Norwegian Star Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,583 reviews

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED WITH NORWEGIAN STAR

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Star
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Mimi A
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Feb 2012
Cabin: Mid-Ship Oceanview Picture Window

Intro--We are a working couple in our early 60s & have sailed the Caribbean approx. 10 times; also sailed Alaska, Panama Canal, Amazon & Mediterranean. We sailed the NCL Star Feb. 12-19, 2012 sailing from Tampa & stopping at four ports: Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico & Cozumel, Mexico. We arrived in Tampa the day prior to sailing to be sure there were no weather issues from western PA causing delay on arriving for embarkation. We booked a room at the Hyatt Regency on N. Tampa St. (downtown) to enable us to visit nearby Ybor City.

Embarkation--The Hyatt provides transportation to the pier for a nominal charge ($5 pp) & we arrived around 11:30 a.m. Embarkation process for Latitudes members was quick; however, boarding had not begun upon completion of this process. There were several hundred people who had completed this process prior to us & they began boarding first. We had a 20 min. wait before we were allowed to board. Although cabins were not available, we dropped our carry-ons off in the cabin & proceeded to the Versailles Main DR for lunch. Lunch was good (as were all meals in this DR & elsewhere on the ship) & we returned to our cabin & spoke with our steward. At our request, he removed all beverages from the fridge so we could have room to store our own items. He did his job well & left various towel animals on 5 nights. Our cabin was small, but adequate & storage was more than ample, especially shelf space. Bathroom was larger than most ships we have sailed, with a separate toilet & a shower with sliding door. Full length mirror was located in cabin & lots of hooks (for hanging wet items or whatever). Bathroom had magnifying mirror built into wall also (for ladies to put makeup on). Hair dryer was mounted at the desk area. Outlets are limited--one in desk area & one in bathroom.

Ship--The Star's physical layout of public rooms was very choppy--to get to some locations, it was necessary to go up/down one or more decks in that area of the ship to reach a specific room. An activity that we usually participate in which was not available was "dance lessons". There are shuffleboard courts on two different decks & two table tennis tables. NCL does not issue complimentary tote bags or leave chocolates (for lowest level Latitudes) at turn-down. Their menu is also lacking in # of courses served which can speed up total time needed to eat. I was concerned we would not be able to complete dinner prior to the first show, but this was not the case. We frequently chose to share a table & enjoyed meeting other passengers. Dress code for dinner was casual (to the point of being allowed to wear shorts in the other DR (Aqua) & jeans in either. We liked the fact that extra clothing for dressing up was not required & therefore cut down on luggage weight. We also ate lunch in the DR whenever possible as we are not fond of buffets. The buffet was good & did offer numerous selections and it is open 24-hrs/day. Bar-B-Q lunch was available poolside. Pizza & ice cream (both soft & hard) available in buffet. We only utilized one extra-charge DR, the Italian La Cucina ($10) & service/food were above complimentary dining locations.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Oceanview Picture Window

Cabin OB
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