Norwegian Cruise Line Star Review: A Mixed Bag

I recently took a 12-night July cruise with a group of friends on the Norwegian Star, a midsize Norwegian Cruise Line ship. We left Reykjavik, Iceland, making a few stops in Iceland and Greenland before crossing the North Atlantic Ocean to Canada and disembarking in New York. Overall, the trip was great, but the cruise itself was just average.

The ship seemed a bit dated and lacked some of the technology and features the newer cruise ships have, such as on-demand movies and the ability to check your onboard account or make restaurant reservations from your cabin television. And although the cabins were adequate and the food was tasty, many of the activities on the sea days either had a cost or were sales pitches, and the lack of knowledge about the ports was a bit annoying.

Would I recommend this ship and this itinerary? Yes, but with a few caveats. Expect changes to the itinerary because of weather conditions, bring things to do like books, coloring books, knitting, etc., and expect to pay upcharges for some activities and better food.

» Learn more: The best credit cards for cruises

Booking the trip

When I booked the trip with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the cruise was scheduled to visit nine ports and have three sea days.

I was a Gold member of the Latitudes rewards program, which is an improvement from the Bronze status I had on my previous trip on the Prima.

The biggest difference for me with Gold status is the availability of priority tender tickets, which would come in handy since several of the scheduled stops were tender ports.

I booked a solo balcony cabin on deck 9. NCL recently expanded solo staterooms to all of its ships. The best part about the solo cabin offering is the savings. Solo cabins are priced for single occupancy instead of the other cabins that are priced for two people.

Finally, a cruise line understands that not everyone travels with a cabin mate and wants to pay double for a cabin only one person will use. Between 2019 and 2022, NCL saw an increase in guests booking cabins as a solo and made a welcome change.

I digress.

Booking the trip was simple because I told my travel agent the itinerary and exact cabin I wanted to book.

Finding the best price for a cruise can be a bit of a challenge since it seems cruise lines are always having one kind of sale or another with a countdown clock saying when the offer might change.

When I booked, I took advantage of the Free at Sea package, which includes some drinks, three nights at specialty dining restaurants (for a balcony cabin), a $50 savings per shore excursion and 300 free Wi-Fi minutes.

I chose to upgrade to the Free at Sea Plus package to get additional meals in the specialty dining restaurants, unlimited Wi-Fi and upgraded drinks, including Starbucks coffee.

Online planning

The ports on this itinerary are fairly small and have limited shore excursion options. I often like to find private tours, but for this itinerary, I decided to book the ship’s excursions.

This was not an easy task.

When you log into your NCL account, information about your reservation comes up. The Explore & Plan section is where you need to go to peruse and plan.

This is also the area for booking dining reservations and spa appointments and upgrading your reservation.

We thought we had everything figured out, but about three months before sailing, things changed. Two of the ports changed as did the arrival or departure times at three ports. We had to find new excursions.

I ended up talking to the people at the shore excursion call center several times during the planning process, and sometimes they were helpful, and other times they were not.

It is not possible to cancel shore excursions online so if you change your mind, you have to call someone. The office is staffed only at certain times so you might be in planning mode, but nobody at NCL can help you.

A lot of the planning was for naught when just minutes before my taxi to the airport was supposed to arrive, I got an email saying the itinerary had changed again.

It was too late for me to do anything about it, so I was going to have to handle everything once I got on board. Much more about that later.

» Learn more: The best ways to book a cruise

Checking in for the cruise

The online check-in begins 21 days before sail away and needs to be completed three days before sailing. That process was relatively simple. I just logged into my NCL account and filled out the information.

About 24 hours later, I got an email saying I could go into my account and print my documents.

During the check-in process, I selected noon to 12:30 p.m. as my boarding time. We arrived during that window to find a line snaking around a parking lot with at least a thousand people standing in it.

After waiting about an hour, someone came to take our bags. We waited in the line outside in the cold and wind for about another hour to finally get inside a temporary building.

From there, we had to go through security, get our keycards and pass through immigration control before finally being able to board the ship. The whole process took more than 2½ hours.

The one good thing about the really, really long boarding process was my cabin was ready so I could drop off my carry-on bags before heading to find some much-needed food.

