Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

I would highly recommend this cruise for family or just a couple.. The food was good and the  entertament was the best!!!!!!! Staff was friendly and good.......

We had a rocky start on our cruise due to loosing our airline reservations and lost luggage. But, once we got on the boat we were met with incredible staff who not only helped us track our luggage, they provided kits etc to make the day without our luggage better. The ship itself is incredible with all of the options for things to do, I found myself wishing we had a little more time on board. But, the ports were incredible and it was the BEST way to do Europe instead of hopping flights and struggling to find hotels. The food was magnificent and entertainment was great. We were a little disappointed with the "Legends in Concert" as Shakira is not a legend in our opinion. But otherwise it was amazing and Blue Man Group & Circ Dreams shouldnt be missed!! We cannot wait to take another NCL trip!

  What a great cruise. The weather was perfect, the ship was big and beautiful, the standard dinning was so good we didn't even try the spetialty restraunts. The entertainment was top notch. This is the shop to take to Italy.

Unfortunately, the one sea day we had rained all day. With over 4000 passengers on board it felt very crowded and was difficult to find a "quiet" place, away from our stateroom, to simply sit and read or play cards. On the bright side, sunny days, the overall cruise experience was much more positive.

I had a Haven Spa Suite Cabin 14139, which gave us the ability to use the spa facilities and thermal pools as much as we wanted, while still having access to all the amenities of the Haven area on Floors 16 and 17, including a butler.  The concierge service was the best!  Ryan and Roel were very hands on in getting dinner and show reservations for us, and they were always on the dock each morning to ensure we got to our tour buses.  We also received priority tendering back to the ship after our tours.  On port days, Haven guests also had use of an express elevator.  With almost 5000 people on the ship, this is a great perk! The Haven Restaurant served great food, and there never was a wait.  The Haven Staff was the best on the ship.  

I also ate in 3 Specialty Restaurants.  Cagney's Steakhouse had great steaks, but slow service.  The Cucina Restaurant was one of the worst Italian food restaurants I have ever been to.  I ordered spaghetti and sausage, which was not served with a red sauce, but instead an olive oil which did not have enough sauce.  The service was also very slow.  This was not worth the $15 per person up charge. The French Restaurant, Le Bistro, had great food and fast efficient, friendly service.  For an extra $10, we ordered a great lobster tail meal, which came with 2 tails.  The staff, including the management made great effort to make all dining experiences positive and memorable.  

Had a great time, food was great,internet service was awful and shore excursions booked thru Norwegian were not as good as the one booked thru . Entertainment on board was good tho Royal Carribean has them beat, pools are small but lots of waterslides, outdoor movies great

We loved our "floating hotel" in the Mediterranean!   Their is no way we could have made travel arrangements, hotel reservations, and organized sight-seeing in all those places on our own.  And to come back every evening to a warm welcome, fabulous food, entertainment, and a lovely room - what could be better?!  Service was top-notch too.

This was a great cruise! The staff was excellent -- SO friendly and always helpful!! We especially appreciated our stateroom attendant as she was ALWAYS there to help in any way and she kept our room clean and attractive. The food was excellent and the dining room waiters were friendly and efficient. Plus, we enjoyed some exceptional performances at the evening shows. Ports were great, atmoshere was great -- all in all, a WONDERFUL cruise!!!

Very crowdy and loud experience in restaurants and Deck with poor and very unfriendly services. Good quality of food and beverages. You have to pay a lot of tax add by Account during cash procedur in shops. Not to recommend spend your vacation abboard this ship.

It was mainly the food the problem, they were limiting a lot the schedule for eating and many things like the icecream machines didn't work and then we have to make a súper long line  to Get some icecream and besides they closed the bufet restaurant very often and then they only had food for sale, even the water was súper restricted and I think like this mostrar of the charm Of cruising was lost, besides the time for visiting places was so badly distributed as for example more than 15 hours in Palma de Mallorca, we left the port until 1AM and next day in Barcelona we only had 5 hours with debarkation and everything and it has much moré to see than Palma it causes a lot Of stress to try to Reach the ship and we did everything in half. In comparison to other cruises I've done I didn't feel the sensation to be pampered.

My impression is that this ship was built to offer/include great entertainment & food, but not so when planning the cabins.  They are extremely small compared to the size of the ship, and should definitely not be offered for 3 people in the cab in.  I've been on many cruises before, and if I go again, it will certainly be in a smaller ship with more comfortable cabins.

My impression is that this ship was built to offer/include great entertainment & food, but not so when planning the cabins.  They are extremely small compared to the size of the ship, and should definitely not be offered for 3 people in the cab in.  I've been on many cruises before, and if I go again, it will certainly be in a smaller ship with more comfortable cabins.

