Europe - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

This was my first cruise on Royal Carib - would not consider another cruise even though after speaking with staff I was offered a 30% discount on a future cruise. Staff was untrained, meals were unimpressive - no presentation, boat was very old and showed the age, they didn't try to hide the fact with fresh flowers etc. that may have taken away from the age. I was told I should have expected this on a 14 year old ship plus this ship was used to train their staff - diappointing for me since I still paid full price for the cruise.

This was our first cruise and we weren't sure what to expect. We were very pleased with the cruise as it exceeded our expectations. The staff were friendly, attentive and very accomodating.

This is a great cruise line. The staff were super friendly with lots of attention to detail. The food was high quality with healthy alternatives served with style. The rooms were decent size for a cruise line. Other passengers were friendly and fun.

Repeat of my pro's and cons.

Overall the Splendour of the Seas was a nice ship although we found the lounges and theater to be smaller than the ones on our previous Royal Caribbean cruises. We enjoyed the Solarium and the Seattle's best Coffee Shop and the casino and the shops were nice. The King and I is a beautiful restaurant, although we did not feel a part of it because we were assigned a table right by the door. Although the food was delicious, we found the service in the King and I to be slow and the bussing service in the Windjammer to be slower. It was extremely hard to find a clean table. One time I even cleared the dishes and took them to the busboy myself. We found the drinks to be expensive and watered down. The biggest disappointment was no Midnight Buffet. We did not care for the Cruise Director and felt that the "energy" was lacking, compared to other cruises. Also lacking was the attention to detail, which I prided Royal Caribbean for in the past. We also were disappointed in the lack of direction once we got off the ship at the end of the cruise. There was a free shuttle bus but no signs and no system and it was a horrible free for all - not a nice way to end the vacation.

The Splendour of the Seas was outstanding. The ship size was one we are very comfortable with. We are not into the mega ships coming online. The public areas were well maintained and our junior suite was what we expected.

An excellent and eligent ship with knowledgable crew and stopped at many beautiful ports. Even though excursions cost extra, they are well worth it and you can see many sights on the islands. The dinners were great at night. The last two dinners were fun as the staff danced and sang during dinner. The shows before dinner were also excellent and lived up to what we were expecting.

The overall ship was nice except we missed not having a outside lounge off the back of the ship. The ship was short staffed, and the dining room service wasonly fair and the dinner meals lacked flavour. Breakfasts were good.

Great cruise!

The ship was beautiful. It was immacuately kept and the personnel were more then wonderful. I found the customer service on the ship to be 100%.

The ship itself was great, the crew was amazing, the food fantastic and the port calls were good.

Great ship, great swimming pools, great staff, great atmosphere

This was our family's first cruise and we enjoyed the experience. We didn't take the ship excursions, simply went off on our own and toured or hired a guide. Enjoyed the stops, especially Turkey and Croatia. Food was fine, ship was great, embarkation slightly confusing for first-timers. Found additional fees added up - be sure to budget cold drinks, better coffees and bottled waters into your trip.

This is my 5th sailing with the Royal Caribbean, and although the trip was overall fun, there were many significant corners that the company cut this time that is concerning. First the good things- the staff was not only courteous, but helpful and fun and probably the best that I've sailed with. The room was very nice and clean, and overall cozy. The sights which we visited were beautiful (Venice, Croatia, Turkey, and Greece). The things that I found disappointing: 1) The evening meals were fair at best. The 2 times that I ordered steak, the quality was below the cheapest cut from Outback Steak House. There is now only 2 courses offered (not 3 as in prior cruises). We were never offered lobster as a meal choice during the whole 7 day excursion. 2) Family friendliness. Sure there is now rock climbing and golfing, as well as specific children's programs, but my 14 year old son was not able to swim with me in the "adults only" pool nor was he able to work out in the gym. My 18 year old daughter had difficulty in the beginning with our waiters, neither of which knew the rules for alcohol ingestion for 18 year olds. 3) The shows were average at best. Mostly dancers, jugglers, Argentinian cowboys, an oldies group of singers, and Elton John. Gone are the concert pianists or violinists, the ballets, the last night gala show. 4) Internet. First, the computers still use the Windows 2000 operating system, which is not supported by Microsoft anymore and is considered by most as "insecure". Royal Caribbean still charges 40 to 60 cents per minute, where most hotels now offer either less expensive or free "unlimited" internet- something that I've used at home for the past 10 years. Maybe I'm spoiled by my last cruise to Alaska in Royal Caribbean's Celebrity Cruise line where everthing was perfect. I may need to reasses my choices in the future if quality continues to deteriorate.

The ship was clean and so were the rooms. The people were rude and the food was average. There were a lot of additional costs that weren't clear on MSC Cruise's Web site.

Due to the cons listed, our trip was slightly not what we planned since it was our 20th anniversary and this is the first cruise (out of 6) that my son did not like the Teen activities (need more thought-definitely NOT AWARD_winning as they claim!). That took away from my husband and my "alone" time & date times... Since the shows were very amateurish (unlike other cruise lines that have Vegas-type shows) we ended up either swimming or playing games or reading in the evenings. The showers are so small that if you turn, you hit the knob to hotter or colder and AAAHHH! Plus the curtain keeps going up your butt (how many people's butt germs are you collecting?). On the good side, the crew was generally helpful and kind (with the exception of a few crankies here & there). The food was excellent all the time!! Our waiter couldn't be better...he got a better tip that they suggested! The cabin steward may have not always been handy, but left fun towel creatures in our room nightly. Plus the shore excursions were fun as well. Met lots of nice people. We actually missed the cruise after we left...

Being that it is an older ship, there was nothing special about it. The interior could use a little updating and jazzing up to create a more lively setting. It definitely needs quite a few cosmetic maintenance overall.

We very much enjoyed the whole experience. It was nice to have a place to eat and sleep every night and not have the need to find a hotel and restaurant. We thought the ports of call were all beautiful and enjoyed the tours we took. The stop at Corfu did seem a bit rushed with only a 7 hour stop. There was a lot to see and do there and not enought time to enjoy the island. This was our second cruising experience and we will be looking for opportunities to do more.

It was very clean and visually was attractive.

The ship was not new, but was kept in good condition. All of the facilities were in very good shape. Staff was excellent. Food was ok at best.