Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

The ship size was small and the amenities resembled it. The air conditioning on the 6th floor didn't work, there was only 1 outlet for 2 people and that kept going out. The location of the outlet was obscure. In the bathroom, the shower needed the black mold to be cleaned along the walls and this was probably due to the air circulation in the room (poor air conditioning). The pools were small, which I at first thought they were hot tubs for the ships size, and always packed. The ship should not be booked to its capacity.

This was our first cruise. Had thought of cruising before, but hadn’t looked at it in much detail as our pre-conceived expectation was that life on board would pander to slightly old fashioned styles of yesteryear and we’d be captive in a stuffy/foisty old ship with mostly pensionable co-cruisers who’s idea of a good time was a tea dance and tiffin.

We’re neither of us ‘beach bunnies’, we can happily spend ½ day here or there lounging about on a beautiful beach or by a pool, but when on holiday we are much more inclined to be out and about seeing the sites, activities, tours etc.

After a little more investigation on the various cruise company’s operating in the Mediterranean and itineraries offered, we settled on NCL as our choice for our first cruise, departing from Barcelona on the Norwegian Gem.

We decided to arrive in Barcelona a few days before the cruise to have time to explore and so pleased we did. If you have the time beforehand or possibly after your cruise ends, can thoroughly recommend spending a few days in Barcelona. It’s a great city, so much to see and do. A ¾ day trip won’t really do it justice.

Once we’d boarded and explored the ship, we were so delighted with our choice. It totally swept away any of our misconceptions. I can describe the ship and its amenities/atmos etc as fundamentally targeting the family/fun and young at heart holidaymakers. As a consequence, children and teens were plentiful, particularly daytime around the pool and slides. But there were plenty of other areas to sit and sunbathe slightly away from the play areas.

Dinning arrangements were very easy going, albeit the buffet at breakfast (whilst plentiful and full of choice) can be rather hectic at peak times…. The evening dinning choices were also comprehensive. We choose to eat in the main dining room often, normally before 7pm if we could. At that time waiting was minimal (if at all) and we’d normally be seated at a typical two person table (a little more personal/romantic than being seated at a group table of strangers at a fixed time every night). Food choices feature 3 or 4 daily specials supported by regular favourites available each day. Steaks are almost always well cooked, and obviously good quality.

Entertainment on board was varied. As the ship sails in and out of Barcelona, there’s a real mix of mostly European nationalities on board, Spanish obviously, us ‘Brits’ of course, but a good number of Italians, Germans, French and some Americans too. As a consequence, the entertainment has to try to cater for a wide selection of nationalities and ages.

The choice of the cruise itinerary (on this or any other cruise) provides the great opportunity of waking each morning in another fantastic location. The assorted tours and day trips offered allow you to take a whistle-stop ‘taster’ visit. Enough time to enjoy where you go, and sometimes to leave you wanting more…… so you can plan to go again ;-)

If you want a very quiet, gentile old fashioned style of cruise holiday harking back to the days of the luxury liners, then I don’t think NCL is for you. But if you like an active holiday with plenty of life then perhaps NCL may be worth considering.

My girlfriend and I loved our cabin,service, spa, shows and the weather. It was her first cruise and my third. We both we thrilled with our cabin cleaners and our room was kept spotless. We would reccommend this cruis highly-

Just returned from a fantastic cruise in June 2008 through the Mediterranean. It was our first cruise and we thought it couldn't have been better. The ship is beautiful, our room was amazing, and the food was so good, the only downfall was we came back several pounds heavier! We are surprised at some of the negative reviews, it makes us wonder if those people could really be pleased by anyone. The trick on this ship is not to be so cheap about going to specialty restaurants that charge an extra $10-$25 per person, it is well worth it! We ate at one every night; the French restaurant and the steakhouse were our favorites. We had no problems booking reservations! We also got a great room at the back of the 9th floor. Hint: the handicapped rooms are huge. We will definitely sail with NCL again.

We enjoyed this cruise experience. From the initial check-in process to the ship ammenities to the on-board staff - they are top notch and wonderful at what they do. The on-board ship shows were amazing! The quality and the productions was very professional and we looked forward to seeing a different show every night.

the ship is truly impressive and unique,beautiful design, very classy and chic,high standard services,friendly and professional staff,spacious and comfortable rooms,great choice of food and drinks,wonderful entertainment,large casino.You feel like in different world.Highly recommend to everyone.

