My family of four (two adults, two teenage kids) sailed on Norwegian Star's Baltic cruise during August 2013. We chose this cruise for it's itinerary and the dates it sailed. Due to the mixed reviews of the Star, my first choice was Princess but the Emerald doesn't have adjoining balcony staterooms. Overall I was very happy with the trip. The entire ship was very clean. It was actually cleaner around the pool area than Disney Dream or Celebrity Eclipse. The crew was also extremely nice. We had an issue, with the room safe, my fault, and they fixed it immediately. One night in the Versailles dining room, two of our dishes were very salty, we brought it to the attention of the asst food manager, he walked right into the kitchen and reported back we were right, it was being corrected and offered us an afterdinner drink. The food in general was fine to good. I like eating in the specialty restaurants, so booked all six for a nine day cruise (Teppanyaki must be booked on board ). If you book prior to sailing NCL gives discounts.

We arrived in Copenhagen the day before the ship left. Finding a taxi at the airport was very easy and cost DKK 340 to get to the Radisson Blu near the Tivoli Gardens. We took a cab the next day to the passenger ship terminal which cost DKK 290, and took about 30- 40 min. The boarding process was relatively easy. Lunch the first day did confirm all the bad reviews of the buffet. It contains a small unappetizing selection of prepared foods. There is a significant lack of variety and fresh foods. The hamburgers at the Grill are tasteless and had stale buns. That was the last time we ate lunch or dinner at the buffet for the rest of the cruise, which is a shame, because on other cruises it has been the "go to" place for days at sea or late excursions.

In Warnemunde, we booked a private tour to Berlin with SPB tours. We did a package with them for St Petersburg as well. They take everybody to Berlin in the same coach bus, then anybody with a private tour separates from the group with their guide and driver. We have done a lot of private tours on different cruises and our guide Lee was the best we have ever had. On the way back to the ship, people who had taken the group tours with SPB were also very happy with their guides. Read more