Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

This was our first cruise so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I will say that I've been to Europe and the Mediterranean many times and this was the way to go. It allowed us to see so much more than we would had we not been on the ship. I see people complaining about the layout of the ship, and the placement of the elevators, and we thought they we perfectly placed. We were on deck 12 which was perfectly set between the 6th floor shops, guest services, and casino, and the 15th which was where the food is located. Most of the time we used the stairs. The NCL EPIC is exactly that. It's EPIC! The largest ship in the port. I would definitely book another cruise on the EPIC.

I would definitely cruise this ship again. The staff were all pleasant, efficient, and professional. The ship was at full capacity yet we never felt crowded out.

I have been taking cruises all over the world for over fourty years and this cruise has to be my worst experience to date. The issues I had with this cruise was that the level and quality of service provided paled in comparison to all the other cruise lines I've sailed on in the past. For example;

a) The preparation and quality of the food was poor, especially in the buffet area during breakfast and dinner. I've never seen so much partially eaten food left on the plates of the passengers. What a waste!

b)  Although you could get a glass of water in the buffet area, the servers in the dinning room will not serve you water unless you purchased bottled water. You could also forget about being served coffee or tea after your meal to compliment your desert and our server acted as if she could care less. I've never experienced this lack of service on any other cruise line before.

c) Several of the shore excursions were cancelled. When we inquired as to why, we were told because there were not enough english speaking passengers that signed up for the excursion. Passengers that spoke italian, spanish, or german were able to go on the excursion. They also blamed the lack of interpreters as an excuse.

d) From the first day of the cruise we continually experienced the smell of cigarette smoke in our cabin especially through the air supply vent. Although smoking is not allowed in the cabins or on the balcony, the passengers next to us continued to smoke. They made very little effort to correct the problem nor would they offer to move us to another cabin.

e) The scheduled entertainment on the cruise was below average. The evening entertainment in the theater was geared more towards children than adults with themes like Batman and other super heros.

The ship itself was well kept and and clean. The ports we visited were enjoyable, but those are the only positive comments I  can make about my experience on this cruise line.

Lets start with some background.

This was my 7th cruise with Costa and the second on the Serena.

The embarkation in Savona went fast and swiftly. I had booked a suite, so i got priority boarding. When you arnt a costaclub member or suite passenger, you might have to wait 1 to 2 hours before boarding if you are not there early.

I loved the suite, it had everything from a Jaccuzi to a coffe making machine and a big balcony.

I enjoyed dinner a lot. you get to taste different Italian food. And yes you dont get steak and lobster because its an Italian ship. There also is no buffet for dinner only a pizza restaurant. Or if you pay the extra of 25 euros per person there is the club restaurant, wich in my opinion is definitly worth it.

There is a daily show in the three story theater, and in the bars anfd lounges there is live music.

I also recommend taking the all inclusive package. Even for non alcohol drinkers there is a lot of money to be saved.

Already looking forward to the next cruise onboard the Costa Diadema.

Unforgettable Easter season Mediterranean cruise with some unique ports.

It was my third time on a cruise and my wife's first and it didn't quite meet our expectation. My last luxury cruise was Crystal 10 years ago and the experience was better. The food and all-inclusive drinks selection is great with mediocre desserts but the dining experience was satisfying. Le Champagne was the best restaurant i had on any ship and it's comparable to dining on land. Overall service was only average and the butler was not too attentive and reachable as i expected though he tried to make our honeymoon trip special with two surprises throughout the journey. The excursions were bad and strictly catered to a much older crowd and they discouraged us (in our 30s) from doing stuff on our own so we were restricted to the excursion that they offered. I don't understand why NO FOOD except room service was offered between 4-7pm at any outlets except canapes. I am used to grabbing a bite and snacks after the excursions and were had to be glued to the room if we wanted anything to eat before dinner. The stateroom was nice, clean, and spacious with a slightly small balcony but it was good enough. On clam sea, the ship is extremely smooth and quiet and almost no vibration can be felt but on open sea the ship can sometimes shake quite vigorously and the fittings in the stateroom rattle. Shows were enjoyable but very limited to singing and dancing with not much variety. The gym feels crammed and it closes at 8pm which does not allow any night gym for younger crowd. I liked the idea of an all-inclusive cruise but might need to try a slightly bigger ship next time with Silversea or another cruise line altogether.

