Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

I researched many cruises and read many reviews before selecting a cruise line for our Mediterranean cruise.  The two cruise lines came down to the Disney cruise line and Royal Caribbean.  We had sailed on Disney a couple of times before so we decided to try the Liberty of the Seas.  It had gotten good reviews and was highly ranked.

We booked a two bedroom/two bath suite (8414)  as there were 5 of us and all were adults.  The suite also came with a living room and a very large deck (table with 4 chairs and two chaise lounges).  Because of it being a suite, we were entitled to perks such as: priority check-in, preferred tender seating, use of a concierge, the concierge lounge, reserved seating at shows, full menu in suite service and complimentary robes.

The suite: The suite itself was very nice but not everything worked.  The master TV remote control did not work, we had 3 phones and not one phone's housekeeping button would work,. A dirty towel had been left on a chaise lounge, the deck table had not been cleaned.  Housekeeping on this cruise was the worst we had experienced in 9 cruises.  Our room steward did not replenish our soaps or shampoo for the first 4 days of the cruise.  We ran out of tissues and the empty tissue box was removed but not replaced.  When asking for anything (such as towels so we could shower), we had to ask multiple times or else help ourselves to the towel cart located in the halls.  No robes were provided in the suite, we had to ask for them (for use to go to the pool.) You could not contact housekeeping as the phone button did not work and no phone number was listed. 

Dining: We elected to use MyTime dining and could not have been more pleased.  We always had the same table in Boticelli.  Our wait staff was Alphonso and Jose who took excellent care of us and went above and beyond what was called for.  We found most of the food very good and enjoyed our time in the dining room.  We did go to Chops one night and found the food there (and the staff) excellent as well.  We only ate a couple of times at the Windjammer and found it difficult to find a table to sit at.  We also ate at Johnny Rockets and felt that the experience was overpriced and overhyped.

Concierge: Our concierge was Carlos and I cannot say enough good things about him. Carlos took care of errors made by Royal Caribbean on our behalf, he also was instrumental in helping resolve a return airline flight issue for us, he booked all of our premium dining reservations and he personally walked us off the ship so we were able to make an early flight back to the US.  Additionally, the Concierge Lounge provided complimentary cocktails/wine/beer and hot appetizers every night prior to dinner.  We could not be more pleased with the Concierge and the Concierge Lounge.  A much appreciated perk of a suite booking.

Excursions: We booked all but one excursion through Royal Caribbean.  The Royal Caribbean excursions were large group excursions on buses.  Not the most personal.  However, the guides that were leading the excursions were experts in their fields.  Our guide to Rome and the Vatican actually worked in the Vatican as a historian/archeologist.  Our guide to Pompeii was an ancient Roman expert who lived near Pompeii.  His insights into Pompeii were phenomenal.  The excursions were excellent.

Entertainment: We attended the Promenade parade (which was pretty lame) and 3 of us attended the ice show which they enjoyed.  We did not go to any other shows on the ship due to excursions and the timing of dinner.  We did participate in ice skating and the surfrider activity.

The top cruise lines we have gone on are Princess, Disney and Royal Caribbean.  I, personally, prefer Disney as they have such a high standard of quality.  Their entertainment is not to be missed and even the restaurant with its animation is spectacular. The family rooms on the Disney cruise ship are also top-notch as is the food.  But, with Disney, you also contend with lots of children which might not be your ideal vacation.  I would go on another Royal Caribbean cruise again but I would not necessarily make it my first choice for a cruise line.

A great way to see Italy, Spain & France safely, and we feel it was a good value.  Overall the cruise was fine, with the exception of a few cons.  

Pros:  Great itinerary, decent food in complimentary dining room, clean ship, freestyle dining, entertainment

Cons:  Overcrowded public areas, push for gift shops/drinks/excursions, terrrible food & service in paid dining rooms, sold out show reservations, tendering process

Liked the freestyle dining option and found service acceptable.  Due to the port intensive itinerary the buffet was MOBBED at breakfast  (hint: get to buffet by 6-6:30 am; or order limited continental breakfast room service the night before).  Dinners in main dining rooms were enjoyable but the 2 paid dining options we chose were a waste of money with subpar food & service.  

Staff did a good job keeping the public areas picked-up and clean.  Hand sanitizing stations in front of every restaurant.  It rained on our At Sea day so the inside public areas were very crowded.  Good reason to spring for a balcony cabin!

