SEA). So that would be a no-no.

 

Apparently ROUND TRIP cruises that return to the port of departure are OK, for example SEA to Alaska and back to SEA. But note that all of the ONE WAY cruises to/from Alaska originate or return to YVR (except, of course, for the Alaska state ferries which are US flagged).