Europe - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Vision of the Seas is a good ship with a pleasant and happy team of staff led by the equally pleasant Captain Marek. However, you get what you pay for. The food is good but not excellent. Likewise the entertainment and overall feel of the ship. I paid Holiday Inn prices and as such I was more than satisfied with what I got. The all-you-can-eat (and believe me there are several heaving examples of people with food piled high) dining room, The Windjammer, is the predictable buffet quality of food. The main dinning room, The Aquarius, is better (as it should be) but is often a little disappointing in terms of the taste of the food. The presentation, however, is rather good and the service excellent. If they have the Breaded prawns on your cruise definitely order two portions...they were delicious! In terms of entertainment it lacks a bit of creativity or passion. Yes the entertainment team is very good and they are very energetic but the serve up the usual cheezey cruise ship type of activities without putting much further thought into it. Inparticular I think an opportunity was lost in not screening movies the night before a port of call where the movie was either filmed there or was somehow related to the next days shore stop (i.e.: Captain Corelli's Mandolin the night before getting to Argostoli or Shirley Valentine before Myconos.) Something like that being added to the entertainment programme would have really added to my enjoyment of the cruise as I am not a sing and dance / exercise / gambling type person. Other than that Vision of the Seas is a very good middle of the road cruise and represents fairly good value for money.

We loved Athens and Santorini the best. We also liked the other ports. The staff was great and always smiling and friendly. We will be back on ship in November for Transatlantic Cruise to United States of America, can't wait.

Visiting Santorini was most favorable. We took the Royal Caribbean excursion which we totally enjoyed. This came with wine tasting, Greek appetizers and allowed us time to shop. Also included a lift ticket as part of the excursion.

We loved smaller size of the ship - easy to get around and to get to know the crew.  The ship was clean and updated.  After taking American cruises, it was refreshing not to have the pushy "upselling" of all the extra products and services.  The spa was beautiful, reasonably priced and not crowded.  We made use of the drink package for 30 euros per day - they made money on us, but it was nice not to worry about it.  The crew was so friendly - loved our room steward, waiter and bartenders.  Even though we ended up not being crazy about our stops in Greece, it was no reflection on the ship.  Our only complaints were cold showers, lack of variety for breakfast foods, and it was hard to catch any announcements in English - the ship mostly had cruisers from Spain, so most of the information was given in Spanish.  But they provided an English speaking hospitality host and we were always able to find him for questions.  Overall, we loved the cruise and would go on a Costa again.

The only thing I did not like about this cruise was the "Open sitting" policy. It was a mess, everybody going to dinner at the same time and being turned around because the dining room was full and told to come an hour later. I only had dinner at the restaurant one time, the rest of the days I went to the buffet. Apparently it is an "experiment". I hope they don't do it with all the ships.

The ship was so well organised.  Although it was full it never seemed crowded and we didn't have to queue for anything, including tenders ashore when we were anchored off.

The food was excellent in the main dining room.

We were disappointed not to be visiting Istanbul but understand the reasons and enjoyed the replacement ports.

What an amazing cruise! From the beautiful ship, wonderful crew, and delicious food, to the fabulous itinerary and informative shore excursions. Windstar exceeded our expectations! We throughly enjoyed our cruise, and we look forward to cruising with Windstar again in the future. 

Its been our 6 cruises i  different cruiseline and first time in Costa. Every company has diff charactheristic strenght and downside to improve. All cities and islands most esp Santorini and Dubrovnic are fantastic. Nothing to compare any places that we visited in 6 continents.

It was a shame there was no time to visit Venice, I would like something to be arranged for the afternoon for a couple of hours prior to departing. Flights home were too early for us to go when returning to Venice.

We did not use any of the shore excursions as many of them involved walking, and my husband could not do this. They also seemed very expensive.

In general, I thought the meals were average at best and was disappointed that I couldn't have lobster at the end of the week as there were none left.

On the two occasions that we went to the theatre to watch the RCI shows ( not others visiting to perform), we left as it was so bad.

The staff were very nice and very helpful, and obviously enjoyed their jobs. It was a nice touch that our cabin steward made 'animals' out of towels every evening that he came in to turn down the bed.

Not RCI's fault I think, but I had expected all inclusive, and was upset that the drinks package was minimal compared to my expectations.

We had an excellent time on board the Vision of the Seas last week, 

the crew is very much customer service oriented and provide excellent service !

It is a beautiful ship with many alternatives for entretainment on board and very good food quality !

I will definetly recomend the cruise line !!

thanks for a wonderful time !

Favorites: Ship staff; food choices; great shower in cabin; high quality entertainment (though heavily oriented to pop/disco); quiet hallway due to being in front of ship and very few kids on ship.

