REVIEW Star Adriatic July 8-16th

We just returned from our July 8-16 Adriatic cruise on NCL Star. We had 7 family members ranging in age from 10 and 12 year olds to, 40 year olds and one retired mid 70’s grandfather. We have been on 7+ cruises before, mostly on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. This was our first NCL cruise so some of my comments will be comparisons of NCL vs. RC/CC.

We started our trip in Zurich and made our way by train through the Alps and then spent a few days in the Lake Como region. We then worked our way through Milan, Verona, and on to Venice. I’ll skip the details of that part of the trip unless someone has questions. In Venice, we stayed at Hotel Olimpia which we have used for prior cruises. The hotel itself is very nice but the main advantage is that it’s in a very convenient location for pre and post cruises since it is next to Piazzale Roma and the People Mover. It’s also very convenient to the train station, taxi stand, and a main Vaporetto station. Having said that, it’s not the most scenic part of Venice so if you want to truly immerse yourself in the city, maybe consider a hotel elsewhere.

We arrived at the port around 3:00 PM via the People Mover. The Star was located the furthest away of all the ships. I did not see any shuttle busses taking passengers to the ship. It was a VERY long walk in the sun, especially with lots of luggage and a grandfather with bad knees. Maybe they had shuttles earlier in the day? The check-in was pretty typical compared to other cruise lines. At this time of day, there was almost no line and we were checked in and on the ship in less than 30 minutes. To our surprise, all of our bags were already waiting for us at our rooms. We’ve never had our bags delivered that fast on any cruise!

We had balcony cabins 9192, 9196, and 9198 on the Starboard side. The rooms were in decent condition. I liked the design of the bathroom, especially the shower, which I found to be larger than my previous cruises. The room itself is a little smaller than Celebrity’s Silhouette/Equinox ships, especially with the pull out couch extended for our son. It’s almost impossible to get out of bed or to the balcony with the 3rd bed out. One disappointment was the room steward was not willing to open the balcony dividers. We have always been able to do this on Celebrity and RC which is a great benefit when we have 3 rooms together with family members (however they can easily be opened by putting 2-3 car/house keys together, insert and turn). Our room steward was one of the least friendly we’ve had, but he kept the room clean.

Most of our previous cruises have been on larger and newer ships so it’s probably unfair to compare them to the Star. I will say the ship was in decent condition for its age (just out of dry dock in May). It never felt crowded and the elevator wait times were much better than on larger ships. My main complaint is the windows and glass on the entire ship are FILTHY. It’s unpleasant to look out the windows anywhere. This included the glass on our balcony and all windows in the restaurants. Not sure what the deal is with this. Maybe they are permanently stained, but it just looked like they needed a good cleaning. The other complaint is the layout of the ship, which I think is pretty typical for a ship from this era. There are a couple areas that are confusing and certain elevators only go to certain floors (Aqua dining room and splash academy come to mind). The pool area is small, but I do like the cascading raised area for the chaise lounges that overlooks the pool. Finding a pool chair really wasn’t too difficult. I did see a crew member keeping track of the unused chairs. He was putting different color stickers on the unattended ones and checking ack.

More to follow....

One disappointment was the room steward was not willing to open the balcony dividers. We have always been able to do this on Celebrity and RC which is a great benefit when we have 3 rooms together..

This is a standard NCL rule, as it is a fire hazard. You will find this rule on all the NCL ships.

This is a standard NCL rule, as it is a fire hazard. You will find this rule on all the NCL ships.

It has been hit or miss for me, on the Getaway they would not do it one year, but the next year had no problem with it and then on the Escape they allowed it as well.

Following, thanks!

Following.

Following as we are on the Star in November!

Food is obviously very subjective. Being our first NCL cruise, we were new to freestyle dining and I loved it. One of my main complaints about RC/CC is that the main dining room gets boring after afew days. We went to 3 specialty restaurants and I really liked the variety. Several months before the cruise, I made reservations for La Cucina, Cagney’s, and Le Bistro. We wanted to make a reservation for Teppanyaki, but it was not available online. So the day we boarded, we planned to replace Le Bistro with Teppanyaki if available. However, we discovered that all my reservations (which I had printed confirmations) were not in their system. Kind of frustrating, but we were able to get everything straightened out, including Teppanyaki. I also really liked not having formal nights and being able to dress casual for dinners. We wore dress slacks for the specialty restaurants and nice shorts for Aqua. Some passengers take the casual dining a little too far (sport shorts and tee shirts), but it doesn’t really bother me. We didn’t have too much trouble getting into Aqua when we wanted, especially considering we had a group of 7. Most days there was no wait. One day we had a 30 minute wait, but they gave us a pager so we went to the bar. Service and food at the main dining room was comparable to our other cruises. I thought the menu lacked some variety, especially the starters, which seemed to be pretty much the same every day. Also, as others have mentioned, desserts definitely lacked on NCL compared to our other cruises (dining rooms and buffet). Based on the buffet options, people must be eating a ton of jello on these cruises. One member of our group is vegetarian and she was not very happy with the options. On Celebrity, they gave her a completely separate vegetarian menu but NCL only offered the main menu. Another note, someone in our group really wanted lobster. It was never on any of the menus. We had read something about“secret lobster” and we asked one of the servers. He told us there is no longer any lobster. I’m not sure if he meant only on Star or all of NCL’s fleet.

