NCL Star recent itinerary/boarding issues?

Excited to be boarding the Star on Sunday but have a couple of questions.

I saw on a Facebook page that the itinerary this week might have been changed due to mechanical issues, can anyone confirm or dismiss this report? Heard they ended up in Cabo first instead of Puerto Vallarta.

I am also wondering about the best time to arrive at the terminal. I've also seen that disembarkation has been taking longer than expected recently. Traveling with a four year old and don't want to end up waiting in the terminal for too long. We have a 10-10:30 checkin time but think that maybe too early?

If anyone has sailed on the Star recently, would appreciate your input.

Thank you!

Excited to be boarding the Star on Sunday but have a couple of questions.

 

I saw on a Facebook page that the itinerary this week might have been changed due to mechanical issues, can anyone confirm or dismiss this report? Heard they ended up in Cabo first instead of Puerto Vallarta.

 

I am also wondering about the best time to arrive at the terminal. I've also seen that disembarkation has been taking longer than expected recently. Traveling with a four year old and don't want to end up waiting in the terminal for too long. We have a 10-10:30 checkin time but think that maybe too early?

 

If anyone has sailed on the Star recently, would appreciate your input.

 

Thank you!

Our family is sailing on Sunday too. Because I'm a nerd this week I've been tracking the Star's route online and viewing its webcam to get excited for our trip. I was very surprised to see them anchored at Cabo on a day they should've been at sea so i can confirm they visited out of order. It looked like they arrived later in Puerto Vallarta too.

Because we've booked out own excursions that are time and date dependent I hope things go as scheduled next week. I'd also appreciate if anybody that is on board this week could provide any additional info.

That's interesting, maybe they just flip flopped the days at sea and will have two days at sea at the end of the cruise. Not a big deal to me, but did see someone saying they arrived late in Cabo. Hopefully someone can clarify for our inquiring minds. :)

Our family is sailing on Sunday too. Because I'm a nerd this week I've been tracking the Star's route online and viewing its webcam to get excited for our trip. I was very surprised to see them anchored at Cabo on a day they should've been at sea so i can confirm they visited out of order. It looked like they arrived later in Puerto Vallarta too.

 

Because we've booked out own excursions that are time and date dependent I hope things go as scheduled next week. I'd also appreciate if anybody that is on board this week could provide any additional info.

Yes, I'm curious too as I'll be sailing this Sunday with y'all.

We're all boarding the Star on Sunday! Hooray!!

Noticed the same thing with the early Cabo stop though and I'm a little worried...

a solid, reputable independent excursion company will refund you if your ship does not dock and work with you if your ship docks late.

Excited to be boarding the Star on Sunday but have a couple of questions.

 

I saw on a Facebook page that the itinerary this week might have been changed due to mechanical issues, can anyone confirm or dismiss this report? Heard they ended up in Cabo first instead of Puerto Vallarta.

 

I am also wondering about the best time to arrive at the terminal. I've also seen that disembarkation has been taking longer than expected recently. Traveling with a four year old and don't want to end up waiting in the terminal for too long. We have a 10-10:30 checkin time but think that maybe too early?

 

If anyone has sailed on the Star recently, would appreciate your input.

 

Thank you!

I was on the Star for a 9 day Mexican Riviera cruise (March 1,18). To be kind, embarkation in San Pedro was a "pig's breakfast". We had to stand outside in the rain with our luggage. Not even porters to take the suitcases inside. NCL's explanation was that the ship had come through the Panama Canal and customs was taking much longer than usual. I think we finally got on the ship about 1 p.m. and we were the first to board since we were in a suite. Check-in, once inside the port, was also slower than I've experienced. Employees apologized for the delay and asked us not to whine about it. I'm not honoring that wish.

The rest of the cruise was great--this experience stands out as my worst embarkation experience ever though. I'm back on April 8th and hoping for a MUCH better embarkation.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for sharing your experience Mike.

That does not sound like the best way to start off a vacation but glad the rest of your trip went well.

I was on the Star for a 9 day Mexican Riviera cruise (March 1,18). To be kind, embarkation in San Pedro was a "pig's breakfast". We had to stand outside in the rain with our luggage. Not even porters to take the suitcases inside. NCL's explanation was that the ship had come through the Panama Canal and customs was taking much longer than usual. I think we finally got on the ship about 1 p.m. and we were the first to board since we were in a suite. Check-in, once inside the port, was also slower than I've experienced. Employees apologized for the delay and asked us not to whine about it. I'm not honoring that wish.

