Ship Info Even though the Norwegian Star is not a big as the new monsters they are building nowadays, don't be fooled, this is still a very big ship. It is a Panamax ship. The areas of the ship are divided by three sets of stairwells/elevators - Forward, Mid, Aft. At the front of the ship we find the Bier Garten on Deck 14, the Spinnaker Lounge on Deck 12, the Stardust Theater on Decks 6 and 7, The Carousel and Martini Bars on Deck 7, and the Casino on Deck 6. In the middle we find Cagney's Steakhouse and the Star Bar on Deck 13, the Market Cafe and La Trattoria (at night), and the poolside bar and grille on Deck 12, Internet Cafe on Deck 9, Endless Summer on Deck 8, Ginza and Teppanyaki on Deck 7, The Soho Room, Gatsby's, The Havana Club, Le Bistro, and Aqua on Deck 6, and the Atrium with the Purser's desk and the Java bar on Deck 7 between the staircases. Aft, we find the kid's club on Deck 13, the gym, the kids' pool and slides, the ice cream stand on Deck 12, the spa on Deck 11, the Galleria shops on Deck 7 and the Versailles dining room on Deck 6. There are other public spaces like the Cinema, the Library, the board rooms, but I didn't use them. This was my 2nd time aboard this ship in the past 3 years. I did not see any noticeable difference between how the ship looked 3 years ago and how it looks now. The only difference I noticed was that there are now two poolside Blackjack tables. Don't confuse this with swim-up Blackjack like there is at some Vegas hotels. Keep in mind that every week, another 2,500 or more new passengers get on this ship and there is very little time to clean the ship between the time the last set of passengers disembarks and the next set of passengers embarks. Maybe once a year or even less often than that, the ship will be taken out of service to be dry-docked and they can then work on the superficial things more thoroughly. I found the ship to be very clean and very well maintained considering that it is now 7 years old. Before the trip, I read that some people found the ship to be worn out. So during my time aboard, I began to look for evidence of this. And I did find SOME spots that did show SOME signs of wear. Where the carpet inserts into the metal trim on the steps, in some spots it had separated. The trim was also quite scuffed on many steps. In the hallways where the cabins are, I also noticed a few areas where the wood grab rails was worn. I did not find any of these to be so obvious that it detracted from the overall appearance of the ship nor did I find that any of it suggests any lack of maintenance on the part of the crew or the cruise line itself. Many years ago, my wife and I took this same trip aboard the Song of America. Even then, that ship was already 15 years old and that ship really looked worn out. The Norwegian Star wasn't even close. Interestingly enough, it wasn't until the final night aboard that I saw what I felt was a poorly maintained, or neglected area. It was the card room up on deck 12. I took my kids up there to play some board games with their cousin and there were dozens of drink glasses and plates from people who probably brought food in there from the buffet or from the pool deck earlier. We were up there for a good hour and a half and I never saw a single staff person come in to even check the room or clean the mess. Also, the chairs were badly stained in there. Nowhere else on the entire ship did I see anything else like this. One thing I found to be pleasantly surprising, was the lack of cigarette smoke inside the ship. The only two places I noticed smoke was in the Havana Club and in the Casino. I do like to smoke cigars, but I limited that to the Havana Club, then just one night out on the tiered deck near the Bier Garten well after the deck party in Puerto Vallarta had ended and everyone was gone and there was no one left to be bothered by it. The Norwegian Star is not glamorous or elegant along the likes of Crystal, Cunard, or Celebrity, but its dEcor is not as Las Vegas neon flashy as the Carnival ships (I have cruised on 8 of those). It is modestly decorated, with some hints of art deco finishes. I'd say it's trying to look more elegant than it is. Not a deal-breaker though. Activities This cruise was during Thanksgiving week. That meant there were an unusually large number of kids on the ship, because so many school had the entire week off, so families took advantage. One of the kids' club staff said there were 850 kids, and that they had never seen such a large number of kids since the ship went into service 7 years ago. That's probably 1/3 of all the passengers that week. Because of this, the kids' club staff had to expand their activities into some of the conference rooms near the Spinnaker Lounge. This also meant that the kids' activities were more crowded into cramped spaces and my kids were less eager to spend time doing these activities this time around. With the kids spending less time doing their activities, that meant the adults spent less time doing adult activities. What can you do? Blame the cruise line for being too popular for families for Thanksgiving week? Three years ago, we almost had to drag our kids out of the kids' club and it was one of the reasons we gladly booked this ship a 2nd time when the opportunity came up. Service One of the reasons I have been on 15 cruises is the service. With the Freestyle Cruising philosophy, some believe service is sacrificed. Given the flexibility Freestyle Cruising offers, my personal experience on this specific trip was that the service level remained high. EVERY reasonable request was accommodated, from getting extra pillows, to putting sodas obtained with the soda card in larger glasses, to getting extra lobster tails one night in the Aqua dining room. One drink waiter recognized me and every time, he just brought me the can along with a glass of ice. This reduced the frequency that both he and I needed to go through the routine, making it more convenient for both me and for him. It's small details like that which reinforce the service level. I did not find the frequency of other waiters asking me if I wanted to buy a drink to be to the point of being annoying. For those who do not drink alcohol or who do not drink a lot (like me), this may be perceived as being too pushy, but they are trying to make a living, and there are plenty of other passengers who have no problem draining their wallets to enjoy their drinks, so there is a reasonable assumption that if you are approached, especially since they don't know one way or the other, that you may actually want a drink. So let's be realistic and let's be fair to them. Shore Excursions This being the fifth time I have done this route, my family and I did not book any shore