Norwegian Star – Mexican Riviera – Freestyle Cruising Review – Comparisons with Celeb

[keishashadow]

Thanks for the nice comments.

 

Sometimes I think Norwegian could be advertised as "The cruise line for men". I think the lack of formal nights probably gets a certain number of husbands to agree to cruise.

 

funny, my DH & DS looked askance when i said they didn't need to pack a suit. We enjoy the hoopla of getting dressed for dinner when cruising. It was one of the reasons (along w/freestyle dining) that I was hesitant to book NCL in the 1st place; yet it was the best deal for our last minute upcoming cruise. guess i'll find out soon enough if it's a good fit for us!:) btw, we are planning to dress for the 2 formal nights, all part of the experience we enjoy.

 

nice review, thanks for contrasting the different lines; although i think many do have unrealistic expectations/don't do their homework when researching which line is the best for them & then are disappointed...apples to oranges;)

 

im laughing thinking the tray issue is not moreso to glam up the buffet...attempt to slow down the amount of food one grabs

[dataminn]

When your wife and her lady travel friends enjoy formal nights so much, it shouldn't be much of a sacrifice to do your part. At least, that's my philosophy! And yes, we did dress for dinner one night while on the Star as did many others.

 

Also, even though casual dress is emphasized, I did not see any glaring attempts to show lots of skin or examples of grubby attire. Passengers looked pretty respectable, all in all. In addition, Norwegian will not seat guests in shorts in the dining room, so there are some standards.

 

I tend to agree with you that the lack of trays may be an attempt to cut costs without affecting passengers too much. I would think that at least some passengers might forgo a second trip through the buffet which would then equal what they could have taken had they had a tray. Add up these "missed meals" over a cruise line and you probably have some significant savings or, perhaps, there is some other logical explanation?

 

I also agree that comparing Norwegian to an assigned dining line is literally an apples and oranges situation. Fortunately, I like apples and oranges!

 

I also agree that you must do your homework so you have reasonable expectations when you get on board and while in port. One of our most treasured cruises was on board Commodore's Enchanted Isle, now defunct. It was a dirt cheap cruise line. We did our homework and knew what we getting before we got on board. It was an absolutely marvelous cruise. We had such a good time in New Orleans, on the Isle, and in ports. We knew we weren't getting ice rinks and rock climbing walls and we didn't care.

[keishashadow]

your wife is a lucky lady:), so many don't get the idea of marriage being a series of tradeoffs

[pyrogy]

My wife and I dressed up for dinner (and dressed up our kids) on our NCL cruises as we enjoy that experience as well. Now that I have more cruises under my belt I will probably leave the suit at home for my next NCL cruise. But that is the beauty of NCL, you can make your own experience onboard, as long as you can avoid looking down your nose at the way other people dress for dinner.

 

And for those that like looking down their noses, there are certainly other lines that will accommodate.

[dtracker]

March 28, 2009 Sailing Norwegian Star

 

Let’s start by saying that I’ve long ago lost track of how many cruises I’ve been on. I’ve sailed on most of the mainstream cruise lines. I also will say that I’ve never been on a cruise I didn’t like, so my intention here is to be informative, not critical.

 

Thank you for the great review. It just proves, there's a cruise for everyone!! :)

 

DT

[Ilivetogo]

March 28, 2009 Sailing Norwegian Star

 

There were only three ice cream choices. This is little stuff, perhaps, but money savers for Norwegian.

 

 

 

Eeeek!! :eek: My teenage daughter and her friend are very much looking forward to the ice cream "availability" while on our Alaska cruise. Only 3 flavors? Really?

Would you mind telling me which flavors those are? And are they scooped or soft serve? :confused:

Thanks!

[dataminn]

Vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate. Perhaps there are more choices at the stand on deck 12, but these were the only choices available in the main dining rooms. We did have green tea ice cream in the Teppanyaki.

[dataminn]

I imagine the vast majority of guests on the Star felt appropriately dressed. Those who wanted to dress up certainly found others doing the same, so a good time was had by all.

[dataminn]

Sorry I missed part of your post. I didn't notice any soft serve. Perhaps someone else has more information on this?

 

Guests are offered various toppings, which adds a bit of variety.

[dataminn]

Thanks for the kind words.

[dataminn]

40 years in August!

[flashdog_1]

Majesty had soft serve at the grill. They offered luscious other flavors at dinner, however, in the main dining rooms.

 

My DH discovered he really liked chocolate ice cream with raspberry sauce, so he ordered it for dessert nightly.