Norwegian Star Cruise Reviews - Reviews

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.

Food-

The food on this boat was "okay". Some tasted like Cisco food (or food from a bulk supply company for cafeterias) and most food needed some seasoning. I don't think they had a single container of seasoning on board this ship. There wasn't a single dessert that was good, they had the normal like cheese cake but it had no flavor at all. No dessert night either (like chocolate buffet).

The dining rooms were a little disappointing. The main courses were a hit or miss and they had really good steak (filet and prime rib) but others were actually sent back because it seemed like they were more concerned about presentation rather than actual taste. I don't know about the restaurants that cost on board because I'm not about to pay $30 a person to eat food on a boat that I paid over $100 a day for. That's like paying to enter a restaurant to then pay and eat there. The food was probably good there but I wouldn't know.

The last thing about the food is that there is no 24hour food unless you want to pay $8 for each room service trip. Carnival has pizza 24/7 as well as other stuff and also free room-service. If you don't pay for room service you basically don't eat from 11-6.

Activities-

Every activity costs. Even simple things like game shows. You would have to pay to participate in a fun game show. I understand there was money on the line, but how about a game show with no money just for fun.

The shows were okay. The comedian was on only one show and one extra night (should have been more). The shows from the crew were a lot of songs with a really hard to follow plot. One show I didn't even know it was ending and I still don't know how the heck they got to the resolution in the end. They were good singers but just didn't seem like the songs went together. I know others felt the same way because multiple people up and left half way through.

Overall this cruise was a decent cruise with okay food and okay shows. Not worth the money at all however! Yes I have been on a Norwegian cruise before and it was almost 10 years ago. However it was amazing and I think they got bought out or something and the only thing they have going for them is the drink packages where you can drink all you want.

I guess you can just drink until you don't remember the terrible food and shows and you will be alright???

Don't waste your money, go on a Carnival or other cruise line!

Cruise overall was good, however, I have a disability and the room I git was so far away I couldn't walk to ut. The staff refused to change my room or offer any help except renting a wheelchair for almost $200! This was uneceptabke and made my cruise unenjoyable.

Our first cruise with Norwegian- embarkation took awhile, but we are used to that.

cabin with balcony was small, but comfortable and the sailing was smooth all the way, the staff helpful and pleasant, the ship clean everywhere.

Entertainment was good, not over the top.

The buffet area served a fine variety of dishes, desserts was limited and some fruits(guavas) were hard and tasteless.

We had been promised the dining package by , but Norwegian said they had no such message from - it was disappointing and embarrassing.

They communicated with and we were told that $100.00 was being refunded, however we would have preferred the dining package.

We did go anyway to the Modernoi (Brasilian) and enjoyed the food as well as the service.(first class).We also paid to go to the Bistro (French), where the food was OK, but no one understood  French, so when we mentioned the items on the menu in French, the waiter did not understand us. The ambiance was not French.We wanted to go to Gagney Steak , but the extra $ 29.95 we thought was too much and skipped it. The main dining room was walk in, but we preferred reserved seating and think that one night dress up, especially on Christmas Day should have been a must. Service was not so fluent there, because the waiter was not the same very night.

The Aqua dining room was smaller and much more pleasant, personal and warm..

Our cabin was close to the elevators, however there was a long wait most of the time and we took the stairs. The debarkation was well organized and flowing smoothly with suitcases available right away..

We enjoyed the trip, but did not enjoy the "casualness" and meeting the captain

at a cocktail party.

We took Norwegian Cruise, because we live in the Tampa area and di not wan to drive to Port Canaveral or Ft. Lauderdale, but  believe that we had a better time on Royal Caribbean.

Perhaps missing out on the dining package was the cause.