Recently I went on a cruise with NCL which was my first time cruising with them. The ship that I cruised on was Norwegian Star which was a lovely ship.
Dining
Norwegian Star offers a wide range of places to eat with a selection of cuisines on offer for passengers to choose from, some restaurants will have a charge but some are complimentary. There is a buffet service area which is known as Market Cafe where they will serve different types of food everyday. There is a complimentary Asian restaurant called Ginza which offered a selection of tempting dishes. We enjoyed Ginza so much that we went twice despite there being a selection of other restaurants we could’ve went to, on both visits I ordered chicken egg drop soup, vegetable spring rolls, kung pao chicken with boiled rice as well as five spice chocolate cake.
O’Sheehan’s is an additional complimentary place for passengers to choose from with it’s layout giving a pub vibe as you can enjoy chicken wings, nacho’s, salad, burgers as well as fish and chips. The two main complimentary restaurants onboard are Aqua and Versailles which both have a different menu each evening but will have the same classics every evening such as spaghetti bolognese.
There are six different speciality restaurants onboard NCL Star for passengers to choose from. Restaurants available include:
Cagney’s Steakhouse – American Steakhouse
La Cucina – Italian Restaurant
Le Bistro – French Restaurant
Moderno Churrascaria – Brazilian Steakhouse
Teppanyaki Room – Japanese Hibachi Restaurant
Sushi and Sake Bar
We went to Cagney’s Steakhouse as well as La Cucina where they both served delicious food, at these restaurants you pay for each portion that you order. When I order steak I’m always very wary of whether it’s going to be cooked enough for me but at Cagney’s the steak was one of the best pieces of steak I’ve had. Cagney’s Steakhouse offers a selection of steaks including t-bone, rump and filet mignon, passengers can also order sides for with their steak such as fries, onion rings and vegetables.
Breakfast was available in O’Sheehan’s where they offered omelettes, pastry baskets as well as a cooked breakfast or you could go to Market Cafe where you could help yourself to what you want.
Entertainment
Onboard there are several bars which all provide musical entertainment as well as the main theatre where they have a show each evening. In the main theatre they had a group on called Barricade Boys who did two different shows over two nights, they consisted of four men who have been in Les Miserables. Onboard they have an entertainment team who did two shows in the main theatre, I only went to one show which was a Las Vegas themed show. They also had a magician performing in the main theatre as well as an acrobat.
In the Five O’Clock Somewhere bar they would have a guy singing with a guitar each evening as well as having karaoke later on in the evening. Gatsby’s which was another bar would also have piano Dave playing each evening although some evenings he would be joined by a band. In Spinnakers Lounge each evening they would have audience participation activities such as Mr and Mrs as well as having a white party one evening.
Onboard Life
There are two shops onboard, one is a duty free shop selling your traditional duty free items where as the other shop is an NCL souvenir store. There is complimentary coffee available in some areas of the ship which is standard black coffee but you are able to purchase latte’s and cappuccino’s in Java.
There is a large pool area onboard with hot tubs including one for children as well as having water slides for the children. For anybody wishing to sunbathe onboard there is a large selection of loungers located around the deck.
For anybody wishing to keep themselves occupied whilst onboard there is the following on offer:
Library
Basketball Court
Golf Driving Net
Spa
Fitness Centre
Video Arcade
Casino
Cabins
For our stay onboard NCL Star we booked a cabin with a balcony on the 11th deck. Our cabin offered plenty of space as well as storage with the the third bed being a sofa instead of a upper pullman which is better and more comfortable. Our cabin included a bathroom with both a bath and shower as well as a coffee machine and a mini bar.
Have you been onboard NCL Star before or another NCL ship?
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