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

[YVRteacher]

[YVRteacher]

[YVRteacher]

[YVRteacher]

Day 4 (Olden) continued
 

As I was walking from Moderno to the Stardust Theatre the captain came on the PA. He said the weather was not good today and it would not be better tonight. In fact, we are in for 5 metre swells with gale force winds. The captain said they will likely be closing the outside decks but that there would be plenty of activities to do. At no point on this cruise has there been plenty of activities. It is the worst programming I’ve ever seen on NCL. If you know the book Owl Moon by Jane Yolen you’ll remember the part where the narrator says “when you go owling, you have to make your own heat.” On the Star, you have to make your own entertainment. Either that or go to the brush seminar.

[SpainAlien]

3 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Day 4 (Olden) continued
 

As I was walking from Moderno to the Stardust Theatre the captain came on the PA. He said the weather was not good today and it would not be better tonight. In fact, we are in for 5 metre swells with gale force winds. The captain said they will likely be closing the outside decks but that there would be plenty of activities to do. At no point on this cruise has there been plenty of activities. It is the worst programming I’ve ever seen on NCL. If you know the book Owl Moon by Jane Yolen you’ll remember the part where the narrator says “when you go owling, you have to make your own heat.” On the Star, you have to make your own entertainment. Either that or go to the brush seminar.

We did a transatlantic on the Epic last April and at 1pm every day there was 3 or 4 activities scheduled, nothing the rest of the day just at 1pm when you were going for lunch. It was ridiculous!

 

[YVRteacher]

August 8

Lerwick, Shetland Islands

 

Noo den (hello!) and (almost! So close!) welcome to Lerwick. In Old Norse this means muddy bay.

 

Lerwick is one of 100 Shetland Islands.  People identify as Norse and Shetlandic over Scottish. Shetland belonged to Norway until 1469. 

What happened in 1469?  Was there a war?

No war.

Was there a continental shift?

No shift?

Was there a wedding?

You betcha. When Princess Margaret of Norway wed James the III of Scotland, Margaret’s dad didn’t have enough money.  Poor fellow had to give away his land (Shetland and Orkney.) One time when I was kid I was playing baseball and got a great hit. In great excitement I threw the bat and ran the bases. My friends all stopped what they were doing to look at the broken window I created when I threw the bat through the next door neighbour’s basement window. My dad had to replace a window. A window is one thing, but can you imagine having to give away 101 islands?? The things dads do for their their daughters! Margaret’s dad planned on buying the land back but he was too busy watching Game of Thrones in real life (not even on Netflix) so he never did and Scotland has owned the Shetlands ever since.  History book publishers, I am available if needed. 

 

6948 people live in Lerwick. There is one hospital that serves the Shetland islands and Lerwick has 4 football (soccer) teams.

 

Just as I was about to order my vegetable omelette with no side potatoes the captain came on. He said we had very rough seas last night so we had to slow down (it felt like we were going fast to me!) and there was a passenger medical evacuation so we are now two hours delayed in our quest for Lerwick. The waves are huge and fascinating! A wave forms and it’s so windy the crest gets blown with full force across other waves, like the spirit of the first wave is escaping across the vast ocean. 

 This happens over and over and it’s beautiful and almost eerie. Last night was eerie too! As we exited the fjord about 10:30pm there was a sudden change from clear skies to stormy sideways rain shrouded in deep fog.  I could see the lighthouses and lights from homes as well as a campfire and it was so interesting to think about what life would be like here. Our ship starting rolling back and forth and so did the passengers. I was thinking it was a good thing all the dining rooms were closed by this time otherwise there would have been soup sloshing sideways.

