Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Excellent service on this  cruise, very friendly staff. Good itinerary.  Great food. Wine kind of expensive.

Only 2 negatives:  shore excursions overpriced + internet expensive and slow

This was our first trip to Europe and wanted a good taste of the Western Mediterranean.  This cruise fit the bill!  There was a good taste of all the countries we visited. The time in port was enough to do everything we wanted to do.  There were plenty of fun entertainment options for the evenings and the days at sea.

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.

The itinerary was great, the ship was very clean and the service was great.  However, the additional charges for for coffee, water or drinks was outrageous.  $14.08 for two cups of coffee was heavy as was $6.49 for a bottle of water and the coffee you  don't pay extra for was undrinkable.  These prices are penalties for not buying the beverage packages, which are grossly overpriced unless you drink fluids all day nonstop. The specialty restaurants are way over priced for cover charges as well.  Even the Porch Grill had a $30 per person charge for burgers and sandwiches.  At the end of the cruise, it doesn't feel like you got such a great deal afterall.

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.

The Harmony of the Seas ship was beautiful!!! Well designed, easy to find our way around. A new way of cruising. The wonderful ship is very high tech and beautifully decorated. I especially love the Central Park area with the trees and the birds chirping and the wonderful wine bar. We had dinner at Chops Grille one night and loved it. The daytime activities such as rock climbing, zip lining and wave boarding were great additions for the young at heart! My 62 year old husband did all 3 and had a blast!

Unfortunately due to our busy itinerary, we did not attend any evening shows. Our dinners were very late. We loved going to the casino several evenings after dinner.

The only negative thing I can say about the ship was the massive amount of people at the Windjammer buffet at breakfast times. Because everyone wanted to get an early start to their days, The Windjammer was too crowded and several mornings we walked around aimlessly looking for seats that were not available. The food was picked over as well as the staff had a hard time keeping up with refilling due to the amount of people. We made do, however. I would love the opportunity to cruise on Harmony of the Seas one day again in the future. I know that it's home will be in Florida so I will definitely keep that in mind for future cruises.

Our excursions set up through Royal Caribbean were great however there was not enough time to see enough. Especially the Naples day. Trying to see Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii in one day was overwhelming and we only had 25 minutes in Sorrento after lunch to explore. Sorrento is the one place I really was excited about seeing so I was very disappointed. That area should have been a 2 day stay and Marseilles France could have been excluded in our opinion.

All in all we had a wonderful time and will not forget our special Mediterranean cruise on Harmony of the Seas.

The shore excursions were great and worth the money.  In general the cruise seemed catered towards European guests.  It was also a "revolving" cruise so embarkation was easy with only a few hundred guests getting on/off in Rome.

Love everything, food excellent  and  the variety that was available. I also like that you had  restaurants opened late or all night.

Shows were good but could be better.

Small pool, too crowded.

As I previously reported directly to Windstar, the almost total lack of modern, 21st century internet WIFI aboard was very disappointing. I needed to be in constant contact with my business and family (mother is very ill) and I was only able to reliably do so by spending an inordinate amount of time ashore searching out public WIFI. Had to cancel 2 shore excursions because of this issue.

The exorbitant fees charged for a 1980's connection were not appreciated.

The entertainment on the ship was excellent. Our granddaughter loved the kid's club. The itinerary was great. However, the stateroom was not great. The beds were too short and my husband's and my feet hung over the end. The couch our grown daughter slept on was very awkward and not big enough. We did not care for the toilet and shower situation, being able to see the person inside using them. We also thought the food in the two main dining rooms was mediocre. Even though this is "freestyle" dining I had to make dinner reservations for the free dining rooms with NCL before we even got on board just so we could eat when we wanted to without waiting.  This ship is just too big with too many passengers. Every night every seat on the three main public floors was taken and we literally had to take our drinks back to our room to sit down. There was no quiet place to sit. We have cruised quite a bit and on every other ship there have always been places where we could sit and relax in the evening without having to be in a bar.

We sailed on this ship for a 12 day Mediterrain cruise from Barcelona to France, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. The decor of this ship was absolutely amazing plus the lay-out permitted passengers to easily navigate their way around. The itinerary was excellent-staying in Venice was a big bonus -except that many ports of call required buying a shuttle ticket to enter the city or town we were visiting.

 We were very disappointed with the variety of food served in the buffet and dining room.The Windjammer served the same buffet choices every day-or similar dishes and changed he name cards on the dish labels. The main dining room rotated a 4 day menu and charged extra for lobster on Formal nights..what a let-down!

The entertainment was less interesting plus varied than expected. There were two production shows which contained more singing (screaming) than dancing. Other shows consisted of a pianist, juggler, singer and a hypnotist -who only did one show on one evening. We expected much more variety than we received on a 12 day cruise.

Our final disappointment was that they refused to return our VAT ( European taxes which are rebated to non-European tourists) explaining that we purchased our tickets in the USA so, we weren't charged the extra tax. We know that, that is fiction as we've taken other cruises out of Barcelona with tickets that were purchased by US travel agents and have had our VAT returned in cash on board.

