Grade for cruise "C" would only pick NCL if Princess/RCCL/Disney didn't have similar line up, passable but bottom of the pack. Picked the Star for the port lineup; 6 ports in 7 days, can't beat that ( Kotor, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Argostoli, and Dubrovnick Loved the Freestyle dining and on ship good service was very good and low upsell, get high ratings for this! Sadly found the food in buffet as well as the complimentary 2 main dining rooms below average in all respects for lunch/dinner. Breakfast was solid, but limited choices compared to Princess, hard to mess up breakfast. Did two specialty restuarants and they were solid, but if I had to pay would say they were only as good as main dining on Princess, but with more personal service, so luckily they were free, LOL DIY tours at Kotur, Corfu, Mykonos, Argostoli and Dubronvick, did NCL Ultimate Santorini to avoid the crazy tendering if you don't have a tour, was still a mess but at least got to see the big things. Standard overpriced cruise line tours but few options at this port, give that tour a "B" rating. Tendering at Kotur got an F ( two hours for tendering ticket #3, seriously broken with too few tender boats for such a large ship ). Entertainment: Two of the three rotating bands were good/average and one was simply terrible! The dancing team was good, but terrible choregraphed for their three shows. The magician while award winning was boring, we walked out twice, werent the only ones either, he needs to get some input and up his game. Entertainment wasn't a highlight, but lucky we didn't take it for it, nor cruise for the entertainment or we'd be really sad. Fitness center was solid and fully equipped, no complaints here. Disembarkation: F, who tries to disembark 2800 people thru a single gangway, we must have waited in the line almost an hour to get off and almost missed our flight home, broken system here, no excuses, they need to fix this! Overall like I said "C" due to food, entertainment, and tendering, but get good marks for port lineup and great crew and minimal upsell. Like the freestyle ambience sadly NCL needs to improve their food and fix their tendering and disembarkation and maybe we'd look at them as first choice for another cruise! Read Less

We were really excited to take this trip and were partially disappointed with our overall experience. The service by the staff was exceptional. We did opt for one of the Penthouse suites and were treated very well. However there were a few things that really disappointed us. To start with the food was not good at all. We have cruised on other lines such as Royal Caribbean and had a phenomenal restaurant experience. But the food on this ship was less than average. We couldn’t wait to get off the ship at the ports so we could eat some good food. Please keep in mind that I’m not that picky when it comes to food. In fact we were excited to eat at Burger King in the airport on our way back. So if your going on a cruise to experience great food...look elsewhere. The second thing that was mildly disappointing was there isn’t that much to do on this ship when you think of what cruise ships offer today. The theater shows were very well done and we enjoyed them very much. Also the shore excursion staff was great and we enjoyed the tours they provided but you don’t get that much time in ports compared to other trips we have taken. We had somewhere between 5-7 hours and other cruises provided a longer shore excursion experience. Probably the thing that was most irritating was the additional charge that we were surprised by at the end of our trip. We had prepaid for all of our charges and then we also paid both our butler and cleaning person a generous tip. But NCL also charged us $18 per person per day to provide tips to all of their crew that typically don’t get tips for their service. I don’t know why NCL is supplementing their payroll by charging passengers an additional $250,000-300,000 per cruise but that was ridiculous for a total crew count of 1,100 members. We have never been charged this fee on other cruise lines when you prepay your tips already. After spending over $8,000 for two people, we felt that the experience should have been better. Sorry to say but it’s back to Royal Caribbean or some other line for us. NCL is off the list. Read Less

I chose this trip because of the ports and the timing worked with my grown children's and grandchild"s schedules. We had adjoining balcony rooms on deck 10 (starboard) and my son had a balcony on 9( port) so a great view always available. We came in early to avoid flight problems and to have extra time in Venice. The hotel associated with the Cruise line (Crown Plaza Quartro del Altro)was nearer the airport but located right on the train line (30 min.ride) to Venice, thus allowing us 2 full days and evening in Venice. The transports from the airport and to and from the Star was effortless and smooth. People were there to help every step of the way. Embarking and Disembarking went like clockwork and transportation was seamless. We left Venice at Sunset and the view was stunning. We arrived back at Sunrise....no better lighting to see Venice from the ship. All of our excursions were better than I anticipated in the views and experience offered although more physically challenging than I was anticipating (but I am 70). Staff was always friendly and very professional. Housekeeping was very friendly and did a wonderful job of caring for our rooms and our request. Room service in the morning was very timely and delicious to enjoy on our balcony. Meals in the dining rooms was fun, fancy and very good. Specialty Dining was very fun and took our celebrations of birthdays to a very fun level...loved the cake. The Spa was never crowded, the thermal suite was always available and never crowded. I had a perfect manny/peddy on our last day that was so wonderful. My granddaughter loved the Kid's Splash Academy although it was a little hard to locate on the ship. Signage could be better in public areas in terms of Aft/Forward...a few more public clocks with ship time would be helpful too...but all in all we never missed a thing. And I won in the casino! Thank you NCL. Only real criticism is the Magician the first night was awful...#MeToo people....old man humor..no, no! Read Less

Embarkation (and disembarkation) was very straight forward and we were on the ship within 15 minutes of arriving. The ship is in a good state of repair and is clean. It’s true, it is a little difficult to navigate your way around and it’s frustrating when you know where you want to go but can’t get there because there are no doors for passenger access. That aside, this is the quietest and smoothest ship I’ve ever been on - no vibration, no rumbles, no drone of engines. We had an inside cabin which had everything we needed - good storage; roomy shower; great hairdryer; plenty of mirrors. We had a drinks package and found all drinks to be of high quality and served with generosity. Food was also of good quality in all restaurants and it was especially good to have so many to choose from. We enjoyed having the dining package (for speciality restaurants) and we’re very pleasantly surprised at the degree of choice on offer as well as the quality of the food. Service was excellent across the board. All of the staff seemed relaxed and happy yet very focused on doing a good job. We didn’t once experience anyone trying to sell us anything. The dress code is SUPER casual. I didn’t wear any of the clothes I’d taken for the evening instead wearing the clothes I’d taken for the daytime. But that led to a very relaxed and casual atmosphere. We didn’t particularly care for the entertainment overall although we did enjoy ‘Paradis’. Maybe it was geared more towards families than adults (understandably) and so we found it to be a bit dull and amateurish. It was also disappointing that there was no bar at the bow of the ship with sea views or an open air bar at the stern of the ship (apart from Spice H20 which has limited seating and was quite enclosed with limited views). On this itinerary the ship didn’t stay long in most ports (just a few hours) which didn’t bother us especially but I know some people were a bit disappointed by that. The gym was quite poor as it had no sea view and was quite small. That said the equipment was all in good order. The jogging deck was very good as the outside edge of the deck was screened off especially for running whereas walkers took an inside track. Read Less

