My husband and I chose this cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary and birthday celebration. It would give us a "taste" of Spain beginning in Barcelona, Cannes France, Florence, Naples, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Argostoli, Dubrovnik, and ending in Venus. We added extra time up front in Barcelona on our own and at the end in Venus, not booked through Norwegian. With only one day at sea we knew it would be an ambitious trip, but we are very fit seniors and looked forward to the adventure. We had a very rough beginning. Our port was changed from Barcelona to Taragona so when we discovered that the port would be 105 Kilometers from our hotel in Barcelona to the new port we would have to choose how we would get there. Norwegian announced the change in January. Our Agent in the states advised us a bus would be available from the Barcelona airport for $55. The cost was later changed to $30. We paid for a taxi from our Hotel to the airport. The embarkation process problem came when Norwegian's contracted bus company failed miserably to provide enough busses for the number of passengers that needed to be transported. What should have been an easy 1-2 hour event turned into a 6 hour event. We were herded from the main level in the airport to the lower level after the crowds gathering were so large they had to be moved out of the way. The wait continued till busses began to arrive, groups were called, only there were hundreds more passengers than the busses arriving could handle. Once our group was finally called there was no assistance with bags, we all did our own loading and unloading. Once we finally arrived at the port our bus was held in line for another 1/2 hour. Then another hour in line waiting to board.

Our balcony room was clean, but showing some age, and that surprised us since the Starr underwent a refurb the year before. Our cabin steward was excellent. The beds were uncomfortable and linens were just average.

The main dining room was lovely and we enjoyed the anytime dining. However, the dress code was never enforced….men came in with shorts and t-shirts. We scheduled 4 specialty dinners and they were all very good. Waiters were all well trained. Highly suggest you try Moderno, the salad bar alone was amazing, let alone the selections of meats presented in the Brazilian manner. The café was pretty standard and we used it only for a quick breakfast or lunch. Read more