NCL Star

[mr. godfredo]

We were on the March 29th sailing of the Star out of LA for the seven day Mexican Riviera cruise. This is my 17th cruise overall and my third on NCL. My wife, and two boys (ages 11 and 9) were with me and we all shared one cabin. We had a good time on this cruise, but I will say that we had realistic expectations as to the product that NCL offers. I want to also preface this review with the fact that we paid an extremely cheap price for this cruise and we believe that we more than got our money worth.

 

We left from the port of LA and getting on the ship was quite painless. We were on board within 25 minutes of arrival. Since the elevators were overcrowded, we tried to take the steps up to the buffet for lunch but the ship was a bit confusing and there were stairs that seemed to lead to nowhere from the atrium. Instead we found our room and went to drop off our stuff.

 

The ship was in good shape as she just came out of dry dock a few weeks prior to our sailing. The carpets were new in many areas and she was kept very clean by the hardworking crew. The ship feels small however and there is a lack of comfortable common space to relax or sit comfortably.

 

A word about the staterooms, they are SMALL! the rooms was a family inside, that was designed to accommodate four passengers, but the reality was that it barely could. The condition of the cabin was very good however and it was functional for what we needed. The big disappointment was the fact that their was only one bunk that folded up tot he ceiling, the fourth passenger was forced to sleep on a roll away wedged between the other lower beds. This made for an awkward sleeping arrangement and was a hassle as anyone that needed to leave the bed had to trample over the other people. Though it was not ideal, it worked. I would suggest that if you do have four guests you should get two rooms! We are a tight family and so we made things work and had a lot of laughs and bruises falling over each other! I will give the Star positive marks for the bathroom as it was well laid out and the shower was large with a sliding door.

 

The Food- We found the food at the buffet to be just OK. I don't expect much from a cruise buffet, but I think for lunch they could do better. The selections were not great and sometimes they offered some odd dishes. The buffet was always overcrowded as well and finding a seat was at times very difficult. The breakfast buffet was OK, but still very crowded. The Grill out by the pool was really good for lunch and had good hotdogs and excellent Hamburgers! On sea days they also brought out huge BBQ grills and had some really good offerings of steak, chicken, fried rice, and pasta. We ate dinner all but one night in Aqua, the less formal dining room. We really enjoyed the food in here and the service was good as we were able to get the same table each night. Be sure to make a reservation as the tables fill up fast and then you will be forced to wait. The entrees were the largest portions I have ever encountered on a cruise ship. I eat really well, and even I pushed a few plates way! The appetizers were good and the salads were fair. We found the meat dishes to be pretty good, but sometimes the steaks were a bit tough. The real problem that NCL needs to address is the deserts! They were a very big disappointment! I don't understand how they can pull off some pretty complex dishes for the entree and screw up simple deserts. They were mostly tasteless and all seemed to lack any sweetness. The only desert that my not so picky kids would eat was the chocolate volcano cake. We did eat at Ginza one night and found the food to be very good. Some great noodle dishes and soups. We had lunch in the Versailles Dining room for lunch twice and it was really good! Try the shrimp burger on a pretzel bun!

 

Entertainment- this was so so. The shows were just ok, and some of the entertainers were pretty good. The Ballet Folklorico was excellent however! The cruise director Ben was not the greatest but his staff did a great job. The kids club staff was overwhelmed with the amount of spring breakers on board so our kids stayed away from that.

 

Ports: We have been to the Mex Riv many times as we live in So Cal. In Cabo we go to the local beach and relax,. In Mazatlan, we always take a cab to the El Cid Resort and hang out by their massive pool. As long as you order food and drink they let you stay all day! The pool has a waterslide and diving rock and my kids had a blast! Cheap beer and great food! In Puerto Vallarta, we always go downtown to the shops and then to the beach. We sit at the restaurant eating shrimp and beer while the kids go in the water and play. A nice way to spend the day!

 

Disembarking was a breeze and before we knew it we were on the road home after a very nice vacation.

 

All in all we had a very good time on this cruise! I do not prefer NCL, but again I think we got a decent value. I have never been on a cruise that I haven't enjoyed and this one did not disappoint.

[lettienets]

You said there was a lack of comfortable common space. Were there comfy or soft seats, sofas in the atrium or some bars, maybe to sit inside on sea days. Were there nice seats in the library area?

