This was our 11th cruise and 2nd cruise on NCL and the first on the Star and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We booked a mini-suite on 11 midship but a bit more aft but we had none of the issues mentioned in previous reviews about noise from the deck above or any kind of smells in our cabin. But I had also looked at the deck plans and was careful about what was located above our cabin when choosing it. Our cabin steward, Roselle, was one of the best we have ever had.

We flew into LAX a day early and used the Super Shuttle ($17 pp) to San Pedro and it was door to door to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza. It is a lovely hotel, helpful staff and several restaurants nearby. The next morning, they provided free shuttle service to the Port.

We arrived at the port around 11 am and opted to take our bags with us onto the ship and bypass the porters who deliver the bags to your room. You can only do this if you are carrying relatively small bags that will fit in the Cruise Terminal's X-ray machine. We both had 22 inch roller bags and they fit just fine. After a few cruises, we learned our lesson on over packing! Plus on NCL with freestyle there is no need to have a lot of formal wear and the bothersome extra footwear required when you dress up. We experienced no wait in line to provide our credit card and receive our key card. Around noon, we were allowed on the ship. We had read on Cruise Critic to avoid the Market Cafe and go to the Versailles Dining Room where lunch was also being served. We had the option of storing our luggage in a storage room but the line was long and since our bags were not that big, we took them with us. We were able to leave them in a corner of the dining room with no problems. The cold soups in the Versailles Dining room were fabulous. We had one every time we ate lunch there -very very good. Read more