Europe - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

older ship in great shape, spacious cabin and quiet. Very relaxing ship.

Ship was not well maintained. Stateroom had to be re-cleaned when we moved in--very dirty. Windows dirty throughout the ship. "Nickled and dimed" for every item, including bottled water on shore excursions.

Just returned from 12 day cruise on Carnival Freedom, it was amazing, we enjoyed every aspect of our trip, plenty to do, and even though some of the excursions were a little pricey and too long, there was always alternative transportation at the Ports for us to g on our own. loved loved loved it...just booked again to take family...

Overall, ship is underwhelming. Boring decor in the common areas. Cabin was in terrible shape, everything was worn out. This is definitely not the premium cruise experience that Celebrity claims to be.

The ship was nice. It is a small ship by comparison. I have sailed on Norweighen and others that were much larger, but the crew was friendly. It is an Italian Cruiseline that caters mostly to Italians, so on our cruise....out of 2300 guests only 126 spoke English. Needless to say, by weeks end, we knew lots of Italian! I must say, that at least the excursions did not sell out for the English speaking folks.

This was a great cruise. We loved Istanbul and highly recommend the tour with lunch at the Four Seasons. We took some long tours which were very expensive and extremely tiring. Pompei in the middle of the afternoon in 90 degree weather is a killer. I just wanted it to end. I would never do Pompei again. It was terribly overrated and we discovered that the things we wanted to see were on tour in the U.S. The ship was nice and new and the food was good. Nothing extraordinary, but good. The casino was great. New machines, penny machines and fun machines. Casino host was terrific. Cruise director is very good although he is still doing an act we saw on the Triumph years ago. It is very funny until you realize it is all staged. Nonetheless he works very hard. Had my bag stolen in Rome. Carnival has still not responded to me five weeks later. I recommend this cruise for the ports. It was a trip of a lifetime.

ship was a great size. Large enough for there to be lots to do, small enough to get to know people

As a seasoned cruiser, and a Latitude member of NCL's, we were deeply disappointed in our cruise on the Jewel. The ship's staff were surly and rude, rarely did any of them smile. The food was the worse I have ever encountered on any vacation, anywhere, any time. Folks who didn't make it to the main dining room by 5:45 PM were stuck on long lines and then to add insult to injury were given beepers! Trying to eat any meal in the buffet room was even worse. There was insufficient seating, no trays to carry one's food, and the staff did not clear off the tables as people left so that other's could sit down. I was not impressed by the ship's decor. Personally I found it to be very tacky. It might be appropriate for cruising the Caribbean, but it fell flat for Europe. Unfortunately for us we sailed to Greece, Turkey and Egypt in September 2006, during Ramadan. With this being a Holy month in this part of the world it was nearly impossible to tour anything in Istanbul. Because we have been there before it wasn't quite so bad for us but I really felt badly for folks for whom this was their first and maybe only trip to a very beautiful city. I think if NCL had had the courtesy to inform passengers prior to booking that this was Ramadan, many of us would have chosen not to take the trip. Would we travel on NCL again? Most likely yes, but never again on the Jewel.

The ship was great with plenty to do.

The Norwegian Jewel is just that a jewel. The staff and this incredible ship made Europe even more enjoyable. Freestyle cruising makes this the trip at your own pace, and place. I highly recommend this trip to all the are interested.

We travel several times a year. This cruise line is overrated. The ships have too many cabins per key public areas like the pool. spa, and gym. They were very crowded. Inconstant food. We got food poisoning. Terrible room. Noisy, brown water out of the faucets, smallest shower ever, and light from the neighbors shined through the wall. Terrible tendering. Equipment failures. Rude, arrogant, and aloof officers and managers. Save your money and go on another midlevel cruise line like Princess or spend a little more and go on a true luxury line. Oceania is a pretender.

We had sewer and plumbing problems during the whole cruise. The carpet was stained and torn, and the rest of the ship showed signs of old age. This ship needs and complete overhaul or, better yet, a retirement. The cost of the cruise was not a good value, considering the age, size, and condition of the ship.

