Our week on the unfairly infamous Star- December 6 to December 2015

[DreamingBig1]

Hi, just wondering about your car rental. Did you pick up at the airport and drop off there, out were you able to drop off near the pier? We are spending 3 days in Tampa before our cruise and this is what we are hoping to do.

 

Sixt picks you up at the airport. They have a very nice air conditioned Mercedes Benz van that picks you up and transports you to their location, which isn't far from the airport. If you pay up front with Sixt, the price is cheaper. Like all rental agencies, they try to sell you all the add on's. You can get them if you wish. I politely declined, and we were on our way quickly.

 

You drop off at their location, and get a cab from there to the port. Our cab cost us $20.

 

On the way back, there are vans outside the port which offer a rate of $20 for two people for transportation to the airport.

 

Hope this helps.

[DreamingBig1]

nice. Crabby Bills seems to be the place where our visitors end up too! and us on occasion.

 

O'sheehans was good. good bartender too.

 

I though the cheeseburger was ok. The poutine was great though - as long as you asked for extra gravy. Looking forward to the rest of the review!

thanks.

 

Crabby Bills stays open late as well. It's just a fun place to go. Is it a must for me? No, but we usually end up there for either dinner or drinks at least once.

 

I actually didn't care for the poutine. I think I am not a fan of poutine... haha.

 

Thanks!

[DreamingBig1]

Our hotel is in Ybor city for our upcoming cruise so I was glad to see your thoughts. For some reason I can't see your pics. I can see the others that were posted' date=' but not yours.[/quote']

 

It's a nice historical place. If you haven't been to the original Columbia Restaurant for dinner, it's a must go experience.

 

We were supposed to go on a historical walking tour of Ybor, which has fabulous reviews, however we couldn't do it because of a schedule conflict.

 

Most of the restaurants, bars and stores are on one road.

 

Have fun!

[DreamingBig1]

I think it's a firewall thing. (shhh I'm at work) :D

 

Secret's safe ;)

[DreamingBig1]

The Meet and Greet. We were signed up to go and were fairly active on the roll call, but alas we didn't go. We decided to rest a little more in our room. We had early excursions planned for the rest of the week, and we just wanted to chill. We are the worst meet and greeters on the face of the planet. We really are. We did meet a few cruise critic people along the way during our week.

 

We always sign up, and never go. It's probably best for us not to sign up next time. Hahaha!! Maybe the next time is the time. :rolleyes:

 

After getting ready for the day, we decided to go to the Versailles restaurant for lunch. If your not familiar with Versailles, it's the formal restaurant on the Star. There is a huge window in the back, so try to get a table near there. We did.

 

We didn't take food porn for this trip. Sorry for those, looking for pictures of food. We were too busy enjoying it. I have some regrets, while writing this review. I think I had the chicken, which was good. I can't remember what I had for dessert. I think Jen had a cup of soup. She also order the Blood Oranges with Sherbet. They are worth the price of admission. Very refreshing.

 

We met a waiter, who also works at Ginza. I think his name is Benedict. He got to know us during the trip. Great server!

 

Following lunch, we went to the It's Five O'clock Somewhere bar. If you like tutti frutti drinks, then this is the place for you. The Margarita there was just so so. Jen enjoyed the blue drink (I can't remember it's name).

 

While there, a crossword activity was taking place, so we joined in for the heck of it.

 

We then went to the ship store ( there is a duty free store as well), where we picked up two NCL landyards. The cashier will punch a small hole in your card, so you can clip it to the landyard. It was nice having one with us. Made access to the card easy. If we forgot our name, it was literally around our neck. :D

 

We looked over the activities, and decided to go to the movie at 2:00 in the Stardust Theater. The movie was Monkey Kingdom. We love animal movies, and this one was very well done.

 

We aren't really swimming pool people, and without the kids, we didn't feel the need to go to the pool. So I really can't give an opinion as to the pool. If I was looking to swim, the pool as reported did seem small. There were plenty of hot tubs available. We didn't visit them either.

 

We did however go to the Bier Garten daily. It's a great place to meet people, enjoy company and enjoy time with each other. We met a nice couple from Florida, who we would meet for a drink on a few occasions during the week.

 

Here is the key to the Bier Garten. Grab a seat. There were usually two servers available. They will come around. Tip them a buck or two. It's amazing how far that go's. It not only gives them some money, but it also shows you value them. I can say that they did tend to notice us if we gave them the over here look.

