NCL Star Trip Report - 10/25/08-11/1/08 Mexican Riveria

[dplb3]

We just got back on Saturday, and we had a great time!

 

We are first time cruisers, but now we are HOOKED!

 

Restaurants: We ate at Cagneys, Ginza and Trattoria (converted at night from the port half of the Market Cafe) as our "cover charge" meals, and loved every one of them. Well worth the nominal cover charge, in our opinion. The food was noticeably better than the other places; however, don't overlook the Versailles which has by far the best venue even though it has no cover charge. We ate three dinners there, and I would recommend eating every dinner there rather than at the Market Cafe (but check the menus laid out each afternoon in the forward, starboard entry to the Market Cafe and check out the limited menu selections for Versailles each night). Market Cafe was very basic cafeteria food, and not really too tasty. Better off eating an omelet in The Grill (poolside), or the chef will cook eggs to order (I switched to having overeasy eggs every morning at The Grill. The Grill also serves somewhat marginal burgers/dogs for lunch, so I then prefer to move into the Market Cafe for sliced pizza.

 

Drinks: Avoid buying the foo-foo drinks the first afternoon onboard. They were $9 apiece for the first round, then $7 the second round, then $3.5 the third round; you get the idea. Best drink deal was a bucket of beer for $19; keeps 'em cool in a bucket of ice, and you can take the spares to your stateroom frig for the next day (and later in the week, they gave away Tshirts with your bucket). The Bier Garten (overlooking the pool) was the best place for drinks watching the beautiful sunset. The nightlife (bar-wise) was sorely deficient for us anyway. After dinner, things were always dead (Carousel, Ginza, Gatsby Champagne Bar, Red Lion Pub). The Spinnaker on deck 12 had the best potential for drinking after dinner, but they unwisely filled the prime time slot (8-10pm) with Karoake (and we had the misfortune to cruise with lesser talent participants); the Spinnaker never got going until well after 1030pm, when we were usually starting to wind down from being in the sun all day. Also, they will sell you a bottle of wine, and actually hold the rest of the bottle for another occasion (they give you a receipt, not for your actual bottle though, but its equivalent), which is a nice feature, except for the fact that you are better off buying wine by the glass. We did not do any of the wine, tequila, beer etc tastings, but heard they were ok.

 

Facilities: Saltwater pool; fun to be in when the boat is gently rocking and its like being in a wave pool. Good drink service around the pool. Four hot tubs around the pool, and a nice one on the bow. The ship was in very nice shape, and not rundown or dirty as some of the apparently more fastidious have maintained. Great library and theater for a fairly good selection of movies (deck 12).

 

The Shows: This was the best part!! The Andrew Lloyd Webber music show was excellent; Broadway quality (certainly not "lame" as one prior reviewer erroneously, imho, concluded). Also good was the 2nd City Improv group. Murray the Magician was ok; funny, not high quality (except for Chloe, his babelicious assistant). The juggler guy (can't remember name) was also very entertaining. We missed the crew revue, and the Cirque Pacific, but the kids were entertained. The Starlight Theater (decks 6 and 7, entrances on both levels) is a very very nice venue.

 

Ports of call: We did no shore excursions, contenting ourselves to hang at the beach. Cabo: We took a water taxi to the area where "The Office" bar/restaurant is located next to several other eating/drinking establishments (sorta the hotel zone). Good food, but outrageously priced (we paid over $300 US for 8 of us; 3 adults with two drinks each and five kids). Plus we were "swarmed" (is the best word to describe) by vendors when we arrived; much moreso than anywhere else. We swam at the beach, but the later ports were much more enjoyable. Mazatlan: Nice, authentic! Take a cab to El Mercado (the market) to see genuine food,veggie market, interspersed with some craft shops; all negotiable. The cathedral one block away is also a must see. We then walked to the "cliff divers" (not worth the stop), and cabbed to the Golden Zone (hotel zone) to the Hotel Playa Mazatlan (which is in the middle of the Zone). We ate a very nice lunch there ($85 for the 8 of us, compared with The OFfice), and they graciously allowed our group to occupy a very spacious Palapa with nice chairs where we "hung" while the kids played/swam on the very nice beach. Great shopping all around the hotel. Puerto Vallarta: Don't take a taxi; go outside the gate to the main north-south drag and get on a bus; 50 cents per person, and go to either downtown, or Old Town just beyond. Great shops, nice to walk along the Marcale (boardwalk). We then bussed back to the Sheraton to try to repeat our experience at Hotel Mazatlan, but they charged us $15 per person to use their faciities after our $80 lunch. Not a very nice beach (the rivers along downtown wash away the beach, at least in October), but still better than NCL's shore excursion (ship guests did exactly what we did, except they paid $75 per person for lunch/pool/beach/drinks. Their excursion ended at 215pm, so I'm not sure they made up for the price difference with drinks. Let's put it this way: We paid about the same $150 for our group of 8 (including drinks) as did another couple (2 persons) from our ship.

