Europe - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Very nice, no complaints. A bit crowded around the pool and jaccuzzi so I was not able to use any of it. 

People were very nice and helpful. Pillows in cabin not so great

The cruise itinerary was phenomenal.  The ship itself was very well maintained, clean, etc.  The food was so-so.  This is our first time with free-style and it will be our last.  The food in the restaurants was much better but I don't think we should have to pay for it.  Charges have a way of adding up quickly.  The main dining room only rotated one thing on the menu, so  it as kind of boring.  The excursion prices seemed expensive and we were shocked that we had to pay 22% tax in the shops. 

The evening shows were very good as were the parties in the Spinnaker club.  Staff was very friendly.  Joan, our washy, washy, happy, happy girl, was fantastic.  We didn't see much of our cabin steward. 

The Norwegian Jade was apparently designed for cruises to Hawaii. The crazed multi-colored decor looks llike it was designed by a drunken person who doesn't have much of a grip on reality and is stuck in the '70s. If we were wearing leisure suits, it woul dhave been fine. Our stateroom alone had wave-patterened multicolored blue carpet, one purple panel and the rest orange and green. The rest of the ship equally lacked tatse, including the massive glass flower design over the atruium that made me worry it would fall on my head. Most of the carpets I would call drunk carpets, meaning that isf someone up=chucked on them, no one wouild notice.

 

The food was lackluster, even in the specialty restaurants, (with the exception of Moderna, which was excellent). The menu was the same every night in the main dining room, with a couple of specials.  Steaks were overcooked and I actually rejected the "pork loin" one wngith which was one of those processed rolls. I've never done that before. Actually the greate4st variety was in the Garden Cafe, the buffet, including nightly Indian offerings. Alas, the buffet had absolutely no atmosphere.

 

Then there was the entertainment or lack thereof: The first night's teaser left us scrambling for the exit. The only bright spot was Elements, the dance, acrobatic act which was excellent. We walked out on the "American Idol" night, which was downright embarrasingly poor. I've heard better singins at high school musicals. Another bright spot was the guitarist who played several evenings in the Atrium bar.

 

Oh, and the pool: This is a ship that ccarries 2,400 passengers. There is one adult pool that is not much bigger than your average residential pool. This is totally inadequate. I can only guess they used the extra space for more specialty restaurants where they can make more money.

 

That's pretty much the bad stuff.

 

Here's the good stuff: The ship was exceptionally clean, staff attentive and service was far above average. The poor folks who were required to do the annoying "Happy Happy Wasshee Washee" hand sanitizing gig did so with good humor to the point where I felt real affection for them by the end of the cruise.

 

We've traveled on Holland America, where the food was far better, but the clientel much older. That;'s why we chose Norwegiian, thinking we'd get a little more stimulation. I dont' think we'll sign on for another cruise with Norwegiian.

 

 

 

 

Boarding the ship took us a very long time. We had to go through three huge lines. The safety briefing was conducted slowly and in five languages​​, just to explain how to wear a vest.  After an hour of standing my back was in pain. We got an offer for drinks "all inclusive" and didn't regret taking it, because even mineral water on board was not free. The food on the ship and in the restaurant and the buffet was poor, especially the fish dishes were very average. Four times out of seven days, our toilet did not work in the morning and it was an inconvenience. Staff service often was not on the desired level. The evening shows were boring, except for a couple of performances. We were on cruises three times befor and always on American cruiselines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean). We expected the same level of service here. But now we see a huge difference and we will not choose again Costa Magica. However, there were employees who we would like to thank for their work: Inacio Fernandes (main waiter, (at dinners), India), I Wayan Sumadi Adi (assistant waiter, Indonesia), Katerina Zakharova (bar waitress), Eka Ayu Dewi (cocktail waitress, Indonesia), Nha Nguyen Thanh (bar waiter, Vietnam). These people were really kind, helpful, polite and in our opinion did their best at the cruise, which made a difference for us. 

