Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Excellent itinerary.....Rooms space ****.......Employees with extraordinary sense of humor and always ready to assist you......superior life music in every corner of the ship *****......Variety of food and restaurants*****.....Theater shows excellent. (more than expected)......My only concern is that ship departures are so early, and we can not enjoy night life in few of the stops that "night life" is recommended as Mikonos, Istanbul and Tulone. ( St. Tropez-Monaco-Niza)....Definetely the cruise was more than expected.....a big improve in NCL service comparing cruises before and with other carriers......Ready to plan a new trip with NCL...Possible Alaska......

Very nice experience my room was great a lots of things to do. Very organized and good food. I will do it again. The only problem that they overcharge on the poker table ( 10% per a game). 

Thought the service fee of 12.00 per guest perday  was a little much. Also did not like the way they treated guests who booked excursions with companies other than Norwegian were treated.we weren't allowed to exit on the same floor and on tenders Norweigens got first pick. everything else was very nice.

I enjoyed our stops but wished I had been given more info on tours. Most stops other than Roma and Pisa you really can just do the hop on hop off busses or other transport. But I felt at the time it was a must too book through the ship which turned out not too be the case. The only other problems I had with the Jade was the quality of food ....it was almost non existential ! I was told they were cooking for the U.K. crowd (even in the two seat down complimentary restaurants )if this is there reasoning behind the bland over cooked food then be prepared too only eat a few items too survive. Or eat when the ship docks. This was NOT our first Norwegian cruise but our first in Europe and we would have LOVED more over all information and help instead of feeling like it was all about the money.

The ship was lovely.  The cabin was terrific -- I highly recommend upgrading to a mini suite if you can; the extra space and privacy really made our vacation.  Cabin service was wonderful and everything always spotless.  The food was strictly pedestrian. With very few menu changes.  With only a couple of exceptions, I can't say that anyone in our traveling party (6) enjoyed it at all.  And let's face it, the food is one of the pleasures of a cruise!  Service in the main dining rooms was almost always awful and terribly slow.  I believe staff overall was overworked.  Rarely were you greeted with a smile. The excursions were WAY overpriced; choose carefully.  Most weren't that good.  Headsets that didn't work properly; tour guides no one could understand.  I wish we had used an outside vendor as someone recommended.  However, some of the deadlines were tight and we know the ship won't wait for you if you're using an outside vendor so we elected not to.  We adjusted our tip at the end BIG TIME; something we don't usually do,  We left something for everyone then chose to parcel out our tip where we felt service was merited.  I would not do this tour again on Norwegian; maybe Celebrity.  I talked to some people from a Celebrity cruise that were doing the same tour and they were having so much fun.

This was my first time taking a cruise with my wife.  We have been wanting to go on a cruise for years, and decided to do the Western Mediterranean with the Norwegian Epic as my brother recommended it to me.  I was pleasantly surprised overall, with the quality of the food, especially in the main (garden cafe) buffet.  I would definitely recommend this cruise to anyone else.  The only criticism that I have of Norwegian is that the Spice H2O area, which was supposed to be the "Adult Zone" until 6pm daily on the boat, often was not enforced except for on one day.  It was nice, relaxing, and romantic for my wife and I to hang out at Spice H2O when it was the "Adult Zone" and there were no kids present in the pool or hot tub.  Other than that, the cruise was fantastic, and was everything and more than we ever imagined.  I would cruise again with Norwegian.  

Prior to the cruise we had 6 weeks of misery trying to get shore excursions booked.  Every time we

called Royal Caribbean consultants they would make us tell them which excursions we wanted and then

at the end they would tell us that their computers were being updated.  After being on the phone for 30

minutes each time.

Finally we asked our agent to do it and she was able to get all the excursions except the first day. We don't understand how they could be full if it was unable to be booked.  We had to take a second choice

for our first excursion. The second day in France was cancelled due to a ferry strike. We were diassappointed about France.

Ship, smallest ever stateroom on tenth floor next to elevators, great staff, washy, washy to keep healthy always used and available, fantastic food, great organized shore excursions. I'd rather been taken to Santorini Island so close than to Mykonos though. Just pictures show nicer looking houses. All great places to be seen, very active to go on all possible shore excursions. We had great weather, warmer every day as we went on. To see Venice from the ship was our second experience there. Leaving from Barcelona in the evening gave us the opportunity to still see the city in the morning. We flew from Tampa to London, non stop with British Airways, spend a few days there which was fantastic and assured me luggage would have less chance to be lost. Unforgetfull experience.

