Europe - Northern Europe Cruise Reviews

We had a great time on this cruise and would definitely recommend it. Norwegian's Freestyle Dining plan is the way to go! There were no shortage of things to do onboard during the days at sea. The only downside was the WiFi. It is slow because the ship is moving. However, even when we were docked it seemed slow. We had no WiFi from our cabin for two days, and we finally talked to someone at the Internet Cafe and they did something about it. One must remember to log off the internet, otherwise the minutes in the plan will run out quickly.

Once in a lifetime cruise but I wouldn't do it again. Booked too many tours and the most extensive cruise in each port. No independent exploration opportunities or time to just relax and enjoy the ship.

I was extremely disappointed in Norwegian’s service. The staff was not helpful and was not able to answer basic questions such as “is there anywhere on board where I can print?” “What is the name of the port?”, etc. The response was always “I don’t know”. One day I received a note in my room stating for me to call Guest Services as they had a question for me. When I called no one knew what the note was in reference to. I have so many examples of their poor service and I will list them: -My friend and I upgraded our room 2 days before the ship and paid the difference. We also Pre-paid for EVERYTHING such as excursions, shows, Internet access, etc. At about 8PM THE DAY BEFORE OUR EXCURSION we noticed that we did not get our excursion tickets and went to go pick them up. We were told that we actually were not in their system and had no reservation. My friend showed them the confirmation email. It turns out that due to a glitch caused by the upgrade, Norwegian CANCELLED ALL OF OUR EXCURSIONS AND SHOWS and used those funds to pay for the difference in the upgrade even though we ALREADY paid for them. Causing me to be charged TWICE. The WORST part was that no one knew WHY or HOW this happened and would not help us. The manager told us to wait on a huge line or call LONG DISTANCE to my travel agency which had nothing to do with THEIR zero. They cancelled EVERYTHING on us and to this day they did not apologize or were able to figure out the situation. Terrible service. -we were a party of 9 and the hostess would be visibly annoyed whenever we requested a table for 9. One time a hostess at The Manhattan Dining Room even replied “seriously?” When we asked for a table of 9 (by the way reservations were not required). -On sea days, the ship is very crowded and does not have enough space to accommodate enough people. There really is no place for anyone to sit and relax. I asked a staff member if there was any place for us to sit and have coffee. Her response was “This is a ship with 4000 people what do you expect? If you would have called before your trip and asked us to reserve you a space we could have done it”. I’m sorry but who calls ahead of time to reserve a space for 5 people to drink coffee? Isn’t that what the restaurants are for? By the way they close them very early and they are only open during certain hours on Sea Day. - Restaurant service was horrible. Breakfast takes 1.5 hours even for a group of 2. Steaks are never prepared as requested. Even at the specialty dining restaurant I asked for a medium rare steak and it arrived well done. Your drinks will also be forgotten about.

Super interstellar ports and fantastic service on board- definitely recommend

Great cruise with the most beautiful landscapes and scenery. We had the best weather possible. All the excursions we took were wonderful although I thought the prices were rather high. The North Cape was a highlight of the trip for us. The ship was well designed.

We enjoyed the ship and all of the ports. We did independent (local) tours at Rostock (to Berlin) and St. Petersburg and both were outstanding. Our cabin steward did a great job and it seemed everyone on the ship was friendly and helpful. We made some great memories and would definitely recommend this cruise to others.

Not in-depth but a good initial introduction to a number of Scandinavia and Baltic cities.

The itinerary of the cruise was excellent. The ship was well maintained, our cabin (with veranda) was immaculate and the stewards were friendly and accommodating. The food, whether in the dining room or the self-service area was very good to excellent. The food service was uniformly excellent. We attended the classical music performances in the evening, and these were very good. Otherwise, we did not make much use of the activities on the boat, other than to relax in some of the common lounges or the lido deck during cruising days.

The one thing that was a problem was that in many ports there are huge distances to cover. For those with limited mobility having a couple of go-carts to transport would be ideal. The ship did offer wheelchair assistance, but the booking of this was cumbersome. Often when one returns to the ship, there was no one to meet us with a wheelchair.

