The Traveling Man

If you logged in at an internet cafe on shore, the ISP would show up as being in Mexico. If you log in while on board, all those tiny little electrons will fly magically through the air to a satellite, then back down to the ISP which NCL contracts with in Miami, then onto the web. The ISP will show up as being in Miami.

I don't recall seeing any reports of technical difficulties with the Star in recent years. Before I would swear that everything is ship shape, though, I must note that the Star still holds the NCL record for the most number of ports missed, most number of cruises canceled for technical issues, and most number of days sailing at reduced speed because of propulsion problems. In fact, all the other ships in the NCL fleet COMBINED do not equal the number of technical woes the Star has faced in her 23 years of service.

Great advice. We have done that on each of our trips to Venice.

The most amazing stateroom I have ever seen on any NCL ship is the Owner's Suite on the Dawn class ships. There are similar staterooms on Jewel class ships, and possibly on others. From my perspective, though, there really is no comparison. Is it the least expensive? Not by a long shot. But it is an utterly amazing suite.

When we have some time to spare before our flight home or the next leg of our journey, we usually like to have a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room. We pack our bags first, leaving them in an out of the way corner of our room, then go down to breakfast. When we return to our room, we brush our teeth, freshen up, tuck away any brushes or toiletries into our carry on bag, then schlep our bags down to the atrium, where we wait and enjoy passing our time until the crowds start to thin out. Then we carry our bags with us as we exit the ship, hopeful that we can slide through customs/immigration/passport control with ease after the crowd has passed. Please note that on most cruises the main dining room offers only a pared down menu for breakfast on departure day. If you were planning on having an omelette, Eggs Benedict, Huevos Ranchero, or some other rather exotic treat for breakfast, make sure you do that some other time during the cruise. Don't wait until departure day, when you may find that you have a choice of scrambled eggs, eggs scrambled, or scrambled eggs.

We took the Brightline last month from our hotel in Fort Lauderdale to the Port of Miami. Instead of paying for coach class seating, we opted for the upgrade to Premium Class. It not only included access to the upscale departure lounge where breakfast was available, but also included Uber rides from our hotel to the station and from the ending station to the port. The seats onboard the train also were more comfortable with more leg room than in coach class. As I recall, the cost of Uber between Miami airport and the Miami station as well as between the Fort Lauderdale airport and the Fort Lauderdale Brightline station are also included as part of the Premium fare. You need to arrange your pickup times with Brightline, not directly with Uber, a day or more in advance. The Premium Class ticket costs a bit more, of course, but the convenience of having them arrange your connections for you was worth it to us, and may also be for you. As others have said, you generally will be able to exit the ship by as early as 8:00 and almost certainly will be through the port terminal and ready to meet your ride no later than 9:00 or 9:30.

I surely hope that you were being facetious. Otherwise, this may be the most bizarre response I've ever seen to a question on CC.

As @complawyer stated, NCL seemed to be more generous with FCC and refunds a few years ago when the Star experienced more than two straight months of propulsion problems (from early December 2016 just after departing Singapore for Hong Kong, through three or four more cruises until it finally went dead in the water in February 2017). The passengers on our cruise (Sydney to Auckland) also were offered the choice of A) jumping ship for a full refund plus some monetary assistance in rearranging their flight home or B) staying on board for the remainder of the journey and still getting "a full refund of all monies paid". That quote from a letter the captain had distributed to all passengers later came back to bite NCL in the back side. The folks in Miami tried to interpret that as just the amount of the cruise fare, not taxes, port fees, gratuities, etc. I contacted an ombudsman to go to bat for us, meaning all the passengers who accepted the offer. After months of back and forth, we finally received a second credit on our bank card, bringing the total refund up to "a full refund of all monies paid." It was like pulling teeth, but if you will allow me to mix my metaphors, we finally did hold NCL's feet to the fire. We also were booked on the following cruise from Auckland to Singapore. After more than two months of propulsion problems, delays, missed ports, a near mutiny, and a wide variety of refund offers to passengers on one leg of the cruise or the other, NCL seemed to throw in the towel when the ship went dead in the water. They all but cancelled the following cruise, notifying all passengers booked on the Auckland to Singapore segment that they could A) cancel at the last minute for a full refund, or B) take the cruise they already had paid for plus receive a future cruise credit equal to 100% of their cruise fare. Since we were already on board, we chose to stay, meaning we essentially got a free cruise out of it. So many people jumped ship in Melbourne and so many accepted the offer to cancel their Auckland to Singapore cruise that the ship sailed at only about half capacity. It was marvelous.

The Star departed from Melbourne, Australia about 5:00 PM on 9 February 2017. It lost propulsion about 1:34 AM on 10 February, about 22 nautical miles southwest of Cape Liptrap, Victoria, Australia. The first tug arrived about 16 hours after we went dead in the water. They tied a line to the ship, but did not commence towing until a second tug arrived a few hours later. With one in front to pull and one tied to the rear to serve as a brake, if needed, we got underway, barely making headway. The following day (11 February) a third tug arrived and was lashed to the port side. It added enough horsepower to increase our speed to perhaps two knots. We reached Melbourne about midnight on the 11th/12th. These were large, ocean-going tugs, not the rather small harbor tugs you may be accustomed to seeing.

