Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

 There are many words that could be used to describe the Riviera but "elegant" captures it best. Not an intimidating elegance but rather a quiet 5 star hotel elegance. Right from the start my wife and I knew this cruise would be different from anything we had experienced in the past. After being on board for only an hour I wondered if everything I was experiencing was as it appeared. I began looking for flaws; there had to be flaws. Sorry, I'm a sceptic by nature. I wondered, was the entire staff as friendly as the members we met when we boarded the ship? Was the entire ship as clean as it appeared on the surface? Would the food on the entire cruise be as good as what we were served at the Welcome Lunch? By the end of the cruise I had my answers. Yes! Yes! and Yes! The staff, the cleanliness and the food all combined to bring back memories of my early days of cruising when cruise ships were more than floating motels serving cafeteria style food to passengers whose main goal was to consume voluminous amounts of alcohol. 

It was truely wonderful. The ship is beautiful. The food was excellent wherever you chose to eat. Hard to get a bad meal.

The service was first rate with very friendly crew. On the last night after the show, the crew stood in the hallway and applauded the passengers and thanked them for coming. I've never felt so welcome. Our cruise director was so great. She was very friendly, helpful and available.

  The ports were so beautiful that I took over 900 pictures. Everything from embarkation to going home was handled so well.

My wife was skeptical if Oceania was worth the extra money. She is a believer now as well.

Great job Riviera!!!! Hope to see you again!

We visited amazing ports of call.  The service on board the ship was fantastic.  We were indeed treated like royalty. I felt like the queen visiting a proud old town that pulled out there best linens that were very clean but a little tattered, I was given the best room that was very well cleaned but the paint was peeling in the bathroom and the rust was breaking through. The food was just ok but the table service was excellent.  The ship procedures for getting on off the ship were top notch.

This cruise was not my first time on a costa cruise. This one was not all what I remembered of Costa..

From the quality of food, to the service, a real nightmare. Our room was about the only thing that had not changed much . We talked to other guest, all had the same reaction, a very disappointing cruise.

This was our family honeymoon - the trip we always dreamed of!  It celebrated a long awaited honeymoon, and we had the opportunity to do it as a family!  It was a dream come true for ALL of us!

The accomodations were wonderful - our cabin host, Diego, always way over the top for us!  Our room was always in excellent condition, with new towel "guests" to greet us each day.  We developed a great relationship with him, and became friends.  We plan to keep in touch even after the cruise was over.  He helped make this trip feel like "home away from home".  Dinners were excellent, and again we were gifted with the most outstanding servers we ever could have expected - Melbert and Erhan!!  They caught on to our sense of humor, and without losing their professionalism, brought our friendship to a wonderful, new level!  Every night, our family looked forward to dinner, now knowing what the "surprise" of the night would be.  We joked and teased with Melbert and Erhan each night, and they with us in return - each time, trying to surprise each other in a new and different way.  On the last night, we worked with two other tables, and all switched seats.  When they saw our plan, we had half the area laughing along with our joke!  It was wonderful!  Extra special thanks to Ms. Anna (guest relations - an exhausting job!), Mr. Anthony Fernandes (Dining Room Director - excellent job in Reflections!) and Ms. Nicole (Cruise Program Administrator - whose compassion was openly evident).  These people watched and listened to how they could improve each guest's visit, and did so in a manner that we still find incredible!!  Never once did they ever drop a smile, (well, except for Nicole, who diluted hers with tears), lost patience (yes, I think I saw Ms. Anna several times each day with a million questions - and she ALWAYS had the answer!!!), or hesitate to reach out to help us (Mr. Anthony's couldn't have been more eager to help people!), than anyone could have hoped for.

We cannot tell you how this was a dream, a wish, a gift that none of us could ever have imagined, that has left us with the most incredible feeling and memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.  Thank you, everyone, for a trip that exceeded ALL expectations - you have made so many dreams come true without even realizing it - just by being who you are!  Kudos!! 

It was way too big and difficult for English speaking guests.  Of the 4000 guests fewer than 300 were English speaking.  This made participating in the on board events difficult.  There was no advance preparation for any excursion.  No history or what to see was given.  The push was to take the excursions they offered which were very costly.  The food was attractively presented but  lacked taste.  The staff was generally helpful but were unable to give personal service.  My luggage was lost and they did provide me with some essentials but did not follow up on locating my luggage very well.  

I would highly recommend this cruise for family or just a couple.. The food was good and the  entertament was the best!!!!!!! Staff was friendly and good.......

We had a rocky start on our cruise due to loosing our airline reservations and lost luggage. But, once we got on the boat we were met with incredible staff who not only helped us track our luggage, they provided kits etc to make the day without our luggage better. The ship itself is incredible with all of the options for things to do, I found myself wishing we had a little more time on board. But, the ports were incredible and it was the BEST way to do Europe instead of hopping flights and struggling to find hotels. The food was magnificent and entertainment was great. We were a little disappointed with the "Legends in Concert" as Shakira is not a legend in our opinion. But otherwise it was amazing and Blue Man Group & Circ Dreams shouldnt be missed!! We cannot wait to take another NCL trip!

