It is a terrible ship, old and tired. Tiny cabins single beds at right angles to each other, even for couples . Hardly any storage, we had our clothes on the window ledge. The Food is awful and monotonous. Same breakfast every day, congealed eggs, over cooked bacon etc. Coffee foul. Buffets breakfast and lunch only occasionally a waiter served lunch. Dinner you had to queue for and no seats for disabled, standing for over 40 minutes until we complained. and if you are disabled just forget it. No room for a wheelchair, slippery ramps. Tenders impossible to get in unless able bodied. Never again . Hardly any entertainment. Excursion desk gives wrong advice, we had to advise them in the end. We did not see one happy face onboard, everyone was unhappy and complaining, from all different nationalities. We spoke to English, Dutch, Americans, Brazilians , Argentinians and we all felt the same Read Less

Ports we wanted to visit Service from most was acceptable but not from tours desk where we had a female total ignore us and then was not much help after that. Then to be ripped off for 111min on internet when it was clearly documented no use.... and to be told tuff luck. And to rub salt in you have to PAY for bottled water US$24.00 for 6x 1lt bottles where manufacturing costs are US$0.60per bottle. To make someone pay for a life supporting product is disgraceful. This ship is old . We were told it had had a refit in Jan. WHERE I ask. Cabins very small very outdated TV useless. Can't check your account. The shops are way way over priced you can buy cheaper retail on land then they add a 20% tax. The cost of this cruise was higher then any other we have done on much better & newer ships. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary,We have previously cruised with Celebrity and Cunard,so a smaller ship was a first.We really enjoyed the wonderful places we visited.Santorini was fabulous,Mykonos too..Kusadasi was very intetesting also.Food on the cruise was lovely.Plenty of choice at breakfast,lunch and dinner.and staff were very pleasant and accomodating.Some people complained that restaurants weren't open all the time,but fine for usThe included shore excursions were really good and the guides very informative.Now the downside.We were in cabin 2006,don't choose it! It is so near the engine you can smell diesel as soon as you step into corridor,not pleasant.Also very noisy.We felt every move of the shipWe would cruise on Celestyal Crystal but choose a higher deck.Said it all really but must give a special mention to the great staff in the restaurant and our cabin steward,we were well looked after by Migiol in the cabin.Overall a lovely cruise. Read Less

We booked with Norwegian because our family members had had several positive experiences on previous cruises. our cruise was not the same caliber as previous cruises and several guests agreed. Upon boarding the ship, there was no welcome party. No special greeting. We just went to our room. There were less events available. Dining rooms are open for breakfast but they should be open for luch as well. Mid day options were limited. There were very few activities and those that were available had an extra charge. No make your own cupcake, or other classes. The rooms were clean and our cabin was cleaned regulary but we were looking forward to the towel figures and never got one. The staff was nice but not particularly hyping the crowd. Dining rooms were full and getting a table took almost an hour. As a result, we missed some of the shows because our meal ran late. The shows were just ok anyway. For our first cruise, it was ok but we were expecting spectacular. Read Less

