Europe - Northern Europe Cruise Reviews

Entertainment was a bit weak, however we completely enjoyed our trip.  Met some wonderful people on board. Everyone was already planning their next cruises!  Learned of some interesting itineraries and also realized what a bargain doing back to back cruises, less airfare! Completely enjoyed our cruise, came home relaxed and rejuvinated!

We loved all the ports of call, the ship and its staff make all the difference in the world...we really enjoy traveling like this, not having to pack and unpack every time we visit a new country!  this cruise has encouraged me to take the 2 or 3 other routes in the Mediterranean!

 lovely time... wonderful sites, great entertainment!

The ship was fantastic.. The best part were the Viking employees. They were always smiling and always trying to make the cruise the best. One day we went on a train trip in Flam and it was raining when we returned to the ship. There were probably 20 or more smiling crew members waiting outside the ship and made a covered walkway with their umbrellas so we would not get wet from the rain.They also had Champagne waiting for us. During the excursions, the guides were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. The captain took a fantastic "side trip" down a fjord when we left Flam. It was beyond awesome viewing numerous waterfalls; rock cliffs  the fjord was an absolute spectacular plus to our trip. As we left the fjord, the ship sounded it horn which echoed off the steep rock walls. To say is was spectacular is an understatement. The ship's captain could not have ended our trip in a better way, Make sure you are on he upper deck to see the awesome site.  

We got a good price for this cruise and overall it was a good experience. There were a few hiccups, but as Americans we went in knowing this would be an Italian cruise skewing to older guests. So that helped set our expectations.

The excursions were mostly great. The Piu Gusto beverage package was a great value for us. But we're younger (26-28yo) and were able to drink more. The food was hit or miss, especially in the full-service dining room. The buffet seemed to offer better selection and taste which was unexpected.

Club Luminosa dining room was a waste. Service overall was good, except an issue with an excursion/spa situation.

We were happy to get a room upgrade and had a balcony room which was great.

Overall I think we would use Costa again just for the value. Even if on the ship there were some puzzling upcharge situations.

The ship did not have a "general" store on board for toiletries and incidentals that we forgot or needed.  The stores that they did have onboard could have had better hours.  It was hard to hear announcements in our room.  The dining room had a great variety of choices overnight to choose from.  It was nice having 2 nights on the boat while docked in Stockholm.

Ship was nice but could have some sprucing up as some of the furnishing show considerable wear.  It is kept very clean and neat though, and the service is exceptional, as all personnel are well trained and extremely friendly.  They address you by name once they meet you and will do anything to make you comfortable.  The food was also exceptional with enough variety to please any taste.  Entertainment was above average with something for everyone and plenty to do.  This was our 16th cruise on 5 lines, and if this was not the best, it was surely number 2!!!

I have used this one cruise, through the fjords, as my "baseline" when checking for sales or special prices on various cruise websites.  I used to live in northern Germany, and spent weekends a lot in Copenhagen.  I had been to Oslo and Bergen, but never had seen the fjords.  This was one of the most beautiful trips I have ever made, to include Alaska and Glacier Bay, and the Canadian Rocky Mts.  We sailed from Copenhagen, so the first day out is at sea, which is nice, especially if you didn't book time in Copenhagen prior to the trip.  The shore excursions I chose were great.  I did the full day excursion out of Flam (pronounced like floam), which include train and then a coach.  In between we had lunch at the famous Stahlheim Hotel, with a million dollar Onesco view, from the terrace.  The only disappointment I had was that the land tour company doing NCL's land shore excursions booked 4 buses at that amazing hotel at the same time, which created a huge amount of confusion, and too little time at the hotel to really see the view and the hotel itself, not to mention that wonderful cuisine.  What I had understood that they were going to do was reverse the itinerary for that one day, so that 2 of the buses went by coach up and then train down.  That didn't happen.  But still it was a fabulous day, and the scenery is just amazing.  People in Scandinavia are lovely - open, friendly, and helpful.  This trip is probably better, as far as weather goes, in June, July and August.  But those are also peak times for tourists, and therefore there are more people at each port stop.  Personally, I loved the cold weather especially in Geiranger.  We saw everything from snow at 1500 meters to flowers blooming and warm weather, in Bergen.  The entertainment onboard was wonderful, to include 2 couples doing acrobatics from the Moscow Circus.  You normally would have to go to Russia to see that level of artistry, for acrobatics, to include flying.  This is a tour that is sometimes coupled with NCL's Baltics trip.  I have been to Russia several times, so I was happy with a couple of days on my own in Copenhagen, prior to the cruise.  I now want to do the longer cruise up to the North Cap!  NCL is shifting this fjords cruise to Hamburg, Germany, which is about the same distance south of the ports we visited.  I just hope the size of the ships for the fjords does not increase.  I would do this cruise again, but also feel Copenhagen is a better city than Hamburg, for tourism, prior or after the cruise.  As always, great service and food on board!!  I recommend this itinerary highly!!

