Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

We originally signed up for a "Greek Islands" trip ending in Istanbul.  While we agree it was wise to not include Istanbul as a destination due to security concerns, we were very disappointed that the majority of destinations we really were interested in were eliminated as well (Mykonos, Santorini, Ephesus, etc) and replaced with destinations that were ok but not the reason we selected this cruise in the first place.  That aside, here's our rating of the cruise, ship, staffing, etc. 

The ship Navigator is the smallest in the RSSC line up and smaller than most any other of the competition.  While this means about 400 passengers rather than a horde of thousands, it comes with a price.  In our view, there was not enough room in the public areas for 400 guests.  For example, the small pool deck area resulted in all the lounge chairs being quickly taken up.  The smoking area on the pool deck was not really isolated and therefore smoke permeated the already limited non smoking area and made it uncomfortable for enjoying relaxation.  There were no deck areas on the  sides of the ship where there access for walking or lounging in chairs.  You had to be in the pool area or the running track above it to have a place to lounge.  The food was very good and abundant.  Due once again to space limitations it felt crowded in the Veranda dining area at breakfast or dinner.  Lunch on board was not a viable option because there were excursions every day but one and the excursion timing meant it was not possible to have lunch on board and still enjoy your time ashore.  On the subject of excursions, they were pretty well done with professional, experienced, knowledgeable local guides.  It would have been better to allow more time for exploring on your own or shopping before the excursion returned to the ship (especially Venice and the Murano glass factory tour).  We would like to have more than one day at sea rather than a port 7 days in a row.

The room was spacious and well laid out.  Large walk-in closet, large bathroom with plenty of storage area, nice bed, nice deck.  My wife was excited about having a bath tub, that is until she ran the bath water to find it a rusty brown color--complete turn off.  We think that's a sign of the ship's age and need for a redo or replacement.  The staff were uniformly friendly and excellent.  Very well trained and attentive.  Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth and easy. 

We would select a different RSSC ship next time.

The service staff was excellent and the dining room food was very good. The specialty restaurant, Giovanni, was outstanding. The buffet was average or less. There was a good mix of age groups and nationalities. This made it difficult to cater to the needs of everyone in the selection of food choices, activities and entertainment. Most activities were suited to the younger passengers. 

Very good service and free-style relaxing atmosphere. The customer service is very helpful and friendly. There are adequate choices for the food variety.

Best bit-  sailing out of Montenegro.  Great variety of ports.

What could be improved - bar service on the back decks, very lame.

this was a cruise to remember, although we had visited many of the ports previously, this was our first time with NCL and would highly recommend this company, and cruise having visited 10 ports in 6 countries in 12 days. 

Dining room experience suited us as we could sit by ourselves or with other guests as we wished. Staff and food excellent.

My husband and I sailed on the Spirit as our first cruise and we did not know what to expect. The food was great, the drinks were great and the balcony stateroom was comfy and large enough. The pool is small and there are not enough chairs around the pool to accommodate everyone for at-sea days. Guests leave towels on the chairs to reserve them very early in the morning and then do not return for many hours and sometimes not at all. This was annoying and even though NCL stated in their daily newsletter they had a policy against reserving chairs, nothing was ever done. The pool was also very cold. There was not much to do on the ship while at-sea other than be around the pool so it became frustrating at times. There was also not much to do in the evenings either. It lacked entertainment. We are a younger couple in our late 20's so maybe that is why we did not enjoy the entertainment they did offer. Other than the pool and entertainment situations it was a great cruise.

The itinerary is the best, even is a little bit rush sometimes, is a great way to experience different cities or destinations.

The ship is a little bit old if I compare with others experienced before, but the staff of this one, really is amazing and make the difference. 

I think I enjoyed the staff.  I've never had such friendly staff.  Even the bands and one of the cruise director staff knew our names. I loved our room.  It was a balcony but at the back of the aft and it was about 1.4 size of a room. 

To improve, I think the tour packages could use some updating.  Too much time spent in a bus in Croatia.  An hour's drive to Sorrento but we went straight to lunch and then straight to the hydro boat to go to Capri.  There was no seeing Sorrento.  It took 20 minutes to get in Coliseum and tour director then took 20 minutes to explain the coliseum and the gladiators.  That only left 20 minutes to see the coliseum.  $400 for a tour and we only had 20 minutes.  When I suggested that if they are giving us free time, to tell us before the talk so we could have had 40 minutes.  She was upset and said be glad you got 20 minutes, the other group is already on the bus.  There is more about her but really, if I'm paying that kind of money per person for the tour.  I expect more than 20 minutes.  She could have done the explanation on the bus.  I did not come to Rome and pay for this expensive tour to hear her talk and take away my time there. 

Also, Norwegian no longer allows for liquids to come aboard for "safety" reasons.  Ok.  I get that.  But, I don't think that is true.  6 larger bottles of water was $23.  Come on, they no longer allow it so they can charge you incredible prices.  Other cruise ships still allow liquids. 

But all in all, we were happy with our cruise.

Took a last minute Mediterranean cruise to see as much of Spain, France and Italy as we could in August, which is a crowded time to be in Europe anyway. Cruise was lovely in general. Food was very good, some days better than others. There were very few English speakers, but most of the staff could help us out when needed. We met a lovely couple from Dublin at dinner so we ate with them most evenings! Some crew members were kinder than others, but overall, we had a good experience. Biggest complaint would be that the excursions didn't allow you enough time on shore. You could explore and shop or eat lunch, but there was seldom enough time to do both! We skipped Naples and did Capri, skipped Genoa and did Portifino. Fell in love with both and wished we had more time there!

