Norwegian Star Cruise Reviews - Reviews

As this was my first Norwegian cruise (recommended for the food), I will say that it's biggest differentiator is the food/ restaurants. The "freestyle" method of dining was much preferred over other cruise line's specific dining times. The service was a bit lackluster - the staff looked like they could use a break!

The nightly shows are 50% good,the other shows are very poor.Patrons start leaving the theater 10 minutes after show start.The central pool area is loud area all the time ,ship needs a diferent area with the ameitees for passengers that don't party all the time are drinking all the time.The aft area supposed to be that is adyacent to the kids area and no shade at all heliport area.The cruise director should focus on his yob,and forget acting or magician roll by the way very poor.

Norwegian Star is a nice ship we had a balcony room and it was great. The ship was a bit smaller than the one we were on in March. The restaurants were nice we went to the Aqua for a sit down dinner which was included i recommend the Sirloin steak which was out of this world and then you don't have to go to Cagney's and pay for one.. the pool was nice but the lines at the bar were always long to get a drink. we ate often at O"Sheehans which was nice also but there  too the lines for the bar were to long and no consistency on which side the line started different at all times. the shows were fantastic i recommend going to the 7pm and then dinner after that. the islands that we went to were great all but Costa Maya it was just a pit stop nothing to do but shop and it wasn't cheap at all. we docked at 8:00am and people were coming back to ship by 9. get off and see it but you won't be impressed for sure.  There wasn't an adult side of the ship that you could get away from the screaming kids in the big pool. they all seemed to be at the big pool reason for that i am sure there is no bar for the parents by the kiddie pool. All in all it was a nice ship and the staff was wonderful will definitely go on another NCL but larger one like the Escape.  I guess we were just spoiled when we were on the Getaway.. you will still enjoy the islands and the entertainment and the food it is all what you make of it. :)  just being honest..

We had a large learning curve as cruisers of Norwegian for the first time.  We learned a lot about how things were done this time so plan on cruising again.

Me and family really enjoy taking the smaller ships like Star.  You feel less congested and staff seem a lot more friendlier.  We were on the Breakaway before the Star and honestly can say i had more fun on the Star.   Breakaway is nice, big...but way way too much people.  They need to expand the pool if you going to fit 4000 people.  On the Star, you felt relax... people were not all crowded into the pool.  I would recommend anyone thinking about doing this.

I am striving to find something positive for 4 days,  I got nothing.  The beds in 2 different rooms sucked. Do Not book room 8007 or anywhere near it. The anchor dropped on the third day at 6:00 am. Shook the room for 20 minutes,  I was not ready to hear that for the rest of the cruise. Apparently common complaint according to service desk. Air conditioning did not work in that room either. Was moved to room 9229. Much quieter and ac worked a little better, held around 74°. Every time we ordered food something was forgotten. No seriously every single time. I was finding it humorous by the end. Saturday last day at sea the pool area was packed by 10:00 am. No waitstaff walked the area for drinks until 12:50. That is almost 3 hours of sales the ship lost. Only 2 people did take drink orders. Every single day they pushed book your next cruise with us. On the 3rd day we went to purchase, the cruise consultant  (who worked for Norwegian for 15 years ) was not able to answer 2 simple questions and said she will email corporate and call us at our new cabin the very next morning. On the final I went to visit her and ask if she received the answer about the package I wanted to book. She said the answer is no after I had to remind her who I am and what the question was also a lame excuse of the delay for her not getting back to me. Day after I got home checked my email to find out she was incorrect. Quality of the food was subpar. Brazilian restaurant cooked very  good filet but the chicken was overdone sausage was greasy and ribs were very dry.  Italian restaurant made good meatballs but the chicken parm was disgusting.  Dripping with oil. Cagney's steak was very fatty. I did like the French restaurant swordfish was very good. Still forgot an appetizer. Main dining rooms service was really bad. Several employees with no work ethics.  Several times dishes are left in the hallways for up to 2 days while the employees walk past them. Layout of the ship is not functional.  Some restaurants are right next to entertainment so you hear both the restaurant music and the live entertainment at the same time. Other restaurants are difficult to get to. Up one elevator walk down a the hall back down another elevator. I am a gold member for Norwegian, this by far is the worst one running. Many passengers started off the conversation complaining about it. This is the first time I am asking for my money back for a vacation ever.

excellent cruise,very good ship,every thing was great 

We love Norwegian very much and we looking new cruise,for ours vocation 

I recommended all my friends.

The staff was friendly and always kept the ship clean! The cruise director and his staff were hilarious and made the trip for us. Couldn't have asked for more. Loved cruising!

