Where is the Star going?

[bonvoyagie]

I see that the Star sails from Buenos Aires to Rio in late March the next cruise is late April in Europe. Anyone know what is happening in between?

[The Traveling Man]

9 minutes ago, bonvoyagie said:

I see that the Star sails from Buenos Aires to Rio in late March the next cruise is late April in Europe. Anyone know what is happening in between?

April 10 - 27 the Star will cross the Atlantic, ending in Lisbon.  On the 27th it leaves Lisbon for Southampton.

[complawyer]

we're on the april sailing from rio to lisbon, with 3 other ports in brazil, cape verde (the azores) tenerife (canary islands) funchal, and onto lisbon. 17 day cruise.

we're also looking for the star 14 day cruise early sept from reykjavic to greenland, but there is a later sept cruise on the prima that we'll probably take instead. The star has always gotten a great deal of bad press, but we were on her dec 16th 2016 to dec 2017, on her 1st southeast Asian cruise, and recently a couple of years ago thru europe. Other than some missed ports, (deeply disappointed

but got over this)  i have nothing to complain about on the star, and we are looking forward to this 17 day adventure

[The Traveling Man]

11 hours ago, complawyer said:

we're on the april sailing from rio to lisbon, with 3 other ports in brazil, cape verde (the azores) tenerife (canary islands) funchal, and onto lisbon. 17 day cruise.

we're also looking for the star 14 day cruise early sept from reykjavic to greenland, but there is a later sept cruise on the prima that we'll probably take instead. The star has always gotten a great deal of bad press, but we were on her dec 16th 2016 to dec 2017, on her 1st southeast Asian cruise, and recently a couple of years ago thru europe. Other than some missed ports, (deeply disappointed

but got over this)  i have nothing to complain about on the star, and we are looking forward to this 17 day adventure

I must admit that you're a braver man than I am.  We've had four cruises on the Star.  The first two were wonderful, but the last two, B2B in Australia in February 2017, put an end to my Star days (or is it daze?).  Inching along at half speed with one propeller our of service was bad enough.  Losing all propulsion in the Tasman Sea and having to be towed back to port in Melbourne put a cap on it.  I would have thought that your experience with the Star's travails on the cruises just prior to ours would have made you just as wary of setting foot on her again.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

Losing all propulsion in the Tasman Sea and having to be towed back to port in Melbourne put a cap on it. 

Out of curiosity, how many tug boats does it take to do that? I’m thinking several?

 

I know tug boats are powerful but on a 100k-ish ton ship???

[bonvoyagie]

OK I was only looking at cruise time tables website.

[complawyer]

no, ive gone through enough bs in my life (vietnam vet, infantry squad leader year in the jungles)

to make any problems on board seem trivial. while i agree losing all propulsion and needing to be towed back to port, would make me take a 2nd look at booking the star once again. 

 

on the cruise to SE Asia, it was 14 days from hong kong to singapore. upon landing in hong kong my 1st thought was i cant believe im really in china

the disappointment set in on the first day out. we were advised that due to mechanical problems, we could not dock in taipei, hanoi and cambodia. major disappointment  was i really wanted  (needed) to see hanoi. for obvious reasons.

 

unlike what i have read previously about cancelled ports, ncl offered to make it good. a full refund of the cruise, which to my mind was a waste, since we were booked into a hotel in singapore for a few days post cruise.

 

offer #2, 50% off this cruise, and 50% off on any next cruise we chose, and any cabin. 

so one the initial sailing, we had a forward facing penthouse suite, and for the next sailing we choose the epic, 2 bedroom haven round trip from hamburg, so we took our grandson and his buddy. option  (imho) was a no brainer.

 

we were also on the star last year, or 2022, im not sure which, but just before it was going into dry dock, and absolutely no problems.

 

i am very much looking forward to my 17day trans-atlantic , unless we break down somewhere between brazil and cape verde. in that case, i'll be as,pissed as you were, or even more so.

 

so, if you will, say a prayer, light a candle and keep your fingers crossed for us.

 

by the way, i only booked this cruise since we got a 2bedroom suite 17 days for $6,000

 

 

 

[njhorseman]

33 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Out of curiosity, how many tug boats does it take to do that? I’m thinking several?

 

I know tug boats are powerful but on a 100k-ish ton ship???

A ship's gross tonnage (GT) is a measure of enclosed volume, not weight (which is usually referred to as displacement). With the Stars 91,740 GT her displacement is likely well less than half that...perhaps around 40,000 tons.