 

This I can say, many people I saw seemed to have the drink package. The vast majority of the people I saw, didn't tip extra money and still got served quickly.

 

I just like to take care of people. So, do what you want. You will be fine.

 

As stated a couple times before, the drink lines were no worse than any other ship that I have been on. There are bars everywhere on the Star, so if you have some difficulty finding a drink, a vortex must have grabbed you and took you away to the one bar that was backed up. I just really don't get the complaints about bar service on the Star. We had absolutely no trouble getting a drink.

 

That evening, we got fairly dressed up. Not suit or tuxedo, but a nice shirt and slacks, and a dress for her. We have careers that require us to dress up, so this was a nice change of pace. We took pictures in front of the Christmas tree in the Atrium. The Atrium was dressed up for Christmas.

 

We ate dinner at Versailles. The food was good. I had the pot roast which a little dry, but I enjoyed it. I can't remember what Jen had. The molten chocolate cake for dessert was pretty good.

 

Following dinner we had a drink at Gatsby's. Again, if your not familiar with the Star, Gatsby's is the Martini bar. It's a nice space, and the bartenders there are excellent. Jen loved the Citrus Gem. I also loved it as well. It's very refreshing. As with the Bier Garten, Gatsby's was a favorite haunt of ours. The bartenders there really know how to mix a good drink. They use great mixers, and again they were quick.

 

A must go recommendation: Gatsby's.

 

We ended the evening listening to music at Spinnakers.

 

Tuesday we are up early for zip lining and snorkeling.

 

Dinner at Versailles:

 

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[DreamingBig1]

Beautyful image and from my home town Tampa [emoji2]

 

Sent from my SM-T210R using Tapatalk

 

Thank you!

[cesaravelez]

Your very welcome,great images,i cruise from home in the past on the Dawn and its always beautiful departing from here,the view is amazing.happy holidays to you and your love ones :-)

 

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[DreamingBig1]

Your very welcome,great images,i cruise from home in the past on the Dawn and its always beautiful departing from here,the view is amazing.happy holidays to you and your love ones :-)

 

Sent from my SM-T210R using Tapatalk

 

Thank you! You as well!

[DreamingBig1]

The night before the Captain announced there was a chance of rain for Roatan. We had excursions set for that day, first zip lining, then snorkeling. We have wanted to try zip lining for some time, and we absolutely love to snorkel. To say the least we were hoping for the best.

 

We arranged for a wake up call early. Hint to future Star cruisers. The wake up call line when we were on the ship didn't work. Just call the front desk. They will arrange for the wake up call. The wake up call turned out to be the front desk calling me. They said they would send somebody to wake us up, in case we slept through the phone. It was a very nice touch.

 

We woke up at 7:00. The sky was overcast, and there was a mist in the air. Roatan looked wet. We were almost ready to call it a day.

 

After a quick breakfast at the Market Café. I had the egg white omelet with peppers and mushrooms, with fruit. Jen had a omelet with cheese, with a side of fruit and potato's. Both were excellent. The fruits were fresh, and they were being cut right in front of us.

 

We grabbed our snorkel gear and walked off the ship. The excursion departure on the Star was very quick and efficient. We were off in no time.

 

We arranged both excursions through Sun Splash Tours. They offer a wide range of different excursions. One of those is a zip line and snorkel excursion.

 

We met a colorful local character named Lincoln. Another friendly couple who was cruising on the Star from New Hampshire was also on this excursion, but they were going to go on the zip line and beach day.

 

Lincoln traveled east, giving us a little tour of the island as we traveled along. About 20 minutes later we arrived at the Pirates of the Caribbean zip lining company. Another tour was there, all Star cruisers, who would be going on the adventure with us.

 

The staff of about 6 men, fitted us with our equipment. We then got into a open air truck, and started traveling up this big hill. Now, this turned out to be the scariest part of the whole excursion. The road up the hill was unpaved, muddy, and it followed along the side of the hill without a guard rail. The truck was slipping slightly to and fro. We got to the top of one hill, and of the staff quipped, "that wasn't the scariest hill, the next one is". My stomach sank, while I said goodbye to Jen. So up this slippery muddy hill we traveled. It seemed like it traveled straight up, and became narrower. It really was scarier. We made it.

