Norwegian Star Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The main reason my wife and I chose this cruise was because of a few of the destinations. We've only sailed with Celebrity prior to this cruise and found ourselves making comparisons. There is no comparison. The overall quality of the food, service, and friendliness of the staff was less than desirable. A few of the staff were great, and we appreciated their kindness. Each of the excursions we chose were good to great, especially two of them...one in Belize and the other in Roatan. The entertainment was actually better than we expected. We had a nice balcony cabin, and the cabin service was very good, but overall, we probably would not sail with Norwegian again.

It was a family time cruise, we had a good time, but there were not many activities for the little ones.  Their experience at the daycare was not the best, 

Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly, loved the port shopping and local color. It seems like the food on NCl has declined in quality unless you pay extra for the upscale restaurants. This was my 5th cruise on Norwegian and the worse ship food yet. My wife is not picky at all yet she admitted the food lacked taste and texture. Worse ship pizza ever!!!

Overall the cruise was great. Some of the service was very inconsistent.  We got very good service in the dining room and the next time poor. Our cabin steward was poor. 

This was our 4th Norwegian cruise, and it was probably our most relaxing.  From the time we boarded until we departed the ship, we enjoyed every minute.  The food was delicious and healthy (we ate exclusively at the Market Buffet so we could get exactly what we wanted), the weather was gorgeous, and the ports we visited were very interesting.  Also the entertainment was top notch every night.  We love to walk, and so we were able to jog 2 miles every day on the jogging deck.  Nothing like being out at sea and breathing that fresh air.  The crew and service on board the Norwegian Star are fantastic.  We especially liked having the Ultimate Beverage Package since we are avid wine drinkers.  All in all, we had a fabulous time and look forward to our next Norwegian outing.

Pros:

Cabin steward excellent

Entertainment above average

Staff friendly and courteous

Cons:

Main Dining Room menu repetitive throughout week, very little change in offerings

Dining Room service adequate; (one incident with poor service)

Cleanliness of ship: cups and glasses left behind by cruisers not picked up quickly

Money generated by Bingo was not awarded to winners in proportion to money taken in.

Would not sail on ship again

We did the Transatlantic trip on the Star last Spring.  The ship was not full and the service seemed better than this trip.  Dining at Paris Bistrot and Cagney's were still very good.  While the staff was still quite friendly, the service did not seem as good.  We definitely do not care for the stops on the Western Caribbean route.  Ships entertainment was just as good or even better than previous trip.

booked mini-suite. don't feel there any difference between that, & a regular balcony for the difference in price. cabin steward, & dining svc. were not as good as my last NCL sailing a couple of yrs. ago. also, the selection of mdse. in the gift shops was not nearly as extensive as previously. wanted my daughter to experience the "step up" on NCL, she preferred the previous cruise line.

The food was just awful, it was served cold most of the time.  Had to send it back several times. Coffee always was cold.  Did not care for open seating,  No dress code for dinner.  Presentation  of food was below par. Wait staff didn't seem to care if you were happy or needed anything after you were served.

We've been on an NCL cruise before and loved it, but most of the time on this cruise I was thinking maybe we should try Royal Caribbean. Overall, the food was not up to par. There were a few nights where it was great, but most nights, I felt that the food selections were not as elegant or up to expectations. My favorite part of cruising is usually the food as you often don't have fine dining 7 days in a row, but on this cruising it wasn't much fine dining. 

I normally refrain from leaving comments or saying anything negative about a company or experience. But, this is the exception. I am an avid cruiser, I normally cruise with Carnival and Royal Caribbean. This being my first Norwegian ship experience, I of course can't help but compare. I will say, the music being played throughout the ship was awful. You would look around and see so many drab faces. Your environment around you is what creates the vibes and energy of those around you as well, and when the music being played isn't vacation style music or upbeat tunes and the staff and cruisers are all moping around, you too, can't help but notice it. I'm  not sure if the crumby  weather played apart of this, but something should be done about this. Along with the music, the outside top pool bartenders were beyond rude to guests, including myself. They wouldn't serve guests, copped attitudes, talked about guests while guests could hear, and argued with guests while bar tending. I've never witnessed such rude and disrespectful cruise staff towards paying customers, outrageous! Also, the top kitchens (buffets) closing so early in the evening was something new, and with such a "freestyle" way of cruising and "freestyle" way of dining, one would expect the buffets to stay open much later. Those were the major issues I found on my Norwegian experience. These were things that I've always received with other ships and were things I absolutely couldn't help but notice and couldn't help but bring to your attention. In my opinion, these are things that can and should be addressed for a better cruising experience. I left with giving my opinion to others that have asked, and honestly, it's to cruise with other ships, and these are the main reasons why. 

