We chose this cruise simply because of the Itinary. Been on many cruises with rcl and po.(why do people insist of asking how many cruises you’ve been on as soon as you start a conversation only to take over the conversation telling you all about THEIR cruises )..... Only room we could get was inside so decided we would try and upgrade on board, so straight to guest services as soon as onboard to be met with signs “cruise fully booked “ Went to room as we left Venice to be met with a thunderous sound in cabin. Phoned guest services they said we will send a supervisor , as I put phone down cabin boy knocked and during our chat said the noise will leave now as we enter open water. As we spoke it stopped ...I phone guest services and cancelled complaint (that was a mistake). All good for a few days then three day in at 6am we were awoken with a crashing and banging noise from next door (store room) phoned gs and ll went quiet after 10 mins.no reply to complaint was sent by phone message or letter to room.. The following morning at 6.15 the thunderous noise started again !! I put bow cam on and noticed that we were going into terminal and that side thrusters were working , phoned gs and complained and they sent a supervisor. He came and said nothing to do with him as he was housekeeping !, what a waste of time !, back to gs and lodged a complaint they said they will look into it and get back to me. Later that day we returned spoke to another person who said well we left you a message yesterday and you never came back to us ??? At this point I asked for the gs supervisor who came and listened as I told her there had been no communication either by phone or letter and that if there had we would not be wasting our holiday time. At this point without explanation as to what happened she offered us a change of room (as there was a medical emergency) $100 added to our account and Chocs and wine in room. We took that and on return to our room to pack there were 2 phone messages asking us to contact gs plus two letters doing the same (covering their backsides I think). Apparently they are were still investigating where the noise comes from !!!! With dozens of highly trained engineers on that ship a two minute phone call would give them the answer they need (side thrusters ) but something tells me they already know what the issue is and realise they should not be letting that room out EVER !!! The rest of cruise was great apart from entertainment which in comparison to other cruises was poor. Oh and if you go to Santorini do not walk up or down to the town from cruise terminal as you’ll experience poor donkeys climbing and descending that steep incline in terrible conditions you’ll also have to avoid them if you walk as they push you up against the wall !!! And ladies don’t wear open toe shoes if you choose to walk, it’s not nice between your toes if you know what I mean........... Read Less

One day prior to embark, I received an email stating that they had to alter the route due to something that I didn't understand. Tried to call the NCL agent who sold me the trip and I got no answer. At the end, we visited one less country and spent 36 straight hours sailing. The pool is too small for the amount of people cruising, there's literally no space for anything. 50 people fill the pool. The buffet was always overcrowded, we always had to make a line to get something. The Premium beverages pkg is absurd. If you want a drink after 3 am, the only open bar tells you the bar is closed (for alcohol) The "free cruising" dining option is not convenient, there's always a line of people waiting to be seated. There a re a lot of hidden charges (communication phone to phone within the ship should be free, not 10$ per phone) The quality of food was fair, I expected a little more for the price I paid. Read Less

The NCL experience is why we keep coming back. The Greek Isles Cruise out of Venice did not disappoint. Although we had to skip the Montenegro port (due to the changes in Venice port), the remainder of the ports were amazing. There were NCL tours for all ages and abilities. Venture through Kings Landing fed our Game of Thrones fix. The Greece tours Best of Corfu, Greek Style Celebration - Opa! (Santorini) and Melissani, Meze & Ouzo (Argostoli) all were informative and includes the best food and fun. We have sailed on the Star previously (2012). We like the smaller ships, less passengers and easier to maneuver about the ship. The cabin was perfect for our needs. The steward took care of our needs. My wife hurt her should the day before embarkation. He ensured we had ice in our cabin at all times. The dining was wonderful. The restaurants, both included and specialty, have great menus, serve and ambiance. We used the buffet mainly for breakfast and lunch. Food allergies and needs were at the forefront in each dining spot. The only improvement would be reservations for specialty restaurants. They are not for spontaneous dining. From past experience, we knew the difficulties, so we booked ahead based on our excursion plans and ports. Whether the music through out the ship or shows in the theater, the entertainment was great. An improvement can be made for the theater shows. Once the shows started, guests continued to come in. It interfered with viewing. There didn’t seem to be enough NCL staff to monitor it. I would suggest no further entry once the show starts. Embarkation was fine. There was an hour delay in our hotel to port transfer. Unsure of the reason. It was raining in Venice, and we stood in the rain. Luckily, we brought an umbrella. Once inside, we moved through the line quite quickly. We filled out the short health questionnaire while on line. Disembarkation was quite easy as we had a post hotel stay. We automatically were set up. The latitudes rewards were also great...discounts for excursions, on board purchases and even a bottle of champagne in our cabin are all worth it. The spa was fabulous. Purchased the thermal spa passes...worth it! Next time may book spa cabins that have it included. Booked massages and acupuncture...the staff was professional and the services amazing. The acupuncture helped relieve my wife’s should injury. Would we go again? ABSOLUTELY. We already signed up for CruiseNext putting deposits on future cruises. Read Less

We prefer the newer mega ships but the itinerary was just what we were looking for so we booked the Star. Although the ship was built in 2002, it was recently refurbished. Or cabin 5128. had a lot of storage space that you do not generally find on cruise ships.The design of the cabin was well thought out with the passengers comfort in mind. We have taken some high end cruises and this ship rivaled them in food, entertainment, and fun. The ship has a lot of energy due to the quality of the crew members.We had a minor issue with one of our meals and received a call from the Executive Chef that more than remedied the situation.Norwegian does a great job with its open dining concept.Dining on your time is a great benefit. I'm surprised other cruise lines have not adopted this system.We loved the Star ant the ship far exceeded our expectation. Read Less

