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JK Patrick

Age: 33
Occupation: Attorney
Number of Cruises: 45
Cruise Line: NCL Norwegian
Ship: Norwegian Star
Sailing Date: December 23rd, 2004
Itinerary: Mexican Riviera

This Review is long, but I will try to cover some areas not covered elsewhere, and I've included some special TIPS. I love cruising, and I am not a travel agent. This was our 45th cruise, but only our second NCL cruise ever (the first was the Norway in 1984, before the Latitudes frequent cruiser program even existed). Having cruised most frequently with Princess, we thought we would give NCL a try with this cruise on the Norwegian Star.

Overall impression and recommendation
Having cruised so much, we are not easily impressed. We would definitely sail on this ship again in a heartbeat. The ship and all of its themed public rooms are gorgeous, with a friendly and efficient crew. Taking the right approach with the maitre 'd, the front desk, the cabin stewards, etc. definitely helps (more below). The food is excellent (other than the buffet on Deck 12), as is the freestyle dining option.

Itinerary
Visiting Acapulco and not Mazatlan as many other ships do in this region was probably a good choice. We don't do shore excursions anymore, preferring to do our own thing, so I have not included info on those. If you want to book shore excursions, I'd recommend checking with the Excursion Desk in the Atrium immediately when you board, in case tours are filling up.

Your fellow cruisemates
This is a much younger crowd than Princess. Especially at holiday, it's more noisy and boisterous, with lots of first-time cruisers. Many families with young children. There is a much more casual feel, but not as casual as Carnival. It was actually quite comfortable and fun. If you don't appreciate screaming children, don't worry. You can avoid them for just about the entire cruise (see how, below).

Before We Cruised
1. We sent in our pre-cruising information to the cruise line so we could use express check-in.
2. The week before we sailed, we checked the weather in each port of call so we'd know what to pack (I use weather.yahoo.com). Keep in mind that the city where you embark (L.A.) can be freezing even though you're going to Mexico.
3. We traveled over Christmas. If you will be celebrating an occasion, plan ahead knowing you will probably need dinner reservations on that certain night. These are made a day in advance, once you board the ship. Research each restaurant online (some people have even posted menus) so you can almost make your choice before you even get on the ship. I went to images.google.com to see pictures of each restaurant (for example, check out Versailles).
4. We've cruised with this line before, so we joined Latitudes. Do not forget to bring your membership card with you. You need it for discounts in the gift shop, etc. If you can't get your card in time, stop by the front desk in the Atrium. They give you a letter and a pin to wear so you can get your discounts.
5. Bring your own clock. No ships ever include these in your cabin (as far as I've experienced).

Ship's Stabilizers / Captain's Ability
Norwegian Star's stabilizers are first-rate. After dozens of cruises in similar waters with much more movement, we hardly felt movement at all. Remember to avoid the front of the ship in case you are prone to sea sickness. Captain Sovdsnes was great. He always backed the ship in when docking in each port, so that when we left, we just sailed straight out. No endless turning around in the bay before we could sail away. And in Puerto Vallarta, when another ship (the Mercury) sailed in after us and anchored nearby, their anchor kept slipping up so they kept having to re-maneuver and adjust to keep their position. That ship was all over the place every time you looked at them, with their anchor in a different spot, and yet we never moved.

TIP: I include this category because not every captain will be a good captain. On a Princess cruise to Ushuaia (southernmost port in the world and the reason why many, including us, booked that cruise), our captain deemed it "too windy" to dock, while the Norwegian cruise accompanying us sailed right into the port and we were forced to actually watch their passengers climb out, walk down the dock and enjoy their day in the city while our captain skipped the port and sailed away! Be aware when you cruise and the captain is too hesitant or unpracticed because he might skip ports that other ships will visit. Jot down the captain's name so that when you book your next cruise, you won't get stuck with him again and get burned twice. (We have).

