Europe Cruise Reviews

I would recommend this to anyone visiting the Mediterranean as a short but sweet cruise. You can search ahead and find really great deal on airfare then match this cruise to the dates. The best month is October.

Great cruise. Best ship we have ever been on. Extremely smooth ride. Everything was first class.

Overall cruise was a good value though the ship was older and less to do on other larger and newer ships. Definitely recommend looking at private or alternative tour options as the cruise ship clientele on this itinerary was a bit older and slower and bussing just takes up a long time with short port times. Felt like time in ports was more limiting then it needed to be, particularly since the ports themselves were all very close together. Would have liked to have more time (as in 12 hours versus the 4-5 or 6-8 we had in some ports), the Dublin overnight was convenient.

Beautiful ship with a lot to offer. Great ports of call on this trip.

We had a great time on our cruise. The entertainment and food were amazing! We will definitely cruise with Norwegian again.

We are heavy cruisers ( 28 to date ). This is the first time the service was not to part. With other cruise lines, the bar attendants will chase you down to purchase drinks by the pool side. With this sailing ( and I'm sure with other MSC ) I would need to go to the bar and wait a minimal of 30 mins to be served with the crowd of people standing in line. There are no smiles from the other employees. They're just there for a pay check.

This was our second Norwegian cruise and will be our last on this line. 1) The ship was clean and well-appointed, but the food on the buffet was terrible and served in an unsanitary manner. As a result, the two main dining rooms were always packed and hard to get into. The second night, a staff member tried to shoo everyone away to the larger dining room (which was also packed). We were not dressed in the required code for the larger restaurant. Beepers were available, but not used. Complaining to Guest Services assured us of a reservation every night at 6:30, but other guests continued to experience the inconvenience. Guess they didn't know how to complain effectively? 2) There were not enough tenders to get everyone on shore in time for their excursions in Orkney. This resulted in angry passengers, especially since we were not informed ahead of time of the (2 hour) delay. Coming back from Orkney, I saw the reason for not enough tenders in the morning - NCL Spirit was using its own tenders by then, all of which were belching black smoke and making horrendous engine noises. They obviously were long overdue for maintenance. I prayed for safety as we were ferried back to the ship. Fortunately, this was the only port requiring tenders. 3) Policies and procedures were either not clearly stated, not followed, or both. I found out at some point that the dress code in the larger main dining room was not enforced, undoubtedly due to the fact that the smaller dining room couldn't service the demand. We also did not have our liquor confiscated after our distillery tour, even though the couple ahead of us did have their merchandise confiscated. I have no idea why, since we had as much liquor as they did. 4) "Anything to make a buck" seems to be the overwhelming business model of NCL. Drinks were way overpriced; Laundry cost was much more than it would cost to have the same items dry cleaned in the States; I couldn't get a refund for post cruise transfers to LHR I purchased prior to the cruise and didn't (because we changed our travel plans); excursions were pushed and little to no information was given about the port itself. However, the itinerary was great, as was the service. Great staff, hard-working and polite. My spouse purchased spa treatments and used the nail salon several times, and enjoyed those experiences thoroughly.

We had a great time! Would definitely recommend this ship.

Gave a nice overview of Scotland and Ireland but the ports with Tenders were a problem that should be addressed.

Rare combination of multiple ports and few sea days allowed us to enjoy a larger variety of experiences. Only downside was three tender ports

Awesome Europe trip, extraordinary service & the best crew!

This was a very adventurous and history learning cruise.

The Norwegian Getaway was a fantastic ship. I appreciated the multitude of restaurants and bars. The food was excellent!!! Compliments to the chef. Free-style dining made it even better. The staff provided outstanding service. Always smiling and willing to provide assistance. This was my first cruise and now I am hooked. I am already looking at NCL cruises for next year. Thank you!

The mini suite was nice, although the balcony was tiny. The walking area on 16 was fair, there was no full ship walking area on 7 or 8. The smoking area on 15 was inhuman, the cigar lounge stuffy and over lit. Cruise director was nonexistent. All complementary dining very weak.

A wonderful time. Very friendly & helpful staff. We loved Corfu & Croatia. Doesn’t offer much onboard activities.

The main thing Royal has going for it is their ships. They are absolutely beautiful, especially the new ones. Their promenades are something that no other cruise line offers and I absolutely love it. IT's a place to shop, for the entertainers to perform and it's just a great use of ship space. The staff are all friendly, helpful and kind. But that's where the raves stop. Royal nickels and dimes you on EVERYTHING. Everything is literally extra money - even their escape room. The entertainment was not diverse enough. Standup comedian after standup comedian. The ice shows were AMAZING however. The food is a disappointment, even in their specialty restaurants. I work in a restaurant so of course I'm more picky than most, but that said, I enjoy a good chain restaurant on land from time to time, and their food is not even as good as a chain restaurant. And it's almost never hot. The Windjammer Cafe food is always lukewarm! I work many private events at my own restaurant and we always make sure all of our food is hot for our guests. Royal doesn't seem to care about this. They also broke down their specialty pancake grill a half hour early one morning. And it was on a day at sea where no one had anywhere to be. That is completely unacceptable. When you tell your guests breakfast ends at 11, that means 11. It doesn't mean 10:30, 10:45 or 10:55. It means 11. When I complained, the staff did everything to accommodate me, so kudos to them for that. But it doesn't outweigh all the problems I saw during my cruise. I had a wonderful time, because that's who I am. I make the best of wherever I am and enjoy the situation. However, I'm not sure if I'll cruise with Royal anytime soon.

We had a fun time. The cabing was very noisy and it rattled when the ship cruised at night. The staff did inform us the ship is old and there newer ships do not have this problem The first night we could not sleep it was so noisy in the cabin. The ship is old and tired and many things on the ship are just old and broken. This ship seriously needs a redo. The food was substandard. We struggled with it just because the quality was so bad. While we had a lot of fun each time it came to eating, it seemed to bring up a conversation between my wife and I just how bad the food is. We managed to eat off the ship a lot to avoid eating on the ship.

This is our first Norwegian cruise and found out it is a huge ship. Enjoy the entertainment on board. Our 250 min internet access is a joke, slow. Also, signing out is needed every time. I thought I signed out one time, but it didn't. So it consumed the rest of my minutes in 3 hours. It should intelligent enough to sign off when your smartphone phone went to sleep.

This cruise was fantastic. Getting a sea day at the end was a bonus because we could rest up for the long trip home.

We have done 30 ocean cruises and this was our 1st river cruise. Being an active person, I was a little worried this would be to laid back for me but boy was I mistaken. Avalon did a spectacular job of scheduling land excursions in at all the right times. Our weather was great-which was a big plus for making this such a great vacation.