The cruise was an awesome experience especially as I was traveling with a large group. The staff was awesome, especially at the Topsiders lounge.My only complaint was the shore excursions. Each port had at least 2-5 cruise ships tendering at the same time. This caused chaos as their were thousands of travelers trying to see the same port at the same time with limited transportation options. The 2+ hours waiting for transportation was insane and the limited time at each destination made it very frustrating to enjoy the island. This may be an issue that the cruise industry should address as it wasn't just an NCL problem. The more popular destinations i.e. Santorini and Croatia seemed to have the most difficulty with transportation and not enough time in port. There should not be 6 cruise ships at these destinations, at the same time. It was the highlight of my trip and ultimately the most difficult to enjoy due to the crowds. Read Less

We have done the majority of our cruising on DCL but as our boys aged we decided to try other cruise lines. We cruised the Med last summer with RC and we wanted to experience sailing the Adriatic and I especially wanted to experience Venice. After much research, NCL offered us the best itinerary. Port times were short but we did enjoy the variety of places we visited. We stayed at Hotel Villa Rosa for a few days before the cruise. It is a short walk to the train station and about a 30-minute total walk to the port. We didn't use the people mover and found the walk easy. (I did notice it is still a 10-minute walk from the people mover to the port.) Venice is not a large suitcase friendly city and we saw many tourists struggling to navigate the many bridges with large suitcases. We are a family of four (17 and 13-year-old boys) and we only travel with carry on luggage. This trip, including before and after the cruise was a total of 16 days (5 flights, 5 trains, 2 hostels, 3 hotels) so we have learned to pack light and travel with fewer hassles. We booked in an inside stateroom on deck 12. The room worked well for us. There was plenty of room for our luggage and the bathroom was roomy compared to some of the hostels we have stayed at. The location was a 30-second walk to the pool deck and the Garden Buffet. I do wish the in-cabin movie selection was better. I know most people do not intend to spend a lot of time in their rooms but we do enjoy watching a movie as a way to unwind after a long day. This is a great perk on DCL. The room steward kept our room clean and we had no issues. We did have him push together the bottom beds to make a queen size bed, but this does really limit space in the cabin. We did enjoy some of the entertainment. The comedian/magician was entertaining as well as the aerialists. We did not care for the Tango dancers or the "big production" shows and ended up not staying more than a few minutes. We did the trivia and other family activities offered and they were enjoyable. We did not visit the casino and never encounter much smoke. There is smoking allowed at the Sky High bar but we usually just grabbed a drink and moved on. The Garden Buffet was good but people tend to needlessly line-up. There are multiple buffet lanes but the lines at the first lanes were always long. *Pro tip* head to the port side of the buffet for more buffet lanes and more seating. We never had to wait for a table on the port side and the furthest buffet lane was always empty even the omelette station was no waiting. The service in the restaurants was hit or miss. Versaille was much better than Aqua. I did have to get the head waiter involved with our unacceptable service in Aqua. He did his best to take care of us the next evening. O'Sheehan's was a lesson in patience and they always seemed understaffed, but the food was good. It wasn't terrible service just not at the level we were expecting. There is only one pool but seven hot tubs. There are a lot of loungers and for those looking to sunbathe there was plenty of room but it may not have been on the pool deck. Disembarkation was very smooth and we did utilize self assist. We ate in the buffet and headed off the ship about 9:00 am. We walked to the train station to catch our 10:50 train to Milan. PORTS We found out after we boarded that our stop in Kotor was changed to Bar, Montenegro. I was super bummed about missing Kotor! The ship docked in Bar and port time was 4:30-9:30 pm. The dock is in an industrial area and passengers are shuttled to the city center. Bar is a regular city with not much to offer tourists, but they do have a beautiful church. Our plan was to find Avis and rent a car for a few hours. We never did find Avis but in a strange twist of fate we ended up renting a car from a resident and driving the 45 minutes to Budva. It was a nice drive and Budva was a quaint city with a walled old town to explore. We drove back to Bar and checked out the "Oldest Olive Tree" and dropped the car back off. We headed back to the city center and grabbed the shuttle back to the ship. Corfu 10-3:30 Dock We walked the 20-25 minutes to the Old Fortress. We climbed to the top to see the views. It was challenging since it was pretty hot, but the views were worth it. We then walked a short distance to a bar/restaurant named Imabari that offers a swimming area. We ordered a few drinks and enjoyed the water and the views. Around 2:30 we headed back to the ship. Santorini 2-9:30 Tender It was announced that tender tickets were going to be handed out starting at 11am in the Bliss lounge. I was worried about the tender process and I did not want to end up waiting for hours for a tender so I grabbed a book and headed to the Bliss lounge at 8:30. There was one other person waiting. The staff came by and said we didn't have to line up for tender tickets but we were completely content with waiting and soon the line grew pretty long. The crew started handing out the tender ticket at 10:40 and we got tender #1. By the time I left the lounge, they were on tender #5. We expected the tenders to start being called at 2 but we arrived early and the crew started calling tenders at 12:30. The process was very quick and the tenders held around 200 people. We were on that first tender. At the tender port, we took the high-speed boat to Oia. It was 15 Euros a person which included the boat, bus to Oia and then a bus to Thira. We had decided to do the 11km /6-mile walk to Thira from Oia. It was a tough hike that took about 3 hours but the scenery was beautiful. After we arrived in Thira we took in the sunset and then walked down the donkey trail to catch the 9:15 tender back to the ship. It was an amazing day! Mykonos 8-2:30 tender We took today easy and did not worry about getting on an early tender. We got on a tender around 9-9:30 and just walked along the water to the 5 windmills. We explored the area for a while and decided to check out Mykonos Brewing Company. It was a 20-minute walk from the main tourist area. The brewery was great. They offered a flight of 6 beers for 10 Euros. The beers were very fresh and the staff was friendly. We walked back to the tender pick up spot and got back on the ship. Argostoli, Kefalonia 9-2:30 Dock We rented a car from Thalassa Car rental. It was really smooth and they were waiting at the dock for us. We drove to Melissani cave and did the boat ride. We drove to Asos to climb to the Venetian castle ruins. The lookout for Myrtos beach is along the way and we stopped for some pictures. We ran into a road closure on the way back to Argostoli which added a little stress but we made it back at 2:20 and joined a long line of other passengers embarking. Dubrovnik, Croatia 7:30-12:30 pm Dock We were able to disembark around 7:15 and headed to the ATM at the port to get some local currency. We took the 275 Kuna (50 Euro) 1-hour panoramic cab tour. The prices are set by the local government so all cabs charge the same. The tour was great and included wonderful views of the walls and a brief history of Croatia. Our driver dropped us at the Pile Gate. I had bought tickets to walk the walls online to avoid the lines. Walking the walls is a great experience, but it was hot and bottled water along the walls was expensive. It took us about 90 minutes to complete the whole walk. We spent some time exploring a farmers market and around 11 decided to walk back to the port. The walk was easy and less than 3 miles. I heard from other passengers that the shuttle buses were very slow and traffic to and from the port was very heavy. There were 3 cruise ships in port when we were there. Read Less

