FraudBroad

Does anyone have the listing of the NCL Star Team - curious as to who is the conceirge - will be on this ship for B2B cruises in February!

 

Can't wait - Penthouse and then moving on up to the both Garden Villas with a large group.

 

Let the fun begin!

Just off the Star on Sunday. Christopher was the Concierge...he was fabulous! Ignacia is HD and Manny F&B.

Has anyone noticed an increase in the gratuity for the Unlimited Beverage Packaged?

I re-booked our March cruise yesterday to take advantage of the "Pick Two" promotion and added on the dinning packaged. When I received the invoice I was surprised to see the gratuity for the UBP had increased from $68.04 to $80.64. The rep at NCL didn't bother to mention it when he made the changes to the reservation. The service charge for the 4 meal package was $13.32 each.

Sorry if this has been discussed prior....

We were on the Regal a few weeks ago and are booked next year on the Royal. Princess is well aware of the center stairway or rather lack of them. The stairway is there but for crew only. With all of the negative comments, do you think that when the Royal goes into dry dock later next year, they may decide to dress them up and open them up to passengers?

No...you can already see the new deck plans on princess.com and it isn't there.

When we sailed the Royal in February the first thing the Hotel Director said at the Meet & Greet was "We know we don't have a center staircase...you don't need to tell us."

The captain said the same thing when he arrived 15 minutes later.

Majestic Princess will have a center stair case.

Any recent CAS cruisers off the Star that can tell me what time they have the cocktail party the first night?

Thanks!

My concern is airfare to California. I want to make sure it's worth it. I don't mind cooler temps leaving port.

I find the cruise hit or miss with most.

I was tempted to do the Panama Canal with the Mexican Riviera.

Hand down the Panama Canal sailing was my favorite cruise ever. Going through the Canal itself is amazing...we had a wonderful, wonderful trip!

Looking for something different to do with my NCL future booking I am holding on to. Was thinking Mexican Riviera.

I have never left the east coast so no idea what it's like.

Can anyone give me some good and bad points?

I've done the ports in Mexico twice. Once on a Mexican Riviera cruise on Princess and once as part of a Panama Canal sailing on NCL. And honestly I'm not a huge fan.

While Puerto Vallarta and Cabo are both beautiful, the water is much cooler than the Caribbean. And the snorkeling was pretty non existent. A plus is that on the Canal trip we saw more whales when coming into Cabo than we did in Alaska. Also, both times we sailed out of L.A. it was much cooler weather than when we sailed out of Florida.

Everyone has their own opinion and and sure there are lots of folks out there that love the Mexican Riviera. If I had my choice though I'd do the Caribbean without a second thought!

Regards,

Natalie

Hi Danish Viking!

In the stages of planning our time in Copenhagen for next June. We will arrive on a Sunday evening and the ship leaves on Tuesday so we will really only have Monday for touring. These are the sites we'd like to see:

Rosenborg Castle

Christianborg Palance

City Hall

Nyhaven

Amlienborg Palace (changing of the guard if the Queen is in residence)

Christiania

Tivoli

I know we'll do Tivoli in the evening for dinner and maybe a couple of ride for my teenagers. Is the remainder doable in one day considering we will probably be jet lagged? There will be six of us, my parents and aunt are all in their 70's (young 70's I should add).

I'm considering both the Copenhagen Card and the HoHo bus...We will be taking the train from the airport to our hotel but will more than likely travel by taxi from the hotel to the port. I just can't decide which would make more sense. I know the Copenhagen Card will cover our transportation cost but I'm thinking if we are tired, as I know we will be, the HoHo might be the better option.

Any thoughts or suggestions you may have will be more than welcome!

Many thanks,

Natalie

Sometimes it's not about what we forget to pack...it's about what ended up in the suitcase that we didn't expect!

Late night packing in August caused my TV remote to end up on the cruise with me....too bad my father who stayed at my place while I was gone had to manually turn the tv on and off and had to get up to switch the channels! Just like in the olden days!

We sail in and out of Copenhagen next July on Princess. Having never sailed in Europe before about how long do we need for transfer time from ship to airport, check in time at airport to get to our gate? What would be the earliest flight time you would recommend going from CPH to ATL? Thanks much!

If you are sailing Regal Princess Princess says you can book flights as early as 9:30 AM (according to Princess Eazy Air). Regal docs at 5:00 AM.

