Name: Alissa Arford-Leyl
Email: leyl@flash.net
Age: 26
Occupation: Communications Specialist
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: NCL-NorwegianStar
SailingDate: May 17, 1998
Itinerary: Houston,Calica, Cozumel, Roatan, Houston
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 95
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 100
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 89
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 89
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff: 95
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: 89
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 27 May 1998
Time: 23:13:57
Remote Name: 209.30.136.145
Remote User:

Comments

Norwegian Star from Houston, Texas Sailing May 17, 1998

After reading the above comments my husband and I were slightly worried about taking this particular cruise; however, we live in Dallas and it was definitely
convenient.

The Ship: After the first few days, we realized that we had nothing to worry about because the ship was great! Our AC worked the entire time and kept the room
very cool (in fact I used the extra blanket I bought in Mexico at night!) Our room was more spacious than I expected - we had an inside cabin.

The ship was very nice, maybe not as glitzy as some of the bigger ones, but it suited us fine. Our rooms were nicely decorated and the bathrooms were
completely functional, except for one morning they had to turn off the water in the toilets in our area to fix something - but no inconvenience occurred.

They were sailing around capacity - about 800. The dining rooms seemed full each night, yet there was always room in all of the lounges to sit down and eat
breakfast/lunch and socialize. The evening shows were usually pretty crowded in the Stardust Lounge.

We hardly ever noticed the ship listing, and when we did it usually didn’t last for more than 20 minutes or so. Also, the engines were running great, in fact we got
to all of our ports early!! This was an added plus because we ended up starting our excursions early and having more time at the beaches and for shopping.

Excursions: Calica: Tuesday afternoon we arrived at Calica. There wasn’t much at the port, only a small restaurant and some souvenir vendors. Basically, you
choose to either go to Xcaret (ish-ca-ret), a 99-acre archaeological sanctuary, or you can go on a party bus to Cancun, which doesn’t get back to the ship until
early morning. We went to Xcaret and we arrived in port about an hour early, so we had extra time to go around the park. We changed into our bathing suits
before leaving because they said we would have time to go swimming. You can sign out beach towels from the ship.

The park was beautiful! They had very clear lagoons where you could go swimming. Some people went on the cave snorkeling tour, but we heard that they didn’t
really see any fish. The park had a bunch of animals, dolphins, Mayan ruins, hammocks and picnic areas. Basically you had time to walk around on your own and
see the park, and then when the horse show began we all met at the equestrian center.

After the horse show we had a tour guide take us through the caves and talk about Mayan culture. They lead us to the outside theater where the main show
takes place. It’s at the opening of a cave, so the sounds all echo. It was very entertaining, with singing & dancing - and many surprises.

Cozumel: We left Calica on Wednesday morning and arrived shortly in Cozumel. You can actually see Cozumel from Calica, and it didn’t take too long to get
there. We opted for the Ruins and Beach Tour - Mayan ruins at San Gervasio and Playa Sol. Some people got up very early (5:30 am) and left from Calica and
went to the major Mayan ruins sites - Chichen Itza or Tulum. The bus ride was pretty long (3 hours), so we thought we’d catch the smaller ruins in Cozumel at
San Gervasio.

San Gervasio was pretty interesting - no pyramids or anything like that, but there were substantial ruins to see. They said that Playa Sol was the best beach on
Cozumel, and it was OK, but definitely not as good as Roatan.

After the beach, we went to the main street in town - Ave. Rafael E. Melgar. This is the major shopping area - about 2 miles from the pier ($4 taxi ride). We went
to a lecture about shopping in Cozumel which was definitely helpful since we only had a short time to shop. Michael was our excursion guy and he gave us tips
about shopping in Cozumel. He said that the peso is really low right now and about 9 pesos = $1 USD, so you can get good deals. He also said to always
bargain - cut them down 50% and then reach a happy medium. We only found that this worked with jewelry - not souvenir items. He gave a list of the NCL
recommended shops (which usually offer a 10-20% discount if you’re sailing on a cruise ship). This list is also passed out to all passengers before arriving in
Cozumel - so take this map with you!

Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras: Thursday morning we arrived in Roatan, we got there early as well. It was very hilly and green. The port was pretty bare, only a
line of vendors there for the ship’s arrival. Apparently, the Star is the only ship sailing there right now. They told us the Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruise lines
are hoping to go there next year - which wouldn’t be too good!

The best part about Roatan is that there aren’t many tourists there. There are a few different tours to take, but most end up at Tabyanna Beach Resort. We took
the 'beach' tour and entered small buses that took us to the resort. The island seems undeveloped, and you travel on a dirt road most of the way to the resort.
The ride is about 30 minutes, but very interesting.

The resort was fabulous! They had shops, nice bathrooms, numerous beach chairs and a restaurant, and NCL had a beach barbecue with island fruits and
fish/hot-dogs/hamburgers. Basically, before we got there we were waiting with great anticipation because everyone said how great the snorkeling was, but even
so we were amazed! The water was shallow - about 3-5 feet deep - at least 100 feet off shore. We brought our own snorkeling equipment - mask and air tube -
no flippers or life jacket. Since the water was so shallow we really didn’t have any problems. Snorkeling equipment was available from the resort and from the
NCL Dive-In program. It was really fabulous - colorful fish and coral were all around! We got some great pictures with our underwater camera. (Note: buy
underwater cameras before you get on the ship because they charge twice as much.)

We were on the first bus to Tabyanna, and got in the water before it was disturbed and that’s when it was the best. There were never really a lot of people in the
water - you didn’t really need to worry about running into anyone, but the flippers did stir up the sand. We stayed in the water for about 3 hours!

We also heard that the glass bottom boat tour was really good - they fed the fish and they came and surrounded the boat.

This is the kind of place that is really beautiful since there aren’t too many tourists there yet. There were a few hotels, but a lot of construction was taking place. I
would definitely recommend that you get to Roatan now before too many tourists disrupt the reef. However, aside from the beach there wasn’t much there. I was
in shock over one sighting - we were driving along the dirt road and there was a building with a sign that said 'Online Cafe!' I may have just been hallucinating,
because my husband didn’t see it.

Cruise Activities: We really didn’t get overly involved in the cruise activities, though we were never lacking something to do. They had Bingo each day, and Art
Auctions with original works at very low prices: paintings, lithographs, watercolors etc. We went to the evening shows - comedians, magicians, singers/dancers
which were all very good. We also went to the casino a few times, which wasn’t very crowded - you need to use tokens in the slot machines. They had a movie
theater which showed movies newly on video, which were also playing on the televisions in the cabins. The TVs also showed CNN and ESPN.

We were disappointed in our pictures - mostly the formal ones. We spent a lot of time getting ready for both formal pictures and both turned out dark, and we
weren’t even centered in the frame. We did end up getting two of our pictures that were taken at our dinner table. This was the photographer's first week
onboard, and no one was very happy with the pictures.

They had Caribbean, Mexican and Country-Western nights, with night parties by the pool with dancing, entertainment, and midnight buffets.

The Chocoholic Buffet was good, but not quite as elaborate as I had expected. They had cakes, chocolate covered strawberries and bananas, and ice cream.
The line was VERY long - first to take pictures and then to eat. Overall, the midnight buffets weren’t really elaborate, but there really weren’t that many people
attending them.

Overall Impression: We both thought that the cruise was great! We would do the same cruise again so we could go on the other tours. Unfortunately, the
Norwegian Star will be sailing to Australia in November and the Norwegian Sea will take its place. The Sea holds about 1800 people. I enjoyed the smaller ship
because we got to know the people and the excursions had a smaller number of people so it didn’t seem crowded.

Everyone we talked to on the ship thought that it was great and no one wanted to leave!! Two thumbs up from us for the Norwegian Star!

I hope this has been helpful, please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!! (Although, I've probably covered every detail of the cruise here!)

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