Will we like the Norwegian Star?

[fun2travel]

I am looking at a cruise to the Baltics in Europe and am considering this ship.

 

We have never been on Norwegian cruise line before, we tend to like Celebrity and Royal the best. We have been on Carnival and Holland , but do not care for those as much.

 

Any thoughts about the Norwegian cruise line compared to those.

 

The Baltic cruise is considerably less on the Norwegian, than Celebrity, Royal, or Princess. Trying to save money where I can these days.

 

So I wonder what everyone's thoughts about the Norwegian cruise line are. We are in our mid 50's, and tend to be pretty laid back, but we do enjoy good food:)

[chrisc71]

Did my first NCL cruise on the Star last year and we enjoyed it. The freestyle concept worked well. We ate in the dinning room two nights and it was fine. Ate in a specialty, Ginza, three times. Food was good and they were running a special for a free bottle of wine if you ate before 6pm if I remember so it worked out since we enjoy wine with dinner.

 

I would sail with NCL again based on my experience.

[loma linda ca a & j]

I am looking at a cruise to the Baltics in Europe and am considering this ship.

 

We have never been on Norwegian cruise line before, we tend to like Celebrity and Royal the best. We have been on Carnival and Holland , but do not care for those as much.

 

Any thoughts about the Norwegian cruise line compared to those.

 

The Baltic cruise is considerably less on the Norwegian, than Celebrity, Royal, or Princess. Trying to save money where I can these days.

 

So I wonder what everyone's thoughts about the Norwegian cruise line are. We are in our mid 50's, and tend to be pretty laid back, but we do enjoy good food:)

check out our thread for the star 5/19/14 -

we already have a marvelous gang of people -

working on the 2nd group of 16 for all the alla tours !!

several of us are also on TA crossing 5/5/14 -

for those who are retired or have plenty of vacation time;)

this will be our first time on norwegian but love the fact

we could get aft balconies for less than we pay on princess inside cabins !!

[GORDONCHICK]

We were on the Star 5 months ago and we enjoyed our cruise very much. We are big fans of NCL and Celebrity, and the others are pretty meh to us though they each offered some things that we did enjoy. When sailing the Med, I would always put the itinerary first - before ship and line - because you'll spend more time ashore. NCL does Europe very well and the Freestyle concept of doing what you want when is fantastic for itineraries that are port intensive. I wouldn't hesitate to sail the Star again.

[bigwally]

I liked both Celebrity and HA. But I didn't care much for the Star, nor Freestyle, and as a result don't think NCL in my cup of tea general. NCL cruises are cheap because it's a cheap product - small signs of cruising to a budget are EVERYWHERE, from limited types of cheese on the buffet; packaged butter instead of butter balls in the dining room; only the minimum of silverware on dining tables (and teaspoons that must be solid gold plated in stainless steel, since they guarded them so carefully); a ship deck plan that not only did you have to search out (no chance you'll get one where it makes sense - while checking in) but also looks like it was printed on the CD's inkjet printer, on paper that would be more suitable for the lavatory (come to think of it, the lavatory paper wasn't much different in texture). Chintz just everywhere.

 

And as for freestyle - it was NOT a rare occurrence to have to wait an hour for a table in the MDR, particularly Versailles because I guess it's considered the nicer of the two. We could eat super early or wait until after 8:30pm. But if we were obliged to do that, we might as well have taken a cruise with traditional late seating. In short, Freestyle did not work for us at all.

 

The Star also suffers from "you can't get there from here" - only one side of the Market Cafe goes though to the aft; Aqua cuts deck 6 in half, and you have to go up and over it to get from one end of the ship to the other on that deck; if the Tradewinds shops are closed, there is only one interior passageway to get from the theater on deck 7; and if your cabin is on deck 5 (or 4) you have to go from the aft to mid-ships to reach your cabin, because deck 5 aft is a crew area. You get used to it, but it's the weirdest ship layout I've ever encountered.

 

Would I personally do it again? Probably not. Unless it was an outstanding deal AND NCL wasn't debuting any new ships close to the sailing date (because they stole experienced staff from the Star and other ships, essentially turning my cruise into short-staffed, training opportunity for new hires).

