Europe Cruise Reviews

WE VIRTUALLY NEVER LEFT RM# M602 AFTER PONTE DELGATO. MY WIFE CONTRACTED "VIRAL INTESTINAL INFECTION" THAT SHIP DOCTORS SAID WAS" LIKELY OBTAINED ON BOARD". WE WERE FORCED TO CANCEL ALL EXCURSIONS, USE A WHEEL CHAIR AND PORTABLE OXYGEN FOR THE REMAINDER OF OUR  TRIP. SINCE VIRAL WAS CONTAGIOUS, WE DID NOT SOCIALIZE AND REMAINED MOSTLY IN OUR CABIN FOR CONCERN OF OTHER PASSANGERS. WE RECEIVED CONTINUOUS MEDICAL ATTENTION COSTING ME OVER $1,800 .WHILE ON BOARD. THIS WAS NOT AN EXPERIENCE ANYONE WOULD APPRECIATE!

WE PURCHASED TRANSFERS ON 4/17/2017. YOUR TRANSFER OPERATOR LEFT US IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET AT HOMBURG AIRPORT.AT THE WRONG TERMINAL. WE HAD NO ACCESS TO  LUGGAGE PORTERS, NO WHEEL CHAIR OR LUGGAGE CARTS . WHAT A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE!. JOYCE IS 72, I AM 74 AND WE BOTH HAD WHEELCHAIR ASSISTANCE ON OUR RECORDS. OUR CRUISE TURNED INTO A COSTLY, MISERABLE BOATRIDE. CONTRACTING A VIRAL DISEASE ON BOARD YOUR SHIP WAS OUR WORST  EXPERIENCE OF THE DOZEN PLUS TIMES WE CRUISED BEFORE.

 I OBSERVED GOOD HYGEINE PRACTICE ELSEWHERE  NOT EVIDENT ON REGAL PRINCESS( E.G). LACK OF HAND SANTIZERS , TOWELS OR TRASH DISPOSAL ON ENTRANCE AND EXIT OF PUBLIC TOILETS, LIMTED USE OF GLOVES BY FOOD HANDLERS.

AS A FIRST TIME PRINCESS TRAVELER, I AM VERY UPSET AT THE EXPOSURE THAT CAUSED MY WIFE TO CONTRACT A VERY BAD VIRAL INFECTION; THE LOST OF OUR   ABILITY TO VISIT OUR DESTINATION PORTS AND THE $1,800 MEDICAL EXPENSE ALONG WITH THE CONSIDERABLE MEDICAL DISTRESS THAT MY WIFE EXPERIENCED ON THE REGAL PRINCESS. MY WIFE HAS END STAGE RENAL DISEASE . WE ARE NOT SURE HOW THE INFECTION HAS COMPROMISED HER HEALTH.

YOUR MEDICAL STAFF WAS ATTENTIVE  AND TRIED  TO RESOVLE THE CONGESTION BUT WERE NOT ENTIRELY SUCCESSFUL . AS OF TODAY,4/23,2017, REMNANTS OF THE COGESTION REMAINWITH HER.

I HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON!. GIVEN OUR EXPERIENCE, WHY SHOULD WE EVER USE THE PRINCESS CRUISE LINE AGAIN?

CHARLES AND JOYCE DIANA.

The weather on the Atlantic was very pleasant.  The Polonia String Quartet provided excellent entertainment.Princess Theater shows were old, overdone, tired, over-used themes the last few years.  Could use some fresh ideas.  The ship was generally dirty everywhere from cabins, hallways, elevators, dining rooms.  Staff seemed tired, ready to take a vacation.  Best service was probably in the Horizon Court.  Captains Circle events need some innovative ideas, not just come, sit, drink. 

My favorite part of our cruise were the ports. Excellent choices! Seeing the beautiful Azores with the lush greenery and hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots, etc. was an excellent experience . Going to La Havre and touring quaint Honfleur was very special. Knowing it had been spared from the bombings made it even more special. Seeing areas like La Havre that are totally different after many WW2  bombings  that destroyed 80 % of the city was definitely an eye opening experience.  

Brugge had been on my bucket list for many years and it didn't disappoint!  It was like putting Venice, Amsterdam and other old European cities all in one. We had seen Amsterdam on a previous cruise and so it was fun going to Rotterdam this time. We had picked the Delft factory tour and we got to paint our own plate.  We really enjoyed that!!

The ship was quite beautiful and yet I felt that the Princesss Patter activities were pretty much same old, same old.  I enjoyed going to the Spanish classes with Veronica.  I was disappointed that the Bridge group started at 9 a.m because with all the time changes making me feel very tired all the time I did not want to go as I could hardly ever even be up by then on this cruise.  That hadn't happened to me on previous cruises.  I missed having the Bridge teacher on board from some previous cruises as well. A pleasant surprise was finding that even though there were a lot more people on this ship that we still didn't have to wait to be served anywhere. The shows did fill up quickly but that always happens.

