We were a family of 4 (husband and I in a midship club balcony suite and my 86-year-old mother-in-law and young sister-in-law a little further along the corridor in adjoining forward club balconies). We had three nights in Tromso pre cruise at the Clarion Collection With hotel – we have stayed here before for four nights in early 2020 in a quest to see the Northern lights and it is warm and homely, but it is the waterfront location and included breakfast, fika and evening meal that make it excellent value and well-deserving of a return stay.
Embarkation: long but well organised queue at 11:30 for luggage drop off then check in meaning it was around 1:45 pm when we boarded. If I had my time again, I would select a late boarding as our cabin overlooked the area and after the initial rush the queue shrunk to nothing by mid-afternoon and our departure time was 8 pm. I noticed that we left most ports promptly at the listed return time and some even a bit early.
The ship looked well maintained and clean. Our last cruise on the Star was in 2018 out of Venice not too long after a refurbishment and she still looks similar. Crew members seem to be painting touch ups around the exterior regularly. Our midship cabin felt steady: I am prone to sea sickness – I’m often queasy on the Manly ferry – yet only needed to take a tablet twice in these two week despite some high seas.
Spa, pools, casino, bands, shows, quizzes etc.: I did not go to or use any facilities apart from bars and restaurants but my MIL and SIL said that the massages and manicures they booked when a special was advertised were excellent. They also enjoyed the shows and the music performances. I was trying to sit near open doors for meals and avoiding crowded closed-in venues as I was trying not to get covid (multi-vaxxed and had been lucky enough never to catch it) because there were a lot of coughing people on board.
BTW: if you are contemplating a cruise in these destinations for next year at this time: throw in warm clothes along with your European summer stuff – there was a heatwave over much of southern Europe, but Tromso was cold in late August. To take full advantage of these destinations and balconies and/or outdoor areas on the ship, I would suggest at least one long-sleeved warm top and thick pants, a good puffer jacket, wind/waterproof outer and a beanie in case you get the weather and winds we had this trip. My MIL feels the cold and luckily packed a spencer but the rest of us got by even in chillier Iceland with the above.
There is no guest laundry, but we were given one free bag with our cabin and there were a couple of special offers during the cruise – I think $20- $30 per bag. One hint we used from CC was to bring a plastic bag in which to squeeze stuff more efficiently as the cruise laundry bag is paper. Undies, socks and t-shirts etc. dried quickly hung in the bathroom overnight most of the time for us.
Food and drink: we had a 3 meal speciality dining package and the drinks package via free at sea. The last time we were on board we preferred Moderno due to the excellent variety at the salad bar so this time we prebooked two Moderno meals and one Cagneys but after a brilliant first meal with fantastic service on this trip at Cagneys and a so-so meal at Moderno (salad bar seemed reduced with no ceviche in particular plus the meat was just not as good as our last cruise plus we were eating late in the evening – because were were told that 9:30 was the only space left that night - and the meat and pineapple service felt a bit impatient) we swapped the second Moderno to another Cagneys – I didn’t make it to this one and the restaurant refused to let my meal be taken as a takeaway in my cabin - but my travelling companions really enjoyed this second meal as well.
Given the recent, very comprehensive, fascinating and sometimes astonishing blog and photos (i.e. the photos of the grilled cheese sandwich and the basil leaf!) re the Star on CC by YVRteacher (starting from 20th July), which I read with increasing anxiety a few days before boarding the ship then again during the cruise as Yvonne’s experiences of the ports were fantastically helpful, we expected to be buying lots of extra specialty restaurant meals once we boarded. Fortunately, perhaps because we are not vegetarians or hopefully because the food services have upped their game, we found the two main dining rooms and the buffet perfectly fine. Not spectacular or exciting, no seafood extravaganzas or similar, but completely fine: we never went hungry and encountered nothing inedible. For the buffet, it was worth exploring both sides and all sections before choosing as sometimes there were hidden gems worth saving room for, including chocolate-chip biscuits and special desserts.
In the second week of the cruise, I did come down with covid. We’d brought plenty of tests with us from home and once I caught it my companions stocked up on more tests at ports so we could all test frequently as we wanted to be able to get antivirals asap for my MIL if she caught it as well. I decided the safest option for everyone was for me to self-isolate for 5 days in the cabin with the do not disturb sign outside to protect staff, lots of disinfecting wipes for me to keep everything clean, and my husband kindly bringing me food and drinks as needed. Because of this, I only went to the main dining rooms once each the whole cruise, but my co-travellers happily remained well and virus-free, so they returned repeatedly to Aqua and Versaille and say the experiences were all good. At the start of the trip we also all particularly enjoyed the dumplings, calamari with wasabi mayonnaise and cocktails at Ginza – by going at the starting time for the main show, usually 7:30pm or 8, we avoided queues – and my co-travellers kept returning here as well. It is a shame that fajitas are no longer on the menu at O’Sheehans as these were a past favourite – and our first choice of venue on embarkation for lunch in the hope of having again - but service, the Reuben sandwich, and breakfast choices here were great and this venue was mostly less crowded than elsewhere.