I chose this cruise for the itinerary. Santorini has been on my bucket list for a while. We have never been to Europe before so I don't know how these ports compare but we absolutely loved it. We traveled from the U.S. as a couple. We went a couple of days early to explore Venice. Walked on foot the entire area and took a gondola ride....cheesy maybe, but sure saw some beautiful sights doing it. Had peach bellinis and pizza in the square...Piazza San Marco. The only Norwegian excursion we did was the hike in Kotor. Over 1,030 steps and Igor, our guide, was excellent. Kotor, Montenegro was very beautiful. Tendering took a bit but very much worth it. In Corfu, we took a taxi to the beach. I can't remember the name, but it was highly recommended by the locals. It had a restaurant and bar, was clean and beautiful and not too crowded. In Mykonos, we took a taxi to "Little Venice" and spent an easy day shopping and walking. Some friends we made on the boat said the ruins in Mykonos were awesome, so wish maybe we had done that too. Kephalonia was one of our favorites. Again, we took a private transfer, thru Trip Advisor actually, and went to Myrtos Beach, absolutely stunning. Not much there.....a little drink hut, chairs/umbrellas....but a scenic drive and fantastic day at the beach here. It was nice to get away from the crowds. In Santorini, we hired a private guide that took us from one end of the island to the other, from the Black sand beaches to Oia and everything in between. The ship arrived 2 hours early here and that was great for us, gave us time to have lunch and dinner here.....dinner at Remvi in Fira overlooking the caldera and watching the sunset. Not as crowded as I thought it would be. There are no words to describe how beautiful it was to me. Dubrovnik was our last stop and we did a Game of Thrones tour here thru Trip Advisor. The ship's tour was sold out. But I think it worked out better because there was only ten of us in this group and it was a lot easier to get around and see more. I do wish we had more time in Dubrovnik. This is the only port where I felt rushed. The ship leaves at 1:30 on this day. But still it is a beautiful place and worth seeing for sure! As far as the ship.....it was refurbished last year I was told. I thought the room was great and the main areas and restaurants were nice and clean. I am not too picky about the amenities and the food. Cruise ship food, to me, has never been just out of this world good. Its just ok. The drinks were good. As for music, we enjoyed Jason at the Five O'Clock somewhere bar and Dave at Gatsby's Piano bar. Our room steward did an excellent job too. Hardworking and friendly crew for sure! In fact, I only encountered ONE rude person the entire trip. The breakfast buffet area was really crowded some mornings and hard to find seating. I sat down at a table and a few minutes later a woman sits down and says she had saved that table with a rolled up silverware?!? Really? They have little baskets full of several sets of rolled up silverware on every table? How is that a sign that she had saved a table?! Anyway, I am a easy going person so I said no problem and left. Its vacation after all.....relax people. All in all, we loved this trip from start to finish. If you are extremely picky, have small children, or not in health/condition to get off the ship everyday and explore, then maybe this cruise won't appeal to you. We loved that the ship stopped at a different port every single day and we explored every minute we could! That is why we chose this cruise and it did not disappoint! I will add that we went on June 9th....the crowds were fine and it was pretty hot. I have heard July and August are super crowded. So I think June was a great time to go. I can't imagine if it had been way more crowded and hotter! Disembarking and embarking all went smoothly! No complaints here. Read Less

Horrible Customer Service. Never again! The boat itself was very nice. Our view from the deck of our Penthouse suite was amazing. The room was well outfitted and comfortable. Everything else about this cruise was poor. The service was appalling. The front desk were the worst. We had a problem with a billing error that they made. I caught it by monitoring my online account. I called the front desk, waiting patiently while all the info was entered. The person saw the problem and that it was their error but told me that I had to come down now to get it fixed. I was sick and told him so. He said I had to come down anyway. I went down, waited in a long line, then had to go through the whole thing again with someone new who then told me that they would have to contact the restaurant to get it fixed and the restaurant would be closed for two more hours! So I would have to come back in the morning, disembarkation day, and wait in line again. (All of this, the unhelpful person I spoke to on the phone clearly knew and had me come down anyway.) The next morning, waited in line again, explained again, was told to "move to the side" while they called the restaurant. Restaurant did not answer so the person said "next" and handled the next people in line. I stood there for 10 minutes before she decided to try the restaurant again. My husband then arrived to see what was going on and asked to speak to a supervisor who solved the problem after another wait, apologized but with no real intent, dismissively and with an annoyed tone of voice. I wrote all this down and sent a note to the Cruise Manager telling him about the incident and after several weeks have heard nothing back. There were other poor service issues. I had restaurant reservations messed up twice by staff even after we caught the error in advance and told them about it. We had someone else's laundry delivered to our room. One morning, we rushed into the "suite only" superior restaurant and explained that we had to get breakfast fast since we were running late for an excursion. They said "no problem" then ignored us for a long time. In the end our food came out 30 minutes later and we had to leave as it was being brought to our table so we didn't get to eat breakfast that morning. On embarkation day we called Norwegian and were told we could not get on the boat till 12. This was a problem because the Vogolonga was happening in Venice and the canals were closing for the race. We ended up hanging out, with our luggage, in a cafe near the train station. When we got on the boat we found out that we were given wrong info and could have got on around 10am. We had several other problems but these were the worst ones. Shore excursions....Great tour of the palace with excellent tour director on Corfu but the lunch at a Greek Taverna was awful. We are not complainers. I have been on other cruises (from low end, Carnival, to high end, Silver Seas) and have never complained about anything before. This was just so bad I felt I had to. Overall, I would not choose Norwegian again. Read Less

