Norwegian Spirit Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We had a great time. When I told one of the dinning room staff we were vegeterian they went out of their way to accommodate to us. 

Let's not forget about the cleanliness. They are very concerned about this and make it fun to keep your hands clean ( happy happy washy washy) at the entrance of the dinning room. Also they cleaned up our room twice every day. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

At first we were reluctant to book such a long cruise in such faraway lands, but we are so glad we did! I must say that what really made this trip a breeze was purchasing and reading the book "Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports" prior to departure, and having it on the cruise. This book seems custom made just for this particular sailing, and is a MUST read! Here was how we did our trip:

It all starts in Venice, Italy, where the central square (Piazzale Roma) is a short bus ride away from the Marco Polo airport in which we landed. Once at Piazzale Roma, there is a "People Mover" that whisks you from this central plaza to the cruise ship in 5 minutes. We got to the cruise ship and dropped off our bags, then took the People Mover back to Piazzale Roma, where we boarded the slower Vaporetto #1 for a low-cost cruise of the Grand Canal and introduction to the beauty of Venice. We then explored Venice on our own, checking out several amazing churches and buildings (including the famed St. Marks). We didn't take a gondola ride choosing instead for the way cheaper Traghetto ride across the canal. We had a truly awesome experience and loved Venice!

The next two days are spent at sea, which was actually nice as you are able to familiarize yourself with the ship and get some R&R. We spent one day just lounging in the pool with fruity drinks in hand. 

Next stop was Athens, Greece. We did this our own taking the local bus to the Ancient sites and the Acropolis. I do not believe you need an excursion to do this, as we saw everything we wanted and even had an awesome chicken souvlaki lunch at a restaurant before heading back the ship. The hard part is finding the public bus line needed. Just leave the cruise port and walk left until street ends, then walk up one block and make sure to cross the street to get to the bus stop that is heading the right direction. The Parthenon and its views will leave you breathless.

Then came Ephesus, Turkey. We paid for an excursion here which was well worth it. It took us up to the House of the Virgin Mary (where we had a miraculous experience), then to the captivating ruins of Ancient Ephesus.

Next was Istanbul, Turkey. A very different and worldly experience. We easily did this on our own just following the tracks of the Tramway to the historic square which includes Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and the not-to-be-missed Underground Cistern. We then walked to the Grand Bizarre and from there we hiked back to the ship.

Then came Mykonos, Greece... a fanciful little island filled with 400 tiny churches, a few windmills, and some very nice people. Here we rented a car for 35 Euros (much better in my opinion than an ATV), and purposefully got lost visiting random beaches and passing old Yia Yia's tendering their gardens. it was a beautiful day.

Following Mykonos was a chill at-sea day, which was a nice break from all the walking around and a nice mental break from all the historic and fascinating experiences we just had. A mental and physical re-charge!

The next stop was Naples, Italy... a quite honestly underwhelming seedy port town filled with graffiti and low-income residences. We took an easy train ride (as explained in Rick Steves' book) to the ancient, almost forgotten town of Pompeii, where you learn that people 2000 years ago didn't live much differently than we do today. The pizza in Naples is not to be missed!

For the next port, Rome, we took a highly anticipated excursion to the Vatican via NCL. It was $250 per person... but boy was it worth it! The tour started a bit drab, but we finally hit the historic sites like the wonderful Colosseum and Forum. We then had an authentic Italian lunch, complete with wine, at a quaint restaurant. Then came the most mind-blowing and altering experience... the amazement of the Vatican. Words cannot express the beauty of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters, so I wont even try. You definitely need an excursion to experience this, as otherwise the line to get in was several blocks long, and our tour guide's emotional explanations set the stage for a truly breathtaking experience.

