Live from the NCL Star July 23-August 15, 2023. Will I survive 23 days without the beverage package?

[www3traveler]

Hi Sweetie,

You are at the top of my Prayer List this week.

I do pray that things improve for you.

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and prayers.

16 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

So. Pretzel rolls. People crave them.

Do these look good to you?

 

GOOD GRIEF   NO  How on Earth can they be burned that badly????

[YVRteacher]

On day one I signed up for Dinner with the Officers. 
 

I knew it was tonight and hadn’t heard anything. No letter, no phone call.

 

I stood in line at the Cruise Next desk for 20 minutes. Turns out they didn’t put me on the list. They pretended to search through the computer and kept asking for my cabin number. I said a mistake was made. The Cruise Next Manager said the list was on her desk. They got the list and my name was not on the list. She apologized, acknowledged the mistake and said I would be added to the list. I explained that I needed to know where the meal was as I needed to pre-order the meal.

 

At this point it was 11:13am. We’ve just had a two hour time difference. I guess I missed the cut off for breakfast at O’Sheehan’s and the host told me to go to the Garden Cafe. I walked away a few steps then turned around and came back. I asked the host to call Garry. At that moment it was suddenly fine for me to have breakfast at O’Sheehan’s at 11:13am on a sea day after a two hour time change over two days. Funny how that works. I’m so stressed and tired of fighting for food I can eat.

 

I actually sat down and started crying. The maître d came to check in and I explained that I had an arrangement with Garry that I could ask for what I need and I won’t be told no. He apologized and took my order: eggs and toast. Nothing else.  What did he bring? Eggs, toast and a pile of breakfast potatoes. This is the maître d and the special diets liaison and he couldn’t get my order right. I have made a decision not to accept food that I didn’t order or that is not acceptable. He asked if it was ok. I said no, I ordered eggs and toast. He fixed it.

 

 

[www3traveler]

14 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

On day one I signed up for Dinner with the Officers. 
 

I knew it was tonight and hadn’t heard anything. No letter, no phone call.

 

I stood in line at the Cruise Next desk for 20 minutes. Turns out they didn’t put me on the list. They pretended to search through the computer and kept asking for my cabin number. I said a mistake was made. The Cruise Next Manager said the list was on her desk. They got the list and my name was not on the list. She apologized, acknowledged the mistake and said I would be added to the list. I explained that I needed to know where the meal was as I needed to pre-order the meal.

 

At this point it was 11:13am. We’ve just had a two hour time difference. I guess I missed the cut off for breakfast at O’Sheehan’s and the host told me to go to the Garden Cafe. I walked away a few steps then turned around and came back. I asked the host to call Garry. At that moment it was suddenly fine for me to have breakfast at O’Sheehan’s at 11:13am on a sea day after a two hour time change over two days. Funny how that works. I’m so stressed and tired of fighting for food I can eat.

 

I actually sat down and started crying. The maître d came to check in and I explained that I had an arrangement with Garry that I could ask for what I need and I won’t be told no. He apologized and took my order: eggs and toast. Nothing else.  What did he bring? Eggs, toast and a pile of breakfast potatoes. This is the maître d and the special diets liaison and he couldn’t get my order right. I have made a decision not to accept food that I didn’t order or that is not acceptable. He asked if it was ok. I said no, I ordered eggs and toast. He fixed it.

 

 

OH MAN  THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!  I was hoping things would get better.

BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and prayers

[LauraAnneC]

Yvonne, I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time. You’re supposed to be having fun. I really hope things improve for you. You sound like you’re worn down but good for you sticking to your guns and sending back what you hadn’t ordered.  It’s hard when you’re on your own and having to fight for what you should be getting all along.  

[bstreep]

Similar story.  Sort of.  O'Sheehans.  My wife wanted a BLT.  (Sorry, I know you don't eat meat).  Claim of "no bacon, breakfast is over".  So she looked at the menu, and said "OK, bring me everything but for a BLT except the bacon, and then bring me a bacon cheeseburger, without everything except the bacon".  

 

SO sorry you having such a hard time.  How about this - from the title of this thread - ask them for the beverage package to help this all go away. 

