Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

The staff was excellent and the itinerary was exactly what we wanted.  However, the dining room had a group of about 40 who were loud and rowdyand disturbed our dinner to the point we could not carry on a conversation.  They were also banging our chairs as they ran around.

The only excursion we took with RC was a disappointment.  However, the two excursions we took with Shore excursions group were excellent!

The overall itinerary was well worth the cruise. The cleanliness of the Spirit was above average and our cabin steward was exceptional. He was friendly, knowledgeable and extremely conscientious in making our cabin was clean and towels were replaced as we used them. The dining experience was definitely not a positive experience.  The food was acceptable but really nothing creative. The service within the dining rooms was poor.  The servers were inattentive as we had to constantly request refills on water and coffee. They were difficult to understand and lack establishing any type of a relationship with the tables assigned to them. On one occasion I discovered a long black hair floating in my soup they apologized at the table and sent 5 chocolate dipped strawberries to the room. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with the cruise and condition of the ship and the itinerary but this cruise line does not compare with the staff of a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity . Thanks Terri for all of your help.

NCL did not deliver quality for the price.  We were led to believe we would have a full day in Venice we didn't get it we didn't stop in Mykonos Greece at all The food service and entertainment on board was marginal we will choose a different cruise line next line

We chose this line over others because promised two days in Venice. The first day like most passengers, we arrived late and were expecting to see Venice the next day, but they sailed at 1:15 AM when we were sleeping not giving us the chance to do so. (Actually we did woke up in panic with the incredible noise in our cabin, it seems that all that area it is affected by the equipment that the ship uses to turn around and it happened every time we got to or leave all the ports). They say it was a confusion, they advertised a second day because the ship left an hour after midnight. We and many other passengers feel is a scam to compete with other lines. A ferry takes few hours to cross to Greece, but we were two days at sea to get there. The cruise should had begin there, no point to fly to Venice.

After that, we were supposed to go to Mykonos, but they are to cheap to pay for port like other lines, and couldn't use the tenders because it was windy, so for our safety" we didn't go. They told us that to compensate we were going to be a day earlier at Naples but quickly change their main and we went like a snail, two days at sea again until got there. Of course they didn't wanted to pay another night at port.

At Rome, since it was only until 4:30 PM it was chaos leaving in the morning, they couldn't control the transportation for the excursions.The excursions were ridicules expensive, very short time on ports. Many were cancelled on last minute and people were push into something else sometime in a languish they didn't understood.

They push the five restaurants were you have to pay extra. The two included on the price, and the buffet, had most days very limited variety of food and very poor deserts. We are not pick eaters, it was just very basic and the menu's didn't change much.

Not much to do on the ship all those days at sea.

They charge you the bottled water at the cabin almost $5.00 and would not let you bring alcohol bottles from outside into the ship, they would confiscate and give it to you the last day, even the one's purchased on the free Duty on the ship. We payed the same bottle beer four different prices with different waiters.

When we complained and asked for a compensation for the missed ports we were told that since we didn't book with them but with Cheap- there was not going to be any compensation, to take it to . Well are you going to compensate us?

Good ports of call and did have time to use public transportation to get into Athens, Lucca and Rome. Took cruise ship tour to Aix au Provence, then went off on own and not with the guide. This worked out well, but could have used a couple of more hours in the town and eliminated a 30 minute toilet stop on the way in to town. The drive from Toulon to Aux au Provence takes only one hour but public transport is not really an option.  Food in main dining rooms was not creative and showed no imagination in presentation. We have cruised in Europe with other cruise lines and the food on all was far superior. Rate food on level of Applebee's or mid level restaurants. We did pick this cruise because of itinerary and all ports met expectations. Did have to miss Mykonos due to high winds and unable to tender in, ship docked in town or all other ports.

It was a great trip!

perfect because I didn't have to worry about luggage every day. You unpack only once!

leaving from Venice was very nice! Very easy to access the port. Very easy process for boarding!

the fact that you have 2 days on sea was great, because you could use the rest after walking all day long.

the ports "cities" were fabulous!

Croatia - a dream ! You change money to their currency right outside the cruise, then walk few steps take their public transportation ( bus) and you are in the main city.

"santorini" spectacular views! If there are more than on cruise at the time, it could be a complete cluster to get to the island. You can only walk up the mountain, take a ride with a funky or take a cable cart.

you could wait 2 hours to come back down. Santorini is not made for that many people.

turkey " Ephesus"- a must see. We took a 4 hour tour pre-paid tour.

