I took a Costa cruise 35 years ago, before Carnival got in the picture, and had a wonderful time with a friend for 3 nights! As I was celebrating my 60th birthday this year, I wanted to do another cruise. After reading some of the reviews on Costa, I was worried, but trusted my gut and with with them. We got a suite for my birthday. If you like to drink, it's definitely worth it! It also gives you some extra perks that you can read about. The 2 gentlemen that were assigned to our room, were there for our every need! Thank you Ganesh and Dharma! I had read some reviews that said "all they serve you was pasta!" I have to say, even though we could go to the Club Restaurant with our package, we chose the buffet a lot, just for quickness, and found it hard to even find some pasta! lol There was plenty of food and variety! So I don't know what everyone is talking about! I saw some signs saying, hamburger for $5.00 Euros, but didn't see the need to buy one as there were patties and hot dogs on the buffet and pizza! Whoever is going on this cruise and said they didn't get enough good food, probably needs to go on a American cruise ship where there seems to have food and buffets 24 hours a day! lol Getting on and off the boat, was very easy. Always seems hectic the first day, so just chill! Did 3 excursions while there and all done very well and worth the money! Our favorites were the Abberebello(?) tour in Bari, Italy and the Tuk Tuk in Dubrovnik, Well done by tour guides and organizers! there were plenty of activities on board, if you wanted to participate. Games, dance lessons, trivia. Plus they had nice bands during happy hour and the evenings that you could enjoy a drink and a dance. All the staff was polite and helpful when we needed. I just can't say enough! We went to stage show, just one late night and heard a wonderful Tenor sing, fantastic! didn't use any of the fitness rooms, but saw them and took a tour of the spa. All there if you need it! All in all, well done! If you go with a good and positive attitude and just be patient sometimes, you will enjoy it!! I would definitely go again!! Read Less

We have sailed on the Seaside two previous times and had very good experiences. This time, things certainly changed ! Dining room dinners were substandard for sure, although our dining room staff were very nice and did a good job, doesn't make up for the food. Terrible selections and poor quality of entrees, the specialty restaurants were nothing short of perfect. We should not have to pay to get a good meal, even their pizza was terrible !at the buffet which we always enjoy. We got better pizza in Ocho Rios ! The bar staff was over burdened and apparently getting an olive for a Martini is a stretch ! They do a great meet and great and have done we enjoyed them on Seaside before. The rooms are small but we knew that from previous cruises on Seaside. Would I be going again on the Seaside, right now I need a rest from MSC !! Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the indoor pool. Pool was closed for planned maintenance for the full week! Noone informed us it would be closed. Majority of the English speaking excursions were cancelled and there were very few things for English speakers on board. Again Noone informed us there would be a chance of the excursions being cancelled. Be warned you have to pay for EVERYTHING on this ship. Food is only served at specific timings. You have to pay for water. Also, staff is not so friendly. The overall attitude of the staff is down like they do not want to be there. We were reprimanded for using a different glass for our milk in the morning and we were also told we could not have a second entree. After arguing he only agreed. Maybe this is how all European cruises are but I do not think so. If you have a choice steer clear of Costa Cruises and opt for any other cruiseline. Read Less

The MSC Seaview was a nice ship. But the 'niceness" ends there. This was hands down the worst cruise we've ever been on. We sailed on the newest ship, Seaview departing from Barcelona to Marseilles, France then Genoa, Italy, Naples, Italy, Messina, Sicily, then Valletta, Malta from 11/2/18 through 11/9/18. They charge for EVERYTHING. The service was awful! The staff was rude!!! The food was horrible. The only food that was barely edible was the food in the restaurants that COST extra. The food in the main dining buffet was almost inedible. The staff (ALL of them) acted like they were doing us a favor by even responding to a request. They rolled their eyes, smacked and curled their lips when asked a question. I've been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises several times. I'm not new to cruising. This was astonishingly horrific. Then they had the audacity to charge us $10/person/day gratuity. We demanded that they take that off of our bill (they did). Don't waste your money on this cruise line. If you're expecting American-style service and support, you'll be sorely disappointed. Read Less