I cannot recommend this ship (or its sisters) until HAL devotes a lot more time and a lot more money toward ship's maintenance, better menus and better wine lists.

Favorite part was the places we visited. It was on our "bucket list" and we wanted to see other cultures similar to ours and their progress in dealing with 21st century issues as global warming,carbon emissions,flooding,etc.

Our ship,the Silhouette, was beautiful. It was the 3rd time we cruised on her and enjoyed the cabins and lounges and the "green" 15th level. Lovely place to watch ship go in and leave ports esp. the channel leading into Stockholm.Train excursion into Berlin was well worth the money. The coach and tour guides were knowledgeable and accommodating. We also went on a river cruise in Berlin as part of this tour. Lunch was at a lovely restaurant in the old part of Berlin in an unusual area. For us,it was  an unforgettable place.

    We would highly recommend this cruise to anyone. We enjoyed our balcony cabin even though the mornings were cool.The afternoons were in the mid 70`s and a great place to relax before dinner.

   The tour for the Hermitage cpuld be improved. We were dropped off into a line of 300-400 people in the rain,at the Hermitage even thought we already bought our tickets to go in.We have talked to 2 other couples who took the same tour previously and they both  bi-passed the line-ups and walked straight into the building with their guide. Why did we have to line up and  wait 1 and 1/2 hrs. in the rain?

Our overall experience on the Silhouette was excellent.  Our cabin was clean and comfortable; food in all of the restaurants we visited was very good and service was outstanding.  We loved all of the ports visited, and the excursions we took in St Petersburg and Berlin were wonderful.  We will look to cruise on Celebrity again.

It was a very exciting and beautiful tour of the Baltic Sea ports, Scandinavia and Russia. The countries visited; Denmark, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Norway,Sweden and Russia, are so very beautiful with lots of beautiful landscape,flowers,churches,palaces and so much more. It is indeed a beautiful cruise of those countries. The weather was also beautiful with white clouds and blue skies for so many days along the way.

The Viking Sea is an incredible ship with attention to every detail. We were on the third leg of their maiden voyage. The food, service, staff, and entertainment were fantastic. The itinerary was perfect for us and one of the reason we chose this cruise. The included tours were informative and well done with guides who spoke understandable English. We did half included tours and half we booked on our own.

I would not recommend Viking Air as they messed up many of the passengers flights including our own with a little over an hour at Heathrow when at least 2 hours are needed to get through customs and security. Our luggage and many passengers did not make their flight. What a nightmare.

The ship and the trip however were wonderful.

The idea for this cruise was started by my brother and his wife last year.  Before I knew it, they had rounded up several couples to cruise with us.  Needless to say, I was not looking forward to the long flight from Seattle, but as the trip dates approached and detailed coordination was taking place regarding the port excursions, I was getting more and more excited about it. 

We had been on the Norwegian Star on our Panama Canal crossing cruise, which we thoroughly enjoyed, but I'll have to say that this experience on the same ship was a bit different.  For one thing, I thought the cruise director (Mark) lacked enthusiasm, although my experience and enjoyment were not dependent on his actions.  I was expecting to enjoy the nightly Atrium entertainment with a glass of wine, but the area had been changed to a coffee bar.  The evening shows at Stardust did not appeal to me this time, but we found alternate venues for entertainment.

Due to weather conditions, our port stop in Stockholm, Sweden, was canceled.  That was not anybody's fault, but I was nevertheless disappointed in missing the opportunity to see Sweden.

Overall, Norwegian did its best to maintain its high standards that I have come to expect.

First, for an early May cruise to the Baltic Capitals, we packed jackets and sweaters.  We had perfect weather for each of the six ports.  Rostock, Germany, was a sleepy but charming village.  We took a 20 minute train ride to Warnmuden, a delightful and picturesque fishing community.  Tallinn, Estonia, was the surprise; charming, ancient, quaint.  Don't miss the Seaplane Museum or the KGB Museum - both true gems.  In St. Petersburg we hired a State-authorized private tour company for the two days.  It seems that many others on the ship had several back-and-forth to the ship tours, a waste of time given the initial difficulties with their immigration system.  If you're in good physical shape, go private so you can see it all.  Helsinki, a relatively young town, was almost a disappointment after the opulence of St. Petersburg.  Stockholm has so much to offer but was the shortest port call.  If you see only one thing in Stockholm, be certain it is the Vasa Museum (but we did shake hands with the King, Queen, and President of Chile in a stroke of luck).  For Copenhagen, the final port, we used a HOHO Red Bus tour then a nice walk from the royal palace to the ship with a stop at the must-see Mermaid statue.