The next morning, we woke up to Livorno, where Pisa (and its truly better-then-expected Leaning Tower) are a very short and easy train ride. We also did a spin tour of Florence (another 1 hour, 20 min train ride from Pisa). Florence was beauty beyond words (especially the Duomo, which pictures cannot do justice), but trying to fit both Pisa and Florence in one day proved to be a rather difficult if not fun adventure that warrants a long fascinating explanation we don't have time for. We almost missed the boat, but it was a day I will never forget!

We next docked in Toulon, France. Despite what people (including Rick Steves) may say, I don't thick you need an excursion here at all. It is such a cute town full of life and amazing things to see you will not be bored! A short walk from the cruise ship, we took the tiny tourist train around town, stopping at a beautiful (topless) beach where you can get some sun, and learn several WWII facts. We also walked around on our own, checking out the shopping area and went inside the absolutely beautiful and recommended Toulon Cathedral. 

Our final destination was Barcelona, Spain. It was rather cold and rainy here, but we simply jumped on the Hop On, Hop Off bus and got a spin tour of this amazing city. The architecture of Gaudi here is inspiring... but nothing beats the Sagrada Familia church. We stayed one night in a hotel before heading home, which offered us the ability to soak in the day walking up and down Las Ramblas eating tapas and drinking wine. A beautiful end to even more beautiful trip.

If you are on the fence about booking this cruise, I say JUST DO IT now! You will never regret it, and you will never forget the memories of places and people that will be imprinted in your mind for the rest of your life.

Good:

Itinerary is good that calls many cities of many countries; Housekeeping, dining staffs are very nice.

Bad:

- Almost each port disembarkation delayed, we were told with many various reasons.  The most heard excuse was "Customs Clearance".  And there was problem on disembark processing, it took long time to get out of the ship after the "clearance". So we had less time for sightseeing. I felt bad to see so many unhappy faces of our cruise fellows and crew members on the waiting line each morning.

- Many group tours on this boat. They yelled, they shouted, they didn't respect your vacation.

- Food was disappointed. We had very bad experience at Shogun, salt is its major ingredient, too too salty.

This itinerary cannot be beat and the price was great on .  The ship is not fancy and new but it had what we needed.  Great food with lots of choices of venue and type.  The Italian specialty restaurant was great, the French was good and the steak house was probably not worth the extra money as we had a really good steak in the main dining room the next night.  Drinks are extremely expensive but you can take on both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Barcelona.  Our room steward, Arnel, was amazing.  Felt like staying in a five star hotel.  We did excursions through the ship which I recommend if it is your first time to these locations even if it is a little expensive.  Getting around could be tricky in the short amount of time that you have in each port so knowing the ship will wait for you if you are late getting back is priceless.  The ship left three or four ports late because tour buses were late getting back.  If it had been private excursions, I doubt the ship would have waited long.  The ship's excursions will get you into the top attractions so it was worth it to us as it was our first time visiting these ports.  I recommend taking snacks as the day trips are very long.  I recommend making advance reservations for dinner for the first couple of nights on the cruise line's website as everyone will be getting on the ship at the same time and will all want to go to dinner at once.  After that, you don't need reservations for main dining rooms unless you eat at peak dinner hour.  Buffet had best deserts ever plus ice cream!!!  If you get off ship early in Venice, you must arrange for taxi in advance.  The ship will tell you to just walk out but you will not get a taxi if you have not made advance arrangements.  NCL will tell you that you can get off the ship at any time in Venice but to disembark before 8 a.m., you must prove you have an early flight, make advance arrangments with ship to leave at specific time and you will have to carry your luggage off by yourself down the gangway.  If you need more than one plug in, you will need to take a converter.  Get Euros in advance because the ship charges $10 per transaction to convert cash.  Get at least a balcony cabin because the cabins are small.  Take movies on your tablet or something as there will only be one television station for each language showing anything other than news or sports.   They do not have a movie theater or movie screen.  Normally not a big deal but this cruise was so strenuous and port intensive that we did not want to do anything more active than watch movies on the sea days or days where we got into port late. Wifi is slow and expensive as with other cruise lines but it worked.  Be prepared to dress for any weather as this cruise covers different climates and you will be exposed to the elements a lot.  That means take jackets, hats, sun screen and umbrellas along with a good bag for carrying such stuff around all day.

