Norwegian Star Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I had a fantastic time on this trip. This was my second time sailing with NCL (prior was a Mediterranean cruise on Jade) and I really enjoy the freestyle. I am the type of traveler that uses the cruise more as a vessel, banking on the excursions. Overall- if taking this tour, I would take it earlier in August or during the second week in August. I did the second week and at every one of the ports was told how lucky we were because typically it rains and gets cooler. The ship itself is okay; I think it's starting to show some wear and tear and needs some updating. For example, we had to call maintenance twice: 1) our room safe was broken on arrival, 2) the AC was not functioning. We had a knock on our door mistakenly, but it was maintenance asking about our shower head. 

We also were lucky to have the ultimate dining package. That allowed us to really experience the various restaurants on ship. We dined a couple of times at the French and Italian places. We HATED the Brazilian; I was so disappointed. I am a meat lover and the quality of the meat was awful. I would take one bite and set it away. The steak restaurant has the same kitchen, so I was very hesitant (but already had the reservation and did not know they shared), but it was okay. For the cover charge (unless you get it free!), it's not worth it. The teppanyaki was sub-par. Fun for a little different atmosphere, but if you've been to other places, you'll be disappointed. You don't really get the same tricks and whistles. The main dining room was lovely and worked just as well, when you could find a good opening for a table (then the service varied). 

For the ports:

Berlin- We did the Potsdam/Berlin tour. It is about a 2.5-3 hr train ride each way to get to Berlin. You do get to see the countryside and Berlin is a modern city. Much was damaged in WW2, so there isn't much to see. It's seeing various areas where remnants of the wall remain, 60-stylish buildings, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Holocaust memorial. Potsdam gave you a brief (very brief) 40 min-1 hr seeing the outside of a palace and lunch. If you read the descriptions of the visits, note that you only get brief moments outside before you're on the bus to the next stop. We didn't have opportunities to shop. A lot of people just took shorter tours and had a lot of shopping. (If that's what you're looking for). 

Estonia- We did the Medieval/Best. I would honestly say that because the port is so close to the city, skip the excursion. We wasted time (2 hrs) seeing city sights (deteriorated Olympic 1980s buildings) before seeing the medieval city. I would have rather taken a taxi or walked to the city and spent more time there. The city itself was very quaint. 

St Petersburg- our tour guide (Irene) was awful. We signed up for the Best (2-day and also the ballet night tour) and Bus #7 was AWFUL! I would hope that Irene is fired because she ruined the excursion. She was a drill sergeant and didn't care about her job. She liked art, but knew none of the history of the places. We actually hung back in our group to listen to other tour guides wherever we went to get a better tour. Many people book this tour, I would just see if you can go on another bus if you get Irene. By the way- if you want to see St Petersburg, you have to book an excursion- it's your visa and you go through customs each time you leave the ship.

Finland- Loved it! We did the Medieval/Best of tour. It took us northbound to a medieval city which was fantastic. I wish we had more time to walk around, but we did have some free time to do so. There's an excellent chocolate shop there and the guide was wonderful in directing us in what to try, what was unique. The countryside is beautiful and everyone was so incredibly friendly. 

Sweden- My favorite! But definitely way too short of a trip. We only had 6 hours there. I was so sad about that. We did the Ice Bar, Old Town, Vasa excursion. The Ice Bar was fun for the experience, but it's Vasa that makes the trip. Vasa is an old 16th c ship preserved- it's incredible to see. Old Town is also really neat- as is the rest of the city. I only wish we had more time. The ship ports in the city, so an excursion isn't necessarily needed, but I really enjoyed mine. You also save on time.... I really wish we had more time there. 

We also spent 3 days in Copenhagen before the cruise began. I would say that was enough time to really see the country. We spent one day going outside the city and visiting palaces (i.e. Hamlet, Fredricksborg), and the remaining 2 in the city walking around and seeing the many sights. I highly recommend. I LOVED Copenhagen. It's an easy walking city- much like Boston, where it has many different "parts" and all quaint in themselves. 

Overall, I thought the cruise was very good. The service really varied. I would say that you saw some incredibly hard working people, then incredibly lazy. The hard workers tried to compensate; you didn't really have any in between. The service was actually worse than what I experienced on the Jade. So, since I was using this trip as a vessel, this wasn't my primary concern (but detracts from excellent level)- but if you're a regular cruiser, this might not bode well for you.  

We tried both main restaurants and didn't good service at either.

The first one we were served cold food every time we used. The second the food was warm and better but the service was not.

The cruise was well worth time and money spent. The ship and onboard activities exceeded our expectations. The Captain was excellent, friendly and shared a wealth of information on history and his experience with all the ports of debarkation. We were docked at St Petersburg for two days; the weather was stunning as was the city itself. The other ports were great as well but Russia was the jewel! In Sweden we utilized the hop on hop off buses to explore the city. Oh, if you arrive in Copenhagen a couple of days early, even with luggage taking the train from the airport to our hotel was easy.

TV useless - horrible programming and no way to get videos/VCR's etc with room card.  The library is the same - USELESS!  Must stay in enclosed little room to read a book - after thousands spent you'd think you could check out a book for a few days - NO. So if weather not condusive to swim or sun and you are older and just want quiet time in your room between tours you have to haul many books etc. tour specialists that help you on days of tours are especially good at what they do. Tours very organized and went well. All as described. We needed special help and it was ready before we got there. Entertainment on ship below par (one exception). Not enough time in port in Helsinki and Stockholm. I say cut out a day in Berlin, a lot of people felt that way. Good selection of food but not special enough re: all the fresh fish. No caviar, little lobster, crab etc. open dining a fiasco - so crowded, crammed in like sardines. Good thing we had unlimited dining or would have used buffet exclusively. Be sure to go to o'Sheehans - quiet with great service and have breakfast too. 

As far as the ports are concerned, this cruise gives you an excellent sampling of the Baltic Jewels.  While there wasn't enough time an any of the ports (which is to be fully expected), you do have enough time to hit the highlights and decide if further exploration on another trip is worth while.  Getting off the ship at these ports was relatively easy, getting back on the ship took a little more time.  The lines were longer and slower that I would have liked.  This is not a true relaxing cruise.  This type of trip is work.  To get the full experience, your port days are long so don't be disappointed when you get home and need to relax.  The ship itself was adequate, but did not really add to our experience.  We felt more like we were on a floating hotel than on a floating luxury resort.  We have been on dozens of cruises, so this was not based on unrealistic expectations, we just expected more out of the entertainment, specialty dining and activities.  The crew performed as expected, nothing over the top, but no issues either.  It was interesting to note, that the crew typically will be extremely diverse, but in this case, the majority of crew members we met were from the Philippines. In some way, this was less interesting because we enjoy the interaction of all of the different cultures.  As mentioned above, our only area of mediocrity was the ship itself and it's programs.  We ate in specialty dining most nights, and found our experience to be average to below average relating to both service and food quality.  Our first night at Cagney's, we waiting 30 minutes for our table even with a reservation.  A similar experience happened with Moderno's except we were already seated but still waited 30 minutes to be served.  They offered a Shrimp stew that they said would take 15 minutes to prepare, we received an hour later after we were no longer hungry.  My biggest beef (no pun intended) was with the beef.  I enjoy Prime Beef.  I only cook Prime Beef and typically will not eat beef out unless it is Prime.  NCL has a notice on their menu "Norwegian Cruise Line's signature Steakhouse proudly services Certified Angus Beef brand steaks.  Uncompromising standards ensure it's a cut above USDA Prime, Choice and Select, making it the best tasting beef available"  As a Prime beef guy, I think this statement is outrageous and should be reworded or removed.  The steaks on the ship were nowhere near Prime quality.  Sorry NCL.  We did eat in the main dinner room one night and the food and service was excellent.  We made a point of sharing that we thought the main dinner room was better than the specialty dinner (save your money). The entertainment and activities was stale, average and typical.  I am not saying they were bad, but nothing to get excited about.  Over all it was a pleasant experience.  We did not have any real issues but we probably will wait a while before sailing on NCL again.   

