Great time, awesome staff!

Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Star

9 Night Baltic Capitals (Copenhagen Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 14, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Star

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 11110

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

We went on this cruise as a 30th birthday present to my wife having never been on a cruise before.  We were admittedly a little apprehensive as we are pretty active travelers and have never done a cruise before.  Our fears were immediately allayed as we boarded the ship.  We were amazed by the variety of activities and dining options available to us.  Having purchased the dining package we were able to take advantage of all the specialty restaurants.  El Bistro (french), Cagney's (steakhouse), and La Cucina (Italian) all stand out as excellent meals.  Portions were also very reasonable as we were afraid we may over eat like everybody warns about cruising!  The evening entertainment was also lots of fun.  We saw a few shows, listened to lots of music (MoTown Stan and The BG Band both were excellent and played almost every night), and even participated in one of the game shows (and won!).  Each day trip was excellent, with Estonia being a particular highlight.  The excursions were always well organized and the tour guides knowledgable and personable.  Lastly, the staff on the Star were top notch.  From our room attendant Noel to Vladimir who was an assistant cruise director all the way on down, the staff was always ready to help and answer questions with a smile.  We were very pleased with our experience and would definitely cruise with Norwegian again on the future!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was was very nice and spacious. Having a balcony was such a wonderful luxury. Getting to walk out onto the balcony in the morning to take in the fresh sea air and look at the breathtaking views of the different countries and then sitting down at night with a drink and watching the sunset was another highlight of the trip. Noel did an amazing job of keeping the room clean and also added some fun towel art each day to make us smile!

Ship tip

If you can afford it, two things I would highly recommend: 1) Room with a balcony. Makes a world of difference and just provides breathtaking views. 2) The Ultimate Dining Package-it is not too expensive ($130ish a person), and it really provides access to some great restaurants.

Ports of call

Copenhagen, Denmark

5 out of 5
Make sure to give yourself a few days before or after the cruise to explore! We flew in 3 days early and loved the city. Don't miss out!

Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany

3 out of 5

Tallinn, Estonia

5 out of 5
No need to spend money on an excursion here, just walk off the boat and enjoy the city on your own!

St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

5 out of 5

Helsinki, Finland

5 out of 5
Same as Tallinn, just walk off and explore on your own! The island fortress is worth the ferry trip if you have the time.

Stockholm, Sweden

3 out of 5
Just needed more time here, city was too big and we felt a little cheated. Go check out the Vasa museum though, very cool!
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8 Comments

Bubba54    9 years ago

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a great time.

noname111    9 years ago

dagach - I wrote this response on the review where you originally asked...  I just saw this post in the feed without a response so am reposting it.

It is really difficult to compare sailing where the sea is concerned, especially when asking one person for information. It changes every moment. You may find more information doing an Internet search using the words -> Baltic Sea rough. I just did this and got a lot of results.  Also, be sure to pay attention to cruises that have taken place in the same time span that you are cruising.

JusMe    9 years ago

  I would also recommend you look into how many of the ports dock and how many ports drop anchor and use a launch to shuttle you from the ship to the shore.   Chances are if your going to get sea sick it will be on the small launch more then on the cruise ship.

If you research and find it is calm seas most of the time in that area still get RX meds to take.   You never know when a storm can cause the sea to get rough.

I have done the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea's and both were smooth as glass on a Solstice class ship in November but we had clear weather on those cruises.  

Bubba54    9 years ago

Thanks for the review. So gald you had a good time. Welcome to the world of cruising.

noname111    9 years ago

Thank you for posting your review. Sounds like you had a fabulous time!

To the person asking about rough seas, it is really difficult to compare sailing where the sea is concerned, especially when asking one person for information. It changes every moment. You may find more information doing an Internet search using the words -> Baltic Sea rough. I just did this and got a lot of results.  Also, be sure to pay attention to cruises that have taken place in the same time span that you are cruising.

dagach    9 years ago

One of the reasons we chose this cruise was due to the amount of time spent on land!  We were not enthused about the idea spending multiple days in a row at sea (although I will admit we ended up enjoying our time on board way more than we expected to!).  The trip only has two sea days and they are spread out early in the trip and one on the last day before you get back to Copenhagen.  The rest of the days are spent from around 8AM until 4PM out in the cities and then each evening you get back on the boat and travel at night to your next port.

As far the the sea, I found it to be quite calm.  I have never been on a cruise before, so I don't have a reference point, but mostly very smooth sailing.  Obviously everything is weather contingent, and we did have one night with some rain and wind, and you could feel the boat swaying a bit, but overall a smooth and easy trip.  Hope this was helpful!

Vian    9 years ago

Can you please comment on whether you experienced rough seas on this Baltic sea cruise? I am very prone to sea sickness, but many have reassured me that the Baltic tends to be calm? And how much time was spent traveling on the open sea vs. at port? Thank you in advance!

 

Vian    9 years ago

Can you please comment on whether you experienced rough seas on this Baltic sea cruise? I am very prone to sea sickness, but many have reassured me that the Baltic tends to be calm? And how much time was spent traveling on the open sea vs. at port? Thank you in advance!

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