Chose this cruise because of the killer itinerary - Dubrovnik, Montenegro, four Greek Isles, plus no days as sea. (We have cruised many times, so we pick cruises for the ports; at-sea days are boring for us.) Unfortunately, because of the Venice cruise ship crash a month or so before our cruise, three days before our cruise the portmaster rescheduled departures and arrivals to allow more time between each ship, meaning our cruise no longer had time for Montenegro (and NCL did nothing to compensate us for losing that port, which was disappointing). But the itinerary was still excellent. We were cruising during peak season (July/August) and had read the horror stories about how crowded every place was. Being ready for that helped set our expectations and be tolerant of that. Reading the stories on cruisecritic about chaotic disembarking for non-NCL shore excursions and freelance visits, since NCL offered a $50 discount on each port, we booked NCL excursions for every port. (Saving ~20% by getting the four-port package also decreased the cost.) This made disembarking very orderly and efficient. (Pro Tip: get to the theater a little early for the excursions and you'll be the first group out, which will make the lines shorter at each stop along the way.) All of our NCL shore excursions were great, with entertaining guides. (Surprising, the only Greek isle we were not familiar with, Kefalonia, was our favorite.) We only ate at the free places on the ship and, despite what others have said, found the food very acceptable and typical of our other cruises. (If you don't like something, it's all free - just get something else!) As others have also mentioned, the buffet is almost always busy, but we only had to share a table once. The shows in the theater were not bad. Paradis and the magician & contortionist were excellent, Vegas was pretty good and the dancing couple were okay. Except for a couple instances, we found the service to be excellent in all areas. When we complained about banging under our cabin one morning, guest services followed up a couple times to make sure it didn't reoccur, and sent some chocolate strawberries (which seems to be the go-to - we saw many other cabins getting these as well). So, despite the complaints others have listed, overall we found this to be a typically good cruise with a great itinerary (and if you get Montenegro with yours, I'm sure it will be even better). Read Less

We selected this cruise based on itinerary and no at sea days and were not disappointed. Our experience may differ from others as we stayed in a Suite and had the luxury of priority embarking and disembarking at every port - this alone was worth the extra $$. In the hot sun having a Butler escort you to the front of the line was slightly embarrassing but equally appreciated. We stayed in a Family Suite that was incredibly spacious and perfect for our family of 5 with children ranging from 8-15. At night time the sleeping sections would partition off so that we did not all need to go to bed at the same time. Our Butler Percy was helpful and lovely and we loved the afternoon treats each afternoon. Brussel our room attendant was friendly, efficient and did a great job of keeping our room looking clean . Karin from Concierge was incredibly efficient and ran a great team. The pool are was really busy and noisy but there were lots of sun loungers scattered around the ship that you could always find a quiet spot. Our room had floor to ceiling windows and we enjoyed relaxing in our room more than I expected, on board it was often windy so having the great view to watch the world go by was certainly a bonus. We did not do any NCL organised tours but from speaking with others they enjoyed theirs. Unfortunately our itinerary changed 2 days out due to the Venice port authority requiring the boat to dock early on the final day so we did not visit Kotor - was really disappointed but it was out of NCL’s control. Dubrovnik Lots of taxis when you leave the boat, not so many for a family of 5 but we did find one. He took our for a tour of various places around the city and then dropped us at the old town. The old town was beautiful but a crush of tourists - the boat usually docks at 7am (with the change we docked at 12) so I would say go early and you may not experience this. It was a lovely walk back to the boat - maybe 20-30 minutes. Corfu There were no taxis for 5 so we walked into the old town. If you decide to walk it is around 20 minutes - just don’t do what we did and follow the brown driving sign to the old town as this takes you a different route that is much longer. Walk along the waterfront and you will see the old town and work out how to reach it. We enjoyed walking around and finding somewhere nice for lunch. We also found a nice seaside bar close to the fort - this had a public beach below if you feel like a swim. Santorini We were the first tender off the boat so the cable car queue was quick followed by a 20 minute public bus ride - we just asked around how to reach the bus station. The bus picks you up in the same place to take you back to the cable car, just ask the driver how often. I think it was 2-3 euros and it helps to have smaller change, Santorini is beautiful, busy and expensive. Loved going there and the view is incredible. There was a long queue for the cable car so we decided to walk down. Such a shame the donkeys use the same trail as it really is an easy, gorgeous walk down. Just watch out for donkey doo and the donkeys do not give way so walk with caution around them. I would not take this trail if you do not have good balance or with really young children. Mykonos There are supposedly only 31 taxis on Mykonos - out kids were exhausted by day 4 and we decided to have a beach day but all the NCL excursions were full. After leaving the boat we found a place called Mykonos Getaway (it is located further along the waterfront on the left up the small hill just before you reach the road). The lovely girl suggested Ornos beach that was not windy and we were not disappointed. It was 30 euro for 2 x loungers and an umbrella. Gorgeous sandy beach with lovely clear water. The return trip was 80 euro. Bar and restaurant service on the beach. Loved our day here. Kefalonia This was our favourite stop. We pre-organised through Kefalonia VIP Tours and Transfers a 4 hour island trip. Spiros suggested places to visit - we decided to do the Melissani Cave/Lake and not the other cave. Lake was beautiful, our driver George got us there before all the tour buses and the queue was minimal. He then stopped at a cute fishing village followed by a photo stop of Myrtos Beach. We wanted some beach time so he took us to a gorgeous place called Assos Village where we had 1.5 hours for a swim - this village and beach is incredibly beautiful. There were sun loungers and umbrellas for 10 euro for 2. Love, loved it! George our driver was so interesting and shared lots of information about Kefalonia. Food We thought the food overall was a 7/10 and they do really well to cater for so many people We were pleasantly surprised by the good quality of food in Versailles one of the no charge restaurants and dined here 3 times. If you find a waiter or waitress you like you can request to dine in their area. We had lovely Jinky who was our waitress, she remembered what wine we liked and was so friendly and proud of working for NCL. We ate at 3 specialty restaurants - Tepanyaki was fun and food good. We could only pre-book a table for 4 so changed it when we arrived to 5, not a problem. We loved Moderno and thought like the Japanese - food was of superior quality, Le Bistrot was just ok but we did have an exceptional waiter. The kids sometimes had snacks from the main buffet but we did not eat her or if we had to would just take a plate back to our room. With a suite we were lucky to have different options for Breakfast and lunch. Staff Every staff member we encountered was friendly, they work really hard and deserve the service charge. We did hear some guests being really rude when there drink order was wrong or one suite guest being so rude because they could not get the restaurant booking they want ‘I’ve got the top guys card do I need to get him involved’ - wow - I can not believe people spin such lines! you get back from staff what you put in is all I can say. Be friendly, kind and you will get the same back. Overall it was a fantastic first cruise. Yes the boat was a bit older but it does not stop you having a good time. Lots of shows and other activities on offer that we did not do so I can not comment on these, The only show we did see was a magician one that was good. After dinner our kids tended to swim as the pool was empty and quiet. Read Less