The dinners were always good, though I don't always appreciate some flavorings in the food that I didn't expect.

An excellent, cruise.  We departed Fort Lauderdale on April 2, landed in Hamburg, Germany, on April 17.  Weather during the second week was a disappointment: at our first port (Ponta Delgada), our guide said we were there on the coldest day of the year and it had been 20 degrees warmer a week earlier; in Germany, our guide told us "worst weather in 20 years"!  So we didn't use the pools or hot tubs the second week of the cruise, but it didn't dampen our spirits.  Note: the same cruise in 2018 is scheduled two weeks later than this one.  As expected, excellent entertainment and excellent food.  We met some people we enjoyed visiting with so much, that we closed the dining room every night the second week.  Regal Princess was in good condition, no major breakdowns.  I chose this cruise because of the sea days, port of Normandy (for D Day excursion), and ending in Germany.  May take this cruise again next year. 

We received top rated service from our cruise including the meals, excursions and staff. Loved the cruise. just wasn't long enough. We loved the south of France excursions and Rome. There were no bad locations just these were preferred.

Liked:  The room and layout of bath area.  We had a wonderful Steward who looked after our every want/need.  Once during the cruise, they offered laundry for 19.99, all the clothes you could fit into the bag provided.  Really liked the Freestyle dining...eat when you want to, where you want to.  Dress up if you want to...don't if you don't.  The restaurants for complimentary dining offered great food and the waitstaff were excellent.  We used the Card Room on "At Sea Days" to play games with our friends.  Liked the smaller ship.

Improvements:  We had dining vouchers for the Specialty dining, but the dining rooms for the 4 restaurants were small and options for dining times were limited.  NOTE:  Book first thing when you get on the ship.  The balconies are small;  but still glad we had one.  Older ship that showed some wear.

This trip allowed me to visit some of the most beautiful ports in the world in a comfortable, safe, fun and exciting atmosphere.  The Norwegian Spirit provided excellent entertainment and very helpful staff all along the way.

i would highly recommend this ship and this itinerary to everyone!

The ship is new, the staff is fantastic, and the ports of call were all remarkable. Love the included tours. The Viking Sea and it's staff are out to make your cruise as perfect as it can be. I highly recommend Viking Sea to anyone interested a perfect sea cruise. 

The best part of this cruise were the activity on the boat (Dance Lesson, Team Activity, the dancing bar area). The port stop was excellent!!

The only improvement is too much selling drink package on the boat and they are not flexible for upgrade or pay the different.

Overall was a great Cruise!!

My favorite part of the cruise was making new friends. I was very disappointed with the amount of selling of items on the ship; not at stores but tables that were set up everywhere all time time! Morning noon and night.  I am upset that I had pre bought a cocktail package and was told that vodka tonic is not a cocktail and that I had to choose from what they consider cocktails to be!  The shore excursions were especially in Morocco very disappointing. It seemed as if we spent all day going to the shops where kickbacks were given   Shopping time and pharmacy time was to be in the excursion but we were brought to a little shop where it seemed the guide would be getting something out of it.  I heard so many good things about Msc and I would most probably not be returning. 

Incredible ports of call.  NCL provided excellent service, food and entertainment.  Love the small size of the ship.  Never felt crowded and easy to get on and off.

Barcelona is the perfect start for your trip. A beautiful, friendly city with lots to see and do. We did Barcelona in March (low season) and the weather was in the 60's. Word to the wise.... summers in Barcelona.... in fact for all the cities in this cruise are very muggy and hot in summer (high season).  Embarkation and debarkation are as smooth as glass. I do not think it took more than 20 minutes each time.

All the cities are beautiful and they all have open air hop on/hop off buses at considerably less expense than the cruise excursions. Finding people at shops and restaurants that speak English is not hard and most of the menus are illustrated so that you can see what you are ordering. That is not to say that the shore excursions are a waste of money. The Rome tour that we took was expensive, but worth every penny.

The Spirit is well maintained and the staff is cheerful and thorough, but a small old ship is a small old ship. If you take this cruise, think of the boat as a floating hotel, with entertainment. Some of the shows were ridiculous as usual, but some were surprisingly good. If it matters to you, other than a few honeymoon couples, this is an older crowd taking this cruise. Not much of a party boat.

Barcelona is the perfect start for your trip. A beautiful, friendly city with lots to see and do. We did Barcelona in March (low season) and the weather was in the 60's. Word to the wise.... summers in Barcelona.... in fact for all the cities in this cruise are very muggy and hot in summer (high season).  Embarkation and debarkation are as smooth as glass. I do not think it took more than 20 minutes each time.

All the cities are beautiful and they all have open air hop on/hop off buses at considerably less expense than the cruise excursions. Finding people at shops and restaurants that speak English is not hard and most of the menus are illustrated so that you can see what you are ordering. That is not to say that the shore excursions are a waste of money. The Rome tour that we took was expensive, but worth every penny.

