Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Great large balcony ROOM 10315

Food was great the ports were great

 Staff fantastic

Yes I will recommend NCL to friends

Great bar staff always ready to help   

I loved the evening dining and the activities. The cruises would have been better if we could have spent more time in the port cities. The hospitality desk did their best to help us know how to get around at the destinations, but they had never been there themselves and knew only what they could pull off the internet. It would be great if the staff had first hand knowledge of the destinations. None of the staff did except the cruise director.

Fantastic. Wonderful. My only comment ... there should be more supervision at the hot tubs. People were in the hot tubs with glass bottles of beer, and the pool attendant (Howard) and one of the officers (Stanley) completely ignored the infraction. This happened on more than one occasion.

This is our first trip to the area. Most of the places we visited are totally worth the time, but some of the port of call are not that interesting. I also wish Princess didn't alter the itinerary. I was far more excited about visiting Malta and Ephesus than the alternatives. I would have considered going with a different cruise.

I would recommend this cruise to someone.  The food, staff, shows were all great.  There was a good age mix from teens for our kids to adults for us.  We had one bad excursion in Malta but already provided feedback on the ship for that (Golden Beach was not good at all).  

First I have to state that the cruise met just about every expectation I had based on prior experience and reviews. The ship was not huge. I thought that would pose an issue with me but in retrospect was a distinct advantage. The CROWD SCEENS were minimal at the restaurants, by the pool and most importantly at the gangways. Given that these cruises visit so many ports, it was wonderful that we never waited more then a few minutes to get off the ship. The process was professional and very organized. The itinerary was perfect and the 2 days in Venice were the best. The food on board was great too. Probably too good. We didn't book a specialty restaurant and as it turned out we didn't need to. Windows and The Gardens were the go to places along with Shogun for a change in pace. The main Buffet on the 12th deck was pretty good too. I will advise that this is not a great ship for Kids and should never be confused with a Carnival ship. Especially in Europe. No rock walls, flo riders or skating rinks. For us, we don't use them so they were not missed. The shows were pretty good, especially on the last couple nights. The pool side entertainment was NOT great. The DJ knew and played the same 5 songs every day. He could have and should have played a mix tape and gone for a swim. They had a band one day that was plain BAD and a guitar player that also played the same 4 songs each day he played. Not a good guitar player at all.  Bottom line, I would cruise with NCL and on Spirit again. If I could have given a 4.5 stars I would.

I've been on serval cruises with RCC, however, Jewel of the seas doesn't seems like welcome peoples and uncheerful team crews.  Plus additional charges on towels without letting customers know to return.  Not much entertainment and smaller ship to Mediterranean.  Food was ok & service was slow on the first couple days.  We had to switch to other table to have better service.  Otherwise, it's good. 

It is always nice to have a suite (this was a jr suite). Spacious suite & veranda. Bed was comfortable. Not enough electrical outlets however for a room that holds 3-4 people. Only had 1 outlet and we had 2 tablets, a phone, 2 camera with batteries, a curling iron, & a hair straightener, all needing that one outlet! Typical big ship-too big when you need to disembark or get back on, elevators insufficient, ridiculous 2 hour taxi stand wait. Food was pretty good. Had 2 formal nights but never had the semi formal evening. Could not hear the announcements in our room which was annoying. Did not care for the onboard activities-not suitable for seniors or people with mild physical challenges (rock wall, ice skating, wave riding). Mini golf was nice & shuffleboard. However, we love table tennis and could not use any of the 4 tables because they were all within the children's area & were being used by children who did not even tall enough to really be playing ping pong on a normal sized table. Made no sense. The pools were adequate. Our veranda was disappointing because it had an obstructed view off the rear of the ship. This had not been disclosed. There were a lot of pillars and beams so that we could not take nice photos. And if we looked down, all we saw was the huge veranda of the suite below us. And the occupants of that suite were unhappy because people on an upper public deck were throwing cigarette butts down onto their veranda (fire hazard? unsightly). We had paper airplanes landing on our veranda- not really a problem but weird. The rear verandas have no breeze at all- a bit disappointing. And the distance to any elevator is extreme. The service was good, but it is usually good when traveling with attractive older teenage girls! 

Nice ship! Very good food! Cruise director is very good and professional! Good ports! Excellent service! Vry good shows! I highly recommend this cruise line to all my friends and family!  Thank you so much for the excellent service!!!

Fantastic cruise, we loved all the ports we visited and the fact that we still had 3 sea days. Princess was an enjoyable experience and we thought the food was fantastic.

the itinerary is great. The service is great. Clean. Friendly staff. The ship has much fewer activities than larger ships. Entertainment was poor. Go for itinerary but bring some books to read while on board. 

the royal carribean cruise was good but didn't have much to do during the at sea days other than pool casino and spa. The night shows were ok. Talented people performing and very friendly employees working.  The first cruise also was cancelled and the second cruise ended up with two port changes.  The contact through was never available and call backs always were needed if I didn't use the generic customer service contact. 