 

Express Disembarkation: This is a joke. You don't arrange it at all. YOu just show up on the 6th (or 7th floor) with your bags at around 730am, and you walk right off. You have to complete your customs declaration form, but they didn't even ask for our passports. We were, literally, off the boat by 805am, which was great since we did Disneyland the rest of that very long day!!

 

Overall: We had a great, relaxing time. The crew was, by and far, very friendly and willing to go out of their way to make our trip enjoyable. I would definitely recommend the freestyle method too (no assigned tables or schedules). I thought NCL could have been a little more upfront about the $10 per person per day surcharge they tag on (for us that added about $900 extra, which was actually more than our bar bill). My only regret was NOT bringing bottles of wine on board ($15 corkage fee, even for big bottles) and NOT doing the "bar set up" thingy (not sure how it works, but I think you pay a premium, e.g. $65 for a big bottle of liquor, and then get free(?) setups, but it's still cheaper than buying by the drink. Problem is that, I was told anyway, you have to arrange it before the cruise (?). I will definitely use NCL again, and will definitely sail aboard the Star. By the way, we were in three inside staterooms (no window, even) on the 4th floor (the belly of the beast), and our rooms were great! Also easy to get off at the ports since we always got off on deck 4.

__________________

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

Thanks for the review!

 

We were on the STAR for the first time the week before you and I totally agree with your assessment!

 

LOVED IT and had a GREAT time!

 

:)

[JaiJaiW]

Thanks so much for your review! We are sailing in 3 weeks and can't wait!

[ehschief]

I know there are hair dryers but is there also shampoo, cream rinse and lotion?

[newmexicoNita]

I know there are hair dryers but is there also shampoo, cream rinse and lotion?

 

shampoo, conditioner combined and yes, there is lotion.

 

Nita

[Kapsgirl]

are you able to ask for foo foo drinks without the souvenir cup? if so what did those cost?? last thing i need is more cups in our cupboard and would rather not pay more if not keeping the glass!!! thanks and great review. :)

[vegasres]

Thanks for the wonderful review! We leave on the 15th, and am getting really anxious!!!!!

[dplb3]

Dunno about foo-foo drinks without the foo-foo container, but given how negotiable the drink price became, it's certainly worth asking. Thank you all for the kind comments!

[oz cleopatra]

Make sure you get your foo-foo drinks made FRESH! We always did. Don't let them skimp by pumping out the pre-made slurpee versions out of that big machine. And sadly for us- the Spinnaker was dead, I mean NOONE THERE every night, more so after 10.30 pm. This is from a month ago.

[daldog]

are you able to ask for foo foo drinks without the souvenir cup? if so what did those cost?? last thing i need is more cups in our cupboard and would rather not pay more if not keeping the glass!!! thanks and great review. :)

 

Oh boy now you got me started. We have no need for those plastic cups either - and I rarely have more than one, so the whole refill thing just doesn't interest us.

 

So first day, Dark&Stormy - drink of day price I think was $7.95. I think normally $8.95 but not sure. We asked for it in a glass at the Bier Garten, and they gave it to us. We were charged for a refill ($5.95 I think plus grat.)

 

Several days later my husband went to Topsiders bar, asked for the drink in a glass. The bartender brought it over in a plastic souvenir cup. My husband politely said he asked for a glass. The bartender told him NO! He couldn't have it in a glass! A normal conversation ensued about how we please asked for a glass, charge full price we don't care, but we are not interested in the plastic cup. Nope - he wouldn't budge. Drink of the day comes in a plastic cup, but refills are a good deal -so here, take the cup. My husband is trying again, explaining we don't need or want the plastic cup or the refill, and then another employee rushed over and proceeded to yell at my husband: "IT POLICY! You take cup! You take cup home!" Husband still calm says "But we don't want to take the cup home. We had no problem ordering a drink in a glass yesterday". Then she demanded "YOU bring receipt!! You show me!" Yeah ok. So end of story, it was a horrible encounter. We could not get a drink in a glass, and we never went to Topsiders Bar again.

 

And our joke to each other thru the rest of the cruise was "you're free to do whatever ..... as long as it's not policy". Maybe it's the whole "Drink of the Day" language. Maybe if you say I'd like a "Tropical Passionfruit" or whatever, you get a glass. I don't know.

