Background Info:My husband and I recently sailed on the Star (November 25th-December 2nd 2012). Our last cruise was with NCL, so we were members of their latitudes program. (we had also purchased the $250 credit for a future cruise, so we used that as our deposit) We booked our trip through NCL. I highly recommend John Spence, he was nothing but helpful. We had booked our trip in April and found that the prices on the Norwegian website didn't drop for our stateroom category.
Hotel info: We stayed at the Marriott at the Convention Center the night before we set sail. We were able to book the cruise and stay package which was $230 for the 1 night plus parking the entire cruise. Note, you can walk from the hotel to the terminal. I wouldn't bother with a cab unless you have kids or a lot of luggage.
Room info: We went with room 10166, mid ship balcony and absolutely loved the room. We liked how we were in between the two sets of elevators. Our cabin stewards were awesome. Our room was decorated with the Happy Birthday package (my husband's birthday was 2 days before we left). All of the staff on the floor took a chance to say Happy Birthday to us and make us feel welcomed. Anytime we saw them in the hallway they also made an effort to have a conversation.