Great free evening entertainment, esp. Blue Man.  However we found it difficult to book preferred showtimes as many were sold out.  Suggest prebooking what you can prior to embarkation.

Each port docking process was quick and easy with PA announcements.  But the tendering process was slow and ship staff was generally rude & nasty.  We had an 8:30am "reservation" but didn't actually get on the tender until almost 10:00am.  Suggest getting the 1st or 2nd possible reservation time as soon as you can.

As usual, overpriced drinks.  Suggest purchasing a discounted wine package (up to 25% off) as soon as you board...or bring your own wine and pay $15 corkage fee per bottle. We picked up local wine in each port and brought it to dinner.

This cruise had 2 embarkation/disembarkation ports - Rome & Barcelona.  The process was quick and efficient however this created some disruption in services on those two days.  Also, housekeeping cart and bag of dirty linens were outside our cabin door daily for hours.  

The excursions offered were varied in activity levels & interests. Plus the combination of a clean ship, excellent meal preparations & ports of call made our trip memorable.

My husband and I took this cruise as part of our 30th anniversary celebration. We felt it would take us to lots of different ports and give us a variety of experiences we couldn't get on just a land trip. We were right! With 5 ports in 6 days, we were so busy! Plus the time on boat was filled with relaxing and entertaining experiences. We were able to see Blue Man Group and Cirque Dreams plus great blues and Howl at the Moon shows. The ship is the largest we've been on (4,000 passengers) but the only time we felt crowded was on a sea day when it rained and everyone was inside. That didn't last long so we didn't sweat it. The ports are varied and we found special moments at all of them. The Cinque Terre excursions was the best of the week with Andrea. We took the Nice and view from Eze and loved the food at the Flower Market. In Majorca we went on the Caves of Hams/Porto Christo tour and found Porto Christo to be a hidden gem! Another great meal by the sea. On the Best of Barcelona/Gaudi tour we were rushed somewhat and didn't get the full time for a nice meal but we loved seeing the Sagrada de Familia. In Naplrs we struck out on our own and hopped the ferry (next to the cruise ship) and spent a lovely day in Sorrento. Another great meal and beautiful sights! 

Our only issue at all was getting to and from the boat on the first and last day. That system has to be revised! We drug our luggage through town (up and down stairs) and had two crowded horrible bus trips back to the train after (again lugging luggage up and down stairs). The cruise companies have to work something out. I won't cruise out of Rome again because of this. Civitevecchia makes it as hard as possible. 

But we didn't let it spoil our memories. The trip was great. 

the cabin was very small also the food was not that great I had better on different cruises the staff was great I would not recommend the italian restaurant 

Great ship, clean, great buffets and plenty of things to do! The only disappointing thing was one of the shore excursions. We paid $4oo.oo for the Isle of Capri  the Isle of Romance. It was a day of many waits, fumes , a walking tour with no info on history or culture and only shops, shops and more shops. It was definetly a tour you could do on your own!!!!

The stateroom was above a very loud bar, when I tried to speak with customer service they dismissed my complaint. The staff was not helpful, and this made for a very poor experience. I will not cruise with Norwegian again.

great service....one mistake was to have a stateroom almost in front of a big

service door which shuts with a big bang and shaking of the walls....the other is

that neighbors  allow the doors to bang shut instead of hoding them....one excursion

was a partial waste as we had to spend one hour at a coral factory....that was

not part of what i paid for.

wonderful, relaxing, entertaining, one of the best vacation in my life; would highly recommend to any age group; caring staff, good excursions, great shows- can't expect more!

Thank you!

We have wonderful service on the Jade.  The cruise staff was exceptional.  The entertainment was top notch!  Would  definately cruise with Norweigan and on this boat again!

I was very impressed! This was the best cruiseline I've ever been on. Great quality of food, plenty of options, the shows were really great...I loved all of it. Definitely considering booking our next cruise with them.

We had cruised Norweign before and were not happy to repeat the experience however we had no choice as they had the dates and times that worked with our schedule.

From the moment we boarded the Jade and found our Mini-Suite NOTHING went wrong !!Our cabin was perfect, the cruise itinery was great, the staff were helpful,friendly and always wanted to go that extra mile and the food was beyond expectation. During our 7 days on board we could find NOTHING to complain about which was the complete opposite to our previous experience with this Cruise Line.

So pleased we decided to try Norweign again - we will definately sail with them in the future.

We took a 7-day cruise to the Greek Isles on the Norwegian Jade in May of 2014.  The ship and our stateroom were both clean, though we didn't spend much time in our room.  We got the thermal suite package for the spa and spent time there every day.  We loved sitting in the heated chairs and taking in the fabulous view.

We opted for the Ultimate Dining Package and were glad that we did.  The food at the buffet was so-so, but the specialty restaurants provided a much better experience.  We particularly enjoyed several dinners at Cagney's (the steakhouse).  We found the Freestyle Dining that Norwegian offers to be great - we liked having the flexibility to eat when we wanted, where we wanted.

While we didn't attend all of the nightly shows (sometimes we were tired from our shore excursions!), we did see several and all were very good.  We would consider them a step above the shows that we saw on past Disney cruises, as they were targeted for more of an adult audience.

We thoroughly enjoyed Corfu, Santorini, and Mykonos.  We could have completely skipped Katakolon and didn't feel like we would have missed anything.  In Corfu we took a 4x4 excursion, which was a great opportunity to see more of the island.  We saw several small towns and saw some great views.  Santorini was fantastic!  We hiked the volcano and enjoyed the narrative that our guide provided.  This excursion is not for those who are out of shape (and for heaven's sake - don't wear flip flops), but was well worth the hike to get some wonderful views of the caldera.  We thoroughly enjoyed riding the donkeys up to Fira town - we couldn't stop laughing, we were having so much fun.  We enjoyed walking through the streets and a bit of shopping.  We stayed until the sun set, and got some great pics.  We weren't able to make it to Oia due to time constraints, but maybe next time ;-) .  We enjoyed the shops in Mykonos best.  We thought the prices there were better than Santorini.  It was a cute place, though the streets are definitely confusing.  We saw many things a couple of times as were were wandering around - but that's part of the fun, right?

We had only cruised on Disney previously, but would definitely consider another Norwegian cruise in the future.

It was a truly wonderful experience - I was impressed most by Corfu and Katakalon (Olympia) and very disappointed with Santorini, it was not what we had seen in teh pictures, but an experience none the less.

Staff were wonderful an accomodating - the cruise director has a personality to match the ship, and a sense of humour to go along with it... who said Canadians had stiff upper lip type personalities? :)

I only encountered 1 unpleasant experience in the Spa and that put us off a bit, as I expected much better. There was one redeeming factor why we kept going back and her name is Sophie Gill, she is one of the staff in Mandera Spa, and she was the reason why my daughter and I returned. I found it a bit pricey, but it was a cruise so you pay for convenience. If you watch the nightly cruise news delivered to your room, there are some very good daily specials that are available at the spa.

The other shocker - 6 bottles of 1 liter water - $25.00 USD, and soft drinks (soda only) was $ 55.00 USD for the week, but no once consumes that much soft drinks.

A word to travelers from the North America - DO NOT OVER PACK - and no need to bring your best clothes - this is a very casual laid back ship and there were two events that required a bit less casual dressing.

Otherwise a wonderful experience.

