Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

The main dining room food and waiters were terrific. We loved the entertainment and went to all of the shows. Our room was nice, but we didn't spend much time there. There are so many things to do you won't get bored. Beautiful ship and very clean. We loved everything. After getting home, we miss the ship and the food.

Know that all sites are very crowded. Excursions were all long due to distance, etc. must see Amalfi Coast.

Embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze - surprising with more than 4,000 passengers. Value and itinerary was second to none. The crew were all fabulous. Be prepared for a working (not relaxing) vacation. With this itinerary there's only 1 sea day and an additional 1/2 day to rest (Palma). Food was above average for a cruise but I would stay away from the specialty restaurants (unless you get them as part of the package) - except for the Italian restaurant which was fabulous.

Отличный круизный лайнер.Отличное обслуживание и сервис на корабле. Хорошая круизная программа.

I do do it all again with the cruise the food wascgoid and the drink as well

We enjoyed our cruise and would recommend the Epic Ports were great but I could have skipped the stop in Cannes. We spent a few hours in the city and then went back to the ship and sat by the pool for the rest of the day. Lots to do on the ship if you wanted and places just to sit and do nothing too. Not many children on our cruise since we cruised during a non holiday/vacation time.

Wonderful cruise. Royal Caribbean is a great cruise line and one that I would recommend. This was the largest cruise ship but it did not seem crowded, never a line getting on or off the ship.

With Symphony of the Seas it's about the ship, it's amazing! Have visited most ports before so cruised to experience the new ship.

This ships layout was not very appealing and the fact that there were 4000 passengers was a turn off. The list of activities on our day at sea were awful. The staff was good in some areas and just so-so in others. The spa was good till at the end of your massage they try to sell products which was a total turn off. I would not recommend this ship to family and friends.

Very nice experience. We got the ultimate drink package and 3 special dinners. Both choices were good.

The boat is brand new, nice way to get into the boat, instead of waiting, they get you in and the party begins.

This was my first cruise and I can’t wait for my next !!!!❤️❤️❤️

I enjoyed my first cruise ever considering I am terrified of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean! Only thing I don't like is feeling rushed at port...couldn't spend as much time as I would've liked at the sights I visited for fear of not making it back to the ship on time. The lines to places to see had ridiculously long wait times.

I'm a seasoned cruiser. I've never been on a 7 day cruise where there were 5 post stops. This was by far my favorite cruise in terms of the itinerary. I got to see Spain, Italy and France in one trip. I would have liked to spend more time on the ship, so perhaps it could have been 1 more sea day because I feel like it was rushed in a sense because of the itinerary. I spent so much time off the ship and I got to see so much beauty and history. Most of the port stops were 10 to 12 hours which was great for sightseeing. But the trade off was that I didn't get to see any of the musical shows or experience a lot of what the ship had to offer. I do plan to book another cruise on the Horizon.

We were supposed to get a prepaid bus transfer to the airport but the bus was 30 minutes late. We ended up having to pay for a taxi

Great vacation. Way too much to see. But it gives you a taste of Italy. It definitely shows you where you would like to visit in the future. The Carnival Horizon was a nice ship with great staff. The Mediterranean Cruise should be one day longer with a sea day somewhere in the middle.

Cruising is expensive. I want to shadow someone who says it is not!

There was a serious problem with returning to the ship in Cagliari, Sardinia. With several ships in there were 1000s of people trying to catch the required shuttle + zero organization = near riot. Carnival has changed out this port now. The options in Naples were so much that I wished we had an extra day there instead of Cagliari! Rome was fabulous!! As was Florence but there are several public transport to be aware of: shuttle to bus area of port (required and 5€) then get public bus tickets and take public bus to train station (1.30€) to get into Florence or Pisa on your own. So add that 1/2 hr+ to your timetable! The public bus back to Piazza Grande (Grande 4) will be packed!! The shuttle to downtown Marseille was 17€ but heard from other cruisers that there was a free city shuttle a short walk down the pier. We did a private tour to Aix-en-Provence and Cassis and loved it! The views overlooking Cassis are awe-inspiring!! Cassis (Cass-ee) is a beautiful marina village. You deserve a glass of some wine or drink outside in the pier !!

