Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Customer service at sea and on land needs a lot of work.  For a high end cruise one would expect better.  Thought it strange that the Officer in charge of excursion hosted a birthday dinner for one of our group since we have an ongoing issue regarding there complimentary excursion program.  Mix up with anniversary celebration for another couple in our group as well as confusion regarding dinner reservations.  Food was good, ports were interesting but the lack of good customer service ruined the cruise experience for me therefore I would never cruise with them again.

Luxury Only and Silversea need better communication.  One in our group was celebrating an anniversary.  Their "gift" was delivered to the wrong room on the wrong day.  Birthday of another in our group was noted on the wrong day.  My butler said Happy Birthday to me one day - it was not my birthday and Luxury Only knew that. My profile was clear that my birthday is still to come. When 2 of us arrived on ship no one informed us we needed to check in at reception.  We found out from others.  On the last day the return passports were given early to some and not allowed to be given to others - some had to sign for them - others did not.  Printed information from ship had required departure times different on different printed sheets.  Did not get weather information as stated we would in morning notices for 3 days.  Never saw the captain.  I just felt no one was on the same page and it depended on who you talked to if you received the correct information.  Also, very offended over the prebilled Silversea charity donation without warning.  Yes you were able to deny it but that made one look cheap.  I think this was tacky of Silversea to even do it.  Huge debacle over excursions that has yet to be resolved.  Cannot believe Silversea dragged their feet and the blame was batted back and forth between Luxury Only and themselves.  The poorest customer service I have ever seen.  

This was a first time Mediterranean cruise, after traveling on Carnival to the caribbean many times. Was looking forward to something completely different and I was not disappointed. The ports were fantastic. With only 2 "fun days at sea" perhaps there were to many ports and no time to catch our breath. I know I could have decided to stay on board at any port, but I didn't want to miss a thing. The ships although bigger than the ones I had been on before had a similar layout so it didn't take me the whole cruise to find my way around. 

  The tours were perhaps a bit over extended on what you were going to see and some were late getting back to the ship. A good selling point for booking excursions thru Carnival.

  I understand the crew was picked from the best the fleet had to offer and it showed, from Matt the entertainment director, to the staff on the Lido deck and beyond everyone was very professional, friendly and efficient at the same time.

This was an incredible itinerary and a beautiful ship. It never felt like we were sailing with nearly 4,000 passengers. Loved all the private areas and outdoor deck areas. 

ordered 3 shore tours with Carnival, two listed as easy !!!

someone from carnival needs to take the tours before listing

as easy,Climbing 78 to 300 steps is not easy for someone

with leg problems,this needs to be stated up front !!!!!!

Quality of the Steaks served in the main dinning room were sub-standard. Guests should not have to go to the Specialty Venues to get choice meats.

Bridge Director's on board is a positive for me when I select a cruise

all of the ship facilities met my expectation. However, the food, excursions and the travel coordinator need much improvement. The food was directed mostly to presentation than to taste. Tasted more like precooked food, few times it was served warm/cold not hot. Food selection and taste was not near as good as Mediterranean food. Excursions were very expensive. The travel director should have been more informative and specific to those who elected not to use onboard excursions. local maps should have bee supplied to find their way on the islands.

My favorite part of the cruise was Italy, Greece, Turkey, France and Spain.  Oops - Do I really need to pick one. Well I guess cruising with Holland is the best part.  Great food, great service and great entertainment.  The staff were friendly, courteous and always there when you needed them.  Too much really good food. (That can be bad !!)  We always felt safe on the ship and on shore.  The entertainment on the cruise was fantastic.  From classical to blues rock music and a great stage crew show. 

The stops were fantastic except for Cannes and having to deal with the tender boats to get ashore. The activities were more geared for an older crowd and a little disapointing. The staff were great pleasant. The buffet bars were better than expected and the main dining less than expected.The food was barely warm when served including the bread. This is the first cruise I have been on where lobster was not served at least once without having to pay for it. The main shows were colorful and entertaining but too many solos in the performances.

Excellent new ship with very professional crew. fantastic itinerary. Everything was fine. including weather. Our restaurant and cabin attendant been very fine and immediately meet any our wish. Clean everywhere. All necessary information been given in several languages.  Newspaper digest in English, Russian, French, Spanish, etc. Great selection of meals.

