Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Previously sailed on the Oceania Regatta.  Exceptional.  That was why we booked Oceania again. Bad decision.  DO NOT BOOK ON THIS SHIP.

Be aware if you book a cabin with a balcony, you cannot separate the beds.

First day out, I was told by the assistant cruise director 'unfortunately we don't have time for the port lectures'...and that presentations were continuous on the ship's TV.  Those turned out to be very poor power point presentations that could have been read by a 9 year old. The port presentations on the Regatta were informative and there was an expert to field questions about the area, not just sell excursions. 

We had our best meals OFF the ship. Minestrone in a local pub was better than on board.

Mediocre food and slow dining room service.  Often took 20+ minutes to get waited on, and another 30 minutes before food arrive (with only 2 exceptions). This from a cruise line that touts 'the best food on the seas'.  Don't believe it. They emphasize their four specialty dining rooms included with the price of the cruise, IF you can get reservations. When I went to the desk to make a reservation, the girl hardly acknowledge me and continued  entering information from a pile of documents. Finally got booked for 9pm Tuesday in the Polo Room (all that was available). Seated on time, but it was after 10 before we saw our food.  Steak arrive charred.  At breakfast in the main dining room, same experience. Only 20-30 people present, but an hour to get eggs Benedict without any Canadian bacon and hard boiled 'poached' eggs.  At breakfast on day 4, the waiter asked 'is that on the menu'??  At one meal, it took four people to get a glass of soda.  The appetizers in the infamous 'Red Ginger' were little more than bar food, but presented in pretty paper.

Kudos do go to our room steward. He was great.  Always friendly and smiling.  Also, the main reception desk personnel were friendly and  helpful.

Then things got bad/worse when our return flights booked by Oceania were cancelled due to the Lufthansa strike.  I understand that the strike was not Oceania's making but for a supposedly first class cruise line, the were not very accommodating.  Got the call at 3am to come to reception at 8 for further information.  At 8, we [along with 40-50 others] were told any further expenses were on us: 'That's what you bought the insurance for..."  They had one person attempting to book hotels because no flights were available until the following day. While waiting our turn, they announce everyone must exit the ship and claim luggage by 9am.  Luckily we got a hotel booked by the concierge, only to arrive and find the booking was for 2016.  Two other groups arrive after us to find the same situation.  A simple, but devastating mistake when traveling with an 80 year old with limited mobility. These are but a few of things that I can thank Oceania for.

On the flip side, the weather was great in every port but one.  Beautiful locations and friendly people.  Ignore the ship and enjoy the ports and you could have a good time, but you paid way too much to get there.

I have been on several cruises before (all Disney/Big Red Boat and Royal Caribbean) and really enjoyed this cruise. The multiple areas, activities, bars, and restaurants were a real treat for us in regards to taking care of our "down time" onboard between cruise locations. 

The staff was friendly, but there were few that were really excited to be helping us it seemed. The food was ok, but there were a ton of choices, and the locations and excursion choices were great. 

Our biggest issue was the lack of communication or knowledge of what was going on. Here are a few instances: 

1. We had the UBP (Ultimate Beverage Package) and you still get a receipt with a "charge" on it after every drink you order... when you arrive and get your first drink, you feel like you're getting charged and your UBP isn't working-- causing some worry on my part. 

2. We have the 4UDP (4 Meal Ultimate Dining Package) as well and did not get an itinerary or list of the restaurants and times we had pre-chosen before arriving on the ship.

3. To compound with #2 above, when we arrived on the ship, everything stated that we were on the 5th day (even though we were on our first, essentially giving us the exact same information as the Barcelona boarders) and the information provided on the APP and through the team was only good up until that last date and then started over with the rest of the information on the next boarding of the Barcelona group. This really made us feel like we were second class to them. Cruise experiences (especially free-style cruising) should feel like it's tailored to each group of people arriving on board. 

