We are a couple in our mid 40's and we went on the Norwegian Star for the destination (Panama canal). We have sailed 12 times so far with most of the main stream companies. It was our first time on Norwegian and we knew we were going on an older ship so my review is based on that. Embarkation in LA was long and painful, we had to wait in line outside to drop our luggage for over 30 min and another endless line of over an hour to get our card once inside. So total we had to be standing in line for over 1:30 hrs. Not so bad for us being in our 40's but we could see some seniors having a rough time. In short not enough staff to handle the whole process in a reasonable time. After we were allowed onboard we found the ship to be in fairly good shape but it is really in need of a major refit. Chairs and seats everywhere are worn out and some broken for an exemple. Our cabin was the smallest we ever had if I compare with all the other inside we had in the past. It was clean and efficient despite being small and our steward (Intan) was very good and always attentive. Our cabin was 5629 and was beside a crew only area room or accès to an elevator. Noise coming from there and banging on pipes and walls was present almost every night with some peak that were frustrating. The cabins are not well insulated to prevent noise. We still managed to sleep and relax in between the noise on the other hand. Food was just OK with some hit or miss but I was able to find something good every day. In Versailles the complimentary venue we had some very meals and others were not good. It happened many times that the food was way too salty on certain dishes and we reported it to the staff. Steaks were very good and cooked to perfection on the other hand. Staff in Versailles was also hit or miss. We had very attentive staff on certain nights and bad ones on others. Lack of Attention To Details was obvious with the ones who just did not care. Some others made us feel like kings so it was always odd to predict. In short food was ok but bellow the cruise industry Average. Hey NCL you should know that your market is very competitive and I think you should take mesures accordingly.

We went in 3 speciality restaurants and all of them were good but for some extra $. Steaks at cage yes were awesome so was the hot stone experience at la Ginza. Tepaniaki was also excellent. I think the food and service are bellow average in the comp venues simply to draw you in the speciality restaurants. Buffet was ok to good and did the job for brake fast and lunch.

We like over 1600 other guests had the all inclusive beverage package. We were always able to get drinks and it was not a problem anywhere. By the way I think this free perk is the only reason why this cruise was sold out. Came with a 400$ service fee for the 2 of us. I would like to believe that all that money is going in the staff pocket but I can only speculate. Not including the water bottles is also something I had never seen for such a package. Was always included on 2other cruise lines where I did it. Again bellow average in my book. Read more