I was very excited about the Greek Isles for many years and was also very interested on how the NCL Jade would be compared to the Dawn which we sailed on a couple of years back.  The Jade was a very different ship then I am use to.  There was the lack of a grand atrium lobby which was quite odd at this day and age.  It was really a no frills kind of ship.  The main Pacific dining room was very well staffed and the food was quite good on most nights.  The second main dining room was not so upscale and lacked in service as well as presentation of food.  The buffets were average and served basically the same offerings daily.  The specialty restaurants we not crowded but it seems crazy that there are so many of them to choose from.  I believe that the Cruise industry is really pushing to the specialty dining venues and in some cases the meals included in your cruise suffers.  If that is the case then why not just go all in and add the specialty meals to the price and forget the main dining rooms.  The specialty dinning venues on most ships are taking up a ton of space as it is.  The Staff on the Jade was very good and there were no complaints in that area.  Our room was a Mid Shp Mini Suite and I highly recommend the mini suite as opposed to a basic balcony.  My wife and I both bought the thermal spa package for $199 per couple and used the spa quite often and never found it overcrowded as they only sell 40 packages.  The Gym was perfect to help fend off the unwanted extra cruise pounds and the staff was quite helpful.   The staff in the spa was also very pleasant although the massage packages we purchaced were only about average for the price.    Embarkation and debarkation were as painless as could be and went very smoothly.  Now for the Greek Isles.  Strange but true, our favorite Island was Corfu... Yes Corfu !  We did not and seldom book tours and rather venture out on our own.  This worked perfect on Corfu.  We exited the ship and wandered down the main street until we came upon a very large fortress wall that of course we said, " I wonder if we can sneak in there ?"  we walked around the outer wall and followed a small street and staircase up to a chain link fence.  To the left was a tunnel, we heard voices in the tunnel and then saw people from the island exit almost like they used it as a short cut to this side of the island.  Of course we had to know so we walked through the long semi dark tunnel.  To our surprise we did exit on the other side of the island and smack in the middle of an open air produce and fish market.  We walked through the market and viewed the sights and smells !  Our journey dropped us then in the new city or should I say the modern city.  We walked around a bit and found it was quite a lagre area, we shopped, had coffee and walked some more.  We then decieded as we neared the open market once again that we should venture back to the port side of the island.  Once again we walked through the tunnel.  After exiting the tunnel we decieded to walk through the open gates of a lower courtyard of the fortress.  There was another tunnel there as well.  And of course we just had to enter.  Once again we were surprised to find that this tunnel gave us complete entry to the fortress and we were able to gain access to the whole compound inside and out.  It was awesome and not very crowded.. I think only about 6 other couples had found it !  We had views of the entire island and just soaked it all in.  OK enought about Corfu, Now onto the biggest Island in Hyped up history..Santorini.  I have waited years to see this island.. and after the Kardashians went there and Chloe said she saw this island and could now die peacefully because of its beauty.. I just had to go..

(Mind you I don't always watch the Kardashians nor do I value thier opinions)  Well I have to tell you, yes it was beautiful from the sea and yes I was impressed with the beauty.. Can I die now ?  No way..

Once up on top of Fira after a quick Cable Car ride I intantly found out that we were in the biggest tourist trap ever... Not to mention it was rather cool for mid May and the Island itself was so high we were in the clouds most of the day.  Thank god I didn't go to Oia, it was even higher up and looked like a rain forest !!!  The view from Fira was nice but not always available depending on which narrow street (walkway) you were on.  The shops were expensive in comparison to Corfu for the same products.  I would suggest that if you want to visit Santorini, you do so on a cruise... I put it simply to my wife.. As a young boy I always wanted to visit the Alamo.. One year my dad had business in Texas and asked if I wanted to go with him and visit the Alamo.  I said yes and off we went.. As you may recall, the pictures in History books show a huge building with giant walls and sprawling landscape etc.. Yeah, leave it to history books to screw that up too.  We arrived at the Alamo to find that I could actually step over the little walls surrounding the small building that I waited so long to visit.  "That is what Santorini was in my eyes, all hype but then again beautiful."  Now off to Mykonos... Much like Santorini in beauty but more of a relaxed island that was not so pushy on the tourists.  I was very impressed with Mykonos for the shops and friendliness of its people.  The final island of our cruise was Olympia.. The home of the very first Olympic games !! This was nice to see from the temple of Zeus and the ruins to the very tiny olympic stadium that you could venture out on.. The stadium brough that Alamo comparison back to me but I had to take into context of where we were, who was at those games and the events they probably competed in.  I was impressed with the islands history and its archeological sites.. I would highly recommend a visit to Olympias ruins.  Other than that the island had a main tourist shopping area located near the pier and it was filled with knock off goods from purses to Beats head phones as well as many other items.. I had fun there, I love a deal and I love to barter!  The island as a whole was rather dirty with trash piled up everywhere but in all fairness we heard that the trash men were on strike.. But who knows maybe thats what they always tell people.  All in all the cruise was definitely worth the price.. Venice was nice to see as well but if you don't get lost and go off the beaten path.. it is just tourits and people trying to sell you anything and everything from Fake purses to Roses... "Get lost and have fun in Venice !"  Just as a side note we then went by train to Florence and Rome and I will tell you, both of those cities were unbelievable.. Even though Rome had its share of the pushy salesman and the streets were loaded with Tourists.. We loved it !!  And our Hotel (Colesseo #9) and our host Melina were the best part of our trip.. We had a room directly across from the Colosseum with a lagre open window.. Not even Julius Caesar had a view like this !    One last point if you are in Venice and you are staying near the airport.. Bus #5 is 1.3 euro to the last stop in Venice smack in the middle of the city.. We were able to take 3 bags on the bus without any problem and its a 20 minute ride from the Best Western Titan INN to the center of Venice.. A cab or shuttle will run you 40 Euro.. "Take the bus and enjoy the sites and people of Venice !"   Hope this helps with anything you may want to know.. Have a great time wherever you go and whatever you do because it sure beats working !!!!

