Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Great experience overall. Livorno port cannot be walked and ncl never made this clear.

Overall, you go on this cruise for the stops. The cruise ship itself was not the best. The cabin was dirty, the food was average, but the stops were unforgettable.

Ports were amazing! The majority of the crew on the EPIC were amazing! Food was great in taste and garden cafe! Cagney I was a bit disappointed. Not amazing. The Italian speciality restaurant was exceptional! Made our anniversary very special!

Although this is a huge ship with thousands of people, lines were minimal and it didn't feel overcrowded. There is a lot to do, so make sure that you plan for shows and fun stuff on the ship. We were so busy with excursions that we really didn't do anything on board during the day (auctions, wine tasting, dining, etc.)

AVOID THIS CRUISE LINE (any ship) IF YOU ARE AMERICAN! The ship operates by using an app for everything for booking excursions to ordering meals, and Americans do not have access to the app. Most of the crew spoke at least some English but no one else did. 90% of the announcements were made in other languages and only English if they wanted you to book at the spa. There was an English “representative” and she was nice but I had no way of getting in touch with her. Her hours of availability were on the app. The other guests were some of the rudest I’ve ever experienced but I think that’s just the European culture. Breaking in line, pushing you out of the way, walking into you, we even had a man rip the towel off of my daughters back after we got out the pool because he said it was his. They only give you pool towels in the room and you can’t get any more until the next morning. No turn down service in the evening. No cute towel creatures which is not a big deal but if you’re used to it you won’t get it here. We had an excursion we wanted to switch and they told us we couldn’t because it would make it under the number of the minimum required to go on the tour. So we couldn’t cancel or switch because they would lose money. You have to purchase a drink package otherwise you get a tiny glass of water to drink. Nothing more! No juice, coffee, tea, nothing!! And then with the drink package you are only allowed 1 water bottle per person per day (so I paid $1000 - $250x4 and was limited on water bottles… ridiculous!) There’s so many people on the boat that there’s lines for everything…. Bathrooms, breakfast, etc. There’s no food 24 hours a day. Snacks are offered at select times but they are subpar. It’s been a horrible experience overall and I am hoping this will help others not make this same mistake. Avoid!!! Avoid!!! Avoid!!!

We came as a family celebrating a major milestone in my youngest sons life-graduation from medical school- and made memories that will last for a lifetime- every detail every activity every moment on tis cruise was a delight and Sunil was a large part of the reason why we had such an amazing trip! GOD BLESS HIM AND KUDOS TO ROYAL FOR SUCH A FINE EMPLOYEE!!

Great cruise. They need to work better with the ports that are difficult to get to shore. More organization and order to disembark and embark the ship.

We never want to cruise another line again. Celebrity is wonderful!

Not amazing foodie experience Celebrity advertises. Entertainment and activities oriented to early diners who head to bed by 9pm. I might like Celebrity more when I'm 60+.

The perfect 10 ten cruise. I loved every moment. Wish they could clone us so that we would have the chance to experience everything, everyday.

This was my first cruise and it was a fabulous experience. Everyone was respectful and willing to make the cruise comfortable and a memorable experience.

My family of four had an amazing time! Looking forward to next year’s cruise!

The entire trip went well. I signed up for this cruise because United sent me an email regarding getting a large sum of frequent flier miles to my united account. However nothing has posted yet. I am pleased with the service provided by the unites cruise help desk initially. However after I booked my trip, it was very difficult to get a hold off someone as the assigned person to my account has kept changing almost every month and I lost track of who to contact.

Overall, we love cruising the Mediterranean but we missed a lot of the usual customer service on this trip. I requested assistance several times for issues and each time it was a hassle and most times never resolved. I always thought that the staff/crew was what set cruises to a higher level beyond a resort or all inclusive and was therefor why we spent our money on cruises. That is, sadly, no longer the case. We will rethink our future plans.

Overall we had a great time on this cruise! We received great service. The entertainment was wonderful. Food was abundant and pretty good. We had the opportunity to visit beautiful and interesting places in Europe for the first time.

The ship was great! With friendly staff, lots of activities and good food we had a blast.

Service was wonderful. Options for dining were great. I only wish the restaurants had more variety, but the buffet made up for it. Wonderful lounging areas inside and out, it was a beautiful ship.

Over all we were happy. The food and Service and the crew try hard and you can see that. Good Team Culture. The entertainment and connection with the cruise director was very well below industry standard. Haedly any activities on ship. The entertainers were very poor throughout the ship. Performance Timing was very odd. As an example center of the ship didnn't have continuous entertainment during busy hours after comingback from shore ( 6 Pm and 11 pm) disappointning compared to other cruises. the start of the ship lacked luster. You look at other ships leaving and they have the pool get started party. Almost indurty standard, We were shocked that they didn't have that. A very poor start. Kills the excitment for the trip.

Beautiful ship, rooms were great. Based on info from friends and the fare we paid, we had high expectations that were not close to being met. Buffet restaurant was too crowded. Bakery items looked good but tasted mediocre. Service was inconsistent, as were updates from the crew. Food, even in the Specialty restaurants was of uneven quality. Coffee quality was excellent at Barista's and of lesser quality elsewhere. The wine by the glass selection was average in quality. It was nice though to utilize a corkage fee so we could occasionally enjoy good wine for a reasonable price. Excursions run by Oceania are overpriced. The "free WIFI" was a joke. Only one device allowed online at a time and it was painstakingly difficult to "toggle" back and forth between devices (and no instructions were given on how to do this). Get serious and allow TWO DEVICES PER CABIN! We were also promised Oceania-labeled tote bags, but we were told they didn't make it to the cruise on time.

If you want flexible dining options DON’T travel on Holland America. Also, the beverage packages are confusing. First day experience was pretty awful. The dining room had a long wait so we thought, no problem we’ll go to the buffet or Lido deck. It was 7:45pm. Half of the food options were already closed and food selection was limited. I started with a salad. By the time I went back for my main course EVERYTHING was closed. I was confused- it was 8:00pm at the time. I thought for sure that this was a mistake but it wasn’t- they close the buffet at 8 pm and don’t open again until 10:30pm!!! The only way to get food at this time is to go back to dining room and wait or order room service. The beverage package is also confusing. We were traveling with our teenager and found out that his card did not include the drink package. When we found out, we stopped using his card but unfortunately we had already incurred $12.00 in charges. I went to customer service to explain the situation but they were unwilling to refund the charges. The problem is that none of the servers seem to know the rules/policies around beverage packages. Even the food and beverage manager refused to refund the amount even though we were way below our allowed 15 drinks per day. I asked him, if he was willing to lose a customer over $12.00 and basically he stated that would be my choice. Didn’t seem to care a bit about my business. As an advent cruise traveler, I will NEVER travel with Holland America again. Poor food selection, inflexible dining options and poor customer service by senior staff is enough to keep our family away!