Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

The freestyle cruising was nice. The staff were friendly and accommodating. Make sure to sign up for the shows because you need reservations even if they are free. The food was very good in all locations we tried. The room setup was terrible, but you just have to get use to it. For the price, I would highly recommend this cruise. We got a really good deal of about $100 per night per person for a balcony. The locations you visit in Italy are not very appealing so I suggest doing tours in these places. If you like the beach then Cannes is the perfect place. For both France ports, I would suggest to ride the little train. However, we did not realize we had to sign up for the tender at Cannes. The ship cannot dock so you have to take a lifeboat to shore. If you do not sign up the day before, you will wait several hours to get off (like we did). Embarkation in Barcelona was fast. However disembarkation was slower. We waited an hour for our luggage and then found out it was separated because they said there were no tags. When we found them, the tags were on all of the bags still!!! Someone was blind I guess. The line for the taxi was over 1 hour. 

Our cruise experience was memorable from the boarding to the stateroom's cleanliness to the friendly,professional staff in every department to the entertainment onboard to the land excursion, all met and surpassed our expectation.  To Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas staff and crew members, on belf of myself, my sister and my daughter....THANK YOU!! for a most rewarding and memorable European vacation!

Sailing from the UK for 66 hours before reaching land is simply too much particularly through the Bay of Biscay with inclement weather and no cover over the swimming pools.

The premium restaurants were very poor, especially the steaks served in Chops Grill.

The choice of entertainment was limited with movies being rerun a number of times in various locations.

This cruise has put me off a) Royal Caribbean and b) cruising.  Such a pit y as our previous experience aboard Independence and in the Baltic was very good.  Simply no comparison between the two.

The Independence of the Seas was a very clean, organized, and very staff friendly.  We have had a little bit better food on other cruise lines, but, never-the-less, the food was very good.  Our cabin attendant, waiter, and busboy were excellent, as were all the staff.  The excursion were well-organized.  The destinations were very good.  Some extra time in ports would have been appreciated since there is so much to see which is very incredible.  We would recommend this ship and its itinerary(ies) to all.

The fact there was plenty for single people and had a meeting place for them 

to meet great entertainment pleasant crew and cabin staff .I have been looking for another cruise but I'm afraid there so aspen civet think I was lucky to have called at the right time .So I feel this something that could be looked at don't think it's fare to charge double for lone travellers .I must also congratulate the lady who handled my booking she was very efficient and pleasant.

The fact there was plenty for single people and had a meeting place for them 

to meet great entertainment pleasant crew and cabin staff .I have been looking for another cruise but I'm afraid there so aspen civet think I was lucky to have called at the right time .So I feel this something that could be looked at don't think it's fare to charge double for lone travellers .I must also congratulate the lady who handled my booking she was very efficient and pleasant.

For first time cruisers it took a couple of days to understand what was going on and where everything was on the ship. Once that was over my son and I enjoyed what was on offer. The food was good and there was plenty of choices. I am not sure I would book offshore trips again. They are well run but there are only so many buildings I want to look at. Gib was well worth it though.

It's then up to you what you want to join in with.

Apart from not always being able to get a sun bed near the pool everything else went very well and the room was kept spotless.

Nice ship, good staff. It will be nice if some information is printed and placed in the rooms about the ports of call. For example the docking in Civitaveccia was in a commercial port and the walk or shuttle is quite a distance from the ship to the port exit and then more time either waiting for a shuttle or walking to the train sation and the train is more than an hr to Rome. It would've been helpful to know these simple facts so those like us not doing excursions know what to expect. Some facts about each port and city would've been very helpful. Same with Napoli as Pisa and Flourence as quite a distance from the port. If I knew ahead of time that the docks are so far from the destination I may have chosen a diiferent itenirary.

It was our first time to Europe, and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Spain, Italy and France.  The weather was beautiful, and so was the ship.  The cruise staff did and a great job keeping everyone involved in activities, and having a good time.  The trip was fast paced as almost every day we were in a new port with lots of things to see.  I highly recommend taking a tour, or hiring a driver.  The roads and driving scene is not at all like the US, and our one venture driving in Barcelona, was exhilarating, and harrowing at the same time.  Take my word for it, and leave the driving to the pros.  The embarkation left a little bit to be desired as there was a long line, and it took a while to get through check in.  They needed more of a covered area to wait in.  Debarkation was extremely smooth, with little to no waiting at all.  Our room steward did a great job, and the wait staff in the restaurants did a great job also.  I really had no complaints, and couldn't have asked for anything more.  It was our first time cruising with a balcony stateroom, and now I will be hard pressed to cruise any other way.  It was delightful to get out of bed in the morning, and go out to the balcony and watch as the ship cruised in to the port, and docked.

