STAR & MEXICAN RIVIERA

[CUCAMONGA HAL]

Hi out there, anyone with any more information on the Star's latest Mexican Riviera cruise? Things seem too quiet. How is the new casino? How much do they charge for a mixed drink or a beer? This is our first NCL cruise, have been to the Mexican Riviera twice before with Carnival Cruislines, it was great. Are the balcony staterooms roomy for two? Are the Taxis easy to get on debarkation?

Hal

[SweetEmi]

I've read some great reviews from the first cruisers and things seem to be going along pretty well!! From what I've read, you'll be bombarded with taxi drivers - so I don't think you'll have trouble finding one. Make sure you negotiate a price before you get in though. I don't have personal experience yet with the size of the balcony but will be finding out pretty soon!!

 

Emi

[Host CMLA]

Hmmm...Tonight I got my new husband to agree to a Mexican Riviera cruise for our one year anniversary. I went to the NCL site and I don't see anything for 2005. Everything is repositioning pacific coastal. :( Am I missing something?

[shoreguy]

Hmmm...Tonight I got my new husband to agree to a Mexican Riviera cruise for our one year anniversary. I went to the NCL site and I don't see anything for 2005. Everything is repositioning pacific coastal. :( Am I missing something?

 

The itineraies show 2005 Nov. - Apr.

 

http://www.ncl.com/itinerary/it_mx.htm

[SweetEmi]

I see them now, maybe they were working on it when you looked. *smile*

 

Emi

[Host CMLA]

The itineraies show 2005 Nov. - Apr.

Shoreguy, Thanks! I love this board. People are so helpful. SweetEmi...I have no idea what I was looking at before. :p It was late. But now I see that we can make the September 30 cruise for our anniversary. I just got 500 MBNA visa points to use too. Yippee! It's been WAY TOO LONG since I cruised. Thanks again!

[4 cruisers]

So I guess that means Europe is out?! Funny, I came to check the NCL boards because we are really considering the Star this spring! Driving to the ship sounds WONDERFUL! My parents say just name the date and they're going too! One trip on the Splendour and they're hooked!!! Like daughter like parents, I guess!!! LOL! We had a regular balcony on the Star the last time and it was really nice for two. This time our 13 year old will be in our room so we're going for the mini suite (like the afternoon treats too!).

 

Emi, your trip is SOON it seems!!!! I can't wait to read all about it!

 

Nanette

[SweetEmi]

I know!! I can't wait! Leaving a week from Saturday for a week at Disneyland first....woooo hooooo!

 

Emi

[Ella2]

I'm going to a TA lunch and sales seminar on the Star tomorrow. I'll try and take pictures that I can post or link to, if I have time for photos. Also sailing on the Star in February so am interested to see her up close and personal myself. :)

[Host CMLA]

So I guess that means Europe is out?!

 

We had a regular balcony on the Star the last time and it was really nice for two. This time our 13 year old will be in our room so we're going for the mini suite (like the afternoon treats too!).

Europe isn't out for us! The only cruises I haven't done are Mexican Riviera and the Med. Well, I did a partial Med but not Greece. I need to ease my husband into a longer cruise so if we start with an 8 day then I can get him up to the 14 day after that. :)

 

On the Star's maiden voyage I had room 11598. It was a fantastic mini suite. If there are three of you traveling, I say definitely get the AF. That's the category we're looking at for the Mex Riviera. We've narrowed it down to the September 30th cruise. But I just looked and RCI has a 7 day on October 2 and we're Diamond members with them. The perks are so much better on RCI for past cruisers. UGH! Too many things to consider.

[jeanettep]

Hal,

 

We just got back from NCL's "Star" October 20-28 Mexican Riviera cruise. It was my 14th cruise, 3rd with NCL and it is definitely my favorite cruise line. Why? Freestyle Dining and the casual dress. We love this concept!

 

This time, we ate in only one specialty restaurant, Le Bistro, which is well worth the extra dollars. We ate most of our dinners in the Versailles or Aqua. For our breakfasts and lunches, we stuck to the buffet because we like to have lots of choices.

 

Our favorite for lunch was the vegetarian section of the buffet which features Indian cuisine. The chef does a fantastic job and is always there to answer questions. If you like Indian food, definitely go to that section for lunch and because my daughter is vegetarian, this was perfect for her. Also, each restaurant has a vegetarian selection for dinner.

