NCL STAR the worst Buffet

We did the star last year and totally agree. It was the chef thats in charge of all the food. He was german and clearly had no passion in anything he did. At the pool deck BBQ he burned precooked chicken on the grill.:eek: I wanted to take the tongs and show him how to grill!

I filed a complaint with NCL and even got some credit on my next cruise! :) We did the Stars sister ship the Dawn this year and it was the complete opposite experience.

We did the star last year and totally agree. It was the chef thats in charge of all the food. He was german and clearly had no passion in anything he did. At the pool deck BBQ he burned precooked chicken on the grill.:eek: I wanted to take the tongs and show him how to grill!

 

I filed a complaint with NCL and even got some credit on my next cruise! :) We did the Stars sister ship the Dawn this year and it was the complete opposite experience.

We did 28 days on the Star Sept/Oct 2014 and the food was very good.

Others in our group had been on the Star several months earlier and said that the food had improved quite a bit.

It appears that NCL made changes in the Menu and food quality after you cruised.

I have to say I really enjoyed the food aboard the Star in 04/13. No complaints whatsoever. From Cagney's in the morning, to Blue Lagoon, and Moderno, to YES the buffet at various times. And YES the decor of the buffet is straight out of an early 70's buffet gone bad. It certainly hasn't aged well. BUT….I found no fault with the food and especially the service. In fact I thought every food item was much improved over my Spirit cruise. I have the Mexican Riviera cruise coming up in March aboard the Star and WON'T be staying in a suite this time…… I'm sure the food aboard the Star will again be just fine.

Cut me some slack. It seems to me most of the people going to the buffet are more interested in quantity over quality.

Cut me some slack. It seems to me most of the people going to the buffet are more interested in quantity over quality.

Get more for less is precisely what value for money is all about.

Cut me some slack. It seems to me most of the people going to the buffet are more interested in quantity over quality.

This statement was true when I was 26, but at 66, not the case. The buffet is quick and if you don't have time to sit down for breakfast before going ashore, it works the best.

Also, the variety is there. Love to do the salad bar for lunch.

Cut me some slack. It seems to me most of the people going to the buffet are more interested in quantity over quality.

I personally like buffets for the variety of choices, but the quality is important too. When I was on the dawn a few years back the buffet and (dinning food too) was pretty bad. Only ok food was reservations though hibachi was good.

The buffet was so bad that when you went to the pasta station, I couldn't tell if the sauce I asked for was marinara or water.

I don't ask for much from buffets, maybe say Bellagio quality :rolleyes:

We just got back from 7 days on the Star this morning. We are usually Royal Caribbean passengers and this was our first time on NCL. I have to agree that the buffet on Star is terrible. The selection varied little from day to day and the quality was poor. There was an emphasis on Indian food and most of that I couldn't identify. I don't think I had a single edible dessert. One morning one of the sides was out of coffee and I complained to the manager but he was indifferent. I understand that there are physical limitations that affect the layout but that doesn't mean that the food has to be so bad.

We just got back from 7 days on the Star this morning. We are usually Royal Caribbean passengers and this was our first time on NCL. I have to agree that the buffet on Star is terrible. The selection varied little from day to day and the quality was poor. There was an emphasis on Indian food and most of that I couldn't identify. I don't think I had a single edible dessert. One morning one of the sides was out of coffee and I complained to the manager but he was indifferent. I understand that there are physical limitations that affect the layout but that doesn't mean that the food has to be so bad.

We are also frequent RCI cruisers going on our first NCL cruise on the Star in 2 weeks. Any major good or bad differences you can share? We figured going in that it would be difficult to match the Windjammer.

We just got back from 7 days on the Star this morning. We are usually Royal Caribbean passengers and this was our first time on NCL. I have to agree that the buffet on Star is terrible. The selection varied little from day to day and the quality was poor. There was an emphasis on Indian food and most of that I couldn't identify. I don't think I had a single edible dessert. One morning one of the sides was out of coffee and I complained to the manager but he was indifferent. I understand that there are physical limitations that affect the layout but that doesn't mean that the food has to be so bad.

