Star to Alaska Review 5/21 to 5/28 AKA: The Amway/Blue Coat Cruise

[Amadawn1]

My husband and I just returned from our 7 day Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Norwegian Star, May 21 to May 28, 2011. I finally had a chance to put some thoughts together and a bit of a review of our cruise. Hope it's not too lengthy!

 

This was our first cruise in over 10 years, and we were really looking forward to it. It was a very good cruise overall, but was known by many passengers as the "Amway" or "Blue Coat" cruise.

 

We arrived in Seattle the day before we sailed, and stayed at the Doubletree Seattle/Tacoma Airport. I found the airport itself poorly organized and a nightmare to maneuver. We had to go up an escalator, out and across a walkway to a garage, then down an elevator (the escalator was broken) with about 50 other passengers and all their luggage to find an "island" to board our hotel shuttle. The shuttle was only about a two block ride to the hotel. I booked a pre-cruise package directly with Hilton for a one-night stay and transfer to the pier for the following morning. When we checked in they didn't have our transfer voucher ready. The clerk at the check in desk was new, and tried to send me to the concierge to ask about our voucher. I refused and told him that the transfer was part of the package I booked. After conversing with another desk clerk, and disappearing for about 15 minutes, he returned and advised that the hotel would send our transfer voucher to our room. About 30 minutes later a supervisor called to apologize for the delay and had the voucher delivered to our room. The hotel was clean and comfortable and very satisfactory for a pre-cruise stay. The transfer to the pier was successful, but we discovered that ALL of the other cruise passengers being transferred from this hotel were sailing with Princess, not NCL.

 

Embarkation at Pier 66 was a breeze. Not sure exactly when we arrived, but it was around 11:30 or so. We were on the ship by noon, as they were calling our boarding number as soon as we received our cruise key cards.

After embarking, we made reservations at the dining desk for Le Bistro that night, the Jazz Brunch for the first sea day and the Teppanyaki table at Ginza for that evening.. We explored the ship a little (you can drop off your carryon bags at the Spinnaker lounge until 2PM), then went to the Topsiders bar for drinks. There were not too many people on the pool deck yet. There was a bbq grill buffet open on the pool deck, so we bypassed trying the Versailles dining room and just had hamburgers, etc. for lunch. At 2PM they announced that passengers could go to their staterooms.

 

We were in a mini-suite on deck 11 Aft. Our bags were there when we arrived, as was our Room Steward, Seby. I must say that of all the NCL employees we encountered on this cruise, Seby stood out the most. He was professional and efficient. The room was always clean, the ice bucket full and extra towels were provided each day. We had excellent towel animals in the stateroom throughout the cruise. Seby also greeted us by name each time we passed him in the hallway. Kudos to his outstanding work ethic!

The mini-suite was very nice, though the bed was as hard as a rock and the pillows were worse! The balcony was a must for us. We spent a lot of time on the balcony, enjoying the magnificent scenery of Alaska and BC with a good wind block. They are not the most private of balconies. There is about a 5 inch gap between the separation panels, and you were able to see the adjacent stateroom balcony in the reflection of the glass. We figured our next door neighbors brought very little luggage with them, as there were men's underclothes left to dry on their balcony on day two and for the remainder of the cruise visible in the reflection. (There is a drawstring clothesline provided in the shower, but I guess they didn't see it)

 

Throughout the cruise the Grand Atrium and gift shops were packed, wall to wall with passengers. This may have been because this was an Alaska cruise, and the pool deck was quite chilly when at sea. There was also a large contingent of Asian passengers taking multitudes of photographs at all times, to include taking photos of the advertisements on the walls and items in the gift stores?

 

We had a very nice dinner with great service at Le Bistro on the first night of the cruise. We were practically the only customers in the restaurant, so it was very quiet. Not sure why no one thinks to dine at this specialty restaurant on the first night.

 

The Jazz Brunch was enjoyable, though not too many passengers attended. Our server, Maria did an excellent job. On the first sea day we also signed up for the Presumed Murdered luncheon to be held 3 days later.

