Norwegian Star Review

Norwegian Star Garden Villa 14500 - March 15, 2008

Review for the Mexican Riviera Cruise on Norwegian Star
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Bobbye
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Mar 2008
Cabin: Garden Villa

My family and I have found a little piece of heaven at sea. Norwegian Cruise Line's Garden Villa's have pampered my family once before and now we were back for more! There's just one word for this place -- wow. In fact, cruising in these Garden Villas is like having your own ship within a ship! 5,750 square feet of pure, secluded luxury! There's cruising and then there's Freestyle Garden Villa cruising -- The height of extravagance! We cruised in a Garden Villa this past summer on the Norwegian Dawn. At that point we told ourselves it was going to be a once in a lifetime experience. After the experience we started discussing doing it again and we soon made our reservation to cruise on the Norwegian Star for March 15, 2008. In the villa we had ourselves, our two adult sons and my father and his wife. The boys also had 4 friends that came with us in an inside cabin. I'm not going to do a review of the ports, etc. In all honesty we could have circled and not gone anyplace and Bob and I would have been perfectly content! We've done and loved some of the upscale lines such as Regent and Seabourn but nothing has compared to the Garden Villa experience. The butler service backed up by the concierge and cabin steward were top of the line. Anything you ask for can and will be done for you. We thought the Dawn spoiled us but the Star brought us to a totally new level. At the VIP party we introduced our youngest to the hotel director and mentioned he was a club golf pro and in conversation he said that he wanted to go golfing in at least one of the ports. The next day the executive chief called Alan and arranged for him to join him and a few others from the casino department for a round in Puerto Vallarta. Just so many extra things just "happen" when you are in a villa. Why go luxury on NCL? In a nutshell it permits unbelievable luxury on a big ship. The butler and concierge take care of any arrangements needed -- dining reservations, priority tender tickets, shore excursions, etc. We found most of our time is spent in the villa but we did leave to go to the shows, specialty restaurants, etc. (Cagney's we went to twice! Great food!) Plus with bringing the "younger generation along" it gave them the various activities and bars to keep them busy and happy. We also had my father and his wife with us, so all three generations had the ultimate experience. The Garden Villa's have the best view on the ship plus so much private space. The private garden area spoils you forever and you never want to have the "fight for the deck chairs" that normally take place around the pool. During the day if I left the villa I quickly found myself heading back upstairs. The experience starts at check-in when the butler escorts you to the 14th deck. The villa includes welcome champagne, 6 bottles of alcohol ordered from a menu, constantly restocked water, many different types of soda, coffee, tea, fruit, gourmet hors d'oeuvres late afternoon everyday and suite breakfast menu. The only unfortunate part is that the cruise ends. But even that they try to smooth over by including limo service for the return to the airport.

Best, Bobbye

http://travel.webshots.com/album/562918722lJraDX The above are some pictures from the cruise.

Cabin Review

Garden Villa

Cabin S1
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