The Spirit is well maintained and the staff is cheerful and thorough, but a small old ship is a small old ship. If you take this cruise, think of the boat as a floating hotel, with entertainment. Some of the shows were ridiculous as usual, but some were surprisingly good. If it matters to you, other than a few honeymoon couples, this is an older crowd taking this cruise. Not much of a party boat.

My favorite part was eating all those unusual meals, such a choice.   Everybody was so courteous and went out of their way to help us at all times. I was impressed with the children's programs.  The tenor singer was the best I have every heard, Fran Cobos.  

Slept great - ports were interesting but not bucket list kind ports.  Enjoyed specialty restarants - visited them on five nights.  Casino is small - just one roulette table.  Really liked the Beatles tribute band show.

Operationally, the cruise was excellent. Always punctual, and the ship is kept very clean. Our cabin was a very nice rear facing balcony with good closet space. Food wise, pasta and appetizers were always good, but proteins were not. The only proteins we enjoyed were the extra cost burgers and the duck on gala night. Fish seemed to taste "fishy". We ate in the club restaurant one night, service was outstanding, but the filet had an off taste. It was however cooked a perfect medium rare. Salads on the buffet were very good. Piu gusto drink package was a great value. Wines were good, as were cocktails. Espresso every bit as good as on land in Italy. Entertainment staff keeps things fun. The white party was the best I've seen at sea. Shows were below average for a cruise as were lounge entertainers.  One nice touch, they had an English speaking (from England) customer service rep who always asked how things were going and genuinely seemed to care. Would I take Costa again? For the right itinerary at the right price, sure. All Cruise lines have their pros and cons--Costa's strong points are fun, pasta, and espresso in my opinion.

The room attendant was exceptional.  He kept fresh towels and our room clean throughout the day.  Dinner options were fantastic.  We enjoyed foods from each place we visited.  The waiters/waitresses could have done a better job in serving us.  We always had to ask for more water and several of them made it obvious they did not want be there.  One exception was Nengah Sudana who went out of his way to keep our glasses full and even talk to us. There was plenty of activities for us to do.  We would go again

We chose this cruise for the ports, we were sad to miss a couple of them due to the weather.  

The food was not very good in the buffets for breakfast.  There was very little selection and the same food items were served throughout the entire cruise.  Dinner was hit or miss, I wish there would have been selections for more picky eaters.  No one wants to eat a plain chicken breast every time they don't want the evening's offering.

The evening entertainment was sparse and the production value was low.  The pools and hot tubs closed early and we didn't have much chance to use them due to excursions and dinner times.  

We really struggled with our expectations during the cruise wondering if we were being nit picky, we have come to the conclusion after some discussion that there were no large problems but the small issues took away from our overall experience.  

This was my first cruise, and I had an amazing time. I knew ahead of time via guest reviews that the Norwegian Spirit ship was in need of some updating in the staterooms; that is true, but it was no surprise to me. I am vegetarian, and though dining services had vegetarian options, it could have been better planned and more diverse. The service was great - especially for the staterooms; staff took time to learn names, and they were very friendly. We appreciated the captain's safety call to change the location of our first stop; Corsica ended up being a lovely place to spend time before the rain came; it was easy to come and go on the ship, and there were plenty of activities to keep us happy on board. The rest of our vacation was perfect. The entertainment was great: "Graffiti Classics" was amazing, and the "Elementals" was so incredible - a beautiful act, very impressive. The child care was also exceptional - the staff was very creative with activities, and our 6 & 10 year old looked forward to going to the Kids Club. Overall, a fantastic time, and we would be interested in cruising with NCL again.  

[PS: a side note: the doctor on board was a quack. My mom had some strange symptoms, so she went down to see the doc, and he kept her for 1 hr and basically said she had a brain tumor. On the way out, two nurses at the front desk asked if she was wearing the seasickness patch - she was. They told her to take it off and the symptoms would subside within 72 hrs. She was just experiencing common side effects of the medication! He should have known that, and my mom even mentioned the patch during the exam and he glossed right over it. He should have known that; the doctor was clearly not qualified to treat cruise passengers. He charged $150 for his unhelpful exam.]

Favorites - it was like a floating hotel. Great, fast hot water in bathroom.  Fantastic beds and pillows! Was glad to find an TV English movie channel. Great temperature control. Ruffles open 24 hours was great. Luggage was easily found the morning of disembarkment.

Needs improvement - very disappointed that I had to pay for bottled water. Lack of written instructions in the room on how things work or what to expect. The inconsistency of servicing and furnishing 2 similar rooms. A guest told me my ice bucket would be filled ea day, it wasn't. A moved event had no sign or info posted at original event site. The washy-washy workers were obnoxious. The insolent way Norwegian employees acted toward those who booked excursions not thru the norwegian site. There were wash cloths in the bathroom only on the first day.  Couldn't  hear ship announcements. Would be helpful if the room safe was mounted higher, I can't imagine an elderly person being able to use one so low. On board internet fees were atrocious, free wifi should be included with our cruise payment.