Hope that's helpful!

FraudBroad, it is not known yet if the Regal Princess will continue to berth in Nynäshamn or if it will berth in central Stockholm.

Last year the Royal Princess berthed in Nynäshamn on all occasions but this year it has sailed into Stockholm once or twice, so we'll see what happens.

I know that they want to berth in Stockholm but whether or not they will... we just have to wait and see.

I don't know when the arrival list for next season will be released but likely within 1-2 months or something like that.

 

So before we know where you will dock, it will be a little hard to know how much time you will actually have.

12 hours from central Stockholm is maybe 50% more then 12 hours from Nynäshamn.

Thanks so much for the heads up! I'll keep my eye on the port schedule for changes!

Hello,

I'm beginning to research our visit to Stockholm. We'll be arriving on Regal Princess which I believe docks at Nynäshamn. We'd like to see the following and I'm wondering if this is doable in one day. We arrive at 7:00 AM and the ship leaves at 7:00 PM. Here's the list:

Vasa

Ice Bar

ABBA Museum

Nobel Museum

Royal Place - would like to see the changing of the guard

Gamla Stan - for lunch and shopping

Many thanks in advance for your help!

The best but also most expensive way is to take a big taxi, a regular taxi only fits 4 and can probably not fit the luggage anyway.

 

Maybe your group can split up and some will take the taxi with luggage and others the metro.

 

 

Else you can take the metro to Kongens Nytorv and walk to the hotel from there.

 

 

Google maps is a little bit weird because you can just walk across the square instead of walking around it. :eek:

 

https://www.google.dk/maps/dir/Wakeup+Copenhagen,+Borgergade,+Borgergade/Kongens+Nytorv+St.+(Metro)/@55.6807728,12.5822614,17z/data=!4m19!4m18!1m10!1m1!1s0x46525319b1b0f2af:0x70dfb512af0202a7!2m2!1d12.584104!2d55.682959!3m4!1m2!1d12.5863066!2d55.6811537!3s0x465253183ca0bf99:0xbfd9d487ec37a15d!1m5!1m1!1s0x46525317956e2b27:0xbcf5dbf2ceefc16b!2m2!1d12.5852281!2d55.6791848!3e2

 

 

 

Nyhavn is visible on the map so if you want some maritime food then its a good choice.

 

Bøf og Ost (steak and cheese) is one of the best places i havebeen in Copenhagen.

 

https://www.google.dk/maps/dir/Wakeup+Copenhagen,+Borgergade,+Borgergade/B%C3%B8f+%26+Ost,+Gr%C3%A5br%C3%B8dretorv,+Copenhagen/@55.6812619,12.5777029,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x46525319b1b0f2af:0x70dfb512af0202a7!2m2!1d12.584104!2d55.682959!1m5!1m1!1s0x46525310f0548e7b:0x72ab873e6065bc22!2m2!1d12.5758684!2d55.6795588!3e2

 

 

To the pier you can use combination of bus 26 and 27.

 

Take bus 26 to Østerport station, Sløjfen (so not the first stop simply just called Østerport station)

 

At Sløjfen you take bus 27 directly to Oceankaj.

 

 

https://www.google.dk/maps/dir/Wakeup+Copenhagen,+Borgergade,+Borgergade/St.+Kongensgade/@55.6833502,12.5844672,18z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x46525319b1b0f2af:0x70dfb512af0202a7!2m2!1d12.584104!2d55.682959!1m5!1m1!1s0x46525318f080d9a9:0xf2311e660fa7c131!2m2!1d12.5865843!2d55.68374

We stayed at the Wakeup Hotel Borgergade when we were in Copenhagen in July. We used public transportation to get to the hotel from the airport. (M2 Metro from airport to Kongens Nytorv and then the short walk to the hotel). We only had one piece of luggage each, so it was easy to do. If you can handle the luggage on your own, this would be a viable way to get to the hotel because the Metro cars are large enough for both you and your luggage to easily fit.

 

However, getting from the Hotel to Oceankaj would be much more difficult because you have to take 2 buses and the buses can be quite cramped. There was barely enough room for us to fit with our single bags. I don't see you being able to do it with 1 - 2 bags each. It would be better to bite the bullet and take a couple of taxis. (Or as Danish Viking suggests, split up and have some take a taxi with the luggage and others ride the buses.)

