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Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Star Cruise Review
8 Day Mexican Riveria

Mary Jo Polette 
Age: 48
Occupation: Kitchen Designer
Number of Cruises: 5

I was apprehensive about NCL, having relatives with poor experiences, and unkind reviews on-line. But the itinerary was awesome, the price was right, and I'm STUBBORN!

We left ice and snow in Oregon, to land in 75 degree California Sunshine. It was already a wonderful start, and we hadn't even seen the ship! The worst part of the whole ordeal was embarkation. Lines were long, the facility poorly equipped to handle a crowd, and that warm sunshine got to be pretty unbearable.

Many reviews criticized the food. Our first experience was excellent: there was a barbeque on deck for the sail away party. The grilled ribs really contributed to the festive atmosphere, and this barbeque continued throughout the cruise! Nice touch!

Additional comments on food: I was pleased everywhere we ate! The buffet was "average", but that's a good thing. The fruit was cut fresh before our eyes, the omelet's made hot to order. The dining room worked hard to seat us at a window EVERYTIME! We never stood in line, food was delicious. That was the best place for breakfast. Our favorite venue was Cagney's Steakhouse- my partner couldn't finish his lobster tail, it was so HUGE! And we still talk about the deep fried chocolate cheesecake from The SoHo Room! We also ate at the Ginza Japanese restaurant. It was especially nice to eat WHENEVER we wanted to... my other cruise experiences all had formal dinner times, and sometimes it was difficult to make it to the dining room in time. We were able to book reservations for each restaurant at our leisure, and the variety of venues offered lots of flexibility. And for midnite snacks- the Blue Lagoon was a great late spot- they did food to order, 24/7... fish and chips, buffalo wings, burgers. We liked to get the wings for an appetizer and head out on the deck.

Ports of Call:

Acapulco is a dirty tourist trap!
That said, expect to be accosted by countless taxi drivers. Have fun with it, and make your way all the way to the street. You'll find LOTS of offers- the first we accepted was an "all-day ride" for $30. Jose was going to stick with us for the duration, chauffeuring us to parasailing, restaurants, etc... Gratefully, we didn't pay him because he disappeared after the first beach stop! Parasailing started out at $60- it finally ended up at $30, which was still too much. The boat was a wreck, and it's a wonder it could get anyone off the ground! We found another driver to get us from the beach to the ship for $3. After lunch, we headed for Senor Frog's. (AWESOME place, on the far end of the horseshoe bay, on a cliff- you HAVE to go there!). Same gauntlet of taxi drivers, as much as $20 next to the ship, but $5 at the curb... Manuel was cool- stopped at an overlook and took our picture, offered to pick us up in an hour. As promised, 60 minutes later, he was waiting. Back to the ship ($8 to get back!) we had dinner and headed out for the night Cliff Diving show... Manuel was waiting at the curb for us, and it was a genuine thrill to tell these other drivers that we already HAD a ride!! The last dive show with torches is awesome! Even with a tip, we spent less than $30 on taxi rides, and the personal service was remarkable.

This is the best- and the most memorable- time of our cruise: after a hot day in the sun, being accosted by taxi drivers and beach urchins, go back to your room, put on your swimsuit and head for the top deck hottub! Back end of the ship, deck 13 or 14, I don't know- it had the most breathtaking view of Acapulco Bay you could imagine! At midnight, we had the spa to ourselves!

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Acapulco is the farthest port south... fun to say you were there, but I know I won't go back, because there are places like-

Zihuatanejo will capture your heart!
I spent a week there in 2003, and it is STILL a delightful place! We opted for Los Gatas this time... a white sand beach only accessible by panga (those rustic fishing boats in the bay). If you walk toward town off the pier, there's a ticket counter. We didn't know that, and went right to the panga, where a nice kid ran back and got us tickets- $3 roundtrip. At Los Gatas, there are a dozen or so restaurants with palapas to sit under... we opted for the one with $1 Coronas! I wanted to relive a former experience, and ordered a "Coco Loco"- coconut filled with "juice". Amazingly, the proprietor was out of coconuts, but managed to get one from a neighbor when I expressed my disappointment. Another highpoint, when the bartender danced with my drink on his head!

If you head into town, there is a street full of craftshops- steamy, almost uncomfortable booths. The specialties of the area are silver jewelry or brightly colored ceramic. The craftman are willing to bargain, and you can get a really nice dish or earrings for less than $20.

Puerto Vallarta
There are many options for tour in this town... my partner is a thrill seeker, and took the zipline tour through the "jungle". I don't fare well on a 3' x 3' platform, forty feet in the air, so I went on a shopping/tequila excursion! For shopping, the first stop was a block of handmade craft shops, and I wish we had stayed there all day! A copper shop made sinks, bathtubs and jewelry, a ceramic factory also offered house wares like sinks, there was a glass shop, onyx shop (chess boards) and others. Next time, I'd like to take a cab on my own to this place! The tequila factory was OK- I learned about distilling the stuff, and got some great samples! I learned mostly that the "good stuff" is $100+ per fifth!

Cabo San Lucas
This is the last stop... last call for souvenirs, to feel warm sand beach, to swim in the ocean, to drink REAL cervezas! So NOT enough time! We opted to go snorkeling in Chileno Bay on a catamaran... it WAS a good excursion! But the fish aren't anything to write home about, the water wasn't all that warm. I think I would rather have gone out to Lover's beach on a boat right off the dock. (I think it was $10). There was a good shopping mall on the dock- allot of handcrafts like in Zihuatanejo, so if you missed something in a port before, you had one last chance.

"Bad" things to say about the ship??

* The auditorium seating was AWFUL! I'm tall, my partner is 6'2"- there's NO WAY we could fit in the theater style seats! I love the acts and shows on a cruise ship, but it was too uncomfortable to watch anything!
*Room service was mediocre! I'm used to other ships where my souvenir glasses are spotless and there are animals made out of my towels everynight. I didn't get that kind of detail with this cabin steward. In fact, I didn't even know this guys name!
*You won't get rich playing bingo! In fact, I was outraged at the price of a card! There were folks there spending more than $100 per session!

"Good things" outweighed the bad...

*The ship was immaculate! I saw one tiny spot of rust. The maintenance crew was CONSTANTLY finishing/cleaning.
*The room numbers had a little spinner wheel to identify if you required service, didn't want to be disturbed, etc.. VERY innovative!
*Every deck was well marked with acrylic ships- I knew which was the front of the ship, which deck I was on, and which deck I wanted to go to. VERY easy to navigate!
*1/2 price drinks in the Star Bar at 5!

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