We chose this ship as it holds only 2,400, had recently been refurnished and went to Venice. We booked our own flight cheaper than Norwegian and stayed in Venice an extra day. We stayed at the Hotel Agli Artisti right by the train station and Plaza Roma. It is a 3 star clean nothing fancy but served the purpose. Took the people mover from Plaza Roma to the cruise ship and followed the white lines still lots of walking as our ship was the furthers away. Embarkation was a bit confusing as to where and what you should be doing. We had a sail away inside cabin which the ships assigned and were on the 8th floor front no problems. Room was small but quiet not much storage too many pillows on bed and no where to put them. Dining main buffet was okay for a quick breakfast or lunch lots of tables outside and inside. We are in Versailles main dining for dinner great food and service. No wait as we went right when they opened for the evening meal at 5:30pm. One night we ate at Aqua didn't enjoy as much too noisy and not as great as service but same menu as Versailles. We didn't do any specialty restaurants. Pool is small for amount of people lots of lounge chairs loud music playing all the time. Entertainment was hit and miss a couple of excellent production evenings and a couple of wipe outs like the tango dancers. Disembarkation was confusing but lucky we arrived early 1 1/2 hours and finally got off the time we were scheduled for. Service was great on ship. Only complaint I would have the times in port were short. Kotor was tendered and it was a disaster. The day before you line up for a number and we got group 12. First they do people taking tours then silver and platinum members and then the groups. You couldn't hear what group they were calling and where you should go and it took us 1 1/2 hours to get off. Each boat only holds 90 people. Kotor was only 3pm to 8pm so not a lot of time. Corfu took shuttle from boat to pier and then local bus for 1.50Euro and toured the old town via a walking tour. Santorini was tendered also more effecient as the boats heal 300 each. We took the ship tour of winery and Oia. Ship arrived 3 hours early so lost that time we could have been off the ship only there 2 to 10pm. Very crowded and busy waited over 1 hour for cable car to go down to port. Mykonos took ship shuttle to port gates and walked around took Sea Bus $2 euros to port. Argostolion walked around town very clean and new. Dubrovnik not much time there 7:30am to 1:30pm so took ship shuttle for $15 return to old town and walked around and took a glass bottom boat tour for 10Euro. We would sale Norwegian again love their food and ships. Read Less

We chose this itinerary because we were celebrating a milestone birthday, it was out of Venice, and we hadn't been to the Greek Islands yet. The itinerary was fantastic and we really enjoyed each stop. With no at-sea days and limited times at each stop, some may find it more rushed, but we thought it was great. Entertainment - The two productions were great, as were the aerial gymnasts. We did not attend the flamenco or magician shows. The Five O'Clock Somewhere bar was a good location for the karaoke, which they did every other night. For a European cruise it seemed odd that there was so much live Latin music. Also, the casino and gym are tiny - not big enough to support over 2,000 guests on the ship. Food - the quality of the food in the specialty restaurants were fantastic, and the service was good. We would rank them as Le Bistro the best, Cucina second, and Cagney's third best. We did not go to Moderno or Teppanyaki. We were not huge fans of the Ginza restaurant - it tasted like typical food you get from a local Chinese food restaurant. We did not go the main dining room or the buffet, so can't comment on those. Ship - seemed to be in good shape for an older ship. It never seemed overly packed (except in the Casino) and the H20 and pool areas is well designed with alot of space. The flow near the Spa/Gym seemed strange - we could never get there direct and it seemed like we were always walking through the buffet to get there. Service - the service was great throughout the cruise. The staff was always helpful and approachable. Overall, we would definitely sail the Star again and would do this itinerary again. Read Less

I LOVE the itinerary of the NCL Jade. I’ve been on other Mediterranean cruises with other lines who were organized so one cannot say oh that’s how they do things in Europe. The Jade had poor communication from the time we checked in (late 2 1/2 hr start was never emailed to us— a little more time in Venice would have been nice!) until debarkation in a quonsa hut in Rome. No porters were available for embarkation. The one NCL rep giving directions, gave incorrect information causing everyone to drags their bags twice as far. They just didn’t have enough help! All of the excursions met in the theater at the same time and it was chaotic and delayed or slowed down the departures. I spoke with Dawid at the desk and asked him why different excursions didn’t meet in the multitude of lounges. He said I wish we had the staff! My cabin steward was OUTSTANDING! My mini-suite door lock probably needed changing since my sister and I had to get our card re-keyed several times. The cabin steward always knew when we needed to get into the room! The entertainment was average and they did a fabulous Cuba show one night. The food was tasty but the entrees in the dining room were not hot. I spoke with the assistant maitre d and he said he would look into it. There was no change the next night so I wrote a complaint at the front desk. The following day I received a message and an apology from the dining room manager and from that night the food was hot and delicious! Some of the excursions were good, others sub-standard. Beware if you take the scenic views of Malta excursion and are taller than 5’4”. The buses are very old and the amount of room between the seats is worse than the airlines! It was not enjoyable. In Naples, we booked the HOHO with NCL (we had $50/port off excursions perc). They knew exactly how many tickets were sold so they should have had buses waiting. Nope. 45 minutes wastes waiting! When we returned to the ship we tried to retrace our footsteps, but a guard would not let us pass. We followed a general sign “to the ship” which led us to the second floor of a building with NO information or direction how to return to the Jade. Finally a staff member from the ship was returning and we followed her. I was not the only passenger looking for the way back! CRAZY. A note of concern was the steep ramps at most of the ports. The angle was so steep that it was hard to stop mid ramp. All in all, I enjoyed the cruise, but I could not recommend the NCL Jade to others. Read Less

