Understaffed and disorganized

Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Star

7 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 13, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Star

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5650

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

We were very disappointed in the level of service on this cruise.  I heard that Norwegian was sold and that new owners cut the crew numbers.  Maybe this is why so many crew members  ranged from nice to neutral to unhappy to downright surly. We had the drinks package, which sometimes was useless as we could not get served.  Had to call almost every night for problems with our stateroom ( towels removed but not replaced, no toilet paper, etc). Dinner service in Aqua and Versailles was spotty--mostly okay.

 

Food was plentiful and varied--pretty good.  The market cafe food had great buffets for breakfast and lunch,  but  tables were too close together, so that you were always bumping into people or they were bumping into to you while going from your seat to the buffet.  I would have been happy to have dinner there, but the setting was depressing--school cafeteria-esque.  Also, the way they had service  set up in long cafeteria lines was annoying and didn't help the atmosphere. Setting and organization of the Windjammer on RCI is MUCH better. 

 

Worst thing--we were supposed to be in port at Roatan, Honduras, per our itinerary, but we had to be tendered.  We got onto Roatan 2 HOURS LATE--no explanation.  RCI was in the port.  Did they get there before us or ???

 

Overall, we had fun because we made it fun.  Did not book any Norwegian excursions but did our own instead.  Big savings. It will be a long time before I book on Norwegian again.

 

 

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Enjoyed the free style dining.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Atrium. O'Sheeans okay. Market Cafe is a VERY TIRED space--crowded and looks like a school cafeteria.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was fine. Plenty of storage for 2 adults. Great shower.

Ports of call

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5
We booked scuba diving through shoreexcursions.com

Belize City, Belize

5 out of 5
Flew to Ambergris Cay for scuba diving

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

5 out of 5
DO NOT stay at the port. Only 2$ each (go outside the gate) to Mahahual. We spent several hours at Senor Lobster on the beach--free kayaks, hammocks, beach chairs. Good food and margaritas. Lovely setting.

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5
Very touristy. Walk to market (food market) if you want to get away from the "strip" and see Mexico. Cheap drugstore items everywhere--stuff that would be prescription at home, like Retin-A
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