My family and I really enjoyed this cruise.  We have not been on a cruise in 10 years and were worried that it wouldn't be family friendly initially and that we'd sepnd 7 days in cramped state room.  Instead, our balcony suite was perfect and we were pleasantly surprised that there was something for everyone.  This ship's cabins were more spacious than others I've seen.  Additionally, there were plenty of dining choices for my daughter who has a peanut allergy, I enjoyed the spa and evening entertainment, and we all liked the liveliness of the ship.  As for the ports and itinerary, I highly recommend that you book the shore excursions instead of trying to wing it on your own so that you can really see and enjoy each of the destinations.  I wish that Norwegian would add Athens to their itinerary without removing any of the other destinations.   Venice, Olympia, Santorini, Mykenos, and Corfu were each beautiful in a different way.  We will definitely take another cruise.

The itinerary sells this cruise! We saw such amazing places. The price is very reasonable as well. Probably because the ship is older. We had a balcony room and room was very small for a 12 day cruise. Food was OK but not great. if you wanted better food you had to pay extra and make reservations to the specialty restaurants. We also got a package 7 port tour through "Shore Excursions Group".We saved so much money compared to Norwegians tours. Other guests did the same so you were with some of the same people for all the tours. Made some great friends! Highly recommend doing this. 

We booked the Epic in Europe for our honeymoon and it was an amazing trip. The biggest note worth making is to sign up for shore excursions if you want to "do it all" (either through the boat or through ). We got on the boat in Rome, which we highly recommend, because with 4,000 passengers, only 1,000 are boarding in Rome. In addition, most are spending the day in Rome (the port is actually 1 hour from the city) so you have the opportunity to explore the boat and avoid the crowds.

Bottom line up-front: We felt that this cruise was all about location. The stops, time in port and shore excursions were the reason we would recommend it to friends.

Boat details:

Despite the size, we never felt overwhelmed by the amount of people on the boat. There definitely is not enough pool space, but we had no issues with chairs at 7:30 AM (started filling up around 8:30 AM). We felt day time activities were lacking (esp. with 4,000 guests onboard) and this was apparant during our day-at-sea where the weather was not ideal.

The evening entertainment was fantastic. We saw blue man group, which was great. The ice bar is fun, and we spent several nights at Howl at the Moon signing along with the Dueling Pianos. We were also fortunate enough to be on the boat during the World Cup and the boat was able to broadcast the games in the evening outdoors at H20.

The bathrooms in the staterooms are unique in that they have seperated the toilet from the shower and the sink is in the cabin. It does not leave a lot of privacy, but it does appear they have figured out how to add more storage space, which was a plus.

The dining rooms were our biggest complaint. The lines were enormous anytime after 7:30 (even for two) and the wait staff seemed overwhelmed. They have removed the concept of drink waiters, so waiters and their single assistant are responsible for both. This ends up causing long waits for drinks, meals, clearing tables and coffee at desert (we waited 20 minutes AFTER receiving our desert for coffee to be served multiple times). The food itself was very good and offered a wide-selection.

Itinterary:

In Livorno we did the Florence tour (including David statue) and Pisa tower climb. It was amazing.

In Cannes we just shopped. It rained, but it was fun. The good majority of cruisers seemed to either visit Monte Carlo or walk the streets for shopping.

In Palma, we rented bikes. There are no signs or advertisements, but about 1 mile from the boat is Palma on Bike. There is a bike path along the entire coast and you can bike on the path to the church, beautiful beaches, restaurants and gelato stores.

In Barca, we shared a cab with another couple and visited La Sagrada Familia. Cab is about 20 euro. We highly recommend buying tickets in advance for La Sagrada Familia. The line is very long and times begin selling out. We were able to find Wifi nearby and bought the tickets online :).

In Naples, we did a shore excursion through cruises only for the Amalfi coast and Pompeii. It was amazing. We could not recommend this more as it was our favorite stop.

somewhat disappointed.  Ship was so crowded and passengers acted like animals in the horizon court eating areas.  Part of the problem is that there are so many food stations that you have to constantly going from serving area to different serving area in order to complete your plate.  The areas need to be better organized and space not as wide whereby people can come at you in different directions with their plates in hand bumping into you.  I couldn't stand to go to the food courts and tried to go to the dining rooms for meals as much as possible to avoid the rush but dining room meal times are limited and when going off ship nearly everyday I had no choice but to use Horizon court.

Staff also needs more coaching in areas of table clean up and setting up in horizon courts areas as they seem to do a lot of socializing with each other.

My room steard provided excellent service but for a 13 night cruise my sheets were only changed twice, what happened to the every 3 days???

Entertainment was nice, the ships production company put on excellent shows but I was put off by what was to be 'family' entertainment.  for example one comedian, Irish, went beyond what I thought was 'family' rated always talking about male parts and sex.  Also making jokes constantly about the Irish and their alcohol problem.  I had my 14 yrs old daughter with me and I felt that this type of entertainment which such ethnic sterotyping is exactly not what you want your children to repeat.

also some of the social staff picked on members in the audience calling them name and just didn't know when to draw the line between what was insulting and what was going overboard.