great cruise.  excellent cities to visit.  ship in excellent  ship , shows  average,  food excellent, captain was a hoot. excursions were excellent, except the Berlin excursion which was hotter than the dickens with the non-airconditioned train. Berlin tour lasted too long.

1. Substandard food. The Asian restaurant was bad. It would be a Hugh improvement if they hire any Chinese take out restaurant. 2. I forgot to pickup my camera from x-Ray machine when I got onboard. I reported the loss and Norwegian never found it. No attempt was made to compensate. 3. The pool area taken over by kids. No adult hours. 4. Very few people dressed up during a formal night.

We were pleased with all the ports of call and our sailing experience.  Sea was calm, weather was great.  The ship felt crowded and noisy in all the public areas.  Having a band playing loudly outside of the Le Bistro and La Cucina restaurants during dinner hour was not the experience we expected for a relaxing dinner.  O'Sheehans pub and the Versailles restaurant were our favorites.  Except for one rude waitress in O'Sheehan's the entire staff treated us well and were always friendly.  Our inside stateroom on level 5 was quiet and we slept well.  If you only take one city tour, I recommend St. Petersburg.  It was the highlight of our trip.  Oldtown Tallinn, Estonia was an unexpected gem.  Really enjoyed the entertainment in the showroom.  I liked that the Captain kept us informed at all times.   

The ports of call were, for the most part, quite interesting. St. Petersburg was definitely the best port and we booked a 2 day shore excursion to make the most of our time. If you have the chance, ride the subway in St. Petersburg. It's beautiful! Most people we spoke with did not go to Berlin, choosing to stay in Warnemunde or travel to Rostock for the Schwerin (?) Palace. Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallinn are easy to do on your own with either a HOHO bus or public transportation. The Star is a beautiful ship with lots of activities, as well as quiet places. Try O'Sheehans for breakfast or a late night snack. 

It was an enjoyable cruise overall but the schedule of the shore excursions was pretty hectic especially in Saint Petersburg : there were some unnecessary shopping stops and they left one of the Hermitage Museum for the end of the day so they rushed thru the visit!

Our cruise was excellent and memorable.  High point was  certainly the two day stay in St. Petersburg viewing the churches, museums and lovely buildings in this historic city.  Another high point was the Vasa museum in Stockholm.......utterly astounding!  Except for a few notable exceptions, the food was superb even without paying for the specialty restaurants.  We thought the cabin was unusually small with no access to the porthole without climbing up on the bed.  However, the service was excellent in all cases.  The entertainment at night was the best we have seen on any cruise ship we have sailed on..

We went on this cruise as a 30th birthday present to my wife having never been on a cruise before.  We were admittedly a little apprehensive as we are pretty active travelers and have never done a cruise before.  Our fears were immediately allayed as we boarded the ship.  We were amazed by the variety of activities and dining options available to us.  Having purchased the dining package we were able to take advantage of all the specialty restaurants.  El Bistro (french), Cagney's (steakhouse), and La Cucina (Italian) all stand out as excellent meals.  Portions were also very reasonable as we were afraid we may over eat like everybody warns about cruising!  The evening entertainment was also lots of fun.  We saw a few shows, listened to lots of music (MoTown Stan and The BG Band both were excellent and played almost every night), and even participated in one of the game shows (and won!).  Each day trip was excellent, with Estonia being a particular highlight.  The excursions were always well organized and the tour guides knowledgable and personable.  Lastly, the staff on the Star were top notch.  From our room attendant Noel to Vladimir who was an assistant cruise director all the way on down, the staff was always ready to help and answer questions with a smile.  We were very pleased with our experience and would definitely cruise with Norwegian again on the future!

