If you want dance lessons then this cruise is for you . Cos thats your entertainment .I felt on the first day i was sat in a waiting room all day .Very bad if your english speaking . I found the staff ignorant . I got more sence out of our cleaner . He was good at his job. Each port looked like a chemical plant . Excursions are very dear . We also found that they take money from your account with out asking. In hamburg they was charging 16 euro for the bus in to the city .If you went on the street behind , were msc had there buses .you could get to the city for 2 euro.and we was told by an msc crew member about this . Fine dining was ok , but the canteen on the top deck was horrid , food was oily and cold .If im totaly honest MSC dont cater for the English . Read Less

We chose this cruise as we wanted an eastern Caribbean and southern to islands we have yet to explore and found this 14 day cruise. Little did we know that there is nothing for entertainment on this ship for anyone under the age of 60!!! The music is ideal for big bands, waltz and such which were popular in the 40's and 50's! Then we upgraded to get the water package as my wife needs water for medical reasons. But we were only able to get 1 bottle at a time and it was nearly an act of God to get more than that at a time! Like water is more precious than gold!!! And on a cruise that costs this much to get a case of flipping $10 water? Then have to wait until bedtime every 2-3 days to get it at that! The excursions are decent though over priced. You can do better and save money on your own shore side. Then the food. It was good, not exceptional, but they are on a schedule and take the food down by 10 pm every night no matter what! Then by 1030, the flipping ship is a near ghost town!!! Our ship was loaded with walkers and scooters and everyone over 60 thought this was wonderful as it isn't a party ship like the others and they can relax, take their naps daily and play Scrabble and cards daily and be in bed by 9 to 10pm and not have any partiers keeping them awake! Horrible cruise that I thought would never end! I will never cruise on Celebrity ever again! This is a cruiseline for old people that want quiet and no kids!!! Their whole idea of fun on sea days was name that tune! From the 40's, 50's and 60's!!! (ARE YOU FLIPPING SERIOUS???) Read Less

Loved our first time cruising on Celebrity... Great ship, fabulous food (in Blu) with superb service. Live music around the ship was also very good but the production shows were dreadful. Awful, nasal voices murdering current sounds with their dreadfully affected musical theatre tones. Other cruise lines really do better in this area, but for all other aspects Celebrity was fantastic. The two comedians that we saw were funny, but felt they'd do better if they were given the opportunity for an adult only show. A couple of times, you could feel them modifying their next move to ensure it was PG-13 all round. Getting on and off the ship was hassle free, with the exception of debarkation in Miami. Very long lines for immigration really slowed the entire process. Lots of stressed families and children melting down, which is a disappointing way to end your vacation. All in all though, loved our time on the Equinox! Read Less

I found a great deal online and want to try the cruise so I booked this one. I’m from Bangkok and live in the States for a year so this is the chance! The food, really awesome. Almost everything was super delicious! Love them so much, especially Seafood!!!!!! I got the excursion at Atlantis, it was amazing! All the slides and water rides. So much fun! Another excursion is stingray cay, love the sting rays! We learnt about sting rays and gotta touch them gently, feed them as well! The water was so clear, a bit cold but it’s okay. It’s not deep as well about 4-5 ft. Lifejacket for kids are provided plus snorkeling gear, would be better to bring your own too in my opinion. They did not fit me. Lastly, I love Champaign, Wine, Activities, Foods, and the Services/Activities here so much. I dont want to leave the ship!! Can’t wait to be back!! Read Less

Chose the cruise due to the ship and destinations. Embarkation and disembarkin went well. Allthough gangway failed on disembark. So we were lead to another. We had cabin D440. Balcony and central. Xavier our steward was brilliant. Nothing too much trouble. We had the select price with freedom dining. Exellent. We ate in the Meriden most evenings. Waiters are exellent We had Philip and Amol. Great guys. A credit to the company. Food was excellent. Plenty of good Fish dishes. Wines reasonably priced. We didn't see any shows. Not really our thing. We did go to a couple of talks and the Crow's nest bar, which was good. Ports were good. I'd been to Bilbao Gijon and Cherbourg before. It was nice seeing them from the sea. I found it particularly heartwarming that there were many disabled people of all ages on board. All obviously enjoying every minute. Booked another cruise whilst on board. That says it all !! Read Less