Olympia was a also very exciting.

the food was average. I don't believe they had a good variety of foods on the menu.

the shows were not good at all. I was very disappointed because I have taken at least 10 cruises and this is the first time that I did not like the shows at all. 

The staff were very professional and very nice.

it is a cruise that I will recommend to everyone if you want to have a taste of these countries.

this is not a Caribbean cruise where you go to relax. If you want to visit the sights in every port of call, you have to be on top of your game!

Even though this is an old ship, it is very well maintained. You would never know but I read about the ship before I chose it. I was pleased with their large inside staterooms, and the whole ship. The places we went to were amazing and the embarkation and disembarkation were great. I thought the food was o.k. The staff is great. The Customer Service, Excursion Desk were very friendly. Regarding the places we visited: Venice, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Ephesus, Turkey; Olympia, Greece, Santorini, Greece. I feel that Santorini is not the type of island that can handle these types of cruises. It was too crowded with two different cruise ships in the island at the same time. The cruise should be able to find a way to stay overnight or leave later in order to allow the passengers enjoy the island without the  stress of lines to get in and out to the ship. All of us(6 people) had a great experience on this cruise.

My friend and I recently took the 1 week Mediterranean Cruise from Rome - Florence- Monaco- Toulon-Barcelona-Rome.  While the Queen Elizabeth was a very nice ship, excellent appointments and amenities, excellent service, great food, I guess our expectations were of even more luxurious cruising than we had.  We have sailed Celebrity, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean and thought the Cunard would be at the top of the luxury lines.  We were disappointed.  There is definitely a "first class" for those who can afford it, the grill suites.  The rest of us were excluded from their restaurant, couldn't even take the elevator to their level 11.  Felt like we were back in the 1910's on the Titanic.  We love the formal elegance of assigned dinner time and seating, the formal nights, the diversity of passengers fit our "niche market" perfectly.  Many wonderful people from Britain, Canada, Australia, U.S., Japan, etc. 

We had a terrible experience when we docked in Toulon, France and I don't feel like Cunard handled it at all.  We did not have an excursion planned, it was a rainy, miserable day and most people stayed on the ship.  We took a cab into town, where at a local mall, a strange man came up to my friend, said something in a language we did not understand (not French) and made a slicing motion across his neck, suggesting he wanted to "behead" her.  He did it twice.  There was absolutely no security or police presence to report it to, we left immediately.  When we returned to the ship, I tried to report our experience to the purser and asked for the Director of Security to report this incident.  We were basically "blown off" and told there was nothing they could do since we were not on an excursion.  I understand you go ashore at your own risk, but we were not referred to someone in higher authority and our concerns for future passengers safety in this port were ignored.  It really scared both of us and left us with an unpleasant experience both in Toulon and Cunard's handling of our concerns. 

Our balcony stateroom was comfortable, attractive, but less areas to place personal items than on previous cruise lines we had sailed.  The entertainment options in the evening especially left a lot to be desired.  No one "folded towels like animals", there was no brunch with carved fruit like we have had on previous cruises.  We missed those luxuries and our expectations for Cunard were set too high for what we experienced.  We did get our money's worth as I bought our tickets on a discount site, but don't sail the Cunard expecting total luxury, at least the Queen Elizabeth.  I guess the Queen Mary is their top of the line ship.

although it was a step up for NCL the epic was disappointing in food quality and variety. the tours were very expensive although they were generally good. I would not pick this line if same route was available on RCL

Too big. Haven was nice but benefits not explained well. Concierge was the best. David Contreras. Day house keeping was great. Night not so, as when they were called to advise how to use the hot tub in our room things went from nothing to horrible as the butler starting pushing buttons when the vents weren't covered and water went everywhere including drenching me and the butler from head to foot. After he left and another came in I spent an hour wringing towels into the shower. This was not reported to the concierge until we reported it. They gave us a $400 credit and we were satisfied. In addition, we bought a premier dining package not knowing Haven guest had free meals at their select restaurant. That would have saved $238. As for rating the speciality restaurants, the Brazilian, Cagneys Steak house and the French were good. The Kubuki restaurant was too small, waiters could barely get by, the artiste was passable but not superior and the food was overcooked and very chewy which calamari and lobster should not be.  Finally as mentioned earlier Alix Myers did well putting the package together but once the payments were received seemingly lost interest. I know she went out on disability after being struck by lightning thru the phone and recommended a karen LaRue for followup but we received no benefit from that referral.