Edited March 12 by njhorseman

[Distinctive-Destinations]

7 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

A ship's gross tonnage (GT) is a measure of enclosed volume, not weight (which is usually referred to as displacement). With the Stars 91,740 GT her displacement is likely well less than half that...perhaps around 40,000 tons.

So how many tugboats?

[njhorseman]

1 minute ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

So how many tugboats?

How could anyone say without knowing the towing capacities of the tugs available in that geographic area at the time? Sea and wind conditions could also play a role, with  more tugs needed in rough seas to keep the ship on course. 

If I had to pick a number out of a hat I'd say four..

[Distinctive-Destinations]

1 minute ago, njhorseman said:

How could anyone say without knowing the towing capacities of the tugs available in that geographic area at the time? Sea and wind conditions could also play a role, with  more tugs needed in rough seas to keep the ship on course. 

If I had to pick a number out of a hat I'd say four..

I asked the person who witnessed it. I’m guessing he/she looked out the window once and saw X number of tugboats.

 

Then you came along and felt I needed some Archimedes displacement explanation of what was obviously an estimate, and clearly not the actual question I was asking. What’s next, going to tell me how lines stretch under tension?

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Out of curiosity, how many tug boats does it take to do that? I’m thinking several?

 

I know tug boats are powerful but on a 100k-ish ton ship???

The Star departed from Melbourne, Australia about 5:00 PM on 9 February 2017.  It lost propulsion about 1:34 AM on 10 February, about 22 nautical miles southwest of Cape Liptrap, Victoria, Australia.  The first tug arrived about 16 hours after we went dead in the water.  They tied a line to the ship, but did not commence towing until a second tug arrived a few hours later.  With one in front to pull and one tied to the rear to serve as a brake, if needed, we got underway, barely making headway.  The following day (11 February) a third tug arrived and was lashed to the port side.  It added enough horsepower to increase our speed to perhaps two knots.  We reached Melbourne about midnight on the 11th/12th.  These were large, ocean-going tugs, not the rather small harbor tugs you may be accustomed to seeing.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

2 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

The Star departed from Melbourne, Australia about 5:00 PM on 9 February 2017.  It lost propulsion about 1:34 AM on 10 February, about 22 nautical miles southwest of Cape Liptrap, Victoria, Australia.  The first tug arrived about 16 hours after we went dead in the water.  They tied a line to the ship, but did not commence towing until a second tug arrived a few hours later.  With one in front to pull and one tied to the rear to serve as a brake, if needed, we got underway, barely making headway.  The following day (11 February) a third tug arrived and was lashed to the port side.  It added enough horsepower to increase our speed to perhaps two knots.  We reached Melbourne about midnight on the 11th/12th.  These were large, ocean-going tugs, not the rather small harbor tugs you may be accustomed to seeing.

Thank you for answering my question. 
 

Glad you made there safely, although I am sure that was quite stressful.

[The Traveling Man]

2 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Thank you for answering my question. 
 

Glad you made there safely, although I am sure that was quite stressful.

As @complawyer stated, NCL seemed to be more generous with FCC and refunds a few years ago when the Star experienced more than two straight months of propulsion problems (from early December 2016 just after departing Singapore for Hong Kong, through three or four more cruises until it finally went dead in the water in February 2017).  The passengers on our cruise (Sydney to Auckland) also were offered the choice of A) jumping ship for a full refund plus some monetary assistance in rearranging their flight home or B) staying on board for the remainder of the journey and still getting "a full refund of all monies paid".  That quote from a letter the captain had distributed to all passengers later came back to bite NCL in the back side.  The folks in Miami tried to interpret that as just the amount of the cruise fare, not taxes, port fees, gratuities, etc.  I contacted an ombudsman to go to bat for us, meaning all the passengers who accepted the offer.  After months of back and forth, we finally received a second credit on our bank card, bringing the total refund up to "a full refund of all monies paid."  It was like pulling teeth, but if you will allow me to mix my metaphors, we finally did hold NCL's feet to the fire.

 

We also were booked on the following cruise from Auckland to Singapore. After more than two months of propulsion problems, delays, missed ports, a near mutiny, and a wide variety of refund offers to passengers on one leg of the cruise or the other, NCL seemed to throw in the towel when the ship went dead in the water.  They all but cancelled the following cruise, notifying all passengers booked on the Auckland to Singapore segment that they could A) cancel at the last minute for a full refund, or B) take the cruise they already had paid for plus receive a future cruise credit equal to 100% of their cruise fare.  Since we were already on board, we chose to stay, meaning we essentially got a free cruise out of it.  So many people jumped ship in Melbourne and so many accepted the offer to cancel their Auckland to Singapore cruise that the ship sailed at only about half capacity.  It was marvelous.

