The Traveling Man

Almost anything is possible, of course, but it seems highly unlikely that PoA would be removed from the Hawai'i itinerary. There is a great deal of demand for its cruise itinerary, federal regulations require that a ship be US flagged to sail exclusively in US waters without visiting a foreign port, PoA is the only US flagged ship of its size so it has this niche market pretty much all to itself, and it would have to be substantially rebuilt to incorporate a casino (which is de rigueur on most other cruise ships).

We have sailed four times on the Dawn and loved every minute of our time on board. Our first was a Western Caribbean from New Orleans in 2016. The others were to Canada and New England from New York. If you're lucky you'll get Alain Magnier as General Manager and Richard Matic as Cruise Director.

Here's how it worked for us a few years ago. Things may have changed since then, but this may help with your planning. NCL charters a train from the AAR (Alaska Railroad) to travel from Seward to the Anchorage airport, then back to Seward. It only runs between these two points and only carries NCL passengers on the days when NCL ships dock in Seward. When we rode it, the train did not continue on to the downtown Anchorage train station. Northbound passengers getting off the ship in Seward, whether they are going to the airport to fly home that day or if they are headed to downtown Anchorage to spend the night, are all transported on the same train which ends its run at the airport. The train then returns to Seward with those passengers who will board the ship that afternoon. Passengers who are going into town are directed to shuttle buses which drive you to the welcome center in Anchorage. Your bags will be waiting for you at the welcome center, which is close to several hotels, but quite a few blocks away from the downtown train station. I think NCL also provides bus service from downtown to the airport for passengers taking the train to Seward. I can't verify that, but I do know that there were hundreds of passengers waiting at the airport to board the train when we got off from Seward. There also were a number of buses waiting for us which I think had been used to take those folks from downtown to the airport. Other cruise lines with cruises terminating or originating in Seward on a different day of the week than NCL probably charter the same ARR train and run the same route as NCL.

We did it several years ago, so things may have changed since then. As I recall, we were able to get breakfast on board the ship, although it still was dark when we disembarked. If you pack your bags the night before and leave them outside your room with the appropriate tags on them, the staff will handle them for you and they will be waiting for you when you get off the train. You book the Cruise Train as a shore excursion and you will receive standard shorex tickets and bag tags. Once you’re off the ship, you’ll walk a short distance to the “train station” which was just a tent when we were there. You then will exchange your shorex ticket for an actual train ticket which has an assigned seat. If you don’t ask for a specific seat, they simply will hand you the next ticket in their stack of available tickets. You can specify which seats you prefer, however, either left or right side and either forward or backward facing. We found the railroad station agent to be quite accommodating. We asked for forward facing on the left side. The trip takes several hours, about four as I recall. That’s longer than the bus ride which NCL also offers, and it costs a bit more than the bus, but the scenery makes it well worthwhile. Food and beverages are available for purchase on board the train and there are tables at all the seats on board.

Do you think NCL would finally get the message if more and more passengers stopped leaving additional cash tips and/or started asking the Guest Services Desk to reduce their DSC?

We had similar poor service recently on the Sky. First I asked myself why we were paying ever-increasing gratuities, aka Daily Service Charge, for continually diminishing service quality. Then I asked the same question at the Guest Service Desk. Finally, for the first time in over 30 NCL cruises, I asked that our DSC be reduced by an appropriate amount to reflect the poor service. They were going to eliminate it completely. I got them to "compromise" on just reducing it by two days' worth.

I disagree. NCL is the intermediary between the passenger and the crew member. NCL contracts with the crew, sets their work schedule, and offers them a level of compensation which they believe to be adequate to entice the crew to continue working for the cruise line. If NCL sets working conditions which result in an inferior level of service, then passengers have reasonable cause for dissatisfaction with the cost vs. benefits of cruise travel. NCL states that the Daily Service Charge is a recommended amount, but that it is possible for passengers to request that it be reduced or even eliminated if there is sufficient cause. If that means that one or more crew members receive less pay, that's on NCL, not the passenger who receives less than quality service.