[swedish weave]

You said there was a lack of comfortable common space. Were there comfy or soft seats, sofas in the atrium or some bars, maybe to sit inside on sea days. Were there nice seats in the library area?

 

I will respond to your question. I was on that same cruise, and had no trouble finding quiet comfortable places to relax, read, and talk. I don't know what OP was looking for, but it seems that a little more effort on his behalf would have provided him with a different viewpoint.

[Markanddonna]

I was on the NCL Star last May and lack of available space was one of our big issues. The Star lost its wonderful Spinnaker observation lounge so they could put in suites and so the passengers are squeezed in more inside areas to sit and read, etc. The weather would make a huge difference. Our sailing was a TA so being on deck wasn't comfortable much of the time unless you love wind and chill. If you are a sun lover and will be in warm weather ports, your experience likely will be better. The Star is one of my least favorite ships and it also doesn't have that aft outside dining area. Even one of the officers stated that the loss of the observation lounge was a huge mistake on NCL's part.

[karoo]

I was on the NCL Star last May and lack of available space was one of our big issues. The Star lost its wonderful Spinnaker observation lounge so they could put in suites and so the passengers are squeezed in more inside areas to sit and read, etc. The weather would make a huge difference. Our sailing was a TA so being on deck wasn't comfortable much of the time unless you love wind and chill. If you are a sun lover and will be in warm weather ports, your experience likely will be better. The Star is one of my least favorite ships and it also doesn't have that aft outside dining area. Even one of the officers stated that the loss of the observation lounge was a huge mistake on NCL's part.

 

 

I agree. I was on the 29th sailing and we commented to one of the entertainment staff how we struggled to find activities to do on the Sea Days. This member had been on a previous sailing and had helped run heaps of good activities. Dance classes, name that tune etc. he commented that they really only had one available space to use which limited the activities. We definitely missed the observatory area and the outside aft dining area. We enjoyed the ports, but definitely struggled to find things to do onboard.

[gtaylor]

I was on the NCL Star last May and lack of available space was one of our big issues. The Star lost its wonderful Spinnaker observation lounge so they could put in suites and so the passengers are squeezed in more inside areas to sit and read, etc. The weather would make a huge difference. Our sailing was a TA so being on deck wasn't comfortable much of the time unless you love wind and chill. If you are a sun lover and will be in warm weather ports, your experience likely will be better. The Star is one of my least favorite ships and it also doesn't have that aft outside dining area. Even one of the officers stated that the loss of the observation lounge was a huge mistake on NCL's part.

 

Sorry to kind of de-rail this conversation, but could you tell us about the weather you experienced on a May TA, as we're departing late April into May doing so Eastbound.

 

Thanks,

 

gary

[mr. godfredo]

I will respond to your question. I was on that same cruise, and had no trouble finding quiet comfortable places to relax, read, and talk. I don't know what OP was looking for, but it seems that a little more effort on his behalf would have provided him with a different viewpoint.

Your opinion, but every time I sat down in a common area, there was a seminar on how to buy worthless gems from the gift shop or Chinese herbs and acupuncture. For ME there was no good common areas to relax.

[swedish weave]

Your opinion, but every time I sat down in a common area, there was a seminar on how to buy worthless gems from the gift shop or Chinese herbs and acupuncture. For ME there was no good common areas to relax.

 

I was able to determine where the seminars were being held by reading the Freestyle daily. That allowed me to find areas that were quiet. As I stated earlier' a little effort on my part was all it took.

[dadroy]

I was on the same sailing and agree with most of your comments.

 

As to seating to relax, granted I did not explore every inch of the ship, but the majority of seating in bars and around the pool were not comfortable in the least. This may simply be cause I have a very small butt (no padding back there) but the wicker chairs got painful after about an hour. In the 5 o'clock somewhere bar, the chairs have wooden slats as the bottoms. Think of sitting on a metal folding chair. Same bar, the "cushioned" banquet seating was fine for about 30 minutes then the wooden front potion began to dig into my thighs.