The ship was very nice (kept immaculately clean!), and the staff was incredible! The food was exceptionally good. And the spa was heavenly. (Get your nails and hair done on board. They know what they are doing!!!) There was always something fun to do on board. And there was always great entertainment - the talent on board was amazing.  We can't believe how many places we visited....it was an incredible itinerary! 

Our only suggestion is to move the sports court.  There is a space right next to it that is protected from the wind, exhaust wind, and the natural gas fumes...and could become a  great caged pickleball court.  (Pickleball is quite the rage now and EXCELLENT exercise!)  If nothing else - perhaps you could add a solid wall on the current sport court on the right hand side as you face the court to block all the wind and fumes.  Have a movable net available.  We brought our own paddles and balls and faked it.

All in all - it was a terrific first cruise!  Bravo Norwegian Spirit!  Thank you!!!

We enjoyed our cruise on the Norwegian Spirit because it is a beautiful ship with elegant decor.  We also enjoyed the meals, but were disappointed that passengers were not allowed a lobster meal except with an extra charge.  Of all our cruising, this was a bad first.  Hope that changes!   Staff were excellent and most of the many shore excursions were worth the money.  Exception would be the  Istanbul excursion (4 and 1/2 hr. tour became 7 hrs. due to extreme traffic, monotone, boring leader, and too much rug showing).

This cruise had many positive features such as wonderful entertainment,  good choices for meals, nice dining areas, plus more.  I personally would have preferred a second regular swimming pool rather than a heated giant spa-like pool (really too warm for much swimming).

But we had a very pleasant trip, seeing places we had always wanted to see, which made this cruise highly recommended by us.

This was the most Magnificent trip we have ever been on. We "Walked Through History"! We truly enjoyed all of our Excursions, the food, the staff and the convenience of the smaller ship. We chose a balcony room and it was well worth the view. 

The port locations were great and our favorite was Naples, where we took a private taxi tour to Pompeii and up the Amalfi coast. Our taxi driver took us to a seafood restaurant in Sorrento on the beach and suggested a few highlights to see in Naples before we went back to the ship.  We had planned to do this on our own but wound up with one of the hoards of taxi drivers looking for tour passengers.  Our least favorite was Istanbul.  If your tour operator asks if you want to look at some carpets and see a weaving demo, just say no!  we wasted 2 hours trying to get away from the used car tactics.  There are no bargains.  The line to the blue mosque (for people who already had tickets) was  1/2 mile long. No exaggeration. It was just not doable, so we went to another mosque.  The crowds were unbelievable as was the traffic-about 90 minutes stuck in traffic.  Take the tram and do your own tour.  Make sure you eat some baklava-it was the highlight of Istanbul. The NCL tour to Aix en Provence was ok, but skip the tour guide and wander around this lovely city on your own-have a beautiful, leisurely lunch.  Le 2 Freres was wonderful. As long as you know the meeting place for the bus, you're ok.  Athens was a disappointment, again due to the crowds.  Venice was actually magical but many of the gondola tours put you unexpectedly with 4 other strangers.  The private ride is over $200 plus tip.

We would do this cruise again but after spending $1500 (and we thought we were careful) just on the ship (after applying a $400) on board credit, we would go ahead and purchase the specialty dining package, the wine package and the internet package. I think that in the long run we would have saved money.  The food outside of the specialty restaurants is mediocre at best, and we had a few inedible dinners.  The internet starts the clock as soon as you sign on and rounds up to the next minute when you sign off.  A brief email cost $10.  If you plan on using the internet daily, it would be cheaper to buy the package.  Using the internet on land is not a bad plan, but the time is really too precious to spend it looking for a cafe that has wifi.  We were told that you can't buy the packages once you are on board. Budget for a significant amount over the basic ticket price so not to be surprised.

