NCL Star 7 Day Western Carrib Dailies + mini review

[Ron_L]

Sargasso (sea grass) has been a huge problem throughout the Caribbean this year. The beaches along the Mayan Riviera are piled with it and the resorts have been doing their best to deal with it. Plus, Mark at Maya Chan e-mailed the other day to say that they had 20" of rain a little over a week ago, so I am sure that contributed to the water issues.

 

Either way we're going to be there in a couple of weeks and will have a great day!

 

Just an update..

 

I just exchanged e-mails with Mark and they are doing everything they can. Mother Nature is slowly cleaning the water up and they are not allowed to do anything until the authorities give all of them options on how to mitigate. As I mentioned, they had a tropical disturbance that dumped 20 inches of rain in 24 hours.

[crockea]

Who is the current hotel director?

 

 

Thanks

 

Here is a list of all the directors

Edited November 3, 2015 by crockea
better quality pic

[crockea]

I agree a lot with what the OP had to say about this cruise. Not every server was bad but they need to workout a lot.

 

At Le Bistro I got beef tenderloin which was chewier than most low grade steaks. I wanted to tell the waiter but he was given a 12 person table and we never saw him again. When we were ready to leave we got up and stood at the hostess station knowing he would eventually know we were gone and free out that we hadn't paid. I don't think this was his fault but instead due to understaffing. My DH got the burgundy chicken which was amazingly delicious.

 

There was a bartender who got snippy with me twice. Once at the sake bar because I had asked for something he didn't have which he in a very snotty way said he had just explained to me (I hadn't heard him as Ginza is very loud at dinner time). Then 2 days later I went to get some sangrias from the lido. They didn't have any so I had to go to the bar out by the pool. When I ordered he rolled his eyes and started slamming things around. When he gave me my bill he said next time to order them from the lido. I let him know there wasn't any available in the lido at which point he said something in another language to his friend bartender.

 

On the other hand service and food in La cucina was incredible. Teppenyaki was scrumptious and fun. We ate in the main dining 2 nights and always had great service. We had breakfast twice, lunch once and a late night snack at osheehans and the food was always nice n hot and yummy.

 

They have to staff better in the bars. I don't know if this is their way of trying to get us to drink less but waiting and jostling to order a drink like I'm at a 21something night club was ridiculous.

 

We heard a lot of people complaining about the cruise in general but some people were just plain absurd. One woman when we were waiting to board (which was way delayed and annoying) said "this is not a very good cruise so far". I had to laugh as we hadn't boarded yet. I understood her disposition however as we are platinum and we're told we did not get priority embarkation. When I said I thought this was incorrect I was sent to a manager who was able to give me a lower number than originally given.

 

On board we internally giggled at an elderly gentleman who randomly decided to tell us he was calling the better business bureau when he got home as nothing he was promised had happened so far and they were late with everything. Again, disposition understood. The Star could fix these disappointments with a little better organization.

 

Our Cruise Critic party organizer was incredible. Never been to a CC party that was as organized as this one. Not as many awkward silences that make you want to slowly disappear out the back door.

Edited November 3, 2015 by crockea
typos

[crimmper]

Here is a list of all the directors

 

Thanks for the list of Officers. I will be posting this on the Nov. 8th Roll Call.

[crockea]

Sorry. Just one more thing. The Star needs a better system to keep the smoke from escaping the Casino. We couldn't sit at the bar near La cucina and Le Bistro as it is down the hall and stunk really bad. I felt bad for the piano man.

[coffeeaddiction12345]

How was the 5 o'clock Somewhere bar? Was service poor there also? We are sailing on Sunday and I can tell you we won't be happy without good bar service.

 

that bar was pretty much the same as the rest, not quite as crowded because they had their special drinks and didn't have a fully stocked bar, really catered to margarita type of things. There was sports on the tv so lots of patrons watching that. It is very small, and only 1 bartender most times that I saw.

