We cruised with Royal Caribbean and Carnival before and found that Royal Caribbean offers better service and food than Carnival. After reading Norwegian Star reviews posted before November, we expected this cruise to be the worse cruise we ever joined, even worser than Carnival...but we were surprised! NCL apparently did improvemnets in management, food, and entertainments recently.

Embarkation: we arrived at 10:30am, waited 2.5 hours before boarding, boring, but we were given the first day "freestyle daily" schedule to plan for the first day fun while waiting. Once boarded, we started our trip with a nice and quiet lunch at Versailles instead of going to the crowded buffet.

Ship: the ship is older but it offers the traditional grand attrium with glass elevators that newer ships don't have. Versailles dining room was the restaurant we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost everyday. We love its ambiance and high ceilings versus Aqua dining room. Even Versailles is located at the aft, we didn't feel the motor's vibration like Carnival Splendor at all. My husband and sons found a men's room with oceanview above the potties on the buffet deck. Read more