My husband and I recently disembarked from your 8/18/2016 sailing on the Norwegian Star. This was our twenty-third cruise, and our fourth with Norwegian.In the past our sailings with Norwegian have left us with varying experiences. Eight months ago we cruised on the Norwegian Epic and had a wonderful time. We choose to book on the Star due to the Baltic itinerary. We were aware before boarding that the ship is older and would likely not compare to the Epic in many ways. Although we were well prepared for this, we did not expect the ship to be dirty and in a state of disrepair. Beyond this, we did not expect what was absolutely appalling customer service.Embarkation onto the ship was efficient and timely but this is about where our good experience ended.

The first few days were loaded with seemingly small inconveniences. The wrong luggage was delivered to our room repeatedly despite my husband informing staff that it did not belong to us. This only stopped when my husband took it to guest services himself where another passenger was anxiously awaiting it. We would realize later that this cavalier attitude would be a pattern the entire trip. The staff as a whole genuinely were disinterested in the needs or concerns of guests.

One area I was thoroughly disappointed in was food selection. We are both vegetarians and this has never been an issue on another cruise line. On Norwegian, it wasn’t so much the lack of vegetarian options available on board but again the unwillingness make any effort to accommodate this. Menus dictated that vegetarian options were indicated with a (V.). Although that would have been very helpful, it was untrue. Some nights basic items such as a spring mix salad were marked vegetarian, other nights they were not. Entrees were never marked. On several occasions I asked for very basic alterations to meals in order to be served vegetarian. Servers were never willing to check if a salad could be served without chicken or if a pasta dish could be served without meatballs. Instead, they acted annoyed and very bothered. I was particularly disappointed in the Asian restaurant Ginza when I asked if tofu could be substituted for meat and was told they did not have tofu. Ginza is attached to the Teppanyaki restaurant where there are several tofu options. Instead, we waited for over an hour for the single vegetarian option on the menu- vegetable fried rice. When it finally arrived, my husband’s dish was laden with seafood. We left and as standard received no apologies. Read more