 

I hope they fix this for you all leaving soon. I hate to be a broken record, but Horlicks in O'Sheehan's was such a fabulous bartender and if you get to know him the first day or two you will get top priority service from him. Bartenders at the pool decks were moving as quick as they could, but it was no match for all the people with UBP.

[coffeeaddiction12345]

Sorry. Just one more thing. The Star needs a better system to keep the smoke from escaping the Casino. We couldn't sit at the bar near La cucina and Le Bistro as it is down the hall and stunk really bad. I felt bad for the piano man.

 

We completely agreed. It was truly awful, but that was the least of our problems. Still, rather annoying.

 

Where is Day 6? This is day 5 (again) and 7.... Thanks for posting everything as we are on the 1/3/2016 sailing and getting very excited.

 

It is a typo, you will see they are two different dailies.

 

Were there any spa specials? I always like the one where there is a list of things and you get three of them for a set price (ie scalp massage, hand treatment, foot massage, etc).

 

Yes, tons of spa specials including that one you mentioned!! We did the managers special which was on day 2, a scalp massage, hand massage, and Swedish massage for $139. We almost did a hot stone massage special for $149 for that, scalp, and hand but we were out of money- LOL. They had an awesome beard shave for men too, which was a pretty good price.

 

Thank you so much for sharing! I'll be on the Jade in Feb. 2016 with similar stops. DH and I have been debating about whether or not to get off of the ship in Roatan. It's crazy because we've never been there and we usually love port stops in new places. We tend to do our own thing. I hate to say it but all of the safety warnings have us saying no to that. I've read the tripadvisor reviews for the excursions and I agree that a lot tend to be so positive. But I read the negative ones too and those repeatedly mention trash in the water, bait and switch, etc. Doesn't seem like fun. We'll see. Thanks again! Glad you had a great time.

 

Honestly, going outside the gates was kind of intimidating. I wasn't SCARED, but I was definitely on edge if that makes sense. Safety aside, it was an expensive day for no pay off. I really really recommend doing something else. It was my first time there, but my opinion from reading trip advisor is that it once was an amazing place which has gone to crap. ALL the most recent reviews are not good.

 

----

 

Anyone going to Maya Chan, even with the seagrass problem we still had a perfect day. Couldn't believe how fabulous it was. We saw people we went to LFK with at Maya Chan, and we all had a good chuckle how it was half the price and 50000% more amazing despite not even being able to swim.

[Vacation23]

I went to 5 o'clock one time!! This was my experience.... I walked up to the bar and had a seat and sat there waiting for my turn for about 10 minutes. A lady came up behind me as I was waiting and we started talking. We talked for about another 10 minutes (I'm still waiting). We are discussing how the bartenders are arguing who is going to serve which customer. The lady now takes the open chair besides me. The bartender then ask both of us what we want. I say frozen margarettia and she says a beer. The bartender gave the lady her beer and off she went and I was still waiting for my drink. When I confronted the bartender he said I'm not making your drink he is and of course that bartender said no she's not on my side of the bar!!! Is that good customer service to you? I will say if you are just after beer then your experience shouldn't be bad, they love those customers. However, if your after a frozen drink FORGET IT!! NOBODY wants to make those, which is not good for someone like me that does not like beer. You be the judge. Maybe by the time you get there they will have decided who serves who!!!

[DENNICH]

Bill- We self disembarked, we had to because of a 9:55 AM flight. It was mayhem behind us. Lots of shouting by passengers. We went with friends who used the ticket system and said it was better later in the morning, but still chaotic which is to be expected.

 

Chefcaw- I'm not sure who the hotel director is, actually.

 

Dennich- We ate at Teppenyaki and Ginza (highly recommend Samuel as a waiter, he was the best waiter our whole entire cruise!), we also ate at Moderno, Cagney's, La Cucina, and Le Bistro. I hate to be negative, but Cagney's was the worst Cagney's we've been to in the fleet including the star itself 2 years ago. The steak was wonderful but the macaroni and cheese which was a huge star for me was dry and tasted different. Moderno we had incredibly slow service, and the salad bar is much smaller compared to the larger ships.