 

On top of the hill, the Sun came through and was sunny. The Sun stayed out the rest of the day. The staff asked us if we wanted our pictures taken. They took pictures of everybody who wanted them taken. The staff was very professional and hard working. They were spectacular.

 

As were snorkeling, I only brought a Go Pro type of camera with us. Strapped it to my helmet. So I don't have any pictures to share of zip lining (or snorkeling).

 

Ziplining was awesome. Sometimes Jen and I did them tandem, and sometimes we did them together. Two miles of zip line. Some long and slow, and others small and fast. The whole excursion lasted an hour. We felt safe the entire time. Each small group had a staff member who would travel with them. I can't remember the name of ours, but he was great.

 

The zip line ended at the bottom of the hill, and we returned after returning our equipment, saying thank you, as well as leaving a tip for the guys we were on our way.

 

I would highly recommend Pirates of the Caribbean zip line to others interested in zip lining.

 

We got back into Lincoln's mini van, and made the trip west towards the West end of Roatan. After a half hour, and 30 honks to everybody Lincoln knew along the way we arrived at our location.

 

We dropped off the other couple first. Warning if you decide to us Sun Splash. The couple was told that the price they paid covered both the zip line and beach access. As it turns out, there was an additional entrance fee for the beach access. Understandably they were peeved about the additional cost, but took it in stride.

 

We would be dropped off to another location, where we met our snorkeling guide. Our guide was awesome. We are shooting ourselves, because we can't remember his name.

 

He drove his boat to meet us. We grabbed a cooler with water that Sun Splash provided to us. Hopped on the little boat, and away we went out past the reef. Where we were, no other snorkeling boats were around. It was a unique location. The water was bright blue. We strapped on our gear and hopped into the water.

 

If you have never snorkeled Roatan, you must. Not exaggerating, it might be some of the best in the world. If you don't like deep water, you may want to ask for a shallower location, because where we were was deep. After swimming for a while, we arrived to the reef. This reef was incredible. There was not just a small reef, but it was cavernous and layered. The sea life was abundant. We saw all sorts of fish, and anemones. It never ended.

 

We were swimming hard for an hour. We were exhausted, but thrilled. We decided we need to learn how to scuba and go back.

 

We then traveled back to the beach, where we met the other couple. After going to a small bar nearby to purchase a couple libations, we headed back to the ship.

 

Lincoln drove us back to the pier, where we said our goodbyes.

 

We got back on, and grabbed a quick drink at Gatsby's. Excitedly sharing our stories of the day with whomever would listen. LOL After dropping our items off in the room, we went to the Bier Garten for a drink. I smoked one of my cigars, while we chatted with some new friends for that moment.

 

We went back to our room, and got dressed. The nice thing about NCL, we were tired and didn't feel like getting dressed up. I threw on a pair of shorts and a polo. Jen wore a casual outfit.

 

On NCL, they now offer the Asian restaurant as a complimentary choice. We decided to try Ginza that evening. We didn't eat lunch, so we were very hungry. We each ordered a appetizer, a noodle bowl and a dinner. We decided we wanted to share our meals, and get a variety of food. I ordered the cabbage salad, which had a nice vinegar on it, the beef pho', and orange beef. Jen had the spring rolls, seafood pho' and general tso chicken ( I think). All were excellent.

 

We had Benedict, who served us lunch the day before. Again, he was a pleasure.

 

Jen ordered a glass of sauvignon blanc, and I had a Wasabi cocktail. The Wasabi cocktail was very good.

 

We decided to check out the show at 9, but it was packed. Instead we went to Spinnakers, where a R&B group, named So'nigue was playing. They were fabulous. I hope they are there when future Star cruisers sail, and I hope that you go. They are a not to be missed.

 

The next day would be another early day, but we were still up past 2 AM.

 

We were really bad with pictures today. If we have some, we don't know it yet. Too busy having fun!

[pauly]

Thanks for the review. I have always said a vacation/cruise is what you make it. Making the best of it is the key. If someone has a miserable time, generally it is their own fault. Why pay so much and grip about every little thing??

 

If you want ALL the comforts of home...STAY HOME. The rest of us will enjoy exploring and traveling, while making the best of it.

[drbeamer]

Loving your review....will be on board 1/31/2016. Do you remember the hours of the beir garten? Is it open in the evening/nighttime?