This cruise was absolutely wonder-filled.  I thoroughly enjoyed the ports with Costa Maya being my favorite.  I learned a great deal about Mayan Culture.  Enjoyed the beach in Cozumel and the cultural experience in Belize and Roatan Bay Island, were eye-opening.  Service was impeccable on Norweigian.  I look forward to my next cruise.

This is our first time to be on NCL and me and my wife have mixed feelings about this cruising experience.We both decided to list pros and cons on this last trip

Pros- we love the different mix of people in this ship,very diverse and we talked more to a lot of people. The staff were very friendly and eager to please the passengers. The freestyle is a plus although the crew seems so stressed all the time because it looks like the night would never end.

Cons- when it comes to docking the passengers were left on their own. There were no crew members to direct where the passengers need to go except "to the 4th floor" and once we were there it was a mob of people who was as confused as we were.I mentioned this to the crew when they were scanning our ID's that nobody was minding the mob upstairs and they just shrugged their shoulders.So I told them that Carnival does an excellent job of directing people.You would think that they would listen to the passengers but it was the same scenario every time we docked.The food was so so but the special restaurants were very good but so as the other ships that we have been

This is our second cruise,first one was with RC,a lot has change since our first one 26 years ago, loved the free style dinning, although some of the wait staff weren't that great most were good.Food was great.We also didn't  like the marketing that went on during the whole time we were on the ship, but I hear it's not as bad as other cruise lines.

we purchased the spa package and was a little disappointed to find out that the steam room and sauna was not Co Ed just the hot tubs and swimming pool.if we had known that we probly would not have got it.We did the caving and jungle hike excursion it was fun,but Belize was not what I thought it would be,disappointed.

Next time we will not purchase any excursion through NCL,we will do our own thing.

The ship is showing its age slightly,but not enough to say I wouldn't go on the same ship again.(hot tubs stopped working intermittently,our toilet has issues, but was fixed immediately.)

The ship itself was very clean,our room was spotless always,cabin boy was awesome.Entertainment was wonderful the whole week,totally enjoyed it.

On our way home hubby was looking at cruises for the next time and he is a tough customer and very hard to impress

The ship is nicely decorated and kept very clean. I was not happy with my room or steward. It seemed we were the last room to be made, and I only saw her 2 times the entire cruise.    We booked an inside cabin on the 5th floor room 5067. It was right near the Italian restaurant.  Every night till about 2-3 AM we heard loud noises, motors grinding, things dropping, something being dragged across the floor and water draining. I woke up one night hearing the water and I thought we were sinking. There also was on odor coming out from the sinks drain.  There was not enough deck chairs and lounges.  Your rule of no saving chairs is not enforced.  I watched people at 0800 and earlier put their  towel and book on lounger and leaves for hours( eat breakfast,go back to room).  The passengers were too old of a crowd as we are in our late 50's and that meant the music and entertainment was also.  Days at sea were boring. Not enough bars. I felt as if I was nickeled and dimed for everything. A corkage fee of $15.00 a bottle is rediculious. I will not cruise NCL again. 

This was our 4th NCL cruise this year and are actually on this ship in April for the crossing to Copenhagen and wanted to check it out.  Everything went well, met NCL standards. 

The only thing that we were not happy with was the size of the Oceanview room we had.  We were on the front of the ship and were told the rooms in the middle of the ship were larger.  I could not imagine spending 3 weeks in a room this small.

The kids program is the worst!! We got called/paged every night!! We didn't get to see any of the shows, have a dinner for just us, limited casino time, etc...... Got called to pick up kids due to headache, bumped elbow, kids hungry after having dinner 30 minutes to dropping them off!!  Seams like the staff just didn't want to work!!! Every time I went to pick up the kids found the staff off in a corner talking on phones, playing games on phones or talking with each other. My kids told me they wanted to play but staff wanted us to take them!!! Very rude staff!! My kids wanted to go to carnival cruise camp!!!! Everyday they would ask!!!! We will NEVER SAIL ON NORWEGIAN AGAIN!! It was the first time and last!!!

IN THE BEGINNING THE CRUISE AND THE ACTIVITIES WERE SLOW - NOT MUCH GOING ON ON BOARD.  DID  NOT LIKE THEM, TRYING TO SELL RAFFLES BEFORE THE NIGHTLY SHOW - POOR TASTE.  THE ATRUIM NEEDED TO BE AN UPBEAT PLACE BUT HAD A BAND PLAYING - VERY OLD SONGS.  THE SPINIKER LOUNGE FOR DANCING FOR AT ONE CORNER OF THE SHIP, NOT EASILY ACCESABLE - VERY SMALL DANCE FLOOR.  FELLOW CRUISERS WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE CRUISE AS WELL.  ABOUT THE 3/4 DAYS ACTIVITIES STARTED TO GET BETTER - MORE POOLSIDE DANCING AND ACTIVITIES, BIG SCREEN MOVIES ETC.

