Norwegian Star Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,583 reviews

Super itinerary but ship needs upgrade

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Norwegian Star
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BornToGo
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Feb 2018
Cabin: Mid-Ship Balcony

There is travel and then there is vacationing. One is adventurous, exhilarating, and exhausting while the other relaxing, calm, quiet. This itinerary combines the best of both - an opportunity to visit a number of fabulous countries, do the full length of the Panama Canal and spend the perfect mix of glorious days at sea. We thoroughly loved every shore excursion we selected (Cabo sail & whale watching, Acapulco bay cruise & divers, Guatemala visit to Antigua, Nicaragua volcano climb, Tarcoles River cruise in Costa Rica, and Hop-On-Hop-Off bus in Cartagena). A fabulous two weeks with a thousand great memories and came home feeling rested and revitalized!

Our only complaint was the ship, which had been renovated in 2014 but sparingly at best. This is our 3rd time on the Star (different cruise each time) and will definitely be our last. We do love NCL but are hoping that the lower quality of food, accommodations, and on-ship activites are not the new NCL normal.

The on-board singers and dancers were the best we have seen on any of our 10 cruises. However, except for the Tenors of Rock who were great, the guest entertainment was nothing to rave about. Certainly did not live up to the Blue Man Group or After Midnight, two amazing shows on other NCL cruises. Many people seemed to really enjoy the hypnotist but we found the fart stunts and some of the other parts of the act to be immature and not particularly humorous.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Balcony

Room was adequate. Our steward was wonderful. We always book a balcony room and probably used ours more on this cruise than any other time. Being on the port side of the ship enabled us to see land much of the time while sailing and to have great views during the Panama Canal passage.

Port Reviews

Puerto Quetzal (Antigua)

We almost didn't go on-shore because we had read so many reviews about aggressive sellers pestering tourists. However, we decided to book an excursion to Antigua and are so glad we did! We had a fabulous guide and thoroughly enjoyed exploring this city with him. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with live music at a local restaurant. Yes, there were plenty of people in the old town area selling things. If you said "no" they tried to bargain for a better price, and if you were firm in your response, they went away. However, what they were selling were beautifully woven shawls, tapestries, etc. and all kinds of other authentically made items for really inexpensive prices. I LOVE what I purchased and so do my friends back home who were gifted with one of these items! I can well imagine that some of the women in our group would write those nasty reviews but they were the same ones who spent a lot of time bragging about what great deals they got. Get off the ship and enjoy this beautiful country! We even got to see an active volcano spewing an ash cloud on the bus drive back to the ship. Amazing!

Corinto

Climbed Cerro Nego volcano. Likely the craziest shore excursion we've ever selected and the trek was incredibly challenging. However, I love having bragging rights for having done it! Our guide was wonderful and helped everyone along the way. One of the most difficult aspect was the 60+ mph wind gusts - thought we were going to be blown off the mountain or into the live crater at any moment.

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