It is an excellent cruise, very good size and distribution. The ship's staff is very attentive and always giving excellent service.  The cabin is wide, with a very good bathroom (bigger than the regular bathroom). The restaurants and the buffet are very good with lots of variety. It has several restaurants for at night, although without a doubt; the best is the Grand Pacific. Some restaurants do not have the possibility to make a reservation, then they give you a locator and you can walk around the boat while you wait for your turn (it does not work in the cabins / approximate time of waiting 30 minutes depending on the time). It has various activities throughout the day in different spaces. We did only 2 excursions with the cruise, and in general they were very good; but to the ports that we arrived without an excursion, we took some of those offered by other companies when we got off. The disembarkation in Civitavecchia (Rome) was somewhat congested and the buses were not enough for people to leave the port. Read Less

Food and service at the Le Bistro was very poor. So much so that we complained and were offered a free return visit, but we chose to not even waste an evening trying again. On the other hand, Cagney's was excellent and we ate there twice. The "included" meals were maybe a small step above institutional...not much to brag about. The menu at the "Irish Pub" was very limited and, no surprise, the place was almost always a ghost town. Someone needs to look at what your typical "brew pub" in America looks like in terms of offerings and decor, and re-brand it accordingly, including a greatly expanded menu. For some specific feedback, I had the "Buffalo" wings; but they must have mixed the Buffalo Sause with the Asian Sause because they came sweet and syrupy (or maybe they're just the same sauce). The Fitness Center was maintained at too warm a temperature. The aerobic equipment was a cheap off-brand focused more on the electronics and display than quality of the equipment. Every piece I tried, I found the movement/body motion to be unnatural, and, due to their light weight, they couldn't hold-up to my rigorous activity level and 200 pound weight (wobbled wildly). One elliptical kept freezing and had to be restarted (power on/off) several times by the attendant. The process for calling excursions and getting your number stickers seemed to change every day. Made it difficult to be smart about where to sit and wait for our number to be called while minimizing unnecessary steps up and down the steep theater aisles. We purchased the four-excursion package which was advertised to offer 20% savings on those four, PLUS 20% off on any additional excursions purchased that cruise. The extra 20% off additional excursions was not reflected on our final bill and I had to go down to guest services right before disembarking to get it corrected. After a few phone calls, the agent adjusted the bill, but then could only give me a refund in USD cash...quite useless in Venice (why not back onto same credit card???). Bottom line is that I should not have had to ask for the discount; it should have been automatically applied. Read Less

This was my first cruise on Norwegian. I was looking to sail the Greek Isles for some time and wanted to marry it with a side trip to Venice. This one came up in my search so I jumped at the chance and booked it. Six friends traveled together and we all had a wonderful time. The food in the dining rooms (Aqua, Versailles & O'Sheehan's) was great. I found the buffet lacking in variety. It was difficult to find a table on occasion, especially at peak times. The excursions were good but Kefalonia can use some tweaking. All of the Norwegian tour buses showed up at Melissani Lake at the same time and we waited in the hot sun for over an hour. The boat tour of the lake was cut from 20 minutes to 10 because of the large volume of tourists. Personally, I would skip Corfu and add more time to Dubrovnik. It was a pity that this port time was so short. So beautiful and so little time to experience it. The staff onboard were terrific - friendly, courteous and helpful. Read Less

We have sailed with NCL and other cruise lines and we felt that on this cruise the service and the quality of the food was definitely declining. The food in the Garden Cafe was not well displayed and the way the cafe is laid out makes it very difficult to get to the buffet. There was limited seating and it was incredibly noisy - we avoided the Cafe as much as possible and ate in O'Sheehan's which was easy to get into and quiet enough to carry on a conversation, but the menu is quite limited. We ate in the main dining room, Versaille a few evenings and mornings for breakfast and the service was just terrible - our food never came at the same time, sometimes it was cold and sometimes items were missing. The menu was also not very appealing - not once was steak and lobster on the menu. We ate at the speciality dining restaurants 3 nights and they were all excellent. As for the bars - they were always understaffed so we had to stand at the bar to order our drinks and usually there was only one bartender so it took a long time just to get a glass of wine. We typically met in Gatsby's. The couple we were traveling with were in a cabin that had a faulty toilet and for the entire 8 day trip they had to call Guest Services to have a plumber come fix the toilet and then wait for housekeeping to come clean up the water all over the bathroom floor! Literally everyday, and sometimes twice a day they spent time in their cabin waiting for a plumber I'm pretty sure none of us will travel on the Star again. The itinerary was spectacular even though we missed a stop in Kotor - our captain said the weather was too bad to get into the port. However when we spoke to our tour guide abou canceling our planned tour he said our Captain made a big mistake because the weather was beautiful. Very disappointing. I'm all about safety, but I felt they skipped this stop out of convenience to the ship, not because of weather. Read Less

