Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

Did not know what to expect when we booked the Independence of the Seas because of some negative comments; just really pleased we ignored them. 

We had a great time; everything about the cruise was brilliant. The accommodation was as we expected, like being in a good 4*hotel. The food was never ending excellent quality quinine. We could not fault the entertainment, first class every night including top deck black & white nights.The crew could not do enough for you. They were very pleasant, friendly and very helpful. The excursions were as good as you made them with really good tour managers. We could not fault anything. We will be going with Royal Caribbean again and would definitely recommend using them. Thank you

Did not know what to expect when we booked the Independence of the Seas because of some negative comments; just really pleased we ignored them. 

We had a great time; everything about the cruise was brilliant. The accommodation was as we expected, like being in a good 4*hotel. The food was never ending excellent quality quinine. We could not fault the entertainment, first class every night including top deck black & white nights.The crew could not do enough for you. They were very pleasant, friendly and very helpful. The excursions were as good as you made them with really good tour managers. We could not fault anything. We will be going with Royal Caribbean again and would definitely recommend using them. Thank you

This cruise enabled us to enjoy a balcony at a reasonable price. Although dealing with large  numbers of people, everything on the whole was well organised especially getting on and off the ship.

Took a last minute Mediterranean cruise to see as much of Spain, France and Italy as we could in August, which is a crowded time to be in Europe anyway. Cruise was lovely in general. Food was very good, some days better than others. There were very few English speakers, but most of the staff could help us out when needed. We met a lovely couple from Dublin at dinner so we ate with them most evenings! Some crew members were kinder than others, but overall, we had a good experience. Biggest complaint would be that the excursions didn't allow you enough time on shore. You could explore and shop or eat lunch, but there was seldom enough time to do both! We skipped Naples and did Capri, skipped Genoa and did Portifino. Fell in love with both and wished we had more time there!

Overall my husband and I enjoyed the cruise. Each port had its attraction, My favorites were Florence and Naples. Did all but one tour independent.  Ironically the only one that we did with NCL was the Monaco and Monte Carlo tour and it was our least favorite.  I believe it had to do with the tour guide and not enough things to see or do.  The guide wasn't passionate, he just commented without much historical context.  As another cruiser stated the NCL wasn't helpful if you didn't book the tour with them.  They had no interest in letting you know where to go. I wasn't expecting them to know anything about the tour company but to be helpful in guiding to where the independent tours were stationed and how to get to them.  

Food was okay, Actually I think Carnival's food was better, definitely Carnival's dessert were better and overall Celebrity has had the best food.  We had the drink package and the upgrade restaurant.  Definitely the drink package is worth it but the upgrade to the restaurant package was just okay.  The Italian restaurant was  nothing great,  the Steakhouse was good as was the Brazilian churrascaria.  

The Garden Cafe was okay, however during breakfast it was always jammed. AC isn't what we Americans are used to, it was still warm. Had to take the food and eat outside the Garden Cafe, nothing wrong and actually better (nice breeze).

Cabin room was small as expected (a bit dated) nice balcony but I didn't like that the sink was right in the room almost in front of the bed.  Good water flow for the shower.  Room had good storage for two individuals.  Bring a power strip cord, only two 120 volt receptacles and two 220 volt (European).  With todays gadgets that we all have you'll be sorry if you don't bring the power strip. Our cabin guy was great, Marlon was always asking us if we needed something when he saw us. The bar guy from Perú on the pool deck was great, (forgot his name).

great 2 week cruise the ship was fantastic and the ports we went to was very good, the weather was really good until the last 2 days coming back to Southampton.

They need to hire more people. Get a new chef.

Beautiful ship.

Get better schedules.

Learn how to treat foreign nationals/customers.

Entertainment was good. Good shows.

While the Vista is a brand new ship it is hard to tell .. very low key décor  no Grand atrium as on other ships in its class or size.. a very casual feel.. Don't get me wrong.. its nice but NO wow!  the food was days..  good... not great.. the breakfast menu  at the buffet was pretty much the same all 8 days.. the only exception was GUYS BURGER JOINT  ! excellent!!  on a scale of 1-10   a " 11"  it was that good!  the dining rooms are run in  a American dining experience  theme... witch means no table cloths  no pulling chairs out .. and all with the feel of a American chain restaurant .. No pampering..  The price was attractive and service overall good but I'll stick to other lines I can be casual staying home..

The cruise ship was amazing. The staff on the ship were always helpful and smiling and asking did we need anything. I've read other reviews about the stuff being rude and grumpy and unpleasant. I have to strongly suggest that this is nonsense and one bad experience with one individual should not tarnish and entire fleet of crew. Superb service. 

The food was good in most cases although somethings should stay open all day. Given the amount of money we spend on these cruises, all inclusive should mean all inclusive. You need to be more transparent with your drinks packages and the limits of 15 drinks / day. it's not fair hiding information or not making it completely transparent. Also, it was a pleasure for us to pay our gratuities as they staff deserved it but a lot of people were not aware on the ship that they would have an extra charge of 300+ dollars / person at the end of their cruise. 

The wifi is crap and drops consistently. It's also a rip off in this day and age and should be included for free. There should be a pool for adults although it's a bit late now. The Lidl deck pool should have been designed much bigger and less seating area in that area or some form of transforming pool to deck area for films in evenings. I didn't particularly like the pools as kids were always bombing etc. Which is 100% cool as they're on their holidays enjoying themselves but it would have been nice to just relax for 2 minutes without getting kicked, punched or water in your eyes. 

These are all minor grumbles. Overall, the experience was amazing. Sitting on a balcony in the middle of the meditarranean sipping a beer, looking at the stars is an experience I will never forget. 