This cruise was the perfect way for us to explore a part of the world we'd never visited before.  Loved it.  Very active days and peaceful nights (with sunsets occurring close to midnight!).  We did some shore visits on our own and booked with TJ Travel for St. Petersburg and Stockholm -- we highly recommend them. Traveled in a very small group (10 or fewer) and it was less costly than NCL's excursions.  We DID book NCL's night at the Russian ballet, but learned in advance that we'd see student dancers and only pieces and parts of Swan Lake.  (Happy that we canceled.)  Advice: Do your homework in advance to learn what each city has to offer and you'll have an enriching experience you won't forget.

While not as luxurious as the larger ship I was on last year with Royal Caribbean, it was a very good experience overall. This is my first cruise with Norwegian so I have no larger ships of their line with which to draw a more even comparison with RCL's which was nearly twice as large. I would definitely recommend the Norwegian line with one proviso for travelers without children. Neither line seemed inclined to say anything to parents with unruly children, probably out of the desire not to stir up calm waters. However in both cases they both exposed themselves to serious repercussions from actions of small children which could  have exposed other cruisers to very real dangerous situations. Especially in the case of Norwegian where parents allowed their small children to sit on the steps in a darkened theater during a performance. NCL's case while not dangerous to other passengers was EXTREMELY distracting to diners in the area of the formal dining room where a small child was allowed to play with with a dinner knife continously beating it on a wine glass. That being said that seems to be the norm with all cruise ships as I have heard other horror stories from people who cruise frequently.

This was a fabulous cruise and a great ship. Food was very good and staff extremely enjoyable to interact with. If Norwegian reads these posts I suggest three things: avoid having the trivia games (which are well attended) in a bar area where they make drinks using a blender, change the brand of soy milk to one that has vanilla added or is sweetened, offer some accommodation for dairy free diets like a dessert or coconut ice cream selection.

If you want to visit these countries, this is the way to go!  The convenience of the cruise while experiencing the great ports.  The cruise is family oriented with clubs by individual age groups.  Everything from babies to teenagers is split up with plenty of activities.  I wouldn't recommend for the party goers, this is more for families and the older generation.  The food was good and the shows were great!

Excellent cruise: impressive cities, high standard cuisine, very good services, very good entertainment. The only problem we found was that when booking the cruise we tried to make reservations at restaurants, but the system did not allow it. In addition, at the beginning of the cruise we were informed that reservations could be made every day, but this was not, as in trying to get them all restaurants were booked. We suggest improving restaurant booking system. There were two people who were not friendly to our requests: Ann Areval and Alexander, the Philippine person, who was in the front desk.

We sailed to some great ports on this Baltic cruise.  Better than I was anticipating as far as ship itself.  Ultimate dining and beverage packages are a must.  Only minor issue was being on 10th deck just below Market Cafe buffet.  Would not stay under restaurant again!

Wonderful cruise.  The only negative experience was Russian Immigration process - completely out of NCL's hands.  If there is some way to add a at sea day between ports.  We got worn out with five days in a row for port-calls. 

My wife and I were on 14 Nights cruise from Copenhagen to Norway from June 12th.-26th, 2015. The ship was very clean and the food in La Cuchina, the specialist Italian restaurant was most enjoyable. Food in common Market place restaurant was equally good and the variety to choose was plentiful. Fresh fruit juice and other items was equally good. The staff were extremely helpful and polite and they were always on hand to assist you, if one needed one.

The staff at the Attrium Guest reception were able to solve our problems with noise coming from above our room at night. I cannot thank enough to Fritzie Gail Rocabo, the Guest services  representative to listen to our concern and  changing our room. If I can choose one person from the guest services, she would get my vote.