Just off Star - Any questions?

[Djptcp]

I posted this on the main NCL message board, but have not had any responses. DH always has lox and bagels through room service on our Holland America and Carnival cruises. He is wondering is he will be able to have the same on the Star? Thanks.

[mein18]

Did you go to the buffet?

 

Looks like the buffet has been described quite well so will just give our thoughts. We did not have dinner there so can't comment.

 

Breakfast was ok as DW enjoyed the fruit or omlette. Bagel, salmon and some eggs for me. They were all fine but our preference was to go to Versailles for breakfast if time allowed. A huge difference.

 

Lunch was hit and miss in buffet. Did not appear to change much day to day. Had some good pre-made sandwiches and a couple bad ones. We grabbed lunch most of the time off the grills at poolside.

 

Desserts were decent. Nice to be able to grab a sweet most anytime.

 

All in all it is a limited selection all you can eat venue. Contrary to the other posters comment, I prefer cafeteria style as opposed to stations. Was on an RCCL ship that had stations and when the hungry crowd was set loose, people were running into and tripping over each other going from station to station plus you could end up waiting in 4 or 5 difterent lines before you have everything you want.

[tdk1938]

Did you use their Fitness Center (gym)? How's it?

I searched NCL forum about their Barong juice bar and no avail. I assume it's à la carte.

 

Thanks,

[mein18]

Sorry but we did not use the fitness center but did see it a few times. Virtually empty on our cruise but understandable with the demographics. It appeared to be very nice.

They sell access passes to the spa on a limited basis. It did not appear that many if any were sold. I recall it being very expensive. Once saw 2 people in the spa pool.

We did partake in a massage.

[Floridastorm]

We're considering the 14 day cruise Miami to Copenhagen departing April 27th. We're in our 70's and have previously been on the Celebrity Equinox for a European cruise and Holland America Ryndam for a Canadian cruise. Will this ship be fine for us via transatlantic? Hopefully we'll be staying in an Ocean View cabin. We find that these cabins suit us better than Insides or Balconies. We enjoy quiet and peaceful cruising although I have also been toying with the idea of Royal Caribbean's Allure as possibly a totally different experience. :)

[mein18]

We're considering the 14 day cruise Miami to Copenhagen departing April 27th. We're in our 70's and have previously been on the Celebrity Equinox for a European cruise and Holland America Ryndam for a Canadian cruise. Will this ship be fine for us via transatlantic? Hopefully we'll be staying in an Ocean View cabin. We find that these cabins suit us better than Insides or Balconies. We enjoy quiet and peaceful cruising although I have also been toying with the idea of Royal Caribbean's Allure as possibly a totally different experience. :)

 

If our 14 day cruise was any indication, you will be perfectly fine on the Star. We knew going in that a cruise that long will draw mostly retired cruisers. Very calm atmosphere for the most part. Very light on the late night activities which resulted in more activity earlier in the mornings.

We will never cruise on the mega ships like the Oasis or Allure. Not our cup of tea. The Star was roomy enough where plenty to keep us occupied and certainly not a crowded feeling at all (except for their crazy one day t-shirt sales).

[jertom]

Did you attend a M&G and if so where was it held.

 

We were on the same cruise and the M&G was held at 11 AM on Tuesday Jan 20, the first sea day, at the Star Bar.

A good turnout by both passengers and officers, including the Captain. The officers gave little speeches and even took questions.

All in all, a nice event.

[mein18]

I posted this on the main NCL message board, but have not had any responses. DH always has lox and bagels through room service on our Holland America and Carnival cruises. He is wondering is he will be able to have the same on the Star? Thanks.

 

We got our lox and bagels in the Market cafe or Versailles each morning. OD'd in them in the 2 weeks. Our room was only steps away so made it all too easy to grab.

[swedish weave]

I want to step in here and correct a misconception about the Market Cafe (Buffet). Although it may appear to be cafeteria style with one long serving line on each side, it is actually divided into three sections on one side and two sections on the other.

 

Some different items are located in each section, so you have five choices to choose from when getting your meals.

[mein18]

In another thread, somebody said that the buffet on the NCL Star was not very good, perhaps because of the design of the buffet area of the ship. Also, the selection was not very good.

 

This is the video of the buffet dinner on the NCL Jade (Dec 2014 sailing out of Rome). It would be useful if you could comment on how much the NCL Jade buffet differs from that of the NCL Star please.

[YOUTUBE]ic9vxaMs48M[/YOUTUBE]

 

It's difficult to compare since the video is all close up. Appears the layout is different than on the Star but the components seem to be the same. As the previous poster noted, the Market Cafe on the Star is broken up into three sections. Once we got a feel for what types of food were in each, we just jumped to the area that fit our tastes at the time. More times than not, it was the 3rd section, starboard side......desserts, crepes and soft ice cream. Never ate dinner there (ate all in specialties) but had lunch a number of times when we would go straight to 2nd section which housed the sandwiches and burger type foods. We actually prefered the setup. Usually when a buffet is set up with separate stations you find yourself standing in multiple lines waiting for every item you want. Setup on the Star flowed quite well.

