Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

This was the first week of back to back cruises. The staff on this cruise was less than enthusiastic. the bars were under staffed and most bartenders could have been friendlier. They spent more time meaning the liquor in drinks than smiling. the itinerary was great especially the stop in Kusadisi - Ephesus. Amazing place, friendly people, great tour from an outside tour group.

If you are looking for a lot of fun, action and excitement, than Cunard cruises may not be for you.  95% of the passengers are in the 60-70+ age group.  Yes, elegant and exquisite but quite "dead" after late dinner (around 10 pm).

This was our second time on Holland the cruise was as great as our first to Alaska. It was the personal that make the difference with Holland. They were always there to help us with our every need.

Food was good to very good depending on where one dined. Our inside state room was tight but adequate.  One could bang their head on a poorly placed light fixture at the head of the bed especially in a rolling sea. There should be "P" & "S" and "fore" and "aft" markings at each stairwell/elevator. Entertainment varied from quite good to very mediocre. All ports except Corfu were worthwhile. It took us a week to discover certain things like where the daily weather report was located, where to find printed info on each port and other pertinent information. How to get this info should all be made available in the daily hand out. The safety/muster drill was a joke compared to those on other lines.TV service was VERY limited. The BBC station only carried weather reports for South America. There was no DVD player in the room and no DVD's to rent/borrow. Norwegian should look at what the airlines do with this media. Days at sea can get quite boring if you're not into napkin folding and things like that.

Don't do it.

We contracted a norovirus after a sea day on this trip and were confined to our cabin for 24hrs at the highlight of the trip, Ephesus.  There was nothing to do on board, no movies and expensive wifi ($40 a day) just channels telling you what expensive items you could buy on board, basically 24hrs of the shopping channel. RC offered us a small discount on another trip taken within one year, which we do not want, but have not paid for the $339 for their excursion we missed. (They physically refuse to let you off the ship until 24hrs from the time the virus starts, even if you feel better.)

We enjoyed our 12 day cruise of the Mediterranean, yet were disappointed that the weather (winds up to 85 knots and high seas) prevented us from landing in three of the scheduled ports (Kotor, Kerkira, and Livorno).  Certainly the captain made the right decision in by-passing those ports, but it was the first time on cruises that we missed any ports.  On the other hand, the staff was excellent, friendly and helpful (I've never heard so many "Good morning"s in my life.  The food was excellent.  The activities were adequate but not outstanding.  The entertainment varied from adequate to outstanding.  We would probably cruise with Holland America again.

We just came back from the Silver Spirit Cruise to Turkey & Greece. This was the 2nd Silver Seas Cruise we had gone on. Our travel agent was extremely helpful in obtaining hotels, transfers & tours, pre & post cruise which we really appreciated.

However, the cruise itself was a little disappointing with some of the service. This was surprising since the cruise was not fully booked. Our butler & his assistant were great as were the waiter & assistant in the dining room. George in charge of the restaurants was also excellent. The service in the Italian Restuarant as well as by the pool could have been better. Overall, the cruise was excellent & we would take Silver Seas again.

Depending on where you are coming from you may really wish to plan on an extra pre-sailing day to get into the time change and recoup your body to fully enjoy this great cruise. Time change from California was 9 hours, but took 21+ hours of travel time to get there. Took Turkish Airlines Business Class, was fantastic! Cruise was very nice, ports of call were very interesting, especially for the history buffs. Go prepared with Euros, exchange can cost you, and almost every stop requires them. Excursions are expensive, no matter what, so plan on it. Ship excursions were ok, but we also did Italytoursharing.com for Rome and Salerno(Naples) as we wanted to have a car for 9 hours and be able to direct our course. We choose Herculaneum over Pompeii as it is smaller ( you still can't cover it all in one day), and it is far better preserved and less tourist ( Our tour guide was excellent and included with the cost of the car). Drivers were great! Late Sept. or early Oct. good time to travel. A little rain in Rome, but the major tourist season is over and the crowds were smaller and temps. were comfortable. With the short day trips to these areas, you will find the place(s) that you will want to return to for longer direct visits. Enjoy!!

service on the ship is inconsistent.  We would receive different answers to the same question from the shipboard staff.  The staff didn't appear to be well informed about policy or activities on the ship.  Denied service from staff several times  because it was too close to their station closing time (20 minutes is too close) Specialty steakhouse is sub par.  Stay away from any beef selection on the ship, the cuts of beef are not what the menu indicates and you won't get served the cook of beef desired.  Other than these issues, everything else is just OK.

Oceania cannot be beat! It's food is delicious and the service is top notch! The staff treats you like royalty!

The ports we visited were great! We loved every minute of our getaway!!

Loved the itinerary. Wonderful waking up in a new destination every day.  Wished we had a longer amount of time in each port.  Embarkation and Debarkation was smooth and efficient.  Room was clean with plenty of storage. Food was adequate, nothing special, nothing horrible.  Entertainment was mediocre.  Again, nothing special, but not horrible.  Not the cruise for you if you are expecting a lot of Americans or  English speaking people.  Although the crew speaks multiple languages and it was easy enough to communicate.    Overall a nice cruise!  I've had better, but what is not to love about being in Greece and Italy! 

