Norwegian Star Suffers Propulsion Problems

By Jim Walker on November 4, 2019

The Norwegian Star experienced a problem with one of its azipods over the weekend, apparently resulting in a fire of some type, resulting in a cancelled port on its last cruise. NCL then continued the next cruise without any mention to the new guests that there had been a fire or whether the ship had been inspected by appropriate authorities. NCL also altered the current cruise involving this ship, according to passengers who contacted us and those who posted information on social media.

One cruise passenger who contacted us who prefers to remain anonymous stated:

“NCL Star experienced loud, shuddering, rattling noise at approximately 1am on Nov. 2nd. The ship seemed to stop and we heard 3 short alarm blasts and “Bravo.” We found out from crew an engine was lost and a fire had ensued. We were told we would miss Dubrovnik (the headliner port) and heading back to Venice. We were only offered a $100 NON-REFUNDABLE credit to use or lose over less than 18 hours. Customer Service would not budge on the non-refundable issue.” A copy of the letter given to passengers is below:

NCL has mentioned only that its ship sustained unspecified “mechanical issues” in a letter to passengers on the last cruise and returned to Venice with reduced speed.

There has been no official word from NCL regarding reports of a fire during the last cruise. There is also no information regarding who, if anyone, inspected the ship following the alleged fire.

NCL altered the current cruise on the Norwegian Star with the cruise line dropping Mykonos and Santorini to the surprise of its customers.

We have been dreaming of visiting Santorini and Mykonos for a year! @CruiseNorwegian says keep on dreaming… Cancels ports of call less than 24 hours before trip. #dreambreakers #norwegianrandomcruises

— Grant (@Grant77731363) November 3, 2019

This is not the first time that the eighteeen-year old Norwegian Star has either limped around with reduced power or sustained a complete power loss. Read NCL’s Norwegian Star Suffers Engine Failure Again which we published in January of 2017.

The popular Travelling with Bruce YouTube channel also published a post yesterday regarding this issue, which also mentions reports by passengers of a fire: