NCL Star Alaska Review 8-2-08

[granto]

Review of NCL Star Alaska 8/2-8/9 2008

 

Saturday 8/2:

We took an early flight (cheap seats back then) to Seattle, we arrived around 9am and took a Sedan to the pier (A&A limo - good service and nice driver). We got to the pier before 10am and the chaos of the previous cruise was in full force. We found the concierge area for luggage storage after failing to find it the first few tries (it is door 6, near where the passengers are exiting on the north side). After dumping our luggage we headed to Pikes Market (the concierge gave us great directions). We goofed around there, walked around the shopping district and by 11:30 figured we were ready for the ship.

 

When we got to the pier they were just starting to let people on board. The registration lines were non-existent but we were handed a number to wait in line to board. As gold Latitudes members we asked about early embarkation and not waiting for our number to be called. The lady we asked told us to inquire with the person taking the numbers at the boarding area, we walked up and asked her and she told us to hop on board (Gold has it’s privileges!). As the market café was the only thing open (early flight equals early hunger) we ate a quick lunch there. We headed to our cabin (AF mini suite) and asked the room steward if we could just drop off our carry on luggage (the room was not made up yet) he was fine with that. The weather was perfect, the forecast of cloudy skies was wrong and the temperature was perfect. In addition, the Blue Angels were performing nearby and kept buzzing the ship (very cool).

 

That night we ate in Endless Summer which is now $10pp, had their specialty, kind of a Brazilian style mix of steak, chicken and veggies which was very good. Very strange though that they served bagged chips (stale) and jarred salsa, for a now charging restaurant that seems very low end. I told the MaitreD about this and he said you can request fresh made chips (no salsa ideas though).

 

Sunday 8/3: At sea, this cruise does not go up inside of Vancouver Island so you are really at sea today. We were hoping to have more of the inside passage as we had in the past, open seas sailing is boring. We got invited to the captain’s party (probably mini-suite + gold) very nice and this started our round of parties which made our shipboard alcohol bill $0. Captain Lars is a very nice and outgoing captain, and we really enjoyed talking with him and listening to his daily updates. Cold day, but hit the water slides (we were the only “kids”) - took a while to figure them out to keep from stopping but the attendant had some great advice (cannonball) which worked great. We ate a Teppenyaki which is now $25pp. Food was good, but service was terrible, it was not the staff’s problem, but the fact that they had a bunch of Ginza tables as well. This is one that I think is now overpriced. You can do Bennihana for $20pp, so I don’t think this one is worth it.

 

Monday 8/4: Ketchikan. The weather gods have smiled on us this cruise!! Captain Lars and everyone on shore are commenting on how bad the weather has been lately and how perfect it was today (sunny mid 60s). First stop buying binoculars so I can get off my wife’s list of people who cannot pack correctly. We wondered the shops got a pair of Binoculars (Ace Hardware on wharf). We took the afternoon bike tour (Clover Pass). This was an interesting excursion as it was nothing like the description. The bike ride went through beautiful country but was on a busy road (think is was called quiet roads in the brochure), and lots of hills, some big (I think they used the word "meandering"). You end up at the end of the highway at a very pretty park, then you turn around and head back the same way you came. The “guides” were very loose and not really into organizing the tour (very few stops and 2 people missed a turn and got lost). Would I do this tour again, probably not. We got back to the ship as the last people were getting on board, again a perfect day from the weather gods. Had our latitudes party tonight, only about 50 people showed up (there were over 300 Latitudes members on board). Still did not win anything (never have) but the bar waiters were pretty board and giving me beer faster than I could drink it. We ate in Versailles tonight, service and food were fine and it is a pretty setting.

 

Tuesday 8/5: Weather gods were with us (probably staying in the garden villas) once again. Perfect weather today again (sunny mid 60s). Again, everyone on shore was shocked as to how great it was. Took another bike tour around the Mendenhall Glacier. Great tour and an excellent tour company. We saw the Glacier from two sides and not just the tourist bus area. The ride is pretty easy with a couple of small hills but lots of stops. The Tour ends at the Alaska Brewery, for some beer drinking (and beer buying). In our group were 4 sisters/sister-in laws who decided that we were all entitled to take a 6 pack on board, so we all bought a 6 pack and took it on (with no problems at all - though it was during the last minute rush to get back on board). As I stated, this tour was excellent and I would easily do it again. We were a short day here as the Pearl comes in and kicks us out (the Pearl gets the best times and docks it seems). This was our glacier tour day and we did the Endicott arm as Sawyer had too much ice (the Captain had told us that he was hoping for this to happen as he think the Endicott is more spectacular than Sawyer. The cruise up the arm beautiful, lots of ice and great scenery. Of course it was a sunny day and the blue on many of the ice flows was amazing. We ended up at the base of the glacier where a shore tour boat with our passengers was met and the passengers transferred (have not seen that before). That night we tried the endless summer again, ordered the fresh chips which were old and greasy. Then the Nachos had nacho cheese sauces - not real cheese! - Yuk. Food was ok, but we decided that Endless Summer has a long way to go before they can justify $10pp. Oh well, we were still in the arm so the views were amazing.