[DreamingBig1]

Loving your review....will be on board 1/31/2016. Do you remember the hours of the beir garten? Is it open in the evening/nighttime?

 

Thank you!! Wish I had more pictures. Per usual vacation, we took pictures of our enjoying the trip, which doesn't lend itself for review purposes.

 

I think Bier Garten closed at nine, unless there was a deck party, then it seemed to stay open later.

 

Gatsbys, and 5 O Clock Somewhere closed around midnight. Spinnakers served until close (whenever), and O Sheehans usually closed the bar at 2.

 

You will have a blast!

[DreamingBig1]

Thanks for the review. I have always said a vacation/cruise is what you make it. Making the best of it is the key. If someone has a miserable time, generally it is their own fault. Why pay so much and grip about every little thing??

 

If you want ALL the comforts of home...STAY HOME. The rest of us will enjoy exploring and traveling, while making the best of it.

 

Thank you for your comment.

 

Couldn't agree with you more! It's important to just go with the flow and enjoy yourself.

[DreamingBig1]

Today was a special day. It was Jen's birthday. For her birthday, we wanted to do some excursions that we have never done before; so we booked cave tubing and Altun Ha Mayan Ruins.

 

I wanted Jen to have a special evening, so we also pre-booked Cagney's for that evening.

 

Every morning, we arranged for room service of coffee, and a few croissants. This is still complimentary. The coffee is honestly some of the worst that we have ever had on a cruise ship. The reports of bad coffee on NCL ships are sadly accurate.

 

We just wore our bathing suits there, because we didn't want to have to change into new clothing. We made sure to purchase a nice rash guard before the cruise, which was a good move, because they became very versatile during our excursions.

 

As many of you know, stopping in Belize City requires a tender from the ship to the pier. It's about a half hour trip from the boat. Since we had a early excursion, we were again up at 6:30 in the morning. We had to meet our guide at 8:00 AM.

 

The tender process on the Star go's like this. You need to go (only one person) to the 12th floor and get a tender ticket. From there, you need to go to the 4th floor to exit the ship. We heard the message as we were walking down the stairs. We turned around, and I had to bust it back to 12 for the two tickets.

 

The Captain of the Star informed us that we arrived first, and would be closer to land than the other three ships in port that day. That was nice, because it also made the return trip shorter as well.

 

On the trip to Belize City we had a smaller faster boat. It was really kicking. We made it to shore in about 15 minutes.

 

The trip on the tender, leaving the Star behind (the mist was moisture on the lense from the air):

 

[mikenhe]

The tendering was a pain. I knew that we'd have to do that at Belize so when I booked I was quite happy to see that we were the only ship there. Of course the weather must have messed up the Carnival schedule so we end up being stalked by two of their ships instead. So the tenders at Belize ended up having to look after 3 ships instead of just us!!

I was going to wait until they announced open tendering as we had no excursion planned but gave up in the end and got us a ticket. Ended up leaving the ship 3 hours after the first tender..

 

 

at least, as you say, we were closest and the boats were pretty fast!

[DreamingBig1]

We made it to the port in pretty quick time. We had to exit the gate of the port area, and go to the street where the taxis were waiting.

 

We booked our Belize excursion through Shore Excursioneer, who sub-contract’s with Belize Fun Tours, and Louigi. We met Louigi outside the gate, who then told us that another couple from the Carnival Glory would also be going on the excursion with us.

 

After about 15-20 minutes of waiting, Louigi introduced us to our tour guide for the day, Julian De La Fuente, who would then take us on a tour of Belize City, so we would not be standing around in the heat.

 

We hopped into Julian’s mini-van, and he took us on a tour of the city. Showing us the local sites of the city, and explained how Belizeans lived, their schools, the Prime Minister’s home, government buildings, historical monuments, wealthy neighborhoods, and poor neighborhoods. We even stopped in front of a sign that said Belize. A man who tended to the park where we were lent us the flag of Belize, and Julian took a picture of us in front of a colorful Belize sign. A dog came by and posed with us. Julian explained that the dog lives at the park, and insists on taking pictures with tourists.

 

After about 45 minutes, Louigi called Julian, and told him that the other couple was a no show. We didn’t mind the long wait, because we got a free tour of Belize City from an expert guide. So away we headed to the cave tubing.

 

The drive to the cave tubing took approximately 45 minutes. Along the way, Julian pointed out Hattieville, which is a village that was settled by refugees of Hurricane Hattie that devastated Belize in 1961.

