Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

   This ship was very clean and the staff helpful. One thing I would like to see offered is pay per view movies in your room. My husband and I aren't into the nightlife scene and prefer to spend our evenings relaxing with each other. It would be great to be able to select a movie to watch! The television options are terrible.

   We both had the ultimate beverage package mainly to get sodas (although the alcoholic beverages were nice, too!) I see no reason why one should pay for the sodas in the minibar! Why go downstairs to a bar to order a diet pepsi when you could just drink the ones in the fridge? That's inconvenient and a bit of a rip off.

Thoroughly enjoyed the ports along the Adriatic Sea, especially Dubrovnik, as well as Taormina in Sicily. Rodica was particularly helpful with shore excursions and information plus attending to special needs. I would add here though that the activity level of the various tours should consider the walking time / distance to and from the buses as they were often lenghty. The food was excellent although not quite as good as previous Celebrity cruises. The wait staff were always courteous and attentive. Especially enjoyed the Ocean Liner Specialty restaurant. Quite often it took quite a long tome to get soft drinks and drinks from the bar in the buffet. It seemed as though it was always someone's else's job. On the plus side, Keisha (from Jamaica) in the Sunset Bar was so good, attentive and pleasant that a visit there was a daily must. Special order breakfasts ordered for the cabin were exceptional and always on time. Can definitely recommend this particular cruise.

The facilities and general cleanliness of the ship.

The attentiveness and courtousy of the staff.

The quality of the food.

The quality of the entertainment.

The cost of drinks is high as is the cost of their drinks-packages.

Unless they are revised, it is unlikely that we will use NCL cruises in the future. A pity, as the overall quality is good.

This cruise is absolutely AMAZING from start to beginning. The staff gives you every single day a personalized royalty style treatment and goes above and beyond what they can to make it the best trip of your life. The trip is guided for an older crowd, but as a 25 year old couple, we had the most amazing time. Our only issue was directly with out booking agent (JetBlue) so it is always better just to book directly with Norwegian or any other service. We are so pleased with the trip we got back 2 days ago and are already planning next years adventure. 

The port excursions were beyond lovely.  The Norwegian Jade staff were exceptional. The entertainment was superlative.  The whole experience was extremely nice.

What was there not to love?  Santorini was my favourite but also loved Rhodes, Mykonos, Athens and Ephesus.  The history is amazing, boat was great and loved having a balcony- don't forget your binoculars!

Our stateroom was great and our dining team was wonderful. Our ship did not have very many activities as we thought it would. The spa was really nice with the steam room and sauna. The food for dinner was good. I like that everyday it was something different for the buffet. 

The ports of call was the reason I chose this cruise.  Princess cruises did not  provide a very memorable time on board.  There were very few activities on board, there was no excitement created, food in the main dining rooms were very average, housekeeping did not do folded animals with towels, on stage talent was average.  I have been on many cruises including many on other Princess ships but the Royal Princess was probably the worst as far as activities and food quality.  We did choose to dine a couple nights in the Sabatini restaurant where food quality was excellent. 

The ship stopped at many nice ports.  Considering we were mid-ship in the Lido deck with balcony the price was pretty good at about $135 a day.  The rooms were slightly cramped, but nor bad knowing space onboard is at a premuim, although we thought The balcony itself was a little small.  The excursions were well priced compared to other options, and as long as you aren't on a "Top 10"  (mostly bus tour) excursion were nice, and those including lunch or dinner were very good.

The ship layout is a little confusing as they require you to go through certain common areas (e.g. Casino) in order to get to other areas of the ship, which required us to pass through a smoking area.  The ship diagrams by the elevators help when you get disoriented or can't get from fore to aft on certain decks (e.g. deck 3 where the crew is quartered).  Some of these are common on ships, but hoping they would do something different with new ship designs.  I was surprised given the fact the cruise was fully booked, that we could usually find a place poolside during the day.

The good at standard dining was only okay.  Guy's burgers, The Blue Iguana and JiJi's (lunch free) were nice free alternatines no-cost alternatives.  The on-board service was pretty good.