I have never sail with Norwegian. I chose this cruise line because it was a 10 days Eastern Mediterranean cruise with every day a new port (mainly Greek Islands) Every port of call were great. Sailing Itinerary Date Port of Call Arrival Departure 07/18/2019 Venice/Italy -- -- 07/19/2019 Venice/Italy -- 04:00 PM 07/20/2019 Split 08:00 AM 05:00 PM 07/21/2019 Kotor 07:00 AM 05:00 PM 07/22/2019 Corfu 07:00 AM 04:00 PM 07/23/2019 Thira/Santorini 02:00 PM 10:00 PM 07/24/2019 Athens/Piraeus 07:00 AM 07:00 PM 07/25/2019 Mykonos 07:00 AM 03:00 PM 07/26/2019 Argostolion 09:00 AM 03:00 PM 07/27/2019 Dubrovnik 07:00 AM 01:00 PM I wish we had more time in Dubrovnik 2 days before arriving in Dubrovnik the time to spend there was change We arrived at 6am and left at 12pm We had a tour scheduled at 10am till 12am and we couldn'd do it. I had a tour planned everyday except in Mikonos We booked only 2 tours through the cruise line. Split and Athens. The rest through Viator. Booking the Best of Athens and its scenic coast tour was a good thinking. This tour left Athens and drove along the coast We visited the the temple of Apollo and had lunch in a taverna (food was good) then at around 2:15 we arrived at the Acropolis . There was no wait to get in and we had a nice and very knowledgeable tour guide. (when we came back to the ship, people told us that they had to wait 50 minutes at the entrance of the Acropolis just to get in as it was so crowed with people) The crew on this ship was great. Our inside cabin was good and clean and was very surprise that the bathroom was large. I will say that the food was average. On this cruise ship, there was no lobster night and baked Alaska. The buffet at lunch was the same thing everyday. We only use seat down at dinner and every time we requested a window seat, they gave it to us. The entertainment was just amazing. I was very surprise by the quality of the shows. The choreographer is truly gifted Embarkation was fine debarkation was not great. We arrived late in Venice Lucky our plane was for the next day. Onboard experience was fine We really didn't spend much time as every day we were a shore My husband loved that it was a casual cruise and he didn't have to bring a suit. He brought just some nice shirts OVERALL JUST A GREAT CRUISE Read Less

Cruised many times on RC and NCL has away to go to compare! First time on NCL! First day my friend/roommate was hurt due to hole in ships floor! Spent time in infirmary! No one on the ship did anything to try to appolige or make up for their negligence! I ran two flights of stairs & found room where incident occurred before any medical where on scene! With the exception of the Irish pub, the food in the dining room had no flavor nd non creative options! There was no activity by the pool until the very last day! No one even knew who cruise director was! I met more people than he did! Funny enough we called the asst director to our table at 5 o’clock somewhere and expressed the disappointment without ant activity by pool! Coincidence the next day, last day on ship they did a little something by pool! Everyone enjoyed so doesn’t make sense all other days there was nothing! Other than Lesther at sky bar, Reenan the waiter in Aqua and my room steward Lunni, who were exceptional, no staff on this ship made an effort to get to know you, remember your name or display a personality! Such a shame! Even the officers were no mingling omboard until the last day! Excursions def had some wasted time organizing, days in port were short enough yet time was still wasted! Santorini was a disaster! Four ships in port with over a two hour line for cable car as the tour just drops you off and doesn’t tell you about cable car until end when you started on a bus! We did not get any time to shop or enjoy Santorini as we had to wait in this line, people were fighting not enjoyable & stole two hours of my time and a missed sunset! UGH. On that same day a women on the bus picked a fight shouting curse words across the bus the entire day! The tour guide should have thrown her off yet said nothing allowing her to taint that part of the day! I paid good money for this excursion from the ship on an island I wanted to enjoy to have it ruined! Oh and let’s point out the alternative of walking down the cliff on the donkey trail for 20 minutes in donkey poop, which was not an option to save time due to my friend being hurt on day one due to ships negligence! Last day in Croatia was cut early forcing everyone to change a schedule just to hurry up and wait causing us to get back into port in Venice over an hour late! Added stress! I feel there is a long way to go and some considerable customer service courses needed here! Almost forgot the two days my toilet in the room would not flush! Reported it, was kept up till 3 am while a man worked in closet next to room to wake up with only 2 hours sleep and still not have a toilet that works! July 2019 Read Less