  Посадка на корабль производилась очень долго, для этого нужно пройти три очереди. Инструктаж проводился медленно и на шести языках, всего лишь поясняя, как надеть жилет - после часа стояния разболелась спина. Мы воспользовались предложением для напитков "Все включено" и не пожалели, потому что даже минеральная вода на борту была платной. Еда на корабле и в ресторане и в буфете была ну очень скромной. Особенно рыбные блюда оставляли желать лучшего. Четыре раза из семи дней наш туалет не работал и это доставляло определенные неудобства. Работа обслуживающего персонала не на  должной высоте. Вечерние шоу были скучными, за исключением пары выступлений. До этого мы были в круизах три раза и всегда на американских линиях (Carnival, Royal Caribbean), потому и здесь ожидали такого же уровня. Но теперь мы видим огромную разницу и не выберем еще раз Коста Маджика. Но были сотрудники, которых хочется отдельно поблагодарить за их работу: Inacio Fernandes (main waiter, India), I Wayan Sumadi Adi (assistant waiter, Indonesia), Katerina Zakharova, Eka Ayu Dewi (cocktail waitress, Indonesia), Nha Nguyen Thanh (bar waiter, Vietnam). Эти люди были очень вежливы, позитивны и профессиональны. 

We have wonderful service on the Jade.  The cruise staff was exceptional.  The entertainment was top notch!  Would  definately cruise with Norweigan and on this boat again!

I was very impressed! This was the best cruiseline I've ever been on. Great quality of food, plenty of options, the shows were really great...I loved all of it. Definitely considering booking our next cruise with them.

We had cruised Norweign before and were not happy to repeat the experience however we had no choice as they had the dates and times that worked with our schedule.

 

From the moment we boarded the Jade and found our Mini-Suite NOTHING went wrong !!Our cabin was perfect, the cruise itinery was great, the staff were helpful,friendly and always wanted to go that extra mile and the food was beyond expectation. During our 7 days on board we could find NOTHING to complain about which was the complete opposite to our previous experience with this Cruise Line.

 

So pleased we decided to try Norweign again - we will definately sail with them in the future.

We took a 7-day cruise to the Greek Isles on the Norwegian Jade in May of 2014.  The ship and our stateroom were both clean, though we didn't spend much time in our room.  We got the thermal suite package for the spa and spent time there every day.  We loved sitting in the heated chairs and taking in the fabulous view.

 

We opted for the Ultimate Dining Package and were glad that we did.  The food at the buffet was so-so, but the specialty restaurants provided a much better experience.  We particularly enjoyed several dinners at Cagney's (the steakhouse).  We found the Freestyle Dining that Norwegian offers to be great - we liked having the flexibility to eat when we wanted, where we wanted.

 

While we didn't attend all of the nightly shows (sometimes we were tired from our shore excursions!), we did see several and all were very good.  We would consider them a step above the shows that we saw on past Disney cruises, as they were targeted for more of an adult audience.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed Corfu, Santorini, and Mykonos.  We could have completely skipped Katakolon and didn't feel like we would have missed anything.  In Corfu we took a 4x4 excursion, which was a great opportunity to see more of the island.  We saw several small towns and saw some great views.  Santorini was fantastic!  We hiked the volcano and enjoyed the narrative that our guide provided.  This excursion is not for those who are out of shape (and for heaven's sake - don't wear flip flops), but was well worth the hike to get some wonderful views of the caldera.  We thoroughly enjoyed riding the donkeys up to Fira town - we couldn't stop laughing, we were having so much fun.  We enjoyed walking through the streets and a bit of shopping.  We stayed until the sun set, and got some great pics.  We weren't able to make it to Oia due to time constraints, but maybe next time ;-) .  We enjoyed the shops in Mykonos best.  We thought the prices there were better than Santorini.  It was a cute place, though the streets are definitely confusing.  We saw many things a couple of times as were were wandering around - but that's part of the fun, right?

 

We had only cruised on Disney previously, but would definitely consider another Norwegian cruise in the future.

It was a truly wonderful experience - I was impressed most by Corfu and Katakalon (Olympia) and very disappointed with Santorini, it was not what we had seen in teh pictures, but an experience none the less.

 

Staff were wonderful an accomodating - the cruise director has a personality to match the ship, and a sense of humour to go along with it... who said Canadians had stiff upper lip type personalities? :)

 

I only encountered 1 unpleasant experience in the Spa and that put us off a bit, as I expected much better. There was one redeeming factor why we kept going back and her name is Sophie Gill, she is one of the staff in Mandera Spa, and she was the reason why my daughter and I returned. I found it a bit pricey, but it was a cruise so you pay for convenience. If you watch the nightly cruise news delivered to your room, there are some very good daily specials that are available at the spa.

 

The other shocker - 6 bottles of 1 liter water - $25.00 USD, and soft drinks (soda only) was $ 55.00 USD for the week, but no once consumes that much soft drinks.