The Star was supposed to leave Tampa at 4:00 pm - we were finally underway at 4:00 AM!  The soft serve ice cream machine did not work but about an hour during the whole trip!  The menus in both dining rooms were boring - quality of the food was fine but I went on a cruise and ate fried chicken and steak and spaghetti!  Not up to our usual cruise dining plans!  The bars were very understaffed - did not drink much because I did not want to spend all of my time in line!  Entertainment was "ok" - dancers were great but female lead singer was just bad (sorry).  The best entertainment on the boat was the comedian - wish we could have seen him more than once.  No sports bar on the boat so instead of watching college and pro football we watched European soccer!  One bright spot - and it was WONDERFUL- was the Mandera Spa area.  We loved the bubbly pool and the lap pool!  Staff in spa was 10+.  Had some great excursions at the ports.  The ship just did not represent the Norwegian cruise line well.

We had a good time but there were a few disappointments.  The ship was scheduled to leave port at 4:00 pm but did not leave until after midnight.  The food in the specialty restaurants was great but the main dining room menu was indifferent.  The entertainment was terrific and the crew was professional and courteous.  The itinerary was changed due to the late departure but that was okay.  Our scheduled arrival in Tampa was 8:00 am on Sunday but we docked well before that time so our last night at sea was just spent in port.  The easy off process was slow and not well communicated.

Out of the 5 cruises my wife and I have been on this is probably the worse one yet... Starting off on the first day we were suppose to leave on the 19th but the ship never left until the following morning. My wife and I took this cruise to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and ordered the deluxe anniversary package notifying them that our anniversary was on the 19th. When we went to our room my wife's luggage was not there. We saw that someone did bring the roses but that was all. We decided to wait around a few hours still nothing. Around 8 we just decided to go ahead and go to dinner with the clothes we had on anyway but wanted to not ruin the day completely for my wife. When we returned from dinner my wife decided to call and find out why we still didn't have her luggage or the chocolate covered strawberries. No one seemed to have an answer so we found Hosea who was most helpful in finding our things and getting someone to get the other things we ordered at 10:00 pm!!!! On floor 7 or 6 it smelled as if someone died in the bathroom and the toilet had over flowed into the hallway!!! This was only the first night and the ship still haven't left the port yet!!! By the next morning we were finally moving and it seemed like things would get better. The service at breakfast was great at varsilles but for the rest of the day it was really much to do other than bingo, casino, art auctions and maybe a show here or there not really descriptive on what they were about but everyone was wasted anyway so who cares! By the 3rd they were running out of alcohol at every bar and can only make certain drinks at certain places. The wait at each bar was crazy because they really had structure or order to how they were taking orders!!!!! Also because of the last minute change in the schedule I had to book my excursion the morning of porting at Costa maya. There was a sign at the desk where you would normally book the excursions that said to go to the theater 15 minutes before we disembark and no one ever showed or was clueless about this sign but there were several others that were there waitin also because of this sign. Finally after waiting 20 minutes someone was nice enough to let us know that they also sell tickets at the end of the pier. Before getting off at the stop in Roatan we decided to get up earlier and have breakfast at Versailles before getting off. We had almost 2 hours to get something to eat. Our waitress came and took out order and then we never saw her again for at least an hour. We watched as 10 tables were served while we patiently waited still no waitress. After about 10 more minutes one of the other waitress saw we were waiting so long she asked if there was anything she could do? Long story short by the time we received our food we had 15 minutes to eat and was told that the omelette line was backed up. And the order was just flat out WRONG! She actually got an attitude with us which was puzzling to me. Overall worse cruise, not enough activities, bad service. Definitely not for the young or young at heart. We made the most out of the hand we were dealt and made it work

Star did not depart until 3 am due to mechanical issues. Glad they got it fixed though. My overall experience was good, very positive attitude. Only observations worth mentioning is that on decks 6 & 7 the carpets had many stains- in fact I thought something had overflowed. On deck bar service is a bit slow- they really do need more staff and if you're going to have a smoking area ashtrays should be provided because people were using dishes. Loved all ports and the excursions I choose. Best excursion though had to be the Behind The Scenes tour of ship. It made me appreciate the crew even more.

The check in process took 1 hour to receive keys.  On the positive side, the room was ready and luggage was delivered after receiving keys.  Dining room food was below average.  The buffet and Osheehan's food was better.  The Japanese Noodle House was good with the exception of the Mahi-Mahi which was old and smelled bad.  Not enough waiters taking drink orders and bar lines were too long with waits.  Is this is what "Free Style Cruising" is?