The Norwegian ship is my favorite and its itinerary included Venice, Italy Croatia, and the Greek islands which were the places we wanted to visit. We traveled with my two teenage daughters- 17 and 19 years old and had Senior citizens- 3 with us (their grandparents and my aunt). We had 3 cabins. My daughters found the teenage entertainment lacking, however they are used to larger ships as "The Breakaway" and all of the activities-including slides. The ports of call were beautiful and we had excursions in almost all. We ate at 4 Specialty restaurants and liked 'Cagney's" the best- although my parents were disaapointed to order a bottle of wine and have a charge of $14 added because it was uncorked- this is something that Norwegian should not do to their guests who have paid so much to travel with them (they did complain at guest services, but were told it's Norwegian's policy). We did not have any freebies as alcohol or beverage packages- siocne we had the early bird balcony guarantee. It was a memorable vacation since all of those places were so breathtaking! Read Less

We LOVE NCL, and cruise with them yearly. This is our 8th NCL cruise in 6 years, and it was fantastic. We met some wonderful people on the ship, and actually planned another NCL cruise to Japan with 4 of them! The ship was immaculate, and the staff that we interacted with were wonderful. The issue with this particular cruise was actually the other passengers. Unfortunately there were no activities on the pool deck, and the music wasn't even all that loud. We met quite a lot of people and formed a pretty big group of smokers, and we didn't see the cruise staff until the 5th day of the cruise. When we finally pinned the assistant cruise director down, he informed us all that people were complaining about the noise and activities on the pool deck, so they cancelled them all. Isn't that simply ridiculous? In addition, there weren't many activities offered, which was disappointing. The shows were magnificent; NCL always scores big in that area. As for the food, that also left a lot to be desired. The buffet hours were much more limited on this cruise, and there were not many options. What was out there was quite bland, and lacked much flavor. Sadly they never did a Greek night, which was disappointing because it was a Greek Isles cruise. Half the buffet was closed most of the time, and the entire buffet was usually closed by 10 at night. O'Sheehan's was 24 hours, but at night they have a very limited menu. The spinach/artichoke dip was watery and flavorless, as were the nachos. The wings were great, as was the reuben and the roast beef sandwich. The food in the specialty restaurants was magnificent, as was Ginza. The excursions were a bit chaotic as well, as they had a new procedure on this ship. Everyone went to the theater as always, but they gave you a sticker there, and then once everyone showed up, they called the group to go down for the tour. People wouldn't stay out of the exits, and many people were late, which delayed everyone's excursions. The excursions were good, but the overall organization was very chaotic and stressful, especially when we believe that being early is being on time, and we had to wait up to 40 minutes for people who were late. That's just selfish and unfair. Another crazy thing that really disappointed me: YOU HAVE TO REQUEST TOWEL ANIMALS!!! What's that all about? I was so disappointed with this one. I didn't find out until day 6 that I had to request towel animals; I was told that people complain so they stopped it. Something else that was very strange: they only had one English movie channel, and they played sad, depressing movies like "Five Feet Apart," "Stay Human," and "Penguins." I know you're not there to watch TV, but really? Overall, we met some really wonderful people, and had a fabulous time. We booked another cruise with NCL to Japan, and are planning to book more, but we won't sail on the Star again. Every ship is different, and you live and learn. Read Less

A travel agent suggested this cruise because it met our date and destination needs. We had issues with everything from the WIFI to the key/charge cards constantly. We stayed short periods at the best destinations and long periods at the bad ones. The butler service was terrible compared to what we’ve experienced on other cruises. The fitness and spa facilities were sub-par. The best food was in the included common areas. Fine dining options were not fine. At one point a tour guide abandoned the tour! The pool was often closed without explanation during sail times. Thankfully we had a nice suite to hide in and the countries we visited were amazing. We finally figured out to start doing our own thing at each port. The entire staff seemed bored and overworked. Also communication with NCL was very difficult prior to departure. Very long hold times and they never answer the phone. Read Less

Everything was great on the ship, except some (15%-20%) of the meals were kind of bland. Nothing was bad, but some were simply not what we expected. As soon as we let the staff know, they followed up with us throughout the remainder of the cruise to make sure we were being taken care of. We felt honored and very special. We stayed in one of the Penthouse Suites that came with butler service. Rex took great care of us and learned our snack tastes right away (to provide during the day). The cleaning and turn-down service were also perfect. Twice during the cruise we were offered a $19.95 "all you can fit in this bag" laundry service. They offered it the second time only two days after the first offering, which we though was kind of quick. We would have used it for sure had it been a day or more later. We only did two excursions with NCL (Dubrovnik and Athens), and they were both great. On-board entertainment (performances and live music) was a great mix. Washy-Washy! :) Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the port of calls. Croatia Montenegro and the Greek Islands with Athens. The star was recently refurbished, thankfully but you can still see its age... our room for one. The star is a mid range to ship and we definitely noticed a difference compared to much larger ships. It was nice not having so many people on board. Also, on larger ships they would ask everyone to be back 2 hrs prior to sailing. The Star only require 30 min giving more shore time. The drinks were good. The food was average at best. Specialty restaurants were better. Service was hit or miss. I coined a phrase that it was faux 5 star service. Meaning everyone acted very professional and pleasant but you didn’t always get what you asked for or things were forgotten. Still waiting for my Caesar salad. The entertainment on board was NOT good. Basically the same two bands for 11 days. And they were not very good... did I mention that. Also the pool snack bar served the same food for 11 days. Hot dogs and hamburgers. Yes you could go inside to the cafe but really... 11 days of no change. They couldn’t have switched it up and had anything else?!! Tacos, pizza, chicken anything. I never want to see another hot dog. He kids and teen club were great. Our kids loved it and met friends from all over. Our room porter was great. The ports of call weee great. Some lines and crowds but if you do your research you can circumvent most of it. Look for the side streets and find cheap wine and food. Even though the ship wasn’t the best for us I would do it again in a heartbeat. . Read Less