[UntrainedBrain]

The Star's Captain and Crew were great during our Cruise from Tampa to Roatan. Everyone had a smile the whole trip for us. A gracious please and thank you went along way to making the cruise a joy for us.

 

As to dining, well when everyone tries to eat at the same time of course there is going to be a jam. We never waited more then 15 minutes as we booked tables for 4.

 

There was always plenty of food even when guests in front of me in buffet lined took portions like it was the last days of Pompeii

[Love my butler]

I asked Patrick, the new concierge on the Pearl if he liked the Star or Pearl better. He told me the Pearl is newer with more modern tech, but the crew is what really counts to him. He and I agreed, the Star has a fabulous crew.

[deladypilot]

We loved the star when we were on her 2 summers ago. We were in our mid 40s and we are not into parties or dancing til dawn but find that that is not a problem on NCL. We did what we wanted, when we wanted.

 

For the most part we ate at the buffet as we are not the kind of people that want to spend our time eating at all. The food there was good, not 5 Star but good. We are not ones to go to the main dining room to spend 2 hrs having dinner. We would rather eat and get on with our day. So I can not comment on the dining room persay. I do know that at peak times you will have a longer wait than at non peak times.

 

As for the crew of NCL, we have found them to be nothing short of wonderful in all departments. The rooms are clean and the ship was clean. We never had a problem figuring out how to get somewhere on the Star as everything is well marked and there is always someone around that can help if you are not sure.

 

Wish I could be of more help, but we have not sailed with anyone but NCL so I can not compare it to others. We love them and are happy with the way they do things so unless there is a cruise we want to take that they do not offer then we will probably stay with them

[pomgit]

Hopefully we'll be able to provide some newer insights into this itinerary on this ship, we got home yesterday. Four of us took this cruise, my wife, my parents-in-law, and myself. We enjoyed it overall mainly because we were able to enjoy all the ports of call and were bless with mostly spectacular weather (15 to 30oC) and blue skies and we could enjoy our balconies. However, this was our first cruise with NCL (after many on Princess, Carnival, Celebrity and Holland America) and whilst we thought the Freestyle cruise concept would be right up our alley it wasn't and means that most things cost extra money and there will be lots of lining up.

 

Our main criticism was the service - hopeless, inept, slow and at times bordering on rude. Our cabin was kept spotless, but it was in the dining rooms, lounges and bars that lack of service really showed. It became an in-joke not knowing whether the server had got our orders corrects, in fact, we gave up asking for specific things on day three. Wine and food was spilt, plates and silverware dropped. We regularly saw people walk out hungry after waits of over 45 minutes to an hour for food in the Versailles Dining Room. The food was okay, not outstanding, but not inedible it did suffer from a lack of herbs, garlic, garnishings etc. In the bars if you sat down it would regularly take more than 20 minutes to order, then another 15 to 20 minutes to get you drink. In fact it was hard to get someones attention in several cases to take a drinks order. My mother-in-law waited 45 minutes for a coffee in the Java Cafe. We have never experienced this on any other cruise line before.

 

Another complaint was the lack of hot water at time in the cabin, sometime we had to wait 30 minutes plus for hot water which became a pain. We reported it to guest services who promised to look into it on the next port day, the next evening when we had the same problem I went down and spoke with the reception desk to see what had been done and the call hadn't even been logged, the Latvian chick behind the desk even asked me out-right "So are you calling me a liar?".

 

The passenger demographic was strange to me, perhaps it's just NCL in Europe. Lots of Continental Europeans and large groups of Chinese and Indians. I know that this cruise became heavily discounted two months out from the sail date. You could pick up an inside for $450, an outside for $600, and a balcony for $1099. It was certainly worth no more than that.

 

I'd find it hard to recommend NCL to you. Whilst the other lines may be more expensive you will get more in terms of value for money and service. Perhaps you could book your flights around several sail dates ex-Copenhagen and pick up a bargain closer to the sail date. Also if you are looking to learn about the amazing history of the places that you will visit you will be disappointed on NCL, all the 'enrichment' lectures revolved around an item that would be for sale later in the on-board shops - amber, laquer boxes, faux Faberge eggs. In fact, in the amber talk the sales assistant went as far to say that the majority of amber for sale in Estonia was fake, well our Estonian tour guide hadn't even heard that fact amber was a problem.

