Norwegian Star Review
Things to expect on an underbooked older cruise ship
Rating by category
Additional details
We thought we liked the itinerary - 10 day cruise from Venice to Barcelona with a different port everyday. We wore ourselves out and did not have the discipline not to get off the ship every day. Just couldn’t resist at least seeing the port. Next time I will choose ships with at least 2 sea days on a 10 day cruise. Ports we liked: Split, Dubrovnik, Kotor: each of which we did either a hop on/hop off bus or hired a taxi. We highly recommend taking a tour in Sciliy where it will be raining and not so nice to just walk around. Take a tour in Naples. The city is a disappointment but the tour options are wonderful. Don’t plan to go to Rome in one day. We should have stayed on the ship and rested. We had a great tour in Pisa/Florence to the winery at the Bocelli winery with a concert. Great tour guide, Tony, thru the ship’s tour itinerary.
Next - the ship: it is 20+ years old so the design leaves much to be desired especially the lack of US outlets in the room (2) and the horrible closet/shelving which you have to access from inside the closet. They had closed off many of the access doors to different parts of the ship for some reason. Many times you had to get off on one floor and walk down to another to get to where you needed to go. I never really got comfortable with how to get anywhere and this was our 10th cruise so we are not novices.
Because the cruise was underbooked, they cut back on staffing. The customer service counter was poor and the Excursion desk was only staffed for 3 hours during dinner time. They argued with us for 2 days about a $50 excursion refund. We had a follow on cruise with the Prima and gave up an cancelled it due to lack of information available on the ship.
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Mini-Suite with Balcony
Did not like the cabin at all. I was not prepared for not having adequate US outlets. Only 2 per room and a lot more European outlets. Didn’t expect to need adapters on the ship. We bought one and had to move it from razor to curling iron to charging cords, etc. Had to buy it off the ship as they didn’t have one available for us. Note: the spa had zero US outlets so don’t expect to style your hair afterwards.
The worst was the closet. The only shelving for your clothes was inside the closet. You had to push back the hanging clothes and get on your knees to access your folded clothes. NOT GOOD!
Port Reviews
Barcelona
Beautiful city. We stayed downtown and it was worth every penny. Be aware that this is a city with a lot of young people. Unlike Venice, which we love, and has more visitors near our age - 65. Love them both just different feels.
We would have enjoyed the city a lot more but we got off the NCL Star Covid positive and were left trying to find additional lodging for 10 days in a very busy city.
Naples
Beware - go on an excursion to one of the many sites to see. This is not a good city to wander around in looking for shopping or history.
Taormina (Messina)
Go on a tour because it will be raining and not fun to try to wander around on your own in the rain.
Venice
Venice is wonderful but you either love it or hate it. I love it. Loved the gondola ride with music, the history, the food. As long as you can ignore the crowds and just go with the flow, it will be great.
Corfu
Great city for taking the hop on/hop off bus. You can easily wander around on your own in the downtown area.