Norwegian Star Review
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Trip Review - NCL Star to Alaska July 10-17, 2010
This was our second cruise and first on NCL Star and to Alaska. Our first was in 2007 on Carnival to Mexican Riviera for 5 days. Both times we brought our kids (now mid teens). Despite all of the negative reviews on the NCL Star we read that scared us to death, it was pretty good overall. All family members rated the overall trip 8 out of 10. Give the negative reviews a grain of salt. I think people who have bad experiences are more incented to complain (online), so take them with a grain of salt.
Comparing NCL to Carnival is unavoidable. Generally we preferred Carnival (Elation) better due to a younger, livelier crowd, better dEcor and deck layouts, better public spaces, more fun things to do on board, better teen program and spaces, free soft drinks everywhere and maybe even better food. But the Star's entertainment and cabins were superior. Food
Cabin Review
Balcony
Incredible balcony and view (you will not want to go back to inside or ocean view rooms), quiet (no/low noise from hallway), nicely appointed room (not gaudy), quick/good room housekeeping, white sheets, annoying crease in the middle of our "queen" bed due to twins pushed together, somewhat hard mattresses but nice pillows, not too cramped a room actually, great bathroom though small, only one 110V outlet in room so bring power strip and extension cord, hair dryer in the room (not bathroom), TV is tiny/low quality but did have inputs to watch our own videos from our camera. Watch out for guys who roll by your balcony window at ports to spray down ship--they caught us by surprise a few times while we were practically naked--there was no warning about them or what they were doing. We loved the privacy and view of the room and spent much time there. We were tempted by the $150/couple for the week to use the Spa facility, but room was sufficient with public hot tubs. In room safe was sufficient for small items like wallets, batteries, keys, cameras, iPods, phones, but not for a laptop. Maybe an iPad?