Europe - Northern Europe Cruise Reviews

We had issues with weather delaying the start of the cruise a day, which was not the ships fault.  Issues that do belong to the ship is not having their act together in so many areas. It took three hours to disembark in Geiranger as they were tendering us in and they only had two color disembarkation tickets to hand out so they made you stand in line for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hour just to get your ticket to get off the ship. Then once you got it, it took another 1 1/2 hours to have your number called. The dining staff couldn't seem to figure out how to fill tables with people. We would ask to sit with others during open dining dinner and quite often we were the only two at a table for six or eight. Additionally we purchased the thermal suite spa package the first day and were told they only sell 60 so you have no problem getting a bed. The only time we got a bed was the first day and then it was always packed. We learned the third day into the cruise that they also sell day passes and they also give this to people that get different spa treatments to use. We felt so deceived and asked for a refund, which we were given. We also had an issue bringing wine on the cruise. They confiscated it at check in because it had 19% alcohol content. We had to look up wine to show that wine can be 5% to 24% alcohol.  And no one ever calls you back on the ship from the bar manager to the spa manager. We had to spend a lot of our vacation hunting down the right people, going back at least three times in order to get an issue resolved. If we were the only ones that had issues I'd think it was us but EVERYONE we spoke with had issues. And last, the promenade deck is horrible. They have the life boat tenders blocking the view!  I would not recommend this ship.

Favorite part of the cruise was the excursion in the Lofoten Islands which took us off to the small fishing villages. 

I wish there had been more variety in the buffet--like Mexican theme one day or Chinese, or Japanese.  It was very similar things day after day.  No sandwiches.

Some of the people who were working on the cruise ship were just plain rude to us.  It was like they didn't want to be bothered.  We were constantly bombarded with Princess advertising--way overdone!

Missed being able to go to Flaam Norway because of the weather--big disappointment.

We still prefer Celebrity and would recommend Celebrity to our friends.

The Emerald Princess crew were some of the finest on all cruise lines (including Oceania and Crystal) that we experienced.  Quite frankly, it was the crew that made the cruise great.  

The ship was well designed to enhance the activities and entertainment.  It didn't seem like 3000+ customers on board as the offerings were varied and kept people moving about.  The ratio of customers to staff didn't hinder the attentiveness of the crew.  They were always available and proactive in making our trip very nice. 

You have to want a cruise and ship experience to enjoy 14 days at the North Cape and Norwegian Fjords.  The weather is terrible and there isn't a lot to see and do.  The ports become very similar quickly.

We experience a very dangerous tour to Pulpit Rock in Stavanger which could have resulted in people being hurt or worse.  We were allowed to hike to the top in torrential sideway rain, high winds and intense fog without the proper guides to advise where we were on the trail.  The tour guide told us they advised the ship to cancel the tour due to the worst weather they had experienced at this time of year. The ship was delayed departing Stavanger almost 24 hours and we did not make our next port, Flaam due to VERY bad weather.  It's all too bad because it was one of the reasons we chose this itinerary was to climb Pulpit Rock.  We advised the ship of the experience since it appeared they really didn't know how bad the situation was.

The food is good, not fabulous.  Purchasing a Suite we should have been able to visit the specialty restaurants whenever we desired.  They didn't seem very utilized. The service by waiters/servers made up for the "good" food.  They made the experience always delightful.

All in all the cruise was a nice experience.  As I mentioned, the crew made all of the difference.  The entertainment was also good.

We spent a lot of time in the gym (a good one) and walked the promenade often.  Well designed to get your exercise. 

The best port on this cruise is the Geiranger Fjord, the last port of call in Norway.  The Serenade of the Seas ship is a smaller ship, so it is able to navigate the narrow passages deep inside the fjord.  The ship itself is pleasant, a little tired, but very clean and the staff are the best!  The dining options were great, we especially loved the Chops Grille specialty restaurant.  Our balcony cabin mid-ship was the perfect location.  They could use more activities during the day and in the evening, but overall, we enjoyed the shows they put on in the Theater and the Centrum areas. 

The best part of the cruise was seeing the fjords and North Cape of Norway. The food on the ship was not very good. It was very repetitive and not tasty. The best meals were on the shore excursions in Norway. We missed a stop at Flam due to whether. Also, we left Bergen at 1:30 p.m. I believe that Princess could have cancelled a sea day and rescheduled the missed day at Flam. Also, many of the passengers were very rude.

The itinerary was  the reason I chose this one.  I would never go on Costa again.  Too many people, too much being herded like cattle, they don't seem to care about English speaking people (the daily news was often missing information, like explaining that there is a Gala celebration and what that means, and the announcements were not always repeated in English).  The staff was nice, but I think they have to follow bad procedures. For example, the disembarkation meeting was primarily a sales pitch for future cruises and to rate the staff highly, and then she didn't have time for questions. The computer systems do not interface with the My costa system.....not worth the money spent.