The crew is great, but the ship is very old and the beds unbearably uncomfortable.  Our room steward brought us a piece of foam (literally) which helped. We had a balcony cabin on deck 9, mid ship which was a good location.  We liked the smaller size of the ship which made it easier to get around compared with larger ships we had sailed on in the past.  

Go into it with your eyes open and you'll have more fun!  

Great cruise. Ship was small, but clean and nice. Great ports Room & balcony small. Food was not as good as other cruises. Not much choice. Food on buffet was cold, veges were all mixed or with meat dishes. Except potatoes . Mac & cheese was more like pasta with cream sauce. Hamburgers and battered fish were good, but not served hot.

My husband and I had not taken a cruise in over 15 years. Everything was excellent

Shows,staff, food, cleanliness,service.  The days at sea were very refreshing.

We have nothing negative to say about this cruise.

Ship has a very smart layout and the separation of restaurants bars and other entertainment venues is very well done, so that you don't feel the crowd except at the pool and at the buffet breakfast.  Food in the specialty restaurants was truly exceptional.  Food in the main dining room was OK.

Crew was friendly and helpful if a bit overzealous in distributing disinfectant spray: ,Washy Washy Happy Happy still rings in my ears

Ports were great even if the weather wasn't as warm as we hoped.

Entertainment in the main theater was hit or miss, more misses than hits but the talent in the smaller venues was very good and the settings intimate.

There were many problems. Begin with staff bored, lifeless (some exceptions that we can count on our fingers). The financial service of the vessel was on the ground, they did not know how to charge our credit cards, so three times blocked the use of the card on board. Very unpleasant. Almost ruined our cruise. Very unprofessional.

Evening performances, shows, were mostly boring, without sensational elements. We went on a cruise with NCL before but this one disappointed us. And the food was dull, with the same taste and the same kind of spices , morning menu was quite poor. Lucklly there was a great diversity of fruits. If you want to see special places even under these conditions, and if you can feel good with your family (friends) anywhere, then you can go on this cruise. Otherwise I do not recommend it. Poor experience on the board of the ship..... .....

Boarded ship, Spirit, in Barcelona after we had spent two days there on our own. Highly recommend at least two days to visit the city and see sights like Sagrada Familia. Use the Hop-on / Hop-off buses. There are two different companies which you can use. Both sell one or two day passes on the bus. We have stayed twice in two different hotels in Port Olympic area of Barcelona. Easy access to good restaurants and bus transportation to anywhere in the city. About 20 minutes to La Rambla on city busses. 

Spirit is the oldest Norwegian Cruise ship, built in 1998. Refurbished in 2010, but still shows some age. Had an issue with room safe and toilet vacuum flush but quick response by ship maintenance both times fixed the issues.  

Port visits were interesting. Casablanca definitely requires booking a shore excursion. Not much to do if you don't. Funchal was great and could be done on your own. Definitely ride the cable car up the hill and the toboggan down the hill. Great old town area to wander around. Tenerife is a good place to walk ashore and get a private cab / tour. For 20 Euros per person we went to the northern part of the island for some sightseeing and shopping. Prices are about half what they were in Funchal for ballcaps, beer, leather belts, etc. We spent approximately 5 hours touring in our private cab and were dropped off right in front of the ship exactly on time to board. The driver didn't even expect a tip for all he had shown us. 

Arrecife was a walking port with a central shopping pedestrian street full of stores and cafés. All had WiFi with password protection if you bought a beer, coffee, or snack. Others told us they had hired a cab to see some of the black sand beaches of the island. 

Malaga is beautiful and you could spend all day walking around the port area shopping and eating. We took a shore excursion to Grenada to see the inside of the Alhambra. We had been there before on our own 5 years earlier, but had missed being able to buy admission tickets by minutes after standing in line for over an hour.  That's why we booked the excursion to ensure we would get inside the palaces this visit. It was worth it. 