For breakfast, we tried the buffet, O’Sheehan’s, and room service. The buffet lay-out is not good on this ship. Everything is lined up cafeteria style with multiple lines. Sometimes I would wait in a line only to find out it didn’t have what I wanted. I’m then left with the decision of “cutting” in another line to get the one item I want, or wait in line all over again. O’Sheehan’s is the best option for breakfast in my opinion. There was never a wait for a table and the food came out pretty fast. The menu is somewhat limited, but good enough to get the day going. Room service was fine as well. One day, we paid the $8.00 service fee so we could get omelet’s, which were good. I wasn’t as impressed with the lunch and dinner food at O’Sheehan’s. I read good reviews about this, but I just didn’t find the food to be very good. Nevertheless, it’s a good place to get a beer and a snack at night, especially considering the buffet seemed to have very limited late night options and closed pretty early.

We were happy with the specialty restaurants that we tried – La Cucina, Cagney’s and Teppanyaki. In my opinion, Cagney’s had the best food of the three and the filet was very good. If you are going to Cagney’s and plan to also get steak at the main dining room, I suggest going to Cagney’s late in the cruise or you will be disappointed in the main dining room steaks. La Cucina was pretty good and had the best service of the three. This was the only restaurant where the MaitreD’ was already aware of our group having a vegetarian and he made a special point to discuss her options with her. Teppanyaki was fun. I’m not a huge fan of that type of food, but we did it more for the entertainment value for the kids and it did not disappoint in that respect. The service was good and the chef at our table made sure to cook the vegetarian food first before the meat. Overall, I enjoyed most of the food on this ship.

The bars and lounges on this ship were ok. I would have preferred a Royal Caribbean“Schooner” type of bar that was bright and had a nice outside view. We never really found one bar that we preferred over the others. 5 O’Clock Somewhere always had karaoke in the evenings so unless you are into that, don’t go as it was quite loud. It was usually a fairly young crowd that appeared to be having a lot fun. They also made some very good drinks at that bar. Spice H2O is ok, especially if you want to sit outside. The décor and furniture seems like an afterthought with plain looking patio furniture and a couple hot tubs that seemed unused and out of place. The Atrium Café & Bar had a live band most nights, but I didn't think they were very good. The bar next to La Cucina and Le Bistro (don’t recall the name) was good and usually had a piano player. Bliss Ultra was fun some nights. There was a musical lyrics competition there the first night which turned into a pretty good party with dancing etc. The outside pool bars were fine and the Topsiders Grill also served burgers and fries during the day. Overall, I liked the more active party crowd of NCL over Celebrity, even though I don't consider myself a "partier" anymore. I would say it’s similar to Royal Caribbeanin in that respect. We had the Unlimited Beverage Package deal when we booked the cruise. I doubt we drank enough to make it worthwhile if we had to pay for it separately. The UBP does not include bottled water or soda, unlike Celebrity (which also includes premium coffee), which was a bummer. My son was very happy they had root beer, which was not usually available on other cruises we’ve been on. The regular coffee at the buffet and restaurants was so-so. I never got the chance to try the premium coffee in the atrium.

More to follow.....

Thanks for the review ... looking forward to your impressions of the ports.

Thanks for the review ... looking forward to your impressions of the ports.

Our itinerary was Venice, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Arogostoli (Kefalonia, Greece), Athens, Santorini, Split, and Venice. Venice, Athens, and Santorini were repeats for us. We did private tours in Dubrovnik, Kotor, Athens, and Split. All of our tours took us outside of the main port area which we prefer, and then we explored the town on our own for an hour or so before returning to the ship. I will say that because of bad traffic in most of the locations, we were more rushed than I would have preferred to walk of the old town areas at the end of the day.