 

If you have any questions I'd be happy to try to answer them for you. I am planning to write a review and post it on the NCL board.

[Sequim88]

We're on the same TA leg that Loma_Linda_ca_A&J mentioned and trying our NCL (and Star) for first time on suggestion from an NCL fan on our last TA on RCI. Not retired but now have earned 4 week vacation level (almost feel European there ;)) so can take extended cruises every few years. We've really liked RCI and understand there will be differences on NCL but basically looking for about the same level of experience. From X it might be a little come-down. But we're perfectly happy with butter in packets instead of little balls.

 

Big thing for us with post-cruise land touring is the lack of need for formal clothing with the Freestyle dining. Leaving all the formal stuff (and accessories like shoes) behind will help us get by with two medium small suitcases and one carry-on. Critical given that the size of the car we rent will probably be pretty small.

 

Another thing reported to be different from RCI is officer availability - in general or at Meet & Greet. Seems to be much friendlier - to the point of occasional invites for bridge tours (free even).

 

One downside item widely reported is slightly smaller cabin sizes. Search for some videos for Star on YouTube to compare.

[chill6x6]

I was aboard the Star in April. Overall-best cruise so far even considering the repeat itinerary. I don't really see how you couldn't enjoy a cruise aboard the Star!

[loma linda ca a & j]

all i can say, is that some people see a glass half full :) &

some see it as half empty :(

at 71 & my husband 67, we enjoy every day with positive thoughts

whether we are at home, on road trip, in the caribbean, in europe, or

on a cruise ship !!

if we encounter anything or anyone negative :eek:,

we excuse ourselves & move on - refuse to let anyone

influence us or ruin our experiences !

really looking forward to our spectacular cruises this year & next !:D

[sassyredhat]

All I can say is 'Try it". We are die hard HAL and Princess fans, but we booked the Star for April. We have a huge group going of family and friends, a lot of newbies, and ALL much younger that we are.

We like traditional dining, so this will be new for us. We got aft penthouses for less than balconies the other lines. We are in out late 60's so we shall see how it goes. :D

Pat

[bigwally]

Our main criticism was the service - hopeless, inept, slow and at times bordering on rude. Our cabin was kept spotless, but it was in the dining rooms, lounges and bars that lack of service really showed. It became an in-joke not knowing whether the server had got our orders corrects, in fact, we gave up asking for specific things on day three. Wine and food was spilt, plates and silverware dropped. We regularly saw people walk out hungry after waits of over 45 minutes to an hour for food in the Versailles Dining Room. The food was okay, not outstanding, but not inedible it did suffer from a lack of herbs, garlic, garnishings etc.

 

I agree that they have some major issues in the dining rooms. But nobody was rude to us. A bit disinterested...maybe. Overworked...definitely. Undertrained...certainly. But there were some "old timers" who apeared to genuinely enjoy their jobs, and there were some obvious newcomers who were eager to please, even if they suffered from being a little inept. I think they have a leadership issue in the dining rooms and I think they have staffing issues. With respect to the food, we found it very edible at dinner time though, as you said, under-presented. But the lunches in the MDR were truly horrible, like everything had been made much, much earlier and refrigerated. The best lunch we had were the burgers and sausages from the temporary grille setup on the pool deck.

 

In the bars if you sat down it would regularly take more than 20 minutes to order, then another 15 to 20 minutes to get you drink. In fact it was hard to get someones attention in several cases to take a drinks order. My mother-in-law waited 45 minutes for a coffee in the Java Cafe. We have never experienced this on any other cruise line before.

 

Never had a problem with any of the bars, but then I don't think the crowd on our TA were big drinkers. Our lounge of choice was Gatsby's, since we were on deck 5 and it was more or less above our cabin. It was nice and quiet and never really very full. We found the bar staff there very accommodating.

 

I'd find it hard to recommend NCL to you. Whilst the other lines may be more expensive you will get more in terms of value for money and service.