Highly recommend this cruise!  The ship was very clean and the staff very friendly.  The ports we visited had much to offer.  I would highly recommend booking excursions prior to sailing.

We loved the variety of the ports of call,  and the ability to see so much in the short amount of time. The cruise director was incredible. He kept us laughing and well informed.  I will certainly recommend the Carnival Vista to friends. 

I have cruised with a number of companies and I have to say this was my least favorite.  Everything from booking the trip to getting good information scheduling flights getting on the ship planning meals entertainment all was very hard.  Over all the staff was good food was ok not the best not the worst.  

I will say the shows were great.  One show I tried to book and was told they did not have the show on the ship.  A day later another guest was telling me they had plans to go to the show.  Come to find out the staff did not know what they were talking about.  Everything was extra even it cost extra to go to one of the shows and the price changed a few time from when I paid for it.  Going up of course.  After making plans to go to the show, setting a time months ahead of time the day before the show I was told they could not honor my reservation.  Even know I paid for premium seating I was told it was first come first serve who ever got there first got the best seats.  My luggage did not make the ship and so for the first 5 days I had no cloths except for what I was wearing.  I do not feel the staff made a helpful effort to get my luggage when I asked them what they were doing they told me it was not there problem it was the air line and I needed to deal with the airline.  They did wash my cloths as well as they were very happy to sell me a polo shirt for 50 dollars. 

Good cruise, liked the ship, mainly good service and lovely food.

Didn't enjoy the open dining as it was generally disorganised, had to wait 30 minutes+ for a table and very slow service.  Otherwise cabin kept very clean, entertainment good and had a lovely time.

We loved the Harmony of the Seas, clean, thoughtfully designed so that it was easy to move around, easy to use.  Did not feel crowded.

the usual wonderful staff...

Entertainment was way above average.

we aporeciate the fact the they really made an effort to di it right!

My kids love the cruise very much. The service was excellent. The lines to everything was long and hard. The appearance of the characters was for photos only and no interaction with the kids. love it anyway. 

Royal Princess is a newer ship which was nice. There was many different options for food. The service was fantastic and it was kept very clean. 

Unfortunately after recently sailing on a Princess cruise some of the shows we replayed. Princess no longer has the tv channel of the map of the ocean, temperature and wave size. On my past cruises the tv was set up like cable. This time it was more like an android box. It would have been kind of Princess to alert their passengers when booking the cruise that they would need to pay for a shuttle at some of the ports as this was mandatory on a couple of ports. 

Crow are saico /  boring ship/ bad food / bad servises/ noisy mike inside the room wake you up every morning/ stubid formal night that you waer nice with no place to spend the night..just go around and around in th ship/ crazy billing you 13 eoro per person as atip for the house keeping and another 13 E for the waiter in the restorant,,which is the didnt mention tell i ask the guest service  what is that number for!!!

no iron and you cant even bring your own ! You need  to pay for pressing your shirts dress ,,etc/ and it need 24 hours befor bring it back!!!so i need to plan my clothes and my children clothes ,,no chance for mistake !!!haha!!!what avication!!!!

slides are close when there is somthing in the theater whiches socks that every day i need to waste my time chiking times of opning and close of the slides and the restirant that they change evry day!!!!!

and i dont forget the stubed event of winning astubed thing for 2 hours and when this event finish and we want to go eat the main restorant were close too!!!!cleaver crow!!!!

only pizza after 10 oclock serve from an angrey tired sad waiters tht throwing the pizza in the plate ,,making you feel shy of asking !!!!!!!!

finaly you will be kiked out of the ship befor 10 oclock or they will call your name and send the securty people to sraond you and take you and your children out of the ship !!!

i was at (Norwigian epic croze line )the year befor and it was the best vacation ever,,so i desided this year to try this stubed royal caribian harmony ship!!!!!!!

This brand-new ship is absolutely beautiful.  The cabins have ample space for storage. The cabins are large especially in the bathroom where a decent sized shower is the highlight.  The food was great.  The evening shows - Grease, Columbus, The Fine Line, iSkate, etc. were  the best shows we have seen on any cruise and we are very experienced cruisers - absolutely amazing!!  The reason we are giving this cruise 3 out of 5 stars is the service.   We don't know if it is because there are too many people on board or because the ship is still going through growing pains,  but the staff at guest services, shore excursions and the cruise director's team are terrible.  The service is rude, inconsistent and slow.  Particularly at guest services and shore excursions,  we were made to feel as if we were bothering them and that our issues were nothing more than an inconvenience.    As for the cruise director's staff, again it seemed the guests were more of a bother - not a single person was friendly or fun!  The most anyone said to us was literally as we were leaving the ship on the last day - as they were holding the elevator for us to leave.  We do have to say that the dining room team and our cabin steward were amazing - courteous, helpful and pleasant.  Having cruised with RCCL in the past, we would not cruise with RCCL again on any of their megaships for fear they just don't have their act together when there are more than 2000-2500 passengers.  

great ports and enjoyed each city. The cruise was full of Spanish people which made it very loud and chaotic at the open buffet. We thought NCL catered to North America, but these were in the minority which made the cruise somehow noisy and unorganized. People would cut in front of you with no respect to others. People were going in the hot tubs with babies and in their under wears, some others were in their clothes. The swimming pools weren't enough for the sheer number of kids, and the water color changed, not sure if it's something to do with the chlorine or the people swimming. Overall, I wouldn't except that experience on Norwegian, but rather on carnival cruises.

The Oceania "Riviera" was well kept.  There was no rust in sight.  The food could not have been any better.  It was a trip of a lifetime.

The onboard wi-fi left something to be desire.  When it was working it could be used to send text messages, but not photos.  Internet searches were slow.