Back in Barcelona we walked off the ship and right into a pre-booked airport transfer van to the airport for a flight through Madrid to Paris. We found the van online at the Barcelona airport website. We were 10 total people and the price worked out to be 10 Euros per person. Taxis were also available for about 40 Euros per cab, but we would have had to take 4 to 5 cabs due to all the luggage and the size of the cabs. 

We really enjoy the Norwegian Freestyle cruising. Dress casually and comfortably and go to dinner when you want to at the Windows or Garden Room restaurants. We avoid Raffle Court because of the noise and chaos of cafeteria style eating. We ate most meals in Windows and the Garden room without any reservation. 

Good shows most nights. Good production singers and dancers. Also good special shows like 4ever,Cripton and Renata, etc. 

Discovered a new offer in the bars. Since we don't drink enough to make the "drink packages"worthwhile, we were typically ordering our pre-dinner cocktails in the Champagne lounge. On day three one of the waiters suggested that if we were going to always have the same drinks we should buy a bottle of whiskey that they keep for you at the bar. Saved us about 20% on drinks for the cruise. 

All told a good cruise. To be a great cruise, the ship needs another overhaul. Areas like the gym need to be updated and equipment in better working order. 

Staff are all very helpful and friendly and go out of their way to make sure you are enjoying the ship. A little tip on top of the service charge for drinks seems to go a long ways. 

We would definitely go on a fifth Norwegian Cruise if we see an itinerary we are interested in. We are planning to go to Hong Kong and SE Asia next. Unfortunately, Norwegian doesn't cruise there. 

Had a great time, but the service on the ship was horrible. They also tried to substitute wines. Would always order a specific wine and they would give us whatever they had. Caught them on several occasions....Great ports...

The cruise itself was wonderful but I twice had to complain about the noise overhead.  Our balcony room was directly below a children's play area. The area above us was used for active running and jumping. At times the noise went on until 10:30pm. My complaints had no effect on the level of noise. Fortunately, we spent most of our time out of our room. Next time, I will be sure to ask what is located above. We have been on four cruises now and this is the first time we have experienced such noise.

Everything else was great. We had interesting tours with knowledgeable tour leaders, staff was pleasant, food was good, and we met some interesting people. 

There were pros and cons to this cruise. 

Pros:

Excellent food in the cafeteria's dining room.

Freestyle cruising, which allowed for more choices on board.

Excellent friendliness and service from all of the Filipino staff, and most of the other staff; the Brits were somewhat rude, however.

There were great excursions offered on this cruise.

Embarkation and debarkation were very simple and easy.

Jefferson was a particularly talented and very nice musical artist on board, and made for some of the best entertainment option available.

The cruise ship allowed guests to bring in a bottle of wine free of charge, which was an exceptional perk.

Cons:

The stateroom was exceptionally cramped and not adequate for 4 persons.  This, in spite of booking and paying for a larger "family" room.  Which I do not believe we received.  The upper bunkbed was dangerous as it tilted towards the floor, and the exit door and way to washroom were blocked by placing the cot for the 4th person across the entire tiny cabin, making a hazard for anyone getting up in the night.  I have never been in such a tiny room before.

There was extremely limited selection on the TV channel for English speaking guests, and only 1-2 movies were offered in the theater the entire 10 day cruise.

The food was not of very good quality in the more formal dining rooms.  I am not talking about the specialty restaurants, I am talking about the formal dining options offered to all guests. Here, the food was a real disappointment, although the atmosphere and ambiance in the formal dining rooms was excellent!  So that means you could choose to eat good food in a noisy, crowded cafeteria, or choose to dine in a wonderful atmosphere with poor quality food in the Windows or Garden dining rooms. The cafeteria provided excellent and tasty meals, but it was often so crowded it was hard to find a seat.

