What are your thoughts on the NCL Star?

[NCruiser2012]

We are cruising the Baltics next May with the NCL Star. We have cruised twice on NCL and once on Celebrity. We choose this cruise for the itinerary and, frankly, the price.

 

I don't see a lot of posts about the Star. I have searched the forums and read the member reviews which seem to be pretty negative.

 

I am happy to see that the Star will be dry docked next spring and will add O'Sheehan's. The rooms look OK, nothing special.

 

I am concerned about the buffet. We thought the Epic had a wonderful buffet. The Celebrity buffet was beautiful, but we were not impressed with the food. We usually only eat at the buffet for breakfast.

 

Does anyone have any practical / positive thoughts on the Star?

[Ilovesailing]

We are cruising the Baltics next May with the NCL Star. We have cruised twice on NCL and once on Celebrity. We choose this cruise for the itinerary and, frankly, the price.

 

I don't see a lot of posts about the Star. I have searched the forums and read the member reviews which seem to be pretty negative.

 

I am happy to see that the Star will be dry docked next spring and will add O'Sheehan's. The rooms look OK, nothing special.

 

I am concerned about the buffet. We thought the Epic had a wonderful buffet. The Celebrity buffet was beautiful, but we were not impressed with the food. We usually only eat at the buffet for breakfast.

 

Does anyone have any practical / positive thoughts on the Star?

 

We have sailed the Star too many times to mention and have sailed the Epic once. Yes the buffet is more expanse on the Epic and the star is smaller, passenger total on the Star is almost half the size of the Epic

which for us we like the smaller ships and don't see a need to pay extra for water slides etc.

As for food we all know its subjective but if your only eating breakfast, whats the big deal eggs are eggs.

The menu's on all NCL ships are the same and are put together from H/O in Miami.

We will also be on the Star Jan. for Panama cruise.

[NCruiser2012]

We have sailed the Star too many times to mention and have sailed the Epic once. Yes the buffet is more expanse on the Epic and the star is smaller, passenger total on the Star is almost half the size of the Epic

which for us we like the smaller ships and don't see a need to pay extra for water slides etc.

As for food we all know its subjective but if your only eating breakfast, whats the big deal eggs are eggs.

The menu's on all NCL ships are the same and are put together from H/O in Miami.

We will also be on the Star Jan. for Panama cruise.

 

Since you are an experienced cruiser, how do you rate the Star? Or are you like us in that you book the itinerary, not the ship.

[swedish weave]

We have made over thirty cruises on the Star. I suppose that indicates that we like the ship.

 

The Star does not have all the bells and whistles that the new large ships have, so if you are looking for that, you will not like the Star.

 

Comparing ships and cruise lines is something I refuse to do. They all have different things that you can decide to like or dislike.

 

I also don't read nor do I believe in reviews. They are someones opinion, and may be completely different from mine.

 

Each ship on each and every cruise line is different, so the name painted on the side of the ship is meaningless. It is your attitude that is very important in making the cruise good or bad. They have all been good for me !!!!

[rajones007]

You have to remember that for every single negative review there are at least 50 positive reviews that never get posted. And that's not just for cruises either, it goes for practically everything else in the world too.

 

I've been on the Star once (7 day W. Caribbean from Tampa) and have booked her again this coming November for a 13 day Panama Canal (Miami to LA).

 

I find the size of the Star (and her sister the Dawn, which we've also been on) to be perfect. Not too big, not too little. It's comfortable and cozy. There's lots of space to wander and it never really feels crowded. It's not a razzle dazzle in-your-face ship. It's calm and relaxed.

 

We're approaching 50 years old and we know how to keep ourselves occupied. It's not like we need water slides and bungee jumping and rock climbing and fireworks and loud music and singing and dancing and drunken revelry to keep us satisfied. We did all that on the Epic a couple years ago. It was fun. It was a nice ship. It was a fantastic cruise. But I would never go a ship that large again. It just isn't our style any more. If we were 20-somethings' again, we probably would. But not now.

[Chgodavid]

I took my parents on the Star last spring to celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary. We had a great time. Although its a small ship and older we never ran out of things to do and the service was excellent.

[Ilovesailing]

We have made over thirty cruises on the Star. I suppose that indicates that we like the ship.

 

The Star does not have all the bells and whistles that the new large ships have, so if you are looking for that, you will not like the Star.

 

Comparing ships and cruise lines is something I refuse to do. They all have different things that you can decide to like or dislike.

 

I also don't read nor do I believe in reviews. They are someones opinion, and may be completely different from mine.

Each ship on each and every cruise line is different, so the name painted on the side of the ship is meaningless. It is your attitude that is very important in making the cruise good or bad. They have all been good for me !!!!

 

I totally agree.

[bobnpaml]

As others have posted ships are subjective. That said, the Star is our favorite NCL ship and it is because of the captain and crew.

We think it has the best crew afloat. We have been on 12 cruises and 5 cruise lines.

She may be older, smaller, and not have all the bells and whistles as a lot of the ships out there now, but she is very special.

[Tricialy]

We sailed on the Star in the Baltics last June and LOVED it. I will admit, we had sailed on the Star out of New Orleans and didn't have our best experience. If we hadn't been set on a Baltic Cruise (and we only sail NCL - we've been happy, so why change?) - I don't think I would have given her another chance. I am thrilled to have been wrong. We had an awesome concierge and steward.

 

Maybe the New Orleans trip was our first suite experience and we expected too much, maybe it was the fact that it was Spring Break in Texas and the ship was full - but it was definitely not one of our favorites. I can't even list anything in particular that went wrong - just not the same vibe as our previous trips.

 

I'd say go for it - the Baltics are so busy you aren't hanging out onboard a lot - with the late night in Germany and the overnight in St. Petersburg - it is certainly a go, go, go cruise.

 

Also, the buffet had a different theme each night - German on the night we were in Germany, a Mediterranean night, and I can't remember the other nights - I thought it was better than usual.

[Hikini]

The Star is our favorite ship and we've sailed on her 4 times. She isn't as new as the Jewel class or mega ships, but I find her to be more elegant. If you can get one of the suites on deck 12 - they have fantastic views with floor to ceiling windows and we LOVE them!

 

The one drawback for some folks with the Star (and the Dawn) is that in order to make those fantastic suites on deck 12, they took away the Spinnaker Lounge, game room, etc. The Spinnaker (where lots of night time entertainment happens) is now at the back of the ship and is a dark space, unlike the old Spinnaker that was at the front of the ship in deck 12 and had those great floor to ceiling windows. We are fine with that since we only went to the Spinnaker for the night time shows anyway, but for folks who are in inside cabins, the Spinnaker was a great place to view the scenery during the day.

 

The Star doesn't have my favorite buffet as far as layout, but the food is good.

 

Our favorite non-specialty restaurant on the Star is Versailles, which is at the back of the ship on deck 6 (you have to get there by deck 7). It is beautiful.

 

Enjoy! I'd love to be on the Star again!!

[grovesteve]

Did the Star in February on the Panama Canal Cruise. We did this five days after doing the TA on the Getaway. The Star is a great ship. You have to remember you are basiclly using it for a floating hotel not a destination cruise like doing the Caribbean. Between all the ports you will find the Star will be just fine. We did the Western Mediteranian on the Epic this summer. We never used half the things on the Epic because we were touring almost every day. You did right saving the money on the ship, leaves you more to spend on better tours.

 

Steve R

[dexddd]

Been on the Star twice (Dawn once) and to the Baltics on the Sun. The Baltics are great and with the 9 days and so many ports you'll be busy.

 

The buffet is more of a traditional "line" on each side and they tend to alternate the times a bit on each side as to which is open but the times do overlap. Night snacks at the buffet were slim but with the redo and move to O'Sheehans I'd probably just go there instead if they are able to give good service which has been an issue in the past in Blue Lagoon.

 

I don't see any issues with sailing on the Star. Have a nice trip.

[Love my butler]

Sailed the Star many times. Love the ship. Don't like the buffet. It's very utilitarian, think high school cafeteria. Certainly not pretty in any way, shape or form. The quality of the food isn't great either, but many cruisers today only care about quantity not quality.

[valleyvillage]

Sailed the Star many times. Love the ship. Don't like the buffet. It's very utilitarian, think high school cafeteria. Certainly not pretty in any way, shape or form. The quality of the food isn't great either, but many cruisers today only care about quantity not quality.

YES! High school cafeteria is it on the nose.

Love everything else about the Star: the promenade, the spa, the adult hot tub forward, eating in Le Bistro "outside" (the wine bar area) and the crew.

[Hikini]

YES! High school cafeteria is it on the nose.

Love everything else about the Star: the promenade, the spa, the adult hot tub forward, eating in Le Bistro "outside" (the wine bar area) and the crew.

 

I keep thinking that someday your family and mine will end up on the Star together! :)

[NCruiser2012]

Thank you all for your positive thoughts. We have been booked on the Star for a few weeks. I think we will have a great cruise!

 

I love the Epic, but it just gets too big. We sailed the Celebrity Equinox which is a more manageable size. The Star will be closer in size to the Equinox.

 

If I don't like the buffet, there are lots of other ways to get breakfast.

[Freespir8]

The Star is our favorite ship and we've sailed on her 4 times. She isn't as new as the Jewel class or mega ships, but I find her to be more elegant. If you can get one of the suites on deck 12 - they have fantastic views with floor to ceiling windows and we LOVE them!