Where to start.... Towards the end of January I got an offer for a cruise through MGM with Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. I have never been on any of them and so I called and while speaking to the booking agent I asked what each one had as far as entertainment and because there are alot of ships and cruises to choose from I decided to look online while he gave me my choices. I was told Independence of the seas was the best value so I pulled up the website and saw that it showed a ship thats in the pics I attached including the slides and big yellow circle thing plus a laser tag room and parade of holidays and flow rider ect ect. I said " oh cool it has lazer tag" the rep said yup its a great ship so I booked it. Then booked my flights which for some reason where extraordinary high. The cruise got closer and I wanted to start planning out what we would do. I went to the website again and started going through the activities and saw things that I didnt remeber being on the ship such as a thing called northstar and mystery dining theatre so I called and asked what was on the ship and if all these things were I was told no and a few of the things that were. Parade of holidays, mini gold, flow rider and rock wall so I then asked if I could find a full list online and she pointed me to the same page I was on so I said ok and went on with my day. 3 days before the cruise I saw a notice on the top of the independence of the seas page saying that the laser tag, slides, hibachi and trampoline thing would be added in the fall I was like what??? This notice was not there before. I called and asked and the ladie said oh yeah the slides are on there and then said well... wait can I put you on hold? I said sure she came back and said it would be added in April and I was like wait what? Why would you advertise a ship under false pretenses that it has certain things come to find out I even booked a easter cruise and only because I thought it already had all the main attractions I wanted. I told this to customer service and all zi got was im sorry but it has this... no mention to the [false advertisement] see pics for proof. I started thinking why is it ok to do that and I asked if I could block casino charges? I had to go so I was told that he would call me back with the answer he needed to check. I never got a call back. So I called customer service back and I also wanted to know if I could get a copie of the other activities on board and I was told only on the ship so the only way to use the "cruise planner" was for them to push you into buying more things. I did I purchased the Myan Ruines excursion (Also a review posted for this) First night dinner ( see chops review) , Grease insider view ( See Grease review) and finally a private Flow Rider lesson( see review) I called and spoke to the only nice person so far he told me that I needed to speak with club royal since it was booked through them and he understood the frustration plus he gave me most of the answers I needed which was I could take 2 7.5 ml of wine in carry on on the ship but no water. I would get juices for breakfast, water, lemonade and Icetea for other meals ect. And for sure thoses things would not be on the ship. Based on all the information I had I knew since thoses things were not on the ship that I would need internet. I Called back durring a small work break I had waited on hold 30 minutes and got this extremely rude and un carring representative. She told me too bad and that nothing could be done and then the call got disconnected and she called me back. I was working so didnt have a ton of time but wanted to get this taken care of and my issues noted because that is what the last guy told me. With attitude she told me that I would have to stay on hold while she contacts another department to see if she could do anything she came back a few times and demanded I stay on hold. Didnt ask me to hold said "you will have to hold" then I had to pick up a customer for work and I asked could she please call me back and leave a message or email me back she said " No! I was just doing this as a courtesy and i said well I have to work then she said" i can send you a no reply email, I dont even know if I have your email address is it xxxxxx?" I said yes and thank you she then said " Next time only call us when you have time!!" Wow rude rude rude. So needless to say this cruise started out very rocky. When arriving to the ship the first thing I did was go to guest services to explain the situation again because the email i got from here said we cant do anything but we will give you some champagne. I didnt ask for that. Anyway at guest services I also learned that the flow rider was only operating on 1 side the other was broke. Anyway I explained the rude service and the false advertising and was told that she would check with the manager and get back to me that day. I went to my room and it was fine except I found personal information from the last guest almost like the room wasn't completely cleaned and there was also mold in the corner of my room. There was only one power plug no where near the bed and the tv was fuzzy which i had to fix. I called and requested 3 more pillows and the beds to be seperated. We left and went to set up meals times which you must do on Royal unlike Norwegian where you can go anytime royal only had 2 dining time 530 and 8pm which was ok. We did 530 so we could catch the shows at 7 as most of the meals take about 1.5 to 2 hours. The first night dinner I decided to do Chops Grill I was not impressed. I felt like I would have got the same thing in the dining room the steak was alright but most of the sides didn't have good seasoning and the best thing they served was the grilled asparagus, I have eaten at other specialty restaurants on other ships and it was better. They didn't even have a chocolate souffle on the dessert menu only the same desserts the dining room not worth the $60 extra dollars. had We decided to go to the first show which was a comedian who was absolutely terrible I wanted to get up and walk out what a waste. I was very concerned after this show that it was going to a terrible cruise. We went back to our room and saw no pillows but the beds had been split. Went to bed and was woke up by the cruise director making an announcement of the day but utilizing the state room speaker not the hall and he did this at 8 am. They had a Sexy man alive contest and some good looking guys in it. But they chose to select for older women to judge it and they chose the obese older guy.. I felt this was a huge waste of time. This is just a small example. The following day was port in Cozumel. That morning I still had not heard from guest services about the internet or the false advertisement. I went back to guest services and spoke to mario who told me he was sorry and offered us some water since we had been lied to again. The port in Cozumel was great. I did the Mayan Ruins excursion and it was the most amazing thing I have ever done!!! Hands down the best part of the cruise. If you get a chance do this maybe on a diffrent ship. After Cozumel I had the grease show to see which was also very good the entertainers are top notch for the production shows. I did the insider view which gave me reserved seats in row 5 and a drink which was alright then after the show I got to meet the cast but it wasn't the whole cast only 6 of the 20 or so there are so I was a little disappointed in this. I did get a already taken signed picture by the whole cast so that was cool. Next day was Grand Cayman. We had to use other small boats to the beach side. I didn't get the water that was promised to me till 12 hours after I was told I would get it.. All room service was a service fee of almost $8 Including breakfast or water, Every cruise I have been on included free room service. They were also charging for spin class or yoga ect all they wanted to do was leach more money from everyone and everything.. Worst feeling ever.I eventually talked to mario again to check on what the "manager" said her name was sebena. Mario told me she wasn't available after going in the back room. I explained that I was going to be writing a review and all of a sudden she was available. While I was standing there there was another customer talking about a shaw that had been found and then stolen by a crew member and it belonged to their deceased family member but all she kept getting was excuses. There were alot of very unhappy customers. Everytime I went to the front desk someone was not happy and its easy to understand why. Sebena told me that they don't compensate on my claims and that my complaints where not really that bad. She told me that it wasn't false advertisement and the fact my room was not clean and all the other issues she could and would not give me internet. Finally after I told her about 9 things that were not the way they should be she offered a $50 credit to use on whatever I wanted. That was fair since there was nothing else anyone was going to do. I did use it for internet. It was also terrible always disconnecting and it actually messed up my location on my phone. Come to find out they were updating the system the whole cruise. Let me add a few more things The casino is a smoking area with no ventilation and in order to get to your room on deck 2 and not walk through a smoke filled casino you have to go up 2 decks .. what a bad design. The casino also has no regulations and if you are not a VIP they charge a 5% fee to just put the charge on your ship account .. like I said nickle and dime. Machines are tight and just take take take. Casino staff are rude. The quest game show is a blast dont miss this. Ice skating show was also pretty good. That's really all I have to say. Look for my other reviews on tripadvisor Read Less