excursions. Stateroom Our stateroom was cabin 5026 - Deck 5, Forward. This location is very close to the front stairwell and elevators. There is a partition that separates the waiting area for the elevators from the cabins. This partition keeps nearly all the noise from the deck above from being heard at the cabins. Considering that the Casino was right above us, and that the lower level of the Stardust theater was also above us and slightly forward, we could not hear any noise, even during the shows with the doors to the theater wide open. If someone heavy was walking adjacent to the Casino, we would hear that, but that is no different than being below another passenger deck and hearing everyone walking above. The stateroom was identical to what we had three years ago. There were two lower beds, one upper, and a 4th, rollaway which would be brought out when the room was turned down each night. During the day, when the room was made up, the 4th bed would be collapsed and stored underneath one of the lowers creating a small walking space. For 4 people, these accommodations can be tight, especially if all 4 are trying to get dressed when the 4th bed is out between the other two. Carnival's cabins have two uppers, which does ease the cramped feeling and their cabins are larger. This is not impossible to live with, but the space planners should have kept this in mind, especially for a cruise line that is trying to attract families. Two upper berths would work out so much better. I don't know why, but for some reason, I found the bathroom in the cabin to be ridiculously small, especially considering that I spent 8 days on this ship 3 years ago. I am 6'1", and it was an exercise in contortion to get in to you-know-what. What made it worse, is that there is a privacy sliding door which reduces the elbow room even more. The privacy door could work if the bathroom was larger, but in this case it's useless. The bathroom on an airplane almost seems spacious compared to this. For 2 people, the cabin is just fine, even for 3. With the 4th, it is definitely more tricky. Think of it like going camping almost. With 4 people in a tent, there's not much room when everyone is in there at the same time. Everything is tight where you sleep. Dining OK, so here's what is often the signature of cruising - the food. I've been on 15 of these now, twice on the Norwegian Star. I'll try to keep it simple. The buffet at dinner is worse than I remember it was 3 years ago. The dining room food quality was very good, as good as it was 3 years ago. The Blue Lagoon had more choices than I remember 3 years ago, and so did room service. The quality and service at Cagney's Steakhouse was superb. Again, in my opinion, it is on par with the likes of Ruth's Chris. For $20, it's a steal. Treat yourself at least once. They may be charging a surcharge but I can't see this as being a profitable venture given the quality of the raw materials alone. It was the only premium restaurant we ate at during this trip. Last time we also ate at Le Bistro and it was also superb. The first night out was the most difficult to deal with. I believe too many people did not know how the Freestyle Cruising works, and too many of them swarmed the dining rooms expecting to be seated easily right around 6:00, including my party which was 9 people. That made it harder, and for the sake of the kids, we just went up to the buffet on Deck 12. All the kids were happy, none of the adults were happy. For a couple, this would be a lot quicker and not really a hassle. By the second night, I did not notice any long lines at all. It seemed like everyone got the hang of it. Children's Club I've already mentioned the kids' club before. We were on this same ship 3 years ago and then it was an excellent program. I would recommend if you are coming with kids, to maybe not go Thanksgiving week or any other holiday that might bring a larger-than-normal number of kids. The attention the staff can give to 850 kids is not as good as it would be to let's say, half that number. And yes, the cruise line knew in advance, and did bring extra staff for this. But they still had to spread out into non-kids' club areas of the ship. Entertainment We saw some of the shows. Again, I've been on 15 cruises now and have seen a lot of shows. I found the Cirque Pacific show to be very well done, and Romano Frediani was outstanding. The other shows, Band on the Run, and the Music of the Night were quality shows, but having seen so many, did not rock my world. There was a crew talent show one afternoon and the final act, "Fountains", was hilarious. There are YouTube clips of it from other sailings. Disembarkation Since we were traveling with a handicapped person (my father-in-law uses a walker), we were given priority disembarkation. We waited in the Carousel Lounge less than 5 minutes and were off the ship and at the curb in no time. Here's where NCL's responsibility stops and the Port of Los Angeles' begins. Getting the car out of the parking lot back to the curb to pick up everybody else was a nightmare. There were only 3 booths to pay the parking toll, and 2 huge ships disembarking at the same time. It must have taken me 45 minutes to inch my way through the line to get out. Complicating the matter was everyone else who was parked between where I was and the exit blending in. How do I get mad at them? It's not their fault they got lucky and parked closer to the exit. Summary Overall, this is still a nice ship with good facilities and premium dining available if you choose to step up on occasion for what 2 hands of Blackjack would cost you. Now that we've been on this ship twice in the last 3 years I would spend my money on another ship just for a change of scenery and try something new. I would still recommend this ship for anyone who has not yet been on it. The Mexican Riviera ports are more well-developed than they were 25 years ago when I first visited them. I like the Freestyle Cruising concept, but I do think that NCL still needs to fine-tune it some more so there is less confusion among the passengers. NCL is trying to differentiate itself from the other cruise lines. It is not trying to be Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princes, HAL, or Celebrity. Freestyle Cruising is what makes it different. For those who want the Princess experience, stick with Princess, as you won't get it on NCL. For those who got stuck with NCL during Thanksgiving and hated it because it wasn't Holland America, blame your travel agent for talking you into it, and blame yourself for agreeing to it, don't blame NCL. If all the cruise lines were the same, there would be one gigantic cruise line with 200 ships in its fleet. Oh yeah, isn't that called Carnival Corp???