Matt the Cruise Director and his staff was great. I love Marq he to was very helpful and he keep the party going.   Jassmin from Lido and Reflections Dining Hall catered to our group every day.  We would look for his section because of his sun and bright disposition.  Benjamin, Sucardi (i hope i spelled it close to right) Mr. D (Who was our bar runner)  and there is one more Server however I can't remember his name at this time,  they were a great team and made dining in the dining room a great experience.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

We would like to apreeciate some people during our Cruiseship Carnival Vista June 3-11, 2016 to Western Caribbean cruise, thanks to our table #742 late dining crew staff - head waiter Juan from Peru, team waiter Harta from Indonesia asst team waiter Gerlie Queano from the Philippines, and to our staterom steward Purnawan from Indonesia cabin# 3231, they were all excellent! great services rendered to us! Please extend our gratitude to them, and let their supervisors be notified of their great effort.

We booked a Mediterranean cruise to explore new countries, and had a good time visiting Italy and France, and staying in Barcelona before and after the cruise.

VIsta is a new ship, and Carnival's biggest.  It didn't 'blow us away' as we thought it might.  We had previously sailed on the Valor, and thought it just as nice, if not nicer.

Staff were very friendly and helpful (though trying to find our 'your own dining' the first time was difficult).  A balcony cabin is recommended to enjoy some quiet time, and feel less claustrophobic. 

On this cruise, too many things to pay for (restaurants and buses to the port terminals).  This is NOT a relaxing tour, as you'll always want to be going to see things (and they are some distance away) -- not Carnival's fault, just the way this tour happens.

Food was good, though Lido buffet seemed to have less choices than the Valor we had sailed on before.

Easy boarding and exiting, getting off the ship with so many people was also easy.  The elevators seemed slower than on Valor though.

I would not go out of my way to sail again on the Vista.

The cruise was wonderful and the Vista is beautiful. Every crew member was so nice and helpful and helped make this a vacation of a lifetime.  They met our every need and were so helpful. The ship was spotless.

This cruise offered the most unparalleled excursions: tower of Pisa, Coliseum, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Pompei and Mt. Vesuvius!  It was a trip I will never forget.

The Vista is an truly an amazing ship!  Delicious food, wonderful entertainment.

i truly enjoyed every aspect of the cruise. it  is the first cruise that i have been on where i did not have one complaint. the  ship had everything conveniently located from the center of the ship, the food was outstanding no matter where we ate,the staff was totally professional and a joy to be around, the entertainment was first class from the comedians to the stage shows,the ports were an experience we will never forget and all of our expectations were met and exceeded. carnival should be proud of themselves on this one, it was evedent that lots of thought was put onto the construction of this ship with an eye on the customer.

The Epic is a beautiful ship with an excellent crew! Lots of fun shore excursions!!! The dining rooms were beautifully appointed. Highly recommend this great trip!!!p

We had a good trip and the service was good, I believe they could have little better service with rooms and dining. No real complaints just nothing to brag about either. 

We did a Back to Back Cruise on board the Epic, May 22nd and May 29th 2016 . We were celebrating my 50th birthday.  We had an extraordinary time!  We did about 12 cruises so far but this was our first time cruising to Europe and this is a perfect itinary!  Very glad we did it twice!  Every ports of call we enjoyed! Days in ports are very long and that is perfect, giving us plenty of time to go explore the sights ashore.  We loved leaving from Barcelona, which is a fabulous city.  The Epic  itself, we enjoyed very much!  We did the BreakAway and Getaway, and I would say,  the Epic is our favorite.  Lots of nook and crannies to find quiet place.  More space on deck.  But, I miss a bit the Promenade around the ship of the Getaway and BreakAway .  The "special" restroom situation was no problem for us being married for a long time!  But this could be awkard for new friends sharing the cabin.   Food was very good. We got the free  UDP when booking  and enjoyed a specialty restaurant every night. Service was very attentive and wonderful.  Our cabin steward was excellent and very nice to talk to. Lastly,  I want to say a big  thank you to Melissa Kaufman-Stolz our TA from Dream Vacations.   She went above and beyond for us.  She made extra sure to make me feel special  all cruise long for my birthday celebration.   Prior to the cruise, she also re-booked my cruise several times to make sure I had the best deal- price for my cruise. This is why I always book long time before sailing. No way to loose!  Also, she was always responding to my e-mails very quickly during the week or the weekend!   She was a big part of making  this trip a memory to last a lifetime and will forever be grateful. Thank you Melissa!   Anyone  looking for a TA , look no further, sit back , relax and enjoy Melissa's excellent service!   This trip is stamped in our heart as one of the most fun and exciting one we did so far!

 I highly recommend it!  I would love to do same cruise  again and again!  

in general food was good except Asian food was bad, Chinese food ought to be prepared by native Chinese chef and not regular cruise chef. Concerto waiter Nicola and Humberto worked hard and very funny, it was a pleasure to have them as waiters.  Roger from the room attendant was very clean

i did love the itinerary. Stops almost every day. Gibraltar was great. I did think the price was too high compared to other cruises of the same caliber.