The Norwegian Star was built in 2001 and refurbished extensively in 2018, with some mechanical updates in 2021. It is one of NCL’s Dawn Class of ships along with the Norwegian Dawn. The Star can hold 2,298 passengers and 1,031 crew members. It sails the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Transatlantic, South America and Extraordinary Journeys itineraries.

The ship is showing its age a bit and doesn’t have a lot of the bells and whistles of other, newer ships.

The ship is 965 feet long with a beam of 125 feet. There are 11 public decks.

In 2018, the Star went through a dry dock that lasted almost three weeks. The results were updated staterooms and public spaces along with three new venues, Sky High Bar, Bliss Ultra Lounge and Spice H2O, which is an adults-only place with comfy chairs and hot tubs.

The Star has a large central atrium area that spans several decks, with most things being on deck 7. This is where you’ll find Guest Services, Shore Excursions, restaurant reservations, a small shop and the coffee bar.

The seating near the coffee bar was a nice place to relax and listen to live music that was usually happening at the piano. The atrium area got very busy during our sea days because the weather was cold and windy, so everyone was inside.

The midship elevators are in this area. Other sets of elevators are in the forward and aft parts of the ship.

The Star had several other locations to sit and relax, including the library and the internet cafe.

Speaking of the internet, the Wi-Fi on the ship was pretty good, even in my cabin. I could check emails and scroll and upload to social media easily. I had the unlimited package, but it did not include streaming. I didn’t realize that wouldn’t allow me to connect to my SiriusXM account.

The Norwegian Star has 1,174 staterooms in four main categories: suite, balcony, oceanview and inside.

The largest suite is the three-bedroom Garden Villa, which accommodates up to seven people in 6,694 square feet with a 4,455-square-foot balcony. A butler is part of the package.

The smallest suites are the Club Balcony Suites, which are 283 square feet with a 54-square-foot balcony.

My cabin was a balcony cabin on deck 9 in the forward part of the ship. The balcony cabins range from 203 to 303 square feet, with balconies ranging from 37 to 96 square feet.

A sliding glass door separates the cabin area from the balcony.

When I got into my cabin, the first thing I noticed was the balcony. Instead of a fully open view, it was more like a large window-like opening surrounded by thick metal. I could still see out, but it was a bit limited.

The cabin had a small sofa near the balcony across from a desk. There was a European plug here but no American one. There were also two USB ports; however, I could not get them to work.

The bathroom had a walk-in shower and an awkward toilet area that you kind of had to shimmy to get into and then turn around.

Another desk-like area had the only American-style plug I could find, as well as a refrigerator, mirror and drawer space. The lights on each side of the bed had USB ports for convenient phone charging, but they pointed straight down so the cable could easily fall out.

Overall, my cabin had plenty of storage space (including hooks, which is a rarity), and the bed was comfortable. I would have liked one more nightstand, but I was OK with putting things like my glasses and charging phone on the sofa. The safe was in a cabinet near the closet but was not big enough to hold my laptop.

The Star also has oceanview cabins with a big window. Most are 159 square feet, while some having obstructed views are a bit bigger.

Some of the friends I was traveling with had this type of cabin.

The inside cabins don’t have a window and are usually the cheapest cabin category. On the Star, they range from 141 to 276 square feet.

Something to remember when walking down the long hallways of the cabin decks on the Star and several other NCL ships: The fish on the carpet always swim forward, except for the little red ones that are going the wrong way. This is how you know if you’re walking toward the forward or aft part of the ship.

As I have found during my other cruises on Norwegian Cruise Line, the food is good but not outstanding. The main dining rooms and other free venues are decent, while some of the specialty dining restaurants can be outstanding, so having the option of eating in at least some of the specialty dining restaurants can really enhance the cruise.

NCL has what it calls “Freestyle Dining,” meaning there are no set times to eat. The catch is you sometimes need a bit of a plan as far as making reservations at specialty restaurants and even waiting in line for the main dining rooms.

For this trip, I had three specialty dining meals included with my reservation and I bought two others as part of the Free at Sea Plus upgrade for a total of five.

It’s also possible to buy other versions of a specialty dining package ranging from $99 for two meals up to $259 for seven meals per person.