There have been several reports on CC of Pullman and sofa beds only being made up in the morning, not tucked away for the day and then pulled out in the evening. They either are being left out all day or they are being put away and the passengers are having to pull them out at night.

I wonder if more guests start going to the Guest Service Desk and asking that their Daily Service Charge, aka gratuities or tips, be reduced, will NCL start to get the message that many passengers are dissatisfied with the increased gratuities and reduced service. After more than 30 cruises with NCL, each time dutifully paying the designated amount for the DSC, we finally had enough of the poor service on our last NCL cruise and asked that our DSC be reduced by an appropriate amount. I'm not sure that it had any impact on them. The reports here of continued poor service would seem to indicate that it didn't, but what if more passengers did that? I know, I know, I expect to catch some flak here for suggesting that "we're taking it out on the poor stewards," but it's NCL's job to have enough staff on duty and to pay them reasonable wages so they can provide the expected level of service.

You can, but I would recommend arriving a day earlier, if that is possible, and spending the entire day exploring the city while you are recovering from jet lag. On embarkation day you can sleep in a bit later, get to the ship at a reasonable hour, then be among the first on board. That will give you better odds of making reservations for dinner, shows, etc. at times and on days you prefer.

It can get quite cool in October, so be sure to pack appropriately. Options for Hamburg would include a tour that stops at the city hall (Rathaus) and drives by the theater district (including the place where the Beatles got their start). The number one tourist attraction in Hamburg, however, is Miniatur Wunderland, an absolutely amazing model railroad. In Amsterdam, be sure to book in advance for the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, and/or the Van Gogh Museum. I would rank them in that order, but your interests may vary. The city is quite walkable, plus there are trams from the Centraal Railway Station that go to all the popular destinations. The port of Zeebrugge is a short bus ride from Bruges. It takes a bit longer to get to Brussels. I would recommend the "Bruges on your own" tour. You'll have several hours to explore the city before returning to your bus. A canal boat ride is a great way to break up a day of walking around town. In Le Havre, a walking tour of Honfleur makes for a great afternoon. Depending on your schedule, you may be able to take the Le Havre port shuttle bus to spend a little time in Le Havre itself before returning to the port to meet your tour to Honfleur. Another wonderful tour, though it involves a considerably longer bus ride, would be to visit Monet's home and gardens in Giverny. There also usually are tours available that stop at both Giverny and Rouen. Consult your Rick Steves guidebook for recommendations. I can't offer any personal suggestions for the Le Verdon or Bilbao stops, but in Southampton you may find the Titanic Museum worthwhile. Have an enjoyable cruise!

The Latitudes benefits are clearly set forth on the NCL website. There are several for which the notation "per stateroom" appears next to the benefit description. The listing for the "Laundry Service" benefit does not include the "per stateroom" disclaimer. We have sailed on 24 NCL cruises since reaching the Platinum Latitudes level. We frequently do laundry twice on cruises of a week in length, and almost always do laundry twice on longer cruises. We have never been refused our second bag of free laundry. @Sea Monster 2, I'm sorry that you were not allowed to claim the second free bag that you were due. We frequently print out a copy of the Latitude benefits page from the website for instances such as you encountered. That way we would have a leg to stand on in discussions with the Guest Services Manager if we should be denied any benefit which we have earned. As I said, fortunately we never have been denied our second laundry benefit. We even have had staff instruct us to simply write "Platinum Latitudes - FREE Laundry" on the laundry ticket if NCL failed to provide us with the extra laundry coupon. Hope this helps you on your next cruise.

As I recall, the last time we sailed with Deepak was August 28 through Labor Day of 2021 on the Encore in Alaska. Praveen was also on that cruise. Each of them greeted us by name. One night Deepak stopped by our table in Onda, while Praveen came by to chat with us when we were in Le Bistro. BTW, is Nikola still the Maitre D' in Cagney's? We also have sailed with him several times. He always greets us by name and goes out of his way to make sure our dinner in his restaurant is special for us.