We are new-ish to cruising but this was our 3rd. We have done 1 P&O and 1 Royal Caribbean. We intend trying 5 cruise lines and then decide on who we want to sail with. MSC and Princess will be next. We currently have P&O and RC neck-and-neck in all aspects of quality and service from our own experience. This review isn’t against the staff because as with all cruise staff they work really hard long days and we appreciate it isn’t easy. The staff, as with others ships couldn't do enough for us. This is a long review but in sections, there is minimum opinion here because it is typed as we experienced it. This is typed purely for people to read before booking but also for those high up in Norwegian to pull their fingers out as people will just vote with their feet and you wont get them back. The problems started in Venice where we had a 1200pm check in time given to us but it seemed so did everyone else. After registering and getting the door cards we were given a boarding group number-this turned out to be a boarding time over 2 hours later. The Premium drinks package we had didn’t include water. Ive never thought as water as a luxury item but it wasn’t included, nor was the Starbucks coffee which is nearly $10 for 2 cups- we had 6 between 2 of us at nearly $30. The buffet wasn’t serve yourself as expected, all items were served to you and your plate (no trays) like in a prison. 1 person served 3 items or more so if the server was dealing with someone in front of you, you just had to wait for their return as they took the spoons off you if you dare serve yourself. Want to squirt your own tomato sauce on your bacon? They’ll take that off you too and squirt it for you. This happened. The water, juice, tea and coffee counter was placed alongside the walking gangway. You cant serve yourself here either, there’s 2 or 3 people stood there serving you but they were roped off with bollards, and we stood the other side of the rope for a drink, so you lost 4-5 foot in width of the walking gangway. This created an instant bottle neck of people wanting drinks and people passing with plates of food. I asked why we just couldn’t serve ourselves, and I was told ‘our bosses tell us this’. The casino was a decent size to be fair, but with crowds of people around the 1 roulette table it was difficult to play if you didn’t have a seat. Seats occupied by non players but the casino staff wouldn’t ask them to move to make space for players. The card tables were a minimum of $5 per play which meant the people who play just for fun for $1 or $2 werent there. The rest of the floor space was occupied by 160+ slots/bandits/fruit machines which at most had 10% occupied at any time- This is a generous estimate too. 1 craps table (this is usual), $5, $10, $25 card tables mostly sat empty 95% of the time with clearly bored dealers, and 1 busy roulette table. So much wasted space on slot machines it was a pity. The people leaving the theatre passed through the casino and carried on walking. I wonder who would have stopped for $1 / $2 games. The casino had its own rules not seen elsewhere too. Anyone played 2 hands at a card table? Me too. Not here though, you could play 2 hands but a clear plastic guard was placed over your 2nd hand of cards to ensure you played them blind. You had to gamble blind, gamble without seeing any cards. Haven’t seen that before. Roulette digital sign said $2 play with 5 chip minimum . Not sure why it just didn’t say $10 minimum. This changed when playing the columns or dozens (these are 3 available bets) because 2 out of 3 bets are often covered but the $10 minimum now meant $10 minimum on each column or dozen, so now we were at $20 per bet. Didn’t see this written anywhere and never heard of it before either. Again, no $1 $2 for the fun players to play but with only 1 table for a ship of 2,200 people on, its probably just as well. Royal Caribbean dealers said you had to be a casino dealer for 2 years outside before you could be a dealer on a ship with them. The Norwegian staff didn’t appear to have that level of experience but all were very pleasant, as were the waiters and bar staff. The casino rules and minimum pricing was clearly out of their hands by those above them. Gatsby’s bar which backed onto the casino had great bar staff, decent piano players but stunk of either blue cheese or stale feet. Every day and night we noticed it, until the last night before we sailed back to Venice on day 6 when it smelled clean. The ship had brass stair edges, bannisters and fittings but I couldn’t tell when they were last shiny. Admittedly brass is hard to keep shiny but its been done elsewhere and if it cant be kept on top of then its sensible to fit steel fittings that don’t need polishing. Tenders were required in some places (these are little boats from the ship to the town if the ship cant get any closer or into a normal dock) and the first tender needed was into Montenegro. 4 hours we had available here and after an utter shambles getting people off the ship, we had enough time for a stroll around the town and 2 drinks then we went back to the tender for the ship. Some people didn’t even get off the ship as time had simply run out for them due to the tender and ticket fiasco. For each town or island that needed a tender we had an arrival time and a departure time given to us, but no one knew the last tender time from each town. On the third tender they advised us the last tender departure time (most likely from repeated complaints about the tendering problems for the previous two days). Duty Free shop continually empty, but considering the prices it should be called Duty Added. Maintenance men painting the ship while sailing back from Croatia so a nice paint smell as we travelled watching the sun set. Pub quiz run (with football on tv, the Darby and Joan club sat nattering and other general noise) by a staff whose English was so poor she asked an English passenger to read the questions out for her. 1 notable quiz question was ‘what is the most popular river in New York?’ . We weren’t sure how a river becomes popular but we picked the Hudson and then gave up on the quiz due to the above points. Repeated queues from main dining areas up and down stairs, past toilets and lifts as there was often 1 person taking details for tables as pre booking wasn’t done, as its called ‘Feel at Sea’ or ‘Freedom Dining’ but with no booking times people turned up together and staff got overrun. I could go on but this is a long review already, so some good points. Good points Nice staff and hardworking, nice weather, nice ports to visit. In summary If I didn’t know better I’d think this was their first attempt at cruising. Wouldn’t use NCL again as theres way too many bad points that we didn’t experience on P&O or RC. If it was my first cruise I most likely wouldn’t bother again, no matter who tried to convince me. Read Less

