Europe - Northern Europe Cruise Reviews

The Ports of Call were excellent.  The entertainment was good.  Our Cabin Stewart and Asst. Waiter were excellent.  The rest of the activities and programs as well as the courtesy and helpfullness of the cruise staff was mediocre.  The food was about the same you would find on most other cruise ships.  Our experience at the Chops Grille (Steakhouse) was excellent.  Port terminal embarkment, and disembarkment process could use some organization.

we enjoyed all stops on this itinerary. RCCL boarding and returning was very smooth. tours booked through RCCL were very good except wished they made it easier to return to ship on our own time, and the trip to ice bar at 11:30, right in the middle of our time in port in Sweden was not good timing. food and very good, and entertainment was good.

Our cruise was amazing. The ship is a bit smaller and more personal. It was clean and the staff made sure all our needs were met. The shore excursions were organized and well planned. I've done 5 other cruises and this Northern European cruise on Serenade of the Seas is at the top of my list. I'd do it again. 

1. They showed a misleading itinerary when I booked the cruise. It said that the ship would come back to Stockholm at 9 am the day before disembark. But in fact it arrived at 4 pm. We had planned to take that day to visit some places Stockholm but it totally didn't work. I complained to their custom service on the ship and they told me the schedule time coming back to Stockholm is 3:30 pm. They said that schedule was posted in their website. That is totally a lie.

2. Poor service. If you have meals in the buffet area, don't expect the waiters or waitress will do anything for you except just cleaning your table.

3. Their buffet lunch or dinner only opens for 2 to 2.5 hours. You won't have any food outside that window unless you pay for it.

4. The check-in process was long and  lacked of instructions. They checked your passports for 4 times before entering the ship but nothing else was done. But you had to go to your room to get the ship card and needed to link your credit card to your ship card by yourself via their kiosks after onboarding.

Get cruise do to customer service being outstanding! We bought the unlimited spa package that's limited to only 60 guests and it was out best purchase on the entire cruise. We were relaxed and well rested!

Overall the cruise was a great experience that allowed us to visit several countries that we had not visited before.

The shortcoming for the cruise were:

- After entering all our personal and financial data into their database and receiving an "express pass", and using their transfer service, we spent 4 hours after arriving at the airport before arriving at the ship and then had to redo our ship boarding card since the one issued after the1.5 hour wait at the airport did not work.  Therefore we had no time to visit Amsterdam.

- The shows on board were not the quality that we expected.

- They have a happy hour but it was not published anywhere, you have to find it on your own.

- At the ports there was inadequate information for independent travelers on how to get to the cities from the ship and to get around to see the sites.

- After 12 days the food was monotonous and breakfast at the restaurant took about 30 min to get 2 eggs over easy.

- On departure, using their tranfer service, we had a 4 hour wait at the airport.  Would have liked another hour of rest before a long day of travel.

The pluses were adequate time in the cities visited. The staff was always pleasant, friendly and extremely helpful. The room and ship were always neat and clean. Food overall was very good, just could use some more variety. The shopping on board ship and what was available in the towns was explained well. Fellow passengers made the trip very enjoyable.

Cruise was good and ports were beautiful.  Our disappointment came in the area of ship entertainment.  It received a flunking grade.  The onboard music was  really poor.  We highly suggest that Celebrity invest in good entertainment if they wish to keep their guest coming back.  This was the first time in a long time that  I  did not put down a deposit on a future cruise.  I just would not want to sign myself for more boring evenings onboard.  

The steaks in the main dining room were tough and lacked flavor.  This was in contract to those served in the specialty dining rooms where the steaks actually had flavor and were tender enough to cut with a knife.

Celebrity, you have definitely fallen in rankings in our book!

Ports of call with the exception of Frederica Germany were excellent and provided an opportunity to sample the culture and sights of Scandinavia & Russia.  More time could have been allotted in Amsterdam and Berlin with less in Copenhagen. The ship itself was a perfect size enabling everyone to move around and disembark without confusion.  Service and Food was good with several choices.  Cabin size adequate.  House band "Top Notch" outstanding although nightly show entertainment poor as it included local talent and "circus quality" performances.  Shore excursions very expensive.  Shopping on board adequate with the addition of some new "high end" shopping. Independent research on ports of call and private touring should be explored after booking.  On the whole a very good cruise to take for someone who hasn't visited this area previously.

