Norweigan Star 3-Bedroom Garden Villa Cruise Ship Suite
Have you ever wondered what the higher priced, premium rooms on a cruise ship look like. I know I have. Well on our recent trip we bid on a stateroom upgrade and were shocked to learn we got to sail for 2 weeks on the Norweigan Star in the NCL 3 Bedroom Garden Villa! This room is amazing, huge, and has an expansive, private outdoor space that will blow your mind! Get ready to be wowed. How will we ever cruise in a small inside room again!!
NCL 3 Bedroom Garden Villa
The Norweigan Cruise 3 Bedroom Garden Villa is on the NCL Star and sister ship Norweigan Dawn. These small, older ships have been well maintained and so some amazing itineraries from Antarctica to Africa, South America, and more. With these longer itineraries, it is a great time to splurge on a fabulous suite that will make the voyage that much grander! This suite not only comes with a staggering 6,694 sq. feet, but includes some special perks like reserved seating at shows in the Stardust Lounge, escort on/off the ship, free room service, butler services, conceirge, upgraded dining at Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch that is exclusively for suite guests, upgraded toiletries, free soda, nespressso in your room, use of binoculars, and so much more. Get ready to be wowed by this amazing space.
3-Bedroom Garden Villa
The 3 bedroom Garden Villa is on the 14th floor, accessible only with your special key card. This level only contains the two garden villas. There are two doors into the suite, not sure why. The doors are see through glass so it’s good other guests cannot get up here and walk by.
Enter and go left and you will get to your amazing living room. The living room has a HUGE wall of floor to ceiling windows that overlook the pool deck. You can stay inside and still enjoy whatever is going on poolside as well as get breathtaking views of what is in front of the ship.
On the left of the room is a large rectangular table with a glass top that comfortably seats 8 people with comfy chairs. The buffet at the left holds plates, napkins, and silverwear. Our butler brought snacks daily and left them on the buffet or table. Some of the snacks included fruit plates, cookie trays, snack trays, whole pizzas, dessert selections, bowels of gummy bears, and more. These were all treats that were not available anywhere else on the ship.
The living room boasts a beautiful electric grand piano. You can play it, and even turn down the volume if you like. My kids all enjoyed taking turns playing the piano for our 2 week itinerary. If you aren’t a pianist, no worries you can push play and hear the piano play beautiful pieces to entertain you with style.
To the right of the couch, coffee table, and large television is a double desk and comfy chair with footstool plus bookshelves for storage, lots of glasses, and a hidden refrigerator.
This is the view to the back of the living room heading towards the bedrooms, but first see the room to the left, that is the kitchen.
NCL 3-Bedroom Garden Villa
The kitchen is so handy! You will find plenty of plates, cups, a sink, 3 refrigerators, a microwave, and a large garbage can. Your butler will do the dishes daily. There is a nespresso machine and your butler will refill the coffee, hot chocolate, and tea daily. Plus the refrigerator is filled with a selection of soda, and if you ask water, juice, and iced tea to drink too. He will refill the sodas daily along with keeping a fresh bucket of ice on the counter.
Norweigan Cruise Line 3 Bedroom Garden Villa
Head down the hall and the first room on your left (closest to the living room) is the master bedroom. This room has a king bed, walk through closet, and massive bathroom. The beds are super plus and so comfortable. The view is my favorite part.
The floor to ceiling windows are a delight to watch sunrise and sunsets from, depending on the direction your ship is facing. From bed, you have privacy, but if you walk to the edge and look down you can see the jogging track underneath.
This is the desk, tv, chair and storage in the master bedroom. Each of the bedrooms also has their own mini fridge to stock sodas seperately if you want.
The bathroom is absolutely stunning! There is a large jetted, whirlppol tub, huge walk in shower with jets, double vanity, and seperate toilet stall. The bathrooms have upgraded toiletries, so unlike the regular staterooms, the suites have seperate shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. There is also hand soap, lotion, shower caps, etc. by the sink. The toilet paper is single ply and a little rough, but their literature clearly states you can’t bring your own toilet paper as it messes with the plumbing.