  What a great cruise. The weather was perfect, the ship was big and beautiful, the standard dinning was so good we didn't even try the spetialty restraunts. The entertainment was top notch. This is the shop to take to Italy.

Bravo!! The Celebrity Reflection 10 Night Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was one of the best ever. The itinerary and shore experiences, from a cultural, historical, and aesthetically scenic aspect are not to be missed. For those who are frequent cruisers, you will find that this experience is different in the best way. The captain and crew take a personal interest in EVERYONE. Besides the newness of the ship itself with many upscale restaurants, clubs, and bars, there is a lively and cheerful atmosphere and appropriate activities which appeal to people of all ages and cultures. Cruise Director, Alex, is commended for assembling top quality shows and entertainment. Vocalist, Dante Sterling, Big Mike, musicians, singers, and dancers are comparable to performers on Broadway. Our Cabin Attendant, Primo, is the best ever. The Opus Dining Room wait staff was first class. Excellent ratings go to Namik, Melenia, Jasminka, and Limo. 

Had a great time.  Overall excellent .  Cabins were great.  Service was great. The shows were great except for the one with the puppet . The dinning experience was great.  Compared to carnival this was  by far better.  

Very nice service, the service team is friendly, approachable and very professional. Entertainment is OK, the entertainment team is small but very professional, hope to have more varieties of programs available. Children entertainment is not enough, barely any activities specific for pre-teen and teenagers, only kids playing facility is the water park, which is too small and "babish".

Unfortunately, the one sea day we had rained all day. With over 4000 passengers on board it felt very crowded and was difficult to find a "quiet" place, away from our stateroom, to simply sit and read or play cards. On the bright side, sunny days, the overall cruise experience was much more positive.

Norwegian refused to assist us in obtaining a taxi to the airport when we were in Venice. They stated that we must call a taxi company ourselves from our room for $5.00 per minute, even though we did not speak italian or know any numbers for taxi companies. Norwegian did not even provide any numbers for taxi companies. My husband and I were on our own at 3:30am in a port in a foreign country. Our flight was at 6:30am and Norwegian did not want to let us off of the boat until 4:30am. It takes 40 minutes to get from the boat to the airport and we had an international flight. The excursions consisted of large groups with a lot of mandatory sales pitches from vendors. In Istanbul, we were placed in a room and forced to watch a carpet presentation. They did not even give us a choice to decline it. We only received 25 minutes in Pisa and it took us 30 minutes to walk from the bus to the location. By the way, it takes at least 30 minutes to climb up and come down the Leaning Tower of Pisa if you are in shape. I would never cruise with Norwegian again. Beware. In my opinion, they only want your money and once they have that, they are done with you. 

I had a Haven Spa Suite Cabin 14139, which gave us the ability to use the spa facilities and thermal pools as much as we wanted, while still having access to all the amenities of the Haven area on Floors 16 and 17, including a butler.  The concierge service was the best!  Ryan and Roel were very hands on in getting dinner and show reservations for us, and they were always on the dock each morning to ensure we got to our tour buses.  We also received priority tendering back to the ship after our tours.  On port days, Haven guests also had use of an express elevator.  With almost 5000 people on the ship, this is a great perk! The Haven Restaurant served great food, and there never was a wait.  The Haven Staff was the best on the ship.  

I also ate in 3 Specialty Restaurants.  Cagney's Steakhouse had great steaks, but slow service.  The Cucina Restaurant was one of the worst Italian food restaurants I have ever been to.  I ordered spaghetti and sausage, which was not served with a red sauce, but instead an olive oil which did not have enough sauce.  The service was also very slow.  This was not worth the $15 per person up charge. The French Restaurant, Le Bistro, had great food and fast efficient, friendly service.  For an extra $10, we ordered a great lobster tail meal, which came with 2 tails.  The staff, including the management made great effort to make all dining experiences positive and memorable.  

Had a great time, food was great,internet service was awful and shore excursions booked thru Norwegian were not as good as the one booked thru . Entertainment on board was good tho Royal Carribean has them beat, pools are small but lots of waterslides, outdoor movies great

We loved our "floating hotel" in the Mediterranean!   Their is no way we could have made travel arrangements, hotel reservations, and organized sight-seeing in all those places on our own.  And to come back every evening to a warm welcome, fabulous food, entertainment, and a lovely room - what could be better?!  Service was top-notch too.

This was a great cruise! The staff was excellent -- SO friendly and always helpful!! We especially appreciated our stateroom attendant as she was ALWAYS there to help in any way and she kept our room clean and attractive. The food was excellent and the dining room waiters were friendly and efficient. Plus, we enjoyed some exceptional performances at the evening shows. Ports were great, atmoshere was great -- all in all, a WONDERFUL cruise!!!

This was a wonderful cruise which allowed us to visit Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, and Katalon. At every port we were greeted by the NCL crew and at the end of the day they were there also to welcome us back. There were plenty of acrtivities on board as well as well thoughtout excursions.

Very nice, no complaints. A bit crowded around the pool and jaccuzzi so I was not able to use any of it. 

People were very nice and helpful. Pillows in cabin not so great