Subpar cruise - not recommended!
Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Mexico
8 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 10, 2007
Ship: Norwegian Star
Cabin type: Oceanview
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 14 years ago
Review summary
Most of the "free" food on this ship (6 restaurants to choose from) was not really worth eating. The buffet and Italian restaurants were absolutely awful, but the Endless Summer Mexican restaurant was the best bet -- good fajitas and margaritas. There's a little "diner" called Blue Lagoon that also made good burgers and fish & chips. Other than these two places, you'll need to spend an extra $15-20 per person to eat at the optional "upgrade" restaurants to get some decent food. (The steakhouse, Cagney's, was by far the best and worth the $20 pp.) The entertainment on this ship was predictably cheesy and lousy, which is expected on a low price cruise line. Average looking performers sang and danced poorly, subpar comedians (and a ventriloquist) performed tired routines, the Second City improv troupe displayed a complete lack of talent at improv -- but at least the Chinese acrobats were a lot of fun to watch. Norwegian cruises are all about the "upsell" -- every single thing you do on the ship ends in a sales pitch for another service or product they attempt to get you to buy. We paid top dollar for very poor massages on the first day (avoid the spa altogether, we say) and they ended with a sales pitch for body creams and lotions. Also, don't bother with the expensive excursions. Instead of paying $75 pp or more, just get off the ship and jump into a taxi (or water taxi in Cabo) and ask them to take you where you'd like to go -- it will end up being about $10 instead. On the positive side, the staff was as friendly as we'd ever seen on a cruise ship. That was a pleasure. And the pool with two slides was fun for the families. And the band Xcite, which performed by the pool, was very good. We would not recommend this cruise, or Norwegian in general.Ports of call
Pros: friendly service
Cons: horrible food