[crazycatlady82]

We were on the Star last year and tbh, it almost turned us off from NCL. We ate a lot of our meals at O’Sheehans, the Asian restaurant or the specialty restaurants. Cagenys was our disappointment last year…the steakhouse on Carnival was hands above Cagneys food. It sounds like they definitely haven’t fixed anything. 
 

Our favorite person was the bartender at the juice bar (which we never drank, just ordered drinks) named Raoul. We still talk about him and how friendly he was. He was the only one that really stood out.  

[disneylover89]

4 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

So. Pretzel rolls. People crave them.

Do these look good to you?

 

Pathetic!! They look like they got wet and then reheated.

[YVRteacher]

2 hours ago, bstreep said:

Similar story.  Sort of.  O'Sheehans.  My wife wanted a BLT.  (Sorry, I know you don't eat meat).  Claim of "no bacon, breakfast is over".  So she looked at the menu, and said "OK, bring me everything but for a BLT except the bacon, and then bring me a bacon cheeseburger, without everything except the bacon".  

 

SO sorry you having such a hard time.  How about this - from the title of this thread - ask them for the beverage package to help this all go away. 

I love the story of the BLT!!!

[YVRteacher]

15 minutes ago, disneylover89 said:

Pathetic!! They look like they got wet and then reheated.

Exactly. Where is the quality control?

[Mosey1]

On 7/20/2023 at 6:23 PM, LauraAnneC said:

Have a wonderful flight! I’ll look forward to reading your experience of Icelandic Air. 
Bon Voyage!!

We flew Icelandic Air economy one time on the way back to Florida after a Transatlantic.  Changed planes in Iceland and even though only outside about 10 minutes to the bus, the weather changed about 4 times. And on the seatback screen you could watch detailed Iceland travel ads - felt like I'd really been to Iceland.  Actually my favorite way to cross the pond as I don't sleep anyway and stopping in Iceland gave me a break.

[YVRteacher]

I would give anything to be on an Icelandair flight right about now! 
Window seat to watch the view?☑️

Good food?☑️

Great service?☑️

Bonus chocolate?☑️☑️☑️

[Happy fool]

Sorry to hear that your cruise is not going well. Hope that NCL will take notice and fix these problems. We had a good meal at LeBistro, so I’m disappointed to hear that the Italian specialty restaurant was so bad!  
 

I didn’t feel that the Star was up to the standard I expect from NCL. I thought perhaps it was post Covid issues, but it sounds like your recent experience on the Jewel was quite different. 
 

Hope that you have some great port days coming up!  

[www3traveler]

42 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I would give anything to be on an Icelandair flight right about now! 
Window seat to watch the view?☑️

Good food?☑️

Great service?☑️

Bonus chocolate?☑️☑️☑️

BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Hopefully things will get better sooner than later

Love and prayers always

[www3traveler]

22 minutes ago, Happy fool said:

Sorry to hear that your cruise is not going well. Hope that NCL will take notice and fix these problems. We had a good meal at LeBistro, so I’m disappointed to hear that the Italian specialty restaurant was so bad!  
 

I didn’t feel that the Star was up to the standard I expect from NCL. I thought perhaps it was post Covid issues, but it sounds like your recent experience on the Jewel was quite different. 
 

Hope that you have some great port days coming up!  

With all the commplaints that have been posted lately about The Star, one could hope that NCL takes notice and will attempt rectify sooner than later.

[YVRteacher]

I learned today that executives from NCL corporate, including the VP of hotel management, were just on board the Star for a month trying to put improvements in place.

[insidecabin]

Has the management changed since the early round Ireland cruises?

 

Maybe they haven't come out of hiding after drinkgate in May.

 

[YVRteacher]

The port I am most excited about, Longyearbyen, is tomorrow.

 

I had booked a private full day excursion through Hurtigruten. Just received an email that the excursion is cancelled because their boat propeller is cracked.

 

I can’t get internet strong enough to book a private tour and the ones I would have been interested in through NCL are sold out.

 

Big sigh and big hope I can arrange something for this once-in-a-lifetime port.