 

One of my favourite days EVER on an NCL cruise  was spent in Lerwick with my dad.  We woke up early and discovered a notice outside our cabin that our NCL excursion to Moussa Island was cancelled due to rain. It’s Scotland. It rains. Why cancel? We were all bundled up and ready to go so off on a tender we went. With no plans, we walked to the visitor centre and asked, “what can we do today?” The kind woman behind the counter told us to “scurry and get in that van right there!” So we did.  If a Scottish woman tells you to get in a van, do it!  We ended up in a van with a professional nature photographer as our driver/guide and 6 wonderful passengers plus us.  We went to the guide’s favourite places to see puffins, seals, cliffs, old stone huts and Shetland ponies before stopping at a roadside tea house for tea served in fancy china, scones with jam and real cream and shortbread biscuits.  My dad and I had some time so we walked down the path to a little shop where he was delighted to find some Penguin biscuits. My dad never buys himself anything but he bought two packages of Penguin biscuits and opened and shared one package in the van. He remembered having Penguin biscuits as a child in Bristol.

 

On that cruise we were traveling with two friends. My dad and I did some gift shopping for her in the shops before returning to the ship and we all had a wonderful birthday dinner for our friend in Cagney’s. 

 

When I was searching for excursions in Lerwick I tried and tried and tried to find the nature photographer or an excursion that sounded similar. I sent emails to every company and they were all fully booked.  Clearly Lerwick is popular.  I ended up booking the Jarlshof excursion through NCL which turned out to be a good thing since it is 10:36am and we don’t know if we are going to make it to Lerwick or not.

 

Since we have left Scandinavia and are now entering our first and only port in the UK all 2220 passengers need to go through UK immigration on board. The problem is we are so delayed we don’t have the UK immigration officers on board.

 

Cheers enoo. (Bye for now.)

[YVRteacher]

Lerwick, but not Lerwick

 

I saw it coming.

The swells.

The customs inspection.

The time delay.

It all added up to a missed port. In hundreds of days of cruising, this is my first missed port. 

 

Both the captain and the cruise director keep coming on the announcements to talk about the “increment” weather.

They mean inclement weather which looks like this:

 

The crew did a huge pivot: they opened up the dining room for lunch, a couple of extra activities were added and I got to see Mamma Mia Here We Go Again in the Stardust Theatre. Puffins were not involved and I was really looking forward to puffins and ponies with romance novel cover shot manes. I’m not sure if @ceilidh1is going to let me come home, what with no polar bear and no puffin sightings. Will the Icelandic chocolate be enough?

 

The sweetest moment happened during Mamma Mia. A couple in their 70s was sitting in front of me. Near the end of the movie Sophie takes her newborn to the church high on the hill to be christened. The character of Donna (Meryl Streep) appears as a flashback. The woman in front of me started to cry. I’m guessing she knows the loss of a mother or the loss of a child. Her husband wiped her tears and rubbed her head. I love those tender moments of genuine care.

 

I really need Internet but the price is high. By this time on the previous cruise the unlimited package was $69. That was palatable. Today I asked the very unfriendly, very unsmiling, very customer-ignoring Internet Cafe Manager when the price would drop on this cruise. He said it wouldn’t.

I said why not.

He said that is the price.

I said on the previous cruise it was reasonable.

He said that cruise was shorter. Now, I’m way better with words than numbers but I definitely know that 12 days is a longer time period than 11 days.

I said that cruise was 12 days and this cruise is 11 days so why are we paying more for less.

I also told him I only need internet for the live thread on Cruise Critic and that most Internet Cafe Managers just restore the minutes and give me free internet. Not Mr. Grouchy. He just asked me if I was going to buy the package. I said not at this price and walked away.

 

Lunch was pretty good. I enjoyed the items.

Appetizer: corn soup

Appetizer: caprese salad

 

Dessert: milk chocolate peanut butter cake.

Nowhere near as good as on the Spirit and super skimpy on both the chunks inside and the peanut butter cups but it tasted fine. My favourite waiter from Ginza was in Versailles today and he provided great service. Thank you, Mon! 

 

Now I’m in the atrium listening to Justin and Andrei. Peeing ladies from the woods yesterday are making a lot of noise. A group of friends are playing cards and one person keeps putting the cards in her mouth so she can check her phone with two hands. Good thing they didn’t ask me to play because yuck!

[YVRteacher]

Original Freestyle Daily for Day 5 (Lerwick)

[YVRteacher]

Revised Freestyle Daily for Day 5 (No Lerwick)

[YVRteacher]

Not Lerwick part 3

So Ginza has been good to me so far. That streak ended tonight. I ordered the usual and sent 2/3 of it back. 