My wife and I wanted to see the Mediterranean area as a nice second anniversary trip. In the past, we have traveled on land tours and have enjoyed seeing many countries in Europe, Asia, and South America. This time, however, we felt that a cruise would be the best option to see these coastal areas. Upon arrival in Rome, Italy for our cruise, the problems started. Royal Caribbean reps told us to get our bags and wait for further instructions. Our transfer ticket stated that we would get a orientation tour of Rome if we arrived early (which we had). So, we were looking forward to that. The agents promised us that the tour would begin as soon as we got outside the airport. But, after we were herded into a pack of our tourists, we were informed that the "traffic" would prevent us from doing a tour. This is a strange and unbelievable excuse. We rode on a bus to Civitavecchia. At the "holding tank" area, we sat for at least 30-40 minutes without being told what was going to happen and when. Suddenly, we were informed that the ship would be opened and boarding could commence. People rushed to the entry way and we were again herded onto the ship in a tiresome manner. Once inside, our rooms were not ready and we had to wait in the WindJammer cafe and eat. The food in the main cafe (as we found out throughout the cruise) is similar to going to a Golden Corral buffet or perhaps some other American style buffet restaurant. While palatable, the food is mediocre and tiring at best. Rooms: The rooms are VERY small and uncomfortable. My college dorm room was FAR better and cleaner than the room we had on the ship. I had trouble sleeping every night and the walls creaked, crackled, and popped all night. Also, the ship turns off the A/C at night and it gets REALLY HOT in the middle of the night. I woke up sweating many nights. Also, there is no water in the room (or nearby) except for expensive bottled water. The shower was VERY small and the curtain was ineffective at keeping water off of the floor. My wife and I constantly had problems with the shower curtain. Excursions: The Royal Caribbean excursions were hit or miss. The ones to Egypt, Turkey, and Capri/Sorrento/Pompeii were fairly good. The ones to Rhodes, Cypress, and Athens were awful. In fact, the one to Cypress actually omitted a scheduled activity because we were supposed to visit a castle. Incredibly, we did not get to see this even though we paid for the tour. The guides on the bad tours were also rather bad. They rambled at a consistent monotone as if they were doing a lecture for the 1000th time without concern for whether we could hear. One guide in Rhodes, for example, lectured about everything under the sun to kill time while we waited 50 minutes for people to use the restrooms. So, a good chunk of that tour was outside the restrooms of Rhodes! When we complained about the bad tours to Royal Caribbean reps, they just said to fill out a form and they'll get back. I thought this was a poor response and asked to see a manager. They were VERY reluctant to even allow us to see a manager. The manager merely parroted corporate policy and seemed to interrogate us as to why we would be upset! The deal is that if you don't like something, you can file a complaint and you won't hear the result until THE LAST DAY OF THE CRUISE. The reason, I think, is so that you won't cancel any other excursions and won't get any more upset. On the last day, they refunded us 20% of two excursions for our troubles. This amount seemed arbitrary and was part of a form letter attached to the refund. Overall, I must say that the tours were well below what you'd see with something like Globus, Trafalgar, Cosmos, Brendan, etc. Facilities on Board: The ship itself does not have all that much to keep you occupied for days at sea. The golf course is very small and has a few holes. It might keep you occupied for an hour. The climbing wall was interesting and took maybe

well delivered,did you watch the rams game last fall, sensational ,go warner

A nice cruise that could/would have been excellent if the entertainment and lecturer were up to Hollands normal standards.

I WAS TAKEN AT 7TH JANUARY 2008 AT COSTA SERENA CRUISE TO MEDITERRANEAN WEST IT WAS A VERY WONDERFULL EXPIRENCE I WANT TO MAKE ALL THE CONGRATULATION TO ALL DE COSTA SERENA CREW ESPECIALY TO MY STEWARD ROON AT WAITER TABLE AT CERES RESTAURANT AND THE GUY JOSE MANUEL SPANISH CORDINATOR MY CABIN NUMBER WAS 9277 AGAIN THAKS FOR ALL THE ATTECION

This was our 8th cruise with Carnival.The Freedom decor appears that the designer took what was left from all the other Carnival ships and plastered up different wallpaper,carpeting, and a blue Statue of Lliberty and somehow named the ship-Freedom. The meat in the dinning room was just plain tough EVERY night and NEVER prepared as requested. The saving grace on this ship was the great ports of call in Europe.Sailing into Venice was the highlight.