 

Our biggest mistake on this cruise was our dinner at the Ginza Teppanyaki table. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was standing room only. My husband and I were led to the Teppanyaki room (there is only one). It has a double teppan table (6 and 6). We were seated in the back (it was hot in the room) and a group of 8 (very young, early 20's) Asian cruisers were seated around the rest of the double table. The server immediately took my cruise key card, and held it throughout our meal. The other eight diners never acknowledged that we were at the table. Then the fun began. The other diners kept standing up and moving around the table taking photos of each other and every food item on the table. Then they set up a camera tripod ON the teppanyaki table and continued to take pictures. At no time did they actually sit down and eat their meals. It was crazy. We didn't want to be rude, so we said nothing. PLUS we had already been served soup/salad when we realized we wanted to leave. I believe that if we had left, we would have been charged for our meal ($25.00 cover each) regardless. As soon as the Teppanyaki Chefs were done, the other diners wolfed down their food, and exited the room. My husband and I just sat there, floored. And I was worried about being rude to them....

 

After the dinner fiasco, we went down to Gatsby's lounge to have an after dinner drink and listen to Stan Sykes (Mr. Motown) play piano. Just as we finished ordering our drinks, our Teppanyaki tablemates appeared. They walked in between the occupied lounge tables and spent about five minutes taking pictures of themselves in front of Mr. Sykes playing the piano. Then they left. Rude again.

 

After our drink, we went to the customer service desk. I explained our dinner and lounge experience to the lady to suggest cameras be limited at the Teppanyaki Tables. She said our tablemates were just excited to be on the cruise. I told her we were also excited to be on the cruise. She said we should have spoken to the Maitre D at the restaurant. I said we would love to. She called him. He came down. We explained our experience. He told us ours was not the first complaint that he had received and that he would provide a "quiet" table for us at Ginza the next evening, so we agreed.

[Amadawn1]

Ketchikan was the first port. We disembarked to explore the town, as we had a shore excursion later in the day. That was when we realized there was a single huge tour group on our ship. As we went into town, we observed several hundred young Asian cruisers from our ship, wearing identical blue and white jackets grouping on the pier. It turned out that they were all with Amway, and they actually numbered over 900. I had no idea a group this large would be booked on a cruise without chartering the whole cruise.

After some shopping, we went on a ship sponsored excursion, Lighthouse, Totems & Eagles. It was very enjoyable, and we had a great time on the boat with Capt. Rob, his crew and his dog Princess. When we got back to the ship, I determined there was no way we were going to have a quiet table at any time during this cruise in Ginza restaurant. We opted for the Versailles dining room and had a very nice dinner with two lovely ladies from Washington state.

[FlorenceItaly]

Isn't Alaska gorgeous? I just love it. It's my 2nd favorite cruise EVER. My top one was a 24 day European cruise. We have just booked a mini suite on the Star. This will be our first cruise with NCL. Do you have a picture of the balcony? Did you have any noise from Deck 12? Do you mind sharing your room number? Thanks so much for the information and the fabulous review. WOW, sorry about your experience at the Ginza Teppanyaki.

 

 

 

 

 

M

[Amadawn1]

Juneau was next, and this was the only day we encountered any rain showers during our port stops. We decided to do some shopping, but bypassed the Mt. Roberts tram because it was completely clouded over. We ate at the Red Dog Saloon, and had excellent service (even though it was really crowded). We returned to the ship for another ship sponsored shore excursion, Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer. This excursion leaves directly from the ship, 15 minutes before the ship sails for its "Scenic Cruising" portion of the itinerary. Within 10 minutes of our boat leaving the ship, we hit perfect weather with sunny skies. Of all our shore excursions, this one was the most scenically spectacular. Though we had to go to the Dawe's (I believe it is called) Glacier instead of Tracy Arm due to ice, I cannot even describe how magnificent it is to go within a quarter mile of a glacier, and watch it calving, or to get within 5 feet of a cascading waterfall created by snowmelt. The boat captain and guide/presenter were outstanding. You would not be disappointed with this shore excursion. Since the excursion was about 5 1/2 hours long, we were dropped back off at the ship pretty late. We had a late dinner at the Blue Lagoon. It was ok, but was a limited menu with very average food.