 

I don't think even those in Costa Maya know exactly why the seagrass is so bad. We got LOTS of different answers from everyone we asked. Some say recent tropical storms, but others said it was an unnaturally terrible year for the sea grass in general. As we drove in the taxi, all the beaches just seemed totally trashed. Some blamed Patricia, others said Patricia had nothing to do with it. I'm sure it was a combination of many things.

 

Little French Key, ah. I couldn't believe how disappointed I was. I tried to stay as positive as possible- we felt baited and switched when we arrived and so did EVERYONE in line. We all got emails stating that using a credit card would be an 18% tax, or we could pay in cash. Almost all of us payed in cash and we were still slapped with the 18% fee. Everyone in line was really mad. I tried to stay as positive as possible and not allow it to color my view of the day. But, there was garbage floating in the water, half the place was under construction so there was loud banging all day, we got the cheaper package to save money and thought we'd buy our own lunch, but each plate of food was $25 so we ended up spending equal to the package anyway- which I guess is our own fault, but $25 for a small plate of food was insane. There was pizza on the menu that was cheaper, but they said they only have pizza on the weekends. Since the menu was a chalk board, I wish they just erased it- it was kind of a tease. No staff spoke to us all day, unless we approached them. And the WORST PART was they booted us at 3:15pm, after arriving at noon, and we didn't need to board the ship until 6:30. He claimed we needed time to get back... I get that, but we had planned to stay until 4-4:30. No, we were all out by 3:30 at his (owners?) demand. Everyone, once again, was livid. It wasn't a choice either- he kicked everyone out at 3:30. We were back on the ship by 4:15 and didn't leave Honduras for another 3 hours! We'd never even dream of returning, myself and others there were talking about trip advisor and cruise critic and were blown away at how it had so many positive reviews... we all collectively hated it.

 

Thanks so much for all of your information. LFK sounds horrible. Sorry that your excursion there was so bad. I am hoping Tabyana beach will be okay.

 

The dailies are great for planing. :)

[cruisetimeforme]

Thanks so much for the reviews and comments. It's great to hear some feedback from various people, it helps to know going in what we might encounter onboard. Crockea, could you please tell me what you had at La Cucina? I've never eaten there because so many people seem disappointed with it, so have always done Cagney's, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki.

[cruisetimeforme]

Also wanted to thank Ron L for the great thoughts on Maya Key since we've been considering it for our day with the 3 year old along this time. Thought she'd enjoy it and the snorkeling sounds great there! When you go this next time, would you come back and let us know what the latest tender time to shore was/is? I've read that you can make this excursion longer than the 4 hours stated. Thanks

[Ron_L]

Also wanted to thank Ron L for the great thoughts on Maya Key since we've been considering it for our day with the 3 year old along this time. Thought she'd enjoy it and the snorkeling sounds great there! When you go this next time, would you come back and let us know what the latest tender time to shore was/is? I've read that you can make this excursion longer than the 4 hours stated. Thanks

 

I will. I think the latest that you can stay on the island will be dictated by when it gets dark this time of year.

[mickev99]

 

 

Little French Key, ah. I couldn't believe how disappointed I was. I tried to stay as positive as possible- we felt baited and switched when we arrived and so did EVERYONE in line. We all got emails stating that using a credit card would be an 18% tax, or we could pay in cash. Almost all of us payed in cash and we were still slapped with the 18% fee. Everyone in line was really mad. I tried to stay as positive as possible and not allow it to color my view of the day. But, there was garbage floating in the water, half the place was under construction so there was loud banging all day, we got the cheaper package to save money and thought we'd buy our own lunch, but each plate of food was $25 so we ended up spending equal to the package anyway- which I guess is our own fault, but $25 for a small plate of food was insane. There was pizza on the menu that was cheaper, but they said they only have pizza on the weekends. Since the menu was a chalk board, I wish they just erased it- it was kind of a tease. No staff spoke to us all day, unless we approached them. And the WORST PART was they booted us at 3:15pm, after arriving at noon, and we didn't need to board the ship until 6:30. He claimed we needed time to get back... I get that, but we had planned to stay until 4-4:30. No, we were all out by 3:30 at his (owners?) demand. Everyone, once again, was livid. It wasn't a choice either- he kicked everyone out at 3:30. We were back on the ship by 4:15 and didn't leave Honduras for another 3 hours! We'd never even dream of returning, myself and others there were talking about trip advisor and cruise critic and were blown away at how it had so many positive reviews... we all collectively hated it.

