Norwegian Star Review
Rating by category
Additional details
My three sisters (plus one boyfriend), mother, father and I all took a cruise about two weeks ago to celebrate four birthdays (one was a 30th milestone birthday), a retirement, and a promotion. My family is based out of Tampa, so we did not stay in a hotel prior to boarding the Norwegian Star. We set sail for Roatan, Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya, Mexico, and Cozumel, Mexico for a 7 day Sunday to Sunday cruise from Jan. 22-29.
The ship was immaculate, and the staff was warm and friendly greeting us as we boarded. We settled into our rooms and met our room steward right away. All of the housekeeping staff was very kind and never too busy to help, no matter the hour or the request. We had the mandatory muster drill and had our first glimpse at the interaction of the staff with the guests. The Assistant Cruise Director jumped off the stage before the drill began and personally greeted one of the guests as he walked in that he recognized. As it turns out, we all would come to recognize this same passenger over the next week.
This was our second family cruise, so our first order of business was to scour the Freestyle Daily to figure out which activities we wanted to attend. We went up to the top deck for the Sail Away Party BBQ and got to see the production crew for the first time. We were all impressed with the energy of the show on deck, the singing, the dancing, DJ Orlando, and the Cruise Director Pedro coming onto the dance floor to personally teach anyone who wanted to learn some of the line dances, as well as the singers and dancers. The amount of crowd interaction was amazing. We went back to our cabins for a quick change into our bathing suits, stopped off at the bar for some mojitos, and headed back up to the deck to the hot tub so we could watch the ship pass under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at sunset. It was breathtaking. We cleaned up and had our first late dinner at Versailles, one of the two main dining rooms. The staff was so friendly there and I can't think of a dish that we did not enjoy during the entire week.
Cabin Review
Oceanview Picture Window
Rooms are a little bit smaller than Carnival, but decor is nicer and staff is more attentive. Portholes have bump outs/shelf/bay window style ledge which added space in the room. Not enough hangars, may want to bring some. Toilet and shower can each be sectioned off from sink vanity in bathroom, which is nice. Separate vanity with hair dryer in living space. Only 6 drawers total in room, 1 closet.