Overall my husband and I enjoyed the cruise. Each port had its attraction, My favorites were Florence and Naples. Did all but one tour independent.  Ironically the only one that we did with NCL was the Monaco and Monte Carlo tour and it was our least favorite.  I believe it had to do with the tour guide and not enough things to see or do.  The guide wasn't passionate, he just commented without much historical context.  As another cruiser stated the NCL wasn't helpful if you didn't book the tour with them.  They had no interest in letting you know where to go. I wasn't expecting them to know anything about the tour company but to be helpful in guiding to where the independent tours were stationed and how to get to them.  

Food was okay, Actually I think Carnival's food was better, definitely Carnival's dessert were better and overall Celebrity has had the best food.  We had the drink package and the upgrade restaurant.  Definitely the drink package is worth it but the upgrade to the restaurant package was just okay.  The Italian restaurant was  nothing great,  the Steakhouse was good as was the Brazilian churrascaria.  

The Garden Cafe was okay, however during breakfast it was always jammed. AC isn't what we Americans are used to, it was still warm. Had to take the food and eat outside the Garden Cafe, nothing wrong and actually better (nice breeze).

Cabin room was small as expected (a bit dated) nice balcony but I didn't like that the sink was right in the room almost in front of the bed.  Good water flow for the shower.  Room had good storage for two individuals.  Bring a power strip cord, only two 120 volt receptacles and two 220 volt (European).  With todays gadgets that we all have you'll be sorry if you don't bring the power strip. Our cabin guy was great, Marlon was always asking us if we needed something when he saw us. The bar guy from Perú on the pool deck was great, (forgot his name).

The service on the boat was amazing. I felt that the staff went above and beyond and was consistently friendly. I would highly recommend. The boat itself was very nice and newly renovated. 

We love Azamara and as usual everything was excellent,you are made to feel very special the staff are superb.

the itinerary was really interesting as well

dont change just continue to do what you are doing

simply excellent totally this is my opinion ,the ship with a total of 28000 passengers is my ideal to be on the cruise with lots of space to move around .Costa Deliziosa will be my next cruise.

great 2 week cruise the ship was fantastic and the ports we went to was very good, the weather was really good until the last 2 days coming back to Southampton.

The Itinerary was excellent, the Ship was quite nice, service excellent as always, however both Royal Caribbean and Cruise 118 were a disappointment on delivering our special Birthday celebrations

They need to hire more people. Get a new chef.

Beautiful ship.

Get better schedules.

Learn how to treat foreign nationals/customers.

Entertainment was good. Good shows.

We enjoyed to visit Rome  Santorin Mykonos and Rhodes without excursions !  ;Dinners at the OPUS were very pleasant  crew members very devoted The swimming pools were really too small particularly when we were at sea! The kids should have their own one!

My favorite part was meeting my fellow passengers.  What makes them interesting is that because of the high end itinerary it attracts well traveled passengers.  I myself am a frequent traveler, but I was a piker in comparison to others I met.  The food and service was also very good.

i missed the amenities that other ships have.  The shore excursions need to be better planned and researched by the shore excursion crew.  One example is on a Sunday in Spain that usually many things are closed due to religious beliefs.  We were in Ibiza and one tour that was offered was on the south side of the island and another to the north.  The south side was completely closed down, but the north side was completely opened.  The question is why offer a tour where there is nothing to see.

While the Vista is a brand new ship it is hard to tell .. very low key décor  no Grand atrium as on other ships in its class or size.. a very casual feel.. Don't get me wrong.. its nice but NO wow!  the food was days..  good... not great.. the breakfast menu  at the buffet was pretty much the same all 8 days.. the only exception was GUYS BURGER JOINT  ! excellent!!  on a scale of 1-10   a " 11"  it was that good!  the dining rooms are run in  a American dining experience  theme... witch means no table cloths  no pulling chairs out .. and all with the feel of a American chain restaurant .. No pampering..  The price was attractive and service overall good but I'll stick to other lines I can be casual staying home..

The cruise ship was amazing. The staff on the ship were always helpful and smiling and asking did we need anything. I've read other reviews about the stuff being rude and grumpy and unpleasant. I have to strongly suggest that this is nonsense and one bad experience with one individual should not tarnish and entire fleet of crew. Superb service. 

The food was good in most cases although somethings should stay open all day. Given the amount of money we spend on these cruises, all inclusive should mean all inclusive. You need to be more transparent with your drinks packages and the limits of 15 drinks / day. it's not fair hiding information or not making it completely transparent. Also, it was a pleasure for us to pay our gratuities as they staff deserved it but a lot of people were not aware on the ship that they would have an extra charge of 300+ dollars / person at the end of their cruise. 

The wifi is crap and drops consistently. It's also a rip off in this day and age and should be included for free. There should be a pool for adults although it's a bit late now. The Lidl deck pool should have been designed much bigger and less seating area in that area or some form of transforming pool to deck area for films in evenings. I didn't particularly like the pools as kids were always bombing etc. Which is 100% cool as they're on their holidays enjoying themselves but it would have been nice to just relax for 2 minutes without getting kicked, punched or water in your eyes. 

These are all minor grumbles. Overall, the experience was amazing. Sitting on a balcony in the middle of the meditarranean sipping a beer, looking at the stars is an experience I will never forget. 

Fantastic cruise and itinery. Ship is older and smaller than what I have been on previously but did not affect our experience. Would love to do it all again.