Embarkation
We were set for express embarkation, having sent in our documents well in advance. Be aware that every three months aboard the Norwegian Star, it has to conduct a full crew immigration as well as passengers embarking and disembarking the ship, all in the same day. Unfortunately for us, December 23 was that day. We sailed through the past passenger Latitudes line only to wait for two hours to embark the ship. A major hassle, but completely unavoidable.

TIP: If you embark in Los Angeles/Long Beach, and you are stuck with this every-three-month debacle, don't rush to camp out in the huge main room with all the other passengers. It looks like a shut-down airport, the noise is tremendous, everyone is sitting and lying down on the floor, and children are wailing. This is not the way to begin your cruise.

At the doors to this large room is a lady who hands out your group embarkation number (the suites get #1 and so on). Grab your number as soon as possible, but instead of going in those doors, find a spot away from the din and find one of the attendants who brings you complimentary cranberry juice or water. We sat away from the din, relaxed and enjoyed ourselves (bring reading material). Occasionally, we took turns walking into the "holding area" to visit the vending machine (we were hungry) and to check to see what number was being called for boarding. There's no reason to subject yourself to the unhappy noise of over a thousand impatient passengers. We sipped our cranberry juice, munched on our chips in the amazingly quiet adjacent room, read and relaxed.

Upon Embarkation
Pick up a copy of the Freestyle Daily (from your cabin or the Grand Atrium). The Grand Atrium is where the front desk is, the shore excursion desk, and the specialty restaurant reservation desk. If the day after you sail is a holiday and you want dinner reservations, stand in line at the tables set up in the atrium as soon as you get on the ship. Don't get in line if you're making a reservation any more in advance than the next night. They won't let you. Know in advance what time you'll want to eat, and in what dining room. Menus were available to read while we waited in line.

TIP: The more cordial, appreciative, and knowledgeable you are about what you want, the more likely you will get it. Don't forget to SMILE. If you want a window table, ask, and be willing to be flexible with your dining time so you may get one.

Upon boarding, the Market Cafe buffet was still open, but we also tried the Grill outside, before the Welcome Aboard party. Plenty of tables, and you could grab hot food and eat it wherever you liked. Once the party starts, it's quite a zoo but the grill/buffet looked tasty.

Restaurants/ Freestyle Cruising Dining
There is no Afternoon Tea service. We did not visit any cover charge restaurants (Ginza is $12.50 pp, So Ho Room and Le Bistro are $15.00, Cagney's is $20.00, and Sushi and Teppanyaki are a la carte pricing). Versailles, Aqua, Endless Summer, La Trattoria, Red Lion Pub for fish and chips and shepherd's pie are all free). Portions were somewhat smaller (oddly, even the tables are smaller than on Princess), but we found the food to be excellent everywhere we ate.

Versailles: (no cover charge) This is a stunningly beautiful dining room. We often visited for breakfast or lunch so we could enjoy the view outside. Unlike many other ships, the Star leaves the curtains open so you can enjoy the view. Breakfast menus included new items like frittatas, which were great compared to breakfast on other ships. They have "Cooking Light" options which taste just as good as if they weren't. Wow.

Aqua: (no cover charge) Fantastic, from the service to the maitre d's, and the food. We like to eat early, we didn't need reservations, and not once did we ever have to wait to be seated. When the maitre d' visits your table, be sure to ask what his specialties are, where he is from, what desserts he enjoys making. Get to know the maitre d's and you will be a much happier cruiser. They really do aim to please, and they really appreciate your praise.

Endless Summer: (no cover charge, make reservations 1 day earlier) Don't expect this to be your local Mexican restaurant. That would be unfair. They can't be tossing tortillas in a nearby oven or mixing tableside guacamole. You're in the middle of the ocean on a cruise with an international crew. Still, food while cruising has come a long way. We enjoyed this venue, and followed the recommendations of others who had dined here before. We loved the jumbo shrimp fajitas. We liked the guacamole/sour cream/salsa placed on each table. Ask for refills so you can include it with your entree. If you need your Mexican food fix onboard, this is it.

Blue Lagoon: (no cover charge) This is casual and small, and good for those off hours when you are feeling a bit peckish. Their oriental noodle soup is good, and the shepherd's pie is worth the wait. I wouldn't recommend the potato skins. They're fine, but they're not prepared as you are probably accustomed.

