Europe - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

I expected to love this cruise. I expected more of an upscale experience. The food was very good, but not outstanding. I thought the "O" points that you could earn by participating in activities, then turn in at the end of the cruise for swag was really tacky. Maybe it's ok for a less upscale cruise, but I would have expected something not so tacky on Oceania. I also thought it was in poor taste for Oceania to take us to various merchants on the excursions. On one excursion, they took us to a rug merchant who was selling $10,000.00+ rugs. It was very uncomfortable. Also, one excursion took us to a ceramics shop. I do not appreciate a hard sell, or even a soft sell for objects I do not need. We figured Oceania was probably getting a commission and it was really tacky. I assumed the higher price of an Oceania cruise would insulate us from things I would expect on less expensive tours, but it didn't. On the ship, they were isolating people who caught covid, but did not notify guests of the number of people aboard with covid. Our next-door neighbor was theoretically isolated with covid. We figured that out when they were washing the walls in the hallway. My husband caught covid from them, but never once did they tell us our neighbors had covid. We had to figure it out based on their cleaning process. We felt that was irresponsible on their part not to have informed other passengers of covid aboard the ship. On the last day of the trip, they had to cancel our visit to Mykonos due to excessive wind and rough seas. They added some shipboard activities to compensate for the lost day on Myconos. One thing they added was Bingo. Then they had the audacity to charge passengers to play. I thought this was despicable and really tacky. For an upscale cruiseline to behave like this is inexcusable. Much of our disappointment with the cruise came from decisions like this. We have a very good time. The ship was lovely and the staff was amazing and outstanding, but for the price, we had expected more. Two months prior to the Oceania cruise, we went on a Viking Ocean cruise, which we felt was so much better, including better food. Also, if you choose not to buy a drink package on Viking, you still get free unlimited beer and wine with dinner. On Oceania, if you want beer and wine with dinner, it will cost you $40/day for the package, and if you want it at any time other than mealtime, which will also include spirits, the drink package will cost you $60/day. On Viking, for spirits and drinks at non-mealtimes, it's only $20/day. As travelers, we resent being "nickeled and dimed" every time we turn around

Great cruise with beautiful and unique ports! This was the first European cruise for me and my friend. While we didn't have as many interactions with other guests and there weren't many people in our age group, we had a great time. The food and service was amazing (shoutout to Vanja and Mariano!). Our cabin steward was great but we didn't have towel animals (didn't bother us). We loved being at ports every day and still had time some days to enjoy the pool deck or reading on our balcony. We didn't go to all of the shows because they didn't all interest us but the ones we went to were good. There wasn't quite as much participation in onboard events but we still enjoyed the ones we went to. Definitely try the indian food in the buffet and the caramel cheesecake at Cagneys!

I love cruises especially on a ship of this size. Most of the ports were wonderful and it is always so great to return from a long day to your lovely clean room to relax before dinner.

For the $8000 per person we paid for this cruise (cost of trip plus all the nickel and dime-ing that was done, including paying for drinks because we wanted a drink at happy hour, paying for excursions, etc) it was definitely not worth the price. We expected an up-scale cruise and it was run like a mass-market cruise. Also, we went on a 7-1/2 hour excur.sion that was supposed to include lunch. It didn't, and by the time we got back to the ship, the dining room was closed. Very disappointed with the way the cruise was run, everything was an additional cost. We paid extra for a "Concierge" room but all it gave you was a room you could go to for coffee and pastries. The Concierge was rarely in the room. It was an absurd waste of money. Oceania cancelled 2 ports of call and cancelled one of our excursions at another port, but didn't seem to care. Don't waste your money on their drink package. For $400 for a 9 day cruise, all you'll get is house wine and beer, but ONLY at lunch and dinner. For an additional $200 ($600 total) you will be able to drink at other times during the day. Viking Cruise Lines includes wine and beer at lunch and dinner at no additional cost. We purchased their Spirits package on Viking for a 15-day cruise for $279. I contacted Oceania after the cruise and the impression I got was that they couldn't care less that we were disappointed. They brushed off my all concerns. Because of the way we were treated, I will never go on another Oceania cruise again. They have a lot to learn about treating their customers right. I would have expected that kind of treatment on one of the mass-marketed cruise lines but never on Oceania. Several months before this trip, we cruised on Viking. They issued us a credit for future because they had to change a couple port-of-calls. Even though they gave us credit, they added other ports of call. All Oceania did was traveled slower to the next port of call so they could save fuel. Oceania allowed passengers with Covid to remain in their staterooms instead of moving them to a different section of the ship. The people in the stateroom next to ours (we had a shared alcove theirs) had covid. At first we were curious as to why they were getting room service at every meal, but when we saw staff members with hazmat suits, masks and gloves washing the wall outside their stateroom, we figured it out. Needless to say, my husband caught covid on the 7th day of the trip. Oceania NEVER notified us of the danger, and quite frankly, put our lives at risk. The food, though good, was nothing even close to their advertised "best food at sea." I thought the food on our Viking cruise was far superior. We had one outstanding dinner on the ship, but it was a $100 per person wine dinner. Other than that, the food was good, but not outstanding. Oceania needs to have a policy about unattended & unruly children. They scream in the pool area, do "cannonballs" as they jump in the pool, and splash water all over the place. They also congregate on the pool ladders and you have to constantly ask them to get out of the way so you can use the ladders or the steps to get out of the water. We were extremely disappointed with almost everything about Oceania, and for the price, we felt ripped off. We will never go on an Oceania cruise again.

