My wife and I traveled on numerous cruises in the past with Royal Caribbean and Carnival. We've all heard the cliche that "a vacation is what you make of it." With that being said, we had a great time. However, the Norwegian Star left A LOT to be desired. A claim they always make is the following: 1) They are the #1 cruise line in the industry. They continuously make this claim b/c they think their freestyle cruising concept is so superior to other cruise lines, that they can just change their itinerary whenever they feel like it, all at the expense of the passengers.

First, I do want to say that we found their freestyle cruising to be quite a competitive advantage over industry standards and the food to be quite good, obviously in the specialty restaurants in particular where there is an upcharge. La Trattoria does not have an upcharge but reservations are required. Both Aqua and Versailles do not require reservations in addition. There is also Endless summer which I think does required a reservation. We did not go here. We enjoyed the flexibility to eat when we wanted and the service is definitely a step up in the specialty restaurants, but you get what you pay for. Cagney's is just incredible and a cut above all other specialty restaurants, but Le Bistro and The SoHo are good also. We thought that the best atmosphere and value for an all inclusive restaurant was Versailles, although the menu is similar to Aqua. There is also finger food places like Blue Lagoon and the buffet called Market Cafe. In other words, plenty of food, plenty of options to chose from.

The final positives include the helpful attitudes of all staff. Most of them are always willing to help when you approach them. In addition, the ship is incredible and just beautiful. The only negative about the ship that I will say is that the pool area is not very inviting. Half the pool area is wasted by two waterslides for children that are rarely even used. WHY WASTE HALF THE POOL AREA WITH WATERSLIDES NOBODY USES? Nobody was even using the waterslides anyway b/c the water pressure was so horrible and you couldn't even slide down the slide. Not very good planning. Also, there is only on side of sloping lounge chairs that slope toward the pool. So it's impossible to get any real good activities going around the pool area b/c you can't see the pool area except for the one section of lounge chairs. And what's the deal with the one small pool on this ship? Here's an idea: Ditch those waste of space water slides that nobody uses and build a larger, more inviting pool. Again, not very good planning. But all in all, the ship is beautifully laid out. Also, I want to note that we enjoyed every show quite a bit. Read more