Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East) Cruise Reviews

This was my second cruise on the Costa Classica. The first was back in the 1990s on a cruise to the Greek Islands out of Venice. It has been renovated and greatly improved. I was one of less than 50 americans out of over 1000 passengers. If you are not the type person who can adjust to different cultures and want everything "spoiled american style" this cruise is not for you. If you enjoy meeting people from around the world and are open minded enough to accept things that are not done exactly like we are used to then I would recommend this. I have not been on a cruise in over 10 years and it seems Costa is nickle and diming you to death but I will say that things may have changed in the cruise industry that I am not aware of. One thing that is new for me is a service charge for room service of 2 euros. Also a charge of 7 euros if you want breakfast in your room. This may now be typical but it is new to me. Overall food quality was not as good as what I experienced 10 years ago but still not bad. The embarkation and disembarkation was much much more efficient than I remembered it 10 years ago

excursions not the best

Travelling with a 2 yo and a 4 yo meant that the kids stuff had to be good. The kids pool was pretty good and the kids slide was awesome. It was hard to get my kids off. The only slight downside was the limited times for the slide. There were also programs for her age that she seemed to enjoy. For my 2 yo there wasn't too much though. The couple of things that were scheduled didn't seem to happen until we asked a crew member about them. The only major drawback was the dining room dinners. The food was okay, but not as excellent as I've had on the other cruises I've been on. Even the formal nights didn't have anything special. But overall it was a good cruise and we enjoyed the ship.

Ship was OK - itinerary was the worst ever

This is good if you are looking for a cruise vacation at a reasonable cost.

very good service, crews are friendly and helpful, programs on broad very entertaining.

The Viking Emerald provides a first class river cruising experience. The ship is a new edition the the Viking River Cruise line, and is up to the highest standards for such a boat. We had a suite, and it was spacious, well-designed, attractively furnished and impeccably kept. The public areas of the ship were all tasteful, clean, and well-designed for their purposes. The boat lacks the many amenities of large cruise ships, such as casinos and swimming pools, but that is to be expected on a river cruise. There were many charming extras provided, such as a small daily gift at bedtime tied to the setting in China, free coffee and tea including specialty coffees available 24/7, and unlimited free house wine at every night. The staff were polite, helpful, and attentive.

The ship itself and the staff are surprisingly good. The on board food was all over the board: good on occasion but often disappointing. But the real problem was how tightly regimented Viking had scheduled things pre- and post-cruise (in Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai): almost everyone we spoke with said it felt like a forced march punctuated by very long hours of sitting on a bus -- with way too much time eating mediocre, greasy, heavy food at the three silk and jade factory tourist traps. As a result, we didn't have nearly enough time to visit Beijing at night, our time at Yu Yuan Garden in Shanghai was way too short, and they picked a hotel in Xian (Kempinski) which was located so far out of town that we literally wasted an extra three hours just getting there and back.

Overall we had a good impression of the ship. It was clean and in good repair. There was sufficient space and equipment for the passengers for a medium sized ship. Food was not up to the standards we expected. The entire crew was outstanding.

We recently sailed from Beijing to Hong Kong on the Nautica. The cruise was so different from others we had been on; obviously, we had never sailed with Oceania before. But it had been highly recommended to us and when we saw the ad for this cruise, we jumped on it. And we were extremely happy that we did. Even though the itinerary had to be adjusted due to the earthquake in Japan, we loved the ports we were able to visit; the tours we took were excellent. However, we would have liked to do more but due to our physical capabilities (or lack thereof) and our ages (78 and 82), we could not handle several hours of walking stairs, climbing, or just standing. It would have been nice to have more tours available for people like us. The service on board was outstanding. It definitely went above and beyond expectations. And the food was fabulous! Every meal was a gourmet experience--beautiful presentation and delicious meals. The most outstanding part of the trip for us was the string quartet concerts held almost every day--no other line we have been on ever did that! We were very pleased with our cabin and the service provided there, too. The computer room provides excellent service and a very knowledgeable manager. Not having a photographer hounding us constantly was a big plus in your favor. Thank you! We will definitely be sailing with you again and we will definitely recommend you to our friends and family. Thanks for a wonderful trip.

This was our first cruise and it appears that we started at the top. The service on the Seaborn Pride was exceptional; the food was fantastic. The ports of call for this voyage were interesting and the staff made the entire voyage memorable.

