The on-board experience was pretty good. Cabin stewards, dining staff and shore excursion staff were helpful, friendly and efficient. The problems all came from mechanical breakdowns and NCL's mismanagement of the situation. Five of the original ten ports were cancelled, and two more were rescheduled to later days, making shore excursion availability uncertain (and often unavailable for advance purchase). NCL staff in Miami were generally unhelpful. The first two compensation offers were insultingly small, and they only got better when passengers started behaving badly. Bottom line: a pleasant experience once aboard, but we never would have bought it if we had known the real itinerary.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Staff were friendly. Food in "free" restaurants was good except for Ginza, which was like a bad small-town Chinese buffet. Wine was okay but very overpriced. Specialty restaurants were good but way overpriced for what you get.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
NCL Star can't seen to keep both drive units in service at the same time. The interior is showing its age - broken chairs, leaking pipes, etc. Repairs or replacements were usually made promptly on request.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Cabin design was good except for late night noise from carts on tile floors in buffet area on deck above. Drain pipe in bathroom sink was patched with duct tape and sprung a leak, had to be replaced mid-cruise.
Ship tip
Take plenty of reading material for additional unplanned sea days. There isn't much else to do and until NCL finally solves drive problems that have existed for years, there may be lots of unplanned additional sea days.
Hong Kong is a great city to visit, but good hotels are expensive. Hong Kong cruise ship boarding involved a level of chaos and confusion I have never experienced before with NCL in other ports.
Interesting stop, but USA customers could not buy shore excursions except on ship, if there was any space left after customers in the rest of the world were allowed to buy in advance. NCL managed to avoid telling USA customers there was a $68 visa fee additional to the excursion price until check-in in Hong Kong.
Night Safari (nighttime zoo) shore excursion was hot and chaotic, but well worth the cost and effort. Independently, eat at a shopping mall food court - excellent food cooked to order, and cheap even at upscale malls.
Harbor cruise was curtailed because of low tide (which should have been predictable), and promised bus tour didn't show up at all. It's a pleasant, but bland, city but be prepared for 108-degree temperatures with high humidity.
Sydney as a city is well worth a visit - lots to see, good restaurants and English (sort of) spoken. Cruise ship unloading on a weekday morning can be chaotic because it's rush hour and there aren't nearly enough taxis available.
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