Nice ship, great ports.  Horrible service.  Costa is far below other major cruise lines.  This is by far the stingyest cruise line when it comes to, well..., everything.   Stingy with the food.  Poor selection and very limited hours to eat.   For example, the dinner buffet only runs from 7:30 to 9:00.  That's a ridiculous hour and a half to eat, of which you'll spend half the time line, 15 minutes trying to find a table, and just a few minutes to eat.  There aren't nearly enough tables to accomodate the passengers.  Coffee is only offered 2 hours a day 7am to 9am.  Then it's piss warm water the rest of the day.  The ice machines were not working most of the time.  Non-Europeans will have to pay for water in the dining room.   There is NO FREE FOOD after 9pm on this ship.   Ports were nice, but shamefully short.  The ships docs from were only 4 and 5 hours, docking at 7 or 8 am.  You know what's open at 7am in a port city?  Nothing.  The ship went to great lengths to make sure they fed you as little as possible and gave you as little for your money as they could.  NOT the cruise for those that enjoy food as one of the best parts of cruising.  Entertainment limited, service was meager.  A somber, unfriendly crew that is unhelpful.   Forget about Costa.  They just don't get why people cruise.   They take your money, have THE WORST port docking times, that convienently make you miss one or two meals since their food service hours are so limited.     NEVER AGAIN with Costa.  Not even an option as a cruise line.  Write them off.  

The itinerary is most fascinating. I just wish the staff will take care of the supply of sugar free cakes  to the cafe Al Bacio

The staff is very kind and polite. Gluten free cakes are served regularly 

My husband and I really enjoyed this cruise.  Alexandra (the Captain's Club hostess) and Tari (waitress) made this cruise extra special.  We love itineraries with overnights.

Yes will recomend service was great and staff even better from waiters to room stwardest all great! Shows were fantastic and ports of call even better my third Norwegian cruise and love it

The favorite part of the cruise was the shows and I think his name was Vincent he would always say "see you when I see you".

My girlfriends and did a tour everyday except for Friday because we were out to sea.  Really enjoyed learning about the different cultures.

This was my first cruise ever and I was so happy that I had my very own cabin.

With the exception of a couple things, I would have to say the Epic mostly, sometimes, occasionally lives up to it's name. 

First off, this was the easiest ship I have ever boarded, taking only a few minutes to get from the front door to the ship, well done there NCL, getting off the ship was just as easy. 

It's a simply gorgeous ship, and complemented the other two Norwegian ships I have been on (The Pearl and The Sky), however the lifeboats nearly block the entire view from the deck with the running track/ deck games. We found two small ( 8ft or so) deck area where one could watch the waves, and on the other ships I have been on, that was a favorite activity for me.

Our room was unique as we were place in one of the easy accessibility rooms for those with handicapps. (which we do not). I inquired if the room was needed for someone else as I saw many more folks in wheel chairs and scooters this cruise than any before, but was assured  they were all accommodated.  if you get the chance to get one of the easy accessibility rooms.. do it... They are much larger  than normal rooms, have very large showers. The door is a pain, because it opens / closes automatically, and if you open it, then close it manually, it will open/ close again.  Small price for the extra space however.

We did have an issue with the safe, and had to have someone come look at it, however that person said it was a bad battery and had to call a security officer to the room, only to have the security officer grill me on why he was called when it was not a battery issue.  He was probably on the later stages of his tour on the ship and ready to head home ( this seemed to be a re-occurring theme for staff that were tired and grumpy)

As with all cruises we have been on, one or two staff members stood out as extremely helpful, friendly and this cruise was no exception. 'Mark' our waiter in both the main dining rooms  across the duration of the cruise was wonderful, in addition we had a couple other staff that  remembered who were were ( and what we drink !), unfortunately I did not remember their names.  That being said, we found a lot, I mean a LOT of staffers that were unhappy. It became a running joke that the staff in O'Sheehans is where they put any of the wait staff that is grumpy. I remember our first cruise with Norwegian, Every staff member was happy, friendly and smiling, however each cruise since then we have seen fewer and fewer smiles, and this cruise was no different.  With the exception of Mark, the two other waitresses that served my wife and remembered her name, and our stewards who were terrific, and the cruise director Scott who wore what appeared to me as the same fake smile all trip, I don't recall seeing any of the actual cruise staff smiling, something we noted several times.  

The last issue I have with this cruise is a specific event that happened that really bothers me. 10Pm in one of the bards watching Howl at the Moon and the family that was sitting next to me leaves, except for the 10-12 year old they left behind sitting next to me. Don't get me wrong the kid was well behaved, and enjoying the show, and I don't have a problem with the kid being there with his parents, but leaving him in a bar by himself seems to me to be a problem waiting to happen. When I made of note of it to the bartender, I was told ( rather rudely in fact) it wasn't an issue and to go sit back down. And afterwards when I was speaking to one of the officers about it, I was told that entertainment areas are open to children, so they can go anywhere ( except  the Bliss nightclub), and even the Spice deck (adult only during the day) becomes a teen dance floor at 8:00 PM..

I believe this is all a result of what appears to be a Norwegian push to change the clientele of it's cruises. It used to be Cruise Like a Norwegian.. now it's cruise like everyone else. I had purchased the 4 deposits on additional cruises at the front end of the cruise, but by then end, I was ready to get that refunded as I am not sure NCL is the right cruise line for me anymore. 

We had a great cruise experience. Our room attendant, Ralph, was extremely pleasant and kept our room looking great. The cruise director, Mercedes, was awesome. We loved the various shows and her sense of humor. 

Our only complaint was about the food, especially in the dining room. It was well below expectations in quality and the service was poor. We gave up on the dining room after a few days, as the food was not worth the long wait each night. 

We enjoyed all aspects of the cruise. The ship was somewhat dated but clean and the service in all areas was exceptional. The food was decent but not outstanding and the coffee available in the free dining areas was not very good. One night in the main dining room the coffee was undrinkable. Over all, we were pleased with the destinations and ship and we particularly enjoyed the special membership to the spa that was limited to only 60 people. It was quiet and relaxing and free of the hub bub found in the general pool and hot tub areas. We have signed up for 2 additional cruises in 2018.