4. Departing was difficult in Rome if you wanted to do an excursion as well. The staff wasn't quite sure how to handle this (since we weren't doing an excursion that had a set non-port drop off location) and the information provided on getting to the train station from the port was also unclear. We had to go through 3 different people to figure out what luggage tags we needed and we ended up having to talk to our tour guide and porters in order to really figure out what we needed to do in order to get to where we needed AFTER the excursion. 

5. The app/TV was helpful on what was going on onboard and with your account, but again, like #3, only gave you the Barcelona timeline information. 

6. The additional gratuities and service charges for meals/drinks/shows were not conveyed and described as well as they should have been ahead of time. When choosing our meal package, we were not fully aware that there would be an additional service charge billed with each meal we sat down to be served for (including "free" meals at TASTE & Manhattan Room) and the additional 18% gratuity already included in drink costs/meal costs was also quite confusing as to whether we should tip additionally or not and felt like we were obligated to anyways. 

Overall, we'll definitely cruise like Norwegian's again (it was awesome and we love the fast you wake up in a new location without the hassle of traveling via air/rail/bus)-- but I really think the communication level needs to increase between the cruise line and it passengers on what is to be expected in terms of costs, process of boarding and disembarking, etc. 

Nice Itinerary and port stops

Service was fair at bars but poor when it came to waiter/waitress (especially pool side).

Guest services wait lines was terrible (2x over 24 min).

Food was good, but not great.

Entertainment was poor (sold out shows and charging for shows).

Very big ships = long lines.

Staff was friendly but seemed overwhelmed.

Management was very effective in hiding when needed.

This was our first cruise and we loved it! Norwegian Cruisr Lines does a wonderful job of planning activities throughout the day and night, as well as shore excursions. Our cabin was clean and spacious and we loved having a balcony. 

Overall it was a nice cruise but not the best I've been on. Did not like that there was only one dining option at 10pm. One restaurant with about 5 menu choices. It was a newer ship which was great. We had a balcony room which was nice and spacious. Our housekeeping lady was the most helpful and pleasant. Other workers we dealt with were not as knowledgeable or helpful. Some of the activities did not go as planned or did not commence at the times listed on the schedule. The food was okay. Ship was clean. Ports of call were great.

My wife got really sick while on the cruise. To make a VERY long story short- she was asked to leave the ship because the ship didn't want to treat her, and it was easier for them just to dump us in a foreign non-english speaking hospital- so the moral is just don't get sick on a cruise!!!!!!!

We were hesitate about this vacation after it was rescheduled and several changes to entertainment but  enjoyed every minute! We started with the 7 day land tour by Gate1 Tours. Our tour guide, Emanuela, was number one in her field!  She spoiled us all week by escorting us from Venice through Florence and Rome. She scheduled all tours, some lunches and dinners. We saw everything Norwegian advertised. The tour guides for our excursions on Norwegian Cruise were good but found they gave us a lot of facts and information but generally left us at the location to tour by ourselves and then brought us back to the ship. All the specialty restaurants were included for us and we enjoyed all of them. The were excellent!

We thoroughly enjoyed our recent cruise on the Viking Star.  Our Penthouse Junior Suite was lovely, the public spaces on the ship were attractive and comfortable, and the service was impeccable!!  Our suite stewards Armando and Bobby were wonderful and our wine steward Christopher was delightful!  They made our cruise so enjoyable!  Our Viking River Cruises have always been first class; this ocean cruise was no less up to Viking's high standards!  

The food was fabulous; Accommodations were terrific and the Viking Star staff went out of their way to ensure we were happy. My only perceived negative was that the internet connection was spotty. I guess this is to be expected but was the only minor annoyance. We will gladly cruise with Viking in the future. The Indonesian head chef at Manfredy's certainly knows his craft! We are both Italian, have traveled throughout Italy many times and certainly know Italian cuisine. Kudos on a great job!

