Norwegian Star

British Iles Cruise

May

Pros: Great ports of call and scenery with mostly pleasant and helpful staff

Cons: Lack of public health focus, downgrade in buffet food quality and preventative maintenance

Recommended: No

NCL's training video emphasizes their commitment to public health, with photos of hand sanitizer machines throughout the ship. However, most of their hand sanitizer machines didn't work, as they were out of product, so after complaining, they staffed one person at buffet entrance with squirt bottle but left the other entrance unmanned. There were obviously sick people on board with no effort by NCL to insist these people take preventative measures while eating or on tours. Aside from the defective hand sanitizer machines, there were beverage machines in the cafeteria out of order the whole cruise with many others broking down intermittently needing repairs. The high-tech proximity readers on ice/water machines confused passengers, which turned them into high touch virus/bacteria touch points as people tried to figure out how to get ice and water out of them. Hamburger paddies were comprised of 25% connective tissue that couldn't be chewed and buffet lacked NCL's typical quality fruit such as cantaloupe. An obvious ROI decision was made to downgrade food quality which is a mistake in the long run. Tours were marginally managed with seemingly poor communication between assembly areas and outside personnel at security check points, gangways and buses. High point in regard to staffing was our room steward "Sandeep Shil" He went above and beyond, often working crazy hours, to make sure we had everything we needed while maintaining the most pleasant personality of anyone on the ship. I would keep this young man in mind for promotion as he has untapped potential that will benefit NCL.

Nice experience for the price point

April

Pros: Food, cleanliness, cheerful crew

Cons: Few informational presentations about ports or special interests

Recommended: Yes

This was our 2nd cruise on this class ship with Norwegian, the first being 2 years previous. The main dining room food was quite good and noticeably better than the prior cruise. It matched in quality other more premium cruise lines we've been on. Specialty dining was first rate! The buffet was also good quality though uninspired (don't expect fanciness, just tasty good quality basics). The dining room staff was very alert to any food allergy issues, and the menu now lists gluten, nuts, vegetarian alerts on the menu. I did not need to pre-order my meals the day before, which I have always had to do in the past on every cruise line. The crew was generally very friendly and cheerful, though slightly understaffed as far as roaming drink waiters in the bars and the open deck areas. We found the entertainment a bit lacking. Some of the production shows were not of interest to us, though well presented for what they were. The sound level was WAY TOO LOUD in the theater! Rock concert loud. Bring your earplugs. Lounge area and bar performers were very, very good. Instrumentalists, small ensembles, and singers. There were no daily talks in the theater about the upcoming ports. There is a channel on the tv with some still photos and text, but nothing you can't get from wiki online. This experience was heavy on port days, with not a lot of on board enrichment.

Norwegian star

June

Pros: Staff was excellent!

Cons: Dining room food and tenders need much improvement.

Recommended: Yes

Main dining room service was slow and food often cold. Too many tenders. Original itinerary showed only one. Paamiut was a tender disaster!

Great time but...

June

Pros: Staff was awesome. Friendly and helpful. Food was good.

Cons: Wifi. Some deserts

Recommended: Yes

Wifi did not work most of the cruise. Was finally fixed the last two days of the 10 day cruise. The deserts were good except for the cakes. They were always dry. Shout outs to Jeffrey and Rico in the Gatsby Bar; Russel at Proof Bar Best to Ivan who took care of my cabin and always had a smile.

What Happened?

June

Pros: Production Shows, Ports of Call

Cons: Too many to list

Recommended: No

I have previously sailed on NCL, and this was the first time I was disappointed. Service in the Versailles was uncomfortably slow -- for breakfast, dinner and sea-day lunched. Over an hour for breakfast; over 90 minutes for lunch, and over 2 hours for dinner. The specialty restaurants were not much better. The internet service unreliable. Long lines that seemingly never moved. What happened to the nightly turn down service? My booking information stated that we would be tendering in only one port, but we tendered in a majority of the ports. [The tendering process in Paarmiut was a disaster. Hundreds of people stood in line for 45 minutes or more waiting for an officer to bring order to chaos]. Not knowing which ports were tender ports is a management failure. Hopefully, this cruise was an aberration, and my next experience will be better.

