Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East) Cruise Reviews

Ship was as expected a wonderful experience. Food,Service Staff all excellent.

Ports were interesting. Would definitely recommend.

This was our third Crystal Cruise, and my 71st Cruise.

It was my least favorite cruise of the last 12 cruises. Ports were mostly commercial. Communication from senior staff was limited. Guest relation staff did not have up-to-date information. The specialty restaurant was part of the all day dining buffet and very cold as the doors kept opening and closing causing a draft. Overall we did not have a great experience as we had on other cruises, including cruises on Princess.   

Food just o.k.  They not change much the menu.

Not much information about the places we visited for the people not taking excursions.

Entertainment was very good.

Not many items in the shops and some of them very expensive

This tour was an excellent introduction to contemporary China.  The river cruise part was a very relaxing aspect, with great food, good company, fine accommodations, interesting stops and dedicated staff and guides.  China is fairly overwhelming and we do not think we could have attempted this kind of a trip on our own, which is the usual way we travel.   

This was our first Seabourn cruise, and there were so many great things about it.  What a shame they have 15 year old internet service.  Its a non-starter for the class of people on a 6-star cruise that they should be using Windows 2001 (they do this so you can't be working in multiple windows at the same time, optimizing the use of the overpriced service @ $0.4 per minute), waiting while the dial spins and spins.  Then when you get to sites, they won't work because Windows is so out of date.  Everybody was mad, and even the staff said they can't defend it and Carnival won't do anything about it. Why should they, it's a profit center for them?  The worse the service, the more time they sell.   Some people had been on that ship since November (it was a March cruise).  Some people were trying to make a living while on the ship.  People were mad, and employees were having to credit time when people complained.  Absolutely no way to manage pictures, upload to Facebook, etc. 

That said, the ship was glam, the food was unbelievable, the staff incredible.  The destinations were exotic and uncharted for a cruise ship.  What a shame about the internet.  Special kudos to the entertainers.  They ate dinner with us, socialized, and were so accessible - as well as amazingly talented.  Especially Chris Chatman - he will go places. 

Entertainment and food was disappointing. Itenerary was exceleent but even that could be tweaked. The service however, was top notch. Everything, was included in the price, EXCEPT everything that was not  included which was most things, inclduing internet. Much older crowd than we are used to and we are in our fifties.

We still prefer Royal Carribean, they just didn't have the right itnerary in our time frame.

Woman that handled the tour talks was rude on a one to one basis. One of the waiters was rude. Cabin steward was so so.

The cities visited were great and the area guides were excellent.

The cruise was very nice.  We did not have enough time to see Singapore.  Bangkok is the hit of the cruise.  The three Vietnam cities are pretty much all the same.  Crowded, busy, dirty (after Singapore) and less interesting.  The museums are stark and punishing, especially the War Crimes Museum. The Pagados are less colorful that Bangkok, the temples greyer and less friendly.  Hong Kong was fun, especially the Hop on Hop off tour.  Victoria's Peak is not to be missed.

The is just a quick review, first time on Celebrity and I can confirm it was enjoyable, the only draw back was that the ship was recovering from the dreaded sicknes virus so serval things were either not available or just slow going, but having said this the cruise was good, The food and staff were up to most cruis ship standards and the entertainment was very good and above most other line, the ship itself is beginning to show ut's age and I heard a runor that it will be repalced over the next year or so.

It was a long plane ride to Hong Kong and another long one home from Singapore but I would recomend this cruise and all of the ports visited.

the itinerary was very interesting so we enjoyed seeing these islands, when in java the borabdur trip is a MUST bali is great, dont be afraid to get off the ship and take your own taxi whereever you want to go there-some difficulty with guides on some of the tours, some very good -others not so much which interferred to some degree of enjoyment-food and service was very good-found the entertainment at night only so-so

Had a wonderful experience. The staff were friendly and made us feel at home.

Guest services could have handled the billing better to avoid embarrassment. I was informed of billing error at the departure gate on my way out, causing the final tour excursion to be delayed while waiting for me.