To say disappointing is being generous! Having cruised on Costa several years ago I was truly looking forward to the trip. The food was awful, an example of one dinner meal...for entrees: Squid spaghetti with squid ink, pork head with pork cheeks, roasted rooster...while I'm adventurous with food, this single night selection left me speechless. The desserts were good, not extremely fresh, but edible. Ice cream was on the dessert menu nightly and that was what the majority of people at our table of 8 choose. Now, getting a cup of coffee or tea to go with dessert was quite a feat. The response from the wait staff was "No", however it could be purchased from the bar, they'd bring it to the table for us, for 3.8Euro. Really now! After much grumbling from the South African couple, Belgium couple, and two US couples the head waiter brought us coffee. Although one evening the waiter whispered to us not to drink it, "bad coffee been in pot since morning". Just one more point about the food, buffet,restaurant and grill times were very limited, generally two to two and a half hours. Coffee, water, tea, and juice stations had "closed for maintenance" signs the vast majority of the day being only miraculously working from 7-8:30am and 5-6:30 pm.

While the majority of the staff were just downright rude, we had a wonderful cabin housekeeper who just a pure delight, smiling, helpful and friendly. You rock Achmad!

Although the majority of the altered itinerary was poor there were several great spots we never would have considered. Malta is absolutely beautiful and Kotor, Montenegro is a fabulous medieval city. Athens was good but the excursion choices had been altered, ie. prices increased, time and quality decreased.

It was a strange cruise in many ways., The passengers weren't happy, the staff members weren't happy, the activity director was rarely seen and teens and the majority of cruise residents were simply bored. Perhaps a lot of it was due to  the way the itinerary was changed weeks before Costa notified it's customers that those changes had been made. Ironically, the notification came from Costa past the date to "cancel the cruise" without penalty!

S. D. A., Florida

This was a great way to visit many cities you always wanted to see while coming back to the same place each night.  The food was wonderful, the staff was friendly and helpful, and our room was cozy.  I will always recommend Crystal Cruises to anyone who can afford them.

Let me start by saying that overall my experiences at each Port was incredible.  The guides for the tours were very knowledgeable and made the Cruise experience tolerable.  Norwegians Free Style Dining means that unless you are willing to pay extra you only have 2-3 options for eating and only at select times.  Also the food is mediocre at best.  Also if you book the spa they automatically add a gratuity fee before you even have service.  My appointment started late and I did not get the full 50min I paid for. Don’t waste your money on this.  Also if you call for Room Service the on-hold message is “You will be DEALT with shortly”.  The crew was not knowledgably overall and very rude most of the time.  Also if you try to exchange US Dollars for Euros they first off turn your $400.00 US into $396.00 + charge a fee and the exchange is well below the current rate – best to either use your bank before or go to an exchange at any port city. Also we met several people that had even worse experiences than ours and were not happy either.  I will NEVER cruise with Norwegian again.

Had an awesome experience on Norwegian Epic and met a lot of great people. It was a beautiful modern ship and clean!

The staff is wonderful and very very friendly. The only drawback is that there were a lot of people due to a couple of weddings. Ohh and the food in the Manhattan Room was not great but whatever, there are plenty of other restaurants that you can choose from.

If you are a young couple or enjoy a big party, than this is the ship for you. I felt like we were at one big party and everyone was involved and enjoying themselves. I particularly enjoyed how the staff decorated the ship for Halloween and some of the staff were dressed up...this made me smile.

The sites were amazing but I highly recommending doing your research for the best excursion deals and do not book an excursion everyday, try doing Hop on Hop Off tours in between. If you do an excursion everyday you will be exhausted and wont enjoy the ship that much...that's my opinion of course! :)

NCL Epic tendered in Cannes, France.  

