Norwegian Star Baltic Cruise Review

Hey Everyone,

Been a long time member and just got off the Star for a Baltic Cruise (7/12-7/20) and decided to write a review about the ship, food, etc.

The embarkation process was pretty smooth, we got to the port around 3pm and it was very busy, but because we are Lattitude members, we were on board within a half hour, so pretty quick from my perspective.

Reading reviews on here, I was somewhat worried about the condition of the ship. As soon as I got on board, those worries faded away. It is indeed an older ship, but it is exceptionally maintained and one would have to look very hard and purposefully to find anything wrong with it. The decor is a bit out of style, but its still in great condition.

Food: Food was pretty much a hit or miss. Was it fantastic? Definitely not. But it was an average quality one might expect from a chain restaurant. The buffet always had something that one can eat. We didnt do any of the specialty restaurants, but Versailles and Aqua menu's were pretty good and we never left the restaurant hungry after dinner.

Service: This was probably the most disappointing out of all. Some days, we had great service, some days it was very poor. Couple examples, we spent over 3 hours for dinner at Aqua (party of 2) because it took 30 minutes to take our order, another 30-40 minutes to bring out our appetizers, and so on. You can really see where the cruise line is cutting back. On one of the sea days, we were lounging by the pool and took a plate of fruits to eat. After we were done, we put the plate on the ground. 3 hours later when we were leaving, the dirty plate was still sitting on the ground, in open view, without anyone picking it up. Our room steward was average. On couple occasions she forgot to leave the floor mat for us to step on after the shower. On one occasion, we requested 2 new towels and only received them about 45 minutes later.

So overall service was average at best. At restaurants, we got our food in a timely manner and it was accurate...there was no usual small talk or wait staff asking us how our day went as been our experience on previous cruises.

Overall, I would do this cruise again as the destinations were wonderful and definitely beat out any service issues that we might of had.

If you have questions about the Star or the Baltic cruise in general, feel free to ask.

What ports? What did you do in each port?

Private?

Ncl?

DIY?

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Thanks for your review. We are on this cruise in May. I've noticed on the web cam that the crew only area on the bow of deck 8 was open for passengers to view sailing into and out of the Stockholm archipelago. Was this advertised in the dailies? Do you know if it requires signing up or an invitation?

Which was your favorite port excursion?

Hi, we did this cruise in late June and agree with the comments, great itinerary but not the best cruise we have ever had. Crew area opening for Swedish archipelago was advertised well and security staff great, v friendly and coffee etc served for early start.

Took SPB tours in St Petersburg, excellent and great value for money. Other ports don't really need guided tours but beware of the long walks to city centres, only cruise where I have only gained 1lb! Any questions please ask.

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Ps no need for invite to crew area for archipelago viewing, open to all. Best port after St Petersburg was Warnemunde, beautiful place and lovely to walk around being docked so closeby. Rostock was not worth a visit IMO, not huge amounts to see apart from town square. Tallinn was charming, easily walkable. Very quaint. Most disappointing Helsinki, devoid of any charm really and not what we expected! :)

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Ps no need for invite to crew area for archipelago viewing, open to all. Best port after St Petersburg was Warnemunde, beautiful place and lovely to walk around being docked so closeby. Rostock was not worth a visit IMO, not huge amounts to see apart from town square. Tallinn was charming, easily walkable. Very quaint. Most disappointing Helsinki, devoid of any charm really and not what we expected! :)

 

 

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Thanks for the info. Ruby!

We did a tour with SPB in St Petersburg and Germany (bus to Berlin) All other ports (Tallinn, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Stockholm) we were on our own, either walking or taking the Hop On Hop Off Buses.

What ports? What did you do in each port?

Private?

Ncl?

DIY?

 

 

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Thanks for the review. We are doing that cruise in 4 weeks. I had questions but the more I think about it the sillier they are. So, I'll just thank you for the review, info about ports was very helpful as we are still deciding if we want to book tours and other cities besides St Petersburg.