We picked this cruise because we were on the Koningsdam last year and had a great experience, plus we liked the itinerary. Here are the Pros and Cons...note that we are not drinkers so I cannot comment on anything related to that, Pros: The ship was immaculate... hand washing machines on the Deck 9 dining room Friendly service and prompt in dining room and with cabin stewards. I did notice that any type of manager in the dining areas seemed surly and therefore not welcoming or really approachable. Lovely room....we just had an inside cabin and it was spacious with a large shower with sliding glass door. Itinerary was nice...good ports with a nice length of time. Food choices were pretty good although the well stocked salad bar on the first day lost several topping options the 2nd day thru the remainder of the cruise. Dining room service was prompt Nice pool deck area Cons: Activities were limited when at sea. There was an electrical issue with one of the music areas so that venue was closed 90% of the cruise. Music options were scarce and song choices repeated and became uninteresting. Upsell all the time....booked a relaxing spa time and was constantly pressed to buy them $100 creams. Entertainment is adequate but nothing special Excursions should be vetted more....one excursion to Bosnia required passenger seat to hand over passports (which as not noted in the brochure...only stated passport check). One passenger did not receive her passport back, which resulted in a long delay and a trip for her to the embassy, as passport was never recovered. Cruise Director was not very friendly...more on the sarcastic side, however the Asst. C.D., whose name is Voyja was extremely pleasant and interactive with all age groups! Even tho food was good...there was heaviness on East Indian cuisine as the head chef is of that ethnicity....I would’ve enjoyed more authentic local cuisine of the cruise ports. Ship lost all power and was adrift for about an hour.... although the Captain did regularly keep us informed. I would probably not choose this ship again for the above mentioned reasons and explore other cruise line options with better food and entertainment/activity options. Other cruisers seemed happy with the drink options .... they do have unsweetened iced tea and lemonade freely available and both were excellent. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted to visit Venice (2 night stay prior to the cruise) and also visit the Greek isles and Dubrovnik. Prior to the cruise the stop at Kotor (Montenegro) was changed to Bar and this was a 2 hour ‘technical’ stop so no getting off the ship (Kotor would have been 2.30pm-8pm) Apparently this was due to the Venice port authority making changes to our departure time from Venice which was changed for 6pm to 8.45pm but we didn’t actually sail until 11pm. We did stop at Corfu and did our own thing by walking into the old town which was 10am-4pm as planned. The visit was as planned to Santorini which was beautiful. Mykonos was as planned but we chose to stay on the ship. Argostoli was cancelled on the day as the Captain stated the weather conditions were not safe to get into the harbour (no idea if this was accurate as the sea looked calm to us) very disappointing as this was two destinations now not visited out of five. Dubrovnik was disappointingly short (7.30am - 1pm). The guide spoke so fast you couldn’t take it all in. Saying that we did the Riviera Dubrovnik tour which took us to two beautiful destinations outside Dubrovnik. We have cruised before and never experienced so many changes. For a weeks holiday this was very disappointing and does not give great value for money. Entertainment was mixed the singers/dancers were good although we only saw one show. The hypnotist put on a good show. The pianist and the trio were ok! We mainly ate in the self service restaurant and the food was excellent. Great choices and something for everyone. We did three specialist restaurants which were very good. The Teppanyaki was brilliant, entertaining and great food. Our cabin was at the back of the ship and could be noisy at times. The cabin was a bit dated but clean. Read Less

Booked with a Group. Ship overall is average. Guest Service at Registration desk is poor, seemed bothered with any questions. Bar, Restraurant, and Fitness personal very good. Food is average. Stops at ports were changed frequently which caused some adjustments to booked tours. Learned to check also on how many ships will be in port at one time as many of the stops were extremely overcrowed. Many of the ship personal had little knowlege of aspects or ammenities of the ship if it was not their department. Internet access is poor and non-existant. Don't even bother paying extra for it. Over $200 charged and little or no connection and down completely most of the time. Ship personal were not caring about the wi-fi. This was very difficult do to communication obligations we had. It is very unfortunate about the cruise experience considering the beautiful ports of call. Will most likely not be back to Norwegian. Read Less

