NCL Star sailed the Baltic and I went along for the thrill of it! 6/6/2014 review.

[Ilikebigboats]

Hello fellow cruisers!

We just returned from an exciting, but exhausting 9 night cruise that started in Copenhagen, with stops in Berlin( Rostock Germany ), Tallinn Estonia, St. Petersburg Russia, Helsinki Finland, and Stockholm Sweden.

First a little background info: my family of four includes me and my hubby and our two kids, ages 16 and 20. We love to cruise, and have a sweet spot for NCL.

 

We started our adventure in London for two nights then took the Eurostar to explore Paris for a couple of nights eventually arriving in Copenhagen the night before the cruise. We stayed at the Best Western City hotel, great location, (walked to little mermaid and Nyhavn).

 

Please don't judge my first review to harshly, after soaking up so much info here on CC, I just felt that I needed to pay it forward. I will first share my observations of the NCL Star(she's a beauty), and then move on to our adventures in each port.

First, I must admit that i think there is nothing more exciting then pulling into port and spotting your ship for the first time, and the Star did not disappoint.

 

I originally booked a 9th floor balcony for us and a inside for the kids, but about 2 weeks before departure I saw that a 2 bedroom suite became available for about $1600 more and we went for it! Best decision I've ever made. We were assigned room 11020 and it was just beautiful! Loved the wood paneled living room, the lavazza coffee machine was to die for, and the shower and whirlpool tub had windows overlooking the ocean-can you say awesome!? The concierge was Omar, who was very nice,we only used his services for disembarking early for St. Petersburg and disembarking at the end of the cruise. Also, he managed to give us the discounted laundry rate on the first day instead of the 4th day. My son had been studying abroad for 6 weeks previously and lets just say his clothes were smelling kinda funky.:-) Very nice perks. Clint was our butler and I have nothing but nice things to say about him! I liked his formal, old world demeanor, traits that are hard to find nowadays. He brought us extra hangers, cleared out the mini fridge so I could put my complementary sparkling wine inside, and brought us snacks at least once if not twice a day. A shout out for Asep, our room steward, he was very charming, with his port tips and cute towel animals. I would have loved to take him home with me! Ha! We tipped each,with Clint getting the most followed by Omar, with a little extra to Asep for his hard work.

I found the ship to be clean and easy to maneuver, and I loved the old style atrium with the soaring exterior elevators. I thought I would miss the great outdoors eating space, but hey this was a chilly cruise and eating outside was not my top priority! This cruise was definitely not a party cruise. Not many places to dance, but we did find ourselves in Gatsby's for martini's and a singing duo who performed songs everyone could sing along to.We did not manage to see one show! I "threatened"my hubby and son every evening that we were going to a show, but for some reason we ended up closing down the casino instead! My "threats" were empty cause after seeing the outstanding shows on the Epic, the Star offerings seemed a little lacking, and I really had no desire to attend.

I am enjoying reliving my trip of a lifetime, but real life calls. I promise I will come back and tell you about my culinary experiences -the good, the bad and the yummy. We booked the Chef's Table dinner and I will tell you it did not disappoint. Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions- fire away!

[digitaldan1]

My wife and I are sailing on the Star in October. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

[AF-1]

Reading your post with your enthusiasm makes me want to come back tomorrow and read more.

[Rosethorn40]

Can't wait to read about the ports. DH & I cam within a hairs breath of doing this same cruise leaving on Tuesday, June 24th. Saw a great deal on cabin price, and airfare was reasonable too, but by time DH got around to asking his boss for the days off airfare had skyrocketed to a point it was no longer that great of a deal...Sigh! However, I did book for next year (Different cruise line, but same ports) so I can't wait to read about your adventures in port.

[boaterette]

Looking forward to more of your review.

[dawnmariex]

I'm waiting for more... I leave on this cruise on July 3!

[TruckerDave]

I'm booked on the same cruise the end of next May. Interested in hearing about the ports myself.

[Ilikebigboats]

Time to talk about my favorite subject-food!

Eating on a cruise is my favorite, all encompassing pastime in which I just never get over the fact that I can eat pretty much whatever and whenever I want. Now I will admit I'm not much of a buffet person. I did eat at the market cafe buffet a couple of times and it was quite good I just don't like the hurried, feeding frenzy feel to it. My favorite luxury is ordering room service breakfast. This being my first suite experience, I asked for a Cagney's breakfast menu and pretty much ordered the Crab Benedict every morning. Yum! We also enjoyed lunch at Cagney's, liked everything but the shrimp and scallop risotto, it tasted like Campbell soup with tiny bay scallops thrown in. I felt that Cagney's needs a little sprucing up, for this to be there "best" speciality restaurant it wasn't what I would call elegant. Out of the two dining venues, Versailles and Aqua, I think I preferred the smaller Aqua for its better service and quieter atmosphere.

 

We did not book any fee dining this time except the Chef's Dinner which cost $99.00/pp. We definitely got our money's worth! The nine course meal was prepared by the ships head chef and was paired with delicious wine that was free flowing! The table was limited to only 12 people, and even though we started off as strangers, by the end of the night we were all the best of friends! It's funny how 7 glasses of vino can forge bonds between strangers like nothing else. Lol! Since I overslept and missed my 11:00am CC meet/ greet earlier in the week(I was tired, don't judge me ha!) I was so happy to meet our charming meet /greet organizer, Alex(Schnerk) during dinner. Shout out to Alex and his lovely wife Jenn, very charming storytellers! Alex, thankfully you have the gift of gab cause your blackjack skills are, um.. Lacking? JK! I recommend this 3+ hour of endless culinary delights like ahi tuna, sea bass, veal chops and cocoa mousse. Bon appetit!

 

By the way, I did not gain 1 pound during this cruise. It could be because of the 4046 miles I happily hiked exploring all those beautiful Baltic ports. ;)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review! Now that you are home you can rest!

[jemz1949]

enjoyed your review. We are doing a BTB on the Star in Sept beginning with this itinerary. Can't wait! Do you recall which evening the Capt's Table was held? Any Dailies to post?

[Pluto_fan]

Thank you for your review! We did the same itinerary on the Sun two years ago and it was my favorite cruise ever, perhaps favorite vacation ever. We'll be on the Star next year to Norway so I'm enthusiastically reading any and all reviews of her. Our kids will be 17 and 15 (and 7) so I'm interested in your kids' views. We have a balcony and an inside booked, but I'd love to upgrade to a two-bedroom suite!

[Tricialy]

Can't wait to read more - we're sitting in the DFW airport on our way to Copenhagen and the Star right now!