 

Wed 8/6 : Skagway.

Weather Gods have not left us, partly cloudy in the morning, but sunny and warm in the afternoon. Been there done that for the train ride, so we decided to do a couple of hikes I found on the internet. The first was out to a set of falls (I believe the Reid falls) past the old cemetery. Since you have to walk through town it was a great town tour also (past the 6 blocks that most tourist see). From the ship we figure it is about 5 miles. The next was to smugglers cove which was about 2 miles on a really nice trail (some hills, lots of rocks). The cove is around the corner from the Star dock (left side of pier area) and you access the trail from the pedestrian bridge near the airport passenger terminal. Again, we left earlier than the other ships but we still had a good day there. We had our Latitudes gold/platinum party and another round of free alcohol. Of the 21 members only about 12 showed up (the captain was probably growing tired of talking to us). That night we ate at Aqua, service was good, but the restaurant does nothing for me, middle of the ship and very little glass. During dinner they had an emergency call, so we figured the night was going to be interesting. Walked out on the ship later that night and we were entering Auke Bay on the back side of Juneau, apparently the medical emergency had to be evacuated., bet we surprised a few residents to see a cruise ship in that area. They stopped in the bay and launched a tender to take the person to shore.

 

Thursday 8/6: Prince Rupert. Due to the medical emergency we were about 45 minutes late, and that means that 2,000 people want to get off the ship at the same time. Prince Rupert is a very cute town, and we would have loved to explore it, but we were heading for the river float trip. You take an hour bus ride through some of the most gorgeous country around. Once there you hope in rafts and float (no paddling) down the Skeena river. Not a ton of wild life (some eagles and seal bobbing around) but it is fun and very pretty. Near dark we pulled out of the river (this tour recommends bug spray - we should have listened), and headed back. Got back to the ship around 10pm. Found that the ship stuck to the normal restaurant schedule and many people had a choice of the Blue Lagoon or room service for dinner. Never seen such a long line at the Blue Lagoon! Went to the ship’s talent show, and that we very good, you must see the fountains number by the cruise director’s staff, it is not to be missed. Oh, the weather gods were still in the Garden Villas and the foggy morning turned to a perfect day, at the river put in, it was about 80 degrees.

 

Friday 8/7: Sea. Cold/Foggy. Weather gods checked out of the villa, but who cares we are basically done. Fog horn has been going off every 2 minutes all night and most of the day. Just because we can say we did it, we spent the morning in the Hot tub on the bow of Deck 13, not a bad way to spend your last day.

 

Saturday 8/8: Took advantage of the suite early de-embarkation. Got off the ship by 8am and it took over an hour to get a car. Thrifty was understaffed and had late employees. I would definitely re-think using Thrifty again. We went to play in Seattle, had a blast at the locks watching idiot captains ram into the lock walls in 20mph winds (never listening to what the lock hands were telling them to do). Then on to the Air museum, which was also very good. Oh, the weather gods had left Seattle, cold and rainy.

 

Odds-n-ends: Did the Jean Ann Ryan show for the 70’s pretty good, the other show (music acts, magicians) did not excite us that much. NCL is pushing the $250 per cabin reservation with $10 back in credit for the current cruise, we signed up and they gave us another $50 credit if we went to the Galleria during the cruise -- that turned out to be a scam run by the Galleria vendor as no $50 credit appeared and neither Romeo (who gave out the certificate) or the reception desk could get any answers as to what the problem was.

 

Unfortunately, high fuel prices must be taking its toll on maintenance, we noticed many areas that need work and our room needs loads of TLC including broken furniture, mold in the bathroom, and smelly carpet.

 

I think the Star gets the worst of the routes as well with port times and the fact that we spend too much time in the open sea. Captain Lars is great, and really sets a tone that we again saw with the people of NCL, which is a major reason we continue to cruise with them. If anyone complains about the cruise staff, they probably got the attitude that they deserved.

[Toyz711]

in juneau, 1 NCL ship leaving and 1 NCL ships docking is the norm. we were on the star when it did the route the pearl is doing. the NCL sun had to leave before we docked. it was nice, they left early!! the afternoon ship, in the summer, gets the prime time(late sun sets)..but when we went we were cheated. the sun went down at 7PM...since we docked at 2pm..there's not a lot of time in juneau.

isn't the fog horn fun for sleeping?:D

[granto]

in juneau, 1 NCL ship leaving and 1 NCL ships docking is the norm. we were on the star when it did the route the pearl is doing. the NCL sun had to leave before we docked. it was nice, they left early!! the afternoon ship, in the summer, gets the prime time(late sun sets)..but when we went we were cheated. the sun went down at 7PM...since we docked at 2pm..there's not a lot of time in juneau.

isn't the fog horn fun for sleeping?:D

 

In my bad english, I was trying to say that they Pearl gets the better schedule.

 

Fog horn is exciting, especially when you fall asleep with the slider open...