Beautiful ship. Would like to see more programs to engage passengers on the ship during the day such as presentations, speakers, various "lessons" etc. Main dining room meals were good but there was a definite lack of variety. We did not visit any of the specialty restaurants

I sailed on the April 14 sailing on Symphony of the Seas and it was one of my worst vacation experiences. I’ll start with the positives: The ship is beautiful. The artwork is beautiful, I love the whimsical feel and every room is classy. The staterooms are nice and the beds very comfortable. The shows are cool. Some of them are a bit high concept. I honestly think if the ice show was iSkate 2.0 expanded, audiences would be just as happy as trying to figure out that strange storyline in 1977 but overall, a talented team. I like the emphasis on cleanliness with hand sanitizer and sinks everywhere. Here are some of the problems we experienced on the ship: The food is not great. The breakfast at the Windjammer is cold in areas it shouldn’t be and the potatoes are dry. I assume it’s a given the scrambled eggs are a mix. In the Main Dining Room, I had to send back the tuna one day because it was rubbery. The Royal Chocolate Cake doesn’t taste like chocolate. In Park Central, we took some sandwiches with us on a temperate day. 2 hours later, we took them out to eat and parts of the sandwich changed color, stemmed from what we believe to be poor ingredients or improper temperature food storage. Beyond that, the dishes were inconsistent. Some were good but many were average to below average. The menus were not inspired by the local foods or ports. It was completely generic. The wine list contains generic wines you could get in any American restaurant or Costco (like Duckhorn and Francis Ford Coppola) and there’s no cocktail menu at the dining room. This is a Mediterranean cruise. Wines are made in every country we ported at. Why not celebrate the local flavors a little more? The service ranged from good to poor but really, it was inconsistent. Rooms are barely cleaned. When we moved the pillows off the bed to sleep, the staff would not pick them back up when making the bed. They would just make the bed AROUND strewn pillows. Cups were left around for days. I found a mug in my nightstand after THREE days! Eventually, this got better so I assume it’s a kink the team is working out. In the Solarium Bistro breakfast, tables would be covered in empty plates, giving the appearance of a trashed restaurant. Guests would have to shove plates around on the table to make room to eat and even when I asked they be cleared off, they were not always cleared off. When we called (from the hall) about our phone problems (more on that below), the operator tried to tell us it was late and could he just come tomorrow. We said no. They did fix it but then ANOTHER guy showed up later in the night to fix it again. Seems like poor miscommunication. We had a guest services officer tell us iSkate 2.0 was free skating time for passengers. It’s a show. Please educate your guest services team. The spa was small. The “lobby area” for the thermal suites connects to the aroma spa (which had no aroma), the tiny dry steam room and the rainforest shower so you can hear every door slamming and everyone struggling with the rainforest shower, which only lasts 10 seconds. The worst part is that the ceiling shook every time someone above in the gym lifted a weight, took a step on the stair master etc. Why would you not soundproof the spa?! Also, I really missed the floor to ceilings windows of the sea that Carnival had. The noise was too distracting and I had to get a refund. The nightly dance parties with the life-of-the-party cruise director are lacking. Oh and all the cool activities you advertised? The escape room was only open once at a port time. The skating rink is only open once for passengers. Things open and close at weird times and the hot tubs are not hot. The advertised activities, especially those in Studio B, were a gimmick. The technology on this ship is not good. First, a tech/service issue: The automatic door at Central Park malfunctioned and nearly slammed in my face and instead of noticing he should report it, the staff member laughed at me! A second time, it slammed me hard in the shoulder because the automatic doors in Central Park are slower than ALL the other automatic doors on the ship! Back to the phone: our room phone needed 3 work orders so we basically had to go to guest services or do it ourselves every time we need something. Why am I paying $14.50 a day for service? The app sucks. You can’t bookmark events, message other guests on the ship, it listed incorrect times for trivia, listed an ice skating event and then we got there and it was iSkate 2.0 and it generally lacks info like “don’t bring any loose items to laser tag.” We missed events because of the app. FINALLY, the billing issues! First, I got billed twice for a spa pass and had to have it refunded. Then, on the last day, I was told I didn’t return towels and charged $50! First of all, we last used towels on day 5. We brought them back and the employee barely paid attention when we returned them. Or perhaps the technology malfunctioned again! We spent the last night at midnight at Guest Services (AGAIN) to clarify the towel billing. We were told they would take it off and it would reflect on our account in the morning. In the morning, on the tv, the towels were still there but on the paper invoice, it was gone (slow technology yet again!?). We figured that’s fine but then I got home and got billed for the towels AGAIN! I had to call and then had to explain yet again how I didn’t take the towels. I’ve been told the charge will be refunded in 7-10 days so only time will tell if it’ll finally happen. This cruise was an awful experience. To their credit, a Guest Services Officer did offer 10% off our next cruise but we declined (got $50 on board credit instead) because we will never sail Royal Caribbean again and will never recommend it to our friends. Side note: Cruise line automatically assigned my rating as 3.6 but I'm not giving the cruise credit for Gaudi's genius architecture in Barcelona! I personally would give the cruise a 2.