A great cruise with a surprise itinerary

Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Mexico

DaveL5

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 0

Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 14, 2007

Ship: Norwegian Star

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 17 years ago

Review summary

An extremely well managed ship with great service. The food was always excellent. The specialty restaurants were top quality (but the extra pricing was a bit annoying). We loved some of the acts in the theater but a couple of them were poor. The mexican riviera is a great place to escape to: good prices and great weather. The freestyle dining and other flexibilty was wonderful. We also liked the "dress up optional". When I go on vacation, the last thing I want to do is dress up! We were fairly unhappy about a last minute change in the itinerary. Our options were to reschedule later or take a very small cash credit. NOTE TO ALASKA: THE FOLLOWING SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW BUT WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO INVESTIGATE As you know, NCL announced a last minute change in the itinerary for the N. Star. We were quite disappointed because Acapulco was a main reason for choosing the cruise. However, we had very little choice because a busy spring would have prevented rescheduling until next year. While we did enjoy the cruise and the itinerary, it wasn't what we originally purchased. This is the part I would like you to check out: while we were on the ship we heard two separate stories. One was a couple who had been on the ship the previous cruise (Mar 4-12) and had the same change happen. They were told the next time the ship would go to Acapulco so they stayed on. Of course the itinerary was changed (apparently again!) The second story was a couple who told of a bartender on board who said the ship had not gone on its advertised itinerary in the last year! Since these are rumors, they will not be in my review but I would like to know the truth for future consideration of NCL. I might add that while they are not obligated to do anything, NCL should have offered cancellation as an option (not just deferral) and/or a bigger credit than the trivial $50 per person. I would appreciate very much knowing how often NCL has changed the itinerary of this ship.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Freestyle dining is really great. Excellent food. Specialty restaurants are superb (but you pay quite a bit extra)

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Too much "show and sell" in the activities. At every turn they were trying to get some more money. Some of the stage acts were poor, some were excellent. Not enough night club activity after 10:30PM. One bar with a piano, one bar with karioke. If you didn't like the late night activity (usually some mockup of some awful TV game show) then you were stuck.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Great service. Everyone seemed to be eager to do whatever they needed to make our cruise more enjoyable.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

An elegant vessel maintained with pride

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5