 

Twice.

 

The first bowl of vegetable fried rice was so full of garlic I couldn’t eat it. I don’t dislike garlic and don’t have an allergy. It simply wasn’t bearable. The replacement bowl was all scrambled egg and no flavour. I tried to find some rice amidst the egg but just couldn’t. Would you have eaten this?

The person next to me sent her food back twice as well.

 

When I was offered dessert I said I was still hungry so got up to go the the Garden Cafe. At this point the maitre d, assistant maître d, executive sous chef and F and B manager all converged on me. Chef Elmer said he would make me some pasta.
I sat down in Ginza at 5:15 and it was now 6:45 and I wanted to eat SOMETHING and go to the show. He tried to hug me and I said I didn’t want him to hug me. I’m annoyed and frustrated by the food situation and a hug doesn’t replace edible food.  If the chefs and management team are going to intervene, do so BEFORE the customers are frustrated and unhappy. Have systems in place where the chefs are tasting the food. Fried rice is not complicated. There are recipes. Use them.

In the Garden Cafe I had some cucumber, carrots and hummus and tried a little bit of dal (awful. Dal should not be chewy and salty.) GM Manny came by and asked how my day was. I said it was fine (I know he gets a lot of flak when ports are cancelled and I totally understand why we couldn’t tender in Lerwick today) and that I enjoyed the movie. I said my dinner wasn’t good and I showed him a photo of the second attempt at fried rice. He looked at the photo and said, “well, they made a mess of it, didn’t they.” 

 

Yes they did. 

 

The Lo Mein noodles with vegetables and tofu were in a bowl half filled with liquid. Honestly, I am just in awe at what gets made and what gets served. It’s horrible.

Manny told me to eat at Moderno whenever I want. That would be fine if the maître d and waiters would let me eat in peace. I’ve run out of restaurants to eat at on this ship.

 

Moving on. 

Tonight’s performance in the Stardust Theatre was  the best show I’ve seen on board so far. He is a professional musician, a violinist was has extensive experience performing in over 100 countries. His name is Michael Bacala and he is a violinist. I enjoyed both the music and song selection. The show band was also excellent. This would have been a great show if they hadn’t used the smoke effects 19 times in 40 minutes.

Smoke comes out of three places in the theatre (from the stage sides, from the stage ceiling and from the light track hanging over the audience.) Each time smoke happens people start coughing. It’s just so tacky and outdated. I’ve seen it written in reviews that the smoke ruins the shows on the Star but clearly NCL isn’t listening and isn’t responding. 

 

Lucky us! To make up for the missed port today we are arriving extra early at tomorrow’s port, Torshavn in the Faroe Islands. We arrive at 4:00am but are not allowed to disembark until after 9am. I will be sleeping. I feel badly for the port workers who have to get up at 3:00am to meet the ship so early.
Fortunately (for us, not the portside workers) we dock instead of tender.

[YVRteacher]

I wrote a negative review of the entertainment two days ago, Marrambolla. I felt badly so didn’t post it. Maybe just skip it if you’re on the Star.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

Lerwick, but not Lerwick

 

I saw it coming.

The swells.

The customs inspection.

The time delay.

It all added up to a missed port. In hundreds of days of cruising, this is my first missed port. 

 

You’ve been very fortunate! 

[YVRteacher]

Alright, who unfollowed this thread before they even got to read about the Faroese sheep??

[bluesea777]

1 minute ago, YVRteacher said:

Alright, who unfollowed this thread before they even got to read about the Faroese sheep??

Huh? Not moi!!!!

 

Carry on!! I’m living on your posts!

 

Love to you but not quite to the Star!

 

 

[wally4ever]

5 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Continuing the Behind the Scenes tour photos from the galley. Please note that all photos were taken with permission, as were the ones in the theatre and the laundry. We were encouraged to take photos. However, the earlier tour from the same morning with a different Cruise Next employee had the rule of no photos.