Perfect size ship

October

Pros: Its still and a good size ship, that it does not gets crowded on seadays

Cons: When tendering to shore can get a little hectic if there are more ships at port.

Recommended: Yes

Really enjoyed our vacation on the ship. The staff is well trained, friendly, hard-working and goes all and beyond to please guests. The food is always delicious and lots to choose from. They also accommodate people with food intolerance issues. Cabins are good size and comfortable.

Panama Canal Cruise

February

Pros: Excellent cruise

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

We had a fabulous time as we cruised on the Norwegian Star. The cruise director and his staff were very upbeat and thoroughly enjoyed their jobs. Enjoyed Captain Mattias and his wealth of knowledge. Entertainment was very good, especially the Production Cast Singers and Dancers.

Norwegian Star

March

Pros: good cruise, great staff

Cons: Ship is getting old, and shows its age

Recommended: Yes

Great cruise with a great ships staff. Itinerary and all excursions were great.

Christmas Cruise 2017

December

Pros: Awesome suite in the front of the ship with a huge balcony

Cons: Buffet food was not very good; and not great for a gluten-free person. Many of the staff we found to be rude or apathetic.

Recommended: No

Mediterranean Cruise

October

Pros: The staff, the food, the entertainment, the ship, the ports.

Cons: Not enough time in port!

Recommended: Yes

An incredible staff! Everyone was always positive and very accommodating. The food was wonderful and I loved "free style dinning"! The ports were great, only wish we had more time there.

Adriatic Sea

September

Pros: Nice rooms, great entertainment, awesome speciality dining.

Cons: Buffet should be rebuilt/modernized. Seemed like a high school cafeteria. Poor dinner, ok breakfast.

Recommended: No

Entertainment was excellent. Dani, a girl with the show, was extremely helpful!! Buffet food was below average.

Great Cruise

June

Pros: Suite, all the help staff, the food

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

This was an enjoyable cruise to the Greek Islands. Everything went well from the boarding through to the disembarktion at the end of the trip.The entire staff was very helpful and interacted well with each other. We will be cruising with NCL again next year. Our one negative was the heat,which totally outside the control of NCL.

London, Paris, and cruise

October

Pros: Our entire trip was flawlessly scheduled down to the smallest detail.

Cons:

Recommended: No

Baltic 2016

August

Pros: 1-itinerary & shore excursions were intriguing, historical & interesting; 2- life boat drill on first day didn't have to bring or wear life jackets; 3-stateroom was ready upon arrival; 4-2 laundry days @ cost of $20 bag which was convenient for 10 day cruise; 5- Capt was outstanding in narration in each port about history, highlight + development of country & city; 6- availability of different speciality restaurant along w/dining package' 7-Melodic Trio entertaining music at Atrium

Cons: 1-ship tour was offered on first day but very BIG, about 50 people w/ only 1 staff w/not microphone ; 2- mandatory life boat drill was confusing in checking in stateroom # & didn't go over rooms that show...we were there but received a letter that didn't go so clarified it w/guest services, other cruise lines go repeat #s that didn't go; 3- sometimes order of food at some restaurants were not accurate either not right order or substituted w/o telling customer; 4- bius for shore excursions need to reserve seats for handicapped as sometimes had to sit in back; 5- tour guides need microphones at different ports for shore excursions; 6-some of staff on board not enthuse, interested in what their duties/activities, for example we attended 2 classes while w/only about 2-3 passengers attending & staff leader wasn't happy that we showed up; gave us the kit & that was it

Recommended: Yes

Overall Baltic Cruise was another memorable cruise despite the minor incidients or "pros" that are listed. Did remember we sailed on Norwegian Star & it was been renovated w/many offerings in speciality restaurants & overall appearance & maintenance of ship upgraded. Also enjoyed music of Melodic Trio in atrium as awesome! There were many highlights for us; visiting Tallinn, Estonia; St Petersburg w/underground subway tour & also Russian ballett; & countrysides of Porvoo, Finland & Sigtuna, Sweden. MAHALO for making this all possilble!!

Baltic Sea Cruise by Norwegian Star

September

Pros: open dining options

Cons: cabin just kind of tight

Recommended: Yes

We love the excellent services and food provided by the ship.All personell top down are excellent too.