Very comfortable vacation-- the same bed every night, good food, very secure, very clean, always on time, very helpful staff and the weather was un-expectedly good.

Nice ports, some walkable (but not too much information ahead of time about really how far things are) distance from the ship. I felt like the excursions were more expensive than other places. Cruise age was averaging around 60+/- for attendees. The band was great, very talented and able to have a much of different styles. I'd recommend getting your own visa for Russia so you can explore more- we had to be back at the ship by 5:30. 

I pre-ordered the drink package and My TIme Dining and both were paid for and were not available when I got on the ship.  I was also promised credits for the gratuities and those were not credited to my account.  When talking to Customer Service and others, I was treated like a liar and very unprofessional.

I would not cruise with RCL again.

great show,s bad food, buffet slow service at buffet very bad ,Asia food service very bad .the cabin designated A/C no working properly.

the towns we visited were very nice scenery was amazing

Excellente cruise, this cruise can be called senior cruise since he population was 70% over 60 years old. I suggest to eliminate the Fredericia DM stop over, since it is no really any thing interested to see in such small city., rather to have an extra day in St Petersburg. The specialty restaurants were very great choice as well as to have the basic or premium beverage package (this is a plus)

The ship was OK (15-20 years old) but well maintained. The cruise crew was friendly but not as talkative as in other cruises. Managers were professional but not as proactive as in other cruises.

We have problem with our designated cabin. It was also assigned to a cruise crew and we, no the cruise crew member, were relocated to another cabin. We have problems in the new cabin with items that did not work properly (TV remote, A/C and toilet) but that is a separate story.

The towns we visited were very nice. Scenery was amazing.

The shows (singers and dancers) were very good. For the first time in our experience, the music from the orchestra did not overpower the singers (you could actually hear the singers).

The cabin (interior) was larger than in any other ship we have travel with, except for one cruise line. Also the bathroom was larger than usual.

The cruise price were very reasonable. The tours were very expensive. On the other hand, every thing in Norway is expensive.

This cruise was the worst ever. The food was of terrible quality.

The decor was tired. Rugs were old and worn.

The entertainment was terrible. The shows were boring. No snacks after 9pm 

The sofa designed for 'two' was way too small and completely uncomfortable  

The cabin was very small and the beds were extremely uncomfortable.

Royal Caribbean cant come close to Canival.

Refurbished ship, excellent service by staff, friendly, affable fellow travelers with plenty of good food and spirits made this an excellent cruising experience.  The ports were both educational and awe-inspiring, serene views.  The only drawback (and we didn't book the Paris tour since we have spent time there) is long commutes and little time in Paris.

Service was great but weather was much colder than we expected. We still had a great time. The only port that we had a problem was in Bruges, weren't able to do much because of the cold weather and rain. The shuttle that was provided had no coverage from the rain, everyone had to stand in the rain for over 30 minutes. We ended up giving up and returned to be ship.

This is a highly excellent experience.  I am recommending this to all my friends.  The employees are very polite, accommodating and are always ready to lend a helping hand.  They are always with a smile and they go out of their way to give you an excellent and memorable customer service.  I had a time of my life when we have formal dining every night.  They are so accommodating and cater to your needs.  You can feel the warmth and care while they serve you.  Excellent experience that in the end our group is sad to say goodbye. Looking forward to book another one.  

This was our third Royal Caribbean cruise and we were again pleased. We stayed in an ocean view room and will do that on our next cruise as the room was a nice size and it was nice to see the ports as we came in.  The food and service in the dining room was great and we meet interesting people.  The nightly entertainment was good, but not as good as our Mediterranean cruise.  The ice skating show was excellent.  Our excursions were interesting and worth the money.  We will definitely cruise with Royal Caribbean again. 

The weather was too cold to enjoy this vacation.

The service in the cruise was terrible.  NCL need better managers that train their staff.  No enough food choices during sea days.  Food was mediocre.