Correct.

I applied my upgrade benefit just a couple of days after NCL created the new Diamond level and announced its benefits. The reservation clerk with whom I spoke didn't have a clue about it, but put me on hold while she looked up the terms and conditions. I had a particular Club Balcony room in mind and insisted that she assign us that room. She did and we couldn't have been happier with the result. We thought about using my wife's upgrade for a cruise which we took later that year, but we never got around to it during her first year of eligibility. We had pretty much given up on it when we began noticing mention on CC that other Diamond members had been allowed to use their upgrade more than a year after they "graduated" to Diamond. We may check again with NCL to see if we can still use it this Fall on the Jade. I have heard, however, that now NCL selects the cabin assignment for you, that you no longer can specify the room you want. Just like other forms of upgrades on which you bid, you must accept whatever room they assign in the category you select. Anyone use their Diamond upgrade lately who can confirm or deny that aspect of it?

I must admit that you're a braver man than I am. We've had four cruises on the Star. The first two were wonderful, but the last two, B2B in Australia in February 2017, put an end to my Star days (or is it daze?). Inching along at half speed with one propeller our of service was bad enough. Losing all propulsion in the Tasman Sea and having to be towed back to port in Melbourne put a cap on it. I would have thought that your experience with the Star's travails on the cruises just prior to ours would have made you just as wary of setting foot on her again.

Essentially it works like this: You purchase two Cruise Next Certificates with a value of $250 each. They charge your on board account for $500 (two entries at $250 each). They immediately issue your on board credit totaling $250. They automatically apply that credit against the purchase price of the certificates. That leaves you owing $250, to be paid by any other applicable on board credit you may have, or a charge to your credit card at the end of the cruise. Everything else the Cruise Next team tells you about it is just smoke and mirrors. The math is different, but the results are proportional, if you purchase 3,4,5, or more certificates. You simply get half their value back as credit, effectively reducing the purchase price by half.

We will be getting on board as you are leaving. Perhaps we'll pass each other in the terminal like ships in the night.

April 10 - 27 the Star will cross the Atlantic, ending in Lisbon. On the 27th it leaves Lisbon for Southampton.

Since this is a round trip cruise, both departing from and returning to Boston, every American citizen should be able to pass through customs with little or no delay.

What is your sailing date? I also will be sailing on the Jade this Autumn, so we may be on the same cruise.

We have taken NCL excursions at several of these ports and always have been very satisfied with the tours. At Le Havre we enjoyed the walking tour of Honfleur on one cruise and a tour of Monet's garden on another. In Majorca we took a tour of the cathedral. We also have taken NCL tours at many other ports. The shore excursions booked through the ship may be a bit more expensive than ones you might arrange independently, but you have the peace of mind of knowing that they will get you back to the ship on time.

This has come up a couple of times recently on the CC boards. The answer is "it depends." We did it two years ago following a Trans Atlantic cruise. We contacted NCL well in advance to make arrangements. I would suggest emailing NCL Senior Vice President for Guest Relations Katy Byrd, kbyrd@ncl.com. I would not recommend waiting until you are onboard the ship, as you may find yourself facing some significant penalties and fees for not giving NCL advance notice.

If memory serves correctly, the Diamond level was added to the Latitudes program, and the Platinum Plus level was renamed Sapphire, in February of 2022. That would have been after the return to sailing following the pandemic shutdown. This marked the first major upgrade to the Latitude tiers since February of 2017 when the Platinum Plus and Ambassador levels were added, IIRC.

About one third of ours have been in the main dining room, about a third have been in the secondary dining room (Aqua, Taste, or Savor), and the rest have been in either Le Bistro or Cagney’s.

Not always. We have visited some ports for which ship time and local time were an hour apart. Any tour chartered by the ship will likely follow ship's time, while local businesses and restaurants will stick to local time. Be aware that the time to be back on board the ship is based on the ship's clock, not the local time. Don't be late.

Most airports in Europe request that you arrive at the airport not later than three hours prior to departure of an international flight. If the ship docks at 7:00 AM, the earliest you may expect to debark the ship would be about 7:30. Depending upon weather, port conditions, and other possibilities, it could be a bit later. It's about a 45 minute drive from the port in Piraeus to the Athens airport. Add to that the time you will need to collect your luggage, pass through customs and immigration, and find a taxi. There is a slim possibility that you could arrive in time to connect with your flight, but it would require all the stars to align perfectly. You would avoid a great deal of stress and the chance of missing your flight if you could schedule a later departure. A 10:20 AM departure from Athens on the day your ship arrives at 7:00 AM is strongly discouraged.

That's unusual. The price difference usually is a bit less than that. Sorry it won't work for you.

Sounds like a wonderful vacation.