We just returned from the May 8, 2016 sailing of the Baltic Capitals on the Star. This was a 9 day cruise departing from Copenhagen, Denmark calling on the ports of Warnemunde, Germany; Tallin, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; and Stockholm, Sweden. We stayed in Room 11560, the “Amber Suite”, which was a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite. We only did this as we had a chance to upgrade from a Balcony cabin to this for only $600. It was well worth it as I was sailing with my mom instead of my fiancé on this sailing. This was my 8th NCL Cruise (and second time on Star) and I have GOLD status (this sailing put me just two points shy of PLATINUM status). Previous sailings are reviewed on CC.

Overall, the ship was excellent. Food in all MDR’s was fantastic, except for O’Sheehan’s which is always my least favorite place on any NCL ship. Food was just so-so there and typical super slow service. I swear this is where they train all their new waitstaff because the experience is the same on every ship at this particular venue. We also dined in LeBistro and Cagneys which were both very good. However, the a la carte pricing SUCKS. For 2 people we spent $56 at LeBistro and didn’t even have dessert. Drinks were free as we were on the UBP. So if we had ordered dessert we would have spent more than we did back in the fixed cost days. Same with Cagneys, we spent $55 for 2 people, and did not have dessert. I also miss being able to order an app to share in addition to our own apps (you can still do this, but of course you pay for each one). I will probably consider buying a 3 day dining package next time to avoid this, or choose to only eat at Moderno which is still a fixed price.

As expected, this sailing was full of people 50+ which meant the ship was absolutely dead after 10 pm. NCL still did the usual parties late night but whenever I went there was maybe a dozen people at most. It is understandable as we were up by 6 or 7 each morning as port days were long and full. However, I had hoped to see more excitement on the two nights before sea days, but still the same. Again, not NCL’s fault, just the demographic of the cruisers. Saw very few 30-somethings on this ship and the few I did had small children/babies which was a surprise. Read more