 

I did find a chair in one of the shops where they were selling the really nice watches and sat there while DW looked around. When the wife left, one of the sales staff told me that the chair was for people waiting for service and asked me to leave. :confused:

 

I did find a comfortable booth in Sheehans, but they are more a restaurant than a relaxation area. They never asked me to leave but they interrupted my reading about every 10 minutes to ask if I was going to eat or wiping off the table. Much like you would experience if you were in a land restaurant that was preparing to close.

[CrazyKoi]

Oh my! I'm feeling a bit on the nervous side. I'm planning my honeymoon for November and am trying to decide between the Star or the Dawn (or Celebrity Summit). We have only sailed Carnival in the past and loved that, but we are being lured to NCL with the UBP deal. I've been REALLY on the fence about whether to pay the $150 for the UDP for us. I've heard rumor that the food in the dining rooms was not so great (I think one travel agent used the term "blah"). Is it worth it to upgrade? We would stay in the cheapest oceanview that we could get into, just to take advantage of the UBP. Has anyone recently sailed the Dawn? Are there less concerns about that ship? Thank you so so much!

[Levanah]

I was on this sailing and we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise south to Mexico. I do agree with the comments related to the relative lack of comfortable quiet spaces. We purchased a week spa pass so this afforded us some quiet time during the day and in the evening. The library does have some chairs and a quiet space, but the were not entirely comfortable for my body. The atrium and many of the other spaces were more suited for the scheduled activities and/or folks who are eating and/or drinking. I found myself wishing for the old Spinnaker Lounge or the lounge similar to the observation lounge in the Sun. (We can't wait to sail on her next year to South America!). Or some deep comfy chairs or couches, but I just haven't found them on NCL ships. If you crave quiet time more than music and drink more tea than alcohol or wine, you might find the Star less than totally satisfying. No ship is going to meet all the needs of every passenger :)

[herdingdogmom]

Oh my! I'm feeling a bit on the nervous side. I'm planning my honeymoon for November and am trying to decide between the Star or the Dawn (or Celebrity Summit). Has anyone recently sailed the Dawn? Are there less concerns about that ship? Thank you so so much!

 

The Dawn and the Star are sister ships with the exact same layout and not many quiet public spaces. Probably wouldn't impact honeymooners. Food is the same, but the Star has just been refurbished and has an irish pub and on board technological upgrades the Dawn won't have until 2016. I've heard that the Celebrity experience is a step up from NCL and of course costs more too.

[cadien]

It took us some work to find somewhere quiet and comfortable on the Star as well. (The cruise immediately after the OP's.) Especially on the sea days that were too overcast and windy (even some rain) for outdoors but we still wanted to see the water. Like another poster, we ended up in a booth in O'Sheehan's, which was very nice but only for about 30 minutes. Then lunch started.

 

Ironically, we were in one of those suites that used to be the Spinnaker. It may have been a great lounge but the design doesn't work for hanging out as a cabin.

[Raleigh Traveler]

We did the TA on the Star this past fall and it is interesting to see the changes from the dry dock. People are mentioning O’Sheehans and I’m thinking, “What O’Sheehans?” That area had the Blue Lagoon on one side and Moderno on the other side of the Atrium. During the TA, they opened the Moderno during the day for people to play bridge and other games. They even had coffee, tea and pastries out in the morning.

I do think it is impractical to expect that on a ship with 2500 passengers that there will be inside, comfortable, private seating in public areas to accommodate everyone. Having said that, we felt that the Star had more public seating than other ships we have been on like the Sky. If you look you can often find out of the way places to hang out. We would not have expected LeBistro to be open for hanging out but we found out near the end of the cruise that some people played board games there when not serving.

Concerning things to do on sea days; like the food, this is highly individual. We found that with cooking demos, trivia, art lectures and auctions, juggling lessons and all the CC events (M&G, Cabin Crawl, a Murder Mystery, photo contest, etc.) we had plenty to do.

[Ellura]

We would not have expected LeBistro to be open for hanging out but we found out near the end of the cruise that some people played board games there when not serving.

Concerning things to do on sea days; like the food, this is highly individual. We found that with cooking demos, trivia, art lectures and auctions, juggling lessons and all the CC events (M&G, Cabin Crawl, a Murder Mystery, photo contest, etc.) we had plenty to do.

 

I hope with all the changes that LeBistro is still open for hanging out. DH and I will be bringing our board games and always looking for a place to play (even teach others). Thanks for the info!

