Norwegian Star Pros/Cons

[vtwgalmm]

We're thinking about booking a TA on the Norwegian Star. Any pros or cons? Also looking at family balcony room. Any pros/cons? Window room on deck 4. pros/cons. Thanks for any help. Sally:)

[mitsugirly]

If you want a complete review with tons of pictures, you can look in my signature line for my Star review. :)

[Demonyte]

I've mostly sailed on Jewel-class ships (Jewel, Pearl, Jade) and like them the most so I keep them as my point of comparison (mostly the things on cons side for me).

 

Pros on Star:

 

- New Family suites on deck 12

- Free popcorn from Red Lion Pub

- The layout of the sun deck is kind of nice

- When I sailed on her, the crew onboard was one of the nicest I've met (didn't like the concierge too much though)

 

Cons on Star:

 

- No outdoors buffet in the aft

- No more Spinnaker Lounge with nice views for sea days (it was moved to deck 7 to make room for the new suites)

- Buffet is not as well laid out as on the newer ships

- No bells and whistles like climbing wall or bowling (Pearl, Gem and newer ships)

 

Star is a nice, older ship and from the ships currently doing TAs, she would likely be my first choice. I might give Epic too another chance, I didn't like her too much on a week-long Caribbean cruise but have read that the experience might be different on TA.

[mitsugirly]

 

Pros on Star:

 

 

- Free popcorn from Red Lion Pub

-

 

We loved grabbing a few bags of popcorn before heading to one of the shows in the theater, however, I have read numerous reviews after we sailed her last December that they no longer have the popcorn. :(

[Arzeena]

The Star is a great ship!

I know the staff keeps changing, but when we were on board, we were in the in very good hands. Best of the best! Scean, Yannis, Kyle as CD, Jeffrey...and the crew was one of the best I have seen on any Norwegian ship.

[Demonyte]

We loved grabbing a few bags of popcorn before heading to one of the shows in the theater, however, I have read numerous reviews after we sailed her last December that they no longer have the popcorn. :(

 

Oh really? That's a bummer! :(

[eiffeltower07]

I have read numerous reviews after we sailed her last December that they no longer have the popcorn. :(

 

Dislike! :(

[bluesea777]

Star is a nice, older ship and from the ships currently doing TAs, she would likely be my first choice. I might give Epic too another chance, I didn't like her too much on a week-long Caribbean cruise but have read that the experience might be different on TA.

 

For the TA, I'd rather be on the Epic than the Star.

 

The Epic's October westbound TA go on the more southerly route than the Star so it's a warmer crossing on Epic.

 

The vibe is different on the TA crossings than the weekly cruises.

[emsiam]

We were on the star in October in a family suite on deck 12 it was the best cruise with NCL so far the cabin was great!!

[3DBeach]

Hoping to book the Star for next April (Mexican Riviera). It's so nice to hear such positive things about her.

[mitsugirly]

Dislike! :(

 

I know right? When we were on the Star all I kept thinking was "this is such a nice added touch" and wish that they had that on every NCL ship.

[fishywood]

I sailed on the Star's eastbound TA this past April...and there definitely WAS popcorn available in the Red Lion! (One night there also were hot dogs from lunchtime still sitting out at 10:30--I passed on those).

 

Know that the Star is (by today's standards) a smaller Panamax-sized ship designed specfically for temperate climates. On the open North Atlantic there was quite a bit of rocking and rolling--and anything movable in your cabin (drawers, bathroom and closet doors, third & fourth berths) creaked and rattled through the night. Didn't bother me, I always sleep like a baby when cruising, but there were many others pleading with the purser's desk to be found a "quieter" cabin. So if you have taken a TA on a larger ship the Star may suffer by comparison.

 

And while dining is still "freestyle" the entertainment schedule was quite rigid: production show at 7:30 or 9:30, audience participation/game show at 8:30 and 10:45. So with seven nights at sea between Miami and Ponta Delgada most everyone was in the habit of wanting to dine at the same time each night. You will thus need to budget for either more visits to specialty dining, or A LOT more time sitting around with a pager, than on a port intensive sailing.

 

(And speaking of possibly discontinued amenities, when I inquired about the drink vouchers [that I read about so often on here] when they quoted a long wait for dinner, the hostess said "we stopped that a long time ago"--but there are plenty of current reviews of other NCL ships still giving them out :confused:)

[rvsullivan]

I sailed on the Star's eastbound TA this past April...and there definitely WAS popcorn available in the Red Lion! (One night there also were hot dogs from lunchtime still sitting out at 10:30--I passed on those).

