For our first cruise, Oceania was a good choice. Embarkation was well organized and while there was a wait for our rooms, we were provided with a welcome lunch and later relaxed by the pool. Our room was ready by 1:30. We opted for a veranda room on the concierge level. The room size appears larger on the web site photo but the space was adequate. Access to the concierge suite was located directly across our room. Staff was available for assistance and refreshments were provided throughout the day. It was worth the extra cost. Bathroom had everything we needed. Liked that there was a separate shower and bath. Shower was a bit tight for my husband but there is also a shower in the bath which we did not use. Good closet and drawer space. Room was clean upon arrival and throughout our stay. The steward service was excellent. The overall service throughout the ship was excellent. Liked that this was not a large ship which allowed for personal attention from staff. The food was very good. My dietary restrictions were given special attention. We ate at three of the specialty restaurants and they were all very good. Red Ginger was my favorite. Only ate once in Grand Dining room and the food and service was very good. Terrace Cafe was quick and easy with lots of choices. Good policy that staff serve the guest in this buffet style restaurant. Observed one improper food practice at the grille station but reported it to staff. Ship Excursions were decent but the best excursion was one that I booked on line. Heath club was nice but a little warm. Fans would help. I did not care for the “cashmere blankets”. They felt more like over sized scarves and were too thin for cool days on the veranda. We had an early flight and left before the crowd so no problems with embarkation. Overall, it was a great cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise ship because we had trouble finding much choice is Greek Island cruises departing from Athens. The booking process was difficult as the cruise company did not respond easily to requests and confirmation and we phoned Greece twice to try to pay for the cruise from Australia. The company certainly seems disorganised in this respect. On arrival at the ship the security staff were overzealous about small knives and scissors, which had cleared customs several times prior to arrival there. The reception staff were rude and abrupt when questioned about why a suitcase was missing when it had been checked onto the ship. While waiting in reception a non-english speaking passenger approached the manager of the reception staff to enquire about something, The manager told this passenger to go away as she couldn't understand the passenger. I found this attitude offensive in the extreme, and when I later enquired about a different cabin as I was not happy with mine, I was told to wait 5 minutes, however after 30 minutes nothing had happened about my request and I was ignored by this reception clerk. it took 2 days for anything to happen regarding my request, then it became damage-control on the part of "reception" and we were finally offered a suitable cabin. The ship is in fairly worn condition in many aspects, the smoke from the exhausts penetrates the ship including restaurants and cabins quite often, and the shower recess in our original cabin was so small the bathroom floor flooded each time you had a shower, and the shower curtain stuck to your back while in the shower. There are very limited TV channels. We found all staff except the reception staff to be very friendly and helpful, the food was mostly very ordinary, the restaurants were slightly better however the cafeteria presented plenty of sad, limp food with virtually no changes to the breakfast menus. if you would like bacon and warm toast for breakfast-forget it. There was an omlet and waffle centre where fresh food was cooked while you waited, this was excellent. The entertainment was also excellent with a very skilled compere and cruise director. The range of drinks was also to our taste, and the wait staff were truly excellent. The excursions to the islands were particularly well organised and the process of leaving and returning to the ship was great, smooth and efficient. Despite the security staff being overzealous at the beginning of the voyage, there was very little checking of what the passengers decided to bring back onto the ship from excursions, this inconsistency is an annoying reflection of ship management. The WIFI offered was very expensive, and the threat of paying SatPhone charges if you made or received calls while well offshore seemed petty and officious. The drinks on board could be on an unlimited basis which I thought was good value, however if you wanted a small bottle of water it is more expensive than at an airport! If you are prepared to put up with surly staff in reception and some petty rules, this can be a reasonably enjoyable cruse. Read Less

This was our 7th MSC Cruise, 6 travelling in Yacht Club. We embarked on MSC Divina in Rome. As part of the Yacht Club experience we were taken to an area and offered drinks and snacks whilst we were checked in. Before we could finish our drinks check in was complete. We were taken aboard the ship to our room, which was immaculate. House keeping come twice a day and should you need anything additional you just call the butler and he will bring it to you. We dined in the main restaurant every evening and the service was excellent. I can be a fussy eater but they never made me feel awkward and were always happy to bring me something that wasn’t on the menu. The staff could not have been more friendly and attentive. We went to a couple of shows and the casino and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. As we were tired we decided we would stay on board and didn’t get off all week! The ship was fantastic, service was amazing, we loved every minute, so much so we have 4 more booked with MSC. I see the negative reviews and can’t understand how our experience is so different, possibly the Yacht Club makes a difference. We both work in customer service and have high expectations, we have never been disappointed. Read Less

