Disappointing transatlantic crossing

Item: Norwegian Star
Rating: 4
Author: Gennie505

Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Transatlantic

Gennie505

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 7

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

14 Night Transatlantic Westbound (Barcelona To Miami)

Sail date: November 22, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Star

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5100

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I have been on 8 cruises in my life. Two with NCL. I will not use NCL in the future. It got me from A to B and that was it. I was very upset about a compulsory $15 per night for room service cleaning. I demanded they take it off my bill and I gave the tip to the room steward myself.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Too chaotic. I was truly shocked to find that my bags actually made it to my cabin

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Plenty food but not fresh. Sour cream, smoked salmon “paste” was appalling. The ONLY food I enjoyed were the Indian food offerings in the buffet and some Philipino dishes. Obviously the chefs and cooks knew how to prepare those dishes. Everything else really was definitely below average.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Due to weather pool was closed a lot of the time. Hot tub was not warm enough.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Shows were good.

Children's Programs

I had no children with me

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Room steward was excellent. Rest of the staff was average at best. Staff didn’t seem happy. They were trying but something there is some undercurrents of labor stress

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Yes.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Cabin was fine. No complaints

Ship tip

Do not count on the advertised port stops to be honored.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5

Fine. I was on my own.

Thumbs Up 0

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

4 out of 5

Fine.

Thumbs Up 0

Malaga, Spain

4 out of 5

Fine

Thumbs Up 1

Cadiz (Seville), Spain

4 out of 5

Fine

Thumbs Up 0

Funchal, Madeira

5 out of 5

Excellent

Thumbs Up 0

Ponta Delgada, Azores Did not visit port

I took this cruise SOLELY to visit the Azores for the first time. The captain said due to weather we won’t stop there, opting for a stop at NCL’s private island. I called my son, a meteorologist and he reported there were no storm or low pressure issues in the area. By the way, passengers were very upset about this and speculated wildly on social media as to the real reason for the detour. Left a bad taste on everyone’s mind

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

8 Comments

GerryBCruisin 3 years ago

Thanks for taking the time to share your review of the Norwegian Star.

Thumbs Up 0

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gbenson 5 years ago

Seems to be your first cruise

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XTSea 5 years ago

The daily charge. Most passengers remove it from their account and give it to the room attendants, waiters etc. I would happily pay it if all staff got their share of it if, but when the ship administration take a great % of it, we object.

Thumbs Up 0

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willwork4cruz 5 years ago

Compulsory cleaning fee? Do you mean the automatic tips that every cruise line has been using for at least ten years now? I can't believe there is anyone who doesn't know about that. Newsflash! There are also specialty restaurants that charge a fee. These began showing up about twenty years ago.

Thumbs Up 1

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cruisereckoning 5 years ago

Yes that daily charge is not just for the room steward.

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terriesanchez 5 years ago

You have to understand that there are the people you see (room steward and dining room staff) and those you don't ( kitchen, laundry, etc) that all get a part of those daily gratuities. Every time you remove the gratuities from your bill and just give it to the room steward, you have just cut several other peoples pay. Imagine if everyone did that.

Thumbs Up 5

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bobduck1993 5 years ago

I am sorry that your experience was not positive, but do continue enjoying your cruises with what ever cruise line you choose!

Thumbs Up 1

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CruzeFan 5 years ago

The mandatory daily gratuities charges are common across all mainstream stream cruise lines and go to multiple people in both food and cabin service, many behind the scenes that you may not see. Hopefully the cruise lines will eventually just raise the price of the cruise by this daily fee since it seems to cause confusion and anger with some.

Thumbs Up 5

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