 

Know that the Star is (by today's standards) a smaller Panamax-sized ship designed specfically for temperate climates. On the open North Atlantic there was quite a bit of rocking and rolling--and anything movable in your cabin (drawers, bathroom and closet doors, third & fourth berths) creaked and rattled through the night. Didn't bother me, I always sleep like a baby when cruising, but there were many others pleading with the purser's desk to be found a "quieter" cabin. So if you have taken a TA on a larger ship the Star may suffer by comparison.

 

And while dining is still "freestyle" the entertainment schedule was quite rigid: production show at 7:30 or 9:30, audience participation/game show at 8:30 and 10:45. So with seven nights at sea between Miami and Ponta Delgada most everyone was in the habit of wanting to dine at the same time each night. You will thus need to budget for either more visits to specialty dining, or A LOT more time sitting around with a pager, than on a port intensive sailing.

 

(And speaking of possibly discontinued amenities, when I inquired about the drink vouchers [that I read about so often on here] when they quoted a long wait for dinner, the hostess said "we stopped that a long time ago"--but there are plenty of current reviews of other NCL ships still giving them out :confused:)

 

We've never gotten any kind of "voucher" for drinks. All we've ever done was go to the bar and show our pager for the MDR and that was all it took.

Never heard of any kind of voucher since we've sailed on NCL.

[fshagan]

We did a Pacific coastal / Alaskan on the Star, and the voyage up the coast was cold, windy and not really suitable for being outside too much. That contributed to the problems we had with noise; the atrium area was crammed with vendors selling gold, watches, etc. for the three at-sea days up the coast. So even while the Star is one of the smaller ships, it seemed like a mob was everywhere. And even though it had recently been drydocked for refitting, the cabins we had were not yet upgraded, so the beds were still the rock-hard mattresses (they were out of egg-crates) and the general appearance of the cabins was poor - tears in the faded drapery, etc.

 

The balconies have a strange coating on the floor that, because its painted, looks like that granular material on roofing paper. I think it is a rubberized deck material; at least you don't slip! But even right after it came back from drydock it was not in great shape on our deck.

 

Don't get me wrong, we still had fun, but it was our least favorite NCL ship. I wouldn't do a multi-day cruise on her again, especially with multiple sea days in a row, unless there was no other alternative.

[vtwgalmm]

Thanks for all of the information. Now to make the decision. We're comparing two cruises. Both a TA b2b with a Baltic cruise. One set of cruises with NCL and the other with RCI. I think I'll let my DH make the decision. They both have pros and cons but I think he likes some of the ports on the RCI better. Thanks again for all of your help. Sally:)

[digitaldan1]

We're booked on the 2014 Star TA. We did also consider the Epic TA. One interesting perspective is on the issue of ship size. To us, the Star is a "big" ship since it's bigger than every other ship we've ever sailed on with the exception of the Pearl. It's also much bigger than ever U.S. Navy ship I ever sailed on.

 

We tend to prefer older, smaller ships. We find them to be better values and since we're an older couple really don't need things like climbing walls or other bells and whistles.

 

Cruising is an intensely personal experience. Understanding what's important to you and then finding a ship and line that best fits your personal needs is key to a great vacation. Having said that, I can easily say I would sail with any line or ship on my cruise list again. On every one of them we were well treated and had a great time. Even on the Delta Queen, the most low-tech cruise I've ever been on, we had a wonderful vacation. If she were still in service, I'd happily cruise on her again.

[fergusonvt]

We had a great cruise on the Star last year. I wouldn't hesitate to book another on her.

[Brighton Line]

DW and i were in a Aft Facing Suite (Penthouse) with a sort of wrap around balcony for a 7 day NYC Bermuda. The suite services were great.

Having sailed Jewel and the Gem I did miss the Great Outdoors and the Spinnaker being a dark hole in the wall with seats jammed right on top of each other was not fun.

That said it would not stop me from sailing the Star again.

[gra2172]

We're thinking about booking a TA on the Norwegian Star. Any pros or cons? Also looking at family balcony room. Any pros/cons? Window room on deck 4. pros/cons. Thanks for any help. Sally:)

 

We just finished a star cruise in June. It was by far our least favorite ship, so i may be a little biased..

 

A word of advice on deck 4. This is where people were disembarking and were lined up in the hallways. It was super crowded and noisy on those days, so I wouldn't recommend deck 4.

