For our first ocean cruise, we were very happy with the experience.
The size of the ship seems nearly perfect and never felt crowded. On the last day, we realized that there were elements/activities that we hadn't even had time to utilize.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We had access to the ship from 1pm but arrived at 2:30pm to find not one single person in line for check in! We carried our own roll-on bags & backpacks ourselves so the entire check in process from desk to stateroom took less than 10 minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Our preference for dinner was The Restaurant though we would also give high ratings to Manfredi's and The Chef's Table (one dinner in each). The breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet service was good but we were surprised sometimes by the few offerings for vegetarians.
Make sure when you are the buffet to go fully forward (to the bar area); we completely missed the seafood buffet there one night, not realizing that there was an additional buffet set up there.
We did not purchase the Spirits package since our stateroom category included daily mini-bar restocking (including spirits) and did not utilize any of the bars.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
The primary facility we used was the Spa which was outstanding. The free use of the hot tub, steam room, sauna, snow room, plunge pools, etc was great.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We didn't go to any shows but enjoyed the musicians (pianist, strings, etc.) that were playing throughout the ship.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room steward was outstanding. After requesting an ice bucket the first day, we found a full bucket every time we returned to the room for the rest of the journey.
Wait staff in The Restaurant was very attentive.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We were surprised to learn that the ship was heading for a refurbishment in dry-dock immediately following our cruise because we found the ship clean and well-maintained throughout.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We opted for an upgrade that was offered 1 week prior to sailing which put us up one level and aft in room 6093. Everything was clean, well-maintained and we found the room size comfortable for two independent travelers (not a couple).
Ship tip
If your pre-booked dinner reservations are later than you would prefer to dine, check in with the staff. Both nights that we had 8:30pm reservations, we arrived to find that there were empty tables and we likely could have dined earlier if we had asked.
We arrived in port a day early and had already seen most of the sites offered via the free excursion. We chose to spend the time with additional self-exploration.
Highly recommend Rick Steves audio tours for self-guided exploration of the city. La Sagrada Familia is worth the effort and you can do it on your own with some advance planning (pre-purchase timed entry tickets).
We were on the first bus departing the port for Marseille on Sunday morning; not a lot open at that time and the weather was not cooperating (rainy). We walked a bit then took the first available shuttle back to the ship. If you arrived on another day of the week or went to port later in the day, you would have a better experience. Or choose one of the paid excursions. Or stay on the ship and use the Spa like we did; we basically had the whole place to ourselves.
Skip the free walking tour excursion unless you want the complete history of the city back to the middle ages :( See if you can get directions from the ship to the escalators up to the top of The Rock and walk down yourself. It's easy to navigate and you can see the ship from everywhere.
The bus ride to Florence (Florence on your own - paid excursion) is long (90 minutes) but the tour guide was excellent. We were told later by other travelers that it's easy to use the free shuttle from the port to the train station and then zip to Florence on your own schedule by train.
Pisa (included excursion on the second day in port) was excellent. 45 minute bus ride, excellent tour guide, just enough time there to see everything before going back to the ship.
No excursions available at this port (disembarkation). We had intended to take a taxi to the train station to get to Rome but were offered a shared minivan/taxi ride directly to our hotel from the port for not much more money (and probably less time and definitely less hassle). Feel free to negotiate this rate; we initially walked away from the offer and were given a better price as enticement.
We spent an additional day in Rome (on top of disembarkation day). Highly recommend Rick Steves audio tours for self-guided exploration of the city.
Maybe because the ship was going into dry-dock but we had hoped to make a final walking tour around the ship prior to disembarking and weren't able to because furnishings were being moved into storage and some areas were already closed off. Be prepared to be up and off the ship early; it's not a leisurely morning. We carried our own bags off the ship but the baggage area looked well organized.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
