Norwegian Star Review
Rating by category
Additional details
In the past we had sailed on Holland America twice and I had really enjoyed my experience. My wife wanted to go on this itinerary with a specific tour group so I acquiesced although not completely reluctantly. I do like the size of the HAL ships, but I hadn't been on any other line so I wasn't positive if I would like the larger ships or the whole "Freestyle Cruising" concept.
Port of Tampa:
Our tour group had an activity prior to the cruise so we attended that and boarded our bus to the Port of Tampa. We arrived around noon and the traffic at the port was a little busy. Our bus had a problem getting into the port because the sheriff directing traffic at the roundabout wouldn't let us in due to too much waiting traffic in the driveway. So around and around our bus drove through the roundabout until we could get in. Finally we were allowed in, drove down the driveway - but there was no space at the "unloading zone" for the porters, so we were instructed to wait in the bus at a curb about 100 yards beyond the unloading zone. After some more time it was our turn, but we were instructed we had to leave and re-enter the port through the roundabout again. Yes, more circling. Get to enter the port. Waiting again - circling - and finally unloading!
Cabin Review
Balcony
The room - Our room was available immediately so we went upstairs and dropped our cary-ons off in our room and started to check things out. The bathroom configuration was different than on the HAL balcony cabin. HAL had a tub/shower combo where NCL only had an elongated shower. It was nice to have the glass shower door instead of a shower curtain however. The room appeared and felt "smaller" than the HAL rooms we had been in before (VD on the Oosterdam and an A on the Rotterdam) but it was cozy and nice. From my estimates the room was physically narrower than the HAL rooms and the different bathroom configuration made the room less deep from the HAL equivalents. The balcony was just deep enough for the two chairs to sit on an angle (no lounges could work here) with a small drink table. The TV in the room was a 9" Tube TV, so NCL hasn't made the upgrade to flat panels in all their rooms yet. Also HAL had a DVD player in both our rooms - I guess you have to be a suite customer to get this on NCL. There was only one 110 AC outlet in the room and one in the bathroom (so two total). If you need more than that, then bring a travel converter as the rest of the ship appears to primarily use the European plug style. The other advice would be to bring some sort of power strip.
This room is configured to have 3-people, and the couch is a hide-a-bed. However, it is more that the hide-a-bed folds into something that resembles a couch. Not very comfortable as a couch, but we didn't have the opportunity to use it as a bed. Overall the room was great, and I really enjoyed having the balcony!