Overall I did not like it. Signed for the stream internet for the whole cruise and the speed was quite bad. You could not stream any movie

Very interesting part of the world, it was first trip to Croatia and I will go back.

We loved the overall experience and signed up for another cruise while we were there. Can’t wait to go again! Your team was outstanding and made our first cruise ever a vacation we’ll talk about for the rest of our lives!

For an older ship it is still in great condition and offered plenty of activities.

It was our first time and by day 2 we were already discussing when and where we could do it again.

Due to the fear of getting COVID, many people stayed away which made our cruise very easy to manage. Only over 450 people onboard. Staff very happy to see us all. Ship need some more work and the food quality and choices could have been better. The ship is small but so was the cabin, very small. Spent a lot of time on the balcony...

Scary in the beginning but NCL pulled it off. Nice ship, good itinerary. Perfect and attentive staff.

Gorgeous weather (not provided by Azamara ) The ship had abut 500 passengers out of a potential capacity of 670. 500 was plenty. Ship felt crowded around pool and some other common areas. I tested positive for covid the day after disembarkation. I think heath protocols could be much more rigorous.

Great cruise to get your whistle wet in Greece. Brilliance is small, less walking and a little more relaxed. Our waiter Gisele and assistant waiter Lisa were amazing as well as our room steward Christian

This was a great travel experience. We started with a day in Venice, rode the highspeed train to Ravenna to see the town and hotel overnight, short bus ride provided by RC to board the ship, visited 5 Greek Islands, a RC sponsored bus ride to Bologna to catch the highspeed train to Florence for 3 days, another ride on the highspeed train back to Bologna for two days before traveling home. My only regret was it was not long enough. I could have stayed 30 days to see all of the great historic places and eat great foods. We can't wait to go back.

Wifi was also extremely slow- we paid for "high-speed wifi" and we were supposedly supposed to be able to stream and we could barely text one picture.

We had an amazing time can’t wait for our next cruise

Selected this cruise because of the itinerary and price. I guess I should have managed my expectations. The cruise was fine, but lots of little issues that took away from the experience. Food in the main dining room was ok, but nothing special. Entertainment (both production shows and musical groups) were disappointing, with the exception of a very talented piano and violin duo. I find myself going back to my cabin each night after dinner due to a lack of interesting activities/shows/musical performances. Also, didn't care for the dynamic pricing for drink packages, dining, etc. I'd prefer there was a set price. Also disappointed by the need to pay for text functionality with other guests through the app; this has been provided for free on other lines. The cost was minimal , $2 per day per person, but it felt kind of petty to have to pay to keep in contact with my teenager. I know I'm focused on the negative, so I also want to discuss the positive. The staff, particularly the dining staff, were outstanding. Everyone worked hard to make sure guests had the best possible experience and went out of their way to provide outstanding service. The cabin and the ship was generally very clean at all times. The itinerary was also excellent and had a great variety of ports of call.

Although my cruise got off to a really bad start, we did enjoy the Ports and activities at each. I might add that cruising has changed a lot and not for the better. In my opinion, you take some cruises for the ship and others for the destinations. This cruise was definitely for the destinations. If I were to judge the cruise line solely by the experience on this ship, (boarding, accommodations, food) then I would not cruise again with Norwegian Cruise Liine.

Seabourn should focus on providing the service level and type of "special" touches they included 6 years ago. Staff greeting you by name, afternoon tea and snacks, better food selections and quality. All the details that once made Seabourn a standout, are the reason Seabourn is now one of several "average" small ship cruise lines.

The Norwegian GEM was a great ship and the staff were amazing!!! We got to know various members of the staff from bartenders, to wait staff, to the steward and cruise director assistant. Even got to talk to the Captain during a session which was very entertaining.