I was disappointed with this cruise because I had high expectations since my friends who have cruised over 10 times, including 3 times in the Mediterranean, highly recommended Celebrity for its food. I went on this cruise with my husband and my father. My friends who recommended Celebrity also went on this cruise (they had 4 adults in their party). We were celebrating my father's retirement and I was taking my father on his first cruise and his first time in Europe. My friends, family, and I were all highly disappointed in the quality of the food in both the main dining room and in the buffet. My friends dined at all 3 specialty restaurants and the only one they enjoyed was Silk Harvest. My family and I also ate at Silk Harvest and that was the best meal we had on the trip. Barcelona was just an okay city and the food there was just okay as well. We were disappointed in Mallorca because no one explained to us that we would have to walk for about 30 minutes to get to the end of the pier to get a taxi into town, and when we finally got a taxi, he ripped us off by charging my family $10 Euro more than my friends' taxi to get to/from the same locations. Instead of taking a taxi, you should stand in line off the ship and pay the $5 Euro roundtrip fee to use the special bus that picks up and drops you off right in front of the ship. When we tried to pay to take the special bus one-way back to the cruise ship, they refused to allow us onto the bus and said we had to pay for the roundtrip ticket from the cruise ship. No one told us this in advance and this was not explicitly written in the cruise ship newsletter that you could not purchase a one-way bus ticket. Since we refused to spend any more money in Mallorca after getting ripped off by the taxi driver, my family walked a little over an hour back to the ship. Since Mallorca was our first port, this was an awful beginning to my father's first cruise experience. Fortunately, Malta was an interesting port to cruise into, so be sure to wake up to watch the ship enter the city or stand outside on the top decks to watch the ship sail out of the city. The main negative experience we had in Malta was that it was freezing cold on our Three Cities Harbor Boat Excursion and our excursion lasted an extra hour because the wind was blowing so hard that our boat could not dock, so we had to return to a different location and board a different boat in order to dock in our final destination. Since our excursion lasted an extra hour, we didn't get to spend as much time as we had wanted in Valleta. We enjoyed Taormina and the Ancient Greek Theatre. We paid for the cruise's bus to get to/from Taormina On Your Own and then paid for our own tickets for the Greek Theatre -- we were lucky there was no line at the ticket window. We did not appreciate how one of the public bathrooms at Taormina said that donations to use the bathrooms were optional and then after you climb the stairs down to the bathrooms, a woman was sitting there demanding $1 Euro per person in order to use the bathrooms. Also, the public bathrooms in many locations do not have seats, so you have to be prepared to squat. The bathrooms at the Greek Theatre did not have toilet paper, so be sure to bring your own toilet paper at all times since this came in handy at many locations throughout our trip. In Naples, we visited Pompeii via the cruise ship's excursion. We loved our tour guide, Vito, but we were disappointed at the end of the tour to see that we had only covered about less than 1/4 of the entire Pompeii city on the map. So, if you are in good shape to walk the entire city yourself, you may want to look into purchasing your own tickets and going through Pompeii on your own. Rome was the highlight of our tour and we loved every minute of it since we booked a private van service (Rome Private Guides) that picked us up right outside of our ship and brought us back to the same location, and it included our own private guide. Five of us shared the van and it cost us the same amount per person if we had purchased a full day excursion from the ship. The benefits of having your own private guide is that the van can drop you off and pick you up closer to the various sites than a bus can, and you can customize your trip. So, we went to Vatican City and saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, and then we went into the Colisseum, walked through the Forum, and stopped by the Trevi Fountain. We also stopped at a nice restaurant for lunch that was recommended by our driver (I can't remember the restaurant's name). Another added benefit is that our driver knew where all the nice restrooms were in Rome such as letting us use the restrooms at his friend's hotel that was right across the street from the Vatican. Corsica was disappointing unless you are a Napoleon fan, and the various maps we had were useless since most streets didn't have names written on them and the names of the important places that the ship recommended you visit did not have the same names as the actual locations or as the maps. So we got lost in a small area and ended up walking around in circles. The cruise ship also doesn't tell you that the little outdoor market closes up around 1 pm, so be sure to check that out in the morning since that is the main highlight of Corsica. If you like beaches, there is a small little beach you can lay out at and/or swin in (walk all the way to the left side when you disembark the ship), and it's a great photo spot. Our final stop was Florence/Pisa, where we took the cruise's excursion to Pisa. We enjoyed Pisa and were especially pleased that even though our excursion warned us that we would not be able to walk up the tower, our guide surprised us by saying that he had limited tickets we could purchase to walk up the tower, so we purchased those tickets for $29 US per person and walked up the 250+ steps, which we thought was totally worth it. We also learned that Pisa is Pinocchio's hometown, so be sure to buy some Pinocchio souvenirs for family/friends. I had the best gelato in my life (coconut and chocolate flavors) at a little hole in the wall gelato place to the left of the Il Turista restaurant that was our group's meeting place in Pisa. Besides the food on the cruise ship, another disappointment was that I purchased some items from the spa and I was not informed that I would be charged Spain's 21% VAT because our cruise ship sailed out of a port in Spain (we sailed to/from Barcelona). So, be aware of this extra charge for your purchases! I would not recommend cruising in/out of any Spain ports because of this crazy tax. The ship missed out on sales because I would have bought more things on the ship if I wasn't charged the 21% VAT. The cruise ship tried to make it up to me by adding some money to my cruise ship account, which was a nice gesture, but they did not give me back the full 21% that I was charged -- I took photos of the receipts they gave me for my purchases that did not include the 21% VAT and my dad kept every single cruise ship newsletter that never mentioned the 21% VAT, but my cruise ship bill added the 21% VAT to my purchases. They said that I could get my 21% VAT back at the airport, which I did, but be aware that you have to stand in line for at least half an hour to an hour or more at the airport, and they charge you an administration fee so you do not receive the full 21% back. Also, if you want to receive your refund in cash, they will only give it to you in Euros. If you have children, I would not recommend this cruise ship since I barely saw any children on the ship and when I walked past both the children's and teens' centers, they were completely empty. The entertainment on the ship was mixed and included a very insulting activities director and a very insulting comedian, so if you do not like crude insulting humor, which my family and I do not, then you will be offended. The cruise ship's band at the Equinox Theatre was the best entertainment highlight. If this is going to be your first time in Europe, I recommend that you consider a land tour instead that takes you to more recognizable cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, Venice, Florence/Pisa, and Rome. To end on a positive note, the majority of the cruise ship's staff were friendly such as our room attendant (I forgot his name, but he was super fast and great), our main dining room servers Orville Anthony and Aleksie, Sam the head of the main dining room who took my friend's dinner order every evening for the next day's meal because she has severe food allergies, the fitness director Bayonaro (?), and the spa director and spa staff. I had massages with both Mary Jane and ChiChi, who were both great, and I also did an acupuncture session on my first day on the ship with Dr. Harry Yu for my TMJ (jaw pain), and the session worked so that I did not have any pain for the rest of the cruise.