Thanks so much for all of your help! Great information and makes planning a breeze!!!

Hi Danish Viking!

We will be arriving in Copenhagen at 6:00 PM on a Sunday night and have reservations at the Wake Up Copenhagen Boregergade. There will be five of us and our luggage. What is the best way to get to the hotel?

Also, is there anywhere near the hotel that you'd suggest for dinner?

Also, what will be the best way to get to the port on Tuesday from the hotel? We will probably have 8-9 pieces of luggage for the 5 of us.

Many thanks,

Natalie

I just landed a new job, so as a reward to myself, I just booked a last-minute cruise for my wife and I on the Getaway! This will be our first cruise on NCL and we're very excited to try something new. Plus, the price was fantastic and the free ultimate drink package was a huge bonus.

 

Our two previous cruises were on RCI (Independence and Serenade). I would love to hear from you frequent NCL cruisers about what we might expect in terms of differences, any hints or suggestions for Getaway, etc. I also have a couple more specific questions.

 

I've read that booking dinner and show reservations is suggested for the Getaway. Is that necessary, or would we be able to make our choices for when/where we eat once we're on the ship? If we should book ahead of time, are the menus for the various restaurants available online? I ask because I'm kind of a picky eater and I'd rather know what I'm in for before booking a for-fee restaurant.

 

We have an earlier flight home (11:15), so I'm trying to figure out the best way to get from the port back to the airport. Should we book a shuttle or would cabs be available? Along those same lines, RCI offers an early disembarkation option where you take your own luggage off the ship. Is something similar available on the Getaway? I want to be sure we don't miss our 11:15 flight.

 

Again, any tips or suggestions are highly appreciated, especially as I don't have our usual several months of available planning time for this trip.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Cheers.~

We were just on the Getaway earlier this month...she's a beautiful ship and I'm sure you'll enjoy her!!!

If you are doing any of the specialty restaurants then you for sure want to make your reservations ahead of time on ncl.com. Also, if you'd like to see the larger shows like Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor they also advise having reservations for those as well. When we sailed we booked all of our dinning and show reservations ahead of time. When we boarded and I realized that we needed to change the time of one of our reservations for Cagney's (steak house) we found they couldn't accommodate the change. Better to be safe than sorry...if you're dinning strictly in the regular dinning rooms you should be fine not having reservations. Just remember that some times are busier than others and you might have to wait a bit for a table.

Cabs are plentiful as soon as you walk out of the port. The began letting people walk off with their own luggage at 7:30 and we were through customs and in a cabin within 20 minutes...easy breezy :)

If you are someone who enjoys the spa think about booking the thermal suite online before you sail. You save $20 by booking ahead of time and the spa on Getaway is amazing!!!!

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

We are on the Getaway in October. Is this good?? Being our first cruise and all just wondering??

JC is awesome! He's really one of the best Cruise Directors...you'll enjoy him immensely!!!

I was on the ship the 8th-15th as well and the internet was AWFUL. I had been on the Getaway twice before with no issues with the internet and this time I don't know what was happening. I went to the Internet Manager and received a full refund. I spoke to many people who were having the same issue. Something was going on that week with their internet.

I'm so glad you told me that! I went and the internet guy didn't do anything for me. I wrote to Customer Service this morning after reading your post....I'll see what they say!

According to JC he will be on Getaway for the remainder of the year!

FraudBroad-thanks for your review-I'm still working on mine between piles of laundry! Thanks so much for organizing the Meet and Greet too. We ended up getting chocolate covered strawberries sent to our cabin afterwards and when we had a service/meal snafu in Le Bistro, we were taken care of very well and I can only think it's because they knew we were CC people!

 

I agree with a lot of what you said but we did experience some poor service and I thought the smoke from the casino really permeated the other floors (especially near Headliners) due to the open staircase.

 

Must get that review finished....

You're very welcome! The one thing I forgot to mention was the TERRIBLE internet!!!!!! It was the WORST I've EVERY experienced at sea!!! And you're right about the casino smoke...I hear the same thing said about Epic as well (though I've never sailed her).

Can't wait to read your review!

Was on same week and had much the same experience. Buffet was just nuts all the time. Tiny gym. Very few shaded places to quietly read to take a break from the very hot sun. Really enjoyed Tortola but Nassau is meh. They could easily have had four port calls on this itinerary with decent times in port. I don't understand why they don't do their private island in the Bahamas.