 

I am so very disappointed to hear this. I have been wanting to go there for almost a year! Now I need to rethink. I read it as 18% was just for a credit card as well. And I also emailed them about food prices, they told me the prices of pizza, never mentioning about only being open on weekends. Also the website says you can stay as long as you want. Were the animals there? I am doing a whole lot of rethinking now....

[kosweeps]

@coffeeaddiction. I know exactly what you mean about not feeling scared. but "on edge." That's how we feel. And we haven't even gotten there yet! lol Like I said, we are do it yourselfers. We think nothing of finding local jitney's and going somewhere for two bucks. Did it in St. Maarten, loved it so much we went back for a vacation. I know the reviews of the excursions are more positive than not, but it sticks in my head about what people are saying about it once being amazing, dead coral, trash on beaches.I'm not going hijack this thread thoug. I'm going to do what someone recommended in an earlier reply and spend some time on the CC Roatan board. I've started reading the posts. We'll see. Would hate to end up deciding to stay on the ship, but if we do it'll be a nice quiet day. Oh! And there will be five ships there that day I think .That was another reason we were thinking about not getting off. Thanks for your thoughts!

[coffeeaddiction12345]

@coffeeaddiction. I know exactly what you mean about not feeling scared. but "on edge." That's how we feel. And we haven't even gotten there yet! lol Like I said, we are do it yourselfers. We think nothing of finding local jitney's and going somewhere for two bucks. Did it in St. Maarten, loved it so much we went back for a vacation. I know the reviews of the excursions are more positive than not, but it sticks in my head about what people are saying about it once being amazing, dead coral, trash on beaches.I'm not going hijack this thread thoug. I'm going to do what someone recommended in an earlier reply and spend some time on the CC Roatan board. I've started reading the posts. We'll see. Would hate to end up deciding to stay on the ship, but if we do it'll be a nice quiet day. Oh! And there will be five ships there that day I think .That was another reason we were thinking about not getting off. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

We like to DIY too. I think a lot of people really like LFK, maybe we had a bad day. I don't know. We were the only ship in port, so for nobody to talk to us at LFK I can't imagine if it were crowded. But, I do honestly believe those who got more expensive packages got treated better- I really, really believe that. All I could think of as we drove over was someone could shoot out the tire and easily rob all of us. As you drove by, there are 2 armed guards at every bank and ATM with bullet proof vests on. Not very comforting.

 

I am so very disappointed to hear this. I have been wanting to go there for almost a year! Now I need to rethink. I read it as 18% was just for a credit card as well. And I also emailed them about food prices, they told me the prices of pizza, never mentioning about only being open on weekends. Also the website says you can stay as long as you want. Were the animals there? I am doing a whole lot of rethinking now....

 

Right? It DEFINITELY is phrased like the fee is only for the credit cards. Everyone was so upset! It felt really, really sketchy, and the cashiers had attitudes about it as if WE were the crazy ones. The prices of pizza was still $18 (cheapest) and went up to $23 or so. The other food was $22-$25 (per person!). He DEFINITELY kicked us out. I thought at first it was a suggestion, but when he circled back and made the 'get going' motion (not in a rude way, but in a kind of hurry up type of way) I understood we were being booted. There were some animals, a dog in a cage, a lion, some birds, and some monkeys. I don't want to sway you in any direction, but please think of if whatever package you choose will be worth only 3 maybe 4 hours there. The kayaks and paddleboards were plentiful, however, and the platform was fun to jump off of too.

