Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Helen Conway has booked two cruises this year for me and has excellent communication

skills , very patient in explaining all details and a pleasure to deal with.

NCL Epic is an enormous ship with a lot of passengers but well organised The embarkment is easy 

the food was very good considering the amount of people on the ship and 

the shows are great but you have to book seats at the beginning of cruise. 

Walked off the ship with luggage and it took 10 minutes 

There was no favorite part. We loved the food in all the specialty restaurants.

Even on a ship with 4500 passengers, we never felt crowded.

Loved all the bar choices especially the Irish bar.  All the shows were excellent!

Only thing that was annoying was the lighting in the cabin. We had a balcony stateroom, and it was very hard to put makeup on with the dim lights.

This cruise was not pleasant. very disappointing. See below for detail.

"Tell us more! Review text must be at least 150 characters." is too demanding.

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FUN SHIP/RELAXING.  Enjoyed all the ports.  Staff were so friendly.  I highly recommend this ship to anyone wanting to  go to this country.  My family enjoyed the ports as well.

It would have been nice if there were other music venues in the lounges other than elevator music.  We could tell that money was trying to be saved on the preparation of the foods. The specialty restaurants had excellent food and service.

Great ship, superior restaurants, fabulous ports of call and amazing staff. Wireless usage was a challenge and did not always work.  Flight schedules did not leave enough room for delays. Although flights may be on time, deplaning, reaching  connecting flights in different terminals and getting through customs that are minimally staffed creates tremendous stress when time in between flights is too close. 30-45 minutes is not sufficient. Finally, travel representative Trisha Kirkbride was exceptional, always answered calls and questions promptly and thoroughly. Would definitely book future cruises through Trisha. 

Very friendly and courteous staff everywhere.

No nickeling and dining for every little stuff onboard, which is really great. We booked Concierge Veranda and only stuff one had to pay was for wine and liquor, if one wanted. 3 shore excursions were included so long as they each cost $199 or less. We bought private small van tours and transfers through Viator for better value and more intimate experience. Internet, though spotty, was free. Ship had laundry facilities on many specks and we were offered free detergent . Washer and dryer each cost $2 only. Great restaurants and the grand dining were excellent, even though Jacques was a little less than hyped. Service everywhere was outstanding.

I was so looking forward to the evening sushi in the Oceanview Café (buffet) and had told so many friends about it. I was so disappointed they didn't have it, but had a sushi restaurant I didn't use.  Celebrity has struggled with that space and they should use it as a Captain's Club area.  I am surprised how many people I speak with that don't realize the benefits of the Captains Club.  If they designated it as the Captain's Club Celebrity could offer a free drink/cruise for Classic members (yes, top shelf), two three free drinks for Select members, along with appetizers such as shrimp, cheese, spreads with baguette slices, etc.  Please pass this on to Celebrity as it was a huge disappointment.

The food aboard the Equinox was excellent,very clean ship and attention to details. We would definately cruise again with Celebrity. The staff was wonderful,friendly and always ready to help. The waiters in the silhouette dining hall were very attentive.

Fantastic staff and crew, great itinerary, wonderful food, great facilities, great holiday.we would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a cruising holiday.

Very well organized, friendly staff, good food,adequate cabin, entertainment poor, fantastic Captain ! definitely go on this ship again and highly recommend it.

Loved the cruise but could have had better port lectures. Food and crowd control for breakfast could have been improved. Beds were spectacular. Flat screen and bigger tvs would have been better. Food was good but not as much variety as I remember from previous cruises for lunch.

Everything was great.

I was just " mad" at 2 issues.

1. "Crazy" prices on alcoholic drinks. ( Outrageous)

2. The involvement, of me as a passenger, in salary

Of the : water,assistent water, etc.

It's simply, not fair !!!

Wonderful, friendly, attentive staff, great food, (and a good drinks package), lovely places to visit, very good shows and musical entertainment around the ship,and marvellous weather.  We have cruised a great deal, particularly with MSC, and we always come back to them.  Cant recommend them highly enough.  Give them a go!

The food and entertainment were great. There should be a time when a person can cruse without a lot of children on board, don't get me wrong I love children.  

This was my 14 cruise.  Always nice to be on a sparkling new ship.  Great cabin with decent size balcony, fabulous shower and a super cabin steward.  While decks 2 and 3 (containing most of the restaurants, shops, music and entertainment venues) were very attractive and fun to walk around, I missed the constant activity and gathering place I'm used to on Princess ... the Piazza.   The theater in the round was a plus and the entertainment there was top notch.  The low point on this cruise was the poor coordination and service in the main dining room.  It is an attractive venue but the acoustics are terrible and the combination of constant background noise and poor, spotty service were frustrating.  On the other hand I loved the food and service at Canaletto and Tamarind.  Finally, the cruise director was blah....  there just didn't seem to be much going on once the restaurants closed.   I will plan to return to Princess for most of my future cruising, but do plan to try one of the new Viking ocean going ships

My complaint was there was a drink/liquor tax at sea during the entire trip, no matter how many miles we were off coast. We were told on the first day of the cruise that there would be no liquor/drink tax once we out to sea. There were about 100 people complaining the 2nd day of cruise because of the miss communication. Count on an extra cost of over 100.00 (per couple) for taxes on drinks...this is a hidden charge because NCL do not explain when ordering your cruise. We choose the free unlimited drink package and prepaid 330.00 for gratuities and an extra 100.00 for taxes onboard.  If you are not a big drinker like us it is not worth the costs to take this package. Even if you order the "special" drink of the day, which is marked at a special price they charge you tax on the full price of drink. We were told that special price is not available for anyone with the drink package. The quality of food was excellent everyday.  Also, the ship was very clean and the staff were very friendly.