Great ship, good crew

April

Pros: smallish ship (~2300 passengers), v good enteratainment, great food

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Great ship, just the right size. Crew were very courteous and engaging. Smooth sailing. Food in the restaurants was better than the buffet - but all was very edible. Alcoholic drinks were expensive (~$10-12) and not excessively large - if you are serious about drinking - definitely buy the all inclusive drink package.

Best cruise ever

March

Pros: Good selection of shows, places to eat, entertainment/games, tours

Cons: Stateroom with Balcony canNOT accomodate 3-4, even if 1-2 are children.

Recommended: Yes

Lots to do. Did not appreciate that even with the unlimited beverage package, you had to pay separately for bottled water and coffee at the Java Café. Not enough lounge chairs at the pool. Some people would get there at 8 am and save an entire row of chairs, and there was no one there to tell them they couldn't. Water features were probably nice, but not operational. One of two pool slides was broken on this cruise, and a whole bunch of previous ones, as I'd heard on the ap, so when are they going to fix it?

Pride of America-NCL

December

Pros: Well suited for our family- appropriate activities for all ages, buffet service, exellent kids club, very attentive cheerful staff

Cons: Mediocre food even in better restaurants, persistent loud music, rather crowded state rooms

Recommended: Yes

As a large ship, family cruise it was alright but not spectacular. We would not choose to go on it as adults nor recommend it to friends without a family setting or to those who are looking for a class of passengers to share experiences or social interaction.

Two Trips in One - First/Last with NCL

October

Pros: Nice ship- Nice cabin- Nice beverage package -Good entertainment

Cons: Did not sail on time and did not keep the guests informed of the delay. Unorganized at the bars. It took 20 plus minutes to get drinks. Only 3 or 4 crew members were friendly. Others appeared to just get their job done. Debarkation took forever. Very unorganized

Recommended: No

NCL needs to get organized. Heard many negative comments from fellow cruziers

Good choice if you prefer big cruise ships (not our preference)

May

Pros: Very good service by personnel, multiple dining venues, easy on and off

Cons: Limited menu choices, crowded dining areas,

Recommended: No

Ship is clean and well-maintained, housekeeping, dining and customer services are very good, personnel involved in shore excursions are mostly Russian or Eastern European and where often difficult to understand, buffet dining areas were always a mad house, not much variety of menu items, and food was not tasty. If you like big crowds, then this one is for you. Since we took a back-to-back cruise several of the shows were repeats. Cruise director was good but his assistant needs better English language training.

Atlantic Crossing

May

Pros: Staff

Cons: Food in the buffet could have been hotter

Recommended: Yes

Overall our experience with N. Star was very enjoyable. The staff couldn't have been nicer; food in the dinning room was nicely presented and tasty. Having just come out of dry dock and having some redecorating every this was bright and shiny. Would not hesitate to travel on the Star again.

Norwegian Star 2015 Mexican Riviera

April

Pros: Large Ship, beautiful spacious rooms, great shows, great staff

Cons: Food - The food was terrible!

Recommended: Yes

We really enjoyed the cruise. The ship was clean and a great amount of effort was performed to keep it that way.

Cruisin' Free Style

November

Pros: We were free to go where and when we wanted.

Cons: Can't say that I have any.

Recommended: Yes

This cruise was a great vacation for my wife and I. We enjoyed just being us and having the time to ourselves. We didn't have any set time to be here or there except for our excursions. We were left alone to do as we pleased. We ate when and where we wanted, when we wanted. We relaxed, read, napped, walked, strolled the decks, watched people having fun. It was a very relaxing vacation.

Norwegian is the best cruise ship ever!

August

Pros: Beautiful ship, great food, amazing entertainment, great planning of excursions

Cons: I can't think of any

Recommended: Yes

I enjoyed every moment on my trip with Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Norwegian Star

April

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Overall quality was good, stateroom very satisfactory. Food in dining rooms was fair to boring. Theater quality was terrible. It was fun watching people switching seats hoping to find one suitable to watch the show. ENTERTAINMENT WAS SUPERIOR !!!!

Cruise rated

April

Pros: Great cabin steward. Freestyle dining seemed to work.

Cons: See review

Recommended: No