Greek Isles were fantastic, i wish we had more time on land. The ship was clean and the food was good, but not great. The staff was attentive, and the pushing of drinks and games was almost nonexistent, which is refreshing. The excursions were great and the logistics worked like a charm. I am getting a little bored with cruising though and wish for a more. A taste of the Greek Isles was great but I want to experience the Islands more.

I have traveled Royal Caribbean several times and I feel some of the little perks have been taken away. 

1. Our room server was over worked could never find him when needed

2. Beds used to be turned down every night and a chocolate would be left on your pillow

3. Every port would have photographer waitin right outside for photo, wasn't there a couple times I stepped off

4. Photo night did not have as many set ups for photos

5. Being charged now for lobster dinner was always part of menu on formal night

6. Always had a midnight buffet with fruit, ice or chocolate one evening during cruise.

7I do understand the cost of gas and other items going up but it's those little things that make it extra special

8. port times too short and not great times

We were very impressed with the Green Isle Cruise.  I have to admit, even though we had cruised Norwegian before I was a little apprehensive after reading some of the reviews/posts on Cruise Critic. I know that some are a little more picky than others and that proved to be true.  The food was very good, cabin great (except of some noise....will explain later), the entertainment was wonderful and the itenerery fabulous. Now...about the noise. We started calling customer almost immediately about our neighbors SLAMMING their door...EVERY day, morning (before we got up, of course this woke us up so we had no choice but to get up), afternoon (while trying to rest), and night (while TRYING to go to sleep). And I don't mean once, it would happen three or four times at once like maybe everyone in the room was leaving at the same time, then maybe two minutes later another three or four times. We stopped by the customer service desk several times, etc. We were called but when I called back they acted like WE should stand in the hall and wait for these people to slam the door????????????????? NOT!!!! It did put a damper on our time.  It just seemed like no one cared at all. SO...if anyone expects Norweigian to fix a problem with neighbors, it won't happen.  My husband works very hard and this was a long awaited trip. He doesn't sleep well anyway and to TRY to sleep with someone slamming doors it's unexceptable. This was very disappointing and it seemed like Norweigian totally ignored our complaint.

The cruise was a great experience.  There were alot of activities to fit everyone's preference.  The food was good.  Because the ship had over 50 nationalities, the cruiseline did a good job accommodating the language differences by having multiple announcements in the predominate languages.

Excellent service onboard, superb dining rooms, buffet so-so, floor shows good not great, lots of selling (I forgot to bring cufflinks and the cheapest available were $300!).Turkey was a nightmare with horribly aggressive street vendors who would have been arrested elsewhere. Amazing scenery with archeological marvels. Tour guide radios need upgrading; other than static and an occasional word in broken English, we heard nothing.

Nonetheless, I would recommend this cruise to everyone but children and the elderly.

John C.

This was our first cruise with Celebrity.  The ship was one of their newest and was very clean and modern. The bathroom was the nicest we have seen.  The level of service, and entertainment were excellent and as good as or better than any other cruise we have been on. We also enjoyed the extras in the concierge class.

We would have liked to see a few more selections for the standard drink package, but an upgrade was available.

We will definitely cruise Celebrity in the future.

We found the cruise to be enjoyable as all Celebrity Cruises which we have taken, but the highlights of the cruise specifically centered on the shore excursions which we had selected.  The visit to Santorini and Oia was breathtaking in addition to the views and panorama.  As well, our visit to Kusadasi and Ephesus was impressive and historical in nature relative to the ruins; but nothing could top our excitement when we visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque, St. Sophia and the International Market.  Athens was the culmination of the trip for us in visiting the Acropolis and inner city of Athens.  We would highly recommend this cruise to anyone and everyone. 

Great ports, liked the free style dining, dining room meals were very good, buffet food was mixed. Sone ports had vety long walks to the terminal exit and the disembarking in Venice was a disater. All luggage wad placed in one area, poor access, and mass confusion and congestion by passengers. 

the cost for freestyle was outrageous !

poor selection of buffet menu for 12 days, limited entertainment and very slow internet connection for the price paid .

Great cruise

Port of Calls and excursions were excellent

Ship was spectacular

Crew was awesome, friendly, accommodating

if you owned the business everything you would want

employees to be.

Food Excellent.

Over all if I could I would rate this 6 stars