The Norwegian Star – The Ship

Arriving in New Orleans for our cruise, we gathered our suitcases and looked for a person holding up a sign that said “Norwegian Cruise” since they would be the ones who we would follow to take a shuttle to the ship.

Stepping outside the airport terminal, I felt the warm New Orleans air. This I can breathe easily as opposed to the negative degree temperatures that Minnesota was currently having. The ride to the ship took about 25 minutes and once there things moved quickly.

Before boarding, we had a quick photo taken of us and were given a card to use on the ship. You swipe this card every time you get on and off the ship — that’s how they know whose missing. This card also serves as a credit card and before boarding, you have to give the cruise line a credit card and at the end of the cruise they give you an account of everything (outside of your initial cruise charges) you have charged, i.e. soda, excursions, wine, etc. One has to be careful because it’s very easy to swipe the card and then get a bill at the end of the cruise that is enormous. Sure, you get receipts for everything you “charge” but how many people tally up those receipts while on vacation?

The ship was to leave at 5 p.m. and it was prompt in doing so. I was able to see part of downtown New Orleans and the sunset as we were leaving.

The bridge below is called the Crescent City Connection (CCC), formerly known as the Greater New Orleans Bridge (GNO) and the water below it is the Mississippi River.

New Orleans Bridge
New Orleans Bridge
Downtown New Orleans
Downtown New Orleans

As we were getting ready to leave, the moon was hanging beautifully in the sky.

New Orleans Moon
New Orleans Moon

(Side note: Have you ever looked at pictures of the moon from different places on earth to see if you can notice any differences? I never have but wonder if there’s a link to something like that.  Anyone?)

After dropping a few things  in our inside cabin, I checked out a little bit of the ship. The Star has been around since 2001 and holds approximately 2,348 passengers. This was the first Norwegian Cruise Line ship that embarked with the Freestyle Cruising motto. Casual, casual and casual.

Although the ship was refurbished in 2010 it looks somewhat dated yet clean.

Because there are many people on a ship, they are always worried about viruses that can spread quickly so before you enter the buffet cafeteria, elevators or the main dining room, they have hand sanitizers that you put your palm under. At the buffet cafeteria, they also had people stationed outside yelling “Washy, washy, happy, happy” along with a spray bottle that included hand sanitizer in it.

Sanitizing
Sanitizing
Sanitizers
Sanitizers

Below are a few pictures of some of the ship’s interior. The artwork on the walls ranged from “just okay” to beautiful and a lot of these are sold at an auction they have on board.

Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Norwegian Cruise Artwork

I feel in love with the ceiling in the atrium area. Directly underneath is the Brazilian restaurant that we ate at. Further down is a cafe where I used to have my hot chocolate.

Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Norwegian Cruise Artwork

Here are more pictures of the interior of the ship.

Norwegian Cruise Interior
Norwegian Cruise Interior

The main theatre pictures came out a wee bit dark. This theatre is very similar to the ones on other cruise ships although it was a little hard to see from the balcony area.

Stardust Theatre
Stardust Theatre
Stardust Theatre
Stardust Theatre

Right before a performance, the children’s group came and performed a pirate song for us. It was very cute.

Kid Entertainment
Kid Entertainment
Kid Entertainment
Kid Entertainment

The swimming pool was small although there were water slides for children that were used frequently. We did not go into the swimming pools but I’ve read that they have salt water in them.

Norwegian Star Pool Area
Norwegian Star Pool Area
Children's Waterslide
Children’s Waterslide

I’ll be posting soon on the experiences we had with the food, excursions and the cabin steward.

Preparing for a Winter Vacation

Gulf of Mexico Sunsets

The Norwegian Star – Food

The Cabin Steward

The Modern Churrascaria Restaurant

Trip to Belize City, Belize

Excursion to Roatan, Honduras

Excursion to Costa Maya, Mexico

Excursion to Cozumel, Mexico

 

 

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