In Dubrovnik we went to the medieval town of Cavtat, and Srdj mountain for views of the old town. In Kotor, we went to The Lady of the Rocks Church, towns of Perast and Budva., and scenic overlook of the ultra rich and secluded island of Sveti Stefan. In Athens we did a half day at ancient Corinth and half day tour of Athens (mainly for the benefit of the kids, who didn't remember the first time we were there). In Split we went to Krka National Park and swam in the waterfalls. In Argostoli we rented a van and drove to the caves and a couple beaches. In Santorini we took a taxi to Oia. I would be happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Star in a few weeks are are still deciding on an excursion in Split. How did you like Krka and whom did you use for the trip (you mentioned it was a private tour)?

thanks for your detailed review! You mentioned that you took a taxi to Oia in Santorini. Is taxi available on any street, or only at a certain taxi stand in Fira? How was the tendering? Did you have to wait long for the cable car up to Fira?

Thanks!

What did you do and see in Verona? We are staying a couple days after our Star cruise in early October and were thinking of doing a day trip to Verona. It will be a Monday so I know some of the sites only open at 1:30pm. Was there anything that is not to be missed?

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Star in a few weeks are are still deciding on an excursion in Split. How did you like Krka and whom did you use for the trip (you mentioned it was a private tour)?

Yes, we really enjoyed Krka. However, just keep in mind it's quite a bit from Split, so your time exploring the town of Split will be limited. We used Splitlicious.com.

thanks for your detailed review! You mentioned that you took a taxi to Oia in Santorini. Is taxi available on any street, or only at a certain taxi stand in Fira? How was the tendering? Did you have to wait long for the cable car up to Fira?

 

Thanks!

We have been to Santorini twice and both times we walked up hill from where the funicular drops you off and just started looking for taxi's. There is a busier road about 5 minute walk up. I think there was a little luck involved. This year, we found a van that took 7 of us for 70 euro. On the way there, we asked if he would meet us at 2:00 for the return and he agreed. I wasn't sure if he would show up, but he did. There probably is a taxi stand somewhere, but I'm not sure where. The road is one way and takes longer going to Oia and is shorter returning to Fira. He charged us less for the return trip.

I will mention tendering on my review, but basically I did not like the way NCL did it. If you want to get off early, you have to wait in line the morning of port (I think 2 hours before arrival) for a ticket. Since we had been there before, we just decided to wait until everyone was allowed off. They reserve 20 tender tickets, then they allowed anyone off. It took about 2 hours. The wait at the funicular was not bad at that time, maybe 20 minutes. The funicular line was about 30 minutes at the end of the day to return. There was only one other very small ship in port that day. We have never done a ship sponsored tour, but one advantage is you don't have to wait for tender tickets are the first to get off.

What did you do and see in Verona? We are staying a couple days after our Star cruise in early October and were thinking of doing a day trip to Verona. It will be a Monday so I know some of the sites only open at 1:30pm. Was there anything that is not to be missed?

Because we were traveling by train and already had tickets, our time was very limited in Verona. We walked through town and saw the Romeo and Juliet balcony (very crowded and not impressive). It looked like a very nice town and I'm sure there is much more to do, we just didn't have the time.

I won’t go into the ports of call but would be happy to answer any questions. We picked this cruise based on the itinerary, which we liked. Athens and Santorini were repeats for us but we really liked Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia, Kotor, Montenegro, and Argostoli Greece. My only complaint was the tender process which is not good compared to RC/CC. Three of our ports required tender. Kotor was awful because there were two other ship in port and we anchored VERY far from port. It was a 30+ minute tender ride each way with a limited number of boats being used. It took forever to get off the ship and there was at least a 45+ minute line to return at the end of the day. They require that you get tender tickets the morning of the port and there is a long line that forms quite early. In Santorini, we decided to forgo the tender tickets and had to wait about 2 hours before we could get off the ship. Overall, the tender process was disappointing as was disembarkation (more on that later). I think the tender process is also the reason some of the stops on this itinerary are fairly short, since they have to build in time for the tendering.

We had 10 and 12 year old cousins on this trip and they planned to use the Splash Academy in the evenings after dinner. NCL puts the 10-12 year old’s in a separate age group. This was probably ok for the10 year old, but my 12 year old boy (who is 1 month from 13) was really disappointed. They were doing things like arts & crafts with bottle caps, which seemed more for 10 or younger. No sports, video games, or anything active. NCL does not allow younger age groups to move up (absolutely no exceptions), even though he was only 1 months from being old enough. He didn’t enjoy it so he ended up hanging out with the adults in the evenings. It was disappointing compared to our other cruises, which have always had very impressive kid’s activities.

