Europe - Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Our most pleasant experience was dinner with our waiters & our excursions off the ship.

We were disappointed with the entire experience.  The quality of the food was not what I have experienced in prior RC cruises.  Deserts were not that great and the cheese plate was not what we experienced on past RC cruises. 

We ordered room service for breakfast 3 times and only received it once.  Which was a disappointment because we had early excursions and had no time to eat in the dining area.  The one time we did get breakfast only half was delivered and we had to wait while they brought the other half.  They apologized and brought us treats to make up for it. I have never been disappointed by RC before. 

Then in our room we ran out of toilet paper and had to ask for more.  This was after our room had been serviced and cleaned clearly an overiste. 

We met some really nice bartenders from Jamaica all 4 we met were really nice, friendly and happy. We met others that were not so friendly. 

We were too exhausted from our excursions and the time change to see any shows.  So i cannot comment on that.

For our first ever cruise we picked a winner. Each of the ports was worth exploring and the ship itself was outstanding in every respect: meals, shows, facilities and staff. The AA add-ons made it outstanding. I had to book a suite to get the date I wanted, and it was the smartest thing I could have done. The VIP treatment associated with a suite was well worth the money.

Nice ship and itinerary, too crowded at times. We liked to food, but the selections didn't change much. Enjoyed the entertainment, but most of it was difficult to understand since it was in Italian. Prices for drinks and excursions were reasonable. Overall, it was just too crowed to enjoy most of the time.

The staff were great & friendly. 

The casino was very small and the slots were not very good.

I do suggest more activities and/or shows be added to the sea days.

For starters, we watched an age 60-ish man have a heart attack and die on the Lido deck shortly before leaving Corfu on June 7, 2017. The medical team response time was nearly 15 minutes - this is double the time for biological death to occur post MI (code called @ 3:21PM, 1st call to medical staff @ 3:24PM, med team arrival 3:36PM). Only passengers beginning CPR promptly gave this man any chance of survival.

Operationally, the wait and basic service staff were excellent, yet Princess seems very overstaffed, incompetent and avaricious in management. Examples: One of our excursions and our departure port transfer tickets did not match what was in their own systems, and as documented on-line and in our cruise summary. Of course, we had to make a trip to Passenger services to correct this. We waited just under an hour for our excursion to Corfu as passengers booed the staff in the Princess theater, for the "convenience" of being charged near double mark-up for what these excursions can be purchased for on your own. Excessive charges for minor things like 0.75/min for internet and short shuttle rides. Consistently rude, sexist and inflexible photographer and gallery staff. Even cut off my head in our boarding photo, using a tripod, and having a digital image preview they called "good". Value for the price: < 1 on a scale of 10.

We were hesitant about a cruise but two destinations are/were on our "bucket list." Unfortunately the destinations got changed after our booking but before we left port.  Other than that everything was great.  We will definitely cruise again.

Very good overview of the Greek isles visited, just not enough time at the stops to enjoy. Going back to Santorini! Paying for an excursion to visit Oia and only getting an hour there was not enough.

The locations of destinations was fantastic but the food and overall interaction with other English speaking guests was not good. The food was a very big disappointment, types of food was limited, locations available for meals was limited and quality was VERY POOR.  Mostly frozen meats, no real fresh quality at all.  No true 24-hour pizzeria (without paying an additional amount), which you would expect on a cruise and it seemed they were pushing the "paid" restaurants versus the other food options. Will not take another Costa cruise.

Absolutely loved the mix of Greece and Italy communities. The dinning service was fabulous. Would have liked to have had more "locally" appropriate meals. The cruise line serves what they believe  "American" guests prefer, I would have preferred more local fair, but our family got that in port each day. The trip to Santorini, Greece was shockingly poorly executed. Due to the number of cruise lines that port simultaneously there are too many people for the small port to manage. A fellow passenger broke their leg when being forced to walk down a hill to catch the boat due to so many passengers being in line to get down the hill otherwise. I strongly recommend some ground tour in Santorini otherwise you'll experience chaos. 

The staff and crew of the EPIC was way below what i have expected from NCL, their attitude and level of service was way below expectations. The food in all but the specialty dining location was usually cold and lack flavor and quality. Cruised last year on the ESCAPE and this crew/staff could take lesson in how to treat customers, the one bright spot was our cabin steward Patrick who was amazing, i have been on more than 15 cruises with a number of lines and this was by far the worse cruise i have ever been on. i seriously considered getting off in Cannes and flying home from there, it was that bad

extremely disappointed in NCL  all round from the way they handled my reservation and cabin to the actual on-board ship experience. I doubt i ever cruise with NCL again. I will never get on the EPIC that's for sure