The entertainment was hit-and-miss.  Most of the shows were not as good as other cruise lines I've been on, but there were a couple of gems (e.g. Flick), and while the comedy shows were also hit-and-miss, it was nice to have this as an alternative to the regular shows.

While it was not a bad cruise or experience, my wife and I (soon free to travel without our teenager who is becoming an adult and doesn't really care for travel) will be looking for a more upscale cruise experience, so we will probably cruise on a more mid to upper scale cruise lines (versus budget oriented).  So it's A matter of preference, not value or experience.  This is a was a good value for the money.

This was my first cruise with Celebrity line. Booking via Hilton Honors was easy, but I found it difficult to decipher the different package options, which is best to review PRIOR to booking. The Celebrity website had a lot of server problems, and it was easier to call them directly to ask questions. I booked late but was able to obtain a Concierge class midship room (1104). The location was right off the library and was quiet. The room size and balcony size was more than adequate. Room was clean, and staff provided both morning and turndown service daily. The room stewards are great. The food I found fair. Breakfast buffet had omellates cooked to order in addition to the usual potatoes, pancakes, waffles, etc. I did order room service twice and it was delivered on time and was good, although warm instead of hot. Lunch buffet was ok. The quality could be improved. We ate dinner in the specialty restaurants 6/7 nights and the food there was very good, although very rich and fatty. Given this, I would be interested in the healthy alternative Resturant "Blu", that is only for aqua class guests. The Conciege class offered the balcony and reported priority with Resturant reservations plus early disembarkation from the ship. I did not find any particular advantage with the Conciege class, which is another reason I would consider Aqua Class on my next cruise. We booked the 5 dinner specialty package, which was worth it. Bear in mind, however, that you must dine twice in Silk Harvest (Asian), and then once in the Italian and once inte French Resturant. I did not realize the package was predetermined in this way, but the food was good in all 3 restaurants and worth it. We upgraded to a premium "Best" package that had prepaid tips, Internet, premium drinks, and also premium water (Evian). It was totally worth it, particularly because we got an on board credit of $300 that went towards our extra dinner and massages. The spa experience was fair. We went twice. First for a healthy feet leg massage that was standard. Second for a couples aromatherapy massage. The massage room we found too bright and not very relaxing as a result. Plain water was offered but nothing else (not even the fruit water that is offered all over the ship!) A massage does not include access to the steam room/sauna, which is an extra charge. The aromatherapy massage was a hot oil rub and nothing more. My husband commented that it was the worst massage he has had to date! Rather disappointing. Ship entertainment is ok. Poolside music and activities were kind of dull, the nighttime shows were more entertaining. They had several musical bands that, some of which were very good, and a few of which were just awful! 

The ports of call were all beautiful and interesting: Athens, Santorini, Rhodes, Mykanos and Ephesus are all worthwhile stops. Tours offered with the cruise were expensive, and I found private tours for a similar price. I would shop around given this. Overall a nice cruise, shy from great but very good.

This was an excellent cruise-from the itinerary to the staff.  I can't say more about the staff-they were superb. The ship was easy to navigate and offered many activities-day and night.  We traveled with one family member who was 16 years old and she had a difficult time finding evening activities to attend because she had to be 18 years old to get into the dance areas. 

The best part of the cruise was the port intensive itinerary which allowed us to visit 5 different countries. Entering and leaving the ship was efficient and quick. The cabins were spacious and very pleasant. The food was surprisingly good for this size and type of ship. Our main dining room head waiter was superb. Evening movies on deck were great. Comedy shows were good but too crowded.

Noise at night made sleeping difficult some nights. Initially our party was not seated together and it took aggressive effort to fix this but it was fixed. There were insufficient pools for the very hot weather. A long line for the skyride lessened the enjoyment of this feature. The serenity deck was too small and only had a hot tub. Drinks were small and expensive. The card dispensing beer tap was a good and fast option. Lines were too long in the Lido deck to get breakfast quickly before going to port. The dining room was a better option but it took time and there was not change in the daily menu. Excursions offered by Carnival had too many people per bus and were too expensive. Local private options were more comfortable and much cheaper. Missed the bagels/cream cheese and lox room service breakfast option (a lot). Missed the table cloths in the dining room and the midnight buffet. The customer service desk was pretty much useless and crowded.

