Star Trip report 10/3 Free* cruise

[JIMESOPUS]

Seems to be no trains today to Dublin or very limited due to construction. Time to see what Dun Laoghaire has to offer, 25 minute tender ride.

 

[insidecabin]

18 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Seems to be no trains today to Dublin or very limited due to construction. Time to see what Dun Laoghaire has to offer, 25 minute tender ride.

 

Even without engineering works Sunday service Dart starts quite late and less often, every 30 rather than 10.

 

https://www.dublinpublictransport.ie/dart-times

 

There were a couple of bus options earlier.

 

The Fortyfoot is the cheapest pub if hanging in town.

 

You can see the tender line from the top floor and avoid the queue if it forms.

Short(<5min) walk.

[JIMESOPUS]

Everything seems to be in a haze including me.

Bliss lounge, deck #7 aft - back in 2012 I think the shops used to be in here

[JIMESOPUS]

Tender line still long, last one back at 6:00pm

 

Proof Whiskey Bar

[JIMESOPUS]

Got ashore and found out the trains are back to normal decided to stay in Dun Loaghaire.

Another pub visit, was informed by ordering 1/2 pints means your are a tourist.

[JIMESOPUS]

Batch upload Dun Laoghaire

[JIMESOPUS]

Lunch at O'Sheehan's today - Caesar with chicken, tortilla chips and cheeseburger without the garden 

 

 

[MkeCruzn]

10 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Got ashore and found out the trains are back to normal decided to stay in Dun Loaghaire.

Another pub visit, was informed by ordering 1/2 pints means your are a tourist.

Almost nobody orders less than a pint. The half pints are considered a "ladies' drink", from what I have heard.

[MkeCruzn]

On 10/7/2023 at 2:39 PM, JIMESOPUS said:

Deck #6 mid ship restaurants, photo's didn't load correctly in order, ugh

Looks like some of these are pictures of La Cucina. They don't have a great atmosphere on this ship. It looks to me like they tried to squeeze it in, but it has no ambience. It's just like another cafeteria. The food is decent, but I'd go to Cagney's or Le Bistro for a nicer experience.

[JIMESOPUS]

Cagney's last night, found our laundry back in the room when we got back. Today at Belfast, CC member organized tour. Also last night we gifted our free bottle of wine to " Lady Gaga ", one of the best servers at any bar that we went to. Unlike the Sun, guest services had us wait until she arrived and they had us present the bottle to her, real nice touch.

[mking8288]

Jim - what's the count on total # of pubs that you've visited during this cruise, LOL   As our CC friend, John @MkeCruzn mentioned (he ran the CC Meet & Greet on the Epic TA and we share an excellent semi-private tour in Barcelona)  La Cucina on these "older" ships is located across the buffet, and used as overflow in the morning for breakfast & lunch on sea days, I think the last one we saw was 4 years ago on the Dawn - it looked okay, dim the lights plus the flickering LED candlelight for dinner - odds are 50:50 that the tenderloin can be prepared just as good as Cagney's (yours looked fine, they often over-cook when asked for med-well & presented as well done)  I agree, it's probably hard to see ambience dining there - my recollection of that space is that it's pretty spacious vs. what they are using for Moderno, maybe trading their locations.  

 

Alas, dangerous to try to be a fair food critic, since it's very subjective, biased & personal ... but, I had to say, that Caesar salad with thinly ?? sliced chicken does look a bit sad looking, for whatever reasons ... maybe it's the colors or camera, in the photography.  

 

Aside from tendering, these are mostly easy DIY port stops that one can explore on their own ... lately, NCL really jacked up their crazy shorex prices, maybe still reasonable for a solo cruiser after applying the $50 per port credit.  Hence, maybe we will not spend the money on a balcony & book, last minute, 2 Insides and possibly get an extra $100 (or more) shareholder's OBC per cabin - otherwise, resort to our ways of just winging them on the pier.  

[KKB]

Oops...error!

Edited October 10, 2023 by KKB

[JIMESOPUS]

A very long day in Belfast, no pubs on the list but an excursion set up by a fellow CC member. As a side note, the ship docked in a location in the port that required some type of transportation to the city center. NCL offered a $20 RT per passenger ( unlimited ) on a open double decker bus, which was not  ADA compliant. Our tour to the Giant Causeway was $42 per person, similar one from NCL was $149. 

We went thru Belfast and into the country, tour took over 6 hours. We did the red trail at the causeway, my legs are still paying for that choice.

Sorry again for the batch uploading, takes forever. At least you can click on one photo then scroll thru.

Killybegs today, back to the pub list, love that Rockshore lager and I will order a pint today.

 

[JIMESOPUS]

8 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Jim - what's the count on total # of pubs that you've visited during this cruise, LOL   As our CC friend, John @MkeCruzn mentioned (he ran the CC Meet & Greet on the Epic TA and we share an excellent semi-private tour in Barcelona)  La Cucina on these "older" ships is located across the buffet, and used as overflow in the morning for breakfast & lunch on sea days, I think the last one we saw was 4 years ago on the Dawn - it looked okay, dim the lights plus the flickering LED candlelight for dinner - odds are 50:50 that the tenderloin can be prepared just as good as Cagney's (yours looked fine, they often over-cook when asked for med-well & presented as well done)  I agree, it's probably hard to see ambience dining there - my recollection of that space is that it's pretty spacious vs. what they are using for Moderno, maybe trading their locations.  