The ship and the cruise were quite nice, as I have said already, the food availability needs improvement and food outside the main dining room was not very good.The main dining room was just fine.

The ship was very clean and attractive. It DID have a definite Hawaiian theme which was a bit odd on the Mediterranean, but it wasn't a problem.

Staff was rude Food was average Shows were below average all inclusive drink package was nice

Very pleasant but for the poor air quality. Smoking is allowed on board which results in toxic air quality particularly on sea days.

Non-english speaking crew is well-meaning, but inept. Robo-tips are an insult (be sure to have yours pulled on the last day). Many ports require taxi or bus to reach civlilization. NCL does not provide transit for non-excursion folks. Shore excursions are, for the most part, over-priced and uninspired. Food is unpalatable - even in the premium restaurants. Try another cruise line if the trip really matters to you.

Clean and very friendly-after years of cruising N.C.L. has done a great job on making us feel they are truly trying to keep up with all the nasty people.The workers swept,sprayed,washed 24-7.Always smiling, even when I had more questions, from money exchange to the food.The free style is the way to go for dining. Excellent system!

Our room was perfect and the staff were excellent.Free style cruising is a great concept but the quality of food in the individual restaurants could have been better.

This was the most amazing trip we have ever had nothing was to much trouble all the ships staff were amazing the entertainment was seconds to none the food was fantastic excellent value for money.

can honestly say first class and a massive thank you 

Great expectation, but disappointed with food, entertainment programs, services and activities.  Comparing with my previous cruises, it was the worst one.

The ship was beautiful. The cruise was great. As frequent cruisers we found everything better than most. Except the food, this was one of the best cruises we have ever been on.

The ship was in good condition and very clean, but overall decoration was very dark. The cruise experience overall was good. It was an easy way to see lots of different cities. However, the only way to purchase anything on board the boat is with your Costa Card (room key). You have to set up an account for the Costa Card with a credit card or a 150 euro cash deposit in order to buy ANYTHING. I did not want to use my credit card and didn't have 150 euro cash, so was unable to buy anything. Which was okay, but I would have gotten drinks and things if cash could have been used. I am a college student and was traveling with a group of friends; none of us bought anything on board due to this system, so Costa missed out on a fair amount of money. Also, there is no ATM machine on board.

We recently sailed on the Costa Pacifica from Barcelona on to Palma Mallorca, Civitavecchia (Rome), La Spezia (Florence & Pisa), and Marseille.

the ship itself was nice enough. Although the centrum's dark wood wasn't to our taste. well organized on boarding, check in and leaving ship. very weak on the food and service in dining areas. maitre'd in Windows got very unpleasant when we asked to not be seated in a noisy location by the kitchen. they left us waiting 15 \" in the Garden.

The ports of visit were beatiful. The stateroom is spacious and clean. We enjoyed evening show everynight and it was great. The staff were very good as usual. My dissatisfaction were two areas. 1, Breakfast buffet. It was terrible. I am a good eater and usually don't complain about food. But this was the worst buffet I ever had! Scrambled egg must had too much water added (?to save money). I had to eat with a spoon not a fork. Bacon was tasteless and no flavor. It was like chewing a card board. Sausage was too salty and tasteless. No smoked salmon could be seen anywhere(most cruise ships serve smoked salmon on breakfast). Overall impression is that it tried to serve cheap meals to make more money. 2.Selling bottled water in dining room. It was really stupid and annoying policy that guest should buy water bottle in dining room. It may be European custom, but it's really annoying policy for American traveler.