Europe - Western Europe Cruise Reviews

Phenomenal experience. Ship has been upgraded and modernized. Staff was incredible- always at the ready to serve and assist. Ports of call allowed us to visit sights that one would not normally consider. Yet, each place visited had spectacular offerings- especially Bilboa's Guggenheim Museum and The American Cemetary in Normandy- poignant and inspirational.

Royal Caribbean should be congratuled for providing easy access to those who have physical handicaps. They moved about as freely and regularly as all of the ship's guests.

Would absolutely recommend this cruise to all.

Have had far better cruises. Bar service was poor. Frequently had to fetch drinks from the bar and yet still pay 18% service charge. Not enough spaces around the ship to relax and have a drink. Afternoon quizzes were standing room only, as were other locations at times. Food was OK, but buffet was very similar each day. Not much to recommend overall.

Outstanding staff in all areas. Great excursions at each port.

food was acceptable. Specialty restaurants not that much better than main dining room but better ambiance.wifi very weak. Forget any streaming. 

Hard liquor cocktails meager for price.

overall very good value in most  respects 

My favourite part of the cruise was the itinerary. The weather and conditions of the sea were great.

The food could be further improved. Fish was always overcooked.

Too many people on board sounded ill, with there constant coughing.

A great ship with good entertainment and facilities.

Too many reviews. This is the 4th.

For us there were too many passengers for the entertainment venues. Some passengers sat in the theatre reading their book in order to get a seat for the show. Also the ship was very very cold due to the air con, we both came home with colds. Would not cruise with P&O again.

we we're disappointed this time on the Azura.. The cutbacks are very evident. Health and hygiene didn't appear priority. Towels on deck stopped but the worst disappointment was in the theatre with acts being duplicated. It has certainly put us off P&O Cruise Ships. Even in the cabin no towel animals. Little personal touches that you had on previous cruises were missing. Overall very disappointed with the Cruise Ship. Even the Entertainments Manager didn't seem to have the Zest we experienced on previous cruises with Azura. The best about the cruise was the amazing weather which was not down to the Cruiseline.

 all the staff we encountered were friendly, helpful,and very professional.

the dining was exceptional .   the restaurant waiters and the bar staff were very

efficient

A beautiful ship with the best bathroom and balcony I've had.  The staff were always polite and helpful and seemed genuinely happy in their work which made for a relaxing holiday.  The food was too good!  

The itinerary was interesting with 3 ports that I hadn't visited before and I enjoyed 4 well organised excursions, the hippo bus was very exciting!

One small negative, why oh why don't they provide shower gel, it would cost very little but be much appreciated.

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday on the Celebrity Eclipse travelling down to the Canary Islands.  We could not fault the ship, the service or the entertainment.  We would have rated excellent but having not bought a drinks package before embarking made it very expensive.  Our recommendation is to definitely buy a drinks package when booking the holiday.

Fantastic cruise from the minuite you arrive on the port of Southampton every thing is taken care of cases magically arrive at your Stateroom all you have to do is unpack and remember where you have put everything . The stateroom attendants are friendly and professional can't do enough for you . The ship is huge but you soon get used to navigating around it . The diningrooms are lovely and there is plenty of choice ,the waiting staff really look after you . There are plenty of sun beds and lots of entertainment which you can join in or just enjoy. 

The ship was fine.  Staff as usual excellent. Food of high standard and the group we had at the evening meals were great fun. Unfortunately, the overall rating of this cruise was reduced because of the incessant piped music played throughout the ship and the ridiculous price of drinks. Even the supposed drinks packages would have meant one becoming an alcoholic attempting to get the value of this "deal'

in fact we, like many others had a few drinks ashore rather than on the ship.

The  ports of call were fine but obviously the number of stops could easily have been increased as half the time the ship was moving ar walking pace  - no doubt this was to keep fuel costs and port costs down. Overall, somewhat disappointed

We really enjoyed our time on the Independence of the Seas. The ship is a carbon copy of the Liberty of the Seas which we have also been on. The balcony room was nice and spacious for two with the balcony giving us a different view every morning. The attendant was very friendly and always cleaned the room to a very good standard. His towel folding skills was a nice touch.