Family friendly and to try a new cruise line . What we got was the rudest most unhelpful staff I have ever seen in the 15+ years of cruising. The dinning was average and again “couldn’t care less type of attitude “ Nobody seemed to know what was going on and never got the same answer twice. We had a tight connection and wanted to know how long roughly it would take to leave the ship with our own bags and was told the immigration could be slow and on leaving the ship there was no immigration! The cabin was average but what tipped my wife over the edge was no tissues in the bathroom. She was told it was because we didn’t have a higher enough grade balcony!!!! Staff had a poor command of English and didn’t know what was going on . Overall very disappointing and will never travel with them again. Read Less

Having transferred almost directly from Norwegian Epic to Norwegian Jade the contrast could not have been more amazing. The Jade crew were all happy, friendly and engaging and certainly made a monumental difference to the voyage. Jade was obviously a much happier and well run ship. Some maintenance issues with the cabin including toilet not flushing and faulty temperature control of shower. Onboard productions appeared to be focussed on artistic flair rather than entertainment. Jasmine restaurant was disappointing both food quality presentation and service. The Asian options in the buffet were better quality and taste. Specialty restaurants were a great experience and with the dining package good value for money. Did not use spa or fitness centre. Good use was made of the Bliss Lounge for activities and there are many different bar and lounge options with different feel and decor. Enjoyed the Spinnaker Lounge which was probably under utilised through most of the day and early evening Read Less

Greetings! I am a former luxury cruise TA and had sailed on Serenity 3 times in a PH, about 12-14 years ago. This is the my first time back as a 'civilian' and first time on Crystal for my husband. Our last 4 cruises have been NCL, NCL, Cunard, Cunard. Much has changed with Crystal since my last voyages and I had been warned that it 'isn't what you remember' but my expectations were exceeded in almost every way, We had a standard Oceanview on deck 7. Sure we missed a balcony but otherwise the cabin was great. The most outstanding & memorable aspect was the dining. Every single day, no matter where we ate, every meal was great. I don't know how many times one of us would taste something & say "mmm..wow, that's so good" And we're foodies...not easily pleased. I am a pescatarian but I never felt there weren't enough non-meat options for me. All the fish & seafood dishes were wonderful, fresh and creative. My husband did have beef a few time and this in the only time he felt a bit let down. Having had very dismal desserts, pastries etc on our previous cruises, the outstanding desserts on the Serenity were a welcome relief. Kudo's to the Exec Pastry Chef! We dined at every venue for dinner & in order of most liked to least, we would rate them: Prego, Waterside, Umi Uma, Silk, Churrasqueira. We would gladly do all again but pass on the last...not quite up the standards of the others. Prego is wonderful, best menu, best service, a real highlight. The other 'bests' for us were the production shows - top notch singers & dancers, very professional & entertaining. And the guest/space ratio. My husband was so impressed with how much public space vs guests there is on the Serenity. We were never crowded, virtually no lines, always a lovely, calm atmosphere. My 3 top observations: - relaxed dress codes were noticeable since my last Crystal voyages, but I was pleasantly surprised that about 80% of the guests still dress up for dinner...women in cocktail dresses, men in casual office or suits/sport jackets. We dressed up every night but 1 (after a very long day in Florence/Pisa) I love this aspect of cruising and so did most of my fellow pax from the look of things - the service was great, especially the bar & wine stewards... far more attentive than any cruise we've done where alcohol is a revenue maker. At dinner I had to start saying 'no, thanks' with my hand over my wine glass! Too much of a good thing and all that! - I did find that the friendliness of the crew overall may have been a wee bit less than I remember but it was still excellent and I wish I had written down some names to include in the survey sent by Crystal. Definitely some outstanding service by some individuals. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary and time of year. We have cruised on Viking ocean cruises and the Windstar cruises; Norwegian is less expensive and we now know you get what you pay for. Our room was near the trash compactor/waste machine and there was a constant banging sound all night long. Norwegian has no business selling cabins that make it impossible to sleep. After four nights of no sleep we were finally moved to another cabin and the ensuing packing up and moving was a pain, but was worth it for a peaceful night. The food was mediocre and there was only one specialty restaurant, Cagney's,that was worth the money. On one occasion we had a very short time in port; we rose early to get off for the maximum amount of time shore, but were told we had to wait to disembark because "premium" members were given the early disembarkation. This is no way to treat people who have paid for a cruise. We will not be returning customers. Read Less