 

Alas, dangerous to try to be a fair food critic, since it's very subjective, biased & personal ... but, I had to say, that Caesar salad with thinly ?? sliced chicken does look a bit sad looking, for whatever reasons ... maybe it's the colors or camera, in the photography.  

 

Aside from tendering, these are mostly easy DIY port stops that one can explore on their own ... lately, NCL really jacked up their crazy shorex prices, maybe still reasonable for a solo cruiser after applying the $50 per port credit.  Hence, maybe we will not spend the money on a balcony & book, last minute, 2 Insides and possibly get an extra $100 (or more) shareholder's OBC per cabin - otherwise, resort to our ways of just winging them on the pier.  

Uploading pictures has been a challenge, multiple failures causing the order to get messed up. The last batch was able to shave and shower before it was completed.

 

Prices for NCL excursions are unreal, making a few bucks is OK but I'm at a loss why the markup is so high.

 

Caesar salad photo, that thinly object was the crouton, chicken is there if you look real hard. Carol doesn't want the camera out while eating, have to pick the right time.

 

We experience our first supply issue last night, no sriracha gelato with our lava cakes.

 

Location of the Italian restaurant, similar to the Dawn on deck #6 may appear to be in a bad location but is near to Le Bistro and they use the same galley.

 

Pub count is over 7, didn't take the camera out on some of the trips. Think the Roaring Dunkey is missing in the photos.

 

[JIMESOPUS]

We found $30 ROBC per person in our account yesterday, no note or reason why, guess this cruise is really free. Most likely it was from the three missed ports but we did stay overnight in Cobh and are now going to Green Castle

[JIMESOPUS]

Wet and rainy Killybegs, several pubs closed until 4PM, others filled with tourist, but we found one somewhat local. I didn't have a half pint today. 

[mking8288]

Great pictures, that's quite a hike for the tour and a fraction of what NCL charged, hope your tired legs get the well deserved rest.  Looking cloudy every day during this cruise - where is the sun, playing hide & seek ?  typical weather for this time of the year ?  Half a pint, that's just 8 oz of beer/ale ... back in the college days, roommates in the dorm would order them by the full pitcher & share, nothing less.  

 

A year ago, supply chain issues were serious & real.  Nowadays, I am not readily accepting the answer, like those hash brown potatoes served at breakfast ... easier (and, cheaper ??) to just stockpile "fries" instead.  Markup for shorex prices has, really, reached ridiculous & beyond any meaningful and reasonable mark-ups this year ... progressively getting worst, and, still going up higher. 

[sjpo]

On 10/8/2023 at 11:48 AM, JIMESOPUS said:

Everything seems to be in a haze including me.

Bliss lounge, deck #7 aft - back in 2012 I think the shops used to be in here

 

Indeed. On ships like Jade the duty free shops are still at that location. On Star it seems that they swoped places in 2018

[insidecabin]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Great pictures, that's quite a hike for the tour and a fraction of what NCL charged, hope your tired legs get the well deserved rest.  Looking cloudy every day during this cruise - where is the sun, playing hide & seek ?  typical weather for this time of the year ?  Half a pint, that's just 8 oz of beer/ale ... back in the college days, roommates in the dorm would order them by the full pitcher & share, nothing less.  

 

A year ago, supply chain issues were serious & real.  Nowadays, I am not readily accepting the answer, like those hash brown potatoes served at breakfast ... easier (and, cheaper ??) to just stockpile "fries" instead.  Markup for shorex prices has, really, reached ridiculous & beyond any meaningful and reasonable mark-ups this year ... progressively getting worst, and, still going up higher. 

It's Ireland typical weather all year.

 

1/2 UK pint is nearer 10oz US.(9.6)

 

Shorex need to be high because most people get $50 off.

 

When we were on the shuttles were not eligible for the credit.

[JIMESOPUS]

Finally found the officers screen, tucked away in a very small hallway in the atrium 

[JIMESOPUS]

Greencastle Ireland today, tender port, appears to be a small trip to shore. At Greencastle it's Euros and a 25 minute ride to Derry it's pounds. Plan is to stay Euro and try to find a pub, last tender is 3PM, a very short stay.

[JIMESOPUS]

Plans changed, tendering process slow, real slow. Checked google and most places in Greencastle are closed until 4PM. Going to downstairs and bother the cruisenext folks about NYC in 2025. 

[JIMESOPUS]

Spice on deck #12 aft, bar on the inside, two hot tubs. Sure miss Spinnaker.

[Cruising Lynne]

1 hour ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Spice on deck #12 aft, bar on the inside, two hot tubs. Sure miss Spinnaker.

Looks like a mini Spice H2O, Great Outdoors combo. I really wanted to check it out in person, but our one time booked on Star was in March of 2020, supposed to go to ABC islands. Of course, it was cancelled about a week before. Finally headed to those islands next month on our first ever HAL cruise. I am nervous because of all the unknowns of sailing a different line. I am so used to all of NCLs quirks and inconsistencies. I also really enjoy the crew on NCL. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[7Contraveler]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:41 PM, yankprintster said:

 

Technically, that code means 3 *extra* points per night (so 4 points per night unless you're in a suite, then it's 5.)

How do you get extra lat points? Always wondered