The ship was beautiful, the attendants were great and very helpful.

I was a first time, senior 'cruiser', and after my experience I am sold on this type of a vacation. I did my research on the internet and found that Alaska Air Cruises offered the best deal. Their travel agent, Karen, was especially helpful to a first timer. The ship was beyond my expectations. Our inside cabin was quite adequate in space. We could have used a lit up clock, as we didn't know whether it was day or night in the dark. I was impressed with the high calibre of entertainment offered, and goods in shops at very reasonable prices. The fitness centre contained state of the art equipment of which I availed myself...as well as the jogging track. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven after my spa treatment and massage. One could never forget the plethora of not only delicious but also healthy food in every outlet on the ship. I felt like a small child let loose in a candy store. All services were professional and friendly. The overall appearance of the ship as well as our cabin was always clean. Our waiter, Val, in the dining room made each one of us feel special and always remained pleasant despite unwarranted complaints. The photographers were of great assistance with my struggles in using a digital camera for the first time. Embarkations and disembarkations were well handled and went smoothly. Shore excursions packed alot of sightseeing into short periods of time. I will have to peruse my pictures now to see where I had been. Thank you for making my 70th birthday special!

We were among the unfortuate travelers on "Lesion"of the Seas. It seemed that everyone on board was ill. The ship facilities, themselves, were not set up to promote health and hygiene. Despite the fact that there were no restroom facilities on the major public decks, no hand sanitizing procedures were in place. During this cruise, you could always tell who had visited the Doctor as they were all victims of poorly-administered (very expensive) IVs. The ship assessed transport fees at major ports. Having to pay to get off the ship (Venice, Florence etc) is comparable to taking an airplane and being charged to use the jetway to disembark at your destination.

cruiseonly.com, cruises.com, cruise411.com, BJ's, GM

There is nothing positive to be said about this ship or this cruise line. Staff's main interest seemed to be hashing out their personal problems while on duty. Majority of staff seemed to be drunk, high or both majority of cruise.

The ship was pristine, clean, and staff always ready to serve without being in the way. The food was wonderful and we loved having room service breakfast every morning rather than get up. We had nothing negative to say about our entire experience and would get on another ship tomorrow if we could.

The food is wonderful no matter what you eat or where. Very quality. Of course Cagney's is superb but has a cover charge. The crew, reception, waiters, all, are very friendly and polite and try to learn your name. The hotel director, Klaus, makes sure that all is perfection and it is. I just did not find anything not to like. I have been on about 50 cruises and this is the first perfect one. The majority of the crew is European or Australian and I think this is the big secret of success plus excellent management.

Sailed on the 3rd week of the inagural month. European itin - so every port was wonderful. There is so much to see in Europe, this itin was primarily in Italy - that every day was full from early morning to evening. Many of the shore excursions try to cover too much. We complained about the one that does both Taormina & Mt Etna as you spend most of the tour driving - although both places are wonderful to see - we didn't have much time to look around - only 15 minutes on top of Mt Etna after a 2 hr ride to get there. Shore excursion desk gave us a partial refund and were very accommodating. In Rome, we did the Vatican tour which was great, but once again so much to see - the tour guides practically run through some areas to keep you on schedule. To do it over again, I would plan one place to see at a time on an excursion. The Italians are very fit and are used to walking/climbing stairs all day long - not like us Americans who usually drive everywhere! All in all, was great fun - I highly, highly recommend this ship - it's spectacular!

WE HAD THE MOST WONDERFUL VACATION CRUISE WE EVER EXPERIENCED, AND THIS WAS OUR FIFTH CRUISE, SECOND WITH YOUR LINE.. THE SHIP WAS MUCH MORE THAN WE COULD HAVE EXPECTED. EVERYTHING WAS ALWAYS CLEAN AND POLISHED. PUBLIC AREAS, SHOPS, RESTROOMS, ELEVATORS, THEATRES, ETC. WERE ALWAYS WELL KEPT AND MAINTAINED. WONDERFUL DINING EXPERIENCE WITH EXECELANT FOOD. OUR SHORE EXCURSIONS WERE FANTASTIC AND WELL WORTH THE PRICE WE PAID. WOULD WE DO IT AGAIN ON THE SAME SHIP? IN A HEARTBEAT! IN FACT, WE ARE ALREADY SEARCHING FOR OUR NEXT CRUISE VACATION DESTINATION.