The cruise started out with cool weather and rain but the crew did their best to make the activities interesting.  The last 4 days were better weather and the activities were still good on board along with the ports we visited.

Great service.  Wonderful food.  The dining rooms were extremely accommodating for my gluten-free diet.  The shows were great.  Weather not too bad. Ports were extremely interesting as were the excursions. Only complaint was that there were not enough places to listen to music and dance.

WE DON'T HAVE MUCH SO WE HAD TO SAVE FOR A LONG TIME TO GO ON THIS CRUISE I'M SURE THAT YOUR AWARE OF THE NOISE PROBLEM IN ROOM 5128 WERE NOT THE FIRST TO COMPLANE ABOUT IT WE CALLED ON IT 5 TIMES. FINALY WE WENT UP STAIRS TO TALK TO SOMEONE ON IT. THE GIRL WENT IN THE BACK ROOM TO GET THE MAN WE SPOKE TO HE SAID THEY WERE SORRY AND OFFERED US A FREE DINNER. THAT NIGHT THE SAME THING VERY LITTLE SLEEP. THE NEXT DAY I SEE THE SAME MAN WE SPOKE TO CARRYING A FOOD TRAY TO A ROOM{ A WAITER? REALY} THAT WAS A SLAP IN THE FACE TO US. SO HOW DID WE LIKE YOUR CRUISE YOU ASK?  TAKE A GUESS. PS  I'LL BET YOU HAVE THAT ROOM BOOKED ON THIS CRUISE TO.  SAD

Very pleased with the entire cruise experience. The ports of call were what I expected them to be. The food was good. The shows were also very enjoyable. Would recommend this cruise highly.

Overall, we were disappointed.  Our stateroom had wet, smelly carpet.  Our bedding was only changed once.  We could easily tell this because the sheets were stained.  Neither our television or phone worked properly.  

The two main dining rooms had identical menus each night.  The buffet was very repetitious and food was not hot.

While most of the entertainment was enjoyable, almost everything closed very early.  The exceptions to this were the casino (very smoke-filled) and a club for young people.

The waitstaff/bartenders were very disorganized and not very friendly.

We have cruised with carnival, Holland America, R.C, celebrity, princess. We were pleased with the Norwegian star. Staff, very friendly, food was varied and plentiful. The selection and variety at the breakfast buffet was probably the best. Even though the ship was full, there was never a problem getting seated. The Italian restaurant was excellent. The 14 oz. rib eye steak was delicious, couldn't finish it.

pet peeves: you are allowed to bring one bottle of wine per person, which we did, BUT they charged a corkage fee of $15. Per bottle, even if the wine was consumed in your room. The showers and sauna in the spa was off limits, unless you paid $139. per person for the week. The other cruise ships were open for this. You only paid for massages etc. Not enough organized sports, like ping pong, shuffleboard, basketball toss, etc. If interested, you had to find your own partners. Other than that, all activities were the same as other cruise lines. 

The main pool was small, under a water slide which only kids use. There was no "adult " pool, except in the spa, which would cost $139 to use.

We cruised in a 2 bedroom family suite, which was just OK. The room itself was nicely set-up but the balcony was so small that we couldn't open the chaise lounges completely. It also afforded no privacy & the guy next to us kept peeping at us through the cheap partition. The maid "Max" was below par. Our sheets were only changed once in 7 nights although we requested it to be done every other night. He barely cleaned the suite, didn't vacuum often & there was still dust/hair in the room from the prior guests. The sink stoppers do not work & the mini bar was missing a whole bunch of items that we were penalized for even though we reported it to the butler ASAP. 

It was very easy to board the ship at Tampa,Fl. They have a very good system in place. There was no rush like Carnival unless your first class.

 The problem is setting up a elevator for older people with needs only. Like boat drill and getting off and on in the ship for imports. We had four elevators and the was a problem once with a brake down and bring on the luggage was a mess on the in the elevators. Its on all the ships.

 The food was good and drinks with freestyle eating. Over all the cruise was fine.

The crew was outstanding and very helpful (four star). 

 I would go again with NCL ships,but my next cruise in March/2016 is with Carnival to see if they have improvements.

Customer Service and the general overall attitude on the Norwegian Star that sailed out of Tampa on Dec 27th was not good. I contacted Guest Relations about getting a partially refund on the automatic $13.50/day gratuity which sent back a reply "Your form was submitted successfully, please allow 15 business days for a response." I think the "15 days" says it all.