We did this cruise last year and loved it. We sailed mainly for the itinerary, though. Sorry to hear about the service issues you had on your cruise.

The archipelago is not to be missed.

More than happy to help with any questions :) don't mind silly ones, just post 'em up, if I can help someone all the better.

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More than happy to help with any questions :) don't mind silly ones, just post 'em up, if I can help someone all the better.

 

 

 

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Hi, was there a place to store hand carried luggage before the staterooms were ready? Thank you in advance.

Sorry to hear about the service issues. We love the Star - it is our favorite ship and we've been on her 4 times.

Thanks for your nice review, glad you had a good cruise. Sorry about your service issues.

Thanks for the report!

Thank you for your review/report.

Keith

Thanks for the review. We are doing that cruise in 4 weeks. I had questions but the more I think about it the sillier they are. So, I'll just thank you for the review, info about ports was very helpful as we are still deciding if we want to book tours and other cities besides St Petersburg.

We did this in 2010 when it was a 12 day. If you are trying to decide on Berlin, do it. We did a small tour with 7 total and while expensive and a long day, seeing Berlin and the history, wall, etc., was well worth it.

Thank you so much for this review. We will be going on this cruise in 3 weeks, and have been very concerned about some of the comments and posts about the ship and the food.

We didn't leave our hand luggage anywhere, I think we had small bags and carried these to the pool area to grab a snack before the room was ready.

Yes there were issues with the food (mainly not being served very warm) so my advice is tell the staff. We did, and it improved in the MDR when we did, but the itinerary really makes this cruise, sadly not the ship. Have a fantastic time and enjoy cruising the beautiful Baltic. Look forward to your review!

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I've just come off the Star too, on the 21st. The only service issue we had was in Versailles. The waiter was grumpy and it all seemed too much trouble for him, other than that, couldn't fault the service elsewhere.

Hi, was there a place to store hand carried luggage before the staterooms were ready? Thank you in advance.

Yes, there is a place to "check" your carry on bags and go to lunch. I think it was in the Asian restaurant area on the Star. You are given a claim check and the time to pick the bags up by. I'm thinking it was 3:00. Just ask the crew member standing in the front of the atrium after you get on the ship.

Yes, there is a place to "check" your carry on bags and go to lunch. I think it was in the Asian restaurant area on the Star. You are given a claim check and the time to pick the bags up by. I'm thinking it was 3:00. Just ask the crew member standing in the front of the atrium after you get on the ship.

Thank you so much. That is good to hear.

Just booked this cruise for next July! We picked it for the itinerary. Sorry to hear you had some trouble with the service.

One question...... how were the daily temps? i am hoping that since it is farther north, it won't be terribly hot in July.

We were very lucky on our trip, very warm weather almost every day but the week or so before it was not so good. We packed for wet weather, heat and everything in between. Sorry I can't help any further :)

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We went on the July 3 sailing (sorry that I haven't posted a review yet) and I would agree with RubyTuesday in many ways. The itinerary is fabulous and we had an amazing time, but compared to other cruises our food, service, and entertainment were lackluster, with the exception of Omar, our wonderful concierge.

We had perfect weather I.e. Sunny and warm (70s to 90) every day, but from what I hear that is quite uncommon.

I'm not sure where they were storing carry-ons as our cabin was ready when we arrived.

Loved Copenhagen - fabulous Segway tour, lovely canal ride, lazing around Tivoli while the teens rode rides, and more. We used T J Travel in ST P and loved our guide, Inna. In Germany we went to Berlin and hired Jeremy Minsberg, a.k.a. Mr. Berlin, who was probably the best tour guide we ever had! We ended that day by watching a soccer match in Warnemunde- fun! We took the Helsinki bus tour with a live guide, but I would probably not take that again. We cabbed to Toompea and walked down the hill, meandering around the village, and then strolling back to the ship in Tallinn. in Stockholm, we cabbed to the Vasa and then walked back through Gamla Stan, thoroughly enjoying everything.

All in all a great vacation:D and I would love to take a land vacation in several of the ports!