If you haven't completed your reservation yet, simply uncheck the option box for the beverage package at the time you finalize your reservation. If you already have it included in your booking, it still is easy to have it removed up to the time of final payment. After that, it may not be possible to remove it, but check with NCL to see what can be done. Please note that if anyone in your room selects a beverage package, then everyone (or at least all the adults, or at least the first two names of adults on the reservation - sorry, I'm a little fuzzy on the details) in your room must also select the same beverage package. If one person wishes to drink alcohol but none of you have a beverage package, you can still drink, but you'll need to sign a receipt each time you order a drink and you'll see each charge listed separately on your stateroom bill.

We do the same thing. Sometimes we ask for it on a bagel instead of the usual English muffin. It may slow down the order a bit, but yes, you can have it your way.

You're fortunate to have Deepak as your GM. We always have enjoyed our cruises when he was in charge. I'm a bit surprised to see that Praveen has shifted gears from Executive Chef to Assistant F&B. We always have found him to be an outstanding chef, always warm and engaging, and we really have enjoyed the times when he personally prepared our dinners for us. It looks like NCL may have placed him on the fast track toward becoming a GM someday. I'm sure he will be a great one.

I constantly am amazed at how many officers not only recognize us, but call us by name, sometimes years after we last sailed with them. Perhaps the most remarkable example was when Cruise Next Manager Tauran spotted us standing in the atrium of the Joy on embarkation day of an Alaska cruise in July 2019. He stepped away from his desk, made a bee line for us, and warmly greeted each of us by name. The last time we had seen him before that was February of 2016 on the Breakaway, when he was a junior officer and we only spoke to him briefly at the Captain's cocktail reception in the Haven. He remembered our names, the date of the sailing at which we met, and the topics we discussed at that cocktail party three years earlier. Many of the officers who call us by name are ones with whom we have shared dinner as Latitude members. They include several GMs, a couple of Captains, and a dozen or so other three or four stripe officers.

I heard a similar story from a passenger I met on a cruise several years ago. He had been on a few NCL cruises before and had noticed the "Friends of Bill W." listing in the Freestyle Daily schedule on each of his previous cruises. He said he became curious once and wanted to find out who this Bill W. was and how he managed to travel on so many of the same cruises. He decided to crash the party, but figured he ought to bring along a party favor, so he stopped by the bar to pick up a bucket of beers. When he got to the meeting, he tried to bluff his way in by saying "oh yeah, I'm a friend of Bill's - he and I go way back." Needless to say, neither he nor his beers made it through the door.

Some cruise lines will honor the frequent customer status of other cruise lines, however NCL does not offer that benefit.

Do you remember the names of the officers with whom you had dinner?

That is correct, however the dry dock was not caused by problems with the Azipods. Among the major issues dealt with during the 2020 repairs, one of the main Diesel engines was replaced. They had to cut a hole in the side of the ship to get the engine block out, then bring in the new engine. My earlier remarks referred to the Star's record of missed ports as a result of Azipod problems.

The OP mentioned that she and her husband usually would have only one or two drinks per day.

We have sailed on four cruises on the Star, as well as four on her sister ship, the Dawn. We really like the design of this class of ships. Everything seems to be just the right size, in exactly the place you would expect to find it. My only negative about the Star concerns its propulsion system problems, which haven't seemed to cause any concerns for the past several years. Prior to 2017, however, the Star had the worst record in the NCL fleet for delays, missed ports, and unscheduled outages due to problems with its Azipod propulsion units. In fact, the ship was out of service because of its Azipods more than all the other ships in the NCL fleet combined. That hasn't seemed to be a problem recently, though, so its very interesting and occasionally unique itineraries make the Star an attractive choice.

I agree with @complawyer on this. It may be a bit less convenient, since you'll probably be asked to sign a ticket each time you place a drink order, but if you only order one or two drinks a day you will be dollars ahead by not buying a drink package.

I usually wear a dress shirt and a sport coat. I used to always wear a tie for DWTO, but I haven't since the return to sailing after the COVID shutdown. Many passengers dress a bit more casually, though. I figure that if the officers are wearing white dress shirts, neckties, and a uniform jacket, I ought to at least dress up a bit.