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Best avoided in August

Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 131

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5
Norwegian Star

7 Night Greek Isles (Venice Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 06, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Star

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 5629 and 8589

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

A great itinery but best to avoid the school summer holidays, as the ship is full of children and the ports of call are extremely busy, which can spoil it somewhat.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Usual queues for everything, made worse by heat and a full ship.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Busy and noisy at peak times but good otherwise.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Plenty of lively evnts and activities, but difficult to find a quiet spot if you just wanted to read and relax.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Not the best offering we have experienced on Norwegian. Noise levels of entertainment too load inmost bars, making it difficult to chat to other guests.

Children's Programs

No hildren with us!

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Generally very good.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Need more sunloungers and/or chairs on deck 7 promenade for those who just want to sit and read in a quieter area.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Don't book cabin 5629. It's directly below the kitchens and the noise starts at about 4am when they start cleaning. It sounded like they were dropping stuff on the floor directly above us and dragging it across the floor. It woke us, even though I was wearing ear plugs! After we complained, having experienced it for the first 2 nights, they moved us to 8589. This was much better being over the Ginza Restaurant and Gatsby Bar. Theistic from the bar could be heard, but it wasn't too loud and finished at midnight. Just meant we had to stay in one of the bars for a pre bedtime drink!

Ship tip

If you don't have to go in the school holidays and want a more peaceful cruise, avoid late July or August. There will be less children and the places visited will be less congested. The only sure way of getting a quiet spot on the ship is to book a balcony cabin! Also you will be less likely to miss a port of call due to not being able to tender because of rough seas caused by the Meltemi winds that prevail between June and September. We couldn't get ashore at Myknosos and had delays tendering at Santorini because of the winds and choppy seas.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Venice, Italy

5 out of 5
A wonderful city, full of lots of sites to visit, but, like all the ports of call on this cruise, it was exceptionally busy. No need for an excursion, as most of the sites are in walking distance if you are relatively fit, and if not, the Vaporetta water buses service all the major places to visit.
Thumbs Up

Kotor, Montenegro

5 out of 5
A lovely walled city. The walls are a challenge, and only for the fitter traveller, and August is not the best time to do them, especially if there's a heatwave.
Thumbs Up

Corfu, Greece

4 out of 5
Interesting fortified old town/city. Good for shopping.
Thumbs Up

Santorini, Greece

5 out of 5
Avoid the poor donkeys and either take the cable car or a ferry and coach trip to Oia from the jetty, which can avoid the cable car queues. Oia is smaller and less crowded than Thira.
Thumbs Up

Mykonos, Greece Did not visit port

Dubrovnik, Croatia

4 out of 5
If you don't like crowds, it's best avoided at peak times. Use the gateways at the top of the walls for less crowds. The walk around the walls is fantastic, but it's one way only, so chose you start point carefully if you don't want to finish on the steepest section!
Thumbs Up

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Very good but no self disembark with own cases at Venice.
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4 Comments

CruiselineSarah    7 years ago

Thanks so much for all of the info! Dubrovnik is actually the last city that we are still seeing about a shore excursion/doing things on our own or both. All of the other ports we have an excursion for. Your reply is very helpful!
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daviddwells    7 years ago

We did our own thing in Dubrovnik. We had an unscheduled overnight stop there due to the inability to use the tenders at Mykonos that meant that the captain had to find something else to fill up the itinerary. So we arrived at 7pm and had the opportunity to visit the city that evening as well as the following morning. They offer a bus transfer from the new port to the city, as it's about 4km and not a flat walk. The cost was $15 a head for a return ticket, but due to the extended stay, it included use on both days, which made it much better value for money. However, if you walk it will take quite a long time and it will restrict the amount of time to do things in the city. A word of warning, if you use the transfer coach, expect long queues in the hour leading up to the last bus. We decided to do the cable car first and it took us about 10 minutes to walk up to the cable car station after the bus dropped us off and then we had to wait for 40 minutes in a queue to get on it, despite having purchased tickets in advance and we missed the sunset whilst in the queue! Don't buy a ticket in advance as there are taxi drivers offering to take you to the top to avoid the queues, including a return ticket for the cable car, for the same price! However, be aware that you'll still have to wait for some time to get the cable car back down. Be aware that the crush through the main gate into town from the coach drop off is horrific and I'd advise you to go straight to do the cable car if you plan to do it, as when you come back down there is a small path down the side of the cable car station that takes you to the upper gate in the wall, which doesn't get so crowded. Once inside the wall, if you plan to walk them, there's an entrance nearby which means that you can do the steepest bit first and then enjoy the rest but I'm not sure if you can buy tickets there, as it just seemed to be a guy checking tickets, so you may need to buy them in advance at the ticket office by the fountain at the main gate. Neither the cable car or walls are cheap, being 140HRK and 150HRK respectively. The walls are probably the better value for the money. There are three entrances to Dubrovnik City walls. First entrance is located on the western side of the City at the very end of Placa (Stradun) street just across the Big Onfrio's fountain next to the Church of Holy Savior, to the left. The second entrance is located at the eastern part of the City close to the inner Ploce Gate and the third entrance to the City walls is located at the back side of St. John Fortress and the entrance to the Maritime museum. This third entrance is a bit tricky to find as you need to go behind Dubrovnik Cathedral to the south, climb the small staircase and turn left into a vaulted street.
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CruiselineSarah    7 years ago

Thanks for the review! I'm sailing the same ship in less than two weeks and am crossing my fingers that there will be fewer kids just as school starts up again. Did you do an excursion in Dubrovnik? Or explore on your own.
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GIL155    7 years ago

not to mention the heat! lol So many cruisers mentioning the kids on a Summer cruise. I do not see it changing anytime soon providing cruising stays an affordable option for families.
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