 

This first photo is for @shadowmeboy because they are making the Bay Scallops au Gratin

 

 

I love those bay scallops, and I especially love the (bowls? modified plates?) they come in. Glad I don't have to clean them, though!

[ceilidh1]

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

I’m not sure if @ceilidh1is going to let me come home, what with no polar bear and no puffin sightings. Will the Icelandic chocolate be enough?

 

And I'm assuming no Penguin biscuits either?

[purpleally]

5 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

The photo in post 408 of the old wooden boat laying on its side on the beach in the left foreground, leading your eye to the long expanse of water behind it is perfectly composed and visually stunning. 

I agree, that picture just spoke to me💜💜💜💜💜

[Ottawa Lynne]

Looking forward to hearing about your Faroe adventure. We stopped there on a cruise and I found it to be the most magical place. More sheep than people! I loved all the folk stories about how things came to be and was heartbroken by their sad stories too.

 

Loving seeing and hearing about your adventures!

 

On the news tonight here in Canada was a piece on awful flooding in Norway - specifically in the south. I was very sad to see this.

 

Sorry about your food troubles - that's just awful.

[Cruisewilm]

5 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

@Cruisewilm which ports are on your itinerary?

Iceland:   Reykjavik, Isafjordur, Akureyi, Seydisfjordur, Djupivogur

Norway:  Tromso, Harstad, Alesund, Bergin

Scotland: Lerwick, Edinburgh

Plus 3 sea days

(Hence why I have been so excited to read your posts!)

[ellenw]

10 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

 

Norway is amazing. Such a beautiful country!

[BrianLo]

7 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

It all added up to a missed port. In hundreds of days of cruising, this is my first missed port. 

 

Wow this shocks me. What are you counting as a missed port, just a same day miss?

 

I feel like I'm batting a 'missed port' once per cruise on average.

[YVRteacher]

8 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

And I'm assuming no Penguin biscuits either?

Sadly no.

[YVRteacher]

3 hours ago, BrianLo said:

 

Wow this shocks me. What are you counting as a missed port, just a same day miss?

 

I feel like I'm batting a 'missed port' once per cruise on average.

I’m counting all missed ports as missed ports.

Total of missed ports=1.

 

(I booked this cruise after Greenland was removed from the itinerary so yes, only 1 missed port ever.)

[YVRteacher]

August 9

Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

 

Welcome to Thor’s harbour (tórshavn) with a population of 13994. This is the largest city in the Faroe Islands. If people move here they usually go home after one winter.

Today I’m doing the NCL Shore Excursion Traditional Villages. Our guide is Helgi and he begins by stating, “it is not unfair to say we are in the middle of nowhere.”

“Far” means sheep “oe” means  islands so Faroe Islands means sheep islands islands (not a typo!)

People have been living here for 1400 years and the Queen of Norway is here today! She came by boat which is docked right next to us.

Today we have the last vestiges of the storm, Hans, that has been wreaking havoc on parts of Norway.

 

There are few trees in the Faroe Islands because the sheep eat them.  At this time of year there are 200000 sheep so a 4:1 ratio of sheep to people.

 

Hop on the bus and come along on this excellent shore ex. 

This is rainbow #1

 

There are bottlenose whales in the fjord under this rainbow. This is uncommon but they have been here for two weeks. They are a deep sea creature living 2000m below the surface and the fjord

is only 60-70m deep. Helgi has very definite proof there are bottlenose whales here: his mom saw them yesterday!

 

Stop #1

Village of Køllafjordur

They are harvesting and today they are cutting grass as winter feed for cattle and sheep. Potato and rhubarb can be grown here but only on a small scale for personal use. Wheat isn’t a viable crop since the summer is so short it can’t ripen.

 

We park in front of the church.

I take a photo through the window from the inside looking out then tell Helgi I’m off to explore. He looks very worried. 

There is a small grocery store and this is the bakery selection. Now I look very worried.

 

Mostly I take photos of grass roofs and stone walls with some scenery for good measure.

[YVRteacher]

Rainbow #2

and a 5km tunnel

 

En route to our next village