any word why the star is going to 7 day cruises?

[melika091900]

Just wondering why the star wont be doing the 8 day cruises as of next year. and are going to the more traditional mexico ports???

 

thats a bummer we love this iten.. is there another ncl ship replacing it ?

 

 

just curious

 

i know ncl sun is doing some cruises from SF to mexico in sept and oct , but thats it ,,

 

thanks in advance

[hawaiilvr]

I heard about this on a travel radio show today. They are moving to a 7-day cruise instead of the 8-day to make it easier for people to know when the cruises start and end. They will start the same day each week, rather than leaving Monday this week, Tuesday the next week, etc. They are trying to make the route more profitable by allwoing people to take one week of vacation time to do a cruise. They said on the radio show that 7-day cruises that leave on weekends are far more popular than cruises with staggering start and end days. The travel agent on the radio said they will drop the Ixtapa stop.

[silkhair1]

I will miss that 8th day. I love cruises longer than 7 days even if by 1.

[newmexicoNita]

the 8 day cruises are great, but it never did make much sense One week leave on Sat, then Sun, then Monday, etc. It can require some to take extra time off or interfer with the work week or weeks.

 

Nita

[Hobbsey]

It will appeal to more families, sell the ship out more quickly and make it more expense per diem. It's a smart move economically for NCL but will make the itinerary a clone of everyone else's Mexican cruise.

 

 

Oh, and the ship will move at a slower pace and use less fuel.

[marilynbn]

This is too bad. I thought Zihuatenejo is far nicer than Acapulco. Loved that little village feel. If we go to Acapulco again on a sailing I will stay on board. When is this supposed to start? Marilyn

[melika091900]

I think it starts after the alaska sailings next summer..

 

it looks like the last star 8 night sailing is april 16,

and then it heads to alaska,

then starts back in mexico in sept for the 7 day sailings...

 

 

i know its kinda a bummer, i loved the 8 days, and the ports it went to .

and IXTAPA was our favorite stop also...

 

They are doing NCL sun from San fran to acapulco, ixtapa , pv and cabo in sept and oct, so maybe they are trying it out and seeing if people like that one and then maybe they will offer it from SF all the time, , I HOPE SO..

[Toothfairy754]

The only problem I see with the SF to Mexico is you have 2 sea days returning and that is when you hit the rougher seas. Living in the SF Bay Area that would be great to cruise from here... just not sure about the rough seas coming back

[Jeepgirl42]

I heard about this on a travel radio show today. They are moving to a 7-day cruise instead of the 8-day to make it easier for people to know when the cruises start and end. They will start the same day each week, rather than leaving Monday this week, Tuesday the next week, etc. They are trying to make the route more profitable by allwoing people to take one week of vacation time to do a cruise. They said on the radio show that 7-day cruises that leave on weekends are far more popular than cruises with staggering start and end days. The travel agent on the radio said they will drop the Ixtapa stop.

 

That makes sense - we wanted to do the 8 day cruise, but had to pick the week based on what day we leave. We picked the week that left on a Saturday and returned on a Sunday so we don't have to take as much vacation time... I imagine a lot of others have done the same.

[Sheebah]

It's on the NCL website as follows as of this evening....so sad. Just like all the other cruises now ;-(

 

Ship: Norwegian Star

Embarkation Port: Los Angeles

Ports of call: Los Angeles; Cabo San Lucas; Mazatlan; Puerto Vallarta

2008: Oct 4, Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29

[CRUZIN TOM]

It will be crowded now with ships, due to the other cruise lines doing the same sailing Itinerary. All coming into the foreign ports on the same days. We did the 8 days twice, yes a little planning was required, but we loved the longer trip. It also made it harder for the spring breakers, due to the 8 day trip.:)

[newmexicoNita]

It's on the NCL website as follows as of this evening....so sad. Just like all the other cruises now ;-(

 

Ship: Norwegian Star

Embarkation Port: Los Angeles

Ports of call: Los Angeles; Cabo San Lucas; Mazatlan; Puerto Vallarta

2008: Oct 4, Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29

I certainly hope the prices will reflect the changes. I can't beleive they will go to Mazatlan and not Z/Ixtapa. i guess they didn't ask us and know what they are doing, but it seems to me like a pretty boring itinerary.

 

Nita

[cruzeluver]

When I saw this thread title I nealry fell over.

 

Looks like we came in just under the wire, as we will be on the April 16, 2008 trip. Thanks goodness! Really lookinf forward to both Ixtapa and Acapulco.

[kapoho2]

That is exactly why we jumped on the Apr. 8th sailing. We wanted to do the Mexican Riviera 8-nt itinerary one more time before it goes poof.

[Bennett'sCruise]

I'm sad, too, to see this itin go bye-bye! The reasoning you all gave is good ... I also think a big part of it was that the Star has 4 engines and the constant run all the way to Acapulco is pretty tough on her (she had to go full speed all the way) and she became a little reliable (ie: she experienced some cancelled ports last year due to engine probs).

MY HOPE is that NCL will put a newer ship with 5 engines on the 8-day run and bring back ZIHUA! (love that port!!)

~d

[CanadianTwosome]

Wow, I'm glad we got booked on this before it changed. One thing that has affected us with the staggered days, though, is that when we're in Acapulco, the tour I want isn't offered... We're the only ship in port that day (a Monday), so with the one day change every cruise, that means that there is only one ship in port on Mondays in Acapulco, and it's only once ever seven weeks! It's not surprising that they don't offer the tour that day.

[melika091900]

looks like carnival spirit from san diego will be adding acapulco and ixtapa on its sailings next year the iten shows as : ixtapa, manzanillo and acapulco....