DreadPirateRobert Posted January 28, 2019 #1 Share Posted January 28, 2019 My wife and I just booked the Norwegian Star for a 14 night British Isles cruise in May of 2020. We’ve cruised extensively with Carnival and Celebrity but never on NCL. This was completely an itinerary driven decision. None of the others had this fantastic itinerary as well as the perks. Though it’s almost a year and a half away we are excited and looking forward to taking lots of places off our “bucket list” and experiencing NCL. Any thought or comments on NCL and what to expect compared to CCL and Celebrity will certainly be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted January 28, 2019 #2 Share Posted January 28, 2019 It's all about Freestyle Cruising. No set dining times. In the MDRs, show up when you are hungry or when it best fits your schedule. You will always get a 2-top table to yourself and eat at your own pace. No Formal Nights. NCL embraces the "Dress Up or Not" philosophy with shorts allowed in all dining rooms for all meals except the Versailles and Le Bistro restaurants which ask that gents wear long pants (jeans, dockers). You can still dress up if you want and won't be out of place. The Star is a 2400 passenger ship (you'll have fewer on your voyage), a older demographic, and a lot of Brits. Theater entertainment is more traditional cruise ship (vs. big Broadway shows). We sailed on the Star to the Western Caribbean and loved the ship. It is newly refurbished with all of the public spaces totally rebuilt from the deck plates. You can take a peek at the following video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maja651 Posted January 28, 2019 #3 Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, DreadPirateRobert said: My wife and I just booked the Norwegian Star for a 14 night British Isles cruise in May of 2020. We’ve cruised extensively with Carnival and Celebrity but never on NCL. This was completely an itinerary driven decision. None of the others had this fantastic itinerary as well as the perks. Though it’s almost a year and a half away we are excited and looking forward to taking lots of places off our “bucket list” and experiencing NCL. Any thought or comments on NCL and what to expect compared to CCL and Celebrity will certainly be appreciated. We booked this cruise as well, also because of the itinerary, but we love NCL. It is on the Jade though, not the Star. I’d recommend booking a full suite if you can swing it, because NCL suites have the best perks! Edited January 28, 2019 by maja651 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted January 28, 2019 #4 Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) 11 minutes ago, maja651 said: We booked this cruise as well, also because of the itinerary, but we love NCL. It is on the Jade though, not the Star. I’d recommend booking a full suite if you can swing it, because NCL suites have the best perks! The May 3, 2020 is on the Star out of Southampton (with only 1 sea day) Versus the Jade going to Norway out of Amsterdam Edited January 28, 2019 by BirdTravels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maja651 Posted January 28, 2019 #5 Share Posted January 28, 2019 26 minutes ago, BirdTravels said: The May 3, 2020 is on the Star out of Southampton (with only 1 sea day) Versus the Jade going to Norway out of Amsterdam Ah, I see! I didn’t realize there was another option! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamchops Posted January 28, 2019 #6 Share Posted January 28, 2019 1 hour ago, BirdTravels said: The Star is a 2400 passenger ship (you'll have fewer on your voyage), a older demographic, and a lot of Brits. We did a British isle cruise last September on the Jade and the announced demographics were 1500 Americans, 400 Canadians, and 400 other nationalities. It had the vibe of an Alaskian cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trimone Posted January 28, 2019 #7 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Most Brits on a U.K. based cruise would use P&O, or get in there car and drive to destinations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadPirateRobert Posted January 29, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted January 29, 2019 21 hours ago, BirdTravels said: The May 3, 2020 is on the Star out of Southampton (with only 1 sea day) Versus the Jade going to Norway out of Amsterdam Definitely some similarities. While I’m sure Norway is beautiful, it’s the Ireland and Scotland ports that made this itinerary a must for us. Hope you have a wonderful trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadPirateRobert Posted January 29, 2019 Author #9 Share Posted January 29, 2019 21 hours ago, BirdTravels said: It's all about Freestyle Cruising. No set dining times. In the MDRs, show up when you are hungry or when it best fits your schedule. You will always get a 2-top table to yourself and eat at your own pace. No Formal Nights. NCL embraces the "Dress Up or Not" philosophy with shorts allowed in all dining rooms for all meals except the Versailles and Le Bistro restaurants which ask that gents wear long pants (jeans, dockers). You can still dress up if you want and won't be out of place. The Star is a 2400 passenger ship (you'll have fewer on your voyage), a older demographic, and a lot of Brits. Theater entertainment is more traditional cruise ship (vs. big Broadway shows). We sailed on the Star to the Western Caribbean and loved the ship. It is newly refurbished with all of the public spaces totally rebuilt from the deck plates. You can take a peek at the following video Thank you for the information. I’m surprised about shorts in the dining rooms. I’ve seen a lot of that on Carnival. Hopefully it will not go to some of those extremes. Though what other people wear to dinner doesn’t really change my dining experience. I do love the idea of Freestyle dining. Is smoking restricted to certain outside areas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshagan Posted January 29, 2019 #10 Share Posted January 29, 2019 1 hour ago, DreadPirateRobert said: Is smoking restricted to certain outside areas? Yes, there is no smoking on balconies, and there are designated smoking areas. One is on the pool deck on either the port or starboard side, so if you want to avoid any contact with smoke figure out which side they are using and then use the other side. They also allow smoking in the casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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