Norwegian Star Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,583 reviews

Great Baltic Cruise on the NCL Star

Review for the Baltic Sea Cruise on Norwegian Star
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racman54
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jun 2016
Cabin: Inside
Church on Spilled Blood and Canal-St. Petersburg
Fountain in Helsinki
Main Train Station-
Plaza in Stockholm-Kids were having a field day.
The NCL Star docked in Stockholm-photo taken from a boat tour

I wanted to visit the Baltic capitals and Saint Petersburg. This cruise visits Copenhagen, Berlin (with a 3-hour drive), Tallinn, St. Petersburg (2 days), Helsinki, and Stockholm with the comfort of a cruise. I travel alone and for solo travelers, NCL is the cruise line to go. NCL dropped the solo markup on a cabin for the Star cruise that week, so it was a deal I could not pass. This cruise was, by far, the best solo cruise I have enjoyed so far. The Star is a 15 year old ship built when NCL paid more attention to the comfort and pleasure of its cruisers, unlike its newer ships, like the escape, which is a behemoth designed to maximize profits at the expense of passenger well-being and comfort.

The Star is beautifully decorated with art on all its staircases, and walls, a tastefully arranged atrium which spans several decks. Deck 7 has an outside balcony that goes all around the ship (blocked view at the forward side only). It is very well decorated all around and its cabins are spacious enough to be actual cabins, as compared to the NCL Escape where the inside cabin I had is better described as a closet.

Even though the Star was built before NCL started including solo cabins on its ships, NCL organizes a solo meeting every evening to allow solo travelers to meet, get to know each other, and plan activities together. The folks I met on the Star where eclectic and diverse and a lot of fun to be with. They were wonderful cruise companions and I greatly enjoyed all the activities on board and in the various ports of call. As an example, 4 of us, decided to rent a car and drive to Berlin together rather that book the exorbitant tour offered by the cruise and be herded without any control over timing and places to visit. In spite of crazy Debi :-) who drove like at German at 120 miles an hour on the Autobahn, the trip was a blast.

Cabin Review

Inside

Cabin IC

Quite decent. Plenty of storage space.

Port Reviews

Copenhagen

This is the departure port. I took the train from the airport to the central station. Left my luggage there for a couple of hours. Walked around the old city, then took bus 26 to get close to the port and bus 27 which took me to the ship. Very low cost transport from airport to ship with city walking tour included. I prefer to use public transport when I can to get a feel for the place and the people.

Rostock (Warnemunde)

Along with 4 fellow cruisers, we rented a car at the port and drove to Berlin. We visited the Berlin Cathedral, Check Point Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, had a meal in a nice restaurant, and enjoyed an overall nice leisurely drive through the German countryside, stopping to visit a small village on the way. Cost per person: $30. Great outing in great company.

Stockholm

Took the public bus to the center of town. Walked around and took a boat tour around the city. Very nice.

Tallinn

The city center is at easy walking distance from the Ship. A group of us solo travelers walked around the cold city which is very welcoming and beautiful. The city was offering a series of traditional dances and songs in the main city square that was quite enjoyable. If you can and enjoy walking, that is the way to visit the town. No need to book an excursion, or even take the hop-on hop-off bus.

Helsinki

Just walked around the city center with fellow cruisers. The hop-on hop-off bus was used only to get the center and back. I recommend that a public bus instead.

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