This is our second cruise with Norwegian and we will use them again, Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly. This ship was updated and quite nice. Our cabin on deck 10 was great. Housekeeping was always pleasant and friendly. All cruise staff appeared happy and friendly. Dining was excellent. All the restaurants we tried were great. Our favourite was LaBistro. Elegant. The entertainment was great for the most part. We Thoroughly enjoyed the dancers and aerialists. The destinations were beautiful. Each place had its own unique flair; for spectacular blues, stark whites, dark greens, breathtaking beaches etc. You need to watch as the ship goes through the fiords to Montenegro. Shore excursions were well worth it. We saw more locations the we would have on our own. Be careful of hop on hop off cruise excursion in Venice. The ship docks later there so we didn’t get to go to many of the stops because the hop on hop off ends too soon from when the ship docks. Overall I would recommend this cruise. Read Less

11-Day Venice, Croatia, Montenegro, and Greek Islands. Fantastic itinerary! Breathtaking views on excursions and when entering & leaving ports! Heartstopping sunsets! No "at sea" days! I can't say enough good things about the Norwegian Star staff. Everywhere I went, I was greeted with a warm, genuine smile, an enthusiastic welcome (and hand sanitizer), people asking how my day was, people asking if they could help me with anything. The Norwegian Star staff really made my vacation special! Norwegian staff were were there to help every step of the way. This was my first cruise, so I was relieved that clear instructions were always provided (and repeated multiple times), and important notifications (such as time zone changes and tendering procedures) were provided both on a print flyer delivered to my cabin, and in announcements over the loudspeaker. Read the daily flyers! A wide variety of activities was offered at all times of day and night. There was something for everyone! Norwegian Star offered activities and facilities for all different age groups, for solo travelers as well as couples, and for morning persons as well as night owls. Embarkation, disembarkation, and transportation (the cruise line transfers) were seamless. Having never cruised before, I was grateful that the written disembarkation instructions--which were delivered to my cabin in advance--clearly explained everything I needed to know about disembarkation, luggage, customs, and the airport transfer. My room steward reminded me when I needed to set my clock forward/back and on the night before disembarkation he reminded me that my luggage needed to be placed outside my door for pick-up by 11pm. I took eight Norwegian shore excursions. There was a wide variety of excursions offered, whether you want to exercise (hike, bike, kayak), or have a cultural experience, or a food & wine experience, or a beach day, ... There was an excursion available to satisfy any preference. The excursions I took were enjoyable and informative, and the views were spectacular! The guides were enthusiastic and full of knowledge. The only downside is that sometimes the wait times (standing in line) were extremely long (Melissani and Drogarati Cave), and sometimes the driving times were very long (Athens and Its Scenic Coast) but I didn't mind at all, because the view out the bus window was spectacular in both cases, and after hiking around the Acropolis in the sun, time on the bus to rest my feet and enjoy a beautiful coastal view before the next stop was welcome! Specialty Dining Restaurants: Le Bistro was superb! (I dined there twice!) La Cucina The service was excellent, and my appetizer (spaghetti carbonara) was outstanding, but my entree (osso buco) was disappointing because it had a thick salty overpowering brown sauce. It didn't taste at all like the osso buco that I've had in nice Italian restaurants. Cagney's was very good (but I'm from a large metropolitan city, so I've had better). Moderno was merely so-so; I wouldn't go back there unless it were complimentary. Buffet: Breakfast was good, but lunch and dinner and dessert were awful. One huge complaint I have about the buffet is that the quality and variety of fruit was poor. It was the same 4 fruits every day: apples, oranges, bananas, and melons. I don't like any of those. I was expecting berries, mangoes, papayas, kiwis, passion fruit. There were NEVER ANY BERRIES or any interesting fruits. The buffet entrees were oversalted. There were some theme days, such as German Food Day, Asian Food Day, Italian Food Day, etc. (I was disappointed that there was no Greek food, anywhere, ever, given that this was a Greek Islands cruise.) Vegetarian dishes were always available. The carving station was always good. I tried one dessert, and it was so horrible that I never tried dessert from the buffet again. It looked like flourless chocolate cake, but it tasted like a mouthful of powdered sugar with a flattened gummy bear on top. Kids would love it, adults would be well advised to stick to the soft ice cream. Buffet Salad Bar: Good quality (fresh), but lacking variety. Every day the same offerings: lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, spicy cooked green beans, and chickpeas. I would like to see some spinach, arugula, fresh broccoli, ... some variety. One day they also had beets and black beans at the salad bar, and I was happy to see that! Aqua and Versailles (Main Dining Rooms): I ate 3 dinners in the main dining rooms. The food was okay, but never wowed me. On the other hand, I had some AMAZING appetizers and desserts in the main dining rooms: The grilled vegetables with herbed olive oil and goat cheese was brilliant! The chocolate lava cake (warm center) with ice cream and strawberry sauce was to die for! That was better than any of the desserts I had in the specialty restaurants! The server always asked whether I had any food allergies. Servers were attentive and friendly. I also noticed another gentleman (not a server) who was ubiquitous in the restaurants--I will refer to him as "The Perfectionist"--He would walk around discreetly (and quickly) picking up anything that a guest may have dropped on the floor, and he would look for and quietly correct any other imperfections in the service and/or the appearance of the restaurant. In other words, he was trying to ensure that all dining guests would have a flawless dining experience. Alcoholic Beverages: Red wine is too warm. The quality of the mixed alcoholic drinks was poor, for the most part. The Margarita and the Mai Tai that I ordered at Spice H2O -- on two different days -- tasted awful and they were so sweet that I couldn't drink them. I was expecting the Margarita to be made from fresh lime juice, not a glass full of margarita mix. Lesson learned. I had the same reaction to the Strawberry Caprihinia that I ordered at the Sugarcane Mojito Bar. It tasted like a mix that came out of a cardboard carton. I was expecting a handcrafted cocktail. One tasty drink that I had on the cruise was the lavender martini at Gatsby's. Also, some of the frozen drinks were quite tasty (but weak): Try the Buschwacker and the BBC if you like frozen drinks. Not for dieters. Entertainment: The most fun entertainment (to my surprise) were the comical movie parodies performed in the Bliss Lounge by the cruise director and his staff, after each one of which, the cruise guests had to guess which movie was being comically reenacted. It was hilarious! I nearly fell out of my chair laughing multiple times! The event was called "Movie Sketch" or something like that. I almost didn't attend, but I'm so glad I did! I also enjoyed the aerialists, the tap dancers, and the guy who balanced the 65 pounds of stacked wine glasses. "Vegas! The Show" was okay. The magician was okay. Sports & Recreation: There is a walking/jogging track on the top deck, a fitness center, shuffleboard, golf, and a variety of other activities for those who want to stay fit. Cruise Director (on the July 7-18, 2019 Cruise): Listening to this guy was some of the BEST entertainment on the Norwegian Star! He was hilarious! Seriously, the cruise would not have been the same with a different cruise director. I don't recall his name, but he's Australian. Read Less

