This was our third cruise in three years (all with NCL), so we are not nearly as experienced as many others. However, some conclusions we have reached based on our overall experience with NCL are: (1) NCL is in the budget cruise market, and you get what you pay for. NCL cruises, in our opinion, are an excellent value, which is why we keep coming back. (2) Unless you to shell out the cash for a luxury cruise, you will probably find that the food, overall, is plentiful and looks pretty but tastes "fair to good," rather than "very good to excellent." (3) Service is, overall, very good. Sometimes it is a bit slow in restaurants and sometimes there is a slight language barrier, but overall, staff aim to please. (4) The entertainment is fun but amateur. If the stage show performers were experienced enough to be on Broadway, that's probably where they would choose to be. Performers have to begin their careers somewhere, and cruise ships provide a good venue.

Our experience on the Star was similar to previous experiences on the Dawn and the Sky. I happen to love Indian food and was pleasantly surprised to find it on the buffet in the Market Cafe every day. However, we were disappointed that the fare seemed to be pretty much the same day after day—with only minor variations. And some of it was consistently bad. Hamburger buns were stale and dry, the burgers were tasteless, and much of the food was cold. (Cold French fries are not good.) We found food quality in the Versailles main dining room was much better—especially breakfast. One thing we discovered on this cruise is that it's smart to buy wine by the bottle instead of the glass. If you don't finish the whole bottle, the bar staff will keep it for you and you can return for more the next day. I am just a "one glass per day" wine drinker and spent $28 on a bottle that lasted almost all week.

Every experience we had interacting with staff on this ship was delightful—from the room stewards to the servers in the restaurant to the bar staff and all the way up the chain of command. We really enjoyed the meet and greet event with the Cruise Critic group and were pleasantly surprised when the Captain and his officers made a visit. They were very friendly and hospitable, and we were thrilled to be invited to tour the bridge later in the week. This tour was one of the real highlights of our week. I also found the personality and communication style of our Cruise Director very pleasant. Some might say she lacked personality, but I found her very professional and much less annoying than other cruise directors we have experienced who tried a little too hard with the cheesy wit. Read more