Star Thanksgiving cruise

[cruise4fam]

We were on the Star sailing 11/22 – 11/29 Thanksgiving cruise. A little about us we have cruised about 17 times between RCCL, Carnival, NCL, HAL. This is my 5th cruise with NCL. NCL is never my 1st choice but when they price is right you go. This trip was for my self and 2 boys 16, 11. We really enjoyed our self’s and had a great time. I know before I left there was a lot of negative reviews about the star. I found in the past don’t listen to them and make your own decisions on your experience. I found the boat to be clean and no real signs of wear. Sure there are some stains on carpets but this is to be expected on anything that has a constant flow of traffic. Most public areas were very clean.

We flew in to LAX on Friday the 21st rented a car from Enterprise for $38 and this was the best deal. We returned it in San Pedro 5 minutes from the pier and they shuttle you over. We stayed over night in San Pedro at the Air Force base. We got to the Pier around 10 am and handed in our luggage and sat for about a half an hour till they started check in. Very quick and they gave us # 1 to board. 11:30 they started and we went right behind the suites and wheel chairs. We headed to the buffet for lunch dinning room does not open till 12:30 for lunch. I am usually not very picky on food. I always find something. I have to say the buffet was probably the worse one we have had in years. The food was not bad or terrible just kind of nothing special. This buffet is set up cafeteria style. If any one has been on the Dawn it is the same since they are sister ships. Food is always questionable but I usually enjoy the buffets this one was just ok. Not terrible just nothing to make it wow. We were on the Gem in March and they had the best buffet I had in years on a cruise.

We were on Deck 9 AFT inside room. We choose to go as cheap as we could since I have been on 4 cruises this year and my kids 3. The room was no smaller then any other inside room. It actually was probably he same size as the balcony room I had on Pride of America in September. I found the room very clean and was pretty well kept the whole time. The room attendant was around in the early morning and after 6 pm. He was nice enough but never more then hello. They work hard these guys I know that but usually they are very friendly. This man seemed unhappy to be there. Some small issues nothing worth noting.

Casino is very small but plenty of stuff to do. Very smoky even if no one is smoking close to you. I spent a good amount of time there and meet some very nice people.

Shows I don’t really go to them since I fall asleep. My kids went with the camp and enjoyed them a lot.

Aqua we ate every night for dinner. After the 1st night we asked if we can have the same table every night. This was not a problem for them at all. Which this worked great for us we like to eat din around 5:30 – 6:00. We did not try any specialty restaurants I don’t feel I need to pay for food when there is so much free food around. I found the food to be very good in Aqua. Great selections and you can always find something to eat. They have the menu of the day plus stuff that is always available to choose if you find nothing else.

We ate in Versailles breakfast and lunch almost every day. Breakfast has the same menu every day accept the last morning which is a shorted version of the daily one. They have the best muffins on the pastry tray. Same flavor every morning but one day has blue berries, chocolate chips, and raisons.Etc. Lunch changes daily and we enjoy it very much. My son had wings one day and said they were probably one of the best he ever had. He enjoyed them so much he had 2 plates.

Blue lagoon we used it so much. We enjoy them for snacks at all times day and night. This is probably one of the best things NCL has come up with. All the food is comfort stuff they also have soups and salads. My son loved the blueberry cheesecake and I loved the strawberry shortcake pound cake.

Room service has a great menu to choose from. We never tried it when ever we wanted a snack we hit the blue lagoon.

Ports we really didn’t go for them we just got off and shopped for a while in each. We had been to these same ports in July so really no reason for us to do anything but relax.

Tenders - 2 ports are a tender port. You would think with the amount of times they tender you would think they would get it right. The tenders are unorganized waiting to board. But if this is the worse I can say about a cruise I think that’s ok.

They did have the laundry special twice they have it were you fill the bag for $15.00 for wash and $20 for pressing. I do wish this boat had self service laundry since with paying for baggage on the planes.

On the buffet around 3:00 they have a sandwich area opened up. Great idea for when you are hanging out at the pool and you want a snack. My son loves the tuna. They also have an ice cream bar set up in the afternoons.

The crew was very pleasant and I can not say enough how hard these people work to make your trip a good one. I never passed a crew member who wasn’t saying hello. I did not feel that any one didn’t want to be there. All crew I came in contact with was pleasant and friendly.

Cruise director was Paul Scally who seemed personable and people seemed to like him. I didn’t talk to him so I can not say personally how he was.

Anyone going on Star now will see they are already putting up Xmas decorations. I thought this was kind of interesting to see since I have never been on a boat over a holiday.

Disembarking was pretty quick we carried off our bags and we were off at 8:40. We waited for Enterprise to pick us up at the pier. We spent a few hours in LA and had lunch at In N Out burger. We returned our car at the airport and everything went smoothly with no problems.

Sorry if someone has any issue with anything I have said or anything I have made an error on. All and all we really enjoyed our cruise and I would do the Star again if the price was right. :D

[meiyakim]

Wonderful review. It's nice to see positive as so many people have bashed and scared the living out of us that have never sailed NCL before. Was the ice cream bar free? And what did you do on the islands? Did they have .01 machines in the casino?

[Cosmopolitan]

Enjoyable, honest review.

Thanks:)

[cruise4fam]

Wonderful review. It's nice to see positive as so many people have bashed and scared the living out of us that have never sailed NCL before. Was the ice cream bar free? And what did you do on the islands? Did they have .01 machines in the casino?

 

Thank you I wanted to post something positive since we had a great time. I have learned everyone has a different experience and you make of it what you can. You will enjoy the cruise don't worry. The ice cream bar is free they have soft serve and 3 or 4 other hard ice cream with 4 or 5 different toppings. On the islands we just shopped outside the ports. In Puerto Vallarta we walked over to a mall and Walmart. My sons love to check out the soda selections in walmart. They have some really cool flavors. Casino I don't think they had .01 machines not a 100% sure about that. I think they might have had .02 machines. I played black jack mostly and some 25 cent poker. if you have any other questions please let me know. :)

[caligirl19]

cruise4fam I would ditto everything you have said. We had a balcony cabin however and loved that. It was on the Port side and was perfect for pulling into Cabo. We ate dinner in Versailles most night, one night in Aqua and we never ate at the buffet.

 

I will be cruising NCL again and hopefully soon!

[OceanDreaming2]

Did they have .01 machines in the casino?

 

Yes, the Star has quite a few penny machines. I had good luck with the Sun/Moon - $175 one night and another $150 later in the cruise.

 

Good luck!

[cruise4fam]

cruise4fam I would ditto everything you have said. We had a balcony cabin however and loved that. It was on the Port side and was perfect for pulling into Cabo. We ate dinner in Versailles most night, one night in Aqua and we never ate at the buffet.

 

I will be cruising NCL again and hopefully soon!

 

I do enjoy the balcony cabins. I love to sit in the am drinking tea and watching us pull into port. We took the Carnival Pride in July and did the same ports and we had a balcony. I was just on NCL Pride to Hawaii in Sept and had a balcony on that boat. The difference in price from inside to balcony was $775 on the Star. I only paid $450 more for the whole cruise.

We did have dinner in Versailles one night and had the slowest service ever. So we did stay away from it. Aqua was much quicker and when you have 2 kids quick is good in my book. :)