A word to travelers from the North America - DO NOT OVER PACK - and no need to bring your best clothes - this is a very casual laid back ship and there were two events that required a bit less casual dressing.

 

Otherwise a wonderful experience.

 

I was very excited about the Greek Isles for many years and was also very interested on how the NCL Jade would be compared to the Dawn which we sailed on a couple of years back.  The Jade was a very different ship then I am use to.  There was the lack of a grand atrium lobby which was quite odd at this day and age.  It was really a no frills kind of ship.  The main Pacific dining room was very well staffed and the food was quite good on most nights.  The second main dining room was not so upscale and lacked in service as well as presentation of food.  The buffets were average and served basically the same offerings daily.  The specialty restaurants we not crowded but it seems crazy that there are so many of them to choose from.  I believe that the Cruise industry is really pushing to the specialty dining venues and in some cases the meals included in your cruise suffers.  If that is the case then why not just go all in and add the specialty meals to the price and forget the main dining rooms.  The specialty dinning venues on most ships are taking up a ton of space as it is.  The Staff on the Jade was very good and there were no complaints in that area.  Our room was a Mid Shp Mini Suite and I highly recommend the mini suite as opposed to a basic balcony.  My wife and I both bought the thermal spa package for $199 per couple and used the spa quite often and never found it overcrowded as they only sell 40 packages.  The Gym was perfect to help fend off the unwanted extra cruise pounds and the staff was quite helpful.   The staff in the spa was also very pleasant although the massage packages we purchaced were only about average for the price.    Embarkation and debarkation were as painless as could be and went very smoothly.  Now for the Greek Isles.  Strange but true, our favorite Island was Corfu... Yes Corfu !  We did not and seldom book tours and rather venture out on our own.  This worked perfect on Corfu.  We exited the ship and wandered down the main street until we came upon a very large fortress wall that of course we said, " I wonder if we can sneak in there ?"  we walked around the outer wall and followed a small street and staircase up to a chain link fence.  To the left was a tunnel, we heard voices in the tunnel and then saw people from the island exit almost like they used it as a short cut to this side of the island.  Of course we had to know so we walked through the long semi dark tunnel.  To our surprise we did exit on the other side of the island and smack in the middle of an open air produce and fish market.  We walked through the market and viewed the sights and smells !  Our journey dropped us then in the new city or should I say the modern city.  We walked around a bit and found it was quite a lagre area, we shopped, had coffee and walked some more.  We then decieded as we neared the open market once again that we should venture back to the port side of the island.  Once again we walked through the tunnel.  After exiting the tunnel we decieded to walk through the open gates of a lower courtyard of the fortress.  There was another tunnel there as well.  And of course we just had to enter.  Once again we were surprised to find that this tunnel gave us complete entry to the fortress and we were able to gain access to the whole compound inside and out.  It was awesome and not very crowded.. I think only about 6 other couples had found it !  We had views of the entire island and just soaked it all in.  OK enought about Corfu, Now onto the biggest Island in Hyped up history..Santorini.  I have waited years to see this island.. and after the Kardashians went there and Chloe said she saw this island and could now die peacefully because of its beauty.. I just had to go..

(Mind you I don't always watch the Kardashians nor do I value thier opinions)  Well I have to tell you, yes it was beautiful from the sea and yes I was impressed with the beauty.. Can I die now ?  No way..