 

The rest of the cruise was great--this experience stands out as my worst embarkation experience ever though. I'm back on April 8th and hoping for a MUCH better embarkation.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Got an email today that flipped the itinerary around on the 4/1 sailing. Cabo San Lucas got moved to Wednesday, shortened by 3hrs, and all excursions cancelled and refunded. We'll have to rebook onboard if we want to (that's gonna be a zoo). Given the shorter time and the tender port - I suspect a number of excursions just won't be available. PV is Wednesday and Mazatlan Thursday. Apparently PV excursions are ok - they will be automatically rescheduled. No information given on Mazatlan tours through which is odd. Checked the NCL online account and nothing is showing up there yet on any changes.

I was on the Star B2B March 2, then March 11. What a cluster. March 2 the boarding started at 2.45. Heard a lot of storys about why, but the fact was the people outside didn’t have a clue what was going on .

One minute they were handing out boarding numbers, then saying get in line. Then take a seat. A real mess and I don’t blame the staff. This is a management problem.

Getting of March 18 was delayed at least an hour. People just walked off after the delay. This is the worst I have seen in 30 plus cruises.

I was on the Star B2B March 2, then March 11. What a cluster. March 2 the boarding started at 2.45. Heard a lot of storys about why, but the fact was the people outside didn’t have a clue what was going on. One minute they were handing out boarding numbers, then saying get in line. Then take a seat. A real mess and I don’t blame the staff. This is a management problem. Getting of March 18 was delayed at least an hour. People just walked off after the delay. This is the worst I have seen in 30 plus cruises.

The staff outside don't work for NCL. Did you find out what the issue was rather that speculate on "stories" in hall?

The staff outside don't work for NCL. Did you find out what the issue was rather that speculate on "stories" in hall?

No I did no hire an investigator . What I saw was a mess and it was not the staff outsides fault,

Excited to be boarding the Star on Sunday but have a couple of questions.

 

I saw on a Facebook page that the itinerary this week might have been changed due to mechanical issues, can anyone confirm or dismiss this report? Heard they ended up in Cabo first instead of Puerto Vallarta.

 

I am also wondering about the best time to arrive at the terminal. I've also seen that disembarkation has been taking longer than expected recently. Traveling with a four year old and don't want to end up waiting in the terminal for too long. We have a 10-10:30 checkin time but think that maybe too early?

 

If anyone has sailed on the Star recently, would appreciate your input.

 

Thank you!

can't answer your question about ports but I will say, as for boarding time, this varies all over the place. There can be issues with unexpected ship inspections which happened to us on the Pearl last November and it had nothing to do with NCL. The coast guard does unplanned checks from time to time. There can be problems clearing the ship or you can be lucky and boarding only take a few minutes to about an hour. To be honest, if waiting is going to be a huge because of your little one I would not arrive until about 1pm. By then, hopefully most guests will be on board. this is just my opinion. We are inclined to arrive very early, but waiting, for us isn't a huge issue.

I was on the Star for a 9 day Mexican Riviera cruise (March 1,18). To be kind, embarkation in San Pedro was a "pig's breakfast". We had to stand outside in the rain with our luggage. Not even porters to take the suitcases inside. NCL's explanation was that the ship had come through the Panama Canal and customs was taking much longer than usual. I think we finally got on the ship about 1 p.m. and we were the first to board since we were in a suite. Check-in, once inside the port, was also slower than I've experienced. Employees apologized for the delay and asked us not to whine about it. I'm not honoring that wish.

 

The rest of the cruise was great--this experience stands out as my worst embarkation experience ever though. I'm back on April 8th and hoping for a MUCH better embarkation.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

I was also on this cruise. We were told that it was due to immigration check for the crew. We boarded about 2:00 after the suite guests because I am disabled. This was by far the worse embarkation I have ever experienced. We are thinking of doing an 8 day cruise next March on the Star. It is coming from the Panama Canal so we will rethink what time we want to arrive at the port.

Candi

Come join us on the roll call for the Star sailing April 1! We have a meet and greet scheduled for Monday, the first sea day!