Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

I honestly can't say anything negative about our cruise. The ship is beautiful, the crew were outstanding, The entire process of boarding the ship was to our surprise very easy. We had per-registered. We started in Spain, we had arrived a day and a half early to experience Barcelona. We chose to take a double Decker bus tour, which was perfect. We were able to get off at several stops and re-board the bus at any point of its route. All for one minimal price. Plus, we were able to catch additional buses that toured other parts of the city. They are quite easy and accessible.

Palma De Mallorca, Spain was about the same a Barcelona. Marseilles, France was a bit of a neutral day. We choose to not go on a shore excursion and just walk the town, which was quint, busy, and loud. Your typical tourist stop.

However, the shore excursion to Tuscany was a slight disappointment. which may just be a culture difference. Being from USA, the wine tasting we've experienced have been quite different.The tour guide was historical, and quit informed, when we arrived at the winery we had per-conserved thoughts of what was going to happen. We and others on the tour thought we were going to see the barrels, the ceillers, the process of making wines and tasting different wines.  What we found was we were being 'sold' on the extra virgin olive oils that are produced at the winery. We did have a nice simple snack that included 4 wines, and a desert wine, Outside at the family style tables. we felt it to be nice, comfortable and peaceful in the country side of Tuscany. Where we also learned about the white marble in the mountains through out this beautiful setting. All things considered we had a lovely day.

Marseilles, France was a bit of a neutral day. We choose to not go on a shore excursion and just walk the town, which was quint, busy, and loud. Your typical tourist stop.

Beware at Civictavecchia, Italy when you disembark at the dock, there have about a hundred salesman/and women trying to sell you a 'tour' in Rome. Our experience was unsettling, we did accept one tour guide, (what we thought was a tour guide). We haggled for a tour price, which was 200.00 euro down from 250.00 euro for the Private Tour which included tickets to the front of each place's line, and simple entry into the Vatican, etc... once we saw the 'van' an got in, INSTANTLY, I was uncountable, the van was a pigs sty newspapers everywhere, visible dirt on the seats,  filthy arm rest, and in general un-exceptionable! As we left the port, the driver got a call to return to the port, He was instructed to pick up another couple and they were to join our "PRIVATE TOUR".  Once back at the port a nice young couple were waiting for us. We started a conversation with them and they too were told it would be a Private tour, and their tour was to be 200.00 euro also.  After a brief conversation with the 'seller' of the tour we all decided to walk to the train station, about 10 minutes from the port. The train was a fraction of the cost of a 'private tour' we enjoyed the views of the countryside...it arrived in the middle of Rome. Where we continued our day on foot and taxi when we needed one. For warring, their are many vendors, all over the city. Some licensed and a-lot that are not. Plenty of police and army post around the city, which gave us a sense of both secure and cautious. Beware of PICK-POCKET-ERS, we were warned that they would be all over the city. Rome was delightful.

Naples was a fun, free spirit city... I think it was one of my high lights. It is extremely delightful, (yes alot of tourist) but we walked the city, met a number of wonderful Italians. Ate at a family run for 3 generations pizzara off the main stream of the city. We enjoyed listening and experiencing the culture of Napals.

We Highly recommend the Chief's Table Dinner. 

The Chef's Table was Formal and quit enjoyable. Sommeller, Adrian Samuels was excellent well informed and personable.The presentation was elegant.

The Windjammer Main restaurant was extremely crowded an loud with children in and out.  Definitely a family environment. The crew were pleasant and abundant. Tables were cleared and cleaned admittedly. The food was good and plentiful. 

Solarium Bistro Restaurant, we had breakfast there one morning. We found it to be crowded and had to search for a clean table. Casual environment.

Chops Grille was ok... however, to be fair we did have a group of 11. we felt the food to be 'ok' nothing really stood out... out of the 'norm' of a nice restaurant. 

Sabor, was a disappointment. The Spanish flavors were diffident from our expatiation.  The chips and Fresh Guacamole was the best over all.