We picked this cruise because of the stops we've never seen before and it was our first time with Norwegian. Very disappointing for a ship that was refurbished in 2018 take a look at our cabin review. The buffet area didn't have enough space to sit when it started to get a bit crowded compared to other ships we were on and it was badly designed there was just enough space too walk by the drink machines. We went twice to the Aqua dining restaurant, under cooked steak the first time and under cooked pasta the second and last time. The casino was super cheap, there's a game that you put quarters,it makes other quarters drop and it has bills on top, we managed to get a $10 bill out and it had only 3 one dollar attached to the it. On a slot machine I got 24 free games it gave me $0.36 cents, I know they have to make money but come on! For most excursions they made us wait 30-45 minutes in the theaters.Last thing we had an excursion that started 2 hours late on our last day and it was supposed to be 4 hours, they stopped it after 2 hours so we had to complain about that, we were 6-7 of us with the excursion manager, he took all our cabin numbers and told us he would call us that night since we were all checking early the next day, never got any response so I had to go back to guest services and they only gave me 30% off (still fighting this one). This cruise line only seem to care about making money, first and last time with them. Read Less

This was our first time on Norwegian and we had an excellent time overall. The Star is a midsized ship that was refurbished and overall it was good. It lacks many of the features of the larger and newer ships that we've been on (no water slides, rock wall, zip line, etc), but we knew that and it wasn't a problem because this was a busy cruise with stops every day. The food was very good. We ate mostly at the specialty restaurants and the main dining room as opposed to the buffet. The quality of the beverages was also very good (Grey Goose level spirits) and a large selection of beers and wine. The only odd thing was that single malt scotches were very expensive with only one qualifying for the beverage package. The shows were average to below average compared to what we've seen on Royal and Carnival. Cripton the magician was not very impressive and his shows were very short. The customer service was very good all around and comparable to other cruise lines we've been on. One complaint we have is it seemed like the ship had the worst position at every port of call. Lots of tendering where this ship was always the furthest from the dock and when we did dock we always had the longest walk of all the other ships. We did two Norwegian tours, one was the Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik which was great and the Opa! tour in Santorini which was ok but not great. It was super busy and the dinner/show was entirely cruise passengers and not at all authentic. We went with two kids, age 4 and 8 and they had a blast. There were very few kids on this cruise, but they had a fully staffed kids club that they both really liked. Read Less

We choose this cruise due to its itinerary. There was a limited choice for 7 day Greek island cruises. So we choose the Star as it was recently refreshed. However you can see and feel the age of the boat. The stateroom was clean and spacious enough for 2. Food quality was average to below average. The best food was served in the open seating restaurants and we had the best meal at Aqua. Never used the buffet but it was very crowded during breakfast hours. Get ready to wait 30 minutes to na hour to get seated. We will do all future cruises only with assigned seating. Do not bother paying extra for special dining. We ate at both steak houses and meat was cold, over cooked and of low quality. We also have been disappointed with the service on board. You could feel that there are issues on the boat as most employees did not enjoy their job and it showed. Worst experience was waiting in line for over 1 hour to get tender tickets. At our first stop in Kotor, we almost did not make it even after standing inline for 1 hour to get our tender tickets. Received group # 17, so you can imagine when we got off the boat. Another issue was the length of our stops. Most of them only lasted a few hours, so everything was rushed. We booked all excursions through TripAdvisor and saved over 50% on most of them. Overall we do not recommend this ship. Read Less

All in all a great cruise, nice ship, great weather, good service and food. Ship is nicely refurbished and fairly clean. BUT: be prepared to pay extra for absolutely everything and even for nothing ($15pppd “Service fee” whether you like it or not!). Alcohol is ludicrously expensive, whether you buy a package or not ($14 for a mojito, $45 for a double shot of whisky). They try kid you you’re getting special deals and discounts but with mark-ups in the region of 6000%, you’re being screwed regardless. And excursions are terrible, insanely expensive, generally lame, chaotic disembarkation and you get herded around like cattle. Ended up sitting in the theatre for an hour and were the very last tender to leave the ship on 2 occasions! Don’t bother, just get off and do your own thing. Also a real shame Norwegian are doing very little to reduce their plastic consumption. Cutting out plastic straws just doesn’t cut it when they’re handing out 10000 plastic cups on average per day! Read Less