You must make reservations for the specialty restaurants, which can be done on a limited basis online before the cruise. A majority of the reservations open up while on board, but making one isn’t always easy. You can either stop by the restaurant when it is open or wait to see the one person at the restaurant reservation desk, which is open only for limited hours.

The Star has six complimentary dining options: two main dining rooms, a buffet, a pub, a poolside grill and an Asian place. I tried all of them.

I always found something on the menu in either of the two main dining rooms, Aqua and Versailles. Several of the appetizers and main courses changed each night, while a few staples dubbed “classic entrees” were always available.

I was impressed that when I ordered a rare steak, it arrived as I wanted it. My friends and I would each order what we wanted individually and then sample other things by ordering them “for the table.”

The Garden Cafe was the buffet and always had plenty of options as well as a nice salad bar. The highlight for me was the ice cream area in the back with both soft serve and scooped ice cream. For me, it isn’t a cruise without chocolate and vanilla swirl soft serve.

Most of the dining venues had set hours, while O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill was always open with typical bar food. The Reuben sandwich was my fave.

Room service was always available but had a $4.95 convenience charge for breakfast and up to $9.95 for other meals added to each bill. I never used it.

I really liked the pot stickers and hot and sour soup in Ginza, the Asian restaurant. I would sometimes stop by for these early in the evening when our dinner reservations were much later.

As for the specialty restaurants, there are six options: Moderno Churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse), La Cucina (Italian), Cagney's Steakhouse, Le Bistro (French), Teppanyaki (Japanese) and sushi. I tried all of them except the sushi place.

I think our group of six was unanimous that Cagney’s was our favorite. My shrimp cocktail, wedge salad and lamb chops were wonderful. The seven-layer chocolate cake was also delicious. Everyone else really enjoyed what they ordered.

I also enjoyed Le Bistro and my steak there along with the Veuve Clicquot Champagne, which is part of the Premium Plus upgraded drink package.

The choices of meats and the salad bar in Moderno Churrascaria created a lot of variety, and the entertainment at Teppanyaki was fun. La Cucina was probably my least favorite because it seemed less special to me and like any other Italian restaurant I could go to on land.

As for libations, you’re never far from something to drink on the Norwegian Star. With nine bars, there’s always one close by.

Basic drinks were available at each of the bars, but some had a few specialties.

I liked Gatsby's Champagne Bar on deck 6, which in addition to champagne had quite the collection of martinis. My favorite was the pistachio martini, which contained absolutely nothing pistachio but was green and did have equal parts vodka, Irish cream, amaretto and Blue Curaçao with some chocolate drizzle on the glass. Delicious.

The pool bars like the Sky High Bar on deck 14 and Topsiders Bar & Grill by the pool on deck 12 had collections of frozen drinks the indoor bars didn’t always have.

You can tell what the specialties are at the Sugarcane Mojito Bar on deck 13 and Proof Whiskey Bar on deck 7 by their names.

I drank a lot of coffee from the Atrium Cafe on deck 7 since it was part of my drink package. It’s also available for purchase. The cafe serves Starbucks coffee but is not a Starbucks location so no app use and no Refreshers. On my cruise, they were also out of a lot of things like Chai tea and non-dairy milks.

Entertainment and recreation

On this 12-night cruise, I was on board each evening and had five full days at sea so I had plenty of time to explore onboard options for entertainment and recreation.

First, the main theater is called the Stardust Theater and spans two decks, 6 and 7. During my cruise, there were two production shows, one aerialist show, a few game shows, several movies and other events like comedy, magic and a singer in the theater.

I went to only one show because I was usually eating dinner during showtimes.

The pool and hot tubs were on deck 12, and there were lots of lounge chairs around the pool and on several tiered areas leading up to deck 13.

For most of the cruise, it was too cold, windy and wet to be out by the pool, but people made good use of the hot tubs. I was a bit surprised there were no pool blankets, just towels.

A walking or jogging track went all the way around deck 13, a perfect place to watch a sunset, which on this trip happened around midnight.

As for sports, there is a basketball and volleyball court on deck 14 and two areas for practicing your golf swing on deck 13.