[Toyz711]

we had the same problem, with the fog horn, had it 2 of the 7 nights...we, also, sept with the balcony door open:D

yep, the day we were there...being the afternoon ship was the poorer of the 2. the rain started as we docked and we had the early sunset. had just enough time for the whale watching.

with so many ship docking at one time, many of the cruiselines share the docks. it's fun to watch one ship leave and the other takes it's place. amazing how well they do that.

but, yes, during prime summer..the morning ship gets cheated. by late august to late sept, the afternoon ship gets cheated.

[brunolvr]

Hey, Granto, is that a typo in your review "NCL is pushing the $250 per cabin reservation with $10 back in credit for the current cruise". I thought it was a $100 credit on your current cruise.:confused:

 

Enjoyed your review! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us. Are you going to be posting any pictures from your cruise? Thanks again!

[granto]

Hey, Granto, is that a typo in your review "NCL is pushing the $250 per cabin reservation with $10 back in credit for the current cruise". I thought it was a $100 credit on your current cruise.:confused:

 

Enjoyed your review! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us. Are you going to be posting any pictures from your cruise? Thanks again!

 

meant to say $100 which is about $10 in Canadian dollars these days! ;)

[texascat]

thank you for posting your review! It seems that you had a wonderful time!!!! Oh, it is getting closer and closer to my time to depart.

[arpie05]

Surprised that they now charge for Endless summer! It was still free with the 2.0 when we were on in late May. La travorria was then suddenly charging the $10 and I will admit we thought it was worth it. The bagged chips and unfresh salsa is a let down. We had a great time - too bad you missed walking around Prince Rupert - it is a great quaint village. We prefered the other dining room over Aqua but loved the dining room experience and food. Ate dining room 5 nights, Endless 1, La travorria 1. But the extra charging for dining isn't worth it - next cruise isn't NCL.

(I thought it was wrong that NCL advertised even when we were on the ship on their website that Endless and La T were free and La T wasn't anymore and the other restaurant charges were higher than advertised as well)

[granto]

Surprised that they now charge for Endless summer! It was still free with the 2.0 when we were on in late May. La travorria was then suddenly charging the $10 and I will admit we thought it was worth it. The bagged chips and unfresh salsa is a let down. We had a great time - too bad you missed walking around Prince Rupert - it is a great quaint village. We prefered the other dining room over Aqua but loved the dining room experience and food. Ate dining room 5 nights, Endless 1, La travorria 1. But the extra charging for dining isn't worth it - next cruise isn't NCL.

(I thought it was wrong that NCL advertised even when we were on the ship on their website that Endless and La T were free and La T wasn't anymore and the other restaurant charges were higher than advertised as well)

 

I will glady pay for something better/special. Endless Summer, today, is just not good enough to charge. I think it could be, but they have to re-think what they are doing. Teppenyaki is good, but now overpriced for a Benihana show. We also saw inconsitency in the price advertsing and that was on the ship!

 

Would have loved to wander around the town a bit, it really is charming. If we had not been late docking, we would have been able to. Oh well, that means we will have to do another cruise to Alaska....that just really sucks ;)

[mommacl]

I'm going on the Star 8/30 & I too am dissapointed that NCL changed the "rules" on Endless Summer ..in the middle of a cruise season!If they were planning to do it, it should have been after it cruised Alaska. There are enough charge rst. now. And your right the web site does not adv. a charge.

[luckystarmom]

I was on the Star also, and I couldn't even get straight answers when I called about Endless Summer. I called, and someone said it was free. Then I went to the reservation desk, and they said it was not free. I originally made a reservation, and then cancelled it. It looked like no one ate there.

 

We wanted to go there as a family, but my kids don't eat that much. I don't know if it is $10 for kids or not. I could maybe see a $5 charge for a Tex-Mex restaurant, but not $10. Our family could easily spend under $50 to get good Tex-Mex food.

 

I thought the charge for Le Bistro was well worth it. We would pay a ton of money to get an equivalent meal. We've been to some very good restaurants in the Bay Area where our meal has been $150 for the same kind of food. The service was a little slow, but the food was excellent.

 

All in all, I don't think any of the specialty restaurants were full. We got reservations easily. We would just walk up the specialty restuarants and get in. The food was good in the main dining rooms, so I don't think people wanted to pay more money.

[granto]

 

All in all, I don't think any of the specialty restaurants were full. We got reservations easily. We would just walk up the specialty restuarants and get in. The food was good in the main dining rooms, so I don't think people wanted to pay more money.

 

Other than Cagney's on the last night, we saw the same thing, especially at ES which always seemed slow.

[mommacl]

Maybe NCL needs to get the hint! Are you listening NCL?

[deepnite10]

we always enjoy the movie theatre..did you happen to notice

what was playing?

[granto]

we always enjoy the movie theatre..did you happen to notice

what was playing?

 

It seemed to be movies that were playing on either the primary or secondary movie channel from the TV. The week we were on the list of movies was so-so. If there had been something we wanted to see, I think we would have gone and watched it on the big screen. During the day, they used the theater for NCLU (talks, and sales pitches).