The cruise was an awesome experience especially as I was traveling with a large group. The staff was awesome, especially at the Topsiders lounge.My only complaint was the shore excursions. Each port had at least 2-5 cruise ships tendering at the same time. This caused chaos as their were thousands of travelers trying to see the same port at the same time with limited transportation options. The 2+ hours waiting for transportation was insane and the limited time at each destination made it very frustrating to enjoy the island. This may be an issue that the cruise industry should address as it wasn't just an NCL problem. The more popular destinations i.e. Santorini and Croatia seemed to have the most difficulty with transportation and not enough time in port. There should not be 6 cruise ships at these destinations, at the same time. It was the highlight of my trip and ultimately the most difficult to enjoy due to the crowds. Read Less

Embarkation (and disembarkation) was very straight forward and we were on the ship within 15 minutes of arriving. The ship is in a good state of repair and is clean. It’s true, it is a little difficult to navigate your way around and it’s frustrating when you know where you want to go but can’t get there because there are no doors for passenger access. That aside, this is the quietest and smoothest ship I’ve ever been on - no vibration, no rumbles, no drone of engines. We had an inside cabin which had everything we needed - good storage; roomy shower; great hairdryer; plenty of mirrors. We had a drinks package and found all drinks to be of high quality and served with generosity. Food was also of good quality in all restaurants and it was especially good to have so many to choose from. We enjoyed having the dining package (for speciality restaurants) and we’re very pleasantly surprised at the degree of choice on offer as well as the quality of the food. Service was excellent across the board. All of the staff seemed relaxed and happy yet very focused on doing a good job. We didn’t once experience anyone trying to sell us anything. The dress code is SUPER casual. I didn’t wear any of the clothes I’d taken for the evening instead wearing the clothes I’d taken for the daytime. But that led to a very relaxed and casual atmosphere. We didn’t particularly care for the entertainment overall although we did enjoy ‘Paradis’. Maybe it was geared more towards families than adults (understandably) and so we found it to be a bit dull and amateurish. It was also disappointing that there was no bar at the bow of the ship with sea views or an open air bar at the stern of the ship (apart from Spice H20 which has limited seating and was quite enclosed with limited views). On this itinerary the ship didn’t stay long in most ports (just a few hours) which didn’t bother us especially but I know some people were a bit disappointed by that. The gym was quite poor as it had no sea view and was quite small. That said the equipment was all in good order. The jogging deck was very good as the outside edge of the deck was screened off especially for running whereas walkers took an inside track. Read Less

I chose this trip because of the ports and the timing worked with my grown children's and grandchild"s schedules. We had adjoining balcony rooms on deck 10 (starboard) and my son had a balcony on 9( port) so a great view always available. We came in early to avoid flight problems and to have extra time in Venice. The hotel associated with the Cruise line (Crown Plaza Quartro del Altro)was nearer the airport but located right on the train line (30 min.ride) to Venice, thus allowing us 2 full days and evening in Venice. The transports from the airport and to and from the Star was effortless and smooth. People were there to help every step of the way. Embarking and Disembarking went like clockwork and transportation was seamless. We left Venice at Sunset and the view was stunning. We arrived back at Sunrise....no better lighting to see Venice from the ship. All of our excursions were better than I anticipated in the views and experience offered although more physically challenging than I was anticipating (but I am 70). Staff was always friendly and very professional. Housekeeping was very friendly and did a wonderful job of caring for our rooms and our request. Room service in the morning was very timely and delicious to enjoy on our balcony. Meals in the dining rooms was fun, fancy and very good. Specialty Dining was very fun and took our celebrations of birthdays to a very fun level...loved the cake. The Spa was never crowded, the thermal suite was always available and never crowded. I had a perfect manny/peddy on our last day that was so wonderful. My granddaughter loved the Kid's Splash Academy although it was a little hard to locate on the ship. Signage could be better in public areas in terms of Aft/Forward...a few more public clocks with ship time would be helpful too...but all in all we never missed a thing. And I won in the casino! Thank you NCL. Only real criticism is the Magician the first night was awful...#MeToo people....old man humor..no, no! Read Less

We were really excited to take this trip and were partially disappointed with our overall experience. The service by the staff was exceptional. We did opt for one of the Penthouse suites and were treated very well. However there were a few things that really disappointed us. To start with the food was not good at all. We have cruised on other lines such as Royal Caribbean and had a phenomenal restaurant experience. But the food on this ship was less than average. We couldn’t wait to get off the ship at the ports so we could eat some good food. Please keep in mind that I’m not that picky when it comes to food. In fact we were excited to eat at Burger King in the airport on our way back. So if your going on a cruise to experience great food...look elsewhere. The second thing that was mildly disappointing was there isn’t that much to do on this ship when you think of what cruise ships offer today. The theater shows were very well done and we enjoyed them very much. Also the shore excursion staff was great and we enjoyed the tours they provided but you don’t get that much time in ports compared to other trips we have taken. We had somewhere between 5-7 hours and other cruises provided a longer shore excursion experience. Probably the thing that was most irritating was the additional charge that we were surprised by at the end of our trip. We had prepaid for all of our charges and then we also paid both our butler and cleaning person a generous tip. But NCL also charged us $18 per person per day to provide tips to all of their crew that typically don’t get tips for their service. I don’t know why NCL is supplementing their payroll by charging passengers an additional $250,000-300,000 per cruise but that was ridiculous for a total crew count of 1,100 members. We have never been charged this fee on other cruise lines when you prepay your tips already. After spending over $8,000 for two people, we felt that the experience should have been better. Sorry to say but it’s back to Royal Caribbean or some other line for us. NCL is off the list. Read Less