As a busy person vacation always is been my favorite time  this was only my fifth cruise, for my husband ( only 3 years ) his 177. :)  another story x another day  he 

introduced me to the cruise vacation experience so far is been good ..

this cruise was perfect and was my decide point because before I when to a Panama Canal with NCL and I was so disappointed 

first my first cruise was cancelled because a problem with the ship ( happy happen 

     When I was not aboard) not your fault 

so we got our money and discount x our net cruise, we book immediately and we upgraded to a window what turned to be a nightmare 

first i understood the window was going to be the same or better of our first time was NOT we talk to your main Desk on the ship and they said was our  mistake so I said I will talk to my travel agent and we want to enjoy our vacation unfortunately that was the beginning of a bad vacation no only that b

some how al fuel odor got into our room and make our room a nightmare because I got a asthma attack you employees bring a humedefired tha make the air better but the room so hot,  from day one nothing works good ! the shower drain was clogged the came and tried to help was good x 2 day and we have a problem with the toilet so we alternate and one day was the shower others the toilets, 

one of the atracción on your cruise was the main restaurant, the food was great and course it happen my husband order some ham and cheese omelette  when my husband cut into the eggs where running :( .....,just one more we all dress to take a picture so we stop on one of the small cafe to have a copy and the waitress spill the Coffe on a new suit.  As you can see was a vacation from hell 

we took a cruise to Alaska on another cruise line  and one of the best things you have  is the service personnel they are so good and helpful that I said to my husband I want to give a NCL another chance,  so we book  this trip and was great some problems with the toilet but in general was a great cruise 

my special thanks to grace who do my room ever day with a great smile 

to Joseph who make my  omelette perfect every day on the 12 flooor

to Nieva a waitress in one of you special restaurants (steak house ) who was fantastic .

Also some of your capitans on the restaurant on the 12 floor who

found my mint tea and cream cheese 

sugestions 

more mint tea, cream cheese is a must with English muffin and how a pinch of water with ice on the room?

How about a real Chinese chef  ? 

Like i said was great 

We like this cruise so much we've now taken it three times!  For anyone wanting to visit the Mediterranean, the lineup of ports of call on this cruise just can't be beat and the per-day cost to see so many ports in such comfort and with so little fuss makes it a real value, too.  We've taken it both ways (Venice to Barcelona and the reverse), and either way, it's a great mix of ports, sea days, and onboard experiences.  Spirit is the oldest ship in the NCL fleet and she's showing her age a bit, but she's still a nicely appointed ship, comfortable, fast, and quiet.  Our cruising experience is always about the ports of call and the dining aboard ship, and our dining experience aboard NCL's Spirit and Jewel has been a cut above the others we've sailed with.  We don't choose a ship or a cruise based on whether the ship has rock climbing walls, art auctions, or golf aboard... only where the ship goes and how we'll be living and dining aboard.  Our experience with crew, staff, and room stewards has always been excellent aboard NCL, and although we mostly explore ports and destinations on our own now, NCL certainly has a good selection of ship's excursions available in each port and they are well run.

Our only negatives about the ship have to do with her age.  The cabins have no place to plug electrical appliances and chargers in, you can't use standard hair dryers in the plugs, and the ship's finishes and fit-out are generally showing their age.  Attempting to use internet at sea is a waste of time and money (we go ashore, have a meal at midday, and use the cafe's wi-fi for free while enjoying local cuisine).  Trying to find a quiet place to read and watch the beautiful Mediterranean on sea days can be a challenge sometimes, but patiently waiting for a space in a favorite spot works.  Spirit is still quite decent and serviceable though, and our few negatives are by no means a deal-breaker for sailing aboard this ship.  The evening shows were good to very good, and we went to all of them on this cruise, which is unusual for us.  A good variety, excellent talent.

Do your own shopping around, and you'll find that a 12-night cruise in this many great ports, at this price, is difficult to beat.  And by the way, the ports of Kotor (Montenegro) and Dubrovnik (Croatia) are excellent, charming new additions to this itinerary.  We miss the port of Istanbul that used to be on this itinerary, but the new ones are good.

Itinerary was awesome. 

Food in dining room was so-so,

Too many added costs (24%)

Staff was great and attentive

Boarding was easy

Debark and tours should not be on the same floor, same time