A stellar time on the Star...even with the new itinerary

[ltturner]

Lemonade, anyone? I got some lemons here and thought, what the heck. In the spirit of taking the bad with the good, let me start with the bad stuff and move on to the good stuff.

 

Bad:

• We didn't get to see cliff divers in Acapulco. Bummer.
  
• Manzanillo is unlike many Mexican ports. It doesn't have a Hard Rock Cafe. ;)
  
• Poor planning on our part: We didn't bring enough cash and we found the problem while we were in port. Couldn't get cash from the front desk. Couldn't get cash in the casino. Even the ATM in the casino was on the blink. Drat. There's a lost opportunity to buy some...stuff. (Hmm. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all.)
  
• The seats in the theatre really are miserable. Maybe during dry dock in March NCL can do something to them so they don't fold out so far. As it is, it feels like you're going to slide off onto the floor. We stopped going to shows in the theatre because we were tired after holding ourselves in the seats. We tried sitting in the balcony, but we couldn't see from there.
  
• There are an amazing number of very persistent street vendors in Mazatlan.
  
• No towel animals. Hmmph.

Good:

• We did get to see cliff divers in Mazatlan. I don't know about Acapulco, but these guys had to wait until a wave came in so they'd have enough water to dive into. Wow!
  
• We took the Colima/Comala shore excursion in Manzanillo and got a chance to see some of Mexico that looks like Mexico, not America.
  
• Two words: Martini clinics! Valentina in the Star Bar was wonderful, as were the martinis. There was a martini clinic at 5:00 on every sea day, and we made it to every one.
  
• There was a lamb dish at lunch in Versailles on the second sea day that was out of this world. I can't describe it; I'm not that good a writer. I can only say that I love lamb, and this was the best I've ever had.

Better:

• I won third place in the blackjack tournament and got a lovely bottle of champagne.
  
• My husband and I did well at Name That Tune with Jeffrey Allen. OK, to be honest, my husband was the one who did well. I'm hopeless, but he was naming them one after another.
  
• I participated in the passenger talent show and didn't embarrass myself. I didn't win, but I got a lot of nice compliments, so I'm satisfied with my performance.

Best:

• My husband won $600 at bingo. Woohoo!

All in all, we had a wonderful, fabulous time. I've got pictures taken in the ports, but I realized when looking at them that I didn't get many shots of the ship itself. If you want to see a little of the ports of call, including Manzanillo and Mazatlan, they're here:

Manzanillo

Puerto Vallarta

Mazatlan

Cabo San Lucas

Enjoy!

Amy

[Magic Carpet]

Amy,

 

Thanks for posting. We who are going to experience this new itinerary are trying to get more info about the trip.

 

Did you have to tender at all the new ports?. Did the shortened time spent in Cabo spoil any planned shore excursions?

 

 

NCL says it is posting the new shore excursions on the 15th of Dec. on their website. Unfortunately, we depart LA on the 19th. This leaves little time for

advanced bookings.

 

 

Some others have mentioned that the seats in the show theater slope forward. I wonder why this designed was used. Maybe the management does not want one to fall asleep while the show is in progress.

 

Thanks Again,

[immargaret]

Hi Amy,

 

Why couldn't you get cash in the casino.......this is what I count on every trip? Normally I just go to the cage and use my room card and the charge shows up on my on-board account. Also a good way to earn MBNA-NCL points...

 

:confused:

[ltturner]

Did you have to tender at all the new ports?. Did the shortened time spent in Cabo spoil any planned shore excursions?

 

NCL says it is posting the new shore excursions on the 15th of Dec. on their website. Unfortunately, we depart LA on the 19th. This leaves little time for

advanced bookings.

 

We tendered in the two originally planned ports, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, but we docked at the new ones, Manzanillo and Mazatlan.

 

I have the shore excursion list but no scanner. I'm off to work in a minute, but I'll try to type in at least the titles of the new ones this evening.

 

Amy

[ltturner]

Hi Amy,

 

Why couldn't you get cash in the casino.......this is what I count on every trip?

 

It was only because we were in port and the casino was closed, so we couldn't go to the cashier. The real bummer was that the ATM was out of service. We were able to get cash as soon as we were at sea again and the casino was open.

 

Amy

[Zeno]

Nice review - I enjoyed the pictures.

[DroopySails]

Beautiful, balanced, humorous review. I love lemonade-makers!

[ltturner]

Did the shortened time spent in Cabo spoil any planned shore excursions?

 

I just realized I forgot to respond to this question. We had just enough time in Cabo to take the coastal highlights shore excursion and get back on the boat. That was a little disappointing, I have to admit, but I'm glad we got to see San Jose del Cabo, which is a little off the beaten path.

 

Interesting note: The Sapphire Princess was in port with us on the same day, and they, too, had their last tender at 1:30 p.m. I guess everyone was in a hurry!

 

Amy

[KRANKYK]

How fun! I agree with the seating at the Stardust Theatre -- it was horriblly uncomfortable!