Cruised from Venice to Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorin, and Split.  Awesome destinations and an incredible cruising experience aboard the Norwegian Jade.  The customer service exceeded all of my expectations and the food was excellent.  Cagney's is a must do!  The steak is cooked to perfection and their mac and cheese is the best I have had in my entire life.  The cruise director and his staff also did an excellent job of keeping us informed, comfortable and entertained throughout the entire cruise in a smooth and efficient manner.  I would definitely cruise with Norwegian again.  In fact, I already placed a down payment on my next one.

The cruise was really nice - the food was great, the ports of call were very scenic (Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorini, Split, Venice).  Be prepared to pay for entertainment onboard (bingo, behind the scenes tour, etc).  Also allow for time to deal with tenders in Santorini and in Split, which can cause you to miss or be late for non-NCL excursions.  We didn't have any problem meeting with our excursions booked through this site though!

My husband and I took this cruise as part of our honeymoon and loved every minute. Our room with a balcony was amazing. We watched nearly every sunset from the balcony...We loved the freestyle cruising and not worrying about getting dressed up or having a set time to eat. While the pool area was crowded, we were able to move chairs to the sun or shade when needed. 

It was so easy to visit all this fantastic destination and have easy access from the ports. This was efforless and educational at the same time relaxing vacation. We are so happy we did it.

Ship's staff was great from Cruise Director Dennis Charles to Housekeeping, Food Service, Bars, Casino...

We took the train from Rome to Civitavecchia, DON"T TRY TO WALK TO THE SHIP, take a taxi from train station.  Long hike over non-pedestrian friendly terrain, especially with luggage.

Suggestions for improvement:

Evening shows were fair at best, but not very well attended by passengers either.  Which came first, dis-interested passengers of lower quality entertainment?

Ship wifi slow as expected, but prices better than they used to be.  We had very poor connectivity the last 3 days (tough to keep in touch with work, an unfortunate necessity) and have to complain to an understaffed and overworked Guest Service dept. to get a daily adjustment on a one by one basis.  If it doesn't work, refund everyone without them having to complain, please RCCL.

Santorini is a beautiful port of call, but having 4 ships in tendered requires better cooperation between cruise lines and the port as to get passengers back to their ship.  Cable car line was incredibly long, and the walk, smell, and slipperiness of the walk down is not for everyone.  Perhaps bus rides from town to the ferry terminal to the south to help move passengers?

The suggested "improvements" cannot take away from the overall cruise, one port was better than the next and the staff excellent!

The best part of this cruise was the itinerary. Headliner entertainment needs improvement. Love and Marriage game is usually a side show and not main act. At Windjammer's cafe, the menu was basically the same everyday - need to activate the other ice cream machines.... Everyday the lines were very long. A few of the staff in this cafe were lazy....milk containers were empty most of the time and when asked to refill, we were told to go to other stations. Dirty dishes stayed on tables for long periods of time. We had to eat on tables that were not cleared on a few occasions. At the same time there were a few exceptional staff that anticipated your need before asked. I had expected more from a Royal Caribbean cruise line since I have cruised more than 5 times with them in the past and always bragged about their services.

Best part: Cruise  was smooth and relaxing.

Improvements:  Could provide more chairs by pool and other areas outside on decks;  am not needing disability assistant but I saw a lot of elderly having a hard time finding places to sit down.  Also I felt that providing alcohol was more of a priority than those who didn't drink.  Guest services lines were to time consuming (you need more help there for sure).  Food could be improved with variety instead of the same thing night after night.  Like why no fries or burgers after hours when Windjammer was closed. Please do something about in stateroom tv viewing; same shows for 9 days (that was boring and not very enjoyable).  Your cruise director was funny but I felt he could have taken in consideration with some of his comments that there were children on board.  We had a great housekeeper (Joyce) she did a wonderful job and was super friendly.  

Not sure if I would recommend the Jewel of the Seas to someone.  Ship was a little smaller than I expected.

I booked the Junior Suite for 4 people.  They brought a roll away bed in for the fourth person.  This is not acceptable!  If you sell a cabin for 4 people, it should accommodate everyone without the inconvenience of a roll away bed.