Norwegian Star Review
Rating by category
Additional details
My husband and I were on our first cruise in 2016 with Carnival. We loved the experience and decided to go on another cruise this fall. We chose NCL cruise out of Venice as it was perfect for our schedule and we thought the itinerary was quite interesting.
Overall, we had a very good time.
Staff: Very friendly staff who work hard to make sure the guests’ needs and wants are met (when possible :)).
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Oceanview Picture Window
Stateroom: Although we enjoyed our stateroom (See View, Deck 5), it was a rather unpleasant setup: our stateroom was connected to another stateroom from the inside, and we heard our neighbors. This lack of soundproof was somewhat upsetting to me - I do not go on a holiday to hear my neighbors. I think this whole idea of putting people in those “family rooms” (i.e., interconnected staterooms) is very poor to begin with. This setup works well only when the interconnected staterooms are shared by families or close friends. In our situation, we were put right next to a family with two kids (so 4 people in a stateroom). We asked Guest Relations to place us in a different stateroom, but were told that the ship is 100% full.
Oh well.. I guess I can’t complain too much, as we could have paid more money to choose our stateroom (in my humble opinion, significantly more money) but we didn’t go with that option in an effort to cruise as inexpensively as possible.
Port Reviews
Venice
LOVED Venice! This was our second time to visit this truly unique city and we were just as taken with it on our second visit as on our first.
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik was a lot of fun: we walked the wall that is built around the "old town". The weather was kinda crazy that day: rain and strong winds and then in cleared up just as we were finishing our walk! The views are awesome though, in any weather!
We found Dubrovnik to be quite expensive (the Old Town Wall walk costs around 20 euros per person, if I remember correctly). And we made a mistake of ordering Spritz in a cafe without asking the price first.. we were hugely surprised when we learned that its cost was around 13 euros!!! (in Rome and Venice this cocktail costs around 3 euros).
Kotor
Kotor was so beautiful! We walked to the old fortress located up in the hills above the town and the views were just stunning! After the walk (which took us about 3,5 - 4 hours, with lots of stops along the way to admire the view) there wasn’t much time to do anything else in Kotor before our ship left the port.
Katakolon (Olympia)
We took a bus to Olympia from the port and visited the ancient site on our own. We had purchased Rick Steve’s book on Mediterranean Cruise Ports (great buy, by the way!) and did a self-guided tour described in the book. Worked very well for us. Olympia is a unique place for those who love history. If you don’t do research and come out to Olympia ancient site on your own, it might be a disappointing experience, as all you will see is a bunch of rocks. This is one of those places that requires you to do a research or join a tour group with a knowledgeable guide.
Athens (Piraeus)
Athens was a great experience for us. We started exploring the city by joining Athens Free Walking Tour.. what a great start of our day! After the tour we walked Acropolis on our own (did a self-guided tour by Rick Steves). Returned to the port by taking a metro from downtown Athens (a ticket costs 1.40 euros per person). It was quick and easy.
Split
Very enjoyable town! We explored Diocletian’s Palace on our own and swam at one of the public beaches afterwards. A very pleasant day. Oh, and we had some gelato at the beach also.. awesome!