Market Cafe: We renamed this the Chaos Cafe. The buffet is fine, just not noteworthy. The food is ok, but not the same quality as in the dining rooms. You eat at long tables that aren't cleaned often enough. The action station chefs work extremely hard and deserve much praise. This option was popular with families who like to eat casually, teenagers, and children, who even had their own lower-height buffet tables. There are at least two separate lines, one on each side of the ship. After going through the line, you join others at long tables. The hot food was always hot and still hot when I sat down to eat it (including the soup). The first day was quite good, with delicious chicken curry and well seasoned meatloaf. Again, this is a casual dining venue. So because of the crowds, the long tables and the ordinary food, we almost always ate lunch and dinner in Versailles and Aqua. If you want to avoid noise and crowds, avoid this venue at peak hours. There are wonderful, elegant dining alternatives.

TIP: If you do eat at Market Cafe, there's another dining area toward the aft stairway on the starboard side which is much quieter with far less people and more open tables.

Speaking of avoiding noisy crowds
If you are used to the slower pace of more elegant ships, here are some tips. Hit the public areas (especially Deck 12) early in the day, especially the mornings after Sail Away Parties. Everyone is sleeping. There's a beautiful Writing Room with a sea view, adjacent to the Library, always quiet. The indoor lounges like Spinnaker, Carousel Bar, and sometimes Java Cafe are much more quiet, and Spinnaker has the most excellent view up at the front of the ship for reading and watching as you sail along during the day (avoid Bingo if you want quiet). Also, Deck 7 outside the Blue Lagoon are some tables and chairs. This is a quiet reading spot. We spotted some seals in these waters, especially near Puerto Vallarta.

Tender tickets
For Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Cabo San Lucas, you'll be anchoring in the bay and tendering ashore (about a ten minute ride). The day before, numbered tender tickets are available in the ship's Library. Check the Freestyle Daily for times. Only one person from each family needs to pick up these tickets. The most efficient thing is to line up at the library's check-out desk so that when the ship's agent arrives with the tickets, you simply take your number (if there are 17 in your party, you'll need 17 tickets) and leave. The first day it was an absolute free-for-all as passengers who had just walked in the room pushed ahead of people who had been waiting up to half an hour. So the next time we all agreed to form a line and it was much faster and easier. Some ask why they don't just send these tickets to the cabins. This just ensures that the people who most want to disembark early are able to. Why give a priority tender ticket to someone who doesn't even plan on leaving the ship? In Cabo, everyone was so tired from the Sail Away party the night before that the amusing cruise director was practically begging passengers telling them they could get off the ship now, even if you had not picked up a numbered tender ticket (everyone was having breakfast and sleeping off the sail away party from the night before). There's no rush and plenty of time in these ports. Often the shops aren't open at 8 am when the ship arrives anyway.

Latitudes program
If you have ever sailed any Norwegian ship (even the older ones like the Norway), fax proof to the cruise line beforehand and get your Latitudes membership going. The check-in line at embarkation is much shorter, there is a special cocktail party for you onboard, a 10% discount on everything in the gift shops, a discount in the Internet cafe, and 20% off drinks in the Spinnaker lounge (at certain times on certain drinks). Princess has a better program in its Captain's Circle, because it has different levels based on how many times you've cruised. On the Star, it seemed like over half the ship had cruised before, and no special perks for more frequent cruisers.

Speaking of the Galleria (gift shop), I bought some perfume at $33.00 that I found at home a week later for $50.00 plus tax. These are good deals.

Taxis in all ports

TIP: Never step into a taxi until you agree on the price. This is done while leaning into the cab, but not getting in. Find out beforehand what it should cost before you even get near that taxi. Ask Fiona onboard, ask the local tourist board, ask in a shop, or research it online. If it's only 10 minutes away, you should only be paying a few dollars. From every port to nearby hotels, no taxi cost more than $8.00, usually under $5.00. Drivers speak enough English to get you where you want; just be specific. It helps to quote the driver in pesos because they will almost always quote their price in pesos (50 pesos is under 5 dollars). You will not need pesos. Every place you go will take dollars. To convert you can just move the decimal one place to the left and adjust down a bit to figure out how many dollars.

