Celestyal Cruise Reviews

What a wonderful week we had on Celestyal Journey. The ship was just the right size staff to passenger ratio was amazing it felt like a big family. The crew all knew us and the service was the best I’ve ever experienced on a cruise ship having been on many different cruise lines. I wish that they had more ships and routes. I would use them every time. ...read more We made some great lifelong friends which made it extra special. We were all in agreement about Celestyal 10 out 10. The food was fantastic nothing was too much trouble especially since our friend has celiac disease and they made sure he had the best diet for him. I wouldn’t hesitate to rebook with both Celestyal and Global Journeys again.

Having cruised many times, our comments are based on our actual experiences on this cruise compared to others. Tracey selected a perfect cabin position relative to our everyday needs - near the private dining room, theatre and lifts. Boarding was somewhat basic in the harbour but we are reminded that we were in Greece. Notwithstanding, it was incident-free ...read more and quick including our luggage. The recommended mini-suite cabin was a wise move and very comfortable including the large bed. The cabin service was excellent as were the entire staff - nothing too much trouble. The varied food was excellent which included free drinks with all meals. The renovated older ship was most successful and attractive.

In summary, a great cruise all-up which we can recommend. The ports we visited were very busy so next time we would try and sail outside Greek tourist season. Santorini was crowded and queues both ends of the cableway were crazy. We queued for two to three hours in 38c heat and no overhead protection. We ended up walking down the 588 steps slippery with donkey c..p everywhere. We in concert with many tourists would not ride the poor overworked donkeys on principle. We did not find a single waste bin anywhere so consequently, there were plastic and glass bottles and plastic bags everywhere - disgraceful. Certainly not a village to be visited a second time. Thank you for arranging such a wonderful enjoyable cruise for us.

Excellent cruise, a great small cruise ship, with all the facilities of a larger ship. Excellent itinerary for the 5-night cruise, but if you have the time take the 7-day cruise and spend more time on the ship. Excellent cabin facilities, food, complimentary beverages, entertainment. The Celestial Discovery had been re furbished recently and was spotless. ...read more I would recommend taking the excursions on the islands as you certainly see another side of the islands. Rhodes and Mykonos were my favourite islands. The departure and arrival port of Laver ion was at least 11/2 hrs from Athens through very busy traffic and cost between 90 -100 euros per trip, so needs to be factored into the cost of the cruise. Would definitely recommend the cruise.

Travelled on the Celestyal Journey where we had a most enjoyable time. The crew, food and drinks, as well as the ships all round package regarding its décor and the activities offered were fantastic. The ports of call were all very interesting and easily within walking distance from "ship to town" or you had the choice of many shore excursions. Because ...read more there is a maximum of only 1200 passengers where tendering was needed to access the port it was done quickly and seamlessly. Our standout ports were Mykonos, Santorini and Milos. We found that by travelling late May we had the best of both worlds - perfect weather and less crowds!

Celestial cruise package around the Aegean sea was one of the best trips we have done. Perfectly executed from the booking to the last day disembarkment. On board entertainment was fantastic. Shore excursions were stress free and on time. Cabin was more than expected and the wait staff were very friendly and obliging. Fully recommend this journey.

Celestyal cruises and Best of Greece; highly recommend both are done, ideally the cruise after but doesn’t matter it was great. Global Journeys made the planning and booking easy.

We took a Greek island cruise on Celestial Journeys. Everything about the cruise was fabulous. The staff were so helpful, the food at all the restaurants was delicious and the wait staff so well trained. There were plenty of quiet places to sit and read a book, or many shore excursions to choose from. We cannot recommend this cruise more highly. Also, ...read more Global Journeys were an absolute pleasure to deal with and we would have no hesitation in booking through them again. Thanks for a great holiday!

We did the Idyllic Aegean cruise with Celestyal Cruises in the last week of September. Getting on and off the ship was seamless, our cabin was dated but spacious, even had a bathtub! We were on deck six which was an issue as it was one of the walking decks so we had to keep the curtains closed once we turned on lights. I would recommend deck eight for ...read more future travellers.

Food in the a la carte restaurant was nice, our two waiters, which we saw most nights, were just lovely. Food in the buffet was repetitive and of a much lower standard. We did not try the restaurants where you pay so can’t comment on that.

Tours! The tour in Turkey of the house of the virgin Mary and Ephesus was fantastic, our tour guide was well versed in his history. The tour in Santorini not so much! We booked the sunset tour (on the advice of our tour manager daughter) so we could see the sun set over Santorini, alas Celestyal changed this to the morning tour which was quite early, hot and crowded and not much fun at all, we just wanted to get off the Island by lunchtime but had to wait well over an hour for the cable car, then another half hour for the tender to arrive! We did our own thing on the other islands but there was a lot of choice should one want to do a tour every day.

The drinks packages were overpriced, the one which allowed us to drink the nice cocktails came in at over $400 AUD for one week! We just bought a cocktail each day and saved ourselves quite a lot of money! Would I recommend this cruise? It allows one to visit the Greek islands on a smaller ship as opposed to the monstrous ones we saw off Santorini, so it was a good choice in the regard. Food could be improved but the staff were amazing and we had a thoroughly great trip!