Shopping and retail sales are pushed hard on this ship. The first night after the main show, they were really pushing the jewelry as we left the theater and the sales people were somewhat aggressive. Of course you can ignore them and go on your way, but I found it a little annoying. I felt like I was standing on a used car lot or watching HSN. The sales staff is always selling something and it’s a little too much in my opinion. Speaking of shows and entertainment, we didn’t catch that many on this cruise. The first night was a classic rock show and it was pretty average. There was a classical guitarist who was talented, but not really my kind of thing. There was a magician who was cheesy but still entertaining. He messed up his first trick, but then he recovered and had a pretty good show. Of course he was hard selling his “how to do magic” CD’s in the lobby as we left. The cruise director, Simon, and the rest ofhis staff were good. I did consider playing some blackjack, but the tables were full the times I went. There were $10, $15, and $25 tables. It seemed fairly busy in the evenings.

After about 3 days, there was some issue with our credit card not being “activated” or verified by NCL and as a result, our room cards stopped working for purchases. Also,as part of the promotional package, in addition to the UBP and 3 specialty restaurants, we also received $50 on board credit per person (for 1st two passengersper cabin). However, for some reason, all the credits for the three rooms were combined onto one cabin. When we went to guest services, it took quite a while to straighten everything out. We were told that the check-in person at the beginning of the cruise made some sort of mistake with our credit card. We were also told that the on board credit is automatically applied toward the gratuities. It’s also very confusing to check what the remaining credit balance is because they apply the credit to the tips on a daily basis. The guest service person was not able to tell us exactly what our credit was at that time, but kept telling us it was non-refundable so we should spend it. It seems like it’s a way to get people to spend money, not realizing that that money is gone by the end of the cruise once it’s applied to the tips. It’s not really a big deal I guess, because we would have paid for the tips out of pocket otherwise, but I just thought it was odd. Maybe some NCL veterans can better explain this.

Disembarkation in Venice was kind of chaotic. Everyone has to be out of their room by 8:30 and the buffet stops serving breakfast at 9:00. We had green 8:50 am tags, but they didn’t call this group until well after 9:15. Because they were calling groups late, people were congregating at the elevators and trying to get off before called, which caused the area to overcrowd. I saw a lot of shouting and arguing between guests and staff. We were not in a rush so it was not a big deal for us. Some in our group carried all of their bags off so they did not have to wait for their group to be called. They said it was pretty easy and relaxed. I think I would do it that way next time. Anyway, thankfully this time there was a shuttle bus that took us to the People Mover.

I may have focused more on the negatives, but overall we had a great time. I liked many things about NCL and would consider them again. I prefer newer and slightly larger ships, but if the itinerary was good, I would go on Star again.

You mentioned that this was a much more casual atmosphere - no formal nights?

Klmesa, Thanks for the great review. We are on the Star October 21st. and we were planning on just carrying our luggage off by ourselvers. We travel with carryon bags and you said they allow people to hold on to their luggage and carry it off themselves.(We try to travel light). Since we are cruising in October I am assuming the ports that you had to tender in was because of peak season and multiple ships. We decided to purchase the excursions thru NCL because of that fact. Do excursions thru NCL get their tender tickets when we get the excursion tickets? Or do we have to wait in line to get tender tickets the morning of the excursion? Thanks in advance

Klmesa, Thanks for the great review. We are on the Star October 21st. and we were planning on just carrying our luggage off by ourselvers. We travel with carryon bags and you said they allow people to hold on to their luggage and carry it off themselves.(We try to travel light). Since we are cruising in October I am assuming the ports that you had to tender in was because of peak season and multiple ships. We decided to purchase the excursions thru NCL because of that fact. Do excursions thru NCL get their tender tickets when we get the excursion tickets? Or do we have to wait in line to get tender tickets the morning of the excursion? Thanks in advance

We didn't do any NCL tours. However, they stated that people on ship tours did not need tender tickets. They were told to show up at the time specified on their tour paperwork. I'm sure October will be much less crowded. Have fun.

You mentioned that this was a much more casual atmosphere - no formal nights?

NCL does not have "formal nights". You can wear pretty much whatever you want to dinner, except Le Bistro and Versailles (main dining) which require pants. We always used Aqua instead of Versailles, but I did see people standing in line outside Vesailles with shorts. I didn't stick around to see if they were turned away. We wore dress pants to all the specialty restaurants and usually nice dress shorts and collared shirt to the main dining room.

Thanks for the review, which seems very balanced. I'm considering some of the Star's itineraries, so it's helpful to get a sense of the ship.

Thank you Klmesa Your answer reduces my stress flip