My first time cruise with Norwegian is jade for 21 nights. The first booking is call to their office,but after booking they don't want to execute what they promised. Second time with epic booking on their website, there are special offers with balcony, but after booking,their confirmation didn't show. And I email them to ask,their reply mail is no-reply.After checking on epic, still got no offer,I went to guest service, they said they don't have right to do,I should mail to the NCL. Right now,I am cruising with Spirit,the same thing happened,got nothing offer. And my steward is bad services. There are no bath robe,lotion,soap,trash bin,phone Line unplugged and only 2 towels. He promised to change the queen bed to twin beds at night,but when I got back after karaoke blast 11:30pm, nothing change. Norwegian rises their gratitude to 13.99 per day,higher than other cruise line,but worse services they offer. Fitness center is too small to have a stretch lesson. I think I have to deny this cruise line anymore. Read Less

Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly, but probably because people were getting on/off in different ports. Our cabin was ready by 11.30. We had someone elses luggage delivered to our cabin. Sorted out fairly quickly. Cabin was clean and our steward was friendly and efficient. The public areas were quite nice. Quite crowded in the evening. The food was of very poor quality and very disappointing. Service in the self service restaurant and lunch time in the restaurant on deck 5 was terrible. The staff were not interested in the guests and stood about chatting between themselves. Service and meals in the evening were thankfully much better. Our two waiters were excellent! Always checking on us and topping up our glasses. We paid the extra to have lobster on the Gala night (Marseille) and T bone steak on the elegant evening on our last night. These were very good. Portion sizes are or the small size, but we ordered more dishes. The shows were ok, kept us entertained for 30 mins. To be fair, with there being so many different nationalities onboard it must be difficult to keep all of them happy. The casino is very small and there is a small bar. The drinks weren’t as nice as we’ve experienced on other ships either. You can only order what’s on the bar list..we’d asked for Manhattans but they couldn’t make us one. This was our first Med cruise. We prefer sailing from Miami and cruising with with English speaking guests, really makes all the difference. wouldnt cruise with MSC again in the Med. Read Less

There were great ports of call on the short mediteranean cruise. The balcony cabin was great and room attendant did good job. But the "great" stops there!! Two booked shore excursions were cancelled with less than a day notice and no attempt was made to try to offer an alternative arrangement for us. Generally the crew were unresponsive to our requests and enquiries and rudely answered back instead of trying to address the issues we had. Overall the level of service on this ship was unacceptable and not what we have enjoyed with many other cruise companies. The "fine dining" meals were mediocre at best and the buffet was not much better for quality and any personal service. Except for the serenity of our cabin, the interesting ports of call and meeting a few nice travellers this cruise (ship) was one to forget! We will not be cruising with any MSC again. Read Less

