10 passengers in our family chose this cruise for the Christmas Markets. We departed from Amsterdam on the 22nd of December for Basil. We noted a small notation on the website that many markets closed on the 22nd or 23d, however the itinerary listed several markets to visit. On board, our updated schedule listed an added market. What this cruise company failed to mention was all markets were closed on Dec. 25th and 26th. They also failed to note that markets did not open until 11:00a.m. At one port our excursion was scheduled to leave at 8:00 a.m. for a short walk and then visit the Christmas Market. During the walk our local guide advised us the market didn’t open til 11:00 a.m. the problem, our ship was scheduled to leave port at 11:00 a.m. so, we missed one of the open markets. When we complained to our cruise director about this, she replied “it is not my fault”.

In addition our embarkation on the ship was delayed til after 6 p.m. because of some problem they experienced on the previous cruise and extra sanitation was needed..so we sat in a hotel lobby for several hours.

“Award winning” cuisine was featured in the promotion of this cruise line and this ship. Actually, the food was modest and most of the food service slow. Read more