Background I wanted to do a different kind of cruise, so booked a pacific coastal repositioning cruise, Vancouver to Los Angeles. We had cruised with NCL in the past and were happy, so went with the Star. Decided to splurge and get a suite, albeit the lowest category, AE.

Boarding There was another ship in port at the same time, and the line to security was quite long, took about an hour there. After that boarding was fairly quick, although we had a suite so got moved along because of that.

Cabin It was nice, but not extremely large for being called a suite. Another new thing for us was a balcony on the stern, which was nice. Never met our room steward, I think since tips are automatic, they don't feel a need to initiate a personal relationship with their customers. Also had a butler, John. What a worthless piece of humanity. Only saw him twice, he was supposed to bring snacks and fruit every day. Got that stuff twice total. We did not bother with room service. Needless to say, the tip I left for him was ZERO. And I do not even feel bad about it. Read more