The food was very bad in the free restaurants, which seems to be the norm on NCL, which forces you to eat at the specialty restaurants.  Everything is a NO when you ask for it, including doneness of steak and believe it or not mayonnaise.  My particular cabin had black mold in the bathroom and shower.  Carpets very dirty, automatic doors worked when they wanted, lack of upkeep and very little amount of overworked crew members for the amount of passengers onboard.  You get what you pay for and for a little more money I'd rather go on a real cruise next time that doesn't cater to a mass market like Oceania.  I'll never sail on NCL ever again.  This was my third and final cruise.  I've tried to like them but it all feels so cheap.  The nickel and dime game is horrible.  $10 for an after dinner coffee.  Drinks are expensive, etc.  Drink package alcohol is cheap stuff and bad food quality.  Shore Excursions are way over priced, sometimes double.  Meatballs and lasagna are the same food served at the buffet on Italian night so don't pay extra for the Italian Restaurant.  It's not a fine dining authentic Italian restaurant but more of an American-Stye Italian in the buffet area with a rope to block it off from the rest of the buffet line.  Tacky.  You end up paying overinflated prices for so much onboard that you end up paying more than if you were to have gone on Celebrity which is much better quality.  Spend your money wisely and do not purchase a cruise based on price alone.  You'll end up with a ship full of cheap people and a lackluster experience and will ultimately spend more money.  I wish I could get my money back and I've never said that about a cruise ever.  Don't do it!  Ports were fabulous, again they would take off early so they could open the casino and shops and bars to make money.  Oceania would have stayed over night, I'm just saying again - you get what you pay for.  Buyer beware.

this was my first cruise, didnt know what to expect. was very thankful the waters were calm. the food was good, not great. the service was excellent. we did wish there was a better drink package available. 1. we do not drink sugary soft drinks, and 2. we are are not heavy alcohol drinkers. it would have been nice if there was lite wine package, one or two glasses with dinner. bottled water should be included at all times. Most of our excursions where good. at least one we thought should have left the ship earlier. we barely made it back on time. all in all it was a good first time experience.

Great itinerary with sea days right when you need a rest!  Fantastic food and happy, accommodating cruise staff!  Italian singer was the best of all the entertainment!  Wow! 

Excellent cruise, fun ports!  Buffet food is a little above average, specialty restaurants were excellent.  Entertainment was better than we expected.  This was our 3rd Norwegian Cruise Line cruise and we would not hesitate to go on another

Great ports of call. Smooth operations with no issues. Good communication during the journey. Great food and options for sit-down/table-service meals. Well maintained ship including clean staterooms. Entertainment quality was much better than most I have seen on ships. Plenty of on-board activities to keep everyone busy.

This was an amazing trip. The schedule was great and the ports fantastic. The ship however left some to be desired. I have sailed with NCL before and had great experiences. This trip I was disappointed with the ship and service.  The food was good, but often restaurants had long lines and poor service, reservations were not accepted for the included restaurants. Shows and entertainment were often booked up.  Everything seemed crowded. Felt like too many people on the ship for the amount of space and service.

Overall, the Norwegian Star was very clean and the hospitality staff was great.   The cruise director Vincent was a riot.   The specialty restaurant staff was very slow and the food was only average.  

La única recomendación que ago, es que en la cena se demora mucho y no podemos ver los Show empieza a las 9:30 pm y terminamos todos los días 10 ó 10:30 pm

Over all the cruise was great, we had a wonderful time. It's a shame they charge so much for drinks and excursions. The food was good, entertainment was great. The cruise director does a great job at keeping the positive going. A lot of fun.

This was our first Princess Cruise and our second Mediterranean cruise. (Our first was with Disney). I must say Disney set the bar very high so going into this cruise we had lower expectations but Princess is our new favorite. For starters the ship is gorgeously maintained and elaborately decorated. They overall feel is very upscale from the stunning piazza area to the violinist and piano players are multiple decks to the oak trim and subtle lighting. We are hard to impress but we were! The food in the specialty dinning restaurants was superb! (We could have eaten every meal at the Crown grill just for their steaks and selection of salts!) The cabana couple's retreat message was the best we've ever had. We loved the free pop corn and swirl ice cream while watching movies under the stars on the pool deck. It was magical! The high tea on board was awesome! The specialty coffee card was worth every penny!

The salon service was amazing! The laundry facility was very helpful.

As for the ports of call, we were pleased overall with every stop with the exception of Catagena Spain. It was very boring and could easily be replaced with someplace offering more options but who can complain while on holiday in the Mediterranean right? We just felt for such a small cruise (7 days is not a lot) that time would have been spent better at another stop or extend the Gibraltar stop so we have the option to visit Morocco. 

The only cons we could say was the food in the buffet was hit or miss and the staff in the child care facilities were less than friendly but we are definitely going on another Princess cruise overall it was fabulous.