Great cruise!  We received first-class service from Princess Cruises.

Three staff persons deserve special commendations: 1. Roxanne, our steward, was very helpful and easily accessible for our stateroom needs. 2. Lauren Watson in Passenger Services was most supportive in tracking our luggage, which was mishandled by American Airlines in Dallas. 3. Mickey, our Filipino head waiter in Allegro Dining room, is an experienced professional, who took great care in meeting our dining needs, and leading a hearty rendition of "Happy Birthday" for my wife May 11.

This is an amazing itinerary. The views were breathtaking. The ship is nice. This is a nice cruise for a relaxing week at sea. The specialty dining was great. It was easy to get a reservation on this ship. There were times when the service was quite slow. The bars were well staffed. There were plenty of nice areas to sit and relax.

Just returned from an 11 day Baltic Sea cruise on the Regal Princess. We have mixed feelings about the cruise and will summarize our experience.

GOOD: The ship: The ship is beautiful, well kept, clean and gleaming. A very nice ship. Our balcony cabin was an adequate size. It would have been nice to have a sofa but we made do with the two chairs that were provided. The bathroom is a bit tight but is very functional. The closet is a good size and we were provided with more hangers than we could use. We were in R438.

GOOD: The Crooners Bar: we spent several nights in the Crooners Bar. Two waiters, Chetan and Herbert, got to know us quite well and were especially accommodating. They were great servers. The bar also was where Colin Salter performed nightly. He is an excellent singer and pianist. We came to the bar to hear him sing.

GOOD: The food: It was good at both the traditional dinner and the buffet. The traditional dinner was probably tastier than the buffet but both were good. Of course, the buffet had every type of food you could imagine. The desserts at the Horizon Bistro are a bit on the dry side, however. Service was good at both types of restaurants.

BAD: Customer Service: our biggest complaint with the Regal Princess. We had Passenger Services tell us they were too busy to talk with us, we had sales people erroneously ring up purchases and then neglect to get the manager when we tried to resolve the problem, we waited 40 mins at the Wheelhouse Bar for someone to clean the table we sat down at and when they finally did come by, they did not ask if we wanted anything to drink, no one came by to ask if anyone wanted anything when outside on the pool deck. These are just some of the many examples of poor service that we experienced.

BAD: Specialty dining: we went to Sabatini's for dinner one night which was $100 for our foursome. The restaurant was inadequately staffed. There was one waiter (no busboy) for 26 people. Appetizer plates were not cleared, glasses sat empty without water or wine, my steak dinner was served 20 mins after my companions had gotten their food. My companions food was served cold and I only got my food because a dinner mate got up and told someone at the host table. No waiter noticed I was not eating. The head chef said the manager would come talk to us about the service but he never did. It was not a good experience.

BAD: Ship layout: There are no stairs in the center of the ship. If you want to avoid the long waits at the elevators, you must go forward or aft to find stairs. That was very inconvenient. We also missed the activities we found on other cruise ships like zip lining, rock wall climbing, miniature golfing, ice skating, etc.

I have been on over 10 cruises and this is the first cruise where I felt that the ship was understaffed. It certainly affected our satisfaction. There are other cruise lines that we prefer to Princess. Our next cruise will be on Celebrity. We did enjoy the itinerary and had a good time but Princess would not be our first choice. We have been spoiled by cruising on the Oasis of the Seas.

We loved the cruise itinerary.  The ports we visited were beautiful and interesting and the amount of time we were in the port towns allowed us to do alot of exploration in each location. The crew could not have been friendlier or more attentive especially our cabin steward.   We felt the excursions were very pricey especially the Flamm Railroad excursion.  We purchased our own tickets for the railway at a great savings.  Also the transfer to the airport was very pricey.  We also feel the Market Cafe could offer some healthier options.  The food in the specialty restaurants and Versailles was very good.  The cabins could us e a little refurbishing.  I loved the beverage and specialty dining packages.  I really appreciated a very small invoice at the completion of my cruise!

Excellent places to visit, except excessive control at the immigration border in St Petersburg. Other places that we visited were much tourist friendly. Public transportation in Helsinki was excellent.

put it on your bucket list!  Fjords are everything you thought they would be, but only better.  Food in main dining room was average, service was excellent.