The food was good especially in the Chops Grill which for a little extra charge was well worth it. The Windjammer at peak times was overcrowded and a few times we struggled to find a seat but this didn't spoil the wide variety of buffet menu and friendly attendants. The Main Restaurant at night was where we had most evening meals. The menu was very good and the waiters were very efficient. Being more upmarket than the "Jammer" its was nice to dress up and eat in style.

The promenade offered various bars to try but again at night time it was almost impossible to get a seat in any of them.

The shows were excellent with the Ice Show and Grease warranting a special mention.

A couple of the places we stopped at were disappointing. Not for the actual place but for the day and time the ship docked. Sunday when the shops were closed and an 11.00am docking meant the shops closed an hour after we got there. I am not complaining at all but my wife was upset.

Madeira is lovely island and a must to see. Don't be frightened if a taxi driver approaches you offering a site seeing ride. We took one up on the offer and he got us to the front of the basket ride before taking us round the island stopping at various places to take photos etc. This was well worth the cost especially if you are in a party of 4.

Overall this was a very nice enjoyable cruise with only a few teething faults which in no way spoilt our time on the Independance. 

The venues/ ports were what we wanted. The organised tours we booked were mostly good but quite pricey and sometimes returned earlier than the stated times.

Frontline staff on board were mostly very good. Some of the entertainment was good- especially the band.

Unfortunately, compared to previous cruising experiences, I can't rate this a good.

The main reasons for the poor rating are

1. Quality of the food was disappointing - quite a limited menu in the Freetime  dining restaurant  and the charges for booking in the specialist restaurants quite unreasonable.

2. The 18% surcharge on everything we purchased on board plus a total of 33% whenever in a Spanish port. was quite outrageous.  None of this was explicit at the time of booking or in any other information received prior to boarding so it came as a surprise.

3. The charges for WiFi access - daily per device- quite inflexible and outrageously prohibitive.

4. Facilities in the cabin were very basic- what I would expect in a two star hotel for an overnight stay- very disappointing. I could go on but enough said.

I would not travel with this company again.

we enjoyed the holiday, nice to meet old friends within the staff, good food, nice venues visited, looking to book again next year. Have been on this ship several times before and have never had a bad cruise. Love the oliver twist bar along with all the entertianment

1st time on a large ship travelled with

 my sister both have walking  problems  had one hire a wheelchair  on pushing my sister pretending to do a F1 chicane heard a quote nice to see old folks enjoying themselves .... I,m not old in my prime . Ship and staff were amazing helpful and entertainment superb 

If there is a favorite part of a cruise I would then say visiting lanzarote would be it. We rented a car and drove all around the island. It was very nice. The Volcano moved me. 

The ship is great, Getting on & of the ship was easy. Dining & entertainment was 5 star ,We had a great time . Favourite destination was Madeira. All the staff on the ship were brilliant. would recommend the navigator                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Ship is well worn but working well.  The staff, and crew were excellent, shows were also very good with lots of variety.  Norwegian is not known for their cuisine, we found a few evenings with nothing to our liking, and we are not picky eaters.

Awesome itenerary, never visited so many places in 14 days. Price was right, service starting from room steward to captain was outstanding. Entertainment was excellent with acrobats and Broadway style cabaret dominating. Food was very impressive specially with specialty restaurants, Cagney's steak house have my 5 star overview. Crew worked hard, very pleasant staff from more than 20 different nations. NCL and crew of Norwegian Star done an outstanding job. We will be back for sure and will recommend to all our friends. I salute you Norwegian Star have fantastic sailing where ever you are. Dmitry Feld

Great ports

Excellent food

Great service

Excursions overpriced 

Need to coordinate security checks better.  Long line in Casa Blanca

Need to coordinate dinner reservations better

Drink plans overpriced 

Entertainment so so