 

So the short answer to your question is apparantly it depends who you ask. We actually couldn't believe it. Where do all the dead unwanted plastic souvenir cups go? The landfill? Plastic souvenir cup heaven?

[oz cleopatra]

Oh boy now you got me started. We have no need for those plastic cups either - and I rarely have more than one, so the whole refill thing just doesn't interest us.

 

So first day, Dark&Stormy - drink of day price I think was $7.95. I think normally $8.95 but not sure. We asked for it in a glass at the Bier Garten, and they gave it to us. We were charged for a refill ($5.95 I think plus grat.)

 

Several days later my husband went to Topsiders bar, asked for the drink in a glass. The bartender brought it over in a plastic souvenir cup. My husband politely said he asked for a glass. The bartender told him NO! He couldn't have it in a glass! A normal conversation ensued about how we please asked for a glass, charge full price we don't care, but we are not interested in the plastic cup. Nope - he wouldn't budge. Drink of the day comes in a plastic cup, but refills are a good deal -so here, take the cup. My husband is trying again, explaining we don't need or want the plastic cup or the refill, and then another employee rushed over and proceeded to yell at my husband: "IT POLICY! You take cup! You take cup home!" Husband still calm says "But we don't want to take the cup home. We had no problem ordering a drink in a glass yesterday". Then she demanded "YOU bring receipt!! You show me!" Yeah ok. So end of story, it was a horrible encounter. We could not get a drink in a glass, and we never went to Topsiders Bar again.

 

And our joke to each other thru the rest of the cruise was "you're free to do whatever ..... as long as it's not policy". Maybe it's the whole "Drink of the Day" language. Maybe if you say I'd like a "Tropical Passionfruit" or whatever, you get a glass. I don't know.

 

So the short answer to your question is apparantly it depends who you ask. We actually couldn't believe it. Where do all the dead unwanted plastic souvenir cups go? The landfill? Plastic souvenir cup heaven?

 

We had a horrific experience with the bartenders too. A month ago- REALLY bad actually. But I hate to tell you, the bartenders rotate out so you cannot actually single out one BAR for having bad service. Nyoman was so nice and he worked in several of the bars, as did the evil bartender form hell that we got too. So, you need to spot the bartender and see who is at each bar before you order, you see? Sorry that happened. I have tried to explain to some here what happened to us and would you belive one poster even went so far as to suggest it was my fault and that I must not be very nice!!!:eek: Even though I swear on my mother's life I was sober, polite and happy to tip!! I guess the thing is, some people are such devout fans they will not acknowledge one tiny error with their beloved NCL. I too loved my cruise (except for the bartenders) but I am not bashing and neither are you just because we share a negative experience we both had. It's just sharing our experiences. :)

[daldog]

I guess the thing is, some people are such devout fans they will not acknowledge one tiny error with their beloved NCL. I too loved my cruise (except for the bartenders) but I am not bashing and neither are you just because we share a negative experience we both had. It's just sharing our experiences. :)

 

Thanks for that - and yes, I would believe it. I have been reading these boards long enough to be prepared for someone to say it was our fault. I'm ok with that -I know better. It was awful and ridiculous. And we've both worked in the bar/restaurant biz. We were actually avoiding the people, but we steered clear of Topsiders anyway. I actually wrote down Nyoman from one of the other threads you posted and watched out for him :), but we never saw that person.

 

This was our only awful service experience, but we had many lackluster and several frustrating service experiences. We turned in only two of the their "Make Their Day" outstanding service cards, which for us is kind of low.

 

We liked this cruise, mostly really liked the Star, and had a good time. But we can almost always find a way to have good time, and I wouldn't say we loved it. Given a choice for same/similiar itineraries again, I probably will try another new experience or go back to Princess rather than choosing NCL again.

[rebeljohn]

Enjoyed your review......................Thanks for posting it.............

[ROCruiser]

Thanks for the wonderful review. Can't wait to get on the Star!

[Eeyoregon]

Express Disembarkation: This is a joke. You don't arrange it at all. YOu just show up on the 6th (or 7th floor) with your bags at around 730am, and you walk right off. You have to complete your customs declaration form, but they didn't even ask for our passports. We were, literally, off the boat by 805am, which was great since we did Disneyland the rest of that very long day!!

 

Good to know cause I just HAVE to get my DISNEY fix before we head home the next day!!

 

Thank you for the ports of call report. I'm a single mom taking my son for his 16th birthday and his best friend. I can't possibly afford the shore excursion prices that the ship offers x 3 so I appreciate your insight.

 

gina