Grimaldi Lines Reviews 6,457

Just survived two Grimaldi ferries: Igoumenitsa to Brindisi and then Civitavecchia to Barcelona.
Firstly Igoumenitsa to Brindisi: a three hour queue to checkin, followed by a four hour delay to depart, including two chaotic hours just boarding the ferry. Disinterested staff, filthy boat, including a cabin that hadn’t been cleaned with used blankets on the floor.
Secondly Civitavecchia to Barcelona: much better checkin experience and well organized on time embarkation. The ship itself is huge and way finding is very difficult, with poor and confusing signage. The cabin was a decent size but stank of human excrement and urine due to a blocked toilet. When trying a report this the reception was unmanned and no staff could be found. Terrible but actually far better than the Igoumenitsa ferry.
The entire experience with Grimaldi Lines is a test of endurance - a shocking disregard of health and safety, and a couldn’t care less attitude to passengers.
Never again!

We took a overnight trip from Palermo to Livorno
First of all the trip was ok, we arrived in time... but there was no WiFi, even trains have free WiFi and are less expensive.
But worst of all was that, we arrived almost outside of the city far away from train station or bus station… we were on an Interrail trip so we had no car.
I was on different ferry lines before but there has always been a way to get along without a car!!! There were no taxis nothing… They didn’t even try to help and after 1-2 hours we finally managed to get to the train station!

Civitavecchia to Barcelona. The ferry itself was decent with a comfortable cabin and enough catering facilities. The restaurant food was fine. The boat is a bit dated and the cabin felt very 1980's, although the boat was launched in 2008 or so. The main issue is the shambolic car disembarkation. The process was overseen by one Grimaldi member of staff who had no idea what he was doing. There was absolutely no control of the cars who started their engines 30 mins before disembarkation started, filling the car deck with dangerous fumes which should be a fineable safety offence as the single Grimaldi staff member did nothing about it. This was then followed by a complete free for all with drivers of cars deciding to disembark when they felt like it. The Grimaldi member of staff made a lot of noise, but had no effect. Why did Grimaldi only have one member of staff overseeing a critical safety procedure, which he was clearly not fit to do. Why did he not make use of good practices used by more organized ferry operators such as using traffic cones to block vehicles from moving and instructing vehicles to move on his command. Overall, this was the worst, most disorganized and dangerous disembarkation I have ever witnessed. I guess that from other comments I have read on this, this Grimaldi's standard operating procedure.

Departure was 3 hours late. Due to some event the lounge bar was closed leaving all other passengers with very little seating. Only 1 lounge with sleeper chairs was open and the staf refused to open a second, so loads of people had to sleep in the hallway on the floor. I have rarely had such a rude crew. They rather spend time on the cell phones then helping people.

Worst boarding process for campervans I have ever seen. Bring food water and portable bathroom, because you will be waiting for hours to board

For a company that claims a goal of maintaining a high level of quality, this experience presents the absolute opposite. Workers asked about seat locations all looked on incredibly confused, all seeming to take the “not my circus” approach. Ridiculously overpriced, subpar food. Was supposed to be under way at 1230 but was still sitting in port at 1315. Absolute dumpster fire of a performance. Grimaldi, please refrain from doling out one of your perfunctory apologies that reeks of insincerity. Instead, work to correct these many deficiencies.

Our camper was placed next to a cattle truck. As a result our car was covered in excrements. Not necessary to describe the unforgettable stink for the rest of our journey

Top! Top! Top!

I travelled from Naples to Palermo, 8 hours overnight, and I had my concerns because of the reviews.

I'm only writing this review because there wasn't anything bad about the journey and thought I'd try to even out some of the negativity.

Check in is a bit chaotic but the staff were really friendly and helpful with the aid of Google translate.

The ship was clean and modern. I chose just the regular seat included in the price. Lots of space and leg-room plus they reclined.

Smooth crossing with a 30 min delay. Announcements were in Italian and English. Disembarking was very little fuss.

They were about half the price of other ferry operators, so if use them again.

We travelled from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa by the 13.00 sailing on 25/09/24.

I have only just recovered from a bout of food poisoning almost certainly picked up from the canteen meal!!

Very poor communications and signposting on board. We had a seat reservation on board, but needed to ask numerous staff where it was. HGV drivers clearly the priority,

Before the crossing we wandered around for a good 30 mins in the onshore reception hall. No info. no staff. We were finally left for at least another 30 mins outside watching the HGVs load on to the ferry.

No special instructions for foot passengers!

Also a matter of confusion for fellow foot passengers. Does that ship arrive at Igoumenitsa in Greek time or Italian time?

Travelled from Barcelona to Porto Torres on 8 September. Absolute chaos at the port of Barcelona. Staff directed us onto the ferry but parked us at the side of a forklift lift truck. Vehicles were directed behind us but as the passenger I was unable to open.my door on the car enough to actually get out of the vehicle! I had to climb over into the driver's side and clamber across from the drivers side when we were leaving the ferry. I am an agile 60 year old but if I had been a larger person I would not have been able to do this. I have photos and a video of Grimaldi want to contact me. The car behind was so close we couldn't open our boot to get out things out(our boot opens to the side not upwards. Staff seem disinterested. Onboard despite it stating all dogs should be muzzled this wasn't adhered to and the staff didnt enforce it. There was actually one dog walking round without a lead!

We cannot recommend Grimaldi lines. We took the ferry from Napels to Sardinia. In the bathroom of our cabin was mold, the towels were dirty (one with red spot, probably blood).
The worst thing was in the morning, the cleaning staff banged on our door and without waiting for us to open, they entered (!) while my husband was standing naked in the cabin.
When we tried to speak to a manager the cleaning staff pretended not to understand the word manager, then hid in the cabins they were cleaning and laughed.
We will not travel with Grimaldi lines again.

I agree with many other customers comments about the staff on the Grimaldi ferries. We took the Barcelona to Civitavecchia route. There is no customer service, no oasdion, no personable feelings to look after the customer. We are more of a nuisance to them. This must come from the management team, they need to identify the importance of customer service. Many staff, even the senior staff give preference to their mobile phones & rolling cigarettes rather than helping the people who pay their wages.
We won't be using this company again & will not recommend them.

We had an horrendous experience travelling with grimaldi lines from Igoumenitsa to Brindisi. When we entered the garage, the person who should navigate us to our place was literally screaming his lungs out to us, he was swearing like crazy and at one point he leaned even IN our car to pull and push out steering wheel whilst still screaming like a maniac. Me and my partner were quite in shock after this happened so I filed a complaint at the reception and I got to talk with the manager of the garage but nothing happened after. I didn’t feel taken seriously. Besides this horrendous welcome, the ferry itself was dirty and old. Same experience when we travelled from Civitivechhia to Barcelona today. We booked a cabin and the bed was full of hairs 😫, the toilet was filthy and overall it is just way too overpriced for what they deliver.

It was horrible! The sad part is that I saw the bad reviews after I took the trip. The whole ferry was disgusting, bad service, and everyone was sleeping on the floor and aires up beds everywhere. It was a big India but without Indians. I took the trip from Naples, Cagliary to Naples. The only reason i'm giving 1 star is because 0 is not possible

I traveled on August 19, 2024 with my 11-year-old daughter and my mother, on the Livorno-Olbia route.
Great adventure and nice attitude of the staff - because my purchased seat didn't work, we were moved to a room with comfortable seats, with a smaller number of passengers - although the cruise was at night, it was great to watch us sail along the Mediterranean Sea ;)

Mediocre travelling experience, horrible costumer service experience.

Lousy boat, lousy staff, lousy food.
Dirty, broken, old, no hygiene.

With 1 or 2 exceptions the staff onboard the Roma to Barcelona ferry were rude, disinterested and unhelpful.
They need reminding who pays their wages, not the company but the customers that use their ferries.
Pulman seating area was not clean particularly the toilets, very dirty.
Poor breakfast served with a growl and a frown
They.charge €13 for "Fast" WiFi for 12 hours. It worked for a few hours then never worked again until nearly in port. Asked the receptionist for a refund, she waved me away. Possibly the rudest staff I've ever encountered.

3 hours delay to Barcelona. No support when needed, poor services and advertising and communication on board heavy and repetitive.