The service and food were incredible.  The entertainment was mediocre.  Very few activities and shows were poor. The itinerary could have been tweaked to spend more time in more interesting ports, and minimize the ports where docking was impossible.

your travel expert Melissa Lemke goes that extra mile very professional that is why we have used Melissa b/4 and will continue to use her again .   thx MELISSA

My husband and I just returned back from this cruise on the Celebrity Constellation.  It was a fantastic cruise.  The Constellation is the perfect size ship for us.  I am not an extreme fan of the Mega-Mega ships, because I feel that too many passengers causes the loss of that "Cruise-feel".  We loved the coziness, classic design of the Constellation.  It was small enough that you got to know the staff on board and the other passengers.  The Itinerary was amazing! Loved the ports of call mixed with just enough At Sea time.  The weather was perfect for touring - as it was not yet "beach" weather.  We also enjoyed the tours provided by Celebrity.  This cruise was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary  and I have to say it did the trick.  The staff on the cruise was friendly and helpful.  We had an outside cabin and it was roomy enough for what we needed.  We also have to say that this is probably one of the biggest showers we have experienced on a cruise ship.  Everything was clean and in working condition. The entertainment on the cruise was great and they probably have some of the best "cruise cast singers" that we have seen also.  Although this is only our second cruise on Celebrity, we have been on well over 40 cruises, so we are well experienced to be able to judge good from bad.  As the title of my comments states - this cruise was just right for us!