I totally agree! And now the Escape will do the SAME itinerary! Bums me out...I'll sail other lines with better itineraries to be honest...I'm tired of the same old/same old for the Eastern Caribbean....I do much more enjoy the ports on the Western Caribbean itineraries!

Would you have picture of the menu?

No I'm sorry I didn't take any menu pictures!

Happen to know if the Getaway had self service laundry?

No, I'm sorry...no self service laundry :(

What does CAS stand for I have seen that in other posts? Is there a special check in for that group?

CAS is "Casinos at Sea" and yes....there is a separate check in line for people who've booked through CAS.

Just off the Getaway on Saturday and wanted to write a brief review of our trip.

Booked this cruise with an offer from CAS for a slot tournament. It was myself (widowed age 49) and my sweet mamma (we would be celebrating her 75th birthday while onboard). My Dad flew to Chicago to stay with my two teen age daughters while I was away.

My mother lives in Ft. Myers so I flew in there late Thursday evening. I worked from her home on Friday before we headed out at noon for our 2.5 hour drive over to Miami.

My Dad has a free night at the Holiday Inn so we stayed at the one closest to the port on Biscayne Blvd. Talk about a great location! We were less than two miles from the port and with our bayside room we could see all of the ships! The hotel was very nice, and although it did not include a free breakfast they did have a continental buffet for $13.95 per person.

After checking into the hotel (with tax parking the first night was $33) we decided to head over to South Beach just to see all of the art deco buildings. The traffic was a mess but we weren't in a hurry. We spent about an hour driving around before we headed back over the bridge for dinner.

Across the street from the hotel is the Bayside Marketplace...tons of shopping and restaurants. As my mother was having a problem with tendonitis in her foot, we opted to park there instead of at the hotel. We ended up at Bubba Gumps for a great meal before heading back to the hotel for the night.

We were both up early in the morning (6:00) and were able to watch Getaway come into port. What a HUGE ship! We were getting so excited!!! We took our time getting ready and headed down for breakfast around 8:30. The hotel was busy with a lot of passengers who were leaving and a lot who were just getting there after disembarking the ship. I believe there were two other ships in port that morning in addition to Getaway.

We opted to leave the car parked at the hotel as it was only $10 per night. We left the hotel by taxi at 10:30 and were dropping our bags off at 10:35…very convenient. There was no line at the CAS check in so we walked straight up and checked in. We were given boarding group 2 and were on the ship by 11:45.

Although the rooms weren’t technically ready, we did stop by ours to drop off a few things. We were in cabin 13102 at the VERY front of the ship. Room had a TON of storage, the bathroom was great, and you could actually look up and see the bridge from our window. As a platinum latitudes member we had a box of Godiva chocolates, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting for us in the cabin. We also had the certificates for dinner and wine in a specialty restaurant along with a certificate for one bag of free laundry. In addition we had an invitation to a latitudes party on Monday night at 7:00 in Spice H20. I’d paid $35 to have the cabin decorated for my mom and there were streamers, balloons, a happy birthday sign and a beautiful cake. She was pretty excited!

We headed up to deck 16 to the Flamingo Grill for lunch. Lunch was okay…not great…it seemed like everything they served was fried. It didn’t matter to us…it was better than the buffet which would be a madhouse for the entire cruise. There were 4800 passengers on board, 1600 of which were children.

Muster was at 3:30 in O’Sheehan’s and was over before we knew it. 4:30 we headed to the CAS cocktail party in the Bliss Lounge. Bliss confused me…the entire ship was beautifully decorated. Then you see Bliss…honestly looks like an empty garage and left me wondering if they’d run out of decorating budget…That was the only time we spent in Bliss.

Dinner that night was at the illusionarium. We each had the steak and shrimp and both meals were good, but not great. The show was fun but to be honest I found the venue to be VERY crowded….it’s a very tight space. I felt that if they’d just remove one chair from each table it would be a LOT more comfortable.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast in O’Sheehan’s and found both the food and service to be great. We attended the morning trivia (which we did every morning) and spent sometime in the casino before attending the Meet & Greet in Cagney’s at 11:00.

