We chose this cruise for the different ports that it would be visiting. All ports were interesting. We were pleasantly surprised with Athens and slightly disappointed with Santorini. However overall good and fortunately excellent weather. This was our first time with NCL and were pleased overall with the great food, good stateroom (so glad we upgraded to a balcony) and enjoyed the entertainment. We didn't go to the theatre, but enjoyed The Musical Trio, three excellent musicians who played in the Atrium. I did think there should have been more variety in the various bars/lounges re the entertainment.

This was the first time we had totally flexible dining and only chose to visit Aqua dining room once for formal dining. We have been in P&O and MSC cruises so this was a nice change. I did slightly miss getting to know a set group of people, but saying that, we did get to know loads of people as everyone was very friendly. The Market Cafe buffet provided great food such as show omelette making for breakfast and create your own stir fry at lunch time...and joy of joys back bacon at breakfast. However the seating reminded us of a works canteen. It was difficult at times to get a seat and the way the tables were laid out, made it awkward to access spare seats.

The staff were great, so friendly and helpful. This includes the cabin steward and the dining staff. Sometimes the drinks staff on board deck were sour faced, but they seemed under real pressure. To get a drink at the outside bar, you had to queue. A warning too about the drinks package. It isn't totally free...you do pay a service charge on each drink even if the actual drink is free. However the range of drinks provided was good. Also it must be noted that we also incurred a tax which was explained initially as one imposed because we were leaving from Barcelona and we would stop as soon as we were outside a 15 kilometre boundary. However this didn't happen...everyone was charged this throughout the cruise. It caused so much concern that many people including ourselves ended up cancelling the daily gratuities. We never go on ship excursions, partly because they are far too expensive, but also because my husband has limited mobility so all day excursions would be too much for him. We would have liked more port information than was provided by NCL. We discovered late on that reception provided port/city maps but you had to ask. These should have been provided with the daily briefing. Overall a great cruise and would certainly consider going with NCL again. Several people we spoke to said that although they weren't keen on Norwegian Star, other ships were much better.