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Doreen Michals

Age: 49
Occupation: Social Service Supervisor
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line
Ship: Norwegian Star
Sailing Date: February 17th, 2005
Itinerary: Mexican Riviera

Norwegian Star-Mexican Riviera-February 17, 2005 to February 25, 2005

After giving our next vacation a considerable amount of thought, we decided that we would take our first cruise. We have considered cruises in the past, but until now had always opted to keep our feet on land. Hawaii (several times), Arizona and the Deep South are a few of the locations my family has been fortunate enough to have visited while on vacation. Neither my husband nor I was as convinced as others that this would be our dream vacation. We were skeptical, but went into this experience with an open mind. We chose the Mexican Riviera for several reasons. My husband had been to Acapulco 16 years ago, and found it to be a beautiful city. However, despite the scenic nature of the city, his deluxe accommodations as well as the city itself were dirty (including the beach area). This, along with questionable drinking water and food, were added to the list of reasons not to stay in Acapulco again. However, a cruise would allow us to enjoy the scenery, while eating and drinking on board the ship. Other stops on this cruise also appeared to be worthwhile, particularly Cabo San Lucas.

Embarkation
Embarkation took place at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, California. Though our cruise documents indicated embarkation would begin at 1:00 p.m., we arrived at the pier by 11:30 a.m. There were already many people in line waiting to check in, however, it only took 45 minutes from the time we arrived at the pier to the time we were in our stateroom. Everything was handled efficiently and quickly. I should mention that I had ensured we were preregistered and had all appropriate documents available which made the process that much quicker.

Accommodations
Since we were traveling with our 13-year-old son, we appreciated the extra space that the mini-suite we reserved would provide. The sliding doors to an outside balcony helped give the room a brighter appearance. The room was ready upon our arrival. It was very clean, and everything looked new. The bathroom was bright, roomy and also looked like it was new. There was plenty of storage space for all of our clothes. The safe was easy to use, and the refrigerator came in handy. A small vase of fresh flowers, a fruit basket and bathrobes were also provided. The room was cleaned twice a day, by a room steward who was exceptional in both his professionalism and demeanor. He was friendly, accommodating and eager to please. A small tear in one of our balcony chairs found it replaced with a new one the next day.

Food/Restaurants
We ate several times each at both Aqua and Versailles (main restaurants), as well as Endless Summer (specialty restaurant, no additional charge). The restaurants were beautiful, and the service was excellent. Though the menus led you to believe the food would be something out of the ordinary, it was not. The food was barely warm most of the time. However, I could only imagine the enormity of feeding this many people, and kept that in mind. We ate breakfast each day at the Market Café (buffet on deck 12). The buffet offered something for everyone, and was a convenient way to have some breakfast without spending a lot of time doing it. This buffet also served lunch, dinner, and desserts throughout the day. There were a number of “pay restaurants” on the Norwegian Star. From what I heard, the food was better in some of these restaurants. However, since meals were supposedly included in the cost of this “not cheap” vacation, paying additionally for dinner didn’t go over well with us. There were also several days and evenings that a barbeque was set up around the pool area. There was never any shortage of food on this ship, and in fact, I actually found the amount of food that was served to be excessive. I personally would have preferred less food but of higher quality and with better preparation. As far as freestyle dining, we liked it. This allowed us to eat when we were ready, and we never had to wait to be seated (we usually dined by 6:30). Resort casual attire suited us, and we strictly adhered to its definition. However, some people on the ship chose to ignore the resort casual dress code, yet were never denied seating.

Staff
Nearly every employee on this ship was friendly, hardworking and helpful. For many, their jobs include long hours doing work most of us would never consider doing, yet they always have a smile on their face. The cruise and hotel director seemed genuine in their desire for everyone on board to have a pleasant cruise experience. Workers who spent hours in the sun varnishing hand railings never missed a chance to greet you as you walked by. The captain and his crew appeared professional and serious about their work, yet were also always seen smiling.

Ports of Call
Acapulco is a beautiful, big city. A city tour which included the cliff divers was well worth the time and money. We were fortunate to have as our tour guide a history teacher in Acapulco. We really appreciated his insight into Mexico’s culture, as well as its’ social, economic and political issues. Though Acapulco is prosperous compared to many cities in Mexico, you didn’t have to look far to see the vast poverty that still exists. Sailing out of Acapulco in the middle of the night was worth staying up to see. The lights of the city twinkled softly as we sailed away in the dark.

Zihuatanejo is a very quaint, picturesque city. The palm trees that line the beaches are contrasted by the mountains in the background. Though we didn’t get off the ship this day, we enjoyed the view from the ship anchored in the bay.

Puerto Vallarta is a good place to get off the ship and do some shopping (which we did). This old city is unique and I found it to be quite lovely. Another cruise ship was already docked here, so we had to take the tenders to shore. This was done very quickly and efficiently.

Last stop, Cabo San Lucas. NCL chose to use a local tender service because their boats were faster. They were quite good and again everyone was tendered ashore quickly and efficiently. The pictures I had seen of Cabo San Lucas could never capture the beauty of this community. The tour boat took us around the beautiful rock formations and secluded beaches. Sea lions and gray whales were mere feet away from the boat. It was an experience we will never forget. Though we had seen humpback whales in Hawaii, you never tire of the experience of being close to these enormous creatures. They are truly spectacular. As we left Cabo San Lucas later in the day, we watched from our balcony as many whales swam by the cruise ship. I should also mention that the shopping in Cabo San Lucas was also fun, and allowed us to pick up some last minute souvenirs to bring home.

Shipboard Activities
We’re not much into “activities.” Since we don’t gamble or drink much, neither the casino nor lounges were of much interest. However, we did take the opportunity to walk through these venues. Each was quite beautiful, clean and well maintained.

Each day there was any number of activities including art auctions, bingo, and talent competitions. However, most of the time that we were not on shore, we spent walking the deck, lounging by the pool or on our balcony. Our 13-year-old met another boy his age on the ship, and they spent time in the pool, video arcade, card room, basketball court and teen club. There were a fair number of children on this ship, I think this was probably because for many schools in the country, this was a winter break week.

We did attend most of the nightly entertainment opportunities offered in the Stardust Theater. The entertainers were talented, and enthusiastic. The productions were of a caliber that unless you live in a big city you would not routinely get the chance to enjoy.

There were also a lot of older people on the ship. Many of them complained about all the children on the ship, though I didn’t find the children to be ill-mannered or otherwise behaving badly.

Disembarkation
I had heard this could be a nightmare, but it was not. The airline had moved up our flight time from mid-afternoon to noon. Though I was concerned we might not make it to LAX in time, we had time to spare. The ship docked at 7:00 a.m. and Immigration/Customs officials were on board immediately. After going through the Immigration/Customs process, we were still off the ship shortly after 8:30 a.m. We were at the airport we plenty of time to spare. Those who had later flights were free to lounge on the ship until 10:30 or so. Like much of the other procedures that take place on this ship, everything ran smoothly with plenty of people along the way to help you or answer questions.

Overview
The Norwegian Star is a beautiful ship that its employees’ appear to take great pride in maintaining. The staff is exceptional and I will never forget their cheerful smiles and sincere greetings. The ports of call were all uniquely beautiful, though except for Cabo San Lucas, visiting by cruise ship would be the only way I would ever visit them again. Even though I did find cruising to be a bit boring and probably (for me) not worth the money spent, if I were to cruise again I would certainly consider NCL.

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