Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

For first time cruisers it took a couple of days to understand what was going on and where everything was on the ship. Once that was over my son and I enjoyed what was on offer. The food was good and there was plenty of choices. I am not sure I would book offshore trips again. They are well run but there are only so many buildings I want to look at. Gib was well worth it though.

It's then up to you what you want to join in with.

Apart from not always being able to get a sun bed near the pool everything else went very well and the room was kept spotless.

We thoroughly our cruise. It was our first time on Azamara and we really enjoyed the smaller ship. The service was excellent and the food was amazing. The entertainment was different than on the larger ships but we enjoyed it all. The staff really made efforts to make sure you had a great time. We would recommend Azamara to others and will definitely plan another cruise on Azamara.

The ports were all wonderful and enjoyed every one.  Corfu, Delos ruins, Mykonos, Santorini, Montenegro, Croatia,  and Venice (my favorite).  The Rhapsody is an older and smaller ship.  Only one of us got the nightstand, the other had to use a suitcase.  No refrigerator (Princess always has one).  Only one of us got a welcome back Coke.  They didn't do a requested birthday celebration for my friend.  Food was fairly good.  Staff friendly.  The only thing they did for you in the buffet was to take your plate away while you were still eating.  Had to get your own drinks.  I loved the ports.  Entertaining was pretty good.  The cruise was round-trip Venice, so you need to stay in a hotel before or after the cruise if you want to see more of Venice  then the airport.

Nice ship, good staff. It will be nice if some information is printed and placed in the rooms about the ports of call. For example the docking in Civitaveccia was in a commercial port and the walk or shuttle is quite a distance from the ship to the port exit and then more time either waiting for a shuttle or walking to the train sation and the train is more than an hr to Rome. It would've been helpful to know these simple facts so those like us not doing excursions know what to expect. Some facts about each port and city would've been very helpful. Same with Napoli as Pisa and Flourence as quite a distance from the port. If I knew ahead of time that the docks are so far from the destination I may have chosen a diiferent itenirary.

I went with my two children, ages 18 and 10, on the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise to Greece and the Adriatic.  I felt the 10 days was a perfect amount of time for the vacation and the spacing of the at sea and at port days was great.  The ship is a little older but it still kept in great shape with very friendly and accommodating staff.  There was a little less for my 18 year old to do on the ship, but that is based on his personal interests.  The ports of call were fantastic.  I'm looking forward to doing another European cruise because it's the best way to see multiple places while not having to pack up and move constantly.

It was our first time to Europe, and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Spain, Italy and France.  The weather was beautiful, and so was the ship.  The cruise staff did and a great job keeping everyone involved in activities, and having a good time.  The trip was fast paced as almost every day we were in a new port with lots of things to see.  I highly recommend taking a tour, or hiring a driver.  The roads and driving scene is not at all like the US, and our one venture driving in Barcelona, was exhilarating, and harrowing at the same time.  Take my word for it, and leave the driving to the pros.  The embarkation left a little bit to be desired as there was a long line, and it took a while to get through check in.  They needed more of a covered area to wait in.  Debarkation was extremely smooth, with little to no waiting at all.  Our room steward did a great job, and the wait staff in the restaurants did a great job also.  I really had no complaints, and couldn't have asked for anything more.  It was our first time cruising with a balcony stateroom, and now I will be hard pressed to cruise any other way.  It was delightful to get out of bed in the morning, and go out to the balcony and watch as the ship cruised in to the port, and docked.

Matt the Cruise Director and his staff was great. I love Marq he to was very helpful and he keep the party going.   Jassmin from Lido and Reflections Dining Hall catered to our group every day.  We would look for his section because of his sun and bright disposition.  Benjamin, Sucardi (i hope i spelled it close to right) Mr. D (Who was our bar runner)  and there is one more Server however I can't remember his name at this time,  they were a great team and made dining in the dining room a great experience.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

We would like to apreeciate some people during our Cruiseship Carnival Vista June 3-11, 2016 to Western Caribbean cruise, thanks to our table #742 late dining crew staff - head waiter Juan from Peru, team waiter Harta from Indonesia asst team waiter Gerlie Queano from the Philippines, and to our staterom steward Purnawan from Indonesia cabin# 3231, they were all excellent! great services rendered to us! Please extend our gratitude to them, and let their supervisors be notified of their great effort.

We booked a Mediterranean cruise to explore new countries, and had a good time visiting Italy and France, and staying in Barcelona before and after the cruise.

VIsta is a new ship, and Carnival's biggest.  It didn't 'blow us away' as we thought it might.  We had previously sailed on the Valor, and thought it just as nice, if not nicer.

Staff were very friendly and helpful (though trying to find our 'your own dining' the first time was difficult).  A balcony cabin is recommended to enjoy some quiet time, and feel less claustrophobic. 

On this cruise, too many things to pay for (restaurants and buses to the port terminals).  This is NOT a relaxing tour, as you'll always want to be going to see things (and they are some distance away) -- not Carnival's fault, just the way this tour happens.

Food was good, though Lido buffet seemed to have less choices than the Valor we had sailed on before.