Pool was closed for all but one day of the holiday. Understaffed. Ran out of most drinks on board. So much was broken, lifts, toilets, etc. Activities scheduled on deck, knowing there was bad weather - massive cop out. Staff were so unhappy - you could see it throughout the ship. Numerous staff were criticizing P&O, telling us how tight they are and disgusting how they dont even give customers correct reasons for problems. The captain rarely made any announcements on board about the journey, weather etc. Reception queues for over an hour. and wa sonly way to get a bill. (Just what you want to do on your holiday!). Some entertainment was like watching a school play! Having cruised 10+ times, it is back to RC we go! We have never had problems with the American service. Was offered a part-refund for part of our holiday, to be told one day before we left the ship that it would be given as onboard credit, once again lied to and fobbed off by them. Gym equipment was broke. Computer systems were down for last three days, so we couldn't access our bills. High level management are protected by low level staff. PLEASE NOTE: Not one customer (I spoke to close to 100) was happy with this cruise!!! This cruise was a reflection of where P&O is going, ie, eventually nowhere! STEER CLEAR! SPEND YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY SOMEWHERE ELSE!!! Read Less

This cruise of the Irrawaddy in Myanmar was mind blowing amazing! First of all the setting of such a beautiful untouched country that few people have seen was very cool. This was my third river cruise and second scenic cruise. But after this experience my husband and I are scenic for life. First of all the people have working for them are first rate! From the captain down to the people who clean your room. Always a smile and impeccable service! Food was out of this world. Room always clean. All tours well thought out. It was a all Aussie crowd except for us, we were the only Americans. Which is fine by me Aussies tend to be more fun than most Americans and brits. This is a fun adventurous tour and it’s a hot county so keep that in mind. But there were some people I meet on this trip on the crew that were real stand outs. First of all we were broken into two groups each with their own tour guide. Both were lovely women. But owners Susan was unbelievable! Every one in the “Susan Group” would talk about how good she was every night over drinks. Smart,witting, gracious so informative! The girl is gorgeous but that not what shines about her it’s her personality. I really hope Scenic knows what true gem they have with her and book her as much as they can! Chentel was the hotel manager very nice and VERY GOOD at her job. This is a woman who gets thinks done. Best hotel manager I have every had and I’ve been around the world about 5 times now, very good! I also want to mention Zin I the bar he served the drinks in the bar. A young man who gets service and was impeccable at all times. We loved him. Such a great trip we can’t wait to cruise with them again! Scenic sets the standard for river cruising. Read Less