I am now a loyal customer of Norwegian because of the wonderful experience I had on the Jade. The ship was one of the older ships but not at all tacky. Totally a fun ship with a great staff. I have been on a cruise before with RC and was treated like I didn't pay to be onboard. I don't know what it is but my age, sometimes employees treat me like crap. But on Norwegian, everyone treated me right, the way I wanted to be treated after spending that kind of money on a cruise. My room steward was super cool and thoughtful, even though he had so many other rooms to tend to, he made me feel special, and that is hard to do. I had an aft facing balcony, it was worth the price. I have read so many people complain about things on cruises and they sound so petty. Really? You have a good time if you are a fun person or you go into it having fun. I hear people complain about coffee costing 5 cents in certain rooms or that there are cover charges for specialty dining and what not. They should look at the cost of the cruise and add on those extra things before they make a decision on a cruise. You can't please people who are going to be unhappy either way, their lives are just unhappy. But for people who want to have a good time and let themselves go, they will enjoy it and make it fun. 

The food in the main dining was good, and the food in the specialty dining was AWESOME. So splurge a little, you are still saving by not cruising with crazy priced cruises only for the super rich. Norwegian does it well, for those who aren't snobby and for those who don't always find something to complain about. 

I will cruise Norwegian again, in fact, as soon as I got home I booked my next one and I am not super rich, but splurged. Let's see if they are consistent. :) 

The service was tired and nervous as we started the cruise.  They calmed and were friendlier as time went on. Generally they tried their best to please. I really liked the dinner servers.

We had a problem with plumbing in our cabin bathroom.  3 times.  Tried to let it go, but they were discouraging incidents when we were to be having the vacation of a life time. They took care of it promptly.

The decor was a bit tired.  The room was dated. 

Finally at end of trip I bought a photo and paid for it.  I have never received it,  and I have contacted the picture people and the cruise line.  If they cant deliver my picture I would have liked a refund.  

I had a previous good experience on the Holland America but this time i felt I made a bad choice.

We were very pleased with our 11 night Mediterranean cruise on the Noordam.  The ports of call were very good although one of the ports was substituted.  Therefore, we were in Sicily on Sunday when many businesses were closed so this was our least favorite. Food was very good and the ship was clean.  The staff were friendly.  Our room stewards, Joe & Will did an excellent job keeping our room clean.  Roni who was ourside the dining room each night with mints, etc. was very friendly and had a great personality.  He remembers names and makes all feel welcome.  We had open dining so had different servers each night.  All were good but we especially enjoyed Enrico.  The entertainment provided by the Noordam singers and dancers was very good.  Entertainment on other nights was not as enjoyable. The entertainment by Michael in the piano bar was excellent. 

It would have been nice if the front desk staff could assist with departure airline check-in rather than having to purchase internet minutes for that purpose.

What made this cruise great was the number of shore excursions available in all countries.  Very organized and informative.  Ship was acceptable.  Rooms with balcony good.  I would go again.

caution--make sure hotel is on same side as main canal and bus terminal.  Amount of walking is more than listed.  You have to get from ship to bus and sometimes quite a walk.

Compare with my previous experience on the Norwegian Star last year, this cruise is more inferior. This is especially on the fine dining in either the Windows nor the Gardens. At the Baltic Cruise last year, we get to eat lobster but not the Mediterranean Cruise. The foods in Shogun are prepared by non Chinese or Japanese we learnt that the chef was a Filipino. My group of 18 complained right from the first dish that the food is salty and despite our request for the chef to cut back on salt, the foods remained Salty. Most food were rejected.