This was our 8th cruise on NCL; the 6th on the NCL Star. It was refurbished in 2015 and this was our first time on it since then.

On the "old Star", we used to spend significant time in a small English pub (promenade/aft/port) called the Red Lion. It had a warm, distinct personality and had comfortable seating. The refurbishment "killed" the Red Lion and replaced it with something called "5 O'clock Somewhere" which became a sanitized something or other (bar?) with very uncomfortable wooden seating. We only spent about a total of 15 minutes there for the whole 14-day cruise as opposed to usually spending a couple of hours a day at the former Red Lion.

The Atrium on the 8th deck is now O'Sheehan's bar which is also the Star's 24-hour restaurant. Some of the food is pretty decent; some isn't. The french fries (which is your only choice for a side for most sandwiches) definitely fall into the latter group. Read more