This is the cruise my husband picked to celebrate his 50th birthday. We had been to the majority of the places before but he wanted to see them again. The ship was great. The stadium seating at the pool was an added bonus. The ship seemed to have quit a few areas to sit and relax if you did not want to be in your room or if you did not have a balcony. There were 2 issues I had with the cruise. 1 was the Specialty Dining restaurants. La Cucina/Italian restaurant my food was so bad I didn't eat it (a fish dish). Ginza Asian Restaurant was inconsistent (calamari cooked fine 1 day and uneatable the next when other family members tried and sweet and sour pork uneatable when I went and other family members on a different day). Sushi bar was excellent. Fortunately I had Specialty Dining Package promo so the specialty restaurants were free but I felt bad for the family members (8 more people) that joined us on the trip and 6 of them had to pay for what I would rate as poor quality food. Cagney's Steakhouse was good food but very poor service ( orders incorrect, not being able to find our server, unable to order drinks, not getting appetizers that were ordered). The only Specialty Restaurant that we went to that was excellent all around was Le Bistro French Restaurant. Excellent service and not 1 issue from any of the dishes that were ordered. 2nd issue was, as noted above, we had a total of 10 family members on our trip. Cabin level does not matter but we all had balcony level or above. We had a family member in cabin 10538 that was unable to get their cabin cleaned consistently on multiple days. They would see the person responsible for cleaning the room in the hall and advise of a good time to clean the cabin and come back hours later and the cabin still wasn't cleaned. They would call the service desk and request the cabin to be cleaned and still no service. I one instance the service desk actually requested that they stop calling. And........they also found 2 bags of dirty towels under their bed which they know was not their when they arrived because they placed their suitcase under the bed so they know nothing was there. And to add.......Thermal Suite was great. We were in suite 10006 and our service was excellent from everyone servicing our cabin. Noy, RD and our concierge (sorry, I hope the names are correct). Noy helped me set up a surprise birthday get-to-gether which went perfectly thanks to him. Overall we had experiences that went from excellent to terrible for us and other family members. Read Less

We chose this cruise because the itinerary gave us opportunity to see both Venice & Rome along with Adriatic stops (Dubrovnik & Kotor), Greece (Athens & Santorini) & Naples so we could see the Amalfi Coast. ROOM The boat was refurbished recently so the room was very nice. We had an obstructed ocean view room that still offered quite a view. The room was clean and had plenty of storage space. The bed was very comfortable. MAIN DINING ROOM/BUFFET We ate most dinners as well as a couple breakfasts & lunch in the main dining rooms. Food and service was very good. I enjoyed my dinners in main dining room as much as I did in the specialty restaurants. One of the most difficult things was finding a seat in the buffet for breakfast. It was very crowded since ship was at full capacity. It was frustrating wandering around looking for a seat along with many others hovering around the busboys waiting for them to clean a table. RESTAURANTS We ate at--Cagney's La Cucina & Le Bistro. Food was good but we had a very long wait. At Le Bistro it took an 1 hr 45 min before we got dinner. Cagney's was a little better 1-1/2 hr. If I had to do it again, I would probably not choose the specialty restaurants as one of the free at sea perks. We also ate at Ginza. The food was not that good and they also had a ridiculous wait. We had breakfast once in O'Sheehan's. They have a limited menu but it was good and you could get a booth near the big windows. SHIP We enjoyed Gatsby Bar and Spice H20. Unfortunately, they very limited comfortable seating which goes very fast. They mostly have tables & chairs. We were sailing off season and weather was not the best, but I would imagine during high season it would be packed. They have a good amount of seating on each end of the ship that provides some quieter areas if you don't want to be around the main pool. The shopping is very limited. ENTERTAINMENT The Band on the Run show was excellent! We did not attend the others. The midship band that played near O'Sheehan's as was all the music on the ship. They have karaoke in 5'OClock Somewhere bar. The Sugarcane Mojito Bar was just a bar in the Brazilian specialty restaurant so if you went at night there was nowhere to sit except right at the bar. SERVICE Service was good. Our room steward attended to a draining issue we were having and was very friendly. Most of the wait staff was friendly. SPA You have ZERO access to steam room or sauna or anything unless you purchase a thermal suite pass. The thermal suite was rather small with maybe 10 or so of the thermal beds. We received services which were well done. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of its itinerary. We looked forward to seeing three ports we wanted to revisit and two we’d never seen. Sadly, the weather kept us from seeing one of the two we’d never been to. We traveled with our daughter and son-in-law. Young adults do their thing during the day. “Old” adults do their thing and we all meet up for dinner and entertainment. That said, the entertainment on this cruise was not up to our expectations. We’d cruised with Norwegian twice before and really enjoyed the shows. Not so much this time. Also the food service varied greatly depending on the venue. The service in the pub was terrible. One meal never arrived. After two additional requests and the other diner finishing, we left. The service in the Asian restaurant was also not great. The server spilled something on the table twice and even though he said oops, we still had to ask him to wipe it up both times. The food and service in the Italian and steak restaurants was excellent. The main dining room was as expected. The shore excursions were fine. We particularly enjoyed Herculaneum having been to Pompeii previously and the Game of Thrones tour in Dubrovnik. Read Less

We loved the refurbished Norwegian Star!!! The ship was beautiful and the food was great. I have food restrictions and they took very good care of me. I had a special meal prepared for me every time we went to the dining room. I also loved the freestyle dining as well. The entertainment/shows were also great. We booked all our excursions through NCL and we were really pleased with our tours and the guides that we had. The disembarkation and embarkation were well organized. We never had issues getting off and on the ship. We had a mid-ship mini suite with a balcony. It was roomy enough for the 3 of us, it was also very clean. We had purchased the thermal spa package...it was awesome. All the staff were great. I would definitely cruise with Norwegian again and will recommend this cruise to my family and friends! What a wonderful trip!!! Read Less

I chose Norwegian star for its itinerary: Venice, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Athens, Santorini, Naples, Rome. I was my first time visiting these ports except Rome, loved all the ports we visited ! Comparing to 2 previous cruise with MSC and RCL, Norwegian star is the best. Staff is very friendly and attentive, service is excellent. When we return from excursion at each port, they were waiting for us with towel and water outside the ship. Food is very good at the complementary restaurants: the buffet, Versaille, aqua, and Ginza. Staff is always very quick picking up the dirty dishes. It could get busy at buffet at peak hours, sometimes hard to find a table. On the sea day, I enjoyed time on the sundeck, listen to the Latin music. Cabin is clean. But I feel the size is a bit smaller than other cruise lines. Entertainment is good, but has room to improve. Read Less