 

100% agree. Unless, like I've said previously, it's an outstanding deal and you go in with your eyes wide open.

 

all the 'enrichment' lectures revolved around an item that would be for sale later in the on-board shops - amber, laquer boxes, faux Faberge eggs. In fact, in the amber talk the sales assistant went as far to say that the majority of amber for sale in Estonia was fake, well our Estonian tour guide hadn't even heard that fact amber was a problem.

 

We gave up on the lectures after the first one, about the Vikings. The "lecturer", who was talking about the Vikings first raid on England mentioned Lindisfarne but then admitted to "not knowing where Lindisfarne was"! Really? :eek:

[UntrainedBrain]

Never seen a Indian, Latvian or Chinese on a cruise yet. All I see is a crew doing their best to please passengers using the Golden Rule.

 

As an example I took a behinds the scenes tour on an NCL ship. I met the 3 cooks who prepared all the vegetables for the entire boat each day. Then the 3 cooks who cut the meat for the entire ship everyday. Thousands of whole chickens cut to order. Steaks cut to order. I was astonished as to the pride these 6 men held in their jobs. Even short handed they felt they were doing a service to feed thousands from a windowless room few of us ever saw. Try to remember that unknown staff works hard each day to prepare good meals for passengers with nary a thank you from the dining room.

 

Graciousness and a smile from passengers will go a long way in improving a Cruise. The crew does have a choice when serving unpleasant or rude passengers. They are not slaves but they work long hours living in a small space for a contracted period. While they did choose to their job they should not be subjected to rudeness from passengers.

 

I have experienced times when the crew was curt to passenger infront of me in line. When my turn came the crew would recover their grace and greet me with a welcoming smile.

 

From what I have seen the "loud" passengers are often given delayed service as staff eventually becomes fed up with wasting time trying to turn them into happy passengers. Rudeness gets you a timeout from the crew in that who wants to be spit on while working?

 

It is not the job of the customer to train nor to be rude to staff. A customer with a problem should contact the manager to resolve that problem. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding, a miscommunication or a misjudgment that the manager can correct immediately instead of stewing because the staff won't give you what you want.

 

Relax, smile, use please and thank you when interacting with the crew and everyone will have a better cruise.

[valleyvillage]

Untrained Brain: Thank you for your beautiful words and thoughts. What a pleasure to read!

[UntrainedBrain]

You are welcome ValleyVillage.

[xenagurl]

OP It would all depend on what you're looking for, but I cruised on the Star to Bermuda twice last year (once with Dh and the other time with a friend of mine). Both sailings were quite enjoyable and we met really friendly crew, staff and officers each time.

 

If you have a specific question about the Star I'd be happy to give it a go at answering it. I've blog posts below about my trips on her that will hopefully add a bit of insight into cruising on her. HTH :)

 

http://travelxena.com/norwegian-star-food-photos-menus/

 

http://travelxena.com/norwegian-star-new-york-to-bermuda-september-2012/

 

http://travelxena.com/norwegian-star-new-york-to-bermuda-september-2012-part-2/

[vcinsanity1523]

I am looking at a cruise to the Baltics in Europe and am considering this ship.

 

We have never been on Norwegian cruise line before, we tend to like Celebrity and Royal the best. We have been on Carnival and Holland , but do not care for those as much.

 

Any thoughts about the Norwegian cruise line compared to those.

 

The Baltic cruise is considerably less on the Norwegian, than Celebrity, Royal, or Princess. Trying to save money where I can these days.

 

So I wonder what everyone's thoughts about the Norwegian cruise line are. We are in our mid 50's, and tend to be pretty laid back, but we do enjoy good food:)

 

I took a cruise on the Star to Bermuda last May and we really enjoyed ourselves. It is a nice sized ship with plenty of things to do. Food is solid in the MDR's and the specialty restaurants (especially Cagney's) are very good. Shows were very enjoyable and the entire crew on the ship was fantastic. I have also cruised on the Disney Dream and with Royal. I really enjoy the "freestyle" cruising with NCL. It allows a vast set of options and allows the vacation to be very "go with the flow" instead of having set times for dinner and shows.