We ordered room serves twice. Both times for breakfast the meal was your typical 'american' breakfast. With a twist, they only had scramble eggs, not the over easy please. The hash-browns we ordered were under cooked with the taste of cardboard. We had ordered orange juice and didn't get it. The bacon was fatty, The scrambled eggs were a bit runny for my taste. The coffee was too strong for our taste. The second day we ordered Decaf to tone the flavor down a bit. My husband bought Starbucks everyday...

I personally enjoyed the Vitality Cafe', I juice and make smoothies everyday at home... to my surprise the Vitality Cafe' quenched my thirsts with the healthy flare I love.

I personally felt the Vitality Spa was too pricey. Disclosure... we live in Las Vegas ware Spa's and Salon's are abundant. We have the extremely pricey to the neighborhood local Salon's. I did expect them to be pricey, however during the cruise they offered specials which were responsible. Two for one type of deal. If I had had a treatment the first couple of days, I would have felt a little taken advantage of later in the cruise to find a half price special. (just my opinion)

About the ship... be prepared... it is HUGE! I would recommend reservations EVERY NIGHT wherever you chose to dine. Which we had. Otherwise many lines of waiting to be seated. Another observation, be prepared again for 'Dress Codes"... each eatery has its own venue. We chose to dress each night, Tux, Suites, gowns, dresses...etc... 

The ship has plenty to keep a person engaged in activities. From playing cards in the library, to miniature golf on deck 16. Even though we didn't have children on the cruise, it appeared the childrens needs were met. Plenty of pools an hot tubs for both children and adults.... Basketball, to chess.

Lastly, We can not say enough good praise for our Suite Attendant. Dessal Satwashil, He was absolutely one of the best surprises of our entire trip. Dessai from the first time we met to the final departure, Dessai was extremely attentive, resourceful, pleasant, helpful person of our entire cruise!!  Exemplary !! We give him the highest marks over the entire cruise. 

This was my first time using BJ's Travel to schedule a cruise and also my first time on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship.

My experience with BJ's Travel was excellent. The cruise package was a great value and I was very happy with their customer service.  The included onboard spending credit, beverage package and gift card sealed the deal.

I give Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) a gold star for their excellent service throughout the entire cruise.  The Norwegian Epic ship was fantastic.  It is one of the largest ships in the world and I always felt very comfortable in any location on board.  I liked the layout of my Balcony Stateroom and my Stateroom stewart was excellent and very helpful.  The entire NCL staff throughout the ship was always very friendly and helpful, as well.

I really enjoyed the Freestyle dining.  For me it worked perfectly to decide when to dine as opposed to eating on a set schedule like on other cruise lines.  That really added to the enjoyment and relaxation of my cruise vacation.

I scheduled a variety of NCL shore excursions at each port that included, Sorrento and Amalfi by Land and Sea (Port of Naples, Italy), Off the Beaten Path - Hilltop Towns (Rome, Civitavecchia, Italy Port), The Cinque Terre (Florence/Pisa, Livorno, Italy Port), Cannes Walking Tour (Cannes, France Port) and Spectacular Scenery & Flavors (Palma, Majorca, Spain Port).  Each one was fabulous and the weather was thankfully great the entire week.  The tour guides were all excellent and added to the enjoyment of the excursions.  They always got us back to the ship by the required timetable.  Well done, thank you!

I just want to point out that I scheduled the Italy Port excursions noted above, since I had previously visited, Naples, Pompeii, Rome, Florence and Pisa on other vacations. If you have already been to those cities, I think you will find the noted shore excursions to be very different and a lot of fun.  

The internet service on board was good in most locations but not perfect.  I quickly found that using my iPhone in the Internet Cafe usually always worked best.  I signed up for the unlimited internet package, for the greatest flexibility, based on my needs.

Bottom line is NCL and the Western Mediterranean Cruise gets my very highly positive and recommended rating.  Thank you.

We had a great experience on the Norwegian Jade.  The staff was friendly and helpful.  My children enjoyed Splash Academy so much that they wanted to stay all the time.  They really enjoyed Twinkle, one of the counselors the best.  We definitely enjoyed the freestyle dining option, which was different from our other cruise experiences.  My only regret is that I didn't get lobster as an option in the regular dining experience only in specialty restaurants.  This was a very small regret.  Other than that it was truly enjoyable experience.  We would cruise with Norwegian again.  Truly a trip worth taking with the ports that you get to experience. 