As someone who loves to be pampered I choose the 6 star cruise lines as my preferred option whenever I can. We have cruised many times on the Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony and have always been curious as to how they compare to Seabourn. This cruise in the Adriatic from Venice to Athens was our chance to try the Seabourn Ovation which is the newest in Seabourn's fleet having only been launched this year. What makes a 6 star ship? It is not the price of the cruise. It is of course the food, the accommodation, the entertainment and above all the service. So how has our experience so far compared to that on say the Crystal Serenity? I am comparing a Balcony cabin on the Serenity with the entry level cabin on the all-suite Ovation (which are similar in price). Food - Both have excellent food. Caviar is served on both but on Crystal it is served a couple of times a cruise on special dinners. On Seabourn it is served on special dinners but can also be ordered anytime. I like caviar so Seabourn wins in that department. The food on both is excellent. I cannot fault either. I like the different themes on Seabourn with a degustation menu inter spread with the regular menu on different days. I prefer the breakfast selections on Seabourn in the buffet but I prefer that there is an egg station on Crystal. Seabourn has its eggs made to order and then served at the table. Both lunch buffets are fine. The Serenity has a better burger grill and the fries are always hot. The Ovation is a bit hit and miss, but if you specify that you want it especially hot they will ensure that it is done. The Thomas Keller Grill restaurant is great on the Ovation and you can book in as many times as you like without extra cost. The specialty restaurants on the Serenity must also be booked but after eating in each twice per cruise then a small charge is made for additional visits. Having said that, the Silk Road Japanese restaurant on the Serenity is far superior to the Sushi restaurant on the Ovation which has mainly sashimi and sushi without the great hot food items that the Serenity also offers. Food - its a tie. The Accommodation - The Seabourn Ovation is new. The Crystal Serenity is clean and tidy but is of course not new. The staterooms on the Ovation are truly beautiful. they are wide, spacious and very ergonomically satisfying with more than ample closet and drawer space. Crystal is okay but cannot match Seabourn. The bathrooms on the Ovation are also very spacious with both a separate shower and bath. They are much bigger and much better. The beds and bedlinen on both ships are superb. They are as good as each other. The sitting area on the Ovation is much larger with a much better working table and a larger television. Accommodation - Seabourn Ovation is better The Entertainment - There are many aspects to entertainment which are not just the nightly shows in the theatres. There is the enrichment programs, the trivia and games programs, and there is musical entertainment. The Ovation has primarily three areas to hear music. There is the Club which features two bands that rotate, there is the Observation lounge which features a pianist and singer and there is the bar in the Thomas Keller Grill featuring a pianist. Crystal serenity has an area similar to the Observation lounge with a live band, it has an area midship also with a band playing dance music and it has a very cosy piano bar. In addition there is live music before and after dinner in the Crystal Cove bar area. For music Crystal is better. There are more choices and the piano bar is an especially fun place to listen to music after dinner if you don't want to go to the show. The enrichment programs on Crystal are also much more extensive with a variety of guest lecturers and a lot of teaching programs from golf lessons to computers. Crystal has an extensive library with a dedicated librarian. Seabourn has a much more modest selection of books. There is a movie theatre showing current movies in the afternoon and evenings on the Serenity but no movie theatre on the Ovation. There are also other quirky types of entertainment such as the magic performances put on for small groups at a time by a member of the Magic Castle. These shows get to be known by word of mouth and are not generally advertised on the Crystal serenity (or Symphony). Shows are shows and both ships have good and bad productions. Crystal being a bigger ship perhaps has more capacity to put on more extravagant productions but those that we have witnessed so far on the Ovation are pretty good too. Both ships have duplicate bridge and lessons, but because the Crystal Serenity is larger there are more participants on that ship. The area that is always of great fun for us is the trivia. Serenity has teams of no more that six while Ovation encourages up to ten per team. The host on the Ovation is the Cruise Director, Handré, and he is fantastic! The prizes on the Ovation are much better too. Hands down Ovation wins. Entertainment - overall the advantage is still to Crystal The Service - This is the big one. A ship cannot be considered six star if the service is poor. Neither has poor service, but one has got it much more right. On both ships the drinks are complimentary although special wines can be purchased for an additional price. I prefer Crystal here as they seem to have the concept that since the regular wines are complimentary, when you order and pay for a special wine it should not be at full mark up. The bartending and wait staff on Crystal are also much better at attending to customers. There is never a long wait to either order or to be served. Sadly, I cannot say that about the Ovation. On more than one occasion the table service was so slow that I had to go to the bar to order drinks myself. On two occasions because of being busy our drinks order was forgotten entirely. Sadly this is not six star service. I can only hope that it is because the ship is new and there are still some teething problems. I will say that management truly has a desire to improve. We have already been given a mid cruise survey which we filled out with helpful feedback and which again I must say was taken very seriously. Unfortunately, the waiters in the outlets likewise do not appear to have the same training as Crystal gives their staff. It is the little things like reaching across dishes to remove or place glasses, forgetting to bring condiments and having to be reminded. Also it is the either over or under attendance of the waitstaff who do not yet have the correct pacing to their service. The staff on both ships soon know your names and it is always pleasant to be recognised and appreciated. Both ships do that well. Summary - These comments of mine might seem a bit pedantic to you, my fellow cruisers, but i offer them because I believe that when you are paying for cabins on a six star ship in excess of a thousand dollars a night that the service, food, accommodation and entertainment should rightly be expected to be of a much higher standard than normal. I hope that this review is helpful. In summary, both ships and by extension both cruise lines are wonderful to cruise with, but for my money Crystal still holds the advantage. I know that both Seabourn and Crystal have their loyal followers so what say you? Read Less