 

The one drawback for some folks with the Star (and the Dawn) is that in order to make those fantastic suites on deck 12, they took away the Spinnaker Lounge, game room, etc. The Spinnaker (where lots of night time entertainment happens) is now at the back of the ship and is a dark space, unlike the old Spinnaker that was at the front of the ship in deck 12 and had those great floor to ceiling windows. We are fine with that since we only went to the Spinnaker for the night time shows anyway, but for folks who are in inside cabins, the Spinnaker was a great place to view the scenery during the day.

 

The Star doesn't have my favorite buffet as far as layout, but the food is good.

 

Our favorite non-specialty restaurant on the Star is Versailles, which is at the back of the ship on deck 6 (you have to get there by deck 7). It is beautiful.

 

Enjoy! I'd love to be on the Star again!!

 

We are sailing through the Panama Canal on the Star in October. This will be our second time on the Star and we can't wait. We booked the same suite that we had last time...12016...one of those "amazing suites on deck 12." :) We love the Star. The crew is truly amazing and the size of the ship is just perfect enough to have space but not get lost (unless you want to! ;)).

 

The buffet definitely doesn't have the atmosphere that I hear about on some of the ships but the crepes in the evening (at the very end of the buffet) are to die for...so don't miss those! Let Bistro is amazing of course and you can always find something to eat at all the dining venue's. If you don't like something, send it back and order something else!

 

Enjoy your cruise! You will have a fantastic time and hopefully you will fall in love with the Star too.

[swedish weave]

I've been on the Star once (7 day W. Caribbean from Tampa) and have booked her again this coming November for a 13 day Panama Canal (Miami to LA).

 

We will be there with you in November. Making the round trip from San Pedro to Miami and return !

[Love my butler]

We are sailing through the Panama Canal on the Star in October. This will be our second time on the Star and we can't wait. We booked the same suite that we had last time...12016...one of those "amazing suites on deck 12." :) We love the Star. The crew is truly amazing and the size of the ship is just perfect enough to have space but not get lost (unless you want to! ;)).

 

Had that exact suite last year. Asked the HD to install a soap dish holder on the wall of the shower. It was a noisy install, but done the next day. :)

[mein18]

We will also be on the Star in January. Our first NCL cruise. Have been RCL loals.. Was going to post the same questions so glad OP started this thread.

Are there any late night munchy options on the Star?

Edited September 19, 2014 by mein18

[nadeki]

Had that exact suite last year. Asked the HD to install a soap dish holder on the wall of the shower. It was a noisy install, but done the next day. :)

 

That is so funny I suggested they put a soap dish in the shower and they brought me a dish that went on the side of the tub to hold the soap. Too bad that they don't listen to comments like this as we can't be the only ones who mentioned this design flaw. It was a very difficult shower situation. Really not a big problem but so avoidable!!!

[medicalma'am]

We have sailed the Star twice (the first time with Swedish Weave!) You can see reviews in my signature with LOTS of pictures. Love the Star!

[swedish weave]

We have sailed the Star twice (the first time with Swedish Weave!) You can see reviews in my signature with LOTS of pictures. Love the Star!

 

I remember that !!!! Your wonderful sister brought me some snow from Utah -- even after I told her to leave the snow up there !!! Lots of fun !!

[swedish weave]

We will also be on the Star in January. Our first NCL cruise. Have been RCL loals.. Was going to post the same questions so glad OP started this thread.

Are there any late night munchy options on the Star?

 

The Blue Lagoon ( soon to be O'Sheehans) is open all night and is well known for the wings and the fish and chips !!

 

Sometimes they have snacks in the casino late at night.

[herdingdogmom]

We have sailed on the Star twice and are booked for the Baltics in May for sail #3. The ship is in need of a facelift and I'm looking forward to seeing the enhancements post dry dock. I'm so hoping the lovely atrium gets spruced up with more seating and some real plants or water features.

 

As others have said, the suites on deck 12 are wonderful. They are newer and spacious. If you are in a suite, you can avoid the buffet for breakfast and lunch and eat in Cagneys (or Moderno once it moves). It is a limited menu that doesn't change, but yummy and nice and quiet. Room service is also an alternative to the buffet.

 

We also like dining in the wine room "patio" at Le Bistro and are looking forward to trying Moderno in its new location and also are looking forward to O'Sheehan's. The Versailles is a beautiful dining room. The Red Lion pub is a lot of fun and music in the evening in Gatsby's is nice.

 

Definitely join your roll call. Both the May ones are pretty active. I also learned from this season's Star cruises that the bow crew area on deck 8 is opened for viewing the Stockholm archipelago. I'm looking forward to that.

Edited September 20, 2014 by herdingdogmom