This was a family Christmas trip, with my parents, my wife's sister and her husband, their three teenagers and our two kids, ages 8 and 10. We have been on several other cruises, some with NCL and some with Royal Caribbean. This was our first time on the Star and the first time sailing out of Los Angles.
EMBARKATION: The lines were long, but they moved quickly and we got on board with no hassle. Our luggage took a long time to get to our cabin, so if you wanted to change for dinner you might want to carry clothes on with you. They were delivering bags all day, so maybe we were just unlucky.
THE SHIP: The Star is a lovely ship, nice lounges and bars, and we were pleased with our cabins. The adults all had outside cabins on deck 6 and the kids had inside ones across the hall. There were some areas that showed wear and tear - we did see them putting down new carpet in one lounge so it seems they are working on it.