Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

This was our 7th cruise, our 2nd with Celebrity. We enjoyed ourselves because of our (my wife and I) time together and the intriguing excursions in most of the ports. I applaud Celebrity Reflection crew for their great organization of excursions, the best ones and the most efficient and effective organization of such excursions I have ever experienced. Now the sad story: 1)The ship despite not being that old is worn inside (upholstery, carpets, etc) and even torn in public places, dinginess too. 2) the worst experience by far with food - poor and limited choices, tasteless, and badly presented whether in our dining room (Blu  - Acqua Class which costs more for this so-called premium) and in the buffet hall. The buffet was only decent on the 2 sea days. Celebrity has done away with lunch in the main dining rooms to save money. 3) entertainment eith the exception of the last day was just embarrassing for the cruise line and the entertainers. Most shows were half filled and many walked out during performances. 4) guest services were very unhelpful and tge crew albeit efficient were unaccommodatng and truly unfriendly. This was apparently a feeling expressed by many. 5) the number of speciality and reserved areas has grown to the point as to encroach on the space of most cruisers who have less do ace in which yo enjoy themselves. ... Let me add a few positives: 1) Tuscan speciality restaurant food was great though service was at best acceptable 2) the phone system worked about  half the time 3) internet prices were eventually honored after several days at sea after debates with guest relations officers that it was unfair to change (increase and repackage) prices that had been advertised 4) what beautiful sunny weather and calms seas (I know that Celebrity didn't arrange this but anything positive I can say here might help them). My next cruise will be Panama Canal. It will not be with Celebrity. When I told them I had hoped to arrange this future Panama Cruise whike onboard tgey nonetheless did everything to enciyrage me to go to the competitors. I will. 

I went on a cruise with my grandmother and was a little worried beforehand about the variety of entertainment that would be on offer, however i needn't have worried, it was wonderful to see such a mixed age group come together in magical moments within a beautiful ship. The food was spectacular as was the service. The only thing i found difficult was the internet access, the prices were very expensive on use onboard, and i missed having an internet connection. The only other thing to mention would be to to assist with transfers to and from the airport, as we struggled when we departed ship, and we were unable to book a taxi onboard. 

The itinerary was great, but most of the staff were terrible. There were exactly 4 great staff members but the rest could not resolve problems THEY created and did not care. (Act silly, they somehow would blame you for their mistakes). I've sailed 3 times on RC, and 6-7 total cruises. This by far was the worst. Also, the ship is old and tired. 

I would regimen this itinerary, just use a different cruise line. 

We had a great time!  The ship was nice, the staff were great.  The dining room food was disappointing, if you've ever been on other cruises.  But, overall everything was good.  There was no special food for formal nights.  I've heard the Europeon cruises don't offer the same quality of food. Also, we had asked for a table for 2 by ourselves since we were on our honeymoon.  They didn't do that, so we had to ask and the next night they had placed a small table between 2 big tables, so closely that everytime the server tried to get through, he knocked our table.   They seemed to also be understaffed in the Windjammer Café.  Tables would stay dirty for a long time while people were trying to find a place to sit.  I booked 2 excursions with the ship and 5 with another company.  The other company was cheaper and had smaller groups and were actually better excursions.

We had a wonderful time on the Vista, Cruise Director Matt was outstanding - does he know how to throw a party!! The staff was great along with some amazing ports of call!

The ports.  The comedians and the shows were great.   I would highly recommend this trip. Carnival has outdone itself.  The cruise director was very perspnable.  Everyone was looking for ways to please you.

The best part of our cruise was the after dinner musicals, we did not use much of the theater as the programs lacked our interest, maybe due to the excursions in Rome and Cinque Terre, which was raining the whole trip from Livorno. The daily papers may need some improvements. Would recommend this cruise to friends and relatives

We loved this cruise ... the boat is new and modern and has lots to do. Very good nightly shows ... lots of comedy shows which we loved and all the entertainment was top-class.  The food was great ... maybe not quite as good as some other ships, but that made it just a little easier to not eat so much!! But overall it was all excellent! The extended excursions were very expensive. Stopped at some great ports along the way.

Overall I had an amazing time on the 10 day Mediterranean cruise. I did find excursions and other non-inclusive items on the cruise to be more pricey than my previous cruises. I was excited to discover an IMAX on the ship, but was disappointed to find that it was a chargeable extra. As well as the snacks. I think Carnival could have possibly increased my fare by $30 per person and I would not have noticed, but I would have left with that "all-inclusive" feeling I was previously accustomed to. 

The shopping on the ship was also less than previous ships - less options, But that is a lesser concern for me.

I found there were many restaurant options but also, I lost that all-inclusive feeling Im fond of as many of the novelty restaurants involved a surcharge. 

The entertainment was fabulous, especially the shows such as Flick, the Cuban show and America Rocks - off the charts fantastic!!