[Amadawn1]

Isn't Alaska gorgeous? I just love it. It's my 2nd favorite cruise EVER. My top one was a 24 day European cruise. We have just booked a mini suite on the Star. This will be our first cruise with NCL. Do you have a picture of the balcony? Did you have any noise from Deck 12? Do you mind sharing your room number? Thanks so much for the information and the fabulous review. WOW, sorry about your experience at the Ginza Teppanyaki.

 

 

 

 

 

M

 

FlorenceItaly,

 

Thanks for your comments! Would love to be able to do a 24 day European cruise. I will look for a balcony picture. The room number was 11188, and was the last cabin Starboard aft. I only heard noise a couple of times in the early morning that sounded like an exercise class in the Spa/Gym. Never really any noise from above. There was also very little feel of the ship moving, which surprised me.

[FlorenceItaly]

Thank you for the information. If you have a picture, that would be great and very appreciated. I see you are going back to Alaska AGAIN later this season. LUCKY YOU!! :).

[Amadawn1]

The next day was Skagway. We had breakfast at the Versailles since our excursion was not until 8:30 AM. Breakfast was good, as was the coffee. We had pre-booked an excursion with Chilkoot Charters for the White Pass Summit rail and bus tour after reading about them on CC. It was a very nice and scenic tour, plus the bus was a 25 passenger maximum, so we were able to make several photo stops on the way up to the summit. We received a bonus on the bus portion as well. We encountered a brown bear walking along the road to the summit, and were able to take photos and video of him! I highly recommend Chilkoot Charters in Skagway. After the tour, we walked around town, did some shopping and had lunch at the Skagway Brewing Company. Again we had surprisingly good service in a very crowded port restaurant (4 ships in port).

I think of all the ports on this itinerary, Skagway was my favorite. It seems so quaint, and the scenery is amazing. Of course it didn't hurt that the sun was shining most of the day!

We were really tired upon returning to the ship after 3 straight port days. We spent a couple of hours on the balcony as we sailed out of Skagway. There was bright sun shining (got a little sunburn!) and we spotted multitudes of whales along the shoreline. I fell asleep early and my husband had room service dinner.

[Army/Police Vet]

Sounds like you might want to ban cameras anywhere on the ship because someone 'might' offend you or be rude. I find it funny you were uncomfortable with some excited 'asian' shipmates so you want cameras banned in a restaurant. Aside from the obvious racist undertones of your post, having a cruiseline force everyone to adjust to YOUR preferences is beyond ridiculous.

[Amadawn1]

Fell asleep early, but woke up at 4AM the next morning. I waited awhile, then went up and grabbed a plate at the Market Cafe to bring back to the cabin for the balcony. My husband was still sound asleep. The coffee was not as bad as I have read about previously. The omelet was ok. The bacon was very good. Note: For the last sea day I wrote in "Ham and cheese omelet" on my limited breakfast menu card as I had read on the CC message boards. Sure enough, room service delivered an excellent omelet! Gratuity well deserved.

Today we were arriving at Prince Rupert at 4PM. We attended the "Presumed Murdered" Luncheon in the La Cucina restaurant. Again, there were not too many passengers in attendance. The lunch was ok. Second City was fun, but the interactive portion of the mystery would have been improved with better audience participation.

We disembarked at Prince Rupert, walked around and did a little shopping. It's a pretty town, but you can see what you need to see within an hour or so. We had our last ship sponsored shore excursion at 6:30PM. This was the Sea Life Discovery & Crab Extravaganza. It was a very informative boat excursion, and the crew and naturalist were very knowledgeable. With the blessing of (British Columbia's version of U.S. Fish and Wildlife?) they are allowed to feed the American Bald Eagles around the bay on this tour. This made for some very exciting photo and video opportunities for me. I would have never imagined seeing bald eagles in this quantity in my lifetime. The crew also pulls up crab traps that have been set out earlier in the day, returns the female crabs to the bay, makes sure the remaining crabs caught are of legal size and cooks them up on the back of the boat for all the passengers. This was a very good excursion, and if your cruise stops in Prince Rupert I would highly recommend.