[YVRteacher]

3 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

Has the management changed since the early round Ireland cruises?

 

Maybe they haven't come out of hiding after drinkgate in May.

 

I don’t think the management has changed in years!

[bluesea777]

6 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

So. Pretzel rolls. People crave them.

Do these look good to you?

 

 

No! Most of the rolls are upside down! So much for presentation and appeal! NOT!

 

 

[www3traveler]

19 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I learned today that executives from NCL corporate, including the VP of hotel management, were just on board the Star for a month trying to put improvements in place.

From what you and others have posted from recent cruises, nothing got fixed.  Maybe there was a different Star Management Team onboard when the Exec's were on board and there needs to be a return visit from  the Exec's.

[Fruitpunch76]

The pretzel rolls are really sad to watch. Someone already has mentioned it before - they look as if they have gotten wet before and then warmed up in the oven again or maybe they were frozen before....

Anyway besides cruising NCL for 18 years now I have also been on 2 MSC cruises in the recent past and believe me foodwise in can get worse ...😜

On my last cruise in April 23 on the Encore I have already noticed that the free food options are on the way down. I constantly felt that they want to save money. I really hope that in the future they will not become like MSC is - beautiful beautiful  ships without heart and cheapish food on the buffet....😔

In December we will cruise Royal again and hope they will "deliver the WOW"😄... but as I read on the RCCL boards there seem to be problems with the food as well recently.

[cmph]

Lurker here, coming out of hiding. 🙂 First off, I love your reports! I have always wanted to go to Iceland, and every time I come on CC and read your latest updates, I get more and more interested. Gorgeous photos, and thank you for sharing with all of us!

 

I had to comment b/c of the food. We were on the Dawn a few weeks ago (10nt Baltic), and while I don't think our food was quite as bad as yours, we also did not think it was good. (We did have some highlights - crepes, Indian on the buffet, Le Bistro, Moderno, but found the MDRs largely disappointing.) One of the issues was that they struggled to adapt to supply problems. I wondered if this was ship specific but now wonder if it's an NCL issue. 

 

For meat/fish/poultry, when they ran out, they subbed menu items that made sense (ex: ran out of chicken breasts, subbed a chicken thigh dish). For other things, though, they might employ odd conservation measures (cutting bananas for the buffet, which then got brown fast so no one ate them) or try to force in an alternative ingredient without warning. I'm thinking of your beet green salad here! For us, it was arugula. OMG they used that everywhere for the first few days of our cruise; it became comedic. It was subbed in for regular greens in salads, it garnished entrees, it was the green on the basic meat/cheese sandwiches on the buffet. I like arugula just fine, but it's a distinct flavor and doesn't belong in everything! Anyway, my pescatarian daughter really struggled, especially once eggs began to be conserved. I am sure some meat/potatoes people on our cruise didn't notice a thing.

 

I hope that things get better!

[LauraAnneC]

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

The port I am most excited about, Longyearbyen, is tomorrow.

 

I had booked a private full day excursion through Hurtigruten. Just received an email that the excursion is cancelled because their boat propeller is cracked.

 

I can’t get internet strong enough to book a private tour and the ones I would have been interested in through NCL are sold out.

 

Big sigh and big hope I can arrange something for this once-in-a-lifetime port.

That’s awful news, I hope you’re able to sort something out. 

[GALSews]

4 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

The port I am most excited about, Longyearbyen, is tomorrow.

 

I had booked a private full day excursion through Hurtigruten. Just received an email that the excursion is cancelled because their boat propeller is cracked.

 

I can’t get internet strong enough to book a private tour and the ones I would have been interested in through NCL are sold out.

 

Big sigh and big hope I can arrange something for this once-in-a-lifetime port.

I hope you find something.

[bstreep]

2 hours ago, Fruitpunch76 said:

In December we will cruise Royal again and hope they will "deliver the WOW"😄... but as I read on the RCCL boards there seem to be problems with the food as well recently.

I guess we are about to find out. We board Norwegian Spirit on Wednesday from Vancouver to Seward, and then 9 days later take Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas.