We are fairly new to cruising and sailed on the Star in 2012 to Bermuda as well. The Star is a much smaller ship, and after reading some of the reviews, I was a little apprehensive about a ship of 4,000+ passengers. I’ve traveled for work and have vacationed with the family around the world, and I’ve been in both budget accommodations as well as some 5-star resorts (those are the business ones).

There were 17 of us traveling as a family in multiple staterooms in The Haven. While we spent some of our time there, we spent a good amount of our time outside The Haven in the many of the other areas like the Atrium (Germany world cup game was awesome! Clearly more Germany fans than Brazilians that day). We ate at many of the restaurants, and saw four shows (Cirque, Burn the Floor, Rock and Ages, and Second City). We made reservations for all, and found the shows awesome. Howling at the Moon dueling pianos was fun, and the other entertainers scattered throughout were all excellent.

Dining in the specialty restaurants was very good, main dining room was okay. But to be realistic, the Manhattan room seats 600+ people and turns tables around a few times a night, so if you dine there, you need to keep it in perspective. The music and dance floor is a nice touch, but any venue that serves that many meals will not be gourmet quality, ship or 5-star resort. Savor was a little more intimate, and found the service a little better (same food), but it came out quicker – that could be because the kitchen is attached to the restaurant and the wait staff doesn’t have to use the escalators to the shared kitchen on deck 6. The specialty restaurants were very good; not gourmet, but on-par with many NYC restaurants. LeBistro was our favorite and quality was the same as when we ate there on the Star. If you want gourmet, don’t miss the Chef’s tasting. That was truly outstanding and had a great wine pairing as well. Read more