Easy boarding and exiting, getting off the ship with so many people was also easy.  The elevators seemed slower than on Valor though.

I would not go out of my way to sail again on the Vista.

Set up of the ship is strange and the tiniest stateroom imaginable. We had a fantastic time and the staff really is incredibly friendly, just like the captain says everyday in his announcements! Still...there were some definite drawbacks, maybe just because I'm comparing to a couple of larger, nicer ships. We got a great deal, had a fantastic time and I would do it all over again, even with the quirks. Shows are sub-par. Excursions lady was not well acquainted with the ports or the excursions and not at all helpful to find alternatives if something was booked or didn't meet our needs (her port talks were less than 5 minutes!) Food was good, but that is all. Sometimes the salad bar was the best thing going, but hey, I love salad! Always plan on at least 2.5 hours for dinner, ugh! Outdoor film quality...don't bother...screen has many large areas of missing pixels and audio was terrible. Spa specials made everything better, and OH, those hot tubs! (no jets...but still very relaxing...our cruise was unseasonably cool.) Most efficient staff for luggage handling and getting people on and off the ship for ports!

The cruise was wonderful and the Vista is beautiful. Every crew member was so nice and helpful and helped make this a vacation of a lifetime.  They met our every need and were so helpful. The ship was spotless.

This cruise offered the most unparalleled excursions: tower of Pisa, Coliseum, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Pompei and Mt. Vesuvius!  It was a trip I will never forget.

The Vista is an truly an amazing ship!  Delicious food, wonderful entertainment.

i truly enjoyed every aspect of the cruise. it  is the first cruise that i have been on where i did not have one complaint. the  ship had everything conveniently located from the center of the ship, the food was outstanding no matter where we ate,the staff was totally professional and a joy to be around, the entertainment was first class from the comedians to the stage shows,the ports were an experience we will never forget and all of our expectations were met and exceeded. carnival should be proud of themselves on this one, it was evedent that lots of thought was put onto the construction of this ship with an eye on the customer.

The Epic is a beautiful ship with an excellent crew! Lots of fun shore excursions!!! The dining rooms were beautifully appointed. Highly recommend this great trip!!!p

The best parts of the cruise was the guest itinerary and attentiveness of the cruise staff. I highly recommend this cruise. A good way to see a number of places.

The staff on Jewel of the Seas were very attentive and the ports were amazing! It was possible to see most of the ports without using a shore excursion.

I thought the cruise was great.  The waiters, Savvio and Ping were excellent.  They were very attentive and made sure, each night that everything was excellent for us.  Renaldo, who cleaned our cabin also did and excellent job.  I rate all three of them "10".  They helped to make our cruise a most enjoyable experience.

The staff was great, with one exception see below.  Everyone was friendly and very helpful.  The food in general was ok, nothing spectacular.  By the end of the 9 days we were definitely getting tired of the selections.  The cruise director staff seemed very new as they were often confused about the activities.  Many of them were very hard to understand.

Line for the BBQ on deck for the 2nd day at sea was very long so although that was a change on menu, we decided not to wait for the food. 

The only specialty restaurant that we went to was Izumi.  It was great   - service and food both above what we expected. 

Because Jewel is an older ship, there are areas that are too crowded and other areas that are underutilized.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise, it was our 2nd thru the Greek Isles and our favorite part had to be the Ruins tour in Ephesus Turkey,  even visiting the 2nd time blows your mind, and best part was that you get to get up close actually inside the building and ruins.  The only part of the cruise that was disappointing was the Windjammer café onboard,  we are long time cruisers and I have to say that the staff in the Café was the worst I have ever seen at sea on any cruise,  rude, and very unhelpful, and it wasn't only the stuff even the officers working were unpleasant.  And several times they would have conversations and argument out in public café area,  and that should never happen around guest.

Celebrity's website is quite bad and it's difficult to get sufficient information, especially about shore excursions.  Was constantly being advised to check back later.  An email I sent through their site was sent back undeliverable.  Reviews are often not even of the cruise/excursion in question.  They really need to overhaul their entire IT department.  Apparently they no longer bother to send out luggage tags and you have to print your own. 

Our room was uncomfortably warm despite having it looked at twice.  My alarm clock also displays temperature so these numbers are not just guesses.  Despite keeping it to the coolest setting possible are room was an average of 75 degrees.  The lowest it ever went was 72 degrees, and at one point it actually reached an extremely miserable 82 degrees.  I'm wondering if this is a Celebrity problem as the same thing happened on a cruise last year but at least we were given a fan to use (and a partial credit toward a future cruise, which is why we gave them a second chance).  This time we were told no fan was available and it was uncomfortable a large portion of the time.  75 degrees is not air conditioning! 

Smaller things, like small cheap bath towels, absolutely no food of any kind available after 1 am, etc...

Positive things too though, like tasty food, friendly staff (sommelier Richard is quite nice), was able to request a body pillow.  Our itinerary was changed mid cruise due to the labor strikes in Greece and the staff at guest relations were helpful in placing ship to shore calls for us so we could adjust out plans accordingly.  Unfortunately, a few nights later when we inquired about rumored metro strikes in Athens we were given misinformation which pretty much ruined that day for us.