This was my first cruise, so I have nothing to compare it to. I would say the very best thing about this cruise was the fantastic staff on the ship. Every single person was friendly and hospitable and helpful and kind.  The shipboard amenities were great and I love the spa.  I will say that I might not have liked it as much if we hadn't had the dining package. I am not a fan of big, noisy crowded rooms.  We ate in the main dining room for lunch several times and it was charming. But, the one evening we at there, it was noisy and busy. I wouldn't have liked eating there every night. Also the food varied in the speciality restaurants.  Cagney's was wonderful. We ate there twice both were "oh, wow" moments.  Even the vegetarian in the group liked it best (yes, a vegetarian liked the steakhouse!) because it was the only restaurant with a full vegetarian menu.  Moderno's was also great.  But, La Chuchina and Le Bistro were just okay.  The music and entertainment was impressive!  So many incredibly talented people and music everywhere. All in all, it was a great experience and I would consider cruising again because of it. 

This is our second time with the NCL. We like the free style of cruising, the food, the service and non-commercial atmosphere.

We are not impressed with quality of tours for the price. The cabin was not very comfortable for 3 people, it was too small. The art auctioneer on this particular cruise (Will) was not very nice.

One of the highlights of this cruise over any other port city was the departure and arrival in Venice.  The boat circles the main island with incredible views!  That was such an unexpected bonus!  The ship itself is very well maintained (a little bit dated decor) and the staff was great!  Late in the week a lot of them were going on break and new staff coming on, so there was some transition there.  We have cruised other lines before, this was our first experience with Norwegian and it was really good.  The ports were fantastic and we'd highly recommend the cruise line, and the itinerary.  It would be even better if we didn't feel like there were so many extra charges everywhere.  For example, we did not purchase any beverage packages (we try to avoid sodas), and were very curious beforehand if we'd have anything at all to drink.  It all worked out fine, but between that, charges for video games that 12 and unders can access, and various other service charges--> it all seems to be NON all-inclusive and somewhat misleading.  I understand that's pretty par for the industry, but still a bit off-putting. Our cabin stewards were excellent, I'd love to know how much of the daily service fees (12.95 per person per day x7) actually reach the staff, as THEY are the ones who really make or break the cruise experience.  We are so thankful for them!  The only excursion we did was in Ephesus and the tour guide there was amazing. The rest seemed to be at a high premium price, and we and our 4 kids navigated just fine without the convenience and high fee attached.  It's very easy to spend many times the cruise price onboard so you have to be cautious. 

Just returned from a flight, Mediterranean Cruise and two night stay in Rome package. (May 22-June 2) On MSC Divina.  Absolutely perfect time was had! I just want to add a few tips that I wish I knew before leaving:

     Upgrade to Fanastica.  We did not, still had a great room but would upgrade for a bigger one next time.

     As soon as you receive flight confirmation go online and reserve you seats.  We sat in 38 A/C great! Add an extra luggage on line, still expensive but cheaper on line and you'll be able to buy souvenires.

     Be sure to book shore excursions with MSC as they are well organized with great guides and you get off the ship first, very handy especially in Cannes where you are tendered. We went on tours SPE08 to Florence, CEQ03 to Nice and Eze, BCN21 in Barcelona and NAP08 in Naples.  I highly recommend all of them!

    Park your car at one of the many hotels near the Miami airport and stay the night you return.  We had a 5 hour drive home and were relived to get some sleep before embarking on the final leg of our journey. We stayed at the Clarion and had no problems at all.

     Do not bother getting to the airport in Miami until after 5:00pm as they do not open windows until then.

    You do not have much time in Palma.  We just got the hop on hop off bus right at end of terminal.

     When you get to Rome at the end, be prepared to leave the ship at about 11:00 on transport to hotel.  We stayed at Melia Rome.  Because of tour times we had booked we were unable to utilize their shuttle.  It was a 20 Euro taxi ride one way but we were dropped off exactly where we needed to be.