Intinerery,was very good.the best bakery-bred and all cakes was butiful and testy !Very nice staf !captin Melnikov and crew make comfort enjoyment of all guests. Very clean.Shops does not have designers things,and very small.In my choice it is not enoth music and Cruise director did not organized nice evenings time!!

The people at the destination desk were discourteous to many guests.Housekeeping and main dinning room had excellent service.  maitre d’ of the main dinning room was very good.

Excellent cruise with famous food and services , even that we miss a port that we want to see Edinburgh  Scotland . and a rainy and windy day in Newcastle.

but over all we enjoy the cruise and the excellent service of Oceania staffs.

We will come back for another cruise and recommend Oceania for our friends.

We enjoyed the dining experience the most. 

A regular coffee pot in the suite would be nice😌

We would definitely recommend Dream Vacations -John Dorman to our friends & family.

Lots of choices in how to best use your time.

My wife and I especially liked the opportunities to get away from the commercial aspects that are a part of so many cruises. We enjoyed finding quiet places - especially the back of deck 14.

Of course there were many opportunities to meet new friends at diner and on our excursions.

We were reluctant cruisers but finally decided to take the plunge. We weren't disappointed at all. The ship, service, dining, food, drink, excursions and staff absolutely first class. Could not recommend this cruise highly enough.

The dining, state room, bar, gelato and coffee staff were wonderful.  They were pleasant, responsive and extremely helpful throughout the cruise.  The food experience was less than impressive with limited selection and diveristy and desserts were totally different nimaginative.  The overall entertainment was below expectations based on other Celebrity Cruises. THE MOST NEGATIVE ASPECT was what happened when I tripped and was injured because of negligence on the paet of Celebrity staff.  

We had not been. on such a pricy cruise (when adding airfare)before but we were most pleased with this one. Everything was first class on the ship especially the meals. The ports of call were interesting  and well prepared for us. Our stateroom was nice and the steward s were very attentive. We enjoyed the entertainment as well. We are quite happy that we chose koningsdam

Super ship, great trip. Warnemunde was truly delightful. St Petersburg was fabulous and the tour I booked with you was excellent. The guide was very knowledgeable and had a very dry wit.  The only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is that the air conditioning on the ship was uncomfortably cool, especially in the evenings: many guests were regularly wearing fleeces!

Smiling & professional crew, incredible entertainment, great food, spacious & clean room.  There is really nothing to complain about.

We had fantastic weather, which I believe was a large part of the success.  We were in short sleeves all eight days, and the pools were tolerable for the first three days.

If you have the unfortunate luck of rain/wind/cold, I suppose anywhere outside the ship would lead to a less successful experience.

Thank you MSC for a wonderful vacation!

Dan & Desi

This cruise was most enjoyable.  It was a very busy cruise with little down time as most of the sailing was done at night and there were new ports with shore excursions almost every day.  The food was excellent.  The onboard service was outstanding.  The shore excursions were very well organized and presented.  We found an excellent and delightful piano and violin duo we enjoyed in the evenings--sadly the main shows were not much to our liking.  One was actually terrible.  BB King's group was good if you liked jazz.  My main complaint was with the wifi.  It was expensive and then used up your precious minutes very quickly because it took so long to download and upload things.  Wifi should be provided free of charge when it is that slow.  I also think that more time in fewer ports would have been beneficial.  There was only time for a basic tour and no down time to just look around on your own in most of the many ports we visited.  Although they were interesting, we could have left off Lubeck, Germany and Gothenburg, Sweden and spent more time in Stockholm and Helsinki.  We did leave off Helsengbourg, Sweden because of bad weather conditions.  This added time to Copenhagen which was good.  Overall it was a great trip.

Cruise was nice, everyone on the cruise was nice, you need to improv your embarkation from the countries back, its rainy all the time and cold weather, you need to have overhead umberellas to protect from rain, and be quicker at the security lines, personally i didn't enjoy my trip this cruise mainly because of the weather, you need to tell your customers ahead of time, would i recommend the cruise to anyone, not at all, i like warm weather, also i like to enjoy my room balcony which i didn't at all along with your outdoors, also your excursions were very expensive. 

Would definitely not recommend this cruise ship to others.

The itinerary stopped in unnecessary ports. 

The food was not good.

Ship was not kept up

Ship excursions way overpriced and information on their website was misleading, almost threatening.

Staff, except for excursions head, were very good and friendly.

Favorite Ports were St Petersburg and Sweden see comments below.  I recommend that you remove the requirement for how many characters are needed in a review, this is annoying to have to add words that mean nothing just so the form will submit.