It was tough to get a plumber to respond to our room.

Room service from the cafeteria was generally very prompt and excellent (all except once).

The pros overall outweighed the cons.  I would definitely recommend this cruise to others, but would suggest bringing on board your own movies and entertainment, as your choices in this arena will be very limited.  I would also advise to definitely NOT book a room for 4 persons on this ship.  You will spend a miserable vacation in your cabin.  Book 2 rooms instead if you have 4 people traveling.  All of the service staff are exceptionally nice, making for a very enjoyable interaction with your servers, but some of the staff with higher pay grades are much less friendly.  Its generally easy enough to avoid these people.  I would go on the same cruiselines again because I enjoyed it so much, and now that I know what to expect and plan for, I could make the next cruise even better. 

The ship was nice but the food was the worst I have  had in my seven cruises.The desserts looked good but had no flavor.  Chocolate treats almost never had any chocolate flavor. The main dinning rooms and buffet were always a disappointment.  Items were often over cooked and just lacked flavor. One  morning I had Eggs Benedict in the main dinning room.  The English muffin was so hard, I could not cut it with my knife.  The crew was nice ,and the entertainment was good, but the food was very lacking

Great schedule, best cruise for the price! Room was great, food in dining room great, but buffet was same old same old almost everyday!! Not a great variety, except breakfast was great. Served grits every morning. Ship was nice, just the right size!!