[NLH Arizona]

I haven't been on the Star, my first NCL cruise last years was on the Pearl. I usually cruise Celebrity and Crystal and wanted to try NCL, because of their price...I could do more cruises.

 

I enjoyed my cruise very much. Was it different than a Celebrity cruise, yes. I didn't do the MDR, but choose to do the specialty restaurants, all were very good with the exception of one. I liked not having to go at 8:30 (which I usually do on Celebrity) and eating a little bit earlier. I usually do a concierge cabin on Celebrity and choose a balcony on NCL. The cabin was a little smaller, but had enough storage space, it was clean and well serviced. The crew was excellent, compares favorably to Celebrity's crew; they were very friendly and very efficient. On the cruise I was on, the average cruise was quite a bit younger than on Celebrity, but I'm sure that depends on length and time of year.

 

If you go, I would suggest that you not look for the same cruising experience as Celebrity, but keep an open mind that this is another cruise line and the experience will be different. That is what I did and have since booked two more NCL cruises.

[pomgit]

Try to remember that unknown staff works hard each day to prepare good meals for passengers with nary a thank you from the dining room.

 

Graciousness and a smile from passengers will go a long way in improving a Cruise. The crew does have a choice when serving unpleasant or rude passengers. They are not slaves but they work long hours living in a small space for a contracted period. While they did choose to their job they should not be subjected to rudeness from passengers.

 

I have experienced times when the crew was curt to passenger infront of me in line. When my turn came the crew would recover their grace and greet me with a welcoming smile.

 

From what I have seen the "loud" passengers are often given delayed service as staff eventually becomes fed up with wasting time trying to turn them into happy passengers.

 

It is not the job of the customer to train nor to be rude to staff. A customer with a problem should contact the manager to resolve that problem. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding, a miscommunication or a misjudgment that the manager can correct immediately instead of stewing because the staff won't give you what you want.

 

Relax, smile, use please and thank you when interacting with the crew and everyone will have a better cruise.

 

UntrainedBrain, I am well aware about what happens behind the scenes on a cruise ship. I was simply responding to the OP with a recent experience on the same itinerary they are looking at. Whilst I like to keep my posts relevant I must ask you to clarify your comments - are you implying that my family and I were rude or loud to the crew and that explains the poor service? :eek:

[fun2travel]

Thanks for everyone's input.

Think we'll give it a shot, knowing it will be different than the

others, and keep in mind I've paid less.

The dates also fit my time perfectly on the trip I'm interested in...

So thank you for responding

[MCAT48]

Thanks for everyone's input.

Think we'll give it a shot, knowing it will be different than the

others, and keep in mind I've paid less.

The dates also fit my time perfectly on the trip I'm interested in...

So thank you for responding

 

I really liked the star but I went on it after going on the Gem, they are very similar but there are many differences. I personally liked the gem better. I enjoyed the red lion pub and have never had a problem being waited on. On the pool deck a server we hd gotten to know would always make sure we were taken care of never had to wait long for a drink there. The only thing I wish is they had the spinnaker in the front of the ship like they had on the gem because the spinnaker on the star felt too small. With that said, Go and judge for yourself because everyone has a different opinion. :) have a great cruise!!!:):D

[BrittanyandBrodysMom]

We cruised on the Star this past March out of New Orleans. It was our first NCL cruise and we had a wonderful time. Lots to do and the food was great. We did splurge and eat several meals in the specialty dining restaurants - we loved Teppanyaki, Moderno, Le Bistro, but did not like La Cucina as much as the others. I think you will have a great time!

[herdingdogmom]

Thanks for everyone's input.

Think we'll give it a shot, knowing it will be different than the

others, and keep in mind I've paid less.

The dates also fit my time perfectly on the trip I'm interested in...

So thank you for responding

 

Have a great cruise. We were on the Star in February this year and although it is certainly not my favorite NCL ship, we are sailing on the Star again this September mainly due to the itinerary.

 

We really enjoy Freestyle dining and know that service in the main dining room is always slow and that there will be a 20-30 minute wait around 7:00pm. There are many other dining options on board.

 

If you can, try to get into a family suite. They are newer staterooms and a nice size for eating in your stateroom if you wish. Plus they are usually a pretty good value.