 

Pro: The buffet is huge compared to the other ships.

Con: Most of it goes unused and they reused food until it was inedible. Because of the unused sections, excess crew has time to screw around, snapping each other with towels and such.

 

Pro: Our room was fantastic and we are booking the same room on the Dawn.

Con: None.

 

Pro: The staff was very friendly.

Con: The excursion staff was apathetic (*shoulder shrug* I dunno, theyre all good I guess.) and not helpful. The girl actually talked down an excursion we were taking. It turned out she was on it. So she wanted the space for herself. I want them to take excursions, but dont try to talk me out of it so you can go.

 

Pro: Le Bistro was awesome!

Con: I blame the executive chef for every other bite of food we ate. We watched him as he took pre grilled chicken, blackened and all, and re-grilled it. Mmmm, dry chicken. Way to lead by example.

 

Pro: the ships laid out well and its well maintained. They were repainting the stars on the outside while we were in port.

Con: none.

 

Pro: The acrobatic show on the last day was amazing.

Con: Shout! was so awful that people, including us, walked out. The guy next to me fell asleep and was snoring.

 

 

Pro: Customer service was wonderful. Ive never had to complain about my cruises before, but they were very apologetic and gave me 200$ onboard credit for my next cruise.

Con: I wish I didnt have to file a complaint at all.

 

 

We did have another star cruise booked for next year and cancelled it.

Having said all that, Im still an NCL cheerleader and have a cruise on the Dawn booked for next year. Not sure what we are doing in 2015 yet tho.

[Sequim88]

We're confirmed TA fans. Star next May will be our third. Hence attracted to the thread and thanks for all the info.

 

Star is virtually identical in size to Brilliance of the Seas, our first TA. despite being smaller than the current crop of mega ships she was plenty large enough to handle the North Atlantic. I expect the same from Star. Our last TA was on Mariner of the Seas a substantially larger ship than Brilliance so had added features but none we would have missed. Small ships often have more charm and fewer crowds. On last TA there were a number of NCL fans which tipped us in favor of them for the next one.

 

digitaldan1 - are you booked on the Eastbound May 2014 TA? If so come on over and join the Roll Call. We're getting bigger every week and starting to organize some activities for the sea days. I have an informational web site going with lots of planning links (an ongoing work in process for sure).

 

vtwgalmm - We have lots of people in the Roll Call group doing the Baltic post-TA B2B. It's a fairly active and experienced group so could be helpful for planning the Baltic part. We're bailing at Copenhagen so we can drive around Sweden for a week and find where my wife's ancestors came from.

[namdert]

just returned from star and they do have popcorn

[meaclasact2]

Last year our entire family went on the Star to Bermuda. We had a balcony room and it was very comfortable and more than enough room for the two of us. Part of the family had ocean view rooms on the 5th deck. The windows were quite large and the cabin was very nice. They had 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) in the cabin and they managed quite well. Their view was phenomenal - almost at the water's edge...the kids loved it. I could see myself having afternoon tea watching the sea go by.

 

We liked the Star - the one negative for us is that we missed having the Great Outdoors on Deck 12, aft, which is on the Jewel class ships. However my family - many of whom had never been on a cruise, loved the Star - the buffet, the Blue Lagoon, the pool, the shows, the main dining room - they loved it and want to go on another cruise.

 

We will be sailing on her again shortly - this time we've booked a mini suite - the bathroom is a bit larger than the family balcony. If there is a minimal difference in the price, I would book the mini suite. If there is a big difference in the price, I'd go for the balcony.

 

Hope this helps.

[fayfam]

Hi everyone

 

We have booked the Star for a Mexican Rivieria cruise next April. It's great reading all of this information. We have been on the Pearl and loved it. I am sure we will be just as happy with the Star.

 

We have booked a balcony cabin. We are sharing with our 18 year old daughter. Do you think the sofa will be big enough for her? She is only small :) We would like a minisuite with the privacy curtain but it would cost at least another $1000 plus with our exchange rate now, a bit more. Any advice or further information would be fantastic.

 

Kerry 😀

[hpecorari]

Anyone know about the spa on the Star? Do they have spa passes?

 

Thanks!

[GORDONCHICK]

We're thinking about booking a TA on the Norwegian Star. Any pros or cons? Also looking at family balcony room. Any pros/cons? Window room on deck 4. pros/cons. Thanks for any help. Sally:)

 

Which TA are you looking at? If it's the one coming up, Yannis will still be on board, so that would definitely be a plus!