[mein18]

I want to step in here and correct a misconception about the Market Cafe (Buffet). Although it may appear to be cafeteria style with one long serving line on each side, it is actually divided into three sections on one side and two sections on the other.

 

Some different items are located in each section, so you have five choices to choose from when getting your meals.

 

It really is very close to cafateria style with a couple of breaks in the line but I see nothing wrong with that at all. Flows real well.

[Tesser26]

Hi, thanks for all the great info.

I just booked the Star for November, and it will be my first time on NCL... usually sail Carnival. But DH and I are bringing the kiddos this time and thought that freestyle may be a better way to go.

 

I chose Star because I liked the itinerary and I got a good deal on a cabin that will fit the family.... but now I'm a little concerned about the public areas. There does not seem to be a lot of public areas, and only one pool for adults (and not many hottubs). Did you find the public area crowded? What about the pool area, and did you notice extreme chair hogging? I know the kiddos will love the waterslides but I will want to grab a seat to watch them.

 

Thanks in advance! Really looking forward to trying out NCL... just hope I picked a good ship for our first NCL experience!

[mein18]

Hi, thanks for all the great info.

I just booked the Star for November, and it will be my first time on NCL... usually sail Carnival. But DH and I are bringing the kiddos this time and thought that freestyle may be a better way to go.

 

I chose Star because I liked the itinerary and I got a good deal on a cabin that will fit the family.... but now I'm a little concerned about the public areas. There does not seem to be a lot of public areas, and only one pool for adults (and not many hottubs). Did you find the public area crowded? What about the pool area, and did you notice extreme chair hogging? I know the kiddos will love the waterslides but I will want to grab a seat to watch them.

 

Thanks in advance! Really looking forward to trying out NCL... just hope I picked a good ship for our first NCL experience!

 

Again, our cruise was an older crowd being as long as it was. Not many kids. The pool itself was very underutilized as were the slides. Not much direct poolside seating. Maybe 20 lounge chairs and as is the case with most, there was hogging much of the prime time. We rarely had difficulty getting seating near the pool except at meal times when everyone brought their food out to the pool from the Market Cafe or grabbed a bite from the poolside grills. Those times it was mobbed. Depending on their ages, you may have to sit on the side of the pool while the kids are in the pool to be close enough to supervise. There are 4 hot tubs and was hit and miss as far as availability. Kids are not supposed to be in hot tubs without adult supervision however that was unfortunately not enforced on our cruise.

[Floridastorm]

Getting ready to book an Ocean View. I am being given options on Deck 8 with an Obstructed View, which doesn't bother me. Cabin 8618 which is situated length wise instead of sideways like most cabins. Is this configuration pretty decent. It is somewhat near the Blue Lagoon Restaurant. Will there be a noise problem? It's also above Deck 7 the Promenade which has some public activity such as a couple of specialty restaurants. Will this be a noise problem? If this is not a satisfactory cabin I will move up to a higher category to get something acceptable. :cool:

[DreamingBig1]

Does the Market Café have a crepe maker? Saw a video of the Jade and it looked awesome.

 

The important question of the bunch :rolleyes:;):D LOL

[don't-use-real-name]

Getting ready to book an Ocean View. I am being given options on Deck 8 with an Obstructed View, which doesn't bother me. Cabin 8618 which is situated length wise instead of sideways like most cabins. Is this configuration pretty decent. It is somewhat near the Blue Lagoon Restaurant. Will there be a noise problem? It's also above Deck 7 the Promenade which has some public activity such as a couple of specialty restaurants. Will this be a noise problem? If this is not a satisfactory cabin I will move up to a higher category to get something acceptable. :cool:

 

Looking at the Deck Plan for Deck 8 and your cabin location - The Blue Lagoon

will not be a problem for you. You are around the corner and somewhat removed

from the entrance to the restaurant. What would be of concern is your cabin

in located in a high traffic area - stairs and elevators and if a rather loud

band or other volume activity is performing on Deck 7 (Promenade Deck)

you are most apt to hear it. Consolation the activity at that location does not

go on and on all night like the Stardust Theatre or Spinnaker Lounge and with

that location you can go anywhere on the ship very quickly. I think your floor

plan for your cabin sideways rather than lengthwise results in your getting a

few more square feet of usable space in that cabin. A mixed bag of +s and -s.

[jenf22]

We're on the Star to Norway in June and I have a couple of questions for you.

 

We're in room 11566. I'm trying to figure out if it will be loud based on what's above it. The picture shows a curved thing between the Oasis pool and the library. Is that a stage? Are there chairs and tables there that people could be dragging above our room? Also, I thought I read in someone's trip report that there was a smoking section basically right above where our room is. Do you know if that's true? If so, I think I may want to switch to the other side of the ship.