     Speaking of tours in Rome, Be sure to pre-book a Vatican tour for Saturday afternoon as the museums will be closed on Sunday.  We went with Viator's Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Rapheal's Rooms and St. peter's (3731 Vatican).  Then on Sunday, again through Viator, Be sure to book Colleseum and Gems of Rome Semi Private of Private Tour (7595P4).  This was the absolute BEST tour we have ever been on!!! It's run by "Once in Rome" tour group through Viator.

     On the last day, be sure to be in the lobby for transport to airport by 5:45 am.

     Have a fantastic European Vacation.

This is all I want to say

Was ok, the ship had some technical problems

Our tours were rushed and crowded

Tours were overly priced

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This was our tenth cruise, and by far and away the worst.

Most of the common toilets in the ship didn't flush and of the people that we went on the trip with, their cabin 's didn't work for most of the trip.  Our friends floor kept flooding and they couldn't make it stop and wouldn't change the cabin or fix the leak.  The entertainment, if you would call it that, was not fit for a Holiday Inn, which when there are 3 sea days built into 11 days, entertainment is important.

When problems came up and we went to speak with the Pursers office, they actually rolled their eyes!

When you add in the cost of the crusie with the cost of the flights, we spent in excess of $15,000 dollars just for the two, which is a great deal of money for way below standard returns.

Very nice ports of call.  Oceania is an upscale cruise experience in all respects including food, service and entertainment.  Mostly older clientele are on the ship.

Specialty restaurants are excellent.  However, in the main dining room we did have a couple of service and food problems on 2 nights.

Also, at the end of the cruise Oceania seemed in a hurry to get you off the ship by having your luggage on your bed the day before docking and having breakfast service stop early with the last time to leave your room being 8am.

This was our first time on Oceania and I missed some of the aspects featured on other cruise lines; for instance, professional photographer photo-ops (not the cheesy pirate costume ones though) and dining with the same waiter each night so he can learn your personal preferences. The staff was amazing with service and friendliness and the food quality/presentation was great.

This particular route was very good and most ports had plenty to do nearby or on excursions. I typically do 50% cruise line excursion and 50% on my own. Both were successful except in St Tropez where taxis were impossible to find. I really wish there had been a sea day for rest midway through as I have a difficult time "wasting" a port day by hanging out on the ship. Most of our excursions allowed us to sleep in until 8am and meet by 9am, which was nice. There are several tender ports which are a pain as Oceania tends to prioritize disembark of their excursion guests leaving independents waiting for a tender seat (this didn't cause any major issues, just show up early). I really wish in Livorno that the port departure time was later than 8pm- Most try to do Pisa & Florence in the 12hr stop and it is a rush. I hired a taxi for the day and did the main Florence museums with plenty of time though. 

Overall, VG cruise and VG cruise line. 

I have sailed Celebrity before and highly recommend it over other cruise lines I have been on. The staff is unbelievably responsive, friendly and helpful. The Concierge room was roomy, well maintained and just fine for a long cruise. The food was very good generally with sufficient variety for everyone.  The Eastern Mediterranean Ports were all perfect with the exception of Crete, which I might skip, but each stop gave you sufficient time for a solid overview of the historic sites, the people and some free time. I would do your own research for excursions rather than rely on the few ship ones, particularly focusing on private tours rather than the big bus ones. The downside on the cruise is the entertainment and activities - not top notch, but ok. Overall, it was a terrific trip with lasting memories of people, places and experiences.

The crew was always very friendly and their customer service was definitely great! The ship is really nice. Very classy, perhaps too classy for us. They were always auctioning art paintings for which we didn't care about. Their raffles were a joke however. (A designer bag raffle prize in a jewelry store was a iPhone case... lol). This cruise was mainly for retirees and honeymooners (like us). The activities and shows were pretty boring for active folks

THANK YOU!  Everything about this cruise was EXCELLENT! Every person on the ship I encountered was kind, courteous, and helpful. They went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. My husband and I were in room 6668. Paula was who fixed up our room. She had a beautiful smile daily and did her job well. I was impressed!  