My 11-year old son and I just returned from our 7-day Musica cruise and we were somewhat horrified. It was my 4th his 3rd and we agree with the other reviews. There is no buffet option for dinner, no water, ice tea or snacks in between meals, breakfast and lunch buffet seemed to be conducted like a shark feeding frenzy with much pushing and shoving and cutting the lines. My son refused to join the kids club due to lack of english speakers. Despite the staff speaking english (I can speak high school Spanish) there were constant misunderstandings and miscommunications when asking for information or help. When asked where drinking cups were the response was "I don't know." When we used coffee cups instead of teeny water glasses to get water staff eyeballs rolled. No water available for drinking in between meals unless you paid for it!! We hoarded water in our own water bottles. I agree about other cruises being much more passenger friendly. My son and I basically hid in our balcony cabin unless we were in port or for meals. I've never experienced anything like this on my other 3 cruises.

I hope, that if we decide to go that we will not be dissapointed with our cruise. According to all but a couple of reviews the food is not all that good. If you like people to keep returning to your business you should make it great. Thank you.

We just returned from a 12 day MEDITERRANEAN cruise aboard the Freedom. The ship was a nice ship, but the decor was a bit gaudy and very busy patterns. It was easy to find the different locations and the crew was great. The food was horrendous (how can you ruin fillet and fish?) Everyone was complaining about the quality of the food, lack of selection and overall taste. The buffet was sparse and the food not that great. There was a holder with sanitizing wipes, but hardly anyone used them and there was no one there to inforce the use as on other ships I have been on, as a result there were a lot of people with stomach upset and a lot of coughing and sneezing going on. The entertainment was not very good and there didn't seem to be anything to do in the evenings except drink and gamble. The cruise director John was very good and interacted with the guests alot. Our balcony cabin was nice and our steward kept it very clean. The balcony was very crowded and it was a tight fit for my husband and I to sit out there let alone have our friends join us for a sail away drink. The shore excursions were very pricey but those we took were very nice. Over all we enjoyed the ports of call and often took a meal there rather than eating on the ship, making the trip more expensive. There was no wine tasting opportunities in a country known for it's wine and no champagne fountain. There seemed to be alot of trivia games and hairy man contests if that's your thing. Imbarking and disimbarking went very smoothly, but then we were among the first on and the last off. One thing that I appreciated was that there was a Carnival representative at our hotel during our post-cruise stay and that was very helpful as the staff at the airport Hilton spoke very limited English. The fun ship has seen the last of us and we will be returning to Princess, which is several cuts above Carnival.

The Jewel is a beautiful ship and this is the perfect itinerary. I would take this cruise again in a heart beat!

Our latest cruise was on the Emerald and it was a wonderful experience. The ship is beautiful and the service excellent. The ports of call were very interesting and the tours were run in a very professional and interesting manner. The service by the staff were top of the line and the food fantastic.

the food on this cruise was the worst I have had in years

The ship is over a decade old, but certain touches make the Veendam the better ship in the Holland America mid-size fleet, in my opinion. I especially liked the library/internet lounge, with over 10 computers and large, leather chairs and huge library. And the kitchen addition to the movie theatre is wonderful.

We have been on several other cruises by other cruise lines, but the itinerary offered on this cruise was great. Unfortunately, we feel the experience was marred by inferior meals, both in the buffets and restaurants. We tried eating at one of the additional price restaurants one night but after 20 additional dollars we found the food to be just as poor tasting. In addition to bland,tasteless food, we found some staff members to be rude and unhelpful. The cruise staff seemed to always be selling extra price items. There also seemed to be a sanitation issue on the ship as the 4th day into the cruise staff stopped letting passengers serve themselves at the buffet and insisted that everyone sanitize with hand spray. Staff did not appear happy with this change, and it seemed that many staff members were annoyed to have to serve us