Great ship experience. Love Holland America. Wish the tours were more adventurous with more free time. Unable to even enjoy a German Beer in Kiel as we ended up with only 18 minutes free time. Our guide was long winded and rambled. And we were looking forward to our German beer - it's the only kind I will drink. But I would still recommend this cruise. The Baltic countries are very proud with historical significance and magnificent architecture.

Ship is older. Staff was great. Ports were interesting. Entertainment was totally subpar.

Several shows on ship were exceptional especially Elements. No main atrium in middle of ship and elevators were confusing with accessibility very difficult to navigate at times and for disabled very frustrating for having to go to one deck to walk and then have to go back down elevator to access restaurants. Average to decent food in main dining rooms. Very limited 24 hour food in one place only with small menu and so so food. Icecream often not working and not available other than when buffet area open. Better on other lines for late night or special treats. Pizza not good and burgers not so great either. Fish and chips greasy frozen fish...odd while cruising one of the fish havens of the world! Very clean and services were good for most part. Several waiters were not the usual kind and fun folks as some, perhaps due to freestyle dining and not struggling to earn more tips from a specific clientele...not sure. One day very rough seas and everyone was sick. No announcements to direct passengers for help with sickness or how to reduce effects of the rough sea. I think 3.5 rating is accurate.

This is our first time on MSC. We were concerned about this cruise after reading so many negative reviews. However, we actually had a wonderful time with MSC. The staff are all very friendly and customer oriented. The shows are great! The food also met our standards. With this low price compared to other US cruise line we are very satisfied with MSC. Also no early morning call every day, they really help you to relax and take a good vacation! The cabin size is perfect and very clean. We will definitely do it again with MSC.

Copenhagen wonderful city to visit as well as Stavanger, Ålesund, Geiranger, and Kristiansand. All offered many interesting opportunities to walk on our own. Bergen was too large and crowded.

Exciting cruise for us, especially visiting Russia. Tours could be tiring especially you have to go to the theater for meeting point. Burn the Floor was a fantastic show, don't miss it. The specialty restaurant was a plus and the buffet was pretty good.

As much as I love to cruise. This cruise is not actually for mid age groups

A Great first experience! Large boat, lots of eating venues. Was a family cruise, next time, pick time of cruise better. Too many kids. Took over entire pool / outdoor area. Were running in halls & room above us at all hours of day. Was a bit frenetic. But next time, will check that. Otherwise a cruise where nothing really went wrong. Amazing! Will cruise again!

Pros: Staff was amazingly pleasant from top to bottom. I just did not have one single interaction that was not good. I think that is incredibly hard to do given the number of staff they have, so kudos to the whole team there. Food at all the 'included' restaurants was solidly good aside from the desserts, which were mediocre. Ports of call and shore excursions were really, really good. I find it worth it to go on guided tours as the guides will provide in one 5 minute talk what it would take me to learn over a few hours of wandering on my own through museums and reading placards. Our balcony suite was excellent as well. More roomy that I expected for two adults and a 17 year-old. Beds were comfy, and the balcony was worth it. The violinist was very entertaining as was their singer/guitarist. Cons: Really, NCL needs to work on the design/functionality of their IT systems -- Their website is clunky, got our guest names, dob's, pictures, packages all mixed up when they were doing the boarding cards. They don't have an app that you can use to manage your trip until you actually get onboard. I also found the way they presented the shore excursion options on the website to not be the way a customer would review, compare, and select.

This cruise was to celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary and invited our daughter and son in-law to join us with a cabin beside ours. As a surprise to my wife I asked the special events co-coordinator to arrange a ceremony for us to renew our vows.These arrangements were made many months before the cruise started. Not only was this a surprise to my wife but we were blown away by the detail the special events people went to to pull this off !!! In attendance was the ships captain and senior officers, both the cruise director and assistant director -- flowers, champagne and a sting quartet. August 16, 2018 on the Oceania Marina in St Petersburg Russia is a day we will never forget. Many many thanks to the "Fantastic crew" for an outstanding cruise on a beautiful ship.There are lots of people to thank --- so thanks to all who made this trip so great --- and a super special thanks to Katie & Lisa.

Overall this cruise was excellent. Plenty of dining choices. Staff were friendly and accommodating. Entertainment was of a very good standard. My only problem was the position of the casino. This should have been on deck 8 where the shopping was not on the main dining deck. Either that or make smoking areas closed in with plenty of ventilation.