Europe - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

We just returned from the Mediterranean itinerary (June 2012) and left from Venice on a back to back cruise (15 day cruise). Out of all the other cruises we have taken this by far had the best food. (We have been on a few Carnival cruises, Princess Cruise and Royal Caribbean cruise lines) For example, the fresh pineapple tasted just like Hawaii, the meats ...my husband loved his steak! The shopping on the ship was less than desirable for me as an AVID cruise ship shopper. Mostly items you can find in typical mall and some jewelry lines from large city malls only. If this is your first time to Italy and Mediterranean and you love to shop, pay attention!...IF you see something you like, get it for you won't likely find it (at least I haven't and I live in Las Vegas) in the states. For example, my husband purchased a Byzantine jewelry piece for me and I have spent hours online and went to the local major casino's and found non it's equal...not even close. I enjoy a good negotiation for prices and believe me, don't expect much if any during your journey. I don't know if it's previous cruisers who ruined it for everyone else or what the case but, never hurts to try. ;-) I have to wonder if the water is that incredibly smooth during this time of year. It was ASTOUNDING...never seen water so incredibly smooth. Best description was picture the most luscious smooth silk you have ever seen, now drape it on your bed with a hint of ripple and no joke, that is how beautiful the water was. Later in the trip it was slightly choppy looking but appeared mostly from the wind. Only for a couple hours one evening was the first time we ever felt any sway like feeling, other than that you never knew you were on a ship so to speak. If you have kids (my sister brought her "tween" daughter) and they loved the pool. Interestingly enough, we don't have kids and really didn't see very many. In fact, tho the ship was full of people I often wondered where in the world they were! As far as smoking goes, as an American I am not used to being around it and was a bit concerned when I found out they do allow it on this ship in certain areas. Turns out there is only 2 places to smoke, the casino and on deck 12 on the port side. (PLEASE SEE COMMENT ON STATEROOM QUALITY: A MUST!)

The layout of the ship was great. Easy to get around. Food at all meals was wonderful and service top notch.

This was my 13th cruise with HAl and overall 41st.This ship is very clean, the crew is very responsive to service and the food quality and choices are very good. We now know many of the crew of the line and it makes cruisng with them like coming home. I am very happy to highy recommend this ship and HAL but do not take my favorite suite.

the cruise was pleasant

First time on a cruise. Overall I really enjoyed it and will definitely cruise again.

LOTS of balcony rooms. We paid for an obstructed porthole and got upgraded to balcony. Beautiful ship and great ports of call.

I especially enjoyed the art tour of art on the boat. I always enjoyed the art work, both paintings and sculptures, on the different ships I have cruised.This is the only time I cruised that I knew they had a tour or I would have taken it in the past also. This tour enhanced my appreciation of the ship overall as well as having the opportunity to ask questions about specific art works and artists...I encourage everyone to take this tour. I suggest you ask when the one hour tour which is only one of the days of the cruise is scheduled, so you don't miss it when looking at your daily activities log.

wowwwwwwwwwwwww..........nothing can explain my feelings.it was royal ........relaxing........healthing............dreaming......charming...........crew and service was perfect .and all the excursions was professionels.everything and anytime on time.

We had a great time on this ship. Our second cruise with RCCL. We were not disappointed.

p Overall the cruise was good, but I wouldn#39;t sail with Royal Caribbean again. The Guest Services is abominable and ruined our vacation. Also, if you sign up for a cruise with a promotion, make sure everything is in writing. We were supposed to get a Romance Package, but never did. We were in cabin 6113, if you get assigned this room, ask to be moved immediately! It#39;s above their Lotus Lounge where they play music til almost 1am. The music vibrates the room and you can hear every note of the bass guitar.... which was playing to a completely empty room! We had to switch rooms after the second night of no sleep, and no apologies from Guest Services! You are probably best off just staying away from Royal Caribbean. We had lots of passengers get the stomach bug and were quarantined to their room. I went through about 9 room keys, twice both keys stopped working, which led to a 30 minute wait in line... again!

not recomended for young people or young adults is more oriented to seniors couples...

The Norwegian Spirit is a wonderful ship. A great size by today,s standards-not too large.

Navigator was a nice, large ship. The interior could use to be updated, but the ship was extremely clean and the service was outstanding!

Being on Celebrity Equinox for the 11 day Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was truly great. Not only was the food superlative, but the warmth and friendliness of the crew was exceptional as well. The ship was kept neat and clean despite the number of passengers onboard. We traveled as a family(my husband and I and our 2 daughters and son). One evening while having dinner at one of the specialty restaurants, I overheard our children asking each other if there is anything negative at all they can say about the cruise. Their consensus was that they can not in all honesty state anything bad about the Celebrity Equinox cruise. To Celebrity Cruises and its crew, more power and keep up the good work!

The ship was old. The last night of the cruise we put our suitcases outside our door at midnight and when we picked them up once we got off the ship, one of the pockets was open and my glasses were STOLEN. I asked for them to look at the cameras, but I was told this would take several HOURS. I asked to fill out an incident report form, but after waiting for an hour, I was never brought the form. Staff were not willing to help and I left without my glasses, without filing a report.

Great boat to explore, many unique features, decent staff. Spa relaxation room and saunas were not up to standard...heated tile \"beds\" not warm enough, not enough amenities in basic \"spa\" package to make it worth it...no private pool/jacuzzi's...one pool that children could not use...overcrowded at peak hours...go to a super late dinner and enjoy the spa when everyone is eating or at shows...jmo! Food options were terrific, specialty dining was expensive but good food and better service than the regular dining. Travel agent promised \"alone\" or \"free-style\" dining, or whatever Celebrity calls it, but then we were booked at a table for 4...took 3 nights to figure it out...finally got what we wanted. Concierge/Aqua class seem to be the best if you can get a sale... One itinerary note...get off early (make sure to get a tender ticket) for Santorini, if you plan on exploring...we were stuck on the ship for over 4 hours! Great experience, and since we got a great deal, well worth it.

This was the best cruise we have taken. All the stops were great except Crete. We would have liked to have gone to another port. We look forward to our next cruise on Royal Caribbean.

easy to get to different activities

The ship, the crew, the meals, everything could not have been better.

It seems the buisness plan is to cheapen the Maibn dining to get you to pay for other options. The cabins were the smallest my wife and I have experienced out of six other cruises. The shows were rather like high school performances.