THE CREW MEMBERS WERE MOSTLY RUDE AND UNINFORMATIVE.  I HAVE CRUISE ON MANY SHIPS, MANY TIMES AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EXPERIENCED RUDENESS FROM MORE THAN 3/4 OF THE CREW MEMBERS.  I WAS TOLD FROM A FELLOW GUEST THAT THIS PARTICULAR WAS GOING INTO DRY DOCK.  WE GUESSED THAT THE CREW WAS ON THIS PARTICULAR SHIP FOR TRAINING SINCE IT WAS GOING IN FOR REFURBUSING. THE FOOD IN THE RUFFLES WAS RATED, BY ME, AS MEDICORE AND LIMITED.  EVEN THE ICE CREAM, EXCEPT SOFT SERVE, HAD THREE FLAVORS, ORANGE, STRAWBERRY, CHOCALATE, AND COULD EVEN B BOUGHT ANYWHERE ON SHIP.  THE RESTURANT FOOD HAD TO BE SENT BACK ON NUMEROUS OCASSIONS AS UNEATABLE.  THE CHICKEN AND ROAST COULD NOT BE CUT WITH ANY KNIVE AVAILABLE.  THE SPECIALITY RESTURANTS WERE GOOD ESPECIALLY THE FRENCH RESTURANT, THAT WAS ABOVE EXPECTATIONS. I DID ASK ONE CREW MEMBER IF HE WOULD STOP TREATING GUEST AS THEY WERE CATTLE, AND HIS REPLY WAS, HOW SHOULD I TREAT THEM ? HE WAS DIRECTING GUESTS TO THE TOUR AREA. I DID BOOK SEVERAL TOURS AND THE ONE FOR ST. TROPEZ WAS THE ABSOUTELY WORSE.  IT WAS A SLIGHT RAIN WHEN WE LEFT THE SHIP, AND THE TOUR GUIDE STATED WE WOULD ADJUST ACCORDING TO THE WEATHER.  WE TRAVELED TO ST.TROPEZ ON A BUS THROUGH THE HIGH MOUNTAINS, SCARY WITH THE RAIN AND SOME AREAS OF THE HIGHWAY WITH NO SIDE RAILS, HOWEVER WHEN WE GOT TO ST. TROPEZ , THE RAIN WAS HEAVIER.  THE GUIDE  WAS GOING TO TAKE US TO THE BATHROOM AND THEN DECIDE WHAT TO DO.  WE WALKED APX 6 BLOCKS IN THE INCREASING RAIN TO THE BATHROOMS, THEN LIGHTING, THUNDER AND POURING RAIN, THE SHOPKEEPERS CLOSED THEIR DOORS, PROBABLY FOR TWO REASONS, RAIN, LACK OF CUSTOMERS, WE WERE THE ONLY IDIOTS ON THE STREETS AND TO AVOID DRIPPING PEOPLE IN THEIR STORES.  THE GUIDE SAID WE COLD RETURN TO THE BUS, SOME STOOD IN WOORWAYS TRYING TO AVOID AS MUCH RAIN AS POSSIBLE AND SOME RETURNED TO WHERE THE BUS HAS DROPPED US OFF. NO BUS AND NO SHELTER FROM THE RAIN.  AS THE RAIN SLACKEN UP A BIT WE WENT BACK TO WHERE WE LAST SAW THE TOUR GUIDE. WHEN WE FOUND HER IN A SHELTERED AREA, SHE IMPLIED THAT MY AGE IS WHY WE WERE UPSET AND WE SHOULD HAVE SEEKED SHELTER. OF COURSE, NOT KNOWING THE AREA AND POURING RAIN HINDERED. SHE CALLED FOR THE BUS TO COME BACK AND PICK US UP AFTER MORE THAN AN HOUR .  AGAIN SHE GUIDED US TO SOME APTS THAT WHERE NOTHING OF SPLENDOR THAT SOMEONE HAD BUITL AROUND A BODY OF WATER AND CALLED A RESORT.  STILL RAINING.  THOSE WITH HALF OF MINE LEFT STAYED ON THE BUS AND WAS ABLE TO INDICATE TO THE DRIVER TO TURN ON THE HEAT SO WE COULD DRY OUT.  HE DID NOT UNDERSTAND ANY OF THE LANGUAGES SPOKEN TO HIM, EVEN THE TOUR GUIDES' BACK THROUGH THE FOREST FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF , TREES,TREES, TO THE SHIP.  NOT AN APOLOGY OR ANYTHING.  THE CABIN STEWART WAS VERY GOOD AND ONE BAR TENDER NAMED JOHAN IN THE BLUE LAGOON WAS OUTSTANDING.  OTHER THAN THAT, CREW SERVICE WAS VERY BAD.  THE WAITERS IN THE FRENCH RESTURANT WERE SUPERB AND THE STEAK HOUSE WAITERS WERE OK. ATHE MOST FRIENDLY CREW MEMBERS WERE THE ONES OUTSIDE THE RUFFLES ADMINISTERING THE GEL FOR HANDS.

There was a lot about this cruise to recommend it. Primarily from a customer service point. As this was a birthday cruise for myself the hotel director Tony found out about it and went out of his way to make it special. He understood customer service and managed his employees with a graceful touch. Unfortunately the food on this cruise is terrible. I am someone who does not generally care about the food and I found it severly lacking. As someone with Celiac disease I found my options non existent. The staff was very poorly educated about how to handle this and they were not willing to special order anything. I had to preorder my meals in the dining room the day before. As I am on vacation I do not want a schedule of any kind.  The entertainment was definitely geared towards an older crowd. There was not that much to do especially on sea days.  There was a new bartender, Johann who was excellent. He went far beyond in his quest for customer service. He cultivated a strong following but apparently this was a problem with the existing staff and then they made it the customer problem by not waiting on you. Extremely unprofessional. The itinerary was good but everyone was surprised with an extra sea day right at the beginning. We left port in Venice at 1:00 am and it showed that day and the next one a sea day. Somehow everyone didn't know we left port at 1:00 am and were at sea 2 more full days.this was key as well because it put us in Rome on a Sunday, which means a lot of the Vatican, etc... Is closed.  I have done several cruises with Royal Carribean and feel they do a better job in the same area. If not for Tony and Johann's excellent customer service I would be left with an overall bad review