Less satisfied with: constant emphasis on selling (tours, art, shops, raffles, drinks, etc.); minimal educational content about ports, other than as part of selling tours (other cruise line had educational seminars before each port that were then replayed on TV); despite the few children on board, most movies in English seemed to be aimed at that audience (Angry Birds, Jungle Book, etc.); prohibition against bringing liquids on board (only diet soda was Diet Pepsi which is awful, while other drinks were heavy on sugar); buffet area was always very crowded and quite noisy.

Worst disappointment: insufficient incentives for back-to-back cruisers (incredibly slow wi-fi used up the "free" minutes in first week, no extra excursions for second week) despite constant email bombardment with offers to get 2-5 freebies per cruise.  The few dollars saved by buying back-to-back didn't compensate for the lack of incentives for the second week.

This was a fantastic cruise and vacation. Due to the time, end of September, it wasn't too crowded with children and it was a very relaxing atmosphere.

Favourite part of cruise was definitely the destinations,loved them all.Cabins were fine and stewards worked hard in keeping them clean and changing towels regularly.entertainment  was average compare to other Royal Caribbean ships we've been on although to be fair this is a much smaller ship.also seemed a lot less clearing up at bars and around pool areas.Overall we had a great holiday

We have no complaints with our cruise.  Our son go sick back in New York and Celebrity couldn't have been more accommodating.  The staff was so compassionate and helpful.

This was our first cruise. The Celebrity Constellation is a wonder ship with very nice and efficient crew in all aspects of service. The ship is comfortable, clean, modern and the food and service is top notch.

We would wholeheartedly promote Celebrity for anyone wanting a very good cruising experience.

The service in dining, the shows were awesome. If you don't mine a smaller ship and you don't need a lot of activities then this ship is perfect.  The ports were beautiful Kusadasi could've been changed people very pushy and aggressive, I was uncomfortable.

we had an amazing time & loved every minute . The food was beautiful especially the meal we had in chops grill. The staff were all fantastic & made our 1st cruise a memorable one so much so we have booked another for next year.

Yes, I recomended the cruise  to friends already. Only the orcane we don't want to experienece again in the other trip. The captain informed that it was extreme tornade on the night and 15 windows on the deck 11 was broken. Thrue the cabins window it seemed that we were under water like in the aquarium. In the beginning it seemed like a fun, but when ship started to slip about 25% on the one side, then we get scared. Thank you to captain that he turned the ship for 90 grades and we forwarded the trip to escape from extreme weather.

My husband and I took this cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary.  We love to travel and have previously rented cars or taken trains and stayed in B&B's or used AirBNB to find housing.  However, we wanted a slightly easier way to travel this time so we chose to take a cruise.  We were at the concierge level with a balcony suite.  The Riviera was a stunning ship.  It was elegant and never felt crowded.  My husband and I are very active and in our early 50's. Needless to say, we were significantly younger than the average passenger on this ship.  We are independent travelers and did not do any of Oceania's shore excursions so we cannot comment on the quality of the shore excursions except for things we heard from other people on the ship.  

The cruise started in Athens.  We opted to pay the extra $350 air deviation fee so that we could stay a few extra days and choose flights that worked best for us.  We also did the $99 upgrade to Eurotraveler Plus.  Our flights were comfortable and we had great seats.  I would definitely recommend spending a little extra for the flexibility and comfort.

Our first stop was Santorini.  Unfortunately, 4 other ships were there at the same time.  We are early risers and were some of the first people off the ship, which was a brilliant choice.  The streets of Fira were empty when we first got there.  We wandered around for a little while and enjoyed the cool temperatures and quiet.  We had read about an amazing hike from Fira to Oia and decided to do this.  It was a 5-6 mile hike over the mountains which took us about 3 hours.  It was a little challenging but the views were incredible and we got a feel for the island.  This is definitely worth doing.  Unfortunately, when we finally arrived in Oia, it was wall to wall tourists.  We had lunch and grabbed an incredibly crowded bus back to Fira.  The wait for the line for the gondola was over 1 1/2 hours so we decided to walk down the donkey trail.  Be warned that Santorini can be EXTREMELY crowded.  Try going in as early as possible to enjoy the quiet and serenity of the island. 

The next stop was Katakalo (Olympia).  Katakalo is charming and Olympia (where the olympics first started) was very interesting.  

We stopped in Corfu next.  We decided to rent a car and drive over to the other side of the island.  The island is beautiful.  Renting a car is a great way to get around UNTIL you get into Corfu Town, then it can be a little harrowing.  

Montenegro was our next stop - and one of our favorite.  We got up early and sat on our balcony as we floated through the 17 miles of beautiful mountainous scenes.  The old city of Kotor is charming.  We hiked the 1300+ steps up the mountainside to the old fortress.  Again, we were some of the first people off the ship and hiked this in the cool morning.  It is well worth doing and the views are spectacular.