We took the 7 night Dubai cruise in March 2013. The ship was pristine, right-sized, and filled with terrific amenities and staff that consistently went above & beyond.

The crew, staff & all personnel were of utmost professionalism & very helpful. The excursions travel time were too long.The food on the ship was good for breakfast but fair & sometimes mediocre for dinner in the main dining rooms. The dessert chef has not idea what he was making because the tiramisu tasted like lemon mousse & so on . The ship general public areas were dated & so was the handicapped room we were in.

Royal Caribbean should have some arrangement for Enter and Exit Visa, we were told by Emirates that we needed only one visa and on embarking we were asked to go to emergency visa counter, where they asked us to pay 2000 dirams on the spot. We agreed, with very unpleasant feeling, and none of the credit cards were going through, they wanted cash, and we do not carry that much cash. I am not well and was sitting under stress in the wheelchair for one hour. Finally my husband went to some higher person, and said to use the manual machine. The lady who first saw us swiped 10 times, I think she had no knowledge!!! I hate to use these words but whole day was not enjoyable with this unfortunate experience. Then they asked us to go to exchange office, they refused to do anything and said to walk to other terminal to get cash. They should have some empathy for wheelchair and older people.. Also before getting visa from Emirates, we phoned Emirates office in Ottawa, UAE Embassy in Ottawa, emailed Royal Caribbean, with no reply. We request some refund as this was not our fault at all.

We had a exellent cruise with the Costa. The atmosphere was very relaxing and the crew was very servce oriented. The ship was not the most modern, but everything workt on the ship. It was very pleasant evening at the ship. In short, a nice cruise repeating

I'm really not for traveling with as many as 3500 other passengers, however Celebrity handles such numbers very well. The crew is very personable and welcoming. Our only poor experience was in having dinner in the Olympic Dining room, where the service was so incredibly slow. It took 4 hours t serve our dinner, with no explanations to why the interminable delays between courses. On the other hand, we had a marvelous time at the Qsine dining room with a charming group of personnel who had a great time showing off the concept of their dinlng room.

#1. Prior to Cruise I sent a letter to request a cabin Change if someone cancelled prior to the Cruise.No one answered my letter. #2 The food was not as good as the Cruise we took on the same ship on Oct 28 from Barcelona....#3 Some of the Show Act,s were a repeat of the previous ..Other than that the Waiters,Room Staff $ Crew Members were fantastic so friendly & could not do enough for you,which helped make up for our previous remarks. Peter & Lana..

Felt that the Quest was alot better than the Sojourn even though it's a sister ship. Captain makes all the difference with the feeling of the ship.

was very impanted

Great vacation! Tour guide was fabulous as were all of the Viking staff. Top quality service throughout. Nice itinerary, although we spent a bit more time on a bus than I had hoped. Highlights were climbing the Great Wall, Forbidden City, the Three Gorges cruise and the Terra Cotta warriors, among other things. While it wasn't possible to see everything, it was a nice introduction to China. The ship was nice, although not as much to do as in an ocean cruise. There is a spa and beauty salon and the best treatment by far was the shampoo and style which included a 30 minute scalp massage for just over $20. I wanted to have her wash my hair everyday! At night there was a duo in the mostly empty bar - not a party crowd. We enjoyed the evenings though with the small group of people in the bar having cocktails and dancing a bit. We upgraded to the Explorer Suite, which has probably spoiled me for all future vacations - so luxurious! The food on the ship was pretty good -- excellent breakfast and lunch and good to very good dinner. Staff was extraordinarily accomodating in handling food allergies and/or preferences. For the land portion of the trip we were taken to \"local\" restaurants. This became synonymous with stir-fried stuff with no flavor - all of the spice had been removed to accomodate \"western\" taste. We hated that part of the trip and found a few opportunities to break away from the group and try the local food. One caution - there are not western toilets in all of the areas visited. I suggest getting your squatting muscles in gear prior to the trip and never leave the ship without toilet paper and hand sanitizer.