My FAVORITES were Naofel and Stojan. They were our servers every night when we dined. Because of them, we ended up cancelling two other dinner reservations that had been given to us at the beginning of the cruise. We didn't want to miss out on our time with them. They were absolutely wonderful. They were first class gentlemen. We traveled with my sister and her husband, (they were in room 6142), and they felt the same way. Can't thank you enough for those two men. They made our cruise extra special with some fun memories. They even made a special cake and sang to us, as we were on this cruise to celebrate our 34th, and my sister and her husband's 35th, Anniversaries.

My sister and I experienced the Zip Line... Your extremely handsome team of encouraging young athletic men gave me the courage to do it... and I almost didn't. I began to panic after everything was hooked up. Being on the larger size and a wee self conscious of it, they worked with my fear and helped me overcome it. They were gentlemen in every way. The crowd on the sidelines cheered me on, as well. :D

There is nothing and I mean absolutely NOTHING I could complain about. I loved the power shower in our balcony room, the frozen yogurt machine by the pools, The Garden Cafe in Central Park. The shops, Carousel, shows, etc... My husband and I were living in a dream while on your ship. 

My mom rode on the Allure of the Seas on her maiden voyage and now I was able to experience it. Words could not have prepared me for the wonder of it. It is the loveliest ship I have ever cruised on. I have done two other cruises in the past. One with carnival and one with Norwegian. No comparison, whatsoever. If I am able to plan a cruise again, I will find out where this ship is and plan my trip around it.

Thank you, RC, for the BEST experience on your ship while sailing the Mediterranean Sea. I'll never forget it and as soon as I finish this review, will begin typing out my journal. YOU'RE AMAZING!

Highly recommend Celebrity Cruises for European vacationing. Customer service was top notch. Food amazing in every way.  Variety of entertainment- exceeded my expectations and accommodations above average.

We loved this cruise. The ship is impressive, extremely clean and well kept. We were satisfied with the few shore excursions that we took, but on the day-long shore excursions we would have expected better lunches given the cost of the tours.

Overall the staff was very pleasant. We appreciated the open-seating dinners in the main dining room. However the maîtres d's seemed stressed and disorganized. The food in the main dining room was below par and poorly presented for a ship rated 5.5. The dining-room is extremely noisy due to the lack of attention by the waiters while clearing the tables. The breads were not very good, but the pizzas were excellent. The coffee in the Oceanview Café was pretty awful, but the beverage package was well worth it and the speciality coffee at Bacio's Café was excellent. 

Having dinner on the terrace of the Oceanview Café while looking at the Golden Horn in Istanbul was one of the highlight of the trip. We would hesitate taking again a cabin in the Concierge class. We do not think it was worth the extra cost.

For first-time cruisers we received excellent advice from our Cruise.com agent Kerri Winston.

Excellent staff and service.  Ship very nice and well-kept.  All I could ask for in entertainment and food.  The only real problems were the ports of call and some of the excursions.

We chose this cruise because of its unique itinerary, & while somewhat disappointed that the Tunisia stop was cancelled, it was nevertheless an outstanding cruise.  The ship was in excellent shape, the food was fabulous (with the exception of the first night), and the service was great.

The one area I would rate less the excellent was the destination services/tours sector.  Just as in an earlier (Oct'15) cruise on Marina, the information on the ship TV was totally out of synch -- presentations on locales that were not on the itinerary, repetitive info on places that we had long passed, and nothing on some of the upcoming ports.  This ship had one visit in Greece (Santorini), yet it was like the Greek tourism department was dictating what was shown.  Most of the tours we took were satisfactory, with the one to Akrotiri being excellent.  The best tour we had was one we booked individually through "Tours by Locals" (visit to the Alhambra in Granada) -- however, we did use the ship's transfer from Malaga to Grenada (would have been nice to have had a "pit stop" on the 2 hrs bus rides each way).

Excellent ports of call and great food! The ship itself is a bit small but well maintained. Only issue was arrival at ports of call which where too close to disembarkation time and in some ports of call experienced long lines to disembark. 

Plenty of options for dining and entertainment.  The service always excellent.  I booked already with the same cruise next year in another itinerary.  It just awesome!