I was most disappointed in Split, Croatia.  This was my own fault because I had expected the most out of this stop and should have researched it further.  The old city was charming but small.  The city of Split is crowded and the area around the old city is crazy.  There is a beautiful, large park/open space that overlooks the city and we should have gone for a hike there but we were tired and a little grumpy so we went back to the ship after wandering for a few hours in Split.  

Venice was next.  We fell in love with Venice.  We were the first people off the ship and walked into town.  We took a Vaparreto (public water transportation) up the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco.  Again, the streets were empty and we were some of the first people in the Piazza.  We tracked our steps and ended up walking over 10 miles that day - needless to say - our feet were killing us!  So we hung out in the hot tub after dinner.  It was beautiful to sit in the water, under the stars.  

The next stop was Ancona, Italy.  It rained for most of the day but we got a few hours of light rain and some sun and were able to wander around.  Unfortunately, it was Monday and everything was closed so we could only look but not enter any museums or churches.  

Our final stop was Bari, Italy.  I had the lowest expectations about this stop because I had read some negative comments but we ended up enjoying Bari immensely.  It had a wonderful walled city that people actually lived normal lives in.  Once again, we were some of the first people off the ship and as we wandered through the streets, we came upon people having breakfast in their kitchens and hanging out laundry.  It was charming and was the least touristy of the stops.

We viewed the cruise as a way to comfortably get from one place to another.  We did not really partake of any of the entertainment because we wanted to be rested and ready for the next day of touring, so I can't comment on the quality of the entertainment.  On our day at sea, we had access to a quiet deck in the Canyon Ranch Spa and spent the day there.  My husband had an excellent massage as well. 

Oceania is most known for it's food and the food was fantastic.  We loved dining al fresco and ate most of our meals on the back of the ship at the Terrace Cafe.  We discovered that they serve the same food at the Terrace Cafe that they do in the Grand Dining Room.  Although it is a buffet, it is elegant and the staff is very attentive.  We loved sitting outside and watching the sunset every night and watching the moon rise over the horizon.  We ended up canceling 2 of our 4 speciality restaurant reservations because we loved sitting out there so much.  We did eat at the Red Ginger and the Polo Grill and the food was amazing.  However, we still preferred the charm of sitting outside, on the back terrace more.  

We are not heavy drinkers so we opted to use a little of our on-board credit for alcohol.  The basic drinks were reasonable and the daily drink specials ran about $6.50 so we could have a few drinks daily and not break the bank.  The cruise line also permitted us to bring wine on board.  We bought local wine and beer at several ports.  Although Oceania has a 3 bottle limit - this was not enforced.  We did not abuse this benefit but it permitted us to try local wines and beers at our leisure.   

The staff was lovely and very attentive without being intrusive.  I would recommend the Concierge level because of the access to the Concierge Lounge, the free unlimited internet, the access to the Canyon Ranch deck amenities and the size of the room.  We chose Level 4 but were upgraded to Level 3.  We were on the 9th floor, towards the back.  This was perfect for us.  We used the laundry a few times. It is $2 for each token - you need 1 for the washer and 1 for the dryer.  

We had $1100 of on-board credit and had to find things to spend money on because we didn't end up using most of it.  My husband had a great massage.  The cruise line automatically takes out $16/day per person for tips.  We ended up purchasing some great gifts and I got an Italian purse that I would never had bought.  

The embarkation and disembarkation process were flawless.  We had no real issues or complaints about anything and thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and plan to take another Oceania cruise at some point in the future.  

Firstly, we had back to back cruises the first departing on 10 September from Venice and the second departing on 17 September again from Venice. 

We did enjoy both cruises very much but as they were back to back cruises we found that entertainment and the food menu were repeated for each of the weeks and did feel sorry for those that had already been staying on the same ship prior to us and were booked to remain on there for some weeks after. 

We have cruised with RCI on several occasions and the my time dining has never been a problem as we do like to share not only with our two relatives that were with us (which RCI had at first got us booked on different tables) but also with other passengers but even when we asked to share a table with other passengers they would put us on a large table and on most occasions no-one else arrived. 

In addition since our cruise was a back to back one on the mid-weekend we had to have new sea passes and for some reason our credit card details were not transferred correctly and we had to spend time rectifying this at customer services. In addition we had charges put on our account that were not ours, in particular bar charges and we had paid for the premium drinks package!!

As I have stated above this is the first time we have had any of the above problems and hope that on our next Cruise with RCI in September next year (booked through you) does not have the same problems particularly with the dining!!

Other than the above, all the staff, particularly the waiters, room attendants and bar staff were very good.