I think that there are more staff people needed for cleaning of ship and serving in the food courts.

Excursions are quite expensive but they did organize us and got us moving on to the buses quickly.

There is constant selling of everything water when leaving ship to drinks at dinner etc.  this is how they make their money but it is neverending.

I would cruise Princess again as I have sailed with them and other lines and find them to be superior to the others.  But I will say that I was somewhat disappointed that the cruise was not the top notch service that I usually find with Princess.

I was very disappointed with the food in the dining room. I have cruised for over 100 days with Holland America and have always enjoyed the choice and quality of food in the dining rooms.  In fact, I cruised on the Nieuw Amsterdam in the Caribbean the first year it was put in service and the food was excellent.  I hope this experience will not be repeated on future Holland American cruises.  The dining room staff were excellent. The cabin stewards were also very good.  The shore excursions were good except for the night gondola ride in Venice.  We paid $129.00 for a 30 minute gondola ride, water bus ride and a long walk from the water bus to the gondola.  Extremely overpriced!!  The entertainment was not good in the theatre.  The ship is very nice and the staff were all pleasant and helpful. 

The ship was Ok,  felt like being in a floating casino.   Food was abundant, but the same in every restaurant.   Drinks were, well drinks.   Everything cost extra so this was the most expensive vacation I ever took - and the value just wasn't worth the money.

Overall the cruise was good but I was perturbed by NLC allowing for the sale of wine after going through security to register for the cruise and then taking the wine away at the security when you entered the ship and returning the wine on the last night of the cruise. The sale of wine should not have occured if you were not allowed to consume it during the cruise.

Room was OK. Some dust was on the lamp and table. Food tasted good but the Garden Room tables were in short supply.  Seat down eating was OK but not on a par with Holland America or Princess Ships.

Did not have a great deal of time for Ship shows(except for Blue Man Group). Six ports to explore in 7days! We were able to get on and off this big Ship with ease. A real plus. Would recommend non-ncl tours. Better and alot less costly.

For the most part this cruise was great. Felt the tours were over priced and I was told one this and the tour was totally not. At the Vatican we were guided to a shop not the vatican shop and they asked for your tour bus number. I know this was for a kick back. We were told we would see trivoli fountain and Spanish steps and didn't even go near them. As a small private tour you would think they would deliver what they said for $349 PP. Went with the dinig plan and that served us well. I have taken the exact cruise with them before and enjoyed having the dining plan never had to wait once. I have also cruised on Princess and Carnivale in the Mediteranean and enjoyed them all with Princess being my favorite.

This was my first cruise and I wasn't sure what to expect.  I was looking for a memorable vacation that would work for 3 different age groups.  I booked a Sky suite for myself, my 81 year-old father and my 16 year-old son.  When we arrived, we were overwhelmed with the size of the ship, how beautiful it was and most importantly, our fabulous suite.  It exceeded our expectations on every level.  There were 2 twin beds and a large pull-out sofa bed that was made up and waiting for us every night after dinner.  Our staff were so helpful and accomodating I can't say enough positive things about them.  Our suite came with a butler, April, who was wonderful.  He quickly learned what we liked to eat and drink at tea time and made every effort to anticipate our needs.  There were cold drinks waiting for us when we returned after a hot day in port!  Ermalindo, our housekeeper, kept our room stocked and supplied with everything we needed.  The room and bathroom was always spotless.  Our wait staff. Gulhan, Ives and Jennet were outstanding as well.  The entertainment every night was comparable to shows you would see in Vegas.  However, the most special aspect of the cruise was how much my son enjoyed himself.  There were so many teens on the ship and he made friends from all over the world.  The first day we were at sea, Kyle said that he was going out and not coming back until he made friends.  Boy did he make friends!  He hung around with 30-40 kids in his age group and they had a ball.  There are dedicated areas on the ship for different age groups.  One night he came back to the room around 10:30 or 11 and was changing out of his bathing suit.  My dad asked if he were getting to bed early and he replied, "Bed?!  No, I'm changing  and going to a dance!"  He wouldn't get to bed until 2 or 3 every night and I went to sleep knowing that he was safe and having a great time.  He is still in touch with some of the boys he met on board.  I think Kyle summed it up for all of us, when he came to me a few days into our adventure and said, "Mom, best vacation EVER!"  We made memories that will last a lifetime.  We are all looking forward to our next cruise with Celebrity! 

everithing was so grate that I will like to live there, the food in the privet restaurants excelent the food in the complementary restaurants, very good, the breakfast so good, the service on the room, the shows so good, is people the have the big  Spirit to give us the best that have inside and make us live a excelent best happy time, the true I didin't want to live , but everithing have one star and one end, my Inglish is no good but I try to raight what I feel.....If I can put all the persons that work in that cruise infront of me,  I let them now that make my vacations the best of the best... thank you with all my Spirit.