I chose Princess mainly because of the itinerary offered in the dates we preferred. I have cruised the Mediterranean before, but Princess offered some new ports I had, yet, visited. This trip was special, as it was eleven nights with my two grown daughters, neither who had ever visited any of the countries included. It was wonderful- great service,, attentive staff, and excellent excursions offered. We visited seven ports and took advantage of an excursion at each stop we made. We also enjoyed the dining and service provided ar each meal. The menu was good and varied. One daughter is a pescatarian, and she was a bit concerned about what the offerings might be, but she thoroughly enjoyed the choices provided and there was never an issue. Because there were three of us, we had a mini suite. I think I would upgrade to a full suite if I were to book again, just to give us that much more space. Though we managed just fine, accommodations were a bit tight. All in all , a most pleasant experience, and I would consider Orincess again if I were thinking of another cruise. Read Less

I chose this cruise because my best friend wanted to do the European tour and I was in a position to make it happen so why not. I hate when people do a review and it sounds like they are just being petty about every little thing so I will try not to come off like that even though my experience overall was not as enjoyable as I thought it would be. My passion is cruising and I can honestly say I have never had a really bad cruise because I believe it really is what you make it. However, I felt MSC was very misleading and they tacked on to many extra charges by not even offering coffee in the dining room at dinner unless you paid for it and we got bottle water only because of our silver status. They offered paid for shuttle service from the ports to the city center of each of the ports but there was considerable walking from where the buses left you off to where most of the things to do actually where except for Mallorca and on at least one of the programs they suggested you get he shuttle because it was a 20 minute bus ride to the city center when in fact it was only a 10 minute ride. The food was the worse menu I have ever had and could only chalk this up to maybe it is how the Europeans prefer their food. On captain's night there was no fancy meal and definitely no lobster. I felt the entertainment was exclusive to the latin guest only so I felt really left out as a US passenger of non-latin descent. Getting on and off the ship was really a great experience even considering it was a looped cruise (I believe that is how they termed it) in Genoa and Marseille we had people getting off and people getting on but other than the buffet, this was not an inconvenience as we used different ways of getting on and off the ship so that no one was impacted. Dinner time was 6:30 or 9:30 unless you were Aura status but the Maitre D was so nice and accommodate us by giving us an 8:00 seating each night. I could only find bacon if I set my alarm for 7 and made it to the dining room (yes bacon is important to me so I made the sacrifice - lol), This was my first MSC experience and I will try MSC again but from the US side so that I can get an honest opinion. Read Less

Itinerary went to several ports we had visited before and would enjoy again and three that we had never visited and wished to. Everything about the ship is "first class." Clean everywhere; good food in all public restaurants; good entertainment; very friendly and helpful personnel. I got it in my mind that NCL does a superb job of hiring the perfect personality types to be constantly engaged with the public and trains them well. Our second trip on the Pearl and same experience both times. What I did not like and found to be negative was ten dollars (with mandatory 20% gratuity) for a glass of good but ordinary wine and eight bucks for a bottle of BUD or similar. They've got you captive and use the advantage. Prices in shops not so hot. My wife bought a bottle of Dolce &Gabana cologne for 85 euros. Found the same in Rome Airport "duty free" (notorious for hyping "duty free" and "tax free" in order to imply low prices, for 77 euros. Again, when one is captive, the benefits of competition go out the window (or porthole, if you will). This is our second cruise on the Pearl and both times we selected a "window stateroom" and would up with a fifteen inch diameter porthole. The room was roomy enough with the beds separated and each against opposing walls. Ship renovated since our first cruise in 2015. TV had been upgraded to a 32 inch Samsung and we had several watchable channels including Fox News US version. Big improvement from our SF-Miami cruise in fall of 2015. Excursions were problematic. We purchased five through NCL. In general the destinations were heavily overcrowded and the various tours did not allow for enough time at destinations to really shop and sightsee. Overcrowding was a surprise because this was an end of season Med cruise for the Pearl which went on to the Caribbean after we got off in Rome. Choice of slot machines in casino was unimaginative and we found very few that we found familiar based on our experiences in several California "Indian casinos." Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary and the price. We got a balcony room for the decent price. The room was OK, but there was a vibration from the engine or from other mechanical part, that sometimes was severe and disturbed the sleep. We complained to the customer service, someone came to check, he said that this is a known problem and left and that's it. Food was good, wine, coffee and some alcohol drinks were included. During the cruise the itinerary was changed and we had less time in Croatia and more time on the ship. The ship was boring, the entertainment was very boring (we don't speak Spanish). On the fifth day we decided to leave the ship and spend more time in Croatia and it was the best moment of the whole cruise :-). When we informed the customer service that we are leaving they behaved kind of weird in the beginning: they told us that it involves some kind of procedures and it is not easy and we have to pay 25 Euro per person per night (total 100 Euro) to leave!!! I came back in the morning, told them that we are leaving and refusing to pay, singed some form and left. Never again. Read Less