WARNING! THye tell you the rooms have glass you can’t see through. Don’ believe them. Go outside and look up at your room and check. As you can see one of the pannels was not working and it gives a crystal clear view of the master SHOWER from the pool deck where everyone congregates! To their credit, they did come up immediately and put a red curtain the covered the entire window. So it wasn’t the great view, but we had privacy, thank goodness we checked!
The closet in the master bedroom is HUGE! You have shelves, drawers, seperate sections of hanigng clothes, spot to press your clothes, and more. You can walk through the closet to the bathroom.
Cruise Suites
After the master bedroom is this 2nd bedroom. We used it for our girls because it sleeps 3. The queen bed is super comfy and has a privacy curtain the seperates it from the sleeper chair that pulls out. There is also a nice seating area with a little coffee table where my daughter did cross stitching during sea days.
The closet wall and vanity area is smaller and more crowded than the other rooms.
The bathroom is also smaller and less luxurious, but it is still nicer than a standard stateroom. Plus the view from the bedroom makes up for it!
Cruise Ship Suites
We opted to take the 3rd bedroom in the suite. It is the smallest room, but is still very spacious. It has a super comfy queen bed and has a wall of windows facing the sea and one with a sliding door to the private outdoor patio (why we kept this room). There are two seats, a deck space, and a TV that is so low it is impossible to see from bed over the covers. This room does get hot in the sun with so many windows.
The 3rd bedroom does have a the biggest closet with drawers, 2 safets, 3 closet sections, mirros, and more.
The 3rd bedroom’s bathroom is not the biggest, but it is the most private and absolutely amazing. You have a jetted tub, double vanity, shelves, makeup mirror and sitting area, walk in shower with jets, and private toilet area.
NOTE: There is a button that closes the blinds in the bathroom for privacy when showering, bathing, and changing in port!
Leaving the 3rd bedroom you are practically at the outdoor space. Keep keading left and exit the secure door to get to your amazing outdoor space. Get ready, because it is truly spectactular.
Here is an arial view of the private outdoor space you have on deck 14, from the private space you get after going up the stairs to deck 15. More on that space later.
To the left is a covered patio table that has a light and great view, while staying protected from the elements.
NOTE: See the patio door behind my family, that goes to the 3rd bedroom. The flow on the table is the boxed water you will get for free in the suite.
cruise suite room
You get a private hottub that comfortably fits 5 people. It is open 24 hours a day and offers a lovely view of the ocean and coastline. There is a great seating area under a covering behind the hot tub where my daughter loved to sketch. Plus there are serveral ultra plush lounge chairs on deck 14. Oh, and a sauna that is always ready to go – no need to adjust anything! They stock the sauna area with towels to use in the pool area and change them out frequently.
There is a switch just inside that you can use to pick one of the 6 channels of music for your outdoor space!
Cruise Bedrooms
Go up the stairs and you will get to more private outdoor space. This is deck 15 and is only accessible by your deck 14 stairs. It is the highest deck on the ship offering you amazing, private views.
Views like this of the Chilean Fjords that no one else can get! Everyone is always trying to figure out how to get to your deck, but there is no way unless they go through your suite, which they can’t!
norwegian cruise line rooms
You could, and many do, throw an epic party up here! WIth 3 double day beds under coverings, 2 living clusters of chairs, these 4 chairs facing the sea, and lots of loungers it is the most amazing space ever! And it is all yours!
Now for the bad news! If you are at sea, the furniture will all be tied up like this. So if you go out on port days – you will literally never see the furniture all out and ready for fun. It is NEVER out when you have sea days. So as wonderful as the space looks, we ONLY saw it like that on the day we got on the boat.