Our FAS offer included the ultimate beverage package which covered drinks up to USD$15 - this was brilliant. Compared with other lines we have used (MSC, for instance, also commonly includes a drink package in the price, but only up to $10), NCL is very generous. My husband who mostly drinks beer, could only access Heineken with the MSC package, but NCL offered an outstanding variety including Leffe Blonde and Paulana wheat by the bottle as well as numerous others. All cocktails we wanted to try were included. My SIL and I like a Diet Coke or Pepsi Max from time to time (which turned into most days on the boat) and after reading prior reviews we were worried that these might run out, but supply was plentiful all cruise. After other reviews, we expected that drinks might not be available in UK waters, but all was well. To earn five stars from me, bottled water needed to be included –although no one dehydrated as we could refill water bottles any time at the buffet by the cup with ice and water - but NCL still gets a solid 4 and three-quarter stars from me for what it does include. We are not big drinkers overall and apart from cocktails would not normally drink spirits so we would never have bought a package and instead would have paid for drinks ‘a la carte’ but having this provided felt like an extra-special treat and the feeling of delight and excitement it gave us was such a plus point for this cruise line that we may book NCL again if the ports are good. (Whereas the frustrations re dropped destinations and ports I talk about below would otherwise stop us considering this cruise line again).
BTW: being stuck alone in the cabin for 5 days meant I watched a lot of cruise TV (plus really appreciated having books available from the helpful ship’s library). The TV was interesting in that highlights of each port were filmed by the crew each stop and available to watch quickly enough that I almost felt I’d been there myself plus I learnt about the crew with some funny videos that made me feel like we were all like best friends, along with multiple repeats of bizarre quiz shows held on the boat. I also learned a lot about gemstones and diamonds. I am not interested in jewellery and rarely wear my own engagement or wedding rings but found it mesmerising to watch beautiful people with amazing hair discussing jewellery. I now know that anyone planning to buy diamonds on board should look for the best sparkle! Except, for earring studs: there, you should buy the absolute biggest you can afford! Plus, buy multiple pieces at once as that is win win for you and win win for the jewellery sales people! Really? Anyway, it kept me mostly entertained and stopped me from feeling sorry for myself all day every day plus I learned stuff. No judgment if you like to buy diamonds on ships btw. What I am saying in a roundabout way is: if you too get sick and are stuck in front of the tv for days on this boat with nothing else to do: you will be ok. There is plenty to watch. Also, there were good movies run across multiple channels on a schedule – the latest Top Gun for one, plus a bunch of older, great movies like Ms Congeniality which I watched twice or maybe three times – it’s a blur - and news channels like BBC World although the satellite TV was unpredictable in terms of when it did and didn’t function.
We had 300 minutes per person internet included in our FAS package and this was enough for me for light use. I have an android phone and a Mac Air laptop: both connected seamlessly (to internet and app) and service was fast although all I really used it for was email, cruise critic for port research and Twitter. It said that CC was free but the timer did not stop for me even when I closed all other applications, so I am unsure. My travel companions had Apple phones and often had connection problems but couldn’t face the queues for internet help so just muddled by. Remember to log out each session by going to the website listed at log in (I think logoutnow.com but check to be sure) – this never failed for me.
Staff: brilliant in every way. Universally smiling, friendly, helpful, and welcoming. Claudia, our room attendant, was terrific. We loved the hot chocolate and chicken soup welcome offered outside the ship when returning from some of the colder ports. Also: there were not too many announcements. (Some cruises we have done – MSC – are so heavy on the announcements that people stop listening).
Some cons: Major issue for us: NCL cancelled Greenland after we booked (we had been to Norway and Iceland several times previously) and later changed other stops including dropping the Lofotens and Stavanger. I can see from CC that changes to destinations sound common. We didn’t cancel - we had our Europe flights and other parts of our trip plus our work holiday leave locked in plus we were also keen to visit the Shetlands and Faroes. No compensation was offered for the cancelled ports plus prices dropped after we’d made the final payment plus the single supplement was removed for late bookings where two out of our four had paid a single supplement each in full. This is the last time we will book so far in advance as this cruise was expensive at the original price we paid but we were prepared to pay that for the initial itinerary. Plus they switched multiple dockings to tenders as cruise date approached and we went from zero sea days (which we loved as we cruise for the ports and easy transport between them and, basically, mostly sit on our balcony and read or enjoy the views otherwise) at booking time to three sea days due to a cancellation plus another two ports were cancelled en route due to rough seas.
If you are set on a particular destination, especially Greenland, I would recommend waiting until close to cruise time before committing to NCL or maybe check out some of the other lines which seem to have been more reliable this season and not that much more expensive compared with what we paid by booking a long time in advance.