We selected this cruise for the ports and ended up missing Montenegro and Argostoli. Montenegro was missed due to changes by the Port Authority in Venice. Venice now staggers the coming and going of all cruise ship. NCL was given the LAST leaving time out of Venice so this meant we had to miss Montenegro. Argostoli was missed (we were told) due to the weather however we never experienced any bad weather on the ship. We must have been far from the bad weather in Argostoli? We were cut short on our last stop in Dubrovnik and had to get back on board earlier than originally planned. Why? We were told because NCL was given the FIRST time to be back in port by the Venice Port Authority. Does this make sense? Give the ship with the LAST leaving time the EARLIEST time to be back??? The ship was fine. Clean and well maintained. The food was average. The menu is so boring. We don't do buffets and the service is very slow in all of the sit down restaurants. Be prepared to be ignored. Bars are crowded and the bartenders are inattentive and not friendly. The Gatsby servers (mostly all females) only seem to have "eyes" for one another. That's fine, but can you get me a drink, please? One of the Gatsby bartenders has such a thick accent and refuses to increase her volume when you say "I'm sorry, I can't hear you." It was like she was doing ME a favor to even wait on me. Excuse me? All of the bars are crowded. You would think the ship would be prepared for the rush (like when people are getting back on board after a port stop) and put more workers at the bars and restaurants. The cruise director and his staff are mostly friendly and fun. The NCL production cast work so hard and are incredibly talented. We loved all of their shows. The aerialists are wonderful. The hypnotist was mildly entertaining, but we don't believe that the hypnotism was real. Can you say overacting by the "volunteers" from the audience? Customer service gave inaccurate information on two basic questions we asked. When we found out, we had to get back in line and get our key card fixed. They didn't apologize. Actually, I'd say it is typical NCL customer service. Snarly. Rude. Say NO to everything. Shore excursion personnel. Where to begin? Absolutely positively the WORST WORST WORST treatment we have ever gotten. This - after spending $700+ on shore excursions. Do they realize without us they wouldn't have a salary? To end on a bright note. Our cabin was clean and quiet and we slept very well at night. We enjoyed our time in Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, and Dubrovnik (too short, though). The shore excursions we took were nice. Read Less

We really like the quiet atmosphere of Oceanic - very few children, not a lot of loud music. The pool area stays relatively quiet. The food is, for the most part, very good - especially in the specialty restaurants. We had the wine and beer package, which allows beer and wine by the glass at meals. It was adequate. I would suggest they add a couple of WBTG at each restaurant to complement the food. Our cabin was wonderful - Penthouse Suite. Roomy and comfortable. Rahul the butler and Danelia the housekeeper were friendly and efficient. You get hors d-ouvrves each afternoon, which was nice, but they weren't great. The only noise from above was late at night, and it was minor. Every stop on the Iberian Quest itinerary was fabulous - just beautiful. However, Oceania's excursions can vary in quality. We had some very good ones - Cadiz, Provence - and one unsatisfactory one. We had booked the spa trip to Granada, but it was changed to Malaga. Also lunch was not provided. Oceania did provide a 25% refund after we complained. Marina is a pretty ship with great food and service. My observation is that Oceania's passengers are trending older, (I mean really older) so if you want a more lively atmosphere, try another line. We would definitely return to this area of the world, but maybe on our own or with Celebrity. Read Less

