We recently returned from the 8-day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Star. I particularly wanted to post this review because I had approached this particular cruise with a little uncertainty about the ship and the Freestyle cruise concept after reading some of the past passenger reviews.

As some background, my wife and I count ourselves as fairly experienced cruisers, with this recent trip being our 11th cruise. We have sailed Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL and Holland America. Early 50-somethings, we're not the hard-partiers nor the sedate bingo folks. We're at the stage of cruising where we appreciate a little glitz and elegance along with the feel of adventure and fun.

For those looking for a bottom line assessment without having to read the entire review, we would rate our experience with the Star as very positive (yes there were some glitches but...who's perfect?). Anyone considering the Star but feeling a little hesitant that the experience might not be up to par with the other mainstream cruise lines....rest easy! It was not dramatically different from our experience with other lines (except the dining set up). And frankly, I think that your cruise experience depends as much on your attitude as on the ship. If you go in looking to nit pick and find fault....you will. If you approach it with an expectation that you are going to have fun and make the best of what is offered...generally you will. Read more