First time on Norwegian had a outside cabin mid ship no complaints had 14 bottles of water plenty clean towels cabin boy always asking if we need anything every restaurant food really good all the bars had good selection of drinks in the drinks package up to the value of 20 dollars peronni Stella corona Newcastle brown strong bow prossecco etc so no complaints never any lines at bars restaurants or getting on or off the ship the staff give it a extra lift always helpful and happy the 5 o’clock bar team dinesh harmalkar Sergio Castillo suson numez arismantara were 5 star the gatsys bar team cocktails to die for sadab saheed Mahdi taufig very good they never let your glass get empty even when you are on your sunded they are running round keeping you topped up the food always hot and plentiful service really good in all the restaurants making sure everything perfect no complaints Read Less

SHIP - I had always wanted to do a Mediterranean cruise but the joke was on me since this was a mainly Adriatic Sea cruise. We chose NCL because we wanted to experience NCL, the price was eye-catching and the itinerary round trip from Venice included a couple of stops I wanted to visit. CABIN - We booked an inside cabin just below LaCucina which I was concerned about because of the restaurant noise. Thirty days out, I placed a minimum bid on an ocean view room which we "won" for $50 per person. Room 5018 has a king-sized bed but there is a bunk bed jutting out of the wall about 8" so getting into and out of bed you had to be aware of it. On the other side, there is a very narrow area between the bed and desk. Hubby and I thought about getting them separated into singles to avoid these obstacles but took no action. If you want to sit, there is only one small ottoman stool or the bed. This room is near the stairwell/elevators and one floor down from the theater and casino but we never heard extra noise - just the usual loud ship creaks and bangs and that wonderful sound of the ship cutting through the waves. I did not even know we had next door neighbors until our last evening when we heard them briefly speaking loudly before heading back out. There is plenty of storage for two people - 7 drawers, many open shelves, 2 bedside tables, etc. The bathroom was fine for one person at a time. There is a door between the toilet and sink but doesn't offer any privacy. The sink faucet was made for a kitchen sink. There was always super hot water and strong shower spray. DINING - Our first night we ended up at O'Sheehan's by chance. We went straight there from the safety drill and got a window table and was very fortunate to view Venice from this vantage point for sailaway. They offered prime rib after 6pm so we ordered soup and appetizers until it was time to order the prime rib - it was pretty good. The service was odd - one guy took our order then we saw him serving across the room, another delivered our food and then a girl removed our dishes without asking if we needed anything else. It was our first and last time in O'Sheehan's. For some reason, we at most of our meals in the Garden Cafe buffet. We would stop in to see what was being offered then pick up a few munchies and end up eating a full meal. The people-watching here was also the most entertaining and the young men clearing the tables were always clearing and wiping in an unhurried manner. We ate in Aqua one evening but our waitress was silly and her service was slipshod (bringing the coffee cup then forgetting to bring the coffee until prompted, bringing the bar drinks for the table next to us but not bringing our until prompted, she took my keycard for my bar drink and I did not get it back and had to get a new one the next morning). The tables for two are very close together and lined up against the wall. We ate at Topsiders once but did not care for it. A hamburger and hot dog are just a hamburger and hot dog but when the bun is hard or the meat looks like it's been sitting a while well, it's time to take a few steps over to the ice cream bar or a few more steps to the alcohol bar and all three are next to each other next to the pool (so convenient). We did not eat in Versailles until our fifth night of the cruise and fell in love. We ate dinner there two nights in a row - why oh why did we not eat here sooner. This is the most beautiful restaurant offering the best service and delicious food. We did not eat in any of the Specialty Dining restaurants-did not feel the need to. We had the UBP and it was very convenient that you could pick up two drinks at a time but my liver is now is detox. Some bartenders mix drinks slightly differently than others so you'll hopefully find your favorite - you can tell by the friendly greetings between bartenders and passengers that this connection was made. ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES - We went to the first night's show, the Paradis show and the Marco Romano show all in the Stardust Theater. The Paradis show was the most entertaining with excellent singing and dancing and sexiness. Marco Romano is an Italian with a huge voice. At the first night's show, he sang an excellent Nessun Dorma but there was so much microphone feedback, it was distracting and the back-of-house-staff should remedy this so it never happens again. Sadly, you had to wait until the last night of the cruise to hear him again. Excellent, excellent singer and I'll be blasting his CD. We attended the towel animal demo - a 1/2 hour of silly fun and they make it looks so easy. We played a couple of bingo games - $69 for the large package with the lowest package being $29. I shared a four corners jackpot with another winner receiving $174 (yeah!). I also listened to the Q&A with the captain and senior officers which was very educational especially with one woman asking a question and whining about an excursion being cancelled and the captain first apologizing then answering politely but firmly that there may be multiple reasons for cancellation and to see the officer to his right for assistance. I spent too much time (and lost too much money) in the casino but enjoyed it except for the smoking that's allowed. I also attended an origami workshop and it was a one-on-one activity with the instructor as I was the only one there. We purchased the thermal spa pass and used it a total of 4 times. It was very relaxing on the heated loungers but I ended up falling asleep and I'm sure snoring each time I used one. SERVICE - We found all staff to be friendly and ready to do anything for you. Except for the couple of staff I've described in the dining section, they all did their jobs in an unhurried and professional manner. There may be a line in front of one bartender but he would get through each customer quickly one at a time in an unhurried manner. The Garden Cafe staff always greeted you with a "good morning" or "good afternoon". Our room steward, Sunhi, always had a big smile on his face but was unintrusive. We hardly saw him but always saw the result of his twice daily visits including the towel animals (I'm 58 and still love those). PORTS and SHORE EXCURSIONS - Dubrovnik - we paid for the NCL shuttle $20 each round trip and did a Game of Thrones self-guided tour and walked the city walls. Be prepared to pay in the Croatian kuna or VISA but there are many places to exchange funds near the city wall entry. Also be prepared to commit to walk many, many stairs. There really is no turning back if you get tired. Kotor - this was our only tender port and we opted to walk into the historic town on our own for a bit of shopping. Be prepared to see the cats of Kotor lounging in many areas of the town. Katakolon- we opted to walk the small waterfront village taking a horse drawn carriage down the beach and having a snack at one of the restaurants then a bit more shopping. Athens - I have visited here before so knew the basic city layout. Our plan was to take the X80 then visit a few of the main historic sites. A very good looking Greek greeted us near the taxi area and pointed the way to catch the X80 but offered us a private tour for 120euro - his name is Dimitri and operates Dimitris Taxi. We ended up taking him up on this service and somehow we were able to zip through the traffic seeing these main historic sights including Lykavittos Hill. He was very specific with directions for us and where he would be waiting when we were done. We saw so much in such a short amount of time. Split - This was the only excursion (not NCL) that I booked and chose this one specifically for a Game of Thrones tour that ended in a restaurant that served a Tyrion Lannister-style breakfast. I am amazed that I got to stand in the same place where the series was filmed but our guide Maya had the photos to prove it. She also gave us a very broad overview of the city's history and the Diocletian's Palace. Croatia is a beautiful country and I would like to spend more time there someday. DISEMBARKATION - We had some harsh wind coming into the Athens port but Captain Mattias handled it masterfully. They closed the Port of Venice on our return to port and people were in a panic. It turned into a two-hour delay so after we docked and as we were waiting for our color tag to be called (originally scheduled for 9am), we got to watch the disembarking of most passengers and the massive activity of unloading baggage and passengers and reloading of supplies for the next cruise from the 7th floor-a very interesting operation to watch. We opted to use the NCL shuttle to get from the port to the airport and they pretty much guide you from the port exit to the airport entrance. One concern was that as we were approaching the area to retrieve our luggage, a man was quickly walking away from the area with two suitcases. One of the suitcases was mine so I stopped him. I took my bag then watched as hubby got is bag. I thought this man had made a mistake and would go back to the luggage pile to retrieve the correct bag but he left he other bag he had been removing sitting in the middle of the floor and just disappeared. I didn't see which direction nor get a description - only saw that left bag sitting alone in the middle of the floor. After we were seated on the bus, I told my husband that I think that man may have been trying to steal these suitcases. Jerk. Overall, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. If you're not having a good time, it's not NCL's fault as they have so many offerings and so much for you to participate in. This may not be the best time of the year if you're looking for fun in the sun since it was overcast some days and not really laze-by-the-pool weather - the Oasis Pool was freezing but some hardy souls were still swimming. It was great for sightseeing in some historic sights all with the convenience of a cruise. Enjoy it all, my people. Read Less

Our air-con was broken in our room and it took them two days to fix it after strong insistence on our part. We ended up sharing other rooms of our party as the room was too cold to sleep in. Even once repaired, it still made a strange whistling noise compared to other rooms booked by our party. 2 of the rooms in our party had broken toilets, which kept blocking and we had to use each other's toilets during the night. Throughout this we found guest services to be defensive, argumentative and uncaring. They would not move us to another room and we always had to insist on measures to rectify any fault. They did the less than the least they could have. I have no doubt that those who use our rooms in the future will experience the same room issues. We feel that we have been robbed of a relaxing holiday. Further, any dietary requirements such a vegan or gluten-free require orders to be made by yourselves every day and are restricted to the chef's knowledge. We also often had to wait for non-dairy milks or gluten-free bread for some time. The food was very basic and not at all comparable to other's food. We paid the same money and really had to make do. Disembarkation was very quick compared to embarkation. We enjoyed walking around the ship and taking in the views both when at sea and in port. We enjoyed the excursions and our time spent off ship. We did a mixture of excursions and our own thing and often preferred exploring on our own which you are able to do at every port. The Dubrovnik at leisure excursion was the best of both worlds and our favourite port overall. Read Less

We really wanted to visit Venice and the cruise stops along the Adriatic. Embarkation and disembarkation was very smooth, fast and easy. Not all activities (such as the excursions) were as well organized. Food was okay, entertainment was okay but neither were up to the standard we've experienced on two Royal Caribbean cruises. Neither was the overall quality of the personnel on board. The recurring sales pitches on-board and automatic 20% gratuity fees regardless of level of service got old rapidly. Ship condition appeared to be okay and the Officers seemed to be good or at least interested and engaged in wanting to make it a good vacation for their passengers. I did see one safety infraction which could have easily resulted in an accidental fall over-board so as we always should no matter where we are or what we are doing, be observant and watch out for your on safety. Read Less

This cruise was chosen at the last minute and the Itinerary was good. We flew into Venice day of embarkation and was allowed onto the ship and our stateroom was ready so we napped. We had a balcony room which was very small compared to other NCL ships. We usually have a Haven Room and this ship did not have The Haven. This ship seemed to be very crowded and that was evidenced by no available reservations for specialty dining until very late into the night every day of this sailing (9pm or later). WE chose to eat in the dining rooms for breakfast, lunch and dinner when on the ship. The dining staff acted like they were not at all happy to be on the ship, just not caring if your order was right or if you received everything. Food was mediocre and many times it was difficult to find something decent to eat. Soups were tasty so many times we had the soup. They were just doing the job and working to get you through your meal. The Officers on the ship NEVER spoke to anyone, if you spoke to them, they just looked ahead and carried on. The Captains Cocktail party was a joke. It was held on Friday (2 days before the end of the cruise) and the Captain and Officers stayed about 15 minutes and left the cruise staff to hawk the last of Bingo game times and show information. I have never experienced anything like this. We attended one show the 2nd day of the cruise and the sound was so bad you could hardly hear the words of the show people. We never went to another show after that. Gift shop staff were rude and we never saw anyone shopping in the gift shop. Casino staff never came around to bring drinks and it just seemed like everyone on the ship was so unhappy. We booked spa treatments and I had to cancel mine after the first treatment (a series of 3) because the machine broke and the girl didn't know how to fix it. Massages are not equal across the fleet as my sister had a seaweed wrap and massage and she said it was totally different from the one she experienced on The Escape. I can give the Front Desk personnel praise as they were professional and efficient. The staff that tendered us to shore and back to the ship were efficient. Photographers were awful, most of our photos were not ones we would want to purchase, they had us in many poses that were not becoming and finally we said NO we want to pose this way and just take the picture, those are the few that we purchased. No happy welcome music boarding the ship at any port, just not a party attitude. All bars on the ship were so crowded as people waited to be seated for dinner and the bar staff just working to get the drinks out, no pleasant conversation, just what are you drinking and here you go.I have decided that if I can't sail in The Haven, I won't sail. Read Less