Edited November 4, 2015 by coffeeaddiction12345

[mickev99]

Thanks for the input. I might email them with these concerns. The reason we chose LFK over Maya Key was because we could come and go on our schedule and Maya Key is only for 4 hours.

[coffeeaddiction12345]

Thanks for the input. I might email them with these concerns. The reason we chose LFK over Maya Key was because we could come and go on our schedule and Maya Key is only for 4 hours.

 

Hopefully you don't get the same garbage we got.. "we just want you to get to the ship on time! you never know with traffic, you really need to get going now! Nobody ever wants to leave but you have to :( :( "

 

It's crap, we EASILY could have stayed another hour and been to the ship in PLENTY of time. It was beyond annoying that he basically didn't give a hoot that our ship time wasn't until 6:30. I really hope you guys get to stay longer!!

[melissagrf]

Thanks for all this helpful information, coffeeaddiction. It is really appreciated, as my family will be on the Star in January. I was wondering if you could comment on how kids on board were behaved, or treated, or entertained? Even if you didn't have children in your party, maybe you saw or heard some things...? If you didn't, I TOTALLY understand. We will have a 9 yr old with us, and are hoping for another positive cruise experience for him. Thanks again for this helpful post.:)

[mugtech]

All the NCL cruise reviews I have read recently make me very happy that I do not drink or gamble.

[Ron_L]

Thanks for the input. I might email them with these concerns. The reason we chose LFK over Maya Key was because we could come and go on our schedule and Maya Key is only for 4 hours.

 

Everything that I've read about Maya Key is that you can come and go as you please as well, plus it's only a 5 minute boat ride from the dock.

 

We'll be there is less than two weeks so I'll know for sure after we return.

[footballbabe3]

We have a trip planned for Feb. I really hope things change by then.

[coffeeaddiction12345]

Thanks for all this helpful information, coffeeaddiction. It is really appreciated, as my family will be on the Star in January. I was wondering if you could comment on how kids on board were behaved, or treated, or entertained? Even if you didn't have children in your party, maybe you saw or heard some things...? If you didn't, I TOTALLY understand. We will have a 9 yr old with us, and are hoping for another positive cruise experience for him. Thanks again for this helpful post.:)

 

To preface, I don't have kids of my own.

 

But, the kids all around me actually looked VERY well behaved. I saw the tour going around splash academy the first day and there was a lot of people. A lot of them were loving the waterslides, I saw plenty on every excursion we were on, and honestly never saw any kids acting or behaving inappropriately.

 

It was double cute for us, since it was Halloween they gave the kids a list of where they could go 'trick or treat' so they walked around in costumes and got candy!

 

I don't think we had tons of kids on our cruise, but they all really genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves. Out at the pool I saw in particular a few kids just totally loving the whole atmosphere. On excursions all the kids looked like they were having a ball snorkeling (Belize), and enjoyed the magic show.

 

The only draw back I'd see is a couple of the main shows at 7 & 9 were catered to older crowds. For example, the Donna Summer's type tribute. I could see them LOVING the magic show that the cruise director did on the last night, though!

[melissagrf]

Wow. Thanks so much. I am glad they seemed well attended to. I know that what adults notice, enjoy and complain about are completely different than those of kids. I appreciate your insight.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[crockea]

Thanks so much for the reviews and comments. It's great to hear some feedback from various people, it helps to know going in what we might encounter onboard. Crockea, could you please tell me what you had at La Cucina? I've never eaten there because so many people seem disappointed with it, so have always done Cagney's, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki.

 

The 1st time at La Cucina I had the Lasagna. YUMMY! The second night I had the Carbonara. Hubby had the Lobster Fettuccini and loved it. Can't recall what he had the second time.

[NYPetunia]

Thank you for sharing, that was really nice of you.

I am on the Nov 8.