Once up on top of Fira after a quick Cable Car ride I intantly found out that we were in the biggest tourist trap ever... Not to mention it was rather cool for mid May and the Island itself was so high we were in the clouds most of the day.  Thank god I didn't go to Oia, it was even higher up and looked like a rain forest !!!  The view from Fira was nice but not always available depending on which narrow street (walkway) you were on.  The shops were expensive in comparison to Corfu for the same products.  I would suggest that if you want to visit Santorini, you do so on a cruise... I put it simply to my wife.. As a young boy I always wanted to visit the Alamo.. One year my dad had business in Texas and asked if I wanted to go with him and visit the Alamo.  I said yes and off we went.. As you may recall, the pictures in History books show a huge building with giant walls and sprawling landscape etc.. Yeah, leave it to history books to screw that up too.  We arrived at the Alamo to find that I could actually step over the little walls surrounding the small building that I waited so long to visit.  "That is what Santorini was in my eyes, all hype but then again beautiful."  Now off to Mykonos... Much like Santorini in beauty but more of a relaxed island that was not so pushy on the tourists.  I was very impressed with Mykonos for the shops and friendliness of its people.  The final island of our cruise was Olympia.. The home of the very first Olympic games !! This was nice to see from the temple of Zeus and the ruins to the very tiny olympic stadium that you could venture out on.. The stadium brough that Alamo comparison back to me but I had to take into context of where we were, who was at those games and the events they probably competed in.  I was impressed with the islands history and its archeological sites.. I would highly recommend a visit to Olympias ruins.  Other than that the island had a main tourist shopping area located near the pier and it was filled with knock off goods from purses to Beats head phones as well as many other items.. I had fun there, I love a deal and I love to barter!  The island as a whole was rather dirty with trash piled up everywhere but in all fairness we heard that the trash men were on strike.. But who knows maybe thats what they always tell people.  All in all the cruise was definitely worth the price.. Venice was nice to see as well but if you don't get lost and go off the beaten path.. it is just tourits and people trying to sell you anything and everything from Fake purses to Roses... "Get lost and have fun in Venice !"  Just as a side note we then went by train to Florence and Rome and I will tell you, both of those cities were unbelievable.. Even though Rome had its share of the pushy salesman and the streets were loaded with Tourists.. We loved it !!  And our Hotel (Colesseo #9) and our host Melina were the best part of our trip.. We had a room directly across from the Colosseum with a lagre open window.. Not even Julius Caesar had a view like this !    One last point if you are in Venice and you are staying near the airport.. Bus #5 is 1.3 euro to the last stop in Venice smack in the middle of the city.. We were able to take 3 bags on the bus without any problem and its a 20 minute ride from the Best Western Titan INN to the center of Venice.. A cab or shuttle will run you 40 Euro.. "Take the bus and enjoy the sites and people of Venice !"   Hope this helps with anything you may want to know.. Have a great time wherever you go and whatever you do because it sure beats working !!!!

I am now a loyal customer of Norwegian because of the wonderful experience I had on the Jade. The ship was one of the older ships but not at all tacky. Totally a fun ship with a great staff. I have been on a cruise before with RC and was treated like I didn't pay to be onboard. I don't know what it is but my age, sometimes employees treat me like crap. But on Norwegian, everyone treated me right, the way I wanted to be treated after spending that kind of money on a cruise. My room steward was super cool and thoughtful, even though he had so many other rooms to tend to, he made me feel special, and that is hard to do. I had an aft facing balcony, it was worth the price. I have read so many people complain about things on cruises and they sound so petty. Really? You have a good time if you are a fun person or you go into it having fun. I hear people complain about coffee costing 5 cents in certain rooms or that there are cover charges for specialty dining and what not. They should look at the cost of the cruise and add on those extra things before they make a decision on a cruise. You can't please people who are going to be unhappy either way, their lives are just unhappy. But for people who want to have a good time and let themselves go, they will enjoy it and make it fun. 

The food in the main dining was good, and the food in the specialty dining was AWESOME. So splurge a little, you are still saving by not cruising with crazy priced cruises only for the super rich. Norwegian does it well, for those who aren't snobby and for those who don't always find something to complain about. 

I will cruise Norwegian again, in fact, as soon as I got home I booked my next one and I am not super rich, but splurged. Let's see if they are consistent. :) 

To begin with before the cruise there was not good comunication with MSC reps., they stated things that were not provided.  The cruise check-in proceedure could have been extremely long except  for the fact my 89 yr old mother was on the trip and they put us is a quick line.  Then they let my brother and mother go through security onto the ship but made the rest of us (6) wait to board.  The ship is beautiful and the staterooms are large and beautiful with lots of storage space! The food in the dinning room was good overall with some excellent desserts and the pasta dishes were superb!  Our waiter Jose Cabrera from Honduras was fantastic. The buffet in the Inca and Maya was chaotic, 1st you had to find a table, then the service to clear & clean the table was slow, I cleaned it my self.  You went around in circles trying to find food with 3000 other people.  The food was just average. There are no other non paying places to eat on the ship, only dinning room or buffet.  All other ships I have been on have various places to eat so you don't have the conjested area in the buffet restaurant.

I was told Americans received 1 lt. of bottled water at dinner, we didn't receive them, I asked at the reception and they said it didn't matter what MSC reservations said, they don't give them. From other passengers review, they did receive coupons on there check in. MSC only serves bottled water in the dinning room. No coffee or Iced Tea! They do have water, coffee and hot water for tea in the buffet.  They only have juices until 10:00am in the buffet.  Also a pre package beer option I ordered they had no record of, when I showed them my print out, they said I wasn't charged and they would honor it.  "I had to go with what they sold on board the ship".

