Europe - Western Europe Cruise Reviews

My wife was not feeling well during the cruise. We both caught a cold in Amsterdam and neither of us felt the best the entire trip. She was also hampered with a tight back and ailing hip which made her getting around difficult. That had a lot to do with my disappointment during this cruise.

We have been cruising on NCL's Spirit/Jade/Getaway/Jewel. This trip with Star was very disappointing. Food quality and variety was significantly worse and lower. Terrible food at Garden Cafe. I can see why food waste is high! MDR might occasionally surprise us with acceptable cooking. The menu and actual dishes not matching with ingredients...the chefs did a poor job preparing. Several occasions staff failed to record the dishes order and mess up with special instruction provided. We either accepted what arrived or in some serious cases had the kitchen redo. Our Club Balcony Suite shows wear and tear in the bathroom/toilet. Sofa Bed is broken in poor condition, being able to sit or sleep comfortably. Luckily we bought Thermal Spa Pass for everyone so that we use the bathroom as little as possible. Our steward worked hard but often cut corners, and didn't want to put away the sofa bed to save time which made the suite extra tight. We have to address him with this. The Thermal Spa pool and hot tub have a terrible Climb/Stair non-ergo friendly design. We watched several seniors having a hard time get in and out. We hope to upgrade to Suites! The Upgrade Team contacted me 36 hours before sailing indicating they are working on our bids (some with 2x of mini.) asking me to cancel if no longer interested this raises our hope not to unpack after onboard. I didn't cancel all four bids. I checked with Dario at Guest Services that he indicated there's no possibility as there are over 2000 people on board. (It's an irresponsible lie as my FB & CC's said only 1500) Bad news arrived by emails from the Upgrade team at 6pm an hour after the ship sailed. There are several itineraries we are interested in that STAR only makes us worry and uneasy with crew/chef/staff on the Star again.

Spending $851 a day (7311.69 + 1200 cabin upgrade to #11610) was not worth sailing with N. Star. It was a major mistake sailing with NCL where I could have sailed with other cruise lines for a much better value for what I had spent.

Overall good cruise. Ship needs to be updated, especially internet. Also, the discounts applied to prepaid shore excursions need to be available for the ship guest services so that they can view the prepayments and discounts. System needs to be updated for the guest services to see the full bill (prepaid and paid on ship) for accurate statements.

Warning-Do not use NCL Travel-VERY VERY VERY hard to deal with. Booked to travel with Handicap sister paid extra to travel together BUT NCL TRAVEL would not put us on same flights. Spook at least five times to change flights but all I heard was a NO. As a result my sister Missed the ship in England and spent TOUSANDS of dollars on flights meals and hotels chasing the ship up to Scotland, the staff at London Airport told her NCL TRAVEL should have not booked her on the flight she came in on-she FINALLY caught the ship THREE days into the cruise-The real issue is NCL TRAVEL NEVER contacted her AFTER several ATTEMPED PHONE CALLS on NCL's EMERGENCY NUMBER provided by them.

This was a "goal" cruise. Loved the itinerary. The ports of call were great places to visit, I just wish I had had more time at some of them.

Nice budget cruise! It's an older ship, but the staff kept it clean, well-attended and friendly. Guy Fiere Burger Joint, by the middle pool, was our favorite, as well as Serenity (adult pool) right next to Mermaids (the buffet). Our room was typical and the extended balcony worth it. The spa was small (w/great staff) - but, not much action there nor promoted much. Recommend researching ports before you board (because wifi was crazy expensive) or do the excursions on this itinerary. Carnival was scant on port information, and destinations often very far from the ship; the days of a daily newsletter left in your cabin are gone - replaced by an app - that does not give much info. Overall, I'd recommend this cruise if you want a taste of the UK.

This was my 5th Azamara cruise. I wouldn’t mind doing another 5 more! Compared to pre Covid, biggest problem was difficulty in booking shore excursions once on board. I have not had problem in the past and wait lists always cleared. We could not get a shore excursion in Oban and there seemed to be little info about port or possible independent activities prior to arriving. Service was excellent as was food. It did seem like they were trying to get things back together again since restarting up after Covid.

Wonderful mindless vacation with great ports. Having status with the Crown and Anchor is a bonus

You listed many ports that we didn't visit and didn't list 4 ports that we did visit. I loved the ports in Norway and cruising the fjords. Kirkwall UK was also wonderful.

Overall a great cruise. I think you handled COVID very poorly. People NEED to was their hands on the buffet. They need to wear masks in elevators, theater, etc plus you never said how many staff had COVID. I don’t have COVID after my cruise, but I worked at that..you need to do more!

It was a great cruise to countries we have never been.

For those wanting to see a lot in one trip this cruise is for you. Just be prepared for early morning excursions at most ports and have good walking shoes or hiking shoes, you'll need them. Alot pf ports were crossed off my bucket list on this cruise.

Met some delightful people, but Azamara does not measure up.

Loved both Iceland and Greenland and doing it on a ship with happy people was an added benefit. Wouldn’t have missed it.

Enjoyed most of the ports of call. Shore excursions were fun and informative. Entertainment on this cruise was not up to “Princess par”! Food on this cruise was lacking in quality and taste.

Great itinerary. Scenery is stunning. Included shore excursions were great although in big groups. Limo service to airport and back excellent. Ship size and design nice. Didn’t feel crowded. Unfortunately they are understaffed. Will return to sailing on Oceania. Food better and way cheaper.

Pretty good overall, but Regent just missed on a lot of little things. I already noted some of the room service and dining issues. They also changed the times on every tour from what we originally signed up for. They actually made multiple changes on a few tours sometimes causing big crowds and lines in the waiting areas to be called to leave the ship. The last thing we need during a pandemic is to be in a big group because of time management issues. Also on many tours the times were changed that made it impossible for us to get lunch on board and there were no lunch options on the tours. Finally on our last night on board we had a reservation at the steak specialty restaurant. When we got there the host told me I had to put on a pair of pants even though the dress code was clearly relaxed to casual because of disembarkation the next day. I pointed that out and he told me that was a mistake and that it was ok to wear jeans, a t-shirt anything but the dress pair of shots I had on. I had to go to the room, unpack and put on a pair of jeans. This caused us to be seated 20+ minutes late. My wife and I both ordered prime rib. The waiter came back 15 minutes later to tell us there were out of prime rib. I cannot help but think if we were seated on time that we would have received our first choice of meals. I went back to the room and reread the dress code and it clearly states that shorts are acceptable on casual nights, so I am still pissed off about having to change. The dress code at evening meals was never enforced. I saw people in tennis shoes, t-shits, jeans, etc the entire trip when the dress code was not casual. Not sure why I was singled out but there is no excuse for it.

Don't go is all I can say. Yes, the cruise itself was OK and the tours were well run and informative. If they had better management and were better organized on the front end And did have a more diverse menu including some Irish dishes then over all it would be an OK cruise. Let's face it they need a more passenger oriented captain and for sure a real chief.

Very disappointed in this cruise. Included excursions were boring, lack of staff to clean tables, get beverages and remove dirty plates. Stare room stewards were inexperienced and didn't provide items we requested (like an extra towel). They also left cleaning products on the bathroom counter and also left our cabin door propped open while they were cleaning the Veranda 3 doors down. Very poor service.