Edited April 21, 2015 by Ellura

[cadien]

I did notice people hanging out in the Stardust Theater with their laptops between shows. Those seats are pretty cramped so maybe they just got really good reception in there.

 

We passed the library several times a day and it was always full. That surprised me.

[cliffd64]

Oh my! I'm feeling a bit on the nervous side. I'm planning my honeymoon for November and am trying to decide between the Star or the Dawn (or Celebrity Summit). We have only sailed Carnival in the past and loved that, but we are being lured to NCL with the UBP deal. I've been REALLY on the fence about whether to pay the $150 for the UDP for us. I've heard rumor that the food in the dining rooms was not so great (I think one travel agent used the term "blah"). Is it worth it to upgrade? We would stay in the cheapest oceanview that we could get into, just to take advantage of the UBP. Has anyone recently sailed the Dawn? Are there less concerns about that ship? Thank you so so much!

 

The UBP is a great value by the way, you will enjoy it.

 

As for the UDP... two things. First of all, the food in the MDRs fleetwide has improved dramatically over the past couple of years. You could definitely get by without the UDP, especially now that the Star has O'Sheehans which offers a fantastic prime rib meal a few times during each cruise. However, in the interest of making your honeymoon the best possible, I say go for the UDP. It's your honeymoon, the UDP cost is minimal compared to this event in your life. Each meal will be extra special this way :)

 

Dawn and Star are identical, and ironically, some of the upper staff of the Dawn that were so wonderful are now on the Star (like Hugo, the hotel director). You really could not go wrong with either ship in my opinion. They are both excellent ships. The Star was jsut recently refurbished in a dry dock, so it will be in great shape :)

 

My wife and I will be on the Star in November and we are really looking forward to it :) It's been 10 years since I last cruised on her!

[sassyredhat]

Dawn and Star are identical, and ironically, some of the upper staff of the Dawn that were so wonderful are now on the Star (like Hugo, the hotel director).

My wife and I will be on the Star in November and we are really looking forward to it :) It's been 10 years since I last cruised on her!

 

We sailed on the Star in March~~~~the first cruise after dry dock. Hugo was one of 6 sent to our meet and greet. He was awesome. :)

 

Patti

[mr. godfredo]

We saw Hugo all over the ship! He is a really great guy and is always easy to talk to! I was really impressed by his hospitality. I also enjoyed the talks from the officers.

[theloo]

Can I ask in PV, did NCL provide any kind of shuttle into town or are passengers all on their own after getting off the ship? It looks like the main part of town is 4-5 miles away. Just wondering since on my recent NCL cruise, there were a couple of ports where NCL provided a free shuttle. Thanks.

[Markanddonna]

Someone asked about the weather on a spring TA and in 2014 it was on the warmer and very calm side. Passengers used the pool and deck a lot more than typical.

 

BTW- that drydock wasn't totally successful since the Panama Canal Cruise on the Star was cancelled a week before sailing. I think that there were a number of mechanical issues (water problems ship wide and toilet problems in various locations). Hopefully, those have been fixed. Personally, I would only go on the Star again if there were no other options. I loved the Jewel (on it last month) and was on the Pearl a few years ago and loved that too.

[swedish weave]

Can I ask in PV, did NCL provide any kind of shuttle into town or are passengers all on their own after getting off the ship? It looks like the main part of town is 4-5 miles away. Just wondering since on my recent NCL cruise, there were a couple of ports where NCL provided a free shuttle. Thanks.

 

NCL does not provide shuttles, but there are lots of taxis, vans, and buses.

 

We always use the local buses to go to downtown. The cost is about 50 cents US. They don't take US coins, but will give you change for a dollar in pesos.

[theloo]

NCL does not provide shuttles, but there are lots of taxis, vans, and buses.

 

We always use the local buses to go to downtown. The cost is about 50 cents US. They don't take US coins, but will give you change for a dollar in pesos.

 

Thanks for the response. I'll plan to get a few pesos before we get there.

[sfaaa]

NCL does not provide shuttles, but there are lots of taxis, vans, and buses.

 

US$4 pp per trip to town.

[swedish weave]

US$4 pp per trip to town.

 

That must be for a taxi. The buses are more fun !!!!