 

[TrumpyNor]

We did an 11 days cruise on the Star in August 2023, and did not have any technical incidents at all. 😊

[Viajera7]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:03 PM, bonvoyagie said:

I see that the Star sails from Buenos Aires to Rio in late March the next cruise is late April in Europe. Anyone know what is happening in between?

Are you talking about this year? I am on the Star in 4 days and it goes from Chile to Argentina. I also was on the Star last year for a cruise from Argentina to Rio and there were no problems.

[The Traveling Man]

7 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

We did an 11 days cruise on the Star in August 2023, and did not have any technical incidents at all. 😊

I don't recall seeing any reports of technical difficulties with the Star in recent years.  Before I would swear that everything is ship shape, though, I must note that the Star still holds the NCL record for the most number of ports missed, most number of cruises canceled for technical issues, and most number of days sailing at reduced speed because of propulsion problems.  In fact, all the other ships in the NCL fleet COMBINED do not equal the number of technical woes the Star has faced in her 23 years of service.

[CAKEisgood]

On 3/13/2024 at 1:50 PM, The Traveling Man said:

In fact, all the other ships in the NCL fleet COMBINED do not equal the number of technical woes the Star has faced in her 23 years of service

Wow! We are sailing on thr Star at the end of May.  Do you know if her technical woes improved after the 2022 renovations? 
 

Edited March 24 by CAKEisgood

[julig22]

22 minutes ago, CAKEisgood said:

Wow! We are sailing on thr Star at the end of May.  Do you know if her technical woes improved after the 2022 renovations? 
 

Well, I was on the Star Reykjavik to London in 2022, no missed ports or technical issues.

London to Rome, also in 2022, no missed ports or technical issues.

Antarctica in 2023, only missed Stanley due to weather, no technical issues.

And booked again for Norway/Iceland this summer.

[The Traveling Man]

On 3/23/2024 at 7:54 PM, CAKEisgood said:

Wow! We are sailing on thr Star at the end of May.  Do you know if her technical woes improved after the 2022 renovations? 
 

So far as I know, the Star hasn't had any propulsion issues which delayed a cruise since they cut a hole in her hull a couple of years ago to replace one of her diesel engines.

[Middleager]

On 3/12/2024 at 3:39 PM, The Traveling Man said:

 So many people jumped ship in Melbourne and so many accepted the offer to cancel their Auckland to Singapore cruise

How do you jump ship?  From which deck of the Star, onto which deck of the other ship?  Anybody miss?

[The Traveling Man]

11 hours ago, Middleager said:

How do you jump ship?  From which deck of the Star, onto which deck of the other ship?  Anybody miss?

In this instance, "jump ship" was meant to refer to those passengers who accepted NCL's offer to end their cruise early, leave the ship in Melbourne, and give up their final week of the planned 12 day cruise.  Those who did so received $300 to help cover the cost of changing their flights home.  They may also have received some additional FCC, but I do not recall.  Those of us who remained on board continued to Auckland, although delayed by several days and missing all of the intermediate ports of call in New Zealand.  We also received "a full refund of all monies paid" for the cruise, plus additional FCC.  As I recall, our FCC was equal to 50% of the fare we had paid.  So, "jump ship" was intended as a colorful way of saying "leave the cruise prior to the scheduled debarkation date."

[Middleager]

22 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

In this instance, "jump ship" was meant to refer to those passengers who accepted NCL's offer to end their cruise early, leave the ship in Melbourne, and give up their final week of the planned 12 day cruise.  Those who did so received $300 to help cover the cost of changing their flights home.  They may also have received some additional FCC, but I do not recall.  Those of us who remained on board continued to Auckland, although delayed by several days and missing all of the intermediate ports of call in New Zealand.  We also received "a full refund of all monies paid" for the cruise, plus additional FCC.  As I recall, our FCC was equal to 50% of the fare we had paid.  So, "jump ship" was intended as a colorful way of saying "leave the cruise prior to the scheduled debarkation date."

You got a good deal.

 

I knew what jump ship meant, just wanted to poke fun at it.   Thanks.

[complawyer]

leaving in the star on april 10th, rio to lisbon. my hope is that it doesnt get stuck in the middle of the atlantic ocean. please light a candle for us, and keep your fingers crossed. LOL

[cruiseny4life]

21 hours ago, complawyer said:

leaving in the star on april 10th, rio to lisbon. my hope is that it doesnt get stuck in the middle of the atlantic ocean. please light a candle for us, and keep your fingers crossed. LOL

We need you around here compy! You better take your paddle so you can get out the middle when propulsion stops propelling.