All in all, this was a good cruise due to its itinerary and fellow passengers who made the experience worth the value.

 Been on many cruises and this by far was the most disappointing. 

-we didn't like freestyle dining at all. No relationship with servers and hard to coordinate with evening entertainment 

-having to make a reservation for shows is absurd.  By the time you figure out what you are doing for dinner,the shows are booked 

- having passengers join and leave  the cruise at different points takes away from the cruusi f experience.didnt get the orientation to the crew or they excitement that comes on a first day. Many first time cruisers were totally confused. 

-hate the bathroom and toilet being the main cabin with no door. Compromises ones privacy if in the shower and the other party wants to leave. 

-didn't care for being midship and no way to access the elevators and stairs without a healthy walk. Purposely positioned ourselves to get to the stairs.  (Poor design ) 

-staff were not friendly or interested. -maybe due to not being able to create relationships with folks coming and going all the time?

- no wandering bar service on the upper pool deck 

Ship is beautiful, rooms just as described, beds great, tours were very good. Food was hit and miss but not really what I hoped for, had as good or better at other resorts for a fraction of the price. Some parts of the meals seemed prepared way ahead of time and looked and tasted like it. Service in the speciality restaurants was iffy, especially the French and Asian, there it was bad to pushy and a number of guest had the same impression. The Compass Rose had by far the best servers and some of the best meals, the open seating Italian was the worst especially service and food fair. The food\service was a big disappointment and for the price of these cruises it was not a good value.

Wi-Fi was basically useless and everyone had the same complaint. Checked with their business center and they basically told me it was my new tablet, and I should only use Apple products although they did not work either. I needed to check back for business and this was a ral problem, went 2 days before I got connected and then it would disconnect me. Spent hours during the course of the cruise trying to connect which I would have preferred to have been enjoying my cruise. Tried to check the TV for news especially on the hurricane in the SE US but same basic problem, only connected occasionally and then it would go away. Didn't matter where we were at port or at sea, same problems and same complaints from every guest I spoke to.

It's hard to say if I would try Regents again, just did not seem to have their act together in many fields vs. the cost and other options.

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.

Loved the ship, our stops, our excursions, the entertainment, the staff!  It was a super trip.  My only complaint is that the food is nothing like Oceania or Celebrity.  it leaves something to be desired.  

We ate in the Main Dining Room twice and enjoyed those evenings except for the wait to get in (despite reservations).  I noticed American Icon had many empty tables.  RC ought to send people down there when they have lines and figure out a way for staff to deal with it in that restaurant.

The specialty restaurants could've been better.  I was very under impressed with Wonderland.  One did not know what they were getting until it arrived.  If one did not order a ton of appetizers, one would walk away hungry because the main entries were neither tasty nor filling.

150 central was OK.  Chops was the best of the three that we went to and we went there twice.  I found the menus at all specialty restaurants to be slim.  They should each have offered more selections.

My Royal IQ app never worked properly after the first day.  We were never able to access our calendar.  We went to Guest Relations a few times and also the iPad stands but no-one could help us anywhere.

Please note: No need to hire private transport from pier to airport.  There are plenty of taxis available because so many are coming in with passengers, even early in the morning.  

The Headliner show got cancelled before we even boarded the ship and the Comedy Standup show was also cancelled.  Fortunately an illusionist was brought onto the ship to help make up the gap but it was disappointing.

This is our favorite cruise line thus far. The ship was beautiful and new. Precise attention to detail was noted except for internet access. Ours came with the package deal. Don't pay for it since it is practically non existent. The food was of excellent quality. The entertainment was fun, sometimes hokey, but still fun. The art work is unique. Take the time to explore the unusual theme throughout the ship. For example there is a painting of a burning ship in one of the lounges. In the foreground is a lifeboat with the ghost of a woman present. A bit discerning for a cruise ship!  

Announcements for the most part are not heard in the rooms, consequently we missed some important news. 

All in all, this is a great cruise ship.  Go for it. 

this cruise can be recommended. Difficult to name a favorite part as all was great. The ship is truly remarkable. Outstanding service by the crew members.

Mini Suite was OK, beds are too short for the average height person, and I did not care at all for the "open bathroom concept".  No privacy al all!! Also the tubs are too high to step in to easily, and very slippery when wet.

The dining experience was good, but not the best I ever had. The staff in the dining rooms were very nice  and helpful.

Did not get to enjoy much of the entertainment because the tours were so long and exhausting, and started so early! Did see the Men of Motown, which was great!

The tours were very rushed feeling, trying to cram too much in. There were limited times to shop, take photos and just relax. Most of the photos I took were from a moving bus window... Tour guides were very nice though. In the future I would choose to make private tour arrangements!! 

Boarding and disembarking were fairly easy.

Favorite ports were Santorini and the Amalfi Coast.  Beautiful.  Great history in all ports.  Was sorry that we docked in Naples instead of Sorrento on such a beautiful, smooth sea day.....was not sure why the itinerary changed.  Food, wine, staff and accommodations all were excellent.