I am Italian and been many times on cruises of different flagship. This one had a good itinerary, so we went for it. There are a lot of positive things and also a lot of negative one.. I try to mention as much as possible and forgive me is something is missing. What I did not like too much. Booking. I was told by a friend to use a certain tour operator specialized. Then I discovered more and everyone was cheaper.. not much but cheaper. And a lot cheaper then costa.(why) Booked 2 rooms one with a small bed for 3 years old boy. Asked tour operator and was told , don’t worry when you arrive there they will change in case , one of the room to be close to the other one. We have been assignated two rooms at the opposite side of the ship.and also booked in two different restaurant and at two different shift... When we arrived the only worries of the staff was, did you registered for the drink , or coffee or any packages?... the room we have to wait just before the departure.. Registering means you will get services and you will pay after a day or so. Result, no room changes possibility, ship was full. ( why I was told in another way?) To get there I had to ask at least ten people with very important uniform as the office was only serviced by 3 persons for 3500 guests... All the other staff we asked informations couldn’t speak any language unless portoghese... ( brasilians coming from cheapest part of the country) and the rest Philippinos which have a good English. I fluently speak more then 5 languages apart mine.. so I believe I can talk with someone. Not to be too long No informations service good enough Waiting for restaurant second shift. Nightmare... hundreds of guests pushing for getting their seat, and all the staff looking to their biz and not been able to give infos... The smell of food of the carpet closer to the restaurant and almost overall was terrible. Dust in the rooms Curtains in the rooms not cleaned. Service in the room basic. As now the tip is included in the salary, so the effort to get rewarded with ( from a minimum tip up) is not more an advantage, so they don’t care much Anymore. Bed sheets, old and badly pressed, changed maybe every tree dayS or more. All in the ship is for making money. Wherever you stay you can only spend money. Fantastic drink service. You order get your card before the order you have to pay, and finally , at staff leisure you get your drink. Waited for a bottle of wine ordered and payed at the start of dinner and got when we finished the dinner with the sweets.. asked few times and answer was is coming... Same as for drinks aperitives , we ordered 4 spritz and a beer, at 5 pm. Supposed to get peanuts with it. ( for chips you have to pay, but we don’t eat fried things) asked many times, payed appx 50/60 us , even spoken with food and beverage manager, but never got the peanuts, the waiter didn’t care... and we really didn’t want to get drunk at 5 pm.... Thanks Buffet If you don’t like to wait , you can always eat at the buffet restaurant. Fantastic. Only problem is too many people and not so clean. So you have to queue everywhere and think there are so many people of different countries, and different kind of behavior... Disaster Plus they close ever so quick, basically your have very short time to eat . Rooms service or breakfast service you pay, before bkf was free in the room. Table, they sit people as they come, before at least was a lot of questions in order to combine same languages or areas or interests... Ship was cleaned perfectly only the last day or before last, because where a meeting of the oldest traveling agent of costa or so. You would have noticed the difference, everything was like new. Last negative, ship is not old but, bed sheets, chairs , carpet etchas got to be changed more. Even the granit or marble in the floor, greasy , not cleaned with proper products, No more the midnight sweets buffet, just a small and quick self service.... Overall poor and cheaply done, compared with few years before and other companies. Positive, Good music entertainment Good kids entertainment Sometimes evening surprise by dinner with a bit of music.. Good food menu , but the best is written , you have to pay ...( this is not positive) better to have special payment restaurant with exposed menu and with prices) Good itinerary, unfortunately sometimes too short Overall not satisfied . You pay quite a lot for what you get, and considering the service cleaness , etc, no worth for the money. Ps I can afford to pay, just extras I payed 2k . So I don t mind . I wish I had a better service. Definitely I will try other companies for the next cruise.. Hope you will find it better. Read Less

Got off to a bad start with a force 10 storm changing the itinery and missing Sicily and Sorrento which were the main reasons for booking this cruise but bad weather cant be helped. The day at sea was very rocky, pools had to be emptied and it was difficult to stand at times but that was all down to the weather. The ship is getting on but overall was fine although the very small pools look most uninviting with horrible wooden boards around the edges and unsightly rust patches around edges of deck. Hot tubs were lovely. Our cabin was clean and comfortable but very noisy with vibration. We ate in Orion every night and the food was good but not exceptional. The buffets were fine for breakfast and lunch but choice is limited. We upgraded to the premium drinks package as the inclusive wines were awful. Unfortunatey the entertainment was the biggest let down put on mainly by the show team. It was not profesional although we enjoyed the classic musicals night. Andy Abrahams ex x factor was poor and the magician average. The casino had one roulette table with the double zero therefore raking in more cash off players then necessary. Service was good especially charlie and Stefan in Orion and the staff in Tides bar. Overall we made the most of an average cruise and will not book with Marella again as there are far superior cruises available for a very similar cost. Read Less

We returned yesterday from a cruise, Marella Dream TUI, We had bad weather which could not be helped. It was my friend and my first cruise. It was afabulous experience, the staff are so good and really friendly . The food was good,the staff in the restaraunt waited on you hand and foot. The service in the Orion restaraunt was superb. The cleaners were very helpful. Carnt wait to go again,i know the ship is dated but you couldnt fault it for the money. well done to all the staff. while on board we did experience a gale force 10 and a lot of people were ill,but again the weather cannot be helped and it as not put us off going again,even though th Itinerary was changed due to the bad weather . The decks were all clean and tidy and we had no faults at all. it was a great holiday, sad to come back. Read Less