Carrying over 4000 passengers at full capacity, the Norweigian Epic is one of the largest ships at sea.  While that may sound impressive,  it presents a number of problems for both NCL and ALL THOSE PASSENGERS.  The ship boasts an impressive array of over 20 restaurants,  but most choose not to use them.  Instead,  passengers crowd the ship's two main dining rooms, leading to long lines and wait times.   Waiting to eat dinner night after night was not on my list of "musts" for a great vacation!   Nor was making a "reservation" to see one of the ship's "free" performances,  such as Blue Man Group.   Spaces fill quickly, and at every turn you will find yourself jockeying for a position on this ship.  We even had to reserve space on a tender to get to shore in Cannes.  And because we didn't get our name in the pot soon enough,  we wasted hours trying to get off the boat.

To NCL, I would simply say this:  If you are going to serve 4000 people, then SERVE them.   Don't make your guests scramble for a spot at every table and every show.  The entire experience was the absolute antithesis of what an enjoyable vacation should be! 

Loved how we were somewhere new everyday!

The ship seemed clean. We went with another couple whose room was literally right next door. My room never had pool towels, my bedside light was out and I mean completely hanging out of the wall -out, and other little things we didn't have/get that our friends did.  Rooms had plenty of space for clothes and toiletres.

Food was good and offered a great variety! We never had an issues with long lines except in the buffet areas but that's expected.  CON: Room service is terrible and so is the "free" water. I am a water drinker but it was horrible and found myself buying water off shore.

We watched the Circ(?) Show. It was the dinner show with circus type acts. Very entertaining but the food was no impressive. I'd expect better being a DINNER show.  Blue man group was good but we had seen the same show in Las Vegas four years ago.

 Excursions were ok, very touristy and very overpriced but they scare you into buying through them so you wont get left. Worst and most expensive day was Florence/Pisa. TERRIBLE guide, tour, and food!

We traveled from Barcelona and ended the cruise in Palma Mallorca.  All ports were great.  Going on board was very efficient as well as exiting with our luggage.  Well organized.

 Staff were very good, always pleasant and helpful.

Suites are way to small.  Rooms are Poorly designed.  Beds too short!  We are 5'8" and 6'2"

Too many people on board.  Buffet meals too crowded.  Band at poolside way too loud when you are trying to take in sun and relax.

Will not do another cruise on board this ship again (Norwegian Epic).

wi

I recommend this trip to everyone. A beautiful ship, fabulous food, great activities, the Mediterranean, and the cities of Europe make a lifetime of memories. I have no complaints, except I wish the bathroom, shower, and sink were not divided.

I researched many cruises and read many reviews before selecting a cruise line for our Mediterranean cruise.  The two cruise lines came down to the Disney cruise line and Royal Caribbean.  We had sailed on Disney a couple of times before so we decided to try the Liberty of the Seas.  It had gotten good reviews and was highly ranked.

We booked a two bedroom/two bath suite (8414)  as there were 5 of us and all were adults.  The suite also came with a living room and a very large deck (table with 4 chairs and two chaise lounges).  Because of it being a suite, we were entitled to perks such as: priority check-in, preferred tender seating, use of a concierge, the concierge lounge, reserved seating at shows, full menu in suite service and complimentary robes.

The suite: The suite itself was very nice but not everything worked.  The master TV remote control did not work, we had 3 phones and not one phone's housekeeping button would work,. A dirty towel had been left on a chaise lounge, the deck table had not been cleaned.  Housekeeping on this cruise was the worst we had experienced in 9 cruises.  Our room steward did not replenish our soaps or shampoo for the first 4 days of the cruise.  We ran out of tissues and the empty tissue box was removed but not replaced.  When asking for anything (such as towels so we could shower), we had to ask multiple times or else help ourselves to the towel cart located in the halls.  No robes were provided in the suite, we had to ask for them (for use to go to the pool.) You could not contact housekeeping as the phone button did not work and no phone number was listed. 

Dining: We elected to use MyTime dining and could not have been more pleased.  We always had the same table in Boticelli.  Our wait staff was Alphonso and Jose who took excellent care of us and went above and beyond what was called for.  We found most of the food very good and enjoyed our time in the dining room.  We did go to Chops one night and found the food there (and the staff) excellent as well.  We only ate a couple of times at the Windjammer and found it difficult to find a table to sit at.  We also ate at Johnny Rockets and felt that the experience was overpriced and overhyped.

Concierge: Our concierge was Carlos and I cannot say enough good things about him. Carlos took care of errors made by Royal Caribbean on our behalf, he also was instrumental in helping resolve a return airline flight issue for us, he booked all of our premium dining reservations and he personally walked us off the ship so we were able to make an early flight back to the US.  Additionally, the Concierge Lounge provided complimentary cocktails/wine/beer and hot appetizers every night prior to dinner.  We could not be more pleased with the Concierge and the Concierge Lounge.  A much appreciated perk of a suite booking.