We had a regular waiter in the Horizons restaurant, Natalje, who was an absolute gem, and always made me feel extra special as she got accustomed to what I liked along the cruise.

Great stops, great food, great ship!! Thank you Carnival Vista!!

This was our 10th cruise but our first on Holland America. We became aware of this cruise via a Groupon email. Three weeks later we were on our way. We stayed in Barcelona and Rome for an extra few days. Barcelona was new and Rome was a revisit. The Oosterdam was refurbished three years ago so it was fresh and clean. Services and food was very good. The excursions offer by were far less than what are offered by Holland America. If you book the cruise through  Holland America will not let you book an excursion prior to the cruise date. Also, frequently the CruiseOnly excursions had pick up meeting locations a good walking distance from the cruise ship terminal while the Holland America  excursions had their pick up right as you come out of the terminal. The CruiseOnly folks were very helpful getting our air travel. I found out later they used Holland America's travel service. 

If if I had to do it over I would search the Internet for deals but book directly with the cruise line. Holland America is a good choice. 

Loved the European itinerary.  Enjoyed the food and entertainment.  Was nice to have all the small places to go so you don't feel like you're on a ship with so many people.  Loved the Havana Club. Very efficient getting on and off the ship at ports.

Enjoyed all the ports of call. Did shore excursions in every port.  

Tried the ji ji restaurant had an exceptional meal there. Way too large of portions for the average person.  

Dining room meals were okay.  You never went hungry but was not fantastic

New ship was not fully booked so never had to wait for things.  However I think it could be an issue when the boat is sold out

We enjoyed the smaller size of this cruise ship.  It made getting around, on and off, much more convenient.  We selected this ship based on the great ports of call and were not disappointed!

This was our first cruise , but we have traveled all over the world but never on a cruise. To be honest i will never take another cruise again, I had so many back experiences on the ship that its not worth my time to do it again. The stops were good and had some good tours. The food was Horrible , and your room service staff should be fired, i had room service about 5 times and every time it was wrong. Wrong food, no chicken in chicken salad, Blood Raw steak sandwich, and overtime i had them come back it took over an hour to get it write. The buffet was so so , i was grilled a salmon that was raw, and many other issues. Joel our cabin representative was assume he did a great job. To be very very honest i would go on this cruise again if it was free. I forgot to mention that i broke my tooth on a bone in the hamburger meat.

Thanks John Kutumian                         

I enjoyed all the Ports that we stopped in.  They need improvement on their activities being in a timely matter.  We had a lot of sit down time on the ship with nothing to do.  The food wasn't as good as I have had on other Cruise lines.  Whether it was just this ship I do not know but I was not as impressed with their food at all.  The dinining was nice and the people that waited on us were excellent.

Royal Caribbean delivered again!  Cruise was just about perfect.  Always on time arriving at excellent Ports of Call.  Friendly staff.  Outstanding evening entertainment.  Very efficient embarkation and disembarkation.  And, Leo with did a great job in handling the details for us.  

We scheduled this cruise back in November 2015. While scheduling this cruise, one of the main attractions was the overnight stay in Instabul, Turkey.

We were never informed of dropping the port of Turkey out of this cruise trip, which is very sad! We had to stay on the water for four days which doesn't make any sense.

The food service at Windjammer restaurant closes at 9:30. After that we are left with very few choices to eat especially if we have diet restrictions. We don't have a lot of options to eat at the cruise. Either you go on buffet or just one same restaurant every day with not a lot of variety available.

Entertainment was just average.

The ports visited were wonderful.  We enjoyed the Greek Islands very much and found the people so friendly and hospitable.  The ship's crew were hardworking and attentive to our needs.  They were gracious and very professional.

There were a couple of disappointments with the ship itself.  The jacuzzis didn't work so we basically sat in warm water without any circulating jets.  The internet connection was painfully slow and we felt a bit over-charged for such a poor connection. 

That said, the food was great and meeting people from so many parts of the world was envigorating and interesting.  We are thankful for the great service from Lonnie Thompson in preparing for our cruise and look forward to working with her again.

Entertainment show were outstanding, staff was very friendly willing to help when needed. Dining package was a great option was able to try a few of the different cuisines on the ship.

Great site to see, bad experiences: 1) I found finger nail in my food and services was bad the waiters was forgetful of our orders 2) the Internet was down and nobody was there to help Internet cafe 3) they had one IT manager for the whole cruise waited over 1 hour to resolve my problem l had to print eticket for my excursions and I had to come back in hour to get printed and anyone can pick up my eticket and use it waited again. 4) I can count in my two hands how many people greeted me on my cruise only my cabin person most of the time. 5) I've accidentally bent my glasses and ask everyone from customer service to the cabin person and nobody couldn't help me I've suffered to the whole time, nobody was willing to go extra miles to help me, never again will I cruise with NCL.