NCL Star April 26, 2006

[kristinaf17]

Anyone out there going on this cruise? Anyone been? We have a mini-suite on deck 11? What type of ammenities are in the rooms? We are going to LA a day early to site see, any suggestions there????

[Steve B]

We did the 1/20 - 1/28 cruise. It was our second, with our first being on Carnival. We were advised by our T/A that this line would be an upgrade. WRONG!

The food was of no better quality than the local hometown buffers. The Freestyle dining was less than satisfactory.
the state rooms were smaller and the decor was of lesser quality.

We were definitely dissapointed in the ship and the food. The staff - it must be pointed out - was excellant.

If you stop in cobo do the Whale on the ZODIAC boat - it is not as strenous as the state in the on board pamphlets.

In PUARTA VALLARTA - we hired the local driver - Raul for the day and had the best time - hidden restruant in the jungle - beaches etc. Great time. HIEpuertya

[Ron Clark]

I'll assume you're talking about a Norwegian Star Mexico cruise, as it's th eonly NCL ship sailing from L.A.

As an example for a Star Mini-Suite, here's the amenities for cabin 11090:
Cabin 11090
Duvet
Refrigerator (1)
Hair Dryer (1)
Telephone (1)
Safety Deposit Box (1)
Television (1)
Crib (1)
Convertible Double Sofa Bed (1)
Cabin Square Footage (229)
Concierge
Separated Bedroom with a curtain (1)
Private Balcony (1)
Bathtub (1)
Convertible Lower Beds (2)
Balcony Square Footage (54)
Oceanview Stateroom
Sitting Area
Midship Section
Starboard Side
Floor to ceiling sliding glass doors (1)
Connecting Room (11092)
Pier forward
Sprinklers
Shower (1)

You can go to the pier as early as 11:00am for embarkation even though your cruise package may say 1pm. We sailed on the Star to Mexico in April 2005. It was a beautiful ship. Service was good. Food was nothing spectacular, about the same as your local average to above average restaurant. We've sailed on Princess before and NCL does not compare. But the important thing for cruisers to remember is it's a holiday. Just relax and don't go with a pre-conceived expectation. You'd be setting yourself up for disappointment. Although our NCL cruise on the Star was a notch down from Princess, we still had a great time. We sailed as a couple with Princess but have sailed as a family with kids on NCL. I find NCL is alot more accommodating to kids. Kids under age 3 do not pay a cruise fare just the taxes. For select sailings, the 3/4th passenger (irregardless of age) in the same stateroom does not pay a fare!! You will not find that with any other cruiseline. Because of NCL's understanding of people who want to enjoy a cruise but not pay outrageous prices with their kids, we will be cruising with them again. We plan to have a great time...and we will...even if it's not the best food, even if they seem to to offer better food at an extra cost, or sometimes seem disorganized with embarkation/disembarkation, etc....
We would love to sail with Princess again or try RCCL, HAL, Celebrity...but they are too darn expensive.

Take others reviews as that... Just have fun.