Excursions: We booked all but one excursion through Royal Caribbean.  The Royal Caribbean excursions were large group excursions on buses.  Not the most personal.  However, the guides that were leading the excursions were experts in their fields.  Our guide to Rome and the Vatican actually worked in the Vatican as a historian/archeologist.  Our guide to Pompeii was an ancient Roman expert who lived near Pompeii.  His insights into Pompeii were phenomenal.  The excursions were excellent.

Entertainment: We attended the Promenade parade (which was pretty lame) and 3 of us attended the ice show which they enjoyed.  We did not go to any other shows on the ship due to excursions and the timing of dinner.  We did participate in ice skating and the surfrider activity.

The top cruise lines we have gone on are Princess, Disney and Royal Caribbean.  I, personally, prefer Disney as they have such a high standard of quality.  Their entertainment is not to be missed and even the restaurant with its animation is spectacular. The family rooms on the Disney cruise ship are also top-notch as is the food.  But, with Disney, you also contend with lots of children which might not be your ideal vacation.  I would go on another Royal Caribbean cruise again but I would not necessarily make it my first choice for a cruise line.

A great way to see Italy, Spain & France safely, and we feel it was a good value.  Overall the cruise was fine, with the exception of a few cons.  

Pros:  Great itinerary, decent food in complimentary dining room, clean ship, freestyle dining, entertainment

Cons:  Overcrowded public areas, push for gift shops/drinks/excursions, terrrible food & service in paid dining rooms, sold out show reservations, tendering process

Liked the freestyle dining option and found service acceptable.  Due to the port intensive itinerary the buffet was MOBBED at breakfast  (hint: get to buffet by 6-6:30 am; or order limited continental breakfast room service the night before).  Dinners in main dining rooms were enjoyable but the 2 paid dining options we chose were a waste of money with subpar food & service.  

Staff did a good job keeping the public areas picked-up and clean.  Hand sanitizing stations in front of every restaurant.  It rained on our At Sea day so the inside public areas were very crowded.  Good reason to spring for a balcony cabin!

Great free evening entertainment, esp. Blue Man.  However we found it difficult to book preferred showtimes as many were sold out.  Suggest prebooking what you can prior to embarkation.

Each port docking process was quick and easy with PA announcements.  But the tendering process was slow and ship staff was generally rude & nasty.  We had an 8:30am "reservation" but didn't actually get on the tender until almost 10:00am.  Suggest getting the 1st or 2nd possible reservation time as soon as you can.

As usual, overpriced drinks.  Suggest purchasing a discounted wine package (up to 25% off) as soon as you board...or bring your own wine and pay $15 corkage fee per bottle. We picked up local wine in each port and brought it to dinner.

This cruise had 2 embarkation/disembarkation ports - Rome & Barcelona.  The process was quick and efficient however this created some disruption in services on those two days.  Also, housekeeping cart and bag of dirty linens were outside our cabin door daily for hours.  

The excursions offered were varied in activity levels & interests. Plus the combination of a clean ship, excellent meal preparations & ports of call made our trip memorable.

My husband and I took this cruise as part of our 30th anniversary celebration. We felt it would take us to lots of different ports and give us a variety of experiences we couldn't get on just a land trip. We were right! With 5 ports in 6 days, we were so busy! Plus the time on boat was filled with relaxing and entertaining experiences. We were able to see Blue Man Group and Cirque Dreams plus great blues and Howl at the Moon shows. The ship is the largest we've been on (4,000 passengers) but the only time we felt crowded was on a sea day when it rained and everyone was inside. That didn't last long so we didn't sweat it. The ports are varied and we found special moments at all of them. The Cinque Terre excursions was the best of the week with Andrea. We took the Nice and view from Eze and loved the food at the Flower Market. In Majorca we went on the Caves of Hams/Porto Christo tour and found Porto Christo to be a hidden gem! Another great meal by the sea. On the Best of Barcelona/Gaudi tour we were rushed somewhat and didn't get the full time for a nice meal but we loved seeing the Sagrada de Familia. In Naplrs we struck out on our own and hopped the ferry (next to the cruise ship) and spent a lovely day in Sorrento. Another great meal and beautiful sights! 

Our only issue at all was getting to and from the boat on the first and last day. That system has to be revised! We drug our luggage through town (up and down stairs) and had two crowded horrible bus trips back to the train after (again lugging luggage up and down stairs). The cruise companies have to work something out. I won't cruise out of Rome again because of this. Civitevecchia makes it as hard as possible. 

But we didn't let it spoil our memories. The trip was great.