This was our first cruise (depart Seattle 7/26) and my husband and I went with our 2.5 year old son. I had heard that Alaska was beautiful this time of year and after reading many reviews settled on the Norwegian Star since it appeared to be family friendly and a good value. It was indeed very family friendly in fact my son was treated like a "rock star" all week by the crew (making him menu puppets and towel animals in our cabin) and my husband and I had a very relaxing time as well by taking turns using the spa. I'll comment on the things we really enjoyed and then share some things that perhaps I would do differently the next time.

Pre-night in Seattle: We stayed at the Ramada Downtown and I thought we could walk to the terminal the next morning (we are walkers) It was not possible as it looks like a straight shot on the map but isn't. I would definitely NOT recommend this hotel unless you are on a super budget.

Embarkation: Was actually pretty smooth considering close to 2,000 people are trying to get on the boat at the same time -- it took about 1 hour to actually get on the boat. (About the same amount of time it also took to get off "express" -- which is a total misnomer!) The staff of the Star have to be some of the nicest, most cheerful people on the planet. I have a ton of respect for the cleaning and food staff and think they did a great job! The staff wanted to get to know us by name and would remember us when we came into the dining room each night. It was really wonderful. The only place where I think the staff was kind of "iffy" was at the spa where I get the sense nobody really wanted to do the grunt work (replace towels, hot water for tea, ice water for drinking) We went to the spa every day and there was always something off but I still really enjoyed all of the amenities and the view from the relaxation area was AMAZING! Since it costs $20 a day to use the spa it definitely is one of the least crowded spots on the boat. I appreciate the "hot tip" from another reviewer to buy the spa pass for the week ($140 for two people) which for us ended up being a total bargain since between my husband and I we used the spa 12 times. The food in general is average but definitely had some high points for us. We ate breakfast and lunch at the Market Cafe which always had plenty of fresh fruit and healthy choices. Lots of fruits, salads and roast chicken at lunch and dessert temptations (I never eat cookies but the chocolate chip cookies are amazing!). We varied our dinners each night the highlight being Le Bistro (everything cooked to order) and Ginza was good for the sushi, we had dinner 3 times at Aqua and 1 at Versailles and always left feeling satisfied (not wowed but satisfied). Our one really bad dinner was at Endless Summer. I had read in previous reviews that the place was bad but thought we could enjoy the view while in port at Prince Rupert (amazing sun and amazing view) but the food was really substandard (tostitos chips, bottled salsa, overdone fish, flavorless watery fajitas) The wait staff was also off there and at one point early in the meal said we couldn't get a margarita because we were in Canada (huh?) Read more