Istanbul to Lisbon

Nautica Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 62

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Nautica

11 Night Exotic Mediterranean (Istanbul To Lisbon)

Sail date: May 20, 2015

Ship: Nautica

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 4041

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

We chose this cruise because of its unique itinerary, & while somewhat disappointed that the Tunisia stop was cancelled, it was nevertheless an outstanding cruise.  The ship was in excellent shape, the food was fabulous (with the exception of the first night), and the service was great.

The one area I would rate less the excellent was the destination services/tours sector.  Just as in an earlier (Oct'15) cruise on Marina, the information on the ship TV was totally out of synch -- presentations on locales that were not on the itinerary, repetitive info on places that we had long passed, and nothing on some of the upcoming ports.  This ship had one visit in Greece (Santorini), yet it was like the Greek tourism department was dictating what was shown.  Most of the tours we took were satisfactory, with the one to Akrotiri being excellent.  The best tour we had was one we booked individually through "Tours by Locals" (visit to the Alhambra in Granada) -- however, we did use the ship's transfer from Malaga to Grenada (would have been nice to have had a "pit stop" on the 2 hrs bus rides each way).

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
exception was the first evening in the Terrace Cafe -- some food not up to standard

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5
really did not take in much

Children's Programs

3 out of 5
didn't seem to have much -- and I wouldn't expect much on this ship/line

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Clean, "stable", -- and WONDERFUL BED. However, a little cramped, as we were spoiled by the large cabins on the Marina.

Ship tip

On this, as most other ships, dine on a lower deck during rough seas -- surprising how many persisted in not doing this on our only "rough" day.

Ports of call

Istanbul, Turkey

5 out of 5
Never get tired of visiting there -- best single destination city in the world.

Izmir, Turkey

3 out of 5
Wonderful for me, as I just revisited places from my earlier time of living there.

Santorini, Greece

3 out of 5
Spectacular, but marred by volumne of tourists -- enjoyed Akrotiri site

Valletta, Malta

3 out of 5

Trapani, Sicily

3 out of 5
some nice tours added on here to make-up for the cnx to Tunisia--I enjoyed Segessta & my wife loved the trip to the olive oil farm

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

3 out of 5
a little more time in Valledemosa & Soller would have been nice

Cartagena, Spain

3 out of 5
took it easy here I just strolled around on our own -- probably should have eaten lunch in town instead of going back to the ship

Malaga, Spain

5 out of 5
Great in that we had an excellent self-booked tour of the Alhambra in Grenada

Lisbon, Portugal

5 out of 5
Hotel Portugal was great and 3 min. walk to best seafood we have had in a long time -- at Balaal
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2 Comments

glomarrone    9 years ago

Thanks for posting your first review here.  I have never been to Istanbul and hope to do so in the future.  I enjoyed reading your review.

WeCruiseToo    9 years ago

Thanks for the review!  The ship sounds very nice and the itinerary amazing.  We’ll keep your words in mind about on-board port info and be sure to do our research ahead of time.
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