NCL Star Review 4-20 - 4-27-2019

[lidodeck03]

NCL Star 4-20-4-27 2019

Norwegian Star Cruise Review by lidodeck03

 

 

Trip Details

• Sail Date: April 2019
• Destination: Eastern Caribbean
• Cabin Type: Obstructed Ocean View

We chose this cruise because we thought that it would be a nice relaxing cruise on a smaller ship. My wife and I have been on over twenty cruises, and are Platinum members on NCL. We have previously sailed on NCL Epic, Escape, Bliss, and Getaway. We have also sailed on Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Carnival and Celebrity. I get so much information from all the people on Cruise Critics, I feel an obligation to submit a short review.

EMBARKATION: Being platinum members we were supposed to have "priority check in." The customer service representative said that the person that was supposed to do the "priority check in" did not show up for work so we would have to go to the back of the line and check in with the other guests! That was a pretty telling expression of how NCL feels about their loyal customers! I asked why they didn't move one of the other check in host down to the priority check in and he said that there were more other guests than priority guests!

THE SHIP: The ship is old, but in relatively good condition. Even though it has been recently refurbished, some things can not be changed. The overall layout and design of the ship speaks to it's age. Some of the "you can't get there from here" features remain from times past. It does not have the "WOW" factor of the more modern ships.

STATEROOM: We were in an obstructed view outside stateroom. The storage space was ample, the most storage that we have had on any of the past 10 to 15 cruises. Room was well laid out. The bathroom was VERY small. Separate shower with a sliding glass door, and a separate toilet area with a sliding glass door. Each were on either side of the sink area. The steward did not clean our room on the fourth day, so we ended up getting our own ice and replacing the towels in our room from a cart that was in the hall. On another day, he did not replace the empty Kleenex in the bathroom, so my wife found him and told him that the Kleenex was empty and handed him the empty box. He said "OK" and handed her a new box and took the empty one, and never offered to put it into the dispenser. The next day as we were leaving our cabin, he handed us a "Cruise Hero Card" and a pen and asked us to fill it out!

DINING: We ate at three of the specialty restaurants, Cagney's, Le Bistro and La Cucina. We have always enjoyed Cagney's on other ships and has become our favorite specialty restaurant, That was not the case on the Star, Steaks were never cooked properly, service was bad, We found Le Bistro to be OK, not any better or worse that any other ship. The surprise was La Cucina. The food was very good and the service was excellent. We ate one evening in the complimentary Ginza restaurant, and the food was very, very good, but the service was terrible. We had most breakfasts in the Versailles MDR and the food and service were good. We also ate one dinner in Versailles MDR, and both the food and service were very good. We ate a few times in the Garden Buffet for lunch and breakfast and the meals were the usual food variety. Overall, we were most impressed with the MDR and La Cucina for the service and food quality.

ENTERTAINMENT: The entertainment was very good. The show dancers and singers were awesome as was the acrobats. The overall entertainment we found to be better than on most ships.

Bars: We had the UBP, and had a very difficult time getting service from most of the bars. We found that we got the best bar service while we were eating inside a restaurant.. Several of the bars do not open until around 5:00pm or later, leaving only a few bars open during the day. Also, the Atrium area is much smaller than on previous ships, and does not serve alcohol, only Starbucks coffee that is not included in the UBP.

Disembarkation: What a mess! We do self assist walk off. We asked several different people at the Guest Services Desk as to the time and place and got a different answer each time. The Cruise Director stated in one of his informational announcements that the location of the gangway and departure times would be announced the date of departure, this never happened. I spoke to an officer at 5:30AM the morning of disembarkation, and he said that the self assist walk off would take place at the front of the ship near the Stardust Theater around 7:00AM. We were the first in line and so many people were told so many wrong locations and we got to hear all the stories as they eventually arrived at the correct location. We were able to disembark at about 7:45AM, and there was never an announcement made as to the time or location before we disembarked.

EXCURSIONS/PORTS: We did not do any shore excursions as we have done most of them previously. We have been to each of the ports several times, bot enjoyed St Thomas the most.

OVERALL: Overall it was a cruise and we were not working! A cruise is what you make of it. There was nothing "really" terrible, and other than the shows, nothing "really" spectacular either. It was a nice time away, and we got a good deal on the cruise so everything is good, however, I don't anticipate sailing on the Star again in the future. We enjoyed our time away, but we are glad to be back home. We are already excited about our upcoming cruise in November 2019.

[Ciref]

Wow, very nice review.  Your ability to point out the good and the bad goes a long way in the credibility department.  I am cruising on the Star in June and will keep your review in mind.  Thank you for taking the time to write this.

Eric

[lidodeck03]

1 minute ago, Ciref said:

Wow, very nice review.  Your ability to point out the good and the bad goes a long way in the credibility department.  I am cruising on the Star in June and will keep your review in mind.  Thank you for taking the time to write this.

Eric

You're welcome. As I said in the review...I get so much information on here that I feel a responsibility to give back, and be "fair" when posting a review. You will have a great time on the Star in June!

[valleyvillage]

What a great attitude! I'm glad you enjoyed La Cucina, we did as well. I like the way the kitchen is somewhat open, lots of fun. 

[Stealthdog]

Thanks for the review!  I'm on the Star in 4 weeks and have a few questions: 

 

For entertainment, which of the shows do you think were the must sees?  We have a port intensive itinerary with no sea days and not sure we want to hit all the shows.

 

Thanks for the tips for the restaurants - I don't understand why they differ so much between ships.  In total we have 6 nights for specialty dining (2 for Platinum, 1 for AMEX, and 3 for UDP).  Will definitely avoid Cagneys this trip.  Would you recommend the Ginza restaurant over MDR for the 7th night? 

 

Sorry to hear about your embarkation/disembarkation issues. 

[lidodeck03]

5 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

Thanks for the review!  I'm on the Star in 4 weeks and have a few questions: 

 

For entertainment, which of the shows do you think were the must sees?  We have a port intensive itinerary with no sea days and not sure we want to hit all the shows.

 

Thanks for the tips for the restaurants - I don't understand why they differ so much between ships.  In total we have 6 nights for specialty dining (2 for Platinum, 1 for AMEX, and 3 for UDP).  Will definitely avoid Cagneys this trip.  Would you recommend the Ginza restaurant over MDR for the 7th night? 

 

Sorry to hear about your embarkation/disembarkation issues. 

I really enjoyed Band On The Run for the entertainment, and the Acrobats were really good as well. Whatever you choose I think you will enjoy. As for the last night of your cruise, I would go to Ginza because it is more intimate, and the food presentation was wonderful. I hope this helps & enjoy your cruise!

[Stealthdog]

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 6:22 PM, lidodeck03 said:

I really enjoyed Band On The Run for the entertainment, and the Acrobats were really good as well. Whatever you choose I think you will enjoy. As for the last night of your cruise, I would go to Ginza because it is more intimate, and the food presentation was wonderful. I hope this helps & enjoy your cruise!

 

This is great.  Thanks so much for the recommendations!

[Aus ATC]

Thank you for the review.  We will be on Star for our first NCL cruise (travelling with another couple) in September.  We have the 3xSpecialty Dining package and were thinking of the same restaurants you chose - based on other reviews.  Will probably stay with those, and also try Ginza as you suggest.  We also have one dinner planned off the ship (in Santorini). 

 

Does the MDR open for lunch on "sea days"?  In our case we have early and late port calls so lunch on board is likely on a few days.

[blondelinda]

thank you for this, we have our first cruise, and its on the Star in September