What was it about the desserts that made them inedible ?

I spent 27 days on the Star in November and liked all the food I had in the buffet.

Have they discontinued the nightly specials in the buffet ? We had different special items (prime rib, seafood, Mexican food, etc) every night when I sailed the Star and the freshly made crepes were excellent.

I have to say, and this is after getting off the Star this morning, that most of you food complainers are a bunch of fuss budgets. There was a great selection of fresh salad choices, if you wanted to check out the selection...just walk outside the blue tape...not rocket science.

The evening meal choices were interesting and varied. I have to wonder what kind of meals you all eat at home that you couldn't do anything but complain!

The salmon and pickled herring for breakfast were a very pleasant surprise, as were the lovely omelettes and cooked to order eggs....even egg white omelettes.

To come on here and complain is a bit much.....everyone I could see was stuffing their plates....so the food can't be that bad!!!

I find it interesting that some complain that the food is terrible, then they complain that they can't find seating at the buffet.

A lot of people must lijke "terrible" food !!!!

I find it interesting that some complain that the food is terrible, then they complain that they can't find seating at the buffet.

 

A lot of people must lijke "terrible" food !!!!

....and the usual follow up complaint is the lack of quantity.

Go figure.

Hopefully these complainers will stay far away so we can have more tables and a shorter lineup next time we cruise with NCL. Last thing I need is to have someone with an attitude standing next to me at the buffet line.

Hopefully these complainers will stay far away so we can have more tables and a shorter lineup next time we cruise with NCL. Last thing I need is to have someone with an attitude standing next to me at the buffet line.

....think for a second....

In truth, standing next to someone with noro or the flu would be the last thing you need........

We are also frequent RCI cruisers going on our first NCL cruise on the Star in 2 weeks. Any major good or bad differences you can share? We figured going in that it would be difficult to match the Windjammer.

One of the main differences is the physical layout of the Windjammer, which is one big room, as opposed to the Market Cafe on the Star, where it's broken up into 2 sides with virtually the same food on either side.

Each section of the Market Cafe has one queue, as opposed to the Windjammer where each little station has a queue. The omlette/pasta stations are in the middle of the queues so they get stuck when someone is waiting.

We found that the Windjammer had a much better variety and quality of food. (Of course this is subjective.) For example, every day for breakfast the Market Cafe had the same potatoes while the Windjammer would have different kinds of potatoes each day. That's just one example. When we would get desserts in the Windjammer, we would come back with a plate of 3 or 4 different things and snarf them all down. I couldn't finish any of the Market Cafe desserts--they were spongy and the "chocolate" items seemed to have no chocolate at all in them.

We're you in a suite?

One of the main differences is the physical layout of the Windjammer, which is one big room, as opposed to the Market Cafe on the Star, where it's broken up into 2 sides with virtually the same food on either side.

 

Each section of the Market Cafe has one queue, as opposed to the Windjammer where each little station has a queue. The omlette/pasta stations are in the middle of the queues so they get stuck when someone is waiting.

 

We found that the Windjammer had a much better variety and quality of food. (Of course this is subjective.) For example, every day for breakfast the Market Cafe had the same potatoes while the Windjammer would have different kinds of potatoes each day. That's just one example. When we would get desserts in the Windjammer, we would come back with a plate of 3 or 4 different things and snarf them all down. I couldn't finish any of the Market Cafe desserts--they were spongy and the "chocolate" items seemed to have no chocolate at all in them.

I have a question (never having sailed NCL). You talk of food as bad or good but I don't hear what the food is. On Royal (yes I've sailed there a lot) the food is usually what I call good/bad these days. Tastes pretty good but recently it all seems to be starch (potatoes, noodles etc). Does anyone know how the types of food compare?