Me and my boyfriend went on this cruise and I felt that it could have been better.  This was my first time sailing NCL.  I have sailed on Disney before and Disney was way better than this one.  For one, there were not enough activities on the boat.  I am an African American and I did not find the entertainment to be diverse enough or the food.  I found every ethnic dish except the ones that cater to African American and West Indian cuisine.  There was Asian, indian, French and every other food imaginable, except ours.  The live band played latin music almost every night and it was nice at first, but redundant by the end of the trip.  I also did not like some of the staff at the Craps table in the casino.  There was a young man there who didn't watch the table closely and if we weren't paying attention, we would have lost our money.  We had to keep reminding him to pay us every time we won.  I also did not like the fact that our time spent our Palma de Mallorca was cut in half.  I feel that NCL needs to let people know about hidden fees and shuttle fees and any other itinerary issues at the ports, before hand.  When we arrived to Cittivecchia, we had to catch a train into Rome. The train ride was over an HOUR long! I also did not like the mandatory gratuity service fee that we have to pay every day.  I will tip for good service, but I don't want to be forced or told what to tip, especially for services that have yet to be tendered. I don't think it's fair.  I may want to tip more than the mandatory $13.50 daily fee, but because I'm being forced, I'm turned off from tipping additional money.  I don't remember Disney doing this ever!  If it weren't for the port stops in the other cities, I wouldn't have enjoyed this cruise.  The ship lacks diverse entertainment and activities and music.  There is a lack of comedy shows and live performances.  However, they will find any and every reason to charge you for all sorts of hidden fees.  I don't think I will be sailing with NCL again.  They have to improve greatly in all of the areas I mentioned in order for me to return again.  Not pleased at all... Not diversified enough.

This was my first cruise and I was very impressed by the ship and the excursions. It was hectic but we did get to see many beautiful places.  I was a bid overwhelmed by the ship and all the people aboard and would probably next time choose a smaller ship and maybe not so hectic a schedule.  However, there was always plenty to do and the shows were very good as well as the places we ate at. The crew members were extremely polite and accommodating.  I was extremely impressed by them. 

The places visited were spectacular and the ship itself was not too shabby either.

We packed clothes for a number of scenarios - ie, weather and formalities but could have done with a lot less for our late October vacation. Cool mornings and nights with warm afternoons. Decent cruise price for a balcony room but everything else was very overpriced. Perhaps other ships are the same?? Be careful where you exchange money. $100 American gets $70 Euros approx.

This cruise advertises, Day one in Venice and Day 2 in Venice but the ship is leaving at 1 am on day two so it is really in Venice LESS THAN 24 HOURS. It seems that day 2 is actually 1 hour in Venice and 23 hours at sea.  Unless you read the fine print you may also not notice that you must be on board by 11 PM on day one so any flight arriving after 9:30 on day 1 will cause you to miss your cruise. Since Cruises Only does not make this clear at the time of booking, we wasted $1500 on a flight arriving at 10:50 PM on day one in Venice. When we received our cruise documents which you do not receive until after you pay in FULL, we noticed this and called immediately. The happiness guarentee they offer got us an onboard credit of $75, resulting in a loss of $1425  and the need to buy replacement airfare at a cost of $ 1750.

Please don't make the mistake we did. If we had booked directly with NCL.com this would not have happened. The cruise itself was perfect, but it ended up being very expensive booking through Cruises Only and we will never make that mistake again. 

Most enjoyable! The Marina is one of our favorites. The Oceania suites are very comfortable. Enjoy the Ships Art collection. It is beautiful. The French  restaurant on this cruise was outstanding!

Service, friendliness, great ports....what more??  Great food!  Visually appealing dinners and delicious. C & R  officer Alex Medvedev, was the best.. 

Just got back from this a 3 week trip, had to stay in Venice for a few days before boarding this amazing cruise that NCL never fails to let me down.  My third time sailing and Norwegian has been great all around, the food, the staff what a wonderful experience I had with them again.  It has been very easy once your on board, all your worries are gone and this is what I call a vacation.  I'm already planning my next vacation.  One advice you have to visit ROME and pompeii you can skip, Capri island is a must in naples.  I have been using to do all my trips because they make it easy.  Thumps up for and norwegian!!!!!!