I chose this cruise because I needed a break and because of the itinerary. On the whole the cruise was really good and I would recommend it if you are a family with children, couple, friendship group, or are looking for a 'booze/party' cruise. First of all the staff were flawless, nothing was too much trouble and all the crew I came into contact with were friendly, helpful and just a pleasure to engage with. For me embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly. The ship was lovely, clean and well maintained with good facilities. My cabin (8129) was perfect for my needs, my only minor gripe was that I found a item of women's clothing under the bed from a previous passenger and an old ships programme (from October 2017) in a drawer. But apart from that the cabin was good. The food on board was good. I did the 'behind the scenes' tour and met the executive chef and got to appreciate what goes into food preparation on board and how challenging this can be. I was a solo gay passenger and I felt that all of the entertainment was geared up for heterosexual couples and families with children and there was nothing really aimed at those who were travelling on their own or gay. I think that some sort of meet and greet for solo passengers may have been a good idea. Despite notifications being placed in the ships programme about the evening entertainment in the theatre being aimed at adults only there were lots of young children present. The theatre in the evenings was overcrowded and this was made more frustrating as people saved chairs for others, despite being instructed not to do so. The formal evening was a bit of a 'damp squid' (why bother having it) as there was some confusion on its advertising in the ships programme (dress for the evening indicated with formal logo with the words 'informal' written) so a small number of us dressed formally for the evening. Our itinerary was changed when we boarded and we spent two days anchored off Portuguese Island which left me feeling disappointed as I had looked forward to seeing Pomene. I felt that two days at PI was overkill if you're not into beaches and beach activities. Whilst there the services, entertainment and activities were moved to the island and very little happening on board for those who decided not to go ashore. For example, all the shops were closed during these days. Another minor gripe was the Baroque coffee shop only opening at 4pm which I think was very restrictive for those of us who enjoy a good cup of coffee during the day (although you could get coffee in the buffet during the course of the day). I've noticed that the cruises from Durban (I've done 3) are very much aimed at families and children. With the focus on parties and alcohol (I'm not judging), because this is not what I look for in a cruise I do not think I will do another cruise from Durban. However, I would cruise with MSC again in the Med or Caribbean Read Less

#1. The servers, staff, and all employees were extremely nice to us. This was a plus. #2. The food in the main dining room was simply outstanding. This was a plus. #3. The food in the main buffet, Oceanview Café, was average at best. #4. There were limited television stations. After a few days of HGTV, Food Network, and Travel Channel repeated shows, we were going to lose our minds. This was the same with our last Celebrity Cruise. Worse than that fact: The number of channels devoted to non-stop hawking of expensive jewelry, watches, and cruise ship services. MAKE IT STOP. This has gotten ridiculous. We get it. You need to make more money. But this has gotten out of hand, which includes the handouts for the ports of call that only list expensive jewelry stores. But to see this on television night and day, when there are so few channels, got to be too much. #5. The on-demand movie selection was horrible. I mean seriously. There are passengers who stay in their cabins. You need more than a selection of eight movies for adults to choose from for a seven day cruise. The free movies were the worst. And then we were supposed to pay $14.98 for movies which are now long past prime? #6. Café al Bacio is the ONLY coffee shop on the ship. Why? Do you not understand how America is hooked on Starbucks coffee and coffee drinks? The coffee drinks were okay but there needs to be more of a selection. #7. Throughout the cruise there were raffle tickets given for every $100 spent at the gift shops and expensive jewelry stores. There was no indication given what the prize or prizes might be, just the fact you had to be present on the last night of the cruise. So people were whipped into a frenzy thinking there would be great prizes, spending a lot of money to get entries. Then on the last night of the cruise the drawing was held in the most expensive jewelry store. The prize: One winner takes all prize valued at $500, worth of Celebrity logo junk. What a complete joke. #8. We saw a couple of good shows, such as Topper and Life, which were like Broadway productions. But for the most part, the on-board entertainment left a lot to be desired. #9. We had a cabin with a Veranda, which was fairly decent – except for the quality of the mattress and bedding. Read Less