We sailed on the Legend of the Seas on March 5, 2011, and I can say it was a great trip. It was a smaller ship than we had sailed on in the past, had approx. 1,600 guests from 44 different countries. The dining room service and food choices were excellent. The Windjammer buffet had many choices and stations to select from and the food quality was good. Our stateroom was cozy and clean but a little short on storage. We started in Singapore, then went to Ho Chi Minh (Phu My) Vietnam; Hue/ Danang Vietnam;), Vietnam; Hong Kong, China; Ximen, China and ended in Shanghai (Baoshan), China. All were very interesting. but port time was very short. They needed more port time seeing that some of the towns were one to two hour bus rides from the ports. It was strange that they selected to dock in Shanghai at Baoshan instead at the terminal in down Shanghai, an hour taxi ride to town. The big negative we had was the lack of information the ship provided on the ports, the tour desk pushed their tours and provided little information for those who wanted to explore on their own. At one of the ports, they did not even announce there was a free buss from the dock to town. It was just not up to pair with the other cruises we had taken. . Overall the cruise was great, the ports and the mix of people on the ship were interesting. Of the 1,600 guests, only 180 were from US. The ship was in good shape and most services were good.

The cruise was geared for Europeans. We knew that when we booked so there were no surprises. Our biggest problen was with Micheal the English speaking host. Or as I call it the BIG LIE. We asked to have half of our gratuity taken off the bill bill so we could give to those that gave us extra service. Micheal told us that he could do it but he would have contact the American Consulate who would in turn contact the IRS. We met a total of five times with Micheal...Here are some of the things he told us. If we didn't pay the gratuity we could be held up in Singapore for up to three days.......he called the consulate to warn them that they might have to pick up our bags....we could be put in jail....we talked with him an hour before we got off the ship and he promiced that the gratuity would be removed when we got through customs..I asked for the telephone number of the consulate he said the Singapore authorities would be calling them....to make a very long story short. We didn't go to jail and they didn't take the gratuity off our bill.

This tour had two parts, really; a river cruise up the Yangtze River and a series of land-based tours punctuated by flights - from Tibet to Xian to Beijing. For the ship itself, it was a decent vessel, berths were comfortable and the food and service generally quite good. However, the air conditioning system on the boat is really lacking, because after 5 days aboard over half the passengers and crew were suffering from colds and flu. My suspicion is that the air filtration system just wasn't working or even installed.

The ship was average--not big at all and it is on the older side.

Food was delicious and plentiful. Room was a comfortable size. Staff was friendly, helpful and gracious. Our dining room staff was personable and fun. The talks on the areas we visited (11:00 am) were adequate but, in my opinion, weak. Loved the jazz trio - great for dancing. I appreciated the announcements describing areas we were passing or points of interest. Announcements through the pirate zone were excellent. I liked the ability to not participate in the formal nights. No compensation was made for eliminating a major stop at Luxor and the excursion offered as a replacement was expensive. We had to miss the Suez Canal and nothing was offered as a substitute. I understand the difficulty of offering a substitute but felt like we didn't get what we paid for in addition to paying extra for being able to go to Luxor.

This vessel had all the really important appointments and features to provide a world-class cruise experience. And I once again commend Hiliary Wenzel in making it all possible for me!!

Our last cruise of 2008 was on the Celebrity Century which we enjoyed very much. This motivated us to take the Azamara Quest, billed as Celebritys luxury option. To our disappointment, this was certainly not the case. Eating on the ship was a disaster. The dining room service is poor at best. Several times incorrect foods were delivered and then taken to another table. The quality of food was at best mediocre. Upstairs in the Caf, there was never enough seating. Due to the fact that we became frustrated by carrying around our plates of food and not being able to find seating, we ate several meals at the outside grill which was the only place open on off hours or called room service. Room service was not a good option either, since one morning we received two breakfasts, one 45-minutes before expected (which we took) and one 45-minutes later than we requested (which we sent back, much to the annoyance of the person who delivered it). In addition, every one of the orders we placed with room service was either missing items or had the wrong items included. The ship itself is showing its age. It is obvious that routine maintenance has been neglected by the number of rust spots on the hull and generally shabby appearance of some the various rooms. This is a cruise line that should be avoided. With so many options available almost any other line would be a much better choice.

Legend of the Seas, while still a wonderful vessel, is presently well past its prime condition. The soft surfaces are in dire need of refurbishment and even some of the steel frame is showing serious deterioration. The ship is by no means unsafe, but years of salt water and heavy use have taken their toll. Likewise the crew is not up to the usual Royal Caribbean standard. The dining room staff can be wildly inconsistant, from superb to unacceptably rude, even insulting. The purser's desk is manned by undertrained and therefore incompetant staff. The food is fair. The deserts are awful. The pillow chocolates are gone as are the rugs in the elevators that show the day of the week. The on board Fax Times is gone. LIttle things that were universally noticed and condemned. Cost cutting at work proving annoying and disappointing. Shore excursions proved a source of real concern. The descriptions do state where you are going and how long it will take. However, they also misrepresent the amount of walking, and the amount of stairs or hills to be climbed. This is of serious concern if you have any physical problems, especiallly on the far east cruises where it is generally very warm.