The Meet & Greet was well attended by the officers who mingled with everyone there. JC Sanchez, the cruise director, brought in Sponge Bob Square Pants who danced with my mother and another Cruise Critic Member for their birthdays. We then sang happy birthday to them both. Best part of the cruise was the video that I took of my mom dancing with Sponge Bob. She’ll never live it down.

We had the dinning package so we ate only in the specialty restaurants for dinner. We ate in Moderno, Cagney’s and Le Bistro one time each and La Cucina twice. We were invited by the Hotel Director to dine in the Haven restaurant one night as well. All of the meals we had were wonderful…the service everywhere was exceptional!

We had breakfast twice in O’Sheehan’s and once in one of the main dining rooms. We did the buffet twice for breakfast but it was ALWAYS a madhouse. A couple of times I just grabbed a bowl of muesli and headed up to Spice H20 for some peace and quiet and to get away from the crowds!

The shows we attended were Illusionarium, Legally Blonde, Burn the Floor, Wine Lovers and we stopped in at the Grammy Experience for two songs one night. Legally Blonde was by far our favorite. We would have really enjoyed Burn the Floor but the volume was so high it hurt our ears. Wine lovers was really a lot of fun and the performers were great!

In St. Thomas we just took a cab downtown and walked around a bit before heading back to the ship. August just isn’t my favorite time to visit the Caribbean…so hot and HUMID!!!! In Tortola we spent the day at Cane Garden Bay beach and had a lovely time. Two chairs and an umbrella for $13. It was $16 round trip by taxi from the port and back. $5 Pina Coladas…what else could you ask for? In Nassau we just headed over to the Atlantis casino for a few hours. It started to rain when we got off of the ship and trying to get a cab and get out of the port was a mess.

We went to the Ice Bar for one drink one evening and thought it was pretty neat. We’d be invited by the Food & Beverage Director or else I don’t think we would have gone. The cost is normally $20 and you have five drinks to choose from. We each had a different drink and even though I had on flip flops my feet didn’t get cold. It’s a neat concept but I don’t think I’d pay to do it.

We checked out (very briefly) the 80’s party as well as the Glow Party at Spice H20. They were both jam packed and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Overall we both liked Getaway…but didn’t LOVE Getaway. For me the ship seemed very compartmentalized. Thought it’s great having so many choices, I think all of the separation of different rooms took away from the overall look of the ship. All of the Cruise Director’s events in the evening were held in the Atrium, which really couldn’t hold the vast number of people that wanted to attend. If you wanted to attend any of those events you needed to get there very early to get a seat. Trivia one afternoon was held in Sugar Cane Mojito bar and they didn’t have enough seats. Makes it tough on the Cruise Director’s staff that really is going the extra mile to ensure you have fun!!!!

The one thing that really shown through was the exceptional service we received everywhere on the ship. Everyone always greeted us, always had a smile on their faces, always trying to go above and beyond to ensure we had a great vacation!

I wouldn’t not sail Getaway again…but I wouldn’t choose a cruise just because it was on Getaway. I wish NCL would have a better itinerary for her so I’d want to sail her again. For me, I’m just over Nassau…wish they’d add St. Maarten back or one of the many other beautiful Caribbean islands. There’s a lot to choose from…they need to add some variety! In addition, I’d choose to cruise at a different time of year with less children on board!

Overall, I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a cruise that I didn’t enjoy…in the end…it’s all what you make of it. We chose to have a great time and we did!!!!

Please don't take this the wrong way but I'm about this close to canx my new years NCL Star cruise. Imaging my thumb and fore finger about an inch apart, that's how close I am. I just found out that the Star does not have an adults only area! Is that correct, I'm sure all you Star cruises can tell me the truth. Also why not many if any photos of the Star. This wil be my 1st NCL and we are looking forward to it, but just can't find any information about the Star, can anyone help?

Please advise

 

:confused:

What time of year are you sailing? I'm only asking because last year when we sailed the star to the Panama Canal the average age on the ship was 62. In other words, during non peak times you won't have a vast number of kids to worry about!!!

I recently called CAS regarding my upcoming Getaway sailing. Even though the price difference between an ocean-view and a balcony was only $50 they told me it would be over $200 per person to upgrade. Said "It's casino pricing..." In other words, it doesn't matter what NCL is charging everyone else for the sailing, you pay what you pay when you book through CAS.