 

Our pic in front of the colorful Belize sign:

 

[DreamingBig1]

When we arrived, Julian took us to meet another group led by a guide named Dave. Dave also works as independent contractor for Louigi. Dave turned out to be an excellent guide on the river. He trains many of the other guides on the cave tubing. We saw why a good guide is important later during the cave tubing.

 

There were two families, who were traveling together on the Carnival Glory. We got our equipment which includes a tube, life vest, helmet, and lamp, and traveled down to a river. Dave grabbed the inner tubes of all the ladies, and Julian led the way. We came to the river, where there was a rope which ran across to the other side. Julian and Dave put the ladies tubes together and had them get in. The men walked across the river using the rope, and the ladies were in the tubes being pulled over by Dave.

 

We walked for approximately 20 minutes, on a long winding path, through a cavern, and heavily forested jungle. We finally got the section of the river where we would begin our journey. Julian and Dave hooked the tubes together, and we all got in.

 

We floated through the caves, and Dave would point out rock formations, and joked by saying that they looked like this entertainment artist, or historical figure/thing. It was funny.

 

Shortly after floating out of the cave, we reached an area where we saw people exiting the river. Julian and Dave pointed out that the people exiting, booked the cave tubing through the cruise ship. In their words, twice the price and half the fun. A little need to know for people interested in booking a cave tubing excursion.

 

From there we floated another twenty minutes. Along the way, we floated over some fast moving water, along a part of the river that looked like a scene from the jungle cruise at Walt Disney World. I mentioned earlier that having Dave turned out to be a good thing, and here is why. At a turn in the river, we saw two deflated rafts, and a lady and gentleman walking on the edge of the river. The lady was bleeding heavily from her hand. Julian held us in place, and Dave swam over to a hedge where he and a guide from another group were struggling with something. What they were struggling with was the guide of the party of two who had deflated rafts. Dave and the other guide saved the other life of the guide. He was going to drown, without the help of Dave and the other guide. No doubt.

 

After quickly regrouping, Dave explained that he trains many of the other guides, and didn’t recognize this guide. He was griping that some of the guides are not properly trained.

 

We floated a little while longer and exited the river. A short walk later, we were returning our gear and away we went. Julian grabbed lunch of chicken, rice, salad, a plantain and a soda for both of us, before we left. Lunch was included with the excursion.

 

We drove back to Hattieville and kept going for another 20 minutes. Along the way we passed a cool Tapir Crossing sign. Those are the types of things that make traveling to destination like Belize so awesome.

 

No pics of our cave tubing adventure. It's not a waterproof camera, so we decided to leave it in Julian's van. Sorry :rolleyes:

[DreamingBig1]

While driving into Altun Ha, Julian started telling us a little history of the Mayans and how they lived in Altun Ha. Along the way we passed by farms, under the fields archeologists have found settlements where the common Mayan’s lived.

 

We drove into Altun Ha, where we started our journey at the little museum at the entrance of the ruins. Julian took us through and explained the different tools, and brought to life the exhibits.

 

There were a collection of two or three village’s right next to each other. Similar to the Egyptian’s the Mayan villages were built by specific ruling families and were built at different times. Julian did a fabulous job on detailing the history of all three villages, how they were found, and how they were used. We went to the top of one, where he explained that they were built so the ruler could hear a conversation on the other side of the village. It was amazing, because you could definitely hear people’s conversations below pretty clearly. There was a sacrificial table, where animals and vegetable’s.

 

We were very lucky to have Julian as our guide, because he really knew the history. There were large groups there, who didn’t get the same personal attention as having a personal guide with them. I highly recommend getting your own guide for Altun Ha.

 

After walking through a couple villages, and many pictures later we headed back towards the ship. The drive was approximately 30 minutes. There were many little villages we drove past, and it was fascinating to see how the Belizean’s lived.

We arrived back with about 45 minutes to spare. We hugged Julian, gave him a great tip, which he really earned. It was a fabulous day. I highly recommend going on the excursion that we enjoyed.

 

The tender boat that we took was much bigger than the morning. We were one of the first to arrive on the boat, and it took a while to fill up. The boat was also slower getting to the Star, because of its size, however it was a nice way to end the day in Belize.

[DreamingBig1]

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Our fantastic guide Julian with Jen: