Grimaldi Lines

I'm still waiting for my money back!
I booked a ferry ticket a few days before departure after I spoke to one of the Grimaldi staff to make sure the ferry will go (I was travelling all alone with my 1 year old baby so I had to prepare my trip carefully). Even though they promissed the ferry would depart, it got cancelled last minute and after 3 months I still didn't get my money back. I received a voucher but due to the covid-19 it is not even possible to book another ticket.
Thanks Grimaldi Lines to steal my 500 EUR

We traveled from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa (round trip) on August 2020. Under normal circumstances, my review would have been positive. However, considering that the trip took place during the CoViD-19 pandemic, I cannot but express my complaints concerning how the company was handling the situation. The ferry was not that crowded. However, no-one would check that people were complying with regulations concerning wearing a mask inside the desk. As a result, most people (especially youngsters) would not comply with the regulation, and many passengers felt quite uneasy. Besides, our seats were very dirty, as I could check by looking at the residues on a wipe I used to disinfect my seat. In addition with some residues of dirt on the ground, this is a strong indication that no sanification whatsoever had been carried out prior to boarding.

We booked Grimaldi Linea from Barcelona to Rome. Not a great experience; unfriendly staff all the ay through – no one really seemed to like working there and they create a sort of a hostile environment. The pool was closed and generally everything was falling apart. No WiFi in any part of the ship what so ever, no Spanish or English speaking staff even we boardes in Spain..

A sad experience to be honest.

WARNING: DON'T TAKE THIS BOAT DURING COVID-TIMES! Almost nobody was wearing a mask and the crew says nothing about this!

Orribile! Ti dicono di stare un鈥檕ra e mezza prima ma partono sempre in ritardo! Personale sgradevole e poco attento! Air cond a 15 gradi per farti congelare a bordo durante la tratta porto torres Barcellona e viceversa. Il personale non parla altri idiomi che non siano il napoletano. Fumano a bordo, non indossano sempre la mascherina (x Covid-19), se ne fregano altamente di te… da non ripetere!

Horrible! No te cuidan en nada, ponen aire acondicionado para matarte, hablan solo en 鈥榥apoletano鈥? Se cr茅en los reyes Del mambo. Para no repetir nunca m谩s la trata porto torres Barcelona ida y vuelta!

It鈥檚 a mess! They speak only italian in his dial茅ctical version (napoletano). Air cond at 15 degree, not healty at all. I m italian but i don鈥檛 reccomend catch This boat for visiting sardinia from Barcelona. Mess mess!!!

Not a very nice experience.

Arrived 3hrs before to a closed ferry terminal. Staff didn鈥檛 arrive until after midnight. We were left sitting in the car park the entire time with zero communication. Our tickets said 1.30am but apparently new sailing time is 2am. Not sure if they mean 2am Italian time as we didn鈥檛 even board until 2.30am and didn鈥檛 depart until 3am Greek time. Staff gave no updates and pointedly ignored customers frustrated by this treatment.

Once on the boat, the journey was fine except they wake you up 2 hours before you arrive which is very unpleasant after only 5hrs of sleeping time (assuming you were able to sleep straight away). Once kicked out of rooms, communal toilets in an appalling state, majority of cubicles had no toilet paper.

All of this for 鈧?25 for 2 people. Mind boggling.

If you have other options, take those.

Where to start? Arrived at the port expecting to be going to Savona, the staff told me Savona was cancelled (No email, no text, nothing!) I was offered an exchange to go to another Italian city near Rome, a long way down from Savona. I said ok, (No other choice) I asked when the next ferry to Savona was Maybe I could wait a day or two. They said they didn't know.

Then after going back in, changing our ticket, and then again waiting, we were told Savona was back on! Go back in and change your ticket..

2 hours later after going back and forth, waiting in the line we were allowed to board.. Thats where it get WORSE.

No social distancing whatsoever, mask policy not enforced. Prayer rooms full of people praying, not one English/Spanish TV on only Arabic.

Cabin had no TV, no access to Wifi whatsoever for the whole 21 hours.

Limited selection of food. Although the "bar" is open 24 hours if you want to pay 2 euros for a can of coke and 1.50 for water.

Restaurant is open, medium quality, high prices, (30 euros for a lasagne, bottle of water, Coca Cola and a salad)

As stated once before ZERO social distancing, people walking cramped corridors, people sleeping wherever they could, without masks, staff not wearing masks sometimes also.

DO BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ.

My wife got scared after reading so many negative reviews after I had bought the tickets from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa. Finally the experience on using Grimaldi lines was excellent, from check-in to boarding the boat and traveling to our destination. Very clean room and bathroom. The crew was helpful and polite. Great price for a suite and for our car. Will travel again with Grimaldi anytime.

This company is a total disaster as they handle cargo without any policies put in place to prevent people鈥檚 properties from being damaged or stolen. They misplaced the key to my Van and assigned a wrong to the Van. The wrong key could not start the Van at destination which is Nigeria and that led to their staff using folk lift to move my 2014 Volkswagen Caddy and in the process terribly damaged the vehicle body. To make the matter worst, I sent the spare key to my brother to start the Van which he did but the gear was stuck and could not select up till now. The Van was broken into while in their care and they stole my properties in the Van worth 拢2,000. I have sent a message to the company for one week now but no response from them. Please avoid this company if you can because their organisation and management is very poor.

A total disaster.

The whole of grimaldi line couldn't locate where they dropped my cargo. Their representative from 2 different countries gave two different false informations. They don't even have any regards for their customers.

I cannot comment on the outside cabin we booked as we had to cancel due to covid19. However, I would like to say they were great with their responses to our emails and our refund came through in a pretty good time considering how many cancellations they would be handling. Will book again once 2021 is clear if virus!

Igoumenitsa to Brindisi on MV Florencia. March 2020

I had no high hopes for this trip having read so many bad reviews. However, the experience wasn鈥檛 disastrous but could have been improved. The staff at Igoumenitsa terminal are a bit semi detached. We were travelling in our motorhome with two dogs. They said one person was allowed to drive the vehicle onto the ferry, The other had to take the dogs via the passenger terminal.

My wife drove the motorhome and I waited with the dogs in the passenger terminal. No one announced any boarding for passengers and it was only when I took the dogs onto the quay for some fresh air that I realised boarding of vehicles was almost complete. It ended with me having to walk several hundred metres along the quay to the ship where I then dodged trucks to get aboard. I could have stayed in the motorhome.

We had a pet friendly cabin and this was fine. It was clean and more spacious than we had expected. However, we had to leave the cabin an hour before docking. This meant standing on a cold outside deck with no seating, because the dogs aren鈥檛 allowed inside. Disembarking again meant sharing the same ramp as the trucks which wasn鈥檛 easy with two dogs in tow. There is nothing to separate disembarking passengers from vehicles and the crew weren鈥檛 helpful.

These vehicles are ferries, not cruise liners, and they make their money from cargo. We left on time, and arrived on time and had acceptable accommodation, hence the three stars. But the staff are disinterested and the organisation poor. At 338 euros it isn鈥檛 cheap either.

You really must avoid this shipping company had a nightmare sailing from Civitavecchia to Barcelona 30th of September staff were rude and unprofessional. The Roma was a bucket of a ship ,dirty cabin ,air con not working the food was terrible the cabin would not open then it would not lock . It seemed that smoking was permitted anywhere on the ship. I did not feel safe on this 20 hour sailing . I have written a letter of complaint a month ago and they refuse to answer my complaints and take over two weeks to reply. Avoid avoid avoid

Tunis – Salerno
Even with a cabin, this was pretty awful

Everything broken shabby – one light of three working, door closer literally hanging on with one screw. Toilet flushed itself thru the first night from Tunis then would not flush again

Staff (eapecially the guy on the reception desk) just plain rude and scruffy. When i went to report the toilet for the 4th time, this guy said something to his colleague in italian, they both looked at me and laughed!

Finally, due to their complete lack of interest or guidance when.getting off in Salerno, i was able to enter the EU from Tunisia with no passport check – astounding

Horror. Eveybody is sleeping everywhere, with their feets on the tables etc. Do not use. Thei put their mattresses eveywhere, it looks like a homeless place…. Shame on you

Mmmm read the reviews and thought, oh I've made a mistake but paid for the journey so I'd best make the most of it.
Took that ferry from Barcelona yesterday departing on time to Civitavecchia arriving on time this evening.
What is all the fuss and negative comments about?
Yeah, the food in the self-service cafeteria was poor, bland, tasteless, bordering on cold and expensive, so I won't do that again.
The rest of the bad comments?
Maybe posters don't like the idea that the Mediterranean has a deep and longstanding mix of Europeans, Middle Eastern and North Africans bordering it: their cultures are different to mine and yours and theirs.
As for the ferry service, well its a ferry, not a cruise ship, but it does have some facilities that you won't find on the Dover to Calais crossing.
The cabin was acceptably clean, comfortable and spacious.
OK they do want you out of your cabin early, 2 hours before docking, as posted by other users, but the cabin is ready when you board. Compare to the UK – Northern Spain ferry and return where the cabin wasn't ready for an hour after sailing and you still got knocked up out of bed to vacate.
You get what you pay for and expect in this great part of the world, but it beats the drive from Barcelona to Rome on speed and travel and overnight stops.
I say, give it a try, I was impressed with the quality of the ship, its embarkation land crew and the ships crew.

Let me start by stating again that no one should use Grimaldi Lines!!
They are completely unreliable. We booked Igoumenitsa-Ancona for the 19th of June, departure 01:00 AM. A couple of days before departure they sent messages that the departure time was delayed. When we arrived at the terminal in Igoumenitsa at 22:00 on the 18th, it was announced that the departure time was now 08:00 – a delay of seven hours! We checked in and got vouchers for.. a bottle of water and an apple pie on board the ship.
We had to wait on the quay in our car and try to sleep, which was not really possible as some 200 German youngsters were also "dumped" there and -being young people I do not really blame them- made a lot of noise during the night.
The vessel arrived at 08:00 in the morning. We immediately went to our cabin. Taking a shower was not possible as the water was too hot.
After a week I sent an email to customer support, claiming 50% of the fare – as per the "Passengers Rights" as published on the website of Grmaldi lines.
Their reply from them was that we could have a 25% discount on a future saili with Grimaldi lines (as if we would ever be using them again..!).
I rejected their offer. On 21/8 they offered me compensation of 100 Euro which I accepted. They asked me for my bank details, which I immediately provided to them.
It is now 19/9 and they still did not transfer the money. I sent many reminders by email but no reaction.
I rest my case.. DO NOT EVER BOOK GRIMALDI LINES!!!

Very bad experience travelled from Tunis to Italy and honestly this is the worst experience ever the ferry is not meant for transport of passengers it is too small for capacity. They have 90 cabins on that ferry and 800 passengers HOW THAT IS EVEN SAFE people sleeping in every place possible including outside decking dining floors corridors only 3 cubicle toilets outside for passengers so you can imagine the smell ans mess .staff completely ignoring attitudes and doesn't speak any other language only Italian. Please avoid this ferry and this company as this is disaster waiting to happen.

Absolutely bad! Dirty, unpleasend. Trip from Patras to Ancona. Never again. Everything is dirty uncomfortable. I won鈥檛 recommand it to anyone. Chaos when we left. Rated: -10!!!!!

Filthy dirty. Booked owners suite. Waste of money. Check in horrible. 1.5 hours to offload standing room in corridor. No air con. Had to leave cabin 3 hours before docked. Nightmare. Food nasty. Staff mostly very rude. I thought GNV was bad but this is a whole new level

We took the line Brindisi – Igoumenitsa this summer with a car and it's a hell.
Unloading the car took more than 1 hour, it was an insane mess.
On both ways, it was "boat people" spirit. People are inflating beds and even building tents in the corridor and the stairs, there is no staff to make people behave normally.
Except if you are fine with this and wish to do the same, avoid this company.

Worst ferry line ever a very bad experience from beginning to end they had no canon for us with 5 kids was crazy we found a cool sofa area set the travel cot up for the babies was told no sleep here move go downstairs yet dogs were aloud there what the hell we moved we walked around went back to that area there was a couple with sleeping bags they were there the next morning we my husband had enough and complain on board they gave us a cabin of 2 beds as he was shouting and arguing which he shouldn't of had to do we was happy on a sofa or chair and are grateful for the cabin now for the toilets they stunk very unhygienic mo toilet roll blood stains on the floor and sanitary towels over flowing disgusting a d when it was time to leave no organisation the cats were all over papping there horns we nearly crashed staff were ignorant not well trained in there job rolls we would not recommend them go with super fast

Absolutely disgusting. Upon booking we were informed that each passenger has a seat ,(if not reserved there are enough). We came onto a hectic ferry, with people being disrespectful and staff ignorant. Adults were taking over entire couches in the dinning room to sleep and kids had to sleep on the floor. After asking the staff for assistance they paid no mind to complaints and didn鈥檛 care. Toilets were filthy and disgusting as only one was open and it stunk of urine. Overall atmosphere was disappointing and you should pay a little more and get a little respect than travel in this disgusting ferry line.

I only ever write reviews on horrible experiences so the fact that I took time to write this out is appalling

It鈥檚 ok. An average ferry crossing from Barcelona to Civitavecchia. Ferry travel in the Mediterranean tends to be chaotic, so I don鈥檛 think Grimaldi are worse than anyone else. It鈥檚 bedlam trying to park but that鈥檚 the same everywhere. Remember to check in at the office and when you do get to move your car, say your destination clearly to the guys on the dock. Your ticket gets checked later anyway. Just enjoy watching the chaos and relax. The cabins are clean, everything works, if it doesn鈥檛 ask and they will sort it. The pasta is good, second courses less so, the meal deal is not worth having, I鈥檇 go to the restaurant next time and avoid the queue at self service. That said, there is plenty of room to sit down, once you do get your food. You have to vacate your cabin a long time before arrival (2 hours) which is a pain and disembarking is perhaps even more chaotic than embarking! I found it rather claustrophobic in the heat, with engines running and a lot of noise. But, as I鈥檝e said, Grimaldi are really no worse nor better than anyone else. I got from A to B in a clean cabin with a working shower. It was fine.

Never book this line. Grimaldi says it all. Worst ferry line ever. Chaotic booking and when departing its a free for all. Have to queue on board to get your cabin, Staff are very rude and uncaring.. Will never ever book them again. Avoid at all costs.