Our Comments On Norwegian Star

Aloha Everyone,

At the end the every cruise, we will receive an email survey from NCL and our travel agent to give them our feedback.

Over all, on the scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the worst, we would give 8 to this particular cruise.

PLUS SIDE:

1). Service staff - excellent. They are well trained and we assume that they are fairly compensated for their work. Everyone including who work as front desk staff were courteous and helpful.

2).  Entertainment - daily scheduling at 7:30 and 9:30 pm worked out well for us. J.J. and I had dinner at 5:30 pm then took in the early show. Quality and variety of entertainment genres was suitable for the general patrons of this cruise.

3).  Food - a large choice was available even in the buffet line. It was easy to stay within your dietary guideline.

4).  Laundry - every 7 days, we were offered a special package of $19.95 for a paper bag full of laundry. Our clothes were washed, folded and returned to our cabin within 2 days. I calculated that if we used their regular laundry service, we would had to pay $92 for individual pieces.

MINUS SIDE:

1).  It appears that we were not the only ones who had trouble with the onboard phone and internet services. $4.99 per minutes phone call was not only exorbitant but unreliable. On board WiFi charges began at $ .95 a minute even prior to getting connected plus service charges.

2).  Shore Excursion, I already commented on our experience regarding a shore excursion in Cartagena. We also heard from others that their way excursion was not what was published and they returned to the ship soaked, muddy and delayed.

So are we willing to take another NCL cruise? Absolutely! It all depends on destinations and price!

Aloha -- Cathi

Cartagena, Colombia

Aloha Everyone,

Sometimes old memories are better left untouched. J.J. and my recollection of Cartagena was that of an imposing fortress atop a hill shimmering in the mid-day sun. It was a beautiful sight. We also loved our walk in the colonial area with its cobblestone streets.  

The two of us generally prefer to do our “self-guided tour” but today we joined the NCL shore excursion billed as “Colonial Cartagena”. A big mistake!

Our 3 1/2 bus tour began with a delay of 30 minutes and an additional 30 minutes delay in returning to our ship.

The tour guide was annoyed and complained that four cruise ships were in port today causing narrow streets to get congested. The tour guide also was irritated that the company she works for gave her a list of places where she was supposed to take us. Instead of being apologetic, she exacerbated the tense situation by voicing her opinion that it was not possible to accomplish everything within the given time. In the meantime, our driver stepped on the accelerator and honked horn with vengeance. He was late in picking up his son from school.

Here is my album of today’s tour which we consider as “disappointing.”

Saving grace was meeting Blanca and Ron who shared with us their travel experiences in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Aloha -- Cathi

Panama Canal Crossing

Aloha Everyone,

Finally, on day 11 of our cruise, we have reached the main attraction, traversing the Panama Canal.

Announcement over the PA system regarding the history, function, canal and expansion kept many of the passengers hanging around the bow of the vessel. The narrator interjected personal narratives and anecdotes to bring so much factual data easier to digest. Having seen the Canal previously from land helped J.J. and me understand and appreciate this magnificent engineering marvel.

The canal has been operating for nearly 104 years. Today the waterway connects 144 routes, reaching 1,700 ports in 160 countries saving 28 days and about 4,000 miles compared to going through the bottom of South America.

Here are some interesting facts:

1.  The Canal is appropriately 49.7 miles long between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  

2.  The Canal uses a lock system (compartments with entrance and exit gates).

3.  The locks function as water lifts raising ships from sea level to the level of the lake and back to the sea level.

4.  The lock chambers are 110 feet wide by 1,000 feet long. The maximum dimension of ships that can transit the Canal are 106 feet in beam, 39.4 feet in depth in Tropical Fresh Water, and approximately 965 feet long.

5.  The water used to raise and lower vessels in each sets of locks comes from Gatun Lake by gravity. Gatun Lake is fed by rain.

6.  The Canal has a workforce of approximately 9,000 employees. The Panama Canal Authority is semi-autonomous, operates 365 days a year and serves vessels of all nations without discrimination.

Price of crossing is based on the gross tonnage of a ship and for ours, it is $400,000 for one way passage. It took our vessel approximately 10 hours to cross. We learned that the Panama Canal crossing is actually North to South rather than West to East. Likewise, too much or too little rain could adversely affect the normal function of the Canal.

Source: Panama Canal Authority

Aloha -- Cathi

Some Interesting Ship Facts

Aloha Everyone,

Here are some interesting facts about the Norwegian Star:

•. Gross Tonnage, 91,740

•. Overall Length, 965 feet

•. Guests, 2,348 (double occupancy)

•. Crew, 1,031

•. 17 Dining Rooms

•. 11 Bars & Lounges

•. Spa & Salon

•. Fitness Center

•. Sports Courts

•. 3 swimming pools, 6 Hot Tubs

•. Internet café

•. Teen club, children’s club 

One of my favorite place is the Promenade Deck on the 7th floor. Per the signage, 4 laps equals 1.4 miles. Using my iPhone app, my usual one hour walk equals just over 3.4 miles.

By the way, to help those passengers who seem to get confused as to where they are going onboard, the fish on the carpet swim forward towards the front of the ship.

Aloha -- Cathi

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Aloha Everyone,

This morning I was determined to catch the sunrise. So by 5:20 am, I was on the Promenade deck getting started with my 3 miles walk. It was well worth getting up. Here is my photo of a tug boat silhouetted against the rising sun.

Mid-morning temperature in Puntarenas must have been in the upper 80’s. High humidity with no breeze made it uncomfortable. J.J. and I walked across the bridge to get to where there are restaurants and small huts offering souvenir items.

Costa Rica is a rugged, rain-forested country with roughly 25% of its area consisting of protected jungle. Among the organized tours being offered by the cruise company, tropical forest trekking and waterfall climbing stood out. The truth is that the two of us were not ready to spend 8 hours to test our physical fortitude and courage out in the jungle. Even possibility of seeing spider monkeys and colorful tropical birds in their natural habitat did not help change our minds.

Onboard international phone call and WiFi is costly and unreliable. But we have been getting excellent reception of broadcasts from most major American television stations as well as BBC (British Broadcasting Company) in our cabin. Much of the news coming out of Washington this week has been both frustrating and disturbing. But this mornings’ news followed by retraction regarding a missile headed to the Hawaiian Islands was frightening, heart stopping, then relieving.

Interesting dinner conversation with Bill and Cheryl from Iowa. They produce corn and soybeans on their farm. We learned that the commercial grade corn they plant are sold for ethanol fuel.

Aloha -- Cathi