Excursions – wow, just ridiculously high prices. We were tempted by some and deliberated for ages about will we, won’t we, etc. but in the end we did not book any because we didn’t like feeling ripped off and didn’t want to waste time being angry if the tour turned out to be rubbish. Maybe it is just the Australian dollar being low that means they seem so excessive and maybe they are ok for North Americans/Brits/Europeans but prices were way beyond reasonable to us. I do feel they should offer at least one walking tour per port which is reasonably priced, where they make a profit, sure, but not where they alienate a lot of passengers who may be potential future passengers but who switch to lines with lower prices. Even up to $50 pp for a walk with a guide for a few hours around appropriate ports, pointing out highlights and giving some historical context and local info etc. would be ok I feel?
In the end, for us as a group of four, it ended up way cheaper and also a lot of fun to explore ports independently and to prebook rental cars when we wanted to roam further. We collected a car in Lerwick for instance and for the price of our preferred excursion for one and a half people, we had a mid-sized SUV for four people, petrol and a light lunch and drinks and visited the same destinations as the tour plus extras. Lerwick was a tender port for us and we called Jim's Garage (we pre-arranged this) from the dock and they brought a car within 15 minutes to transport us to their office. In Kirkwall my travel companions took the free shuttle run by the port to town and the Orkney Car Hire office was a short walk from the bus stop – they close at 2pm on Saturdays but that was still ok to get to all the main sites including Skara Brae where we had pre-booked our entry time to fit with our early return time. In Reykjavik we used Europcar – you can walk from the dock although it is not a short walk so better taxi if you are on a day trip (this was our finishing port) as there was also a long queue and wait for the car when we got there (>1 hour) but good car and no issues with drop off.
For all ports, I again recommend studying YVRteacher’s review for detailed info and fabulous photos that will help you make the best of your time in these destinations. Also for us this was very useful for finding delicious morning and afternoon tea treats in ports and on the boat.
Tromso: Enjoyable laid-back town with lots of excellent museums and gorgeous views with a nice café at the top of the cable car. Lovely Botanic Gardens very close to cruise terminal on other side of main road (take underpass) go towards university on left. 10 minutes’ walk. Terminal is a short public bus ride from town centre – use subway to cross to the other side of the main road if coming from terminal. People we met reported seeing Northern Lights from top of cable car on August 24th before the cruise so worth a try even if you are here before winter. (We were here for four nights in 2020 but did not get lucky in Tromso and needed to do a bus excursion that drove into Finland to catch them.)
Harstad We docked right in town. This was not the Lofotens where we wanted to be but it was a pleasant town with a delightful stroll around the water with viewing points to see an historic church Trondenes. The church was closed but the museum and adjacent farm were interesting. I took lots of photos of the fjord and green countryside this day.
Alesund: A stunning Art Nouveau town to explore. Nice walk with lots of steps up Aksla viewing point. Interesting museum and art gallery in town explaining the history of the town which was virtually destroyed by fire in 1904.
Bergen: enchanting short forest walks up top of the funicular and excellent seafood at the market along the seafront.
Lerwick: long wait to get off boat with queues due to immigration process for entering UK plus tenders. We rented a car as above and explored the island. Lots of cute horses and a jewellery manufacturing area and galleries and gorgeous island scenery.
Edinburgh: Painful, crowded and long tender process with long waits and big queues both getting off and on. The friendly and efficient but very crowded Lothian public shuttle buses are 12 GBP for a day pass, pay by cash or card on bus or from ticket sellers outside. We walked along the Royal Mile to the castle and had a great lunch at Albanach pub. When you get off the bus in town, make sure you listen to driver’s announcement of the timing last bus back to the port. He said the ship will wait for arrival of the last shuttle bus so you won’t need to worry about missing the ship if you make that bus. The ship left quite late anyway on this day due to VERY long queues for the tenders back.
Kirkwall: as above. I missed this port but my companions enjoyed exploring by car.
Torshavn: I missed this port but the old town looked cute from the boat.
Djupivogur: cancelled due to our anticipated very late arrival due to ship having to go slowly due to high seas after leaving Torshavn.
Seydisfjordur: I missed this port and its wooden houses. This town was hit by massive mudslides in 2020 and there are interesting info panels/displays to read about this.
Akureri: My travelling companions found the botanic gardens and café up adjacent to university very good. There are two supermarkets just out of town about 12 minutes’ walk. People who visited the Forest Lagoon hot pools raved about how good this was.
Isofjodor: pleasant town to wander around for a few hours. We saw whales from the ship on the way in and out of the fjord.
Grundafjodor: cancelled and switched to a sea day after we arrived here as too rough and windy for the tenders.
Reykjavik: easy disembarkation with no delays. BTW: if you forget to take your swimmers to the Blue Lagoon they have a good range of Speedos (board shorts and costumes) for sale in the gift shop.
Thanks, fruitmachine: that's useful info.