Again we returned to the ship very late (just before sailing at 10PM). Our only option for a late meal was the Blue Lagoon restaurant. This time, though the food was absolutely inedible and the service was terrible. I don't know if it was because it was 11PM or what. I can't even describe what that dried out piece of flavorless supposed chicken strip looked or tasted like. Yuk. We left without eating. My husband and I were tired, so we returned to our cabin and did not even bother to try to order up room service.

Note: To get an idea of how outrageous the blue coat cameras were on this cruise, take a look at one of the photos I took in Prince Rupert. They actually set up a tripod for a camera on the sidewalk wheelchair ramp of a crosswalk!!

[Amadawn1]

Sounds like you might want to ban cameras anywhere on the ship because someone 'might' offend you or be rude. I find it funny you were uncomfortable with some excited 'asian' shipmates so you want cameras banned in a restaurant. Aside from the obvious racist undertones of your post, having a cruiseline force everyone to adjust to YOUR preferences is beyond ridiculous.

 

Army/Police Vet,

 

Whatever. You were not at the Teppanyaki Table, and you were not paying a $50.00 cover charge for a dinner that turned into a three ring Circus. My review is not going to satisfy everyone.

[Hikini]

This has been fun to read - hopefully there is more coming. :)

 

I laughed out loud about the Asians taking pictures of EVERYTHING. Every time we are in Hawaii we sees bus loads af Asian tourists pile out of a bus and proceed to take pictures of everything. Themselves in front of every palm tree, fence post, garbage can, everything - and I'm not kidding! (As you well know from your cruise experience!)

 

So glad to hear Stan Sykes is still on the Star. He has been on all of our Star cruises so far and I'm hoping he's still there in September when we go again. I like listening to his voice - and he's a nice man on top of it!

 

How nice you got to the see the bear when you were in Skagway. (Or traveling near Skagway.) I love seeing the wildlife, whether it's from the ship or some other form. One time we were in Juneau and there was a little bear on one of the side streets. The shopkeepers were keeping their eye on it and advising the tourists to keep their distance.

 

I would have been SO upset about your Teppenyaki experience. I'm glad that you did complain - that's ridiculous! I swear some people are never taught anything about manners at all.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

[Amadawn1]

On the last day at sea, my husband and I tried lunch at the Versailles dining room. Again we had a very good meal, and the dining room was not crowded. After lunch we made a reservation for Cagney's for dinner. We spent some time at the Red Lion Pub, then I headed back to the casino. My husband went back to the cabin to read for awhile. I had tried my hand at the blackjack tournament in the casino earlier in the cruise, but lost in the first round (I need to practice this new concept of competing against other players and not just the house!). I managed to donate some additional money to the video poker machines, then watched the blackjack tournament semi-finals. The gal who beat me in the preliminary round was playing. She was out of chips before the fifth hand was dealt. I didn't feel so bad anymore about my poor blackjack play against her earlier in the cruise!

Later, my husband and I tried to listen to some music at the Grand Atrium bar. Again there was way too many people and noise. They were having the "everything is on sale" day in the Atrium and Gift shops. You could not even weave your way through the crowds of people in the Atrium. We did manage to pick up our color coded luggage tags to put on our suitcases for the time we wanted to disembark the next morning. We selected the last disembarkation time, since we were going to be spending another three days in Seattle after leaving the ship.