This is what the space on deck 15 usually looks like. Still not to shaby! Lots of open space to view the amazing ocean views without anyone else bothering you – well, just the people you bring with you.
Norweigan Cruise Line Suites
Having a private deck means getting to use your tripod to stage the perfect pictures on a wide open deck at the top of everything! We saw unspoiled mountains in the Chilean Fjords, icebergs, gorgeous Antarctica, whales, penguins, sea lions, and more!
Truly it was breathtaking having our own space to view the ocean and amazing sky.
norwegian cruise line cabins
Being in a NCL suite means lots of perks that make your voyage so memorable. From bowls of gummy bears to your favorite dessert magicaly appearing in your stateroom – it’s really magical.
norwegian cruise line Rooms
Our butler noticed it was my son’s birthday on our voyage. When we came back from seeing penguins in Puerto Madryn, Argentina – he had this surprise waiting for us. There were birthday banners and balloons on the door and decorating the living room. They made this amazing towel cake with napkin roses. Plus several plates of sandwiches, cakes, gummy bears, cookies, and more – all with a cute chocoalte birthday cake.
Norweigan Star
If it’s too cold, or if you have 30 foot waves crossing the Drake Passageway and don’t want to navigate the ship, you can still enjoy a beautiful sunset from one of the many windows in your huge stateroom!
One of the other perks we really enjoyed was the reserved seating at the Stardust Theatre for shows. The entire left balcony is reserved for all suite guests, until 15 minutes before showtime when it opens up for anyone. But the front row of the balcony is always reserved for the Graden Villa guests. You can show up at show time and know you have the best seat in the house!
Suite guests get to enjoy Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch with much, much better food than you can find on the rest of the ship. The breakfast inlcudes a buffet with meat and cheese, fruit, granola, hot cereals, and pastries.
Our favorite were these amazing Almond croissants that have a dleicious cream inside! YUM! We would always ask for our butler to bring us more almost croissants to snack on during the day and for those of our party that choose to sleep in on sea days.
After the buffet, you pick a hot entree that will be brought to you along with drinks including juices. The French toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, and omletes were all delicious!
For lunch you order of a menu with a variety of starters and entrees. The food was always amazing. Our favorite part was watching them make dessert behind the counter. Our favorite was Bannofie – dulce de leche, pudidng, cream, bananas oh my!
I never grew tired of the amazing view from our deck 15! It was my favorite place to hang out in – so peaceful! I’d grab a cup of Nespresso (or Starbucks in the lobby if I was feeling like a splurge) and then sip it watching the sunrise.
The other perk of being in the suite was towel animals. Although these fun creations are a staple on most cruiselines, they are no longer made on NCL. But for suite guests with kids, they make the extra effort to add a magical touch to your day! My kids loved seeing the towel animals they came up with every day!
Our family really enjoyed having the extra space to let our kids play for the long 14 day cruise. They enjoyed puzzles, games, coloring, and the most exciting games of hide-and-seek!
The only place on the ship to get cookies is the Butler! We loved enjoying them with a cup of coffee in the afternoon as we watched a movie or played a card game. We brought our favorites like Rook, Progressive Rummy, Monopoly Deal, to name a few – but you can check out games from the library too.
Plus when we got to cold to stay out and look at the gorgeous scenery in Antarctica, we could just come inside and still watch for wildlife and be in awe of where we were. My favorite view ever!
I know pictures can only take you so far and sometimes you need a video to really conceptualize what you are seeing, so I took this video of the Norweigan Star 3 Bedroom Garden Villa filled with tips and helpful commentary from yours truly! Hope it helps you plan your trip or dream of your ideal vacation!
NCL 3 Bedroom Garden Villa
So whether you look for a sailing with a discounted suite, or look for a chance to bid for an upgrade, I promise you will enjoy the absolutely amazing suites that Norweigan cruise line has to offer like the 3 bedroom garden villa we enjoyed on our cruise to Antarctica.