Of course, there was also the casino on deck 6, which had table games and slots. I didn’t spend too much time there because it is one of the few locations on the ship where smoking is allowed and I am very sensitive to the smell of smoke. It makes me sneeze.

Several musical acts performed all day in various public areas around the ship. It was nice to listen to live music while reading, chatting with friends or having a drink.

As for places willing to take your money, several shops were on deck 7, including an EFFY jewelry store, a place to buy NCL products and clothing items and another store for duty-free alcohol and cosmetics like perfumes.

Art for purchase also lined the walls on several decks in many public areas.

My friends and I had a lot of fun taking photos on our own with our phone cameras and with the talented photo staff who set up backdrops in the atrium each evening.

The photo staff knew us by name, and I swear they knew some of our cabin numbers by heart because we had to give them after the photo shoot so we could look at the photos online later. We spent a lot of time in The Photo Gallery looking at our photos on the computer, and several of my friends ordered some.

Spa and gym

For the guests who wanted to work out — which was not me — the Pulse Fitness Center was on deck 12 behind the Garden Cafe in the aft area. This was different from most ships I have been on where the spas and fitness centers are often in the forward sections of the ship.

I’m more of the wanting to be pampered type so I visited the Mandara Spa & Salon on deck 11.

I had a 75-minute treatment that included a body brushing, body massage, scalp massage and a mini-facial. I thought it was a great deal at $199 (plus 20% gratuity), and I really enjoyed it.

I was especially happy that the therapist didn’t try to sell me a bunch of products after she was finished. That always ruins my recently relaxed state. Combined spa services like these are not usually on the main spa menu but come out as specials in the daily newsletter.

Sadly, spa treatments do not include access to the Spa Thermal Suite, which has heated stone beds, a steam room and sauna, as well as the only indoor pool on the ship. It’s available via a day pass or a pass for the entire cruise.

I often plan my own shore excursions, but for this cruise with small ports, potential weather issues and the ever-changing itinerary, I was happy I stuck with the ship’s excursions.

OK, I was sort of happy I stuck with the ship’s excursions since they were a bit inconsistent and the shore excursion staff didn’t seem to have information about most of our stops.

Several of our port stops were tender ports, meaning we had to take small boats from our big ship to get to shore.

That process wasn’t always smooth, and there were sometimes delays getting to the shore. Even in ports with gangways, we were often late getting off the ship, causing issues with excursions.

The first excursion I took was in Grundarfjörður, Iceland, and it was great. My friends and I all got off the ship and made our way to a smaller but sizable ferry for the Nature Sail & Viking Sushi Adventure.

From there, we went out to see birds and then the crew dropped a net into the water and brought up some of the freshest seafood I will ever eat.

There weren’t many excursions in the replacement port of Nuuk, Greenland, and after an hour-plus delay getting off the ship, the boat excursion I took was less than satisfactory because it was not what the description said it would be nor did it include what it said it would.

My final excursion in Halifax was cut short because of delays getting off the ship, so we ended up with a very short time on shore at the destination, which was a 90-minute drive from the ship.

Overall, I was not completely satisfied with the shore excursions from the ship. My friends felt the same and so did other passengers with whom I talked.

» Learn more: What is tendering on a cruise?

Norwegian Cruise Line has what it calls Freestyle Disembarkation, meaning passengers can essentially get off the ship whenever they want.

A couple of days before we docked, we got a letter explaining the disembarkation procedures and telling us to go to Guest Services to pick out the appropriate color of luggage tag corresponding to the time we wanted to get off the ship.

By the time I went to get my tags, only red was left. When I asked Guest Services for others, they said the color really didn’t matter as far as time. It only mattered as far as locating my luggage in the terminal since my bag would be in areas separated by colors.

The ship arrived in New York City’s Manhattan Cruise Terminal at about 5 a.m. Since my flight was not until much later in the afternoon, I stayed on the ship as long as I could. I had to leave my cabin by 8 a.m., which was also the same time the buffet stopped serving breakfast.

I slowly ate my breakfast and stayed on the ship until the last call to disembark. The procedure was fairly smooth, and my luggage was right where it should have been. There was a line for passport control, but it moved quickly.