A great way to see several European destination but not the best cruise especially for families.

Item: Norwegian Star
Rating: 3.3
Author: ashleyamarkert

Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

ashleyamarkert

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 26

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

Verified Review

10 Night Western Europe (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 06, 2022

Ship: Norwegian Star

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 11668

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

If you’re a family traveling with children of any age I would avoid this cruise. Population is mainly a retired older demographic. The ship is also smaller with less activities and things to do. The shows were a bit provocative for kids but still entertaining. The buffet food wasn’t good.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The buffet especially in the morning wasn’t good and there wasn’t m

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

We were really excited about the childcare and activities for kids and families but there were none. They only had kids club ages 5+ but that was never disclosed to us while booking or after reviewing website. The pools were cold this time of the year and only hot tubs out of the wind are in an adult only section.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

There were two shows that were performed by the main cast that were pretty good.

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

The room for 5 and under was basically a closet with a mat on the floor. No windows. No staff greeted us while there. It was pretty empty and terrible compared to other cruise lines. We did make a complaint during day one but it wasn’t addressed.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Room stewards, bartenders, servers, and all other staff members were very kind and accommodating.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Ship was clean, well maintained. A bit dated and very loud in rougher waters. The WiFi was a pain and didn’t work well.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Cabin was nice. I don’t know that the upgrade to suite from just a balcony was worth the money. We didn’t see any major differences.

Ship tip

If you are going on this cruise understand several of the ports of call are far from the cities you might want to see. Some 3 hours away. A lot of journey by bus. I wouldn’t go into Paris but spend time in Le Harve and surrounding cities. The tours were just mediocre so we had more fun navigating on our own and spending the time exploring.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England

5 out of 5

Zeebrugge (Bruges), Belgium

5 out of 5

Le Havre (Paris), France

2 out of 5

Very far from Paris. To get into Paris it takes 3 hours.

Thumbs Up 0

LE VERDON, FRANCE

3 out of 5

Bilbao, Spain

3 out of 5

La Coruna, Spain

2 out of 5

Oporto, Portugal

5 out of 5

St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands Did not visit port

We did not make it to this port due to rough seas which was quite disappointing.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

Very crowded. Long lines. Took a long time.

7 Comments

byhisgrace 2 years ago

Thanks for your review

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IzzyW 2 years ago

We really enjoyed the Star but we were cruising with our 17 year old daughter...

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willwork4cruz 2 years ago

Not many cruises babyset toddlers. Try Disney.

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javawoody 2 years ago

Appreciate the review

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Appreciate your feedback. Sorry you were disappointed with the child care and demographics of your cruise.

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bubbles60 2 years ago

I have not seen many younger children on the European cruises we have been on. We did take our teenagers and they had great time. Sorry you did not have a good experience.

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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