This is a fantastic cruise.  Not only do you see the greatest cities of the ancient world, walk where Aristotle and Caesar walked...you can see, taste, touch, and smell the places they lived.  The ship is awesome in its own right.  Not so big and so many people that every day off the gangway seems like a cattle call, yet big enough to offer something special and to the liking of everyone aboard this small town afloat.  The crew is courteous and spirited and they aim to please...to make your journey relaxed and compfortable.  You will work harder on this vacation than you are accustomed to at home unless you are a gym rat.  There is so much to see you will not want to miss anything, so get out the walking shoes and do a couple of miles a day in preparation for this journey through time. The food on the ship is outstanding and the variety incredible...you will gain weight even with all the walking.

I have done 6 Med cruises, and for itenerary, amenities,ships cleanliness, ship size, time in port, and staff friendliness...this trip is the best by a significant margin! You get to see St Mark's Square and the canals of Venice and even take a water taxi or a Gondola ride.  You get to stand atop the Acropolis and see the Parthenon and the Temple of Nike. Walk where Paul the apostle preached and Aristotle taught philosophy to Plato. See the last reputed residence and home of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ.  Walk the Marble streets of Ephesus and touch the facade of the ancient library of Ephesus. Stroll the exact same street on which Cleopatra and Marc Antony walked in procession into the great port of Ephesus and stand in the Ampitheatre where Paul was arrested for preaching the gospel. It is reputed that he penned his first letter to the Corinthians while imprisoned in Ephesus.

Your boat will take you on a passage through the Dardenell straits and the Gallipoli battlefield where the allies fought Turkish forces at the end of World War I, a struggle bourne out in a movie of the 80's bearing the name of that strategic penninsula of land.  See the city of Istanbul and the Blue Mosque and Haggia Sophia.  Take a boat ride up the Golden Horn or up the Bosphorus to the gateway to the Black Sea.  See the Grande Bazzar and the Egyptian Spice Market.  The tastes and smells are amazing alone.  Istanbul is an experience in and of itself and yet just another of the incredible and vibrant cities you will see on the cruise.

You will see Naples and if you want the Isle of Capri, or Pompeii and Herculaneum.  If that is not enough adventure, take an afternoon ride along the Amalfi coast, lunch in Sorento and take a quick swim in the sea to cool off after your trek through the ancient city in the wee hours of the morning. Oh, did I forget to tell you how beautiful it was to cruise through the Greek Isles and the straits of Messina on the way to Naples?  My heavens, the view of Mount Aetna and the trip past the island of Sicily and the tip of the boot of the Italian mainland...beauty on both sides. And by the way, just out of the Straits you cruise just pass the Island of Stromboli and its active volcano.  It will sometimes provide a fireworks experience rivaled only by a 4th of July spectacular.The rear deck of the ship behind Raffles provides excellent viewing.

Your day in Rome will be what you make it.  The Vatican and the Sistene Chapel, and the Pantheon, it simply is not to be missed.   I wept when I saw it the first time.  Not an overly dramatic person, but to see such beauty and brillance over 2000 years old and still an active catholic church...the open roof, the frescos, the tomb of Raphael....Did I mention the Colliseum, the house of Ceasar, the old ruins of Rome, the Circus Maximus, The Cathedral of St. John and the Escalara de los Santos( the steps Christ allegedly ascended on his climb up Calvary to the cross on the day of his crucifiction).  Rome is truely " The Eternal City ".

Florence, the home of the Rennasiance.  See Tuscany and Pisa's leaning tower.... that is much more amazing in person than could ever be revealed in a photograph. See Florence and the Duomo and its dome that architects can only speculate still as to how it was made and created.  See the Palaca Vecchia the home of the Medicci family and frequented by Machivelli, Davinci and Michaelangelo. Go see the jewelry on the Punta Vecchia Bridge.

See the sites and taste the wine of Provence in Toulon, or do a day at the beach. Then there is Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia Cathedral by Gaudi, the Picasso Museum, Salvadore Dali, La Rambla.  The nite life begins at midnight and concludes with breakfast.  The Art and vibrance of the city are palpable.

This is the cruise of a lifetimes worth of travel adventure in one cruise sailing.  You will not replicate this itenerary, this luxury travel, this level of entertainment, and this much exposure to the culture of the Med anywhere for three times the price.  This is a travel value!  I am going back and see it all again next summer.  Hope that I see you there, I will be the crazy American with a camera in one hand, a map in the other and a check list of places to see and things to do today.