Grade for cruise "C" would only pick NCL if Princess/RCCL/Disney didn't have similar line up, passable but bottom of the pack. Picked the Star for the port lineup; 6 ports in 7 days, can't beat that ( Kotor, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Argostoli, and Dubrovnick Loved the Freestyle dining and on ship good service was very good and low upsell, get high ratings for this! Sadly found the food in buffet as well as the complimentary 2 main dining rooms below average in all respects for lunch/dinner. Breakfast was solid, but limited choices compared to Princess, hard to mess up breakfast. Did two specialty restuarants and they were solid, but if I had to pay would say they were only as good as main dining on Princess, but with more personal service, so luckily they were free, LOL DIY tours at Kotur, Corfu, Mykonos, Argostoli and Dubronvick, did NCL Ultimate Santorini to avoid the crazy tendering if you don't have a tour, was still a mess but at least got to see the big things. Standard overpriced cruise line tours but few options at this port, give that tour a "B" rating. Tendering at Kotur got an F ( two hours for tendering ticket #3, seriously broken with too few tender boats for such a large ship ). Entertainment: Two of the three rotating bands were good/average and one was simply terrible! The dancing team was good, but terrible choregraphed for their three shows. The magician while award winning was boring, we walked out twice, werent the only ones either, he needs to get some input and up his game. Entertainment wasn't a highlight, but lucky we didn't take it for it, nor cruise for the entertainment or we'd be really sad. Fitness center was solid and fully equipped, no complaints here. Disembarkation: F, who tries to disembark 2800 people thru a single gangway, we must have waited in the line almost an hour to get off and almost missed our flight home, broken system here, no excuses, they need to fix this! Overall like I said "C" due to food, entertainment, and tendering, but get good marks for port lineup and great crew and minimal upsell. Like the freestyle ambience sadly NCL needs to improve their food and fix their tendering and disembarkation and maybe we'd look at them as first choice for another cruise! Read Less

Our cruising buddies decided to Greece and asked us to go along - it ended up being 4 mature (well maybe not so mature) couples. We all flew into Venice a couple of days early to enjoy this amazing city. We stayed at a little hotel about 1 mile away from San Marcos Square - a nice, quiet place - but it was a little far to walk to meet our friends. Our friends stayed at a hotel right around the corner from the square - which was much better. Had a wonderful time in Venice before and after the cruise and would highly recommend getting there a few days early to enjoy the city. The ship is an older ship but well maintained - we had no issues with anything except my friend complaint about the awful WIFI connections on the ship (she works while away and its important to her to stay in touch) She purchased the regular WIFI package and when she complained to the customer service desk she was told that she should have purchased the upgraded WIFI package - which only the first 100 people receive and she was never told about - she asked them to upgrade her and they would not comply. In fact they never got back to her. Our cabin was fine - we had an Ocean View cabin which we usually get just to have a little light in the room - the other 3 couples had inside cabins and also had no complained. Our cabin stewardess was a sweet girl from China and she made sure our room was clean and made up every day. No towel animals but we did not ask for them and not sure if they still do them. We ate at the Aqua Dining room and never had to wait. My hubby and I had lunch in the other main dining room (which is larger) several time and service was great in both restaurants. One night we decided to try the Chinese Restaurant (no charge) and we all felt that it was not very good - but hey it was free so no loss. We did not use any pay for restaurants on this trip. We did not go to any shows since this was a 7 day cruise and we were in ports every day. Did go to the casino most nights - and did not win - but our friends won some money and enough casino credits to receive another free cruise. (we don't spend enough to qualify) The drink package (which was included in the cost of the cruise )was great - if you wanted a drink that went above the price allowed for the drinks you just paid the difference. I think I had one martini that went over and my charge was $3.00.. so no big deal. We booked 2 shore excursions thru NCL but one was cancelled by NCL - we changed ports and instead of going to Kotor, Montenegro we ended up in Bar Montenegro- could have skipped that port - we got off and walked around - it was hot and miserable. All other ports were great. In Corfu we took the Hop on Hop off bus and just drove around the island - there are some wonderful beaches along the way - highly recommend getting off the bus and having a dip in the ocean. In Santorini we took a ship tour because I had read that it was hard getting off the ship (it was a tender port) with 2300 people all attempting to get off at the same time. The tour took us on a boat to the other side of the Island and so we did not have to stand in line to take the cable car up. A drive around the beautiful Island and an hour stop at Oia - which was very crowded but had amazing views and great waffles for a snack. The Island of Mykonos ended up being our favorite Island - no tours needed - we walked and walked thru this quaint town and stopped and had a lovely lunch at one of the sea side restaurant. Argostoli was next - had never heard of this island but it ended up being second on our list of favorite islands. We walked to see the turtles in the ocean - we rented a peddle boat and went out to see them - what fun. We also ended up having lunch at an amazing Greek restaurant - nothing like fresh Greek Food when in Greece. I know that most people rush back to the ship to eat but we love trying out new food in different countries. So take your time and eat the food and drink the wine - it's an experience in itself. Last stop was Dubrovnik, Croatia. We took the shuttle to the town - got there early so it was not to busy and walked around this amazing town. Our friends went and walked around on the wall and said it was a great experience - we sat and had Croatian dessert and cappuccino.. Back to Venice for one more night and a long flight home. All in all a great cruise, and we would do it again - I think next time Spain is on the list. Read Less