 

We don't drink alcohol, but judging from the soft drink prices ($1.75 for a Coke), I'd say the mixed drinks were comparable to what you'd pay at home in a good restaurant or bar. Don't fall for the fancy drinks in souvenir glasses unless you want to keep the glass. You can probably get the same drink in a regular glass for less money.

 

The casino is fine; I participated in the slot tournament and made the finals, but didn't win. It was fun! Since I only play the slots, I can only comment on those. The lower denominations seemed tight, but the higher denominations ($5 and $1) were looser and I did win some money on them.

 

We took the Super Shuttle from the airport to the pier ($15 each plus tip). After disemarbarkation, found a little stand with an umbrella for Super Shuttle just to the left past the taxis after we walked out of the terminal (same price to airport). They'll take you to a hotel, too -- don't know what the price is. If you want to take a taxi, it will cost you more than the Super Shuttle.

 

Hope you enjoy your Mexican Riviera cruise; we certainly did!

[mbisson]

I just got 500 MBNA visa points to use too.

 

Gawd I love that card (but ours is a Mastercard not VISA)!! 1000 off of our cruise on the Sun in just over a month and we've got over 800 points already. We're hoping to save enough of em to make a Hawaii cruise at a good price.

 

-Monte

[sportsnut]

Was wondering if the $15 Super Shuttle is to LAX. Trying to figure out best way from airport to the pier day of the cruise.

[jeanettep]

The $15 per person Super Shuttle was from LAX to Pier and same price Pier to LAX. Taxi will cost you more.

[shiprat]

The reason Supershuttle is cheaper is because they will take a group of people with them and drop them off along the way. If you're lucky, you may get dropped off at the pier first, but no guarantee.

 

If you can afford it, I'd take a cab!! I lived in LA for years and barely made a few flights because Supershuttle made stops along the way!

 

shiprat

[debr]

Was wondering if the $15 Super Shuttle is to LAX. Trying to figure out best way from airport to the pier day of the cruise.

I've reserved with VIP Express to pick the 4 of us up at LAX and take us to San Pedro Sheraton the night before our cruise on 11/29. The price is $45 total plus 15 percent, so it is around $13 total per person and we don't have to share the van. I've also reserved with them for our return to LAX on 12/7. The toll free number is 888-511-4847.

 

debr

[CUCAMONGA HAL]

jeanettep; Thanks for your reply, sounds like things are going pretty good,we sail 11/21, We will be driving to the Port of L.A.,hope they have large parking lots that we can leave our car in for the cruise. How were the seas? Your cruise was during the storms that hit Southern california,did the Star ride smooth? We love hearing anything about the Star or the cruise.

Hal

 

Carnival Elation 2001

Carnival Spirit 2003

Ncl Star 11/21/04

[Shellbelle28]

Hi out there, anyone with any more information on the Star's latest Mexican Riviera cruise? Things seem too quiet. How is the new casino? How much do they charge for a mixed drink or a beer? This is our first NCL cruise, have been to the Mexican Riviera twice before with Carnival Cruislines, it was great. Are the balcony staterooms roomy for two? Are the Taxis easy to get on debarkation?

Hal

I just got back from the 10/20 sailing. I found the cruise very enjoyable.

 

We used NCL's bus tranfers for our transportation to and from the airport. The outbound trip to the pier was a mess, we waited in the bus for more than an hour before we could get off because the porters were avoiding unloading the luggage from the buses and concentrating on the private vehicles they knew they'd get tips from. There was some confusion as to whether we needed to identify our luggage before we went to check in. Finally we just got off the bus and left the luggage to be unloaded. We were told it was because it was raining and they wanted to do all of the unloading under the covered area. Our return bus from the pier to the airport was just fine though.

 

The casino seemed fine, I only gambled $40 on some slots and it didn't last too long :)

 

The drinks seemed entirely reasonable to me. If you bought a mixed drink in a souvenir glass for $6.50, refills in the same glass were about $4.50. We got to know a server in one bar who remembered we had the souvenir glass so we didn't have to carry the glasses around with us for refills, he just gave us the refill price. Other drinks didn't seem all that high at all, there was always a daily special too.

 

The ship looked clean and in good condition, I never encountered an out of order restroom.

 

The buffet is always a zoo but we only stopped there at lunch once or twice, we usually had lunch in the Blue Lagoon. The menu is limited but it's usually quick and I loved the fried rice. We didn't eat in the dining rooms, but the menus looked good to me when I looked at them going by. We ate dinner in the specialty restaurants every night. I would HIGHLY recommend Cagney's if you're willing to pay the cover charge of $20 per person. The filet of beef was probably the best I've ever had. For and additional $5 you can get an incredible surf and turf or whole lobster as well.