Our room attendant Johnny was  great, I asked him to make me towel animals and he did every night but only for my stateroom, we had 4 staterooms. I know the animals are an American ship thing but they are fun! 

The ports of call were fantastic but too short of time.  In Croatia by the time we got off the ship you had about 4 1/2 hrs. before you had to be back on the ship. 

I enjoyed the shows each night, same people but different themes.  They don't really have a lot of other fun activities to do unless you pay for it.  Also the web site on and MSC cruises is not up to date.

  I have cruised over 10 times, on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL and MSC. 

We spent a lot of money on the Excursions in Turkey and were overcharged on top of this.  The tour guides (MSC approved I'm sure), rushed us through the historical sites in order to bring us to a leather jacket fashion show in Seljuk and a Turkish rug showroom in Istanbul.  Hefty $thousands were expected to be made at both vendor locations.  Real bad and dissappointing experience -for once in a lifetime port visits. Get your own touring company/guide to get the most out of your cultural visits if choosing MSC.

Reception staff aboard was rude and unhelpful and the MSC Club manager was never to be found, we were actually thinking of booking another cruise. Kuddos to the rest of the ship Services, including Entertainment, and especially the Dining Staff at L'Aberesque.  Food was wonderful on the ship.

I've cruised with Costa before (as well as other cruise lines).  I was rather disappointed with this particular cruise, however.  Costa really made some serious cuts with this cruise and/or ship.  The schedule of events on board was dull, to say the least.  It seemed that the cruise director really slacked off on his job.  It was something of a half-efforted entertainment schedule.  Furthermore, many of the crew on board were rather rude.  Customer service was not a priority on this ship.  More than a few times, I heard a crew member tell a customer "That's not my job," or "ask someone else."  There was a general I-don't-care attitued aboard this cruise.  

 

With that in mind, the ports of call were amazing.  We had a blast everywhere we went!  The route was amazing, and I would take this cruise again (only, I wouldn't pay as much for it) just to go to the same ports.  I would, however, have to bear in mind that the cruise would be primarily a mode of transportation, and not expect much regarding entertainment on board.

Great Cruise. Starting witht the ship, the staff and the nroute. Entertainment was a little poor quality, but there were other things to do on the ship.

A very good overall experience. The staff, especially the wait staff and the cabin stewards were extremely friendly and hard-working. The cabin stewards even folded our clothes every day! We would leave the room a bloody mess, and when we returned, it would magically be neat and organized. Likewise, the wait staff in the dining room was friendly and attentive.

On the negative side, most of the information supplied about the ports of call was focused on the Celebrity excursions which they were intent on selling you. It would have been helpful if they would have provided more useful information on the ports of call aside from the focus on the Celebrity excursions.

If I were planning this cruise for Celebrity, I would eliminate the Bodrum and Marmaris ports of call in Turkey, and, instead add more time in Athens. We decided to fly to Athens at the end of the cruise, so as to have more time there.

Also, because of the number of ports on this 12 day cruise, there was very little down time--it was a bit of a grind.

These criticisms aside, all in all, it was a wonderful experience, and I would highly recommend the cruise.

 

The ship was beautiful and the food was fantastic. The ports were well chosen and the staff were friendly and professional. I have cruised only  5 other cruse lines, but this is my first time on Holland America. It will not be my last!

I don't even know where to start! The ship was one of the ones Columbus used when he discovered America! The food was just barely edible! The breakfast buffet was a complete joke! I have never had orange juice that was clear liquid. The only saving grace of this cruise is the iternary it offered. Dany (our room steward) was very friendly but over all I would not take this cruises again unless I was homeless with no bridge to go under. BTW people are allowed to smoke where ever they want so if you don't like smoking take a gas mask with you.

Although there were one or two "glitches", we were extemely pleased with our cruising experience aboard the Holland America Ryndam.  The fact that the Ryndam is smaller than many of the ships currently cruising the seas and oceans was a major plus for us.  Very good food, terrific stateroom service and an enjoyable itinerary made our seven days truly enjoyable.  We would not hesitate to take another cruise with HAL.

Mi wife and me take the Divina Cruise and it was the best cruise that we taked, the quality of the service, the cruise decoration, the balcony stateroom, the service  and the attentions of all the crew, the meals and the shore excursions were fabulous.