We chose this cruise for it's Spain-intensive itinerary and no at sea days. This turned out to be a mixed blessing, as we did private tours (Spain Day Tours, which we greatly recommend). All of the tours involved van/bus rides of 1-2 hours, and quite a bit of walking, so we were pretty tired and had no at sea days to recuperate and just enjoy the pool, spa, or the rest of the ship. This was our third Oceania cruise overall, and this time it was just me and my wife (no kid or parents). Even though we tend to keep to ourselves, we met a lot of amazing people during this cruise. At the specialty restaurants, we were required to share tables in order to get an earlier dining time. All of the people we met were modestly to wildly successful, loved to travel, and were a delight to spend an evening with! If you are this type of person, and aren't hypercritical about your room, food, etc. you are going to have a wonderful time on Oceania Marina. Just sit back and let it happen! Observations: - We didn't spend a lot of $$$ on alcohol. We did take advantage of happy hour drink prices at Horizon's, the captain's cocktail party, and discounted drinks each day at the pool (we only had time to use the pool twice though). - Free internet was greatly appreciated. I only used it to check personal email and do some photo editing. The wifi reception wasn't great in our room, but I'm an early riser and would go up for coffee and then sit with my laptop in the library where the connection was great. It's a charming and quiet place to sit. - There is no nickle and diming on Oceania to buy drink packages, buy photos, etc. Very relaxing. - There was more storage in our room than we needed. That was a first!! Unfortunately our oversize luggage wouldn't fit under the bed. - If pressed, we might have noticed a slight decline in the food quality since our previous Oceania visits. Friends we met on board thought so too and one had a pleasant conversation with the head chef about it. But we still enjoyed our meals immensely and this is not really a complaint. My favorite specialty meals seem to change every cruise. This time I liked Toscana the most; Polo Grill was my least favorite as my steak was just OK (loved the pork belly appetizer and the dessert sampler though!). - I would have liked to leave our balcony door open at night and sleep to the waves, but there is too much wind whistling for that. We slept very comfortably with the door closed. - There are plenty of hand sanitizing stations around the ship, and the staff won't let passengers serve themselves at the buffet (these are very good things!). The ship was spotlessly clean. We can't wait to go back to Marina or any other Oceania ship for that matter!!!! Read Less

I would say I am an avid cruiser and this was my first cruise on NCL. However, it was the worst cruise ive taken. I took my mom on this cruise because she just beat breast cancer and it was also her retirement celebration. We saved up for a LONG time to take an unpleasant cruise. I chose NCL for a step up from other cruise lines and I thought that paying over 5k for a mini suite would be worth while for a European cruise, however, I was wrong. Sanitation - There were so many people sick on the cruise so it was a constant fear. I understand the inhearant risks of this but getting paper menus, being treated like a baby in fancy restaurants, etc made the cruise that less enjoyable all while the staff was seemingly trying to hide the information. That is why I am sharing that information with the friends, news media, and future cruisers. Two ports of calls were cancelled and we got a lousy 18 dollars back in taxes. I understand that it is not a guarantee to get off the ship but for the amount of money that we spent, it seemed like nothing was done more to entertain us on the boat. The first port of call is prob getting cancelled frequently because of the Venice harbor master, but it is so uncalled for to place blame on Venice when we knew of this cancellation way in advance. I could get a hotel room if i wanted to remain on land. The second port of call, the weather cleared within an hour of leaving the port, so the captain seemed scared even though we were already inside the port. Moderno was a horrible restaurant to eat at for 50$ a person - dont waste your time. The food was not the greatest and we had to be HAND FED at the salad bar because so many people were sick on the cruise. Staff - the service the main dining was worth it - the wait staff was phenomenal. The following employees were the greatest on the ship: Jo anne - room steward Nozimbo - Casino dealer Michael - Wine steward Evelyn - Versailles restaurant Read Less

Highly rated and many other satisfied customers. Found it all to be true. Ship was amazing, everything was thought out and crew was always attentive and prepared. Staterooms were clean, well appointed and plenty of room. Food on the ship was excellent - plenty of selection and variety, regional dishes served, service was outstanding. Manfredi's (Italian restaurant on ship) was our favorite place to dine, excellent food, service, selection. Tours (with one exception) were well planned, educational with well informed guides, always some free time after the tours to explore, eat or relax. Evening entertainment on ship was outstanding, young performers that I would not be surprised to see on Broadway one day. There were also good lectures and discussions about the ports of call and related subjects. Without exception, all the staff working on the ship were friendly, courteous, attentive and efficient. Met a lot of enjoyable passengers as well, enjoyed meals together. The extension trip was wonderful, the best part being the Viking appointed hostess. She was well above all our expectations! Scenery, tours, restaurants and hotels were most enjoyable. Will definitely be taking another Viking cruise in the future. Read Less