We had a nice dinner at Cagney's with one exception. My husband ordered Prime Rib medium rare. The server brought Prime Rib medium well...three times. The third time he insisted that the Prime Rib was medium rare, and that he had inspected it under the light. Huh? This really made my husband mad. The truth is, they had overcooked an entire Prime Rib, and kept trying to pass off the overcooked meat as medium rare. I guess we must have looked like we celebrate special meals at McDonalds. The Maitre D came over to the table. My husband changed his order to a Filet Mignon, medium rare. Not what he wanted, but when it came out from the kitchen it was a huge, perfectly cooked filet. Very nice, but shame on that server/waiter. He is assigned to the supposed high end steakhouse on the ship and tries to pass off medium well for medium rare to the same customer three times? He should not have allowed that Prime Rib to be brought to our table. Perhaps he should be reassigned to the Market Cafe/buffet?

We went back to the cabin, packed and placed our suitcases outside the door for pickup. They are very efficient at picking up the suitcases as you place them outside your cabin, as it keeps the narrow hallways uncluttered.

[Amadawn1]

This has been fun to read - hopefully there is more coming. :)

 

I laughed out loud about the Asians taking pictures of EVERYTHING. Every time we are in Hawaii we sees bus loads af Asian tourists pile out of a bus and proceed to take pictures of everything. Themselves in front of every palm tree, fence post, garbage can, everything - and I'm not kidding! (As you well know from your cruise experience!)

 

So glad to hear Stan Sykes is still on the Star. He has been on all of our Star cruises so far and I'm hoping he's still there in September when we go again. I like listening to his voice - and he's a nice man on top of it!

 

How nice you got to the see the bear when you were in Skagway. (Or traveling near Skagway.) I love seeing the wildlife, whether it's from the ship or some other form. One time we were in Juneau and there was a little bear on one of the side streets. The shopkeepers were keeping their eye on it and advising the tourists to keep their distance.

 

I would have been SO upset about your Teppenyaki experience. I'm glad that you did complain - that's ridiculous! I swear some people are never taught anything about manners at all.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

 

Hikini,

 

Thanks for your comments! Stan Sykes was an excellent entertainer, and I really hope he will still be on the ship when you sail in September! I know you will enjoy your cruise! I was just amazed at the wildlife, too and the bear was a bonus. Our bus/tour guide advised us that the bears are not spooked by cars and tour buses on the road. We were able to watch him walking along for about 5 minutes or so. He finally trotted down the hill on the other side of the road when a big-rig hauling salt to Canada for next winter pulled up alongside him.

 

Thanks again!

[Amadawn1]

We had a leisurely breakfast in the Market Cafe upon arrival in Seattle. Disembarkation was also a breeze. We left the ship at 9:40 AM, and our luggage was waiting inside the terminal. We took a taxi and were at our downtown Seattle hotel by 10:30 AM.

Looking back on the cruise: Every cruise is what you make of it. We had a great time, and really enjoyed ourselves. The shore excursions were all good, with incomparable scenic beauty, an abundance of wildlife and excellent tour guides.

We enjoyed the Red Lion Pub several times, the Topsiders Bar when it wasn't too cold and tried the Star Bar once (really dead in there). The bar wait staff does a great job. I discovered I really enjoy Mojitos!

We would have enjoyed the music in the Grand Atrium if it had not been packed wall to wall with passengers and noise in the afternoons and evenings. I would attribute some of the crowds indoors to the wind chill factor on the pool deck outdoors when at sea. If it had been a Caribbean or other warm weather cruise, I imagine the crowds would have been outdoors instead of indoors. I observed very few people utilize the jacuzzi's and no one in the outdoor pool. Definitely no pool chair hogging going on with the Alaska cruises, no matter how good the weather!

We did not make it to any of the production shows. It seemed like we were always running out of time, late getting back from our excursions or too tired. We tried one night, but the Stardust Theatre was already full, the show had already started and it was standing room only on the balcony level. If we could do it again, we would like to make the time to see the Second City comedy show and the International Crew show. We heard both were very good. We would have also eaten more of our meals in the Versailles dining room and less in the specialty restaurants. The specialty restaurants were really hit and miss, and they should be all hit, especially when you are paying a cover charge and gratuity.

Three last thoughts:

1) If your cabin steward goes over and above, and does an outstanding job, show your appreciation.