 

WIth regards to missing Acapulco, you didn't miss much. There are a million taxi drivers that attack you the second you get off the ship. And as you wrote, you missed a Hard Rock Cafe :D

 

Your review was great and it reminded me of my cruise last month! :rolleyes:

[vjblk]

Amy, thanks so much for posting. Sounds like you had a great time even with lemonade! My sister and I leave on the Star on Sunday. Your review helps.

 

How was the weather. Looks like you had plenty of sunshine but was it hot and humid?

 

What time you were you able to get off the ship on your return. We are trying to figure out how long we will have before our flight late in the afternoon on our return.

 

Looking forward to your telling us about the excursions offered in Manzanillo and Mazatlan.

 

Sounds like the San Jose trip was nice in Cabo. That's the one we have booked.

 

Again thanks so much for sharing.

[CRUZIN TOM]

We took the Colima/Comala shore excursion in Manzanillo and got a chance to see some of Mexico that looks like Mexico, not America.

 

WAS THIS TRIP A SHIP SPONSORED TOUR? IF SO WHAT WAS THE COST? HOW LONG WAS THE TRIP? HOW WAS SHOPPING IN COLIMA?:)

[karfest]

Hey Tom!! Wasn't it nice of NCL to change up the itinerary for you this year??? Actually- I think this new itinerary is even better than the original and the original was pretty darn good.

 

Good luck catching the big fish and finding some new plates for your beautiful collection:D

[tuffy88]

My wife and I are going on the Star in Febuary, 2006. Thanks for the review. One question I have: Did you get the $100 room credit NCL is giving due to the changes? And was it just posted to your shipboard account or did you have to ask for it? Thanks.

 

Charles

 

2-96 Sovereign of the Seas

2-97 Norwegian Wind

2-98 Monarch of the Seas

2-02 Norwegian Wind

2-03 Norwegian Sun

2-04 Norwegian Sky

3-05 Norwegian Spirit

2-06 Norwegian Star

[ltturner]

How was the weather. Looks like you had plenty of sunshine but was it hot and humid?

 

What time you were you able to get off the ship on your return. We are trying to figure out how long we will have before our flight late in the afternoon on our return.

 

The weather was absolutely perfect for all the stops. It was a bit cool in the mornings and after the sun went down, but it never got oppressively hot during the day. The very evening we left Cabo San Lucas it got very cold and the wind started blowing at gale force and kept up through our last sea day.

 

We were in group 6, just about in the middle of all the groups. I believe the express debarkation people started leaving around 8:00, but don't quote me on that. We were off the ship around 10:30-11:00.

 

Amy

[ltturner]

We took the Colima/Comala shore excursion in Manzanillo and got a chance to see some of Mexico that looks like Mexico, not America.

 

WAS THIS TRIP A SHIP SPONSORED TOUR? IF SO WHAT WAS THE COST? HOW LONG WAS THE TRIP? HOW WAS SHOPPING IN COLIMA?:)

 

I've just looked through my papers quickly and I didn't find the final bill. (I think I hid it so it wouldn't depress me.) I think the tour was somewhere between $60-80 per person, but again, my memory is failing in my old age. I have the list of shore excursions, but it doesn't have prices. It does say that the tour lasted seven hours, though.

 

Shopping in Colima was not too good. There were several souvenir shops with the usual assortment of mementos. We bought a replica of one of the little pottery dogs in the Colima museum. (There's a picture of the dogs in my albums, linked in my original message.) All in all, though, there was not a great assortment of stores.

 

I don't remember the Manzanillo stop so much for the shopping as for the experience. The stop for "Taco Surprise" in Comala was especially fun. My husband actually paid a mariachi band four bucks to sing La Bamba. Seeing the nearby volcano venting was also a highlight. A friendly policeman pointed out the volcano as it began spewing smoke -- we would have taken longer to see it if he hadn't pointed it out to us. Very friendly people in Comala!

 

Amy

[ltturner]

Did you get the $100 room credit NCL is giving due to the changes? And was it just posted to your shipboard account or did you have to ask for it? Thanks.

 

When we got to the pier, there were people handing out a written notice about the change of itinerary. The $50/person credit was announced in that document, so everyone knew about it. It was automatically added to the shipboard account. Remember, it's use it or lose it, and you can't use it for tips. (I recommend the Martini Clinics at 5:00 every sea day!)

 

Amy

[tuffy88]

Thanks.

 

Charles

[vjblk]

Amy, thanks so much for taking the time to post your experiences. It sure helps those of us going in the future. I can't wait until Sunday!!

[melika091900]

Hello

I had a question about manzanillo,

in one of your pics,, theres like a beach there, did people snorkel there???

i was trying to decide which port we are snorkeling at when we go in jan,,

 

thanks for any info,

 

melissa

[ltturner]

Hello

I had a question about manzanillo,

in one of your pics,, theres like a beach there, did people snorkel there???

i was trying to decide which port we are snorkeling at when we go in jan,,

 

thanks for any info,

 

melissa

 

I don't know whether that's the location of the Manzanillo Beach Getaway, but it seems a likely possibility. Wish I could give you more info. Please see the message I posted with Manzanillo shore excursions for a better idea of what the cruise line offers.

 

Hope this helps,

Amy

[STARFISH*4]

APPRECIATE your review:) not sure i am going to want to spend time watching the shows with THOSE SEATS:(