Lean into the taxi and ask "How Much" before you get in the cab. They may quote several dollars above the going rate, assuming you don't know the area. (But you do, because you asked the going rate before you got near the taxi). If they quote higher than what you know to be the going rate, offer what you know to be the going rate, and say "No, it's only <blank> pesos to the Hyatt hotel." If they say No, you say "No, I'll get another cab, because it should only be <blank> pesos. That's the going rate. 50 pesos, ok?" If the driver still says no, move slowly as you start to leave, and say you'll get another taxi because his rate is too much. The driver will stop you and say, "Ok, ok." and give you the fair rate you offered. The only time this may not work is when the ship has just arrived in port, and the driver hasn't had a fare yet. They are trying to get the highest rate they can for taking you around for the day and they don't want a $5.00 fare. In Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, the first driver refused the going rate, so we went with the second driver who approached us and cheerfully took the fair fare that the first refused.

We had zero bad experiences with the taxi drivers. They were all extremely nice and courteous. It's understandable that they want to take you around for the day or make a few more dollars if they can. We usually tipped them so they almost made the amount they originally quoted, and they were very happy. Even if you end up paying more than the going rate, it's easy to be gracious. Think about how fortunate you are to be on a luxurious cruise ship, rather than spending your life driving a taxi in extremely hot weather on crowded streets. There but for the grace of God...

The Ports

This is Mexico. Don't drink the water, and remember that ice is water. Ask for cold drinks in a can or bottle. Some of the larger hotel chains, like Marriott, Hyatt, are probably fine and filter their water. More and more places it is safe to get drinks with ice but we still don't do it.

Acapulco: Pretty faded from its heyday of the 70s and 80s. The ship will try to steer you towards the few expensive stores where they have pre-established arrangements made. They directed us to "Fine Bonita Jewelry," saying it was in the "heart of Acapulco." That's not true. This district was to the left when you get off the ship, and in old town. The area was awful, and totally run down, other than this one store. The store is overwhelming in its amazing selection of jewelry, but not what we wanted. The heart of Acapulco is actually in the opposite direction after you get off the ship (to the right), toward the high rise resort hotels leading up to that beautiful cross on the hill. There are many boutiques and small shopping malls in that direction. We always like to head to a nice hotel, so we went to the Hyatt Regency Acapulco, about a 15 minute drive because of traffic. These hotels are right on the Bay, with a fabulous view of the whole bay, looking back toward the ship, and a beautiful sandy beach. There are tennis courts at most of the hotels (in all the ports), and you can play for a nominal fee. First-timers to Acapulco especially love the cliff diving at the beautiful Las Brisas hotel, and I believe they still have night-time shows as well (the ship stays until about 1 am).

Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa: Zihuatanejo is a charming fishing village, but Ixtapa is where the resorts are. The drive is about 50-60 pesos to the Ixtapa Hotel Zone. For quiet elegance, the most impressive hotel is Las Brisas, on your left as you sail into the harbor. Very distinctive, you can't miss it. The grounds are huge, almost like a rainforest, and steep, windy stairs lead down to the sandy beach below, where there's a casual restaurant called La Brisa, right on the sand. It's a challenge to find. You walk in the lobby to the right, pass the reception desk on your left, go left around the corner, and take an elevator near the guest rooms. Then you take a second elevator with its own distinctive elevator bank, down to the beach level. Very interesting exploring here. For exercise, you can walk up a separate path, up steep stairs to the impressive pool area and up windy tree-blanketed paths to the lobby. This hotel is quiet, serene, and breathtakingly beautiful. If you want a beautiful, quiet place to sip a drink and write your postcards, this is the place. But if you're looking for excitement, this is not it.

