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Raymond Bird

Age: 60
Occupation: retired
Number of Cruises: 30+
Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Lines
Ship: Norwegian Star
Sailing Date: November 29th, 2004
Itinerary: Mexican Riviera

My wife and I booked are cruise on the Norwegian Star the first week of November 2004 by phone talking directly to an NCL agent. We booked a category H Cabin outside. When we received are booking conformation in the mail it had been change to a category 8 obstructed outside stateroom. When we received are documents in the mail my wife called NCL and told them that she felt uncomfortable if she would not be able view the outside. NCL responded by telling her it was only partially obstructed and if it where a problem to let Hotel director know after we boarded the ship. When arrived at are stateroom 8582 the day of the sailing we found that the stateroom was at least 80% blocked and called the desk as instructed by NCL before we sailed, the person we talk to on the ship phone told us to wait until we sail that they could fix the problem with the stateroom at that time. 3 hours after we sailed we again called the desk and ask if they had a cabin either a higher or lower Category we could change to with an unobstructed veiw? We were told the ship was full there were no rooms available. The next day after we had sail the cruise director announced over the ship pa that they where given a upgraded cabin away to a lucky passenger as a prize at one of the activities. At this point after hearing the announcement and no effort to help us with are problem that NCL on the phone before leaving home had said (no problem we sure this can be on board ship) will I guess I that time I found out what freestyle cruise was all about, if you have a problem on board just deal with it your not going to find any one on staff to make an effort to help. So my wife did the best she could to deal with this problem. She like leaving the drapes open while we were out at sea. On the second day at sea she undressed in the stateroom to take a shower and two men working on a tender boat outside are cabin seen her in the nude and thought this to be very funny. My wife and I went to lobby and reported what had happen, the staff person said she understood that rude behavior like that was unacceptable and if they would be doing more work on the boat they would let us know it was should. Will the next morning when I awoke with the covers off both me and my wife half nude there they where again working outside are window looking in without warning, and another problem reported that went unresolved by staff. Food on the Star in the main dinning rooms is no better than what you find in a common dinner on land. The up graded restaurants dinners at Cagney's or La trattoria had excellent dinners but not better than dinners served in most main dinning rooms on most cruise ships. I believe I'm a good critic of what to except on most cruise ships my wife and I took are first cruise on the Star Dancer in 1986 and have cruised on at least 20 different ships and more than 30 cruises. I found that freestyle cruising to be a great concept as far being able to take part in the activities on the ship you wanted to take part in at the time and very good in port so that you didn't have to keep an eye on your watch so you wouldn't miss a meal board. I found the star to be a good cruise ship for families with young children. My biggest problem with this Ship was the supervising Staff I had no problems servers in the restaurants or with the way are stateroom was cared for. The pirate ship excursion in in Puerto Vallarta made for a great day off the ship. although this cruise ranks maybe one star if three stars were the average bring in some new supervising could do a lot to improve the passengers experience on the ship. this was not my greatest experience cruising, but my wife and I are still lifetime cruise I hope the next 30 will be better than this cruise and for the first timers on this cruise so many I talk to that felt this was not what they excepted try again most cruises are mush better than your experience on this cruise.

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