2) The Amway/Blue Coat folks were not on any of the shore excursions we took. They were, however the topic of discussion among the passengers on every shore excursion we took.

3) Can anyone tell me if there is a way to find out ahead of time when a tour group numbering over 900 has booked a cruise you are interested in taking?

With that I will just attach a couple more photos. Seby's towel animals, odd shots from different locations on the cruise and back in Seattle, and the beautiful flag on the Seattle Space Needle at half mast on Memorial Day as seen from our hotel room.

 

Thanks for reading, and let me know if I can answer any questions you may have!

[ret/fed]

Sounds like you might want to ban cameras anywhere on the ship because someone 'might' offend you or be rude. I find it funny you were uncomfortable with some excited 'asian' shipmates so you want cameras banned in a restaurant. Aside from the obvious racist undertones of your post, having a cruiseline force everyone to adjust to YOUR preferences is beyond ridiculous.

 

 

I did not read anything in the above table experience that even hinted that camereas should be banned on board the ship. It was pointed out that a group of people were displaying rude behavior and exhibiting bad manners. Immediately Army/Police Vet pulls the race card and cries obvious racial undertones. Hogwash bad manners and rude behavior ARE JUST THAT.............regardless of race or nationality.................Enough is ENOUGH.

[Army/Police Vet]

Army/Police Vet,

 

Whatever. You were not at the Teppanyaki Table, and you were not paying a $50.00 cover charge for a dinner that turned into a three ring Circus. My review is not going to satisfy everyone.

 

Don't have any problem with your review. I do have a problem with your apparent selfish attitude and sense of entitlement. I pay my money so if things don't go my way everyone must suffer....

[Amadawn1]

Don't have any problem with your review. I do have a problem with your apparent selfish attitude and sense of entitlement. I pay my money so if things don't go my way everyone must suffer....

 

Yep. That's pretty funny. The only people suffering were my husband and me. Have you ever eaten at a Teppanyaki table or restaurant? Selfish attitude and sense of entitlement? Don't know where you get that one, either. Quit trolling. This is not worthy of a sparring match.

[ret/fed]

Don't have any problem with your review. I do have a problem with your apparent selfish attitude and sense of entitlement. I pay my money so if things don't go my way everyone must suffer....

 

 

Where is this guy comming from. I didn't read any where that stated every one must suffer when things don't go any individuals way. But yes I do believe that when someone pays for a dining experience, they are entiteled to a pleasant experience. How is that being selfish. Batman here must feel that he must protect the masses and their right to exhibit bad behavior................

[kdny]

Thanks so much for the detailed review. We're taking this cruise next week and really looking forward to it.

[Amadawn1]

Thanks kdny. I really hope you enjoy your cruise next week, and that the weather stays good! Let me know if there are any questions I might be able to answer between now and then.

[Econom405]

We leave for this same cruise on 6/18, I cannot wait! Thank you for the detailed review. Hopefully we have the same luck with the weather that you did, all of the pictures look lovely.

[Andy Reno]

army police vet you needed to be on this cruise. The review is fair and acurate it did get tiresome The amway crowd at times was a little much. For example One evening we attended one of the shows with my disabled parents. Blue coat in the row in front of me had a snap on his camara of my mom struggling to to get to her seat. This isnt cool in any culture. Ok they did delete at the request of ncl staff.

To lable anyone as a racist is an insult.

[Amadawn1]

Econom405 I hope you have a great cruise with great weather. I was mistaken on our only rain showers occurring in Juneau. We had some slight showers in Prince Rupert as well. 2 out of 4 ports wasn't too bad, though!

 

Have a great trip!

[Amadawn1]

Andy Reno,

 

Thank you for your input. I wasn't sure if there were any other CC members on the same cruise. I tried to start a roll call a few months back, but never heard from anyone and gave up!

[Ron the Rev]

Many thanks for the review we will be on the Star 2nd July. On a lighter note I'm a limey and proud of it (is that racial ? ) Enjoy life to the full, each day is a bonus. Every blessing.