I choose that cruise, because it was the only one for my date and location. The ship is pretty old, the cabin especially the bed and the shower were very good, but your hear everything from outside ... you have to pay for everything. The worst is the WiFi ...3 GB for 150€... The staff of the ship are very poor - they have to represent a high standard, but themselves have a horrible life on board (also the guest act not very friendly) On the ship we felt like sheep ... there is nobody familiar with you .. you have to stand quiet, as you get told where and when to go... if you want to do your own excursion, they block you, whenever they can... they are trained to sell you and gain extra money the ship is so old, water was dripping from the ceiling during the meals, at the sauna the roof is hanging down...... And on the ship you feel like in prison.............For us never again! Read Less

We chose this cruise because the itinerary gave us opportunity to see both Venice & Rome along with Adriatic stops (Dubrovnik & Kotor), Greece (Athens & Santorini) & Naples so we could see the Amalfi Coast. ROOM The boat was refurbished recently so the room was very nice. We had an obstructed ocean view room that still offered quite a view. The room was clean and had plenty of storage space. The bed was very comfortable. MAIN DINING ROOM/BUFFET We ate most dinners as well as a couple breakfasts & lunch in the main dining rooms. Food and service was very good. I enjoyed my dinners in main dining room as much as I did in the specialty restaurants. One of the most difficult things was finding a seat in the buffet for breakfast. It was very crowded since ship was at full capacity. It was frustrating wandering around looking for a seat along with many others hovering around the busboys waiting for them to clean a table. RESTAURANTS We ate at--Cagney's La Cucina & Le Bistro. Food was good but we had a very long wait. At Le Bistro it took an 1 hr 45 min before we got dinner. Cagney's was a little better 1-1/2 hr. If I had to do it again, I would probably not choose the specialty restaurants as one of the free at sea perks. We also ate at Ginza. The food was not that good and they also had a ridiculous wait. We had breakfast once in O'Sheehan's. They have a limited menu but it was good and you could get a booth near the big windows. SHIP We enjoyed Gatsby Bar and Spice H20. Unfortunately, they very limited comfortable seating which goes very fast. They mostly have tables & chairs. We were sailing off season and weather was not the best, but I would imagine during high season it would be packed. They have a good amount of seating on each end of the ship that provides some quieter areas if you don't want to be around the main pool. The shopping is very limited. ENTERTAINMENT The Band on the Run show was excellent! We did not attend the others. The midship band that played near O'Sheehan's as was all the music on the ship. They have karaoke in 5'OClock Somewhere bar. The Sugarcane Mojito Bar was just a bar in the Brazilian specialty restaurant so if you went at night there was nowhere to sit except right at the bar. SERVICE Service was good. Our room steward attended to a draining issue we were having and was very friendly. Most of the wait staff was friendly. SPA You have ZERO access to steam room or sauna or anything unless you purchase a thermal suite pass. The thermal suite was rather small with maybe 10 or so of the thermal beds. We received services which were well done. Read Less

I chose Norwegian star for its itinerary: Venice, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Athens, Santorini, Naples, Rome. I was my first time visiting these ports except Rome, loved all the ports we visited ! Comparing to 2 previous cruise with MSC and RCL, Norwegian star is the best. Staff is very friendly and attentive, service is excellent. When we return from excursion at each port, they were waiting for us with towel and water outside the ship. Food is very good at the complementary restaurants: the buffet, Versaille, aqua, and Ginza. Staff is always very quick picking up the dirty dishes. It could get busy at buffet at peak hours, sometimes hard to find a table. On the sea day, I enjoyed time on the sundeck, listen to the Latin music. Cabin is clean. But I feel the size is a bit smaller than other cruise lines. Entertainment is good, but has room to improve. Read Less

We loved the refurbished Norwegian Star!!! The ship was beautiful and the food was great. I have food restrictions and they took very good care of me. I had a special meal prepared for me every time we went to the dining room. I also loved the freestyle dining as well. The entertainment/shows were also great. We booked all our excursions through NCL and we were really pleased with our tours and the guides that we had. The disembarkation and embarkation were well organized. We never had issues getting off and on the ship. We had a mid-ship mini suite with a balcony. It was roomy enough for the 3 of us, it was also very clean. We had purchased the thermal spa package...it was awesome. All the staff were great. I would definitely cruise with Norwegian again and will recommend this cruise to my family and friends! What a wonderful trip!!! Read Less

We chose this cruise, because we wanted to visit a bit warmer places before winter. It was really a great decision. Food was delicious and our service (waiter) was really, really kind. It is always a lot of food to eat and everyone can fine something for himself. We liked activities for children and other things on the ship. We enjoyed every single minute on the cruise. Ports and excursions were well organized. We had no bad experience with disembarkation and embarkation. The ship is beautiful and has everything for a comfortable holiday.The cabin was beautiful and always clean when we come back, so the employees did their job as they should. Everyone was very kind. The children also really enjoyed the holiday. Our daughter, that can speak English, met a lot of friends from different countries, and for her it was also a great experience. we would like to go again to visit other destinations as well- Read Less