We are experienced cruisers. We have sailed with Norwegian, Holland, Celebrity and Oceania in the past, as well as been on board very small cruise ships in Alaska and Patagonia. We selected this cruise via a Friendly Planet booking based on previous very favorable trips with them and due to the itinerary that would take us to Mykonos, Santorini and Crete in addition to Kusadasi in Turkey. We booked over a year in advance with three friends that travelled with us on this cruise. Embarkation was very easy. It is a small ship. Our tour manager also had us check in at 4 p.m. in the afternoon for a 9 p.m. sailing. This worked out very well. No one was in line ahead of our group (a total of 19 people) and we sailed easily through the process. Bags were delivered to the cabins within 30 minutes of getting on board. First glitch was upon arrival in the cabin. I have used in room safe deposit boxes at least a zillion times. The instructions for the in room safe deposit box left out key information. Everyone in our party could not figure out how to use the darn thing which resulted in a call to reception. An hour later, no one came to fix the problem. With the life boat drill starting in 10 minutes, we were much more insistent and finally a nice member of the staff came and gave us the missing information that resolved the problem. This was the beginning of our understanding that if you have a problem, calling reception is a total waste of time. The public areas of the ship have been updated and are fine. Nothing fancy, but it basically works. The cabins are another story. Luckily, we upgraded as far as Friendly Planet would allow us to (outside, XF cabins with lower beds, a couch and a table - no balcony). This gave us a much larger room than is standard on this ship. The furnishings are outdated and there is limited storage space. Storage space in the bathroom consists of a single shelf under the sink. There were plenty of hangers in the closet at least. Furnishings look to date to the 1980s. Basic, not attractive, but it works. For some reason, they never seem to clean the windows on the ship and seeing out is through a streaked pane of glass. Beds were comfortable. Keep your curtains closed during the day! Cooling system needs to be upgraded. We sailed in late April. In the heat of summer I cannot imagine how long it would take to cool down the cabin to an acceptable level. We kept the curtains shut when we were out of the cabin and in 24 hours we achieved a decent temperature. Food is okay and can be good at dinner but is problematic at breakfast. My advice would be to get a cappuccino from the bar (far better than the coffee that is offered) and a bowl of the very good Greek yogurt with some fruit. Bread is stale and seems to be leftover from dinner service the night before. One of our friends saw the French toast being fixed the night before for reheating the next morning; he avoided it from that point forward. We were only on board once for lunch. We ate as many meals as possible off the ship. Dinner was hit and miss. Some items were good, others a miss. Staff is nice and efficient. Sommeliers were very helpful in selecting Greek wines. Do not drink the wine on the drink package - just awful! You can get the wine list from the sommelier and "upgrade" for around 15 Euros or so to a better bottle or glass. Unfortunately, this is not allowed anywhere other than in the main dining rooms. Every night we upgraded to avoid the standard wine offerings. Cocktails are a bit of a nightmare. Very light hand on the alcohol pourings which resulted in our ordering a shot of whatever liquor we were drinking in addition to the drink to get the drink to taste right. Results in a substantial time delay, but solved the problem. Ask for additional ice as well if you want a cold drink. Drink menu is a bit strange, but we found things to keep us happy. Again, avoid the wine by the glass. The best thing by far about this ship is the itinerary. This is the sole basis of my "Very Good" overall rating. I care far more about where I am going than the ship I am on. At the last minute, they altered the itinerary to allow us an overnight in port in both Mykonos and Santorini. This was simply fantastic. To visit these towns that are packed with tourists during the day after 5 p.m. when they are all gone is magnificent. We had dinner on shore both nights (the ship departed around 11 p.m. on day 2) and walked the empty streets. Milos was also substituted for Ios at the last moment and we very much enjoyed this infrequently visited island. Book a tour in Milos to get you to the beautiful volcanic landscapes and the small towns. Do not just stay in the port area. We had delicious dinner at a restaurant on the harbor as we sailed out late. The late sailings (except in Ephesus) are a signature of this cruise and is a very good reason for booking. We had tours organized through the ship for Santorini to get us to Oia (essential to do this in my opinion), Mykonos, Milos, Crete (Knossos), Ephesus and Athens. All the local guides were very good and the tours operated efficiently and without problems. The ship handles tenders and embarking on the tours efficiently. The big cruise lines filled with American passengers have all abandoned going to Turkey due to the situation in Syria. Celestyal is registered in Malta and has passengers from all over. All announcements are in English, French, Spanish, German and Russian. We were informed that Celestyal is the only cruise line visiting Kusadasi this year. I was there in 1993 and wanted my husband and friends to see this magnificent place. It was wonderful to be able to go back. We did not feel threatened therein any way. Some Americans on the ship refused to get off in Turkey however. So, if you want an excellent itinerary through the primary Greek islands and are not insistent on a well appointed ship with luxury accommodations, this is the line for you! Read Less