This was an excellent cruise with food and service highlighting as always. However there were itinerary problems;

1. No sea days, but we knew that going in

2. Oceania scheduled port calls in Rome and Florence at inopportune times. Rome on Sunday when the Vatican Museum was closed and Florence on Monday when museums were closed

3. Oceania/Marina continued a troubling pattern of changing port calls on the fly. Instead of Tendering at Taormina they docked at Messina. Instead of tendering at Sorrento, they docked at Naples. Their explantation was that seas were too rough to tender safely.  It was simply not the case and these changes disrupoted plans for independent tours at those ports.

We had a wonderful time on our trip!  We had the ultimate beverage and food package and would definitely recommend that for everyone.  The food at the specialty restaurants was unbelievable...we have never had steak as good as we did at Cagney's!  The staff was awesome and made our trip even more special.  We celebrated my sister's birthday and she had a wonderful time as well!

We booked 3 excursions with :  Corfu, Santorini, and Mykonos.  The only excursion we were not happy with was the one to Corfu.  While the tour guide was very knowledgeable, she talked so much (especially about Greek history and mythology) that we were on overload.  The bus trip was long, no water was provided, there was no time left to eat lunch.  We came back to the ship after 3pm, hot, thirsty, tired and hungry!  The other two excursions were absolutely wonderful 

and the tour guides were awesome!  They were so knowledgeable and made the trip fun as well.  We did not have any problems getting back to the ship in time and loved the fact that these excursions did not have a ton of people on them like the ship's excursions did!  We would certainly recommend the Santorini and Mykonos excursions through .

All in all, a wonderful trip!

We were well pleased with our cruise. We had an inside cabin and was very pleased with the room and storage capability. The bathroom was large enough so that it functioned well. Bed was very comfortable even if a little tight getting in/out on the sides of the bed. 

We primarily used the basic restaurants and although the service was quite slow especially in the main Grand Pacific.. The Alkazar seemed to have better service and they both had the same menu. The decor and atmosphere at the GP was nicer but we prefered the better service at Alkazar.. Entertainment was great. We enjoyed all the shows and had a good variey of entertainment at the bars. Swimning pool was nice and the Spa area was enjoyable. My first 7 day cruise and would definately consider going on NCL once again

I like to have some quiet, relaxing time on a cruise. There was nowhere to be quiet on this ship - it seemed like a floating theme park with endless noise and overly loud music. Also, there were a lot of smokers on board, which surprised me as it wasn't allowed on previous cruises I've taken. Just not a good match for me.  

The excursions all went to places I wanted to see, so they were worth it, but the crowding was unbelievable. A tour guide told me that they had nobody there the day before, then 4 ships all came in on the same day! Several hundred people in numbered groups all trying to squeeze into tiny places. Very uncomfortable. There were enough buses and guides, but not enough streets/pathways/parking to allow access to the sites, in many places. This may not be Norwegian's fault, but some better planning is needed somewhere, as I understand this problem of too many ships at once happens often.

I wasn't excited about some of the buffet food - hot dogs and hamburgers - but it was fine for breakfast, though. The main restaurant had some enjoyable meals available. I like something special when on holiday, not just a slight upgrade on fast food that's everywhere. 

I was happy with the service, though - pleasant, friendly and helpful, particularly the stewards and waiters.

The Rhapsody of the Seas is mediocre at best. Older and dated ship. You had to be back on the boat very early each day, normally around 4-4:30, this is so the cruise line can save money on port fees. The food was OK, nothing to write home about. The specialty restaurants were better by far, but they come at a fee. Older crowd. Not good for 20-30 year olds, especially if you are single. The club shut down early every night. There was no place that stayed open on the ship to get a late night snack, etc. Long lines at dinner even if you had a reservation. And what really rubbed me the wrong was the fact that they charge you a fee for room service and that they charge you for the bottled water in the room even if you buy a beverage package. I did not spent $60 a day on a beverage package to hear that the water in the room was from a "different inventory." Lastly, don't waste your money on the internet it was not compatible with Apple IOS 9 and was down half the time we were at sea.  

It was a wonderful journey.  So many sites to see, experiences of a lifetime.  We meet great people from many countries, both staff & cruisers.  The local people were friendly & helpful.  Our Exclusive Shore Excursions were well run.  Guides & bus drivers took us safely around each port.  10-25 people in each tour, not too big, for a group to stay together.  They often provided us with headset/speakers to hear the guide, very helpful.  All the booking information was overwhelming, but easy once we arrived at port.  Pleasantly surprised boarding, & exiting for excursions & reboarding was very easy, smooth & friendly staff.

A stunning ship! We had a very pleasant and enjoyable cruise on the Celebrity Equinox. The choice of ports was good. Food in the Silhouette Dining Room was good. Very good central atrium space with glass lifts and exposed library, card room and other relaxation rooms. Overall the interior decor and artwork is very good when compared to most other cruise lines.The staff was very friendly and helpful, particularly those in Guest Relations and the Jewellery and Fragrance store assistants. On-board dancers and bands were very good.

This cruise is filled with awe inspiring destinations, fantastic food, wonderful entertainment and time for relaxation. I simply love Celebrity Cruises, and the professionalism of their crew is surpassed by none.

I recommend private tours when possible. The ship excursions can be over crowded, but other than that I have no complaints what-so-ever!

Everything was perfect except the 1 excursion booked through Cruises Only. And we could not use the $70 free excursion because the times available would have caused us to miss dinner.