 

We'll have our 8 year old son with us on the cruise and he is really excited about the slides. Are they open any time the pool is? When we were on RCI last October the kids slide was hardly ever open. I don't know if the weather in Norway will support pool activities, but I was curious if anyone knew what the pool/slide hours were.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

[swedish weave]

Does the Market Café have a crepe maker? Saw a video of the Jade and it looked awesome.

 

The important question of the bunch :rolleyes:;):D LOL

 

The Star crepes are made in the evenings on the third section of the starboard side counter. It is near the soft ice cream machine.

[swedish weave]

We're on the Star to Norway in June and I have a couple of questions for you.

 

We're in room 11566. I'm trying to figure out if it will be loud based on what's above it. The picture shows a curved thing between the Oasis pool and the library. Is that a stage? Are there chairs and tables there that people could be dragging above our room? Also, I thought I read in someone's trip report that there was a smoking section basically right above where our room is. Do you know if that's true? If so, I think I may want to switch to the other side of the ship.

 

We'll have our 8 year old son with us on the cruise and he is really excited about the slides. Are they open any time the pool is? When we were on RCI last October the kids slide was hardly ever open. I don't know if the weather in Norway will support pool activities, but I was curious if anyone knew what the pool/slide hours were.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

I think you may be looking at the tiered lounge areas in front of the pool that go from deck 12 to 13. There are some tables directly ahead of the pool on deck 12, but the tiered area is all loungers. The pool deck (12) allows smoking on the port side, and there is a smoking area outdoors ahead of the Bier Garten. Cigar smoking is allowed at the Bier Garten.

 

The stage on deck 12 is located near the rear of the pool by the slides. It is actually over part of the shallow part of the pool.

 

This should not affect you on deck 11.

 

I am not sure of the pool hours or the slide hours but slides are normally in use when the pool is open.

Edited February 26, 2015 by swedish weave

[jenf22]

I think you may be looking at the tiered lounge areas in front of the pool that go from deck 12 to 13. There are some tables directly ahead of the pool on deck 12, but the tiered area is all loungers. The pool deck (12) allows smoking on the port side, and there is a smoking area outdoors ahead of the Bier Garten. Cigar smoking is allowed at the Bier Garten.

 

The stage on deck 12 is located near the rear of the pool by the slides. It is actually over part of the shallow part of the pool.

 

This should not affect you on deck 11.

 

I am not sure of the pool hours or the slide hours but slides are normally in use when the pool is open.

 

Thanks, this helps a lot. Sounds like I do want to move to the other side of the ship. We'll see if NCL will let me switch from an MA to a MB without cancelling and rebooking (the price has gone up).

 

I think my problem is every picture I see seems to be from the view of the lounger area looking towards the slides. Am I correct in that the pictures are towards the REAR of the ship? So that puts us on the port side of the ship, right under the first level of loungers. Seems like that could be loud.

 

Thanks again!

[swedish weave]

Thanks, this helps a lot. Sounds like I do want to move to the other side of the ship. We'll see if NCL will let me switch from an MA to a MB without cancelling and rebooking (the price has gone up).

 

I think my problem is every picture I see seems to be from the view of the lounger area looking towards the slides. Am I correct in that the pictures are towards the REAR of the ship? So that puts us on the port side of the ship, right under the first level of loungers. Seems like that could be loud.

 

Thanks again!

 

The loungers in the pool area are toward the front of the ship and the slides, stage, and grill and bar are toward the rear on deck 12.

[mein18]

Thanks, this helps a lot. Sounds like I do want to move to the other side of the ship. We'll see if NCL will let me switch from an MA to a MB without cancelling and rebooking (the price has gone up).

 

I think my problem is every picture I see seems to be from the view of the lounger area looking towards the slides. Am I correct in that the pictures are towards the REAR of the ship? So that puts us on the port side of the ship, right under the first level of loungers. Seems like that could be loud.

 

Thanks again!

 

Do not worry about what side of the ship you are on. The smoke does not work its way down to deck 11. We were right under the smoking area and not once did we notice any odor. We did a few times hear some chair movement above us but there are few areas on any ship that you won't hear something.

[jenf22]

Do not worry about what side of the ship you are on. The smoke does not work its way down to deck 11. We were right under the smoking area and not once did we notice any odor. We did a few times hear some chair movement above us but there are few areas on any ship that you won't hear something.

 

That's good to hear since NCL won't let me move. There's only 1 MA available and 10ish MBs available but I can't switch categories without paying the difference in fare. An MA and MB are the same price, but they are now more than what I paid. Not sure the logic there - I'm offering to take a less desirable room. Oh well. I'll still watch in case the new promo lowers the price back down. It doesn't look like the noise will be a problem. Thanks for your help!