Absolutely fantastic and stunning ship. Embarkation was very efficient, no queuing. Got on board early and had a few drinks at the bar. The ship is Spotless throughout. Our cabin was lovely and cleaned twice a day by the lovely Rai. Great entertainment every day, the entertainment guys really do work hard. The food in the Posidena restaurant was lovely each night and you could have extra servings. The waiters Ruben and Eduardo kept the wine flowing. The breakfast and lunches at Marketplace were fantastic. So much choice and everything you needed. We didn't get off at many ports as we wanted to do this around the ship. We went to the gym which is well equipped..we used the hot tubs and the sun lounger around the pool. It was fantastic. The staff in the Masters of the Sea are great fun (Eduardo, Claudia, Trushant, Candy and Frank) and no shortage of drinks. We visited the casino a couple of nights and won, which was a bonus. We had a lovely massage in the Spa...a little bit pricey but lovely and enjoyable. Would definitely book with MSC again. Read Less

Pretty ship with wrap-around teak promenade deck where you can walk for hours. We were in a Neptune suite, so embarkation usually easier for suite guests. Neptune lounge personnel and coffee very good. The food in the Lido and DR on HAL is average at best. We almost always ate in the Lido because the restaurant is a hassle for us (we don't tend to linger over dinner) and the food is no better. That said, the Lido can be pretty intense, almost competitive most of the time. The aft pool was nice esp since hardly anyone used it while we were on the ship. There are only 2 hot tubs out there, so there was a lot of competition for those. There is a relatively new(?) entertainment feature - Lincoln Center on Stage. A rather pompous name for what was provided - a reader's digest version of some classical pieces (and pop tunes) played inharmoniously and off-key. We didn't try any other entertainment. The cruise director seemed a lot smarter and more capable than most. We liked the Tamarind bar for the views and the quiet and the bartender. Great books in the lounge at the top of the ship. We didn't go on any shore excursions. Read Less

My husband and I went with a group of people organized by a travel agent. The itinerary was perfect, and so were the excursions and guides. The majority of the crew was friendly, but some were not. We enjoyed the tours and the destinations, but we were very disappointed with the food and the included drink selection, all 26 of us, which is our biggest complaint. Also, it forced us to eat on the Islands if you wanted to spend any additional time after the excursion because they cut off the lunch after 2 pm. I have never been on a cruise that did not offer many options for eating any time you wanted, but not on this cruise! It was our anniversary, so we chose the most expensive suite with a large balcony. The cabin was very nice and would recommend this option if you decide to go on this ship. This cruise was our first trip to Greece, and it was gorgeous. I recommend you go to the Islands as we did, but I cannot recommend this ship. Read Less

I read all the reviews before deciding on a holiday so only fair that I should leave my own objective review. This trip was our first time on Britannia and we had a fantastic trip. The food choices were really good, we ate normally in the Oriental restaurant and were very well looked after with the waiters always offering more if we wanted it or to change things if they though we weren't keen. We also ate in Sindhu and Epicurean both well worth the extra cost. The grab and go sandwiches were perfect for daytime. We stayed in cabin F728 right on the back of the ship and absolutely loved it, it seemed more peaceful than the cabins on the side and we saw loads of dolphins and even a couple of whales - the downside however is that you can feel the engine vibrating more at the back and if the wind is in the right (or wrong) direction you do get soot on your balcony as mentioned on other reviews. Other comments on the cabin are that they could do with a good clean, there was mould in the bathroom in the shower and round the sink and the balcony was permanently dirty. I am not blaming the cabin cleaners I think because the ship goes straight back out it never gets a deep clean. I would only give the cabin 3 star at most In addition although maintenance seemed to be on-going the ship had a lot of rust on it and some machines in the gym weren't working a particular bug bear of my husbands. The entertainment was varied and loads of choice so something for everyone. One comment to note is if you are on second sitting there is never seats available in the live lounge. There were a number of celebrities on board but the price of £25 each to see them seemed a lot to me, this was included in the supper club but surely dinner was included anyway in the price we paid for the holiday. The guy from the Hollies was free and really well worth watching. We did our own thing in the ports as we don't need the hand holding the organised trips provided and had a great time in all the ports - Don't let Anfusa put you off by saying you'll miss the boat because trains are unreliable. We were disappointed we only had a half day in Gibraltar as it doesn't give you time for anything more than a whirlwind trip. We didn't have any problems with service anywhere on the ship everyone worked really hard Read Less