 

The shows we saw were good, though I thought "Cirque Asia" was lame (imagine ballet dancers doing fakey looking Tai Chi moves to pseudo asian music with one or two brief displays by the Chinese acrobats who deserved way more stage time). The magician was good and I liked the Andrew Lloyd Webber music show.

 

We didn't do any excursions.

 

We did not have to tender in Acapulco, we got a dockside berth. I heard about a couple of people who had bad experiences with taxi drivers in Acapulco... the drivers wouldn't take the women to where they asked to go, instead the driver said "I'll take you to my cousins house for some really good deals!". On the other hand, my group arranged a driver and car in advance through a wonderful fellow at the Acapulco Port Authority and could not have had a better experience (check the Ports of Call section of this board for his help). So be sure you get a taxi driver from INSIDE the port area where they have been screened as safe. The ship was an hour late arriving in Acapulco and we thought we had missed the 1:00 PM cliff divers, but they held the show till the ship groups got there which was really great!

 

We tendered in Zihuatanejo. It is quaint and we did a little shopping and looked at the archaeology museum displays. It was so hot, I was ready to go back to the ship after 2 hours.

 

We got lucky and did not have to tender in Puerto Vallarta as had been expected on our arrival. They have shared van rides for $3 per person to the downtown area and then it's a $3 taxi ride back to the ship. There isn't much to see close by the port. Don't miss the statues along the Malecon.

 

Cabo is always a tender port, but they use extra boats from a private service so it was very fast. We shopped and then went back to the ship.

 

I also really enjoyed meeting fellow cruise critic members at our little gathering. The Hotel Director, Cruise Director and Food and Beverage manager came and were very hospitable.

[SweetEmi]

Welcome back M!!!!! I'm glad you had a good time. Not much longer for me and I'm really counting the days. I'll look around and see if you posted anything else. Good to hear from you,

 

Em

[shiprat]

Hello,

 

Thought ya'll might enjoy this full on virtual tour of the Star! Including the Garden Villas!

 

 

http://www.virtualtoursusa.com/NorwegianStar_vt.htm

 

shiprat

[CUCAMONGA HAL]

shiprat; Thanks for the virtual tour site, satisfies our curiosity. The balcony staterooms look good.

Hal

[jeanettep]

Hal,

 

You asked about the seas on our Oct. 20-28 cruise. It rained going out of Los Angeles and coming back in; all the weather in between was warm/hot and sunny.

 

The seas were a little rough for maybe a day and a half going out of LA and for a day coming back in towards LA, but in my opinion, not bad enough to make anyone seasick. Our cabin was on Deck 5 almost midship so we did not feel a whole lot of movement while we were inside our cabin. The last night of our cruise, however, our empty hangers (had packed all our clothes) were banging around so we removed them and put them on the floor.

 

I noticed a lot of people had the patch behind their ear. I took a supply of ginger tablets from the health food store and took a couple at the beginning and end of the cruise just for "insurance." I'm sure it's an individual thing as to who gets seasick and who doesn't.

[brunolvr]

Europe isn't out for us! The only cruises I haven't done are Mexican Riviera and the Med. Well, I did a partial Med but not Greece. I need to ease my husband into a longer cruise so if we start with an 8 day then I can get him up to the 14 day after that. :)

 

On the Star's maiden voyage I had room 11598. It was a fantastic mini suite. If there are three of you traveling, I say definitely get the AF. That's the category we're looking at for the Mex Riviera. We've narrowed it down to the September 30th cruise. But I just looked and RCI has a 7 day on October 2 and we're Diamond members with them. The perks are so much better on RCI for past cruisers. UGH! Too many things to consider.

We're thinking of booking a mini-suite on the Star for a cruise to Alaska. Since they're located on Deck 11 right below the pool deck, we're wondering how noisy they might be. Any advice? Thanks.

[Host CMLA]

We're thinking of booking a mini-suite on the Star for a cruise to Alaska. Since they're located on Deck 11 right below the pool deck, we're wondering how noisy they might be. Any advice? Thanks.

Three or four times I heard deck chairs being moved around later in the evening but it wasn't enough to be a big bother. And I never heard anyone else complain about noise. Good luck! You'll love the Star.