This was the inaugural cruise for Oceania's newest ship, Sirena. We upgraded our stay to the concierge level. We had expected a special level of service and that was not evident. We had to constantly leave notes for the room attendants to fill the fridge, replace the soap, supply clean glasses, etc. This was a similar experience with service at the restaurants, pool, and bars. We would constantly have to find a waiter or waitress. Simple things like refilling drinks, replacing silverware that they had taken up were a constant aggravation. At the cafe where you can "graze" for food you had to have someone serve you food that was right in front of you. It is a nice idea to make you feel special but the staff struggled with fulfilling simple tasks like toasting bread. To make sure you got the food you asked for you had to wait. Watching the toaster to avoid burning was a necessity as well as waiting for items that had to be cooked because if you left that section to get other food it was a good chance your food would be given to someone else. 

I would not fault the staff. They were working hard but didn't appear to have the training and experience to this "higher end" cruise line. This was clearly a management problem. To make the point even stronger the ship had a significant amount of maintenance issues. Toilets stopped working, electricity went off on part of the ship, the hot tub jets never worked, handicap doors were inoperable, and air-conditioning stopped on part of the ship. To cap it off there was a fire in the engine room and it gets even better. On the last day we were in Venice. They shut down the entire pool deck for maintenance for the whole day. Those of us who had been to Venice before had nothing to do except to watch movies in our rooms. Oh and of course the satellite TV's had spotty reception. 

My wife and I have cruised many different cruise lines. We thought we would try paying the extra costs for a smaller ship. In the future, we will probably opt for a premium suite on a larger boat where we know the mechanics of the ship and the staff will be well trained. 

delivery what they promised. smooth operation , choice in the buffet was excellent . port calls were good selection. entertainment was enjoyable.just wish the internet charge was more reasonable (199 for the trip and 45 a day unlimited.wish signed up before trip- a 16 day was more acceptable. the speed was good for email not games.) also the port map should be more detail and expand.

Though the length of the cruise  with 2 separate days at sea was perfect and the ports were what we wanted; the room was nice  and our room attendant Anthony was WONDERFUL but the actual ship amenities  and  many of the staff , including supervisors  and Officers were a disappointment. A bartender at the Ocean View, Glenn, was especially rude when we ordered drinks that were not on our Premium drink package, pointing out that fact very loudly in front of many others. (we knew that, had over $200 in credit and if we hadn't, one can always charge what isn't covered by pre-paid plans) Much of the food, especially at the Ocean View Cafe (buffet) though plentiful was often mediocre at best and the coffee was awful. They use LaVazza (sp?) brand for their brewed and as expresso-type coffee. They were often out of Nescafe instant (our choice out of desperation) and we had to search out an attendant 2 times in order to get it. We were able to find Starbucks about our 3rd port and bought a box of the VIA instant. Breakfast room service was pretty good, though. The night shows were for the most part amateurish but the Queens of Rhythm and their band was a bright spot.A lot of the "activities" centered on selling events; art, jewelry, clothing  and their other tours or cruises under the guise of informing the guests about the different ports and except for the art, was tacky and very overpriced. Celebrity also made it sound as though unless you booked excursions from them, you might not get off the ship in time to meet your tour or that your tour would not get you back to the ship in time. Simply not true. Celebrity also described many of the tours in such a way as to over-emphasize chance of pick-pockets, etc and of the physical requirements for these excursions. There actually 2 couples in an excursion to the ACROPOLIS that stayed at the bottom because they read about the physical requirements. Sad because they could have done it. In summation, we were very surprised that NORWEGIAN, especially Spirit of America, was better in every way.

Wonderful cruise, loved the Reflection (newest in the Celebrity fleet).  Best shore excursion was Keeping Greek Traditions Alive!  My favorite ports were Mykonois and Crete, however we enjoyed the others as well, apart from Bodrum, Turkey.

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Fantastic Cruise,  exceeded all expectations, from Ports to accommodations, and service.   Luxury Only agent was extremely helpful in planning and setting up the cruise and associated transportation.

It is a relative new ship, very nice. The service and food are very good, especially excellent for those specialty restaurants. Destinations plan is right.