The most boisterous, lively hotel (especially their crowded pool area) was Hotel Dorado Pacifico, also in the Hotel Zone. If you want to play a.m. tennis, their courts are an excellent choice. They are actually shaded by the hotel itself in the morning. Walk across the street to the shopping district. (All the hotels are walking distance from each other except for Las Brisas which is set apart and has its own private beach). The shopping area has many boutiques and restaurants. It's really quite pretty, and a new restaurant called "El Infierno Y La Gloria" looked fantastic! We did not have time to eat, but it was pleasantly crowded and looked great.

Puerto Vallarta: The taxis are air-conditioned vans that pile you in at $3.00 per person and drop you off at, you guessed it, their pre-arranged expensive jewelry store downtown. That's fine. Pile in with your fellow cruisers and when you get downtown, just walk away to do your own shopping if you want. Check out the old church (Iglesia de la Virgen de Guadalupe, they ask that you please don't wander around inside wearing shorts unless you stay near the door, this is a holy place). The main plaza is here, and worth taking some gorgeous pictures of the unique sculptures along the waterfront with the ocean in the background. There are three Sergio Bustamante galleries here, and if you are looking for a nice gift for someone special back home (or yourself), he is still The premier jewelry artist in Mexico. He's surprisingly affordable for the quality of his work which he signs (pendants can be about $80.00 upwards). He has three galleries in P.V., and the biggest is on the third street up perpendicular to the water, to the east of the main plaza. His jewelry is quite distinctive, and when you see it, you'll see why so many other artists appear to be "copying" his work, having come from the same school of art. If you buy silver here, make sure they include their distinctive polishing cloth. They will always include a Certificate of Authenticity, naming the piece you buy. It's great fun, even if you don't buy a thing.

We grabbed a taxi (always take the Nissan taxis with the yellow doors) to the Marina Zone where the fancy hotels are. This cost about 40 pesos. The Westin and the Marriott are beautiful resorts. The Westin had delicious shrimp quesadillas and a very trendy beach restaurant/bar called Nikki Beach, with white-clad servers, next to these large, round beach lounges that have puffy pillows piled up in the middle, fanning out in the shape of a star for sunbathers. Reminded us of the trendy Sand Bar atop W Hotels.

Cabo San Lucas: This port town has grown. There is now a new shopping mall right on the Marina. It's a gorgeous new mall called Puerto Paraiso. When you get off the ship, keep walking right around the marina to the right. After about a ten minute walk you see the really huge building just after Plaza Bonita which is also good for shopping. Puerto Paraiso is brand new and it's first class. The second and third floors are still filling up, but already there's a full first floor including a large Sergio Bustamante gallery in case you missed him in P.V. It even has a Ruth's Chris Steak House and Johnny Rockets (this was a great respite, sitting outside with familiar comfort food and enjoying the marina view). This mall has tons of stores and even a big movie theater on the top floor, next to a growing food court. You are still very much aware you're in Mexico, so it's a lot of fun.

And finally, Disembarkation

The Norwegian Star is unique. They let you stay in your cabin until you're ready to disembark the ship. No endless waiting in a crowded, noisy public room tripping over other people's luggage. Just wait in your cabin enjoying your satellite CNN TV with room service and wait for your colored luggage tag to be called, then head to the gangway. They also offer Express Disembarkation, but keep in mind if you choose this option, you have to physically carry all of your earthly belongings, gifts, and luggage from your stateroom all the way off the ship, and good luck getting from Deck 11 to Deck 7 in a tiny elevator with 300 other people trying to leave at the same time. You also have to be off the ship very early for this option, and unless you have to catch an extremely early flight, it's not worth the hassle.

Last Impression / Comparison with Princess
Okay, so there's no afternoon tea like Princess Cruises. And the Norwegian Star's buffet was pretty plain, unlike the Horizon Court buffets on Princess ships which are phenomenal and spectacular. The past passenger benefits are definitely greater with Princess than Norwegian, and the Princess crowd is older and more traveled. Still, this was great Fun! Looking over our shoulder when we disembarked this beautiful ship, we agreed that we are definitely booking another cruise on the Star. Happy Cruising!

 

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