Excellent
Operated by Grandi Navi Veloci
Excellent
Operated by Grandi Navi Veloci
Operated by Grandi Navi Veloci on the Genoa Tunis, Genoa Palermo, Genoa Barcelona, Genoa Tangier Med & Barcelona Tangier Med routes
GNV’s Excellent can carry up to 2,230 passengers and 760 vehicles during its crossings, reaching speeds of 21 knots in the process. The ship has a huge number of facilities and attractions to provide travellers with an enjoyable sailing experience. There is a variety of different eateries to suit everyone’s culinary tastes, as well as a duty free shopping centre, games rooms, children’s area, swimming pool, libraries and a conference centre. Wi-Fi is available onboard, so you don’t need to lose contact with anyone whilst making your voyage. There are 387 cabins on the ship with specially designed accommodation for passengers with restricted mobility.
For those who choose to travel with Grandi Navi Veloci, 387 cabins and 38 luxury suites are available for you to stay in. This comfy accommodation option provides the ideal setting for you to put your feet up, get some sleep and relax whilst making the smooth sailing. All cabins come with air conditioning and are equipped with an en suite bathroom, including a shower and hairdryer. The spacious and sumptuous suites also include air conditioning as well as a television, radio and mini bar and a large porthole to admire the crystalline sea views.
This ferry has an extensive selection of food and drink options, with an a la carte restaurant, self-service food area and a fully stocked snack bar. The a la carte selection serves up choices for all three courses, with a mix of Mediterranean cuisine, regional foods and international flavours. The self service area contains a fast and informal restaurant setting, with extensive choices to suit all. The snack bar serves up breakfast, lunch, dinner and that something small in between if you are feeling peckish. This includes a variety of meal options and sandwiches, fruit salads and ice creams, just to name a few.
GNV’s designated retail outlets offer you the option of treating yourself to clothing, cosmetics, perfumes and kids toys from their well-stocked shopping area. The usual newspapers, snacks, books, cigarettes and souvenirs are also available to buy. So whether you need something to help while away the hours, treat yourself, or buy holiday gifts, Excellent has you covered.
The ship contains a Games Room where you can play the newest video games on the market or even try your luck on the slot machines. If you are going away on business, there is no need for you and your colleagues to fall behind on work as the ship is equipped with a conference centre and a number of meeting rooms. Make sure you pack your trunks and swimming costumes because in the summer months a swimming pool is available. On the vessel you’ll also find a library and chapel.
A designated Children’s Area can be found on the Excellent so you won’t have any issue in keeping your little ones occupied during the trip.
There are four disabled cabins onboard and the ferry is adapted for travellers with disabilities and restricted mobility. The ship caters for differently abled travellers throughout.
Please Note: Whilst we have taken great care in making our Excellent guide as accurate as possible, onboard facilities, services and entertainment may vary depending on the date and time of year that you travel, facilities mentioned may change without notification and ferry companies reserve the right to operate vessels other than those mentioned at time of booking without prior notification.
out of 5
16% of our customers recommended this ship
"Ūberfahrt vom 17-19 Genua Tangier"
In der Kabine war es sehr kalt. Das Verlassen der Fähre in Tangier war total chaotisch weil keiner den Verkehr an der Ausfahrrampe geregelt hatte und somit ein Hupkonzert und Gedränge entstand
"Goodbut could do better"
The staff were great, very helpful but a lot of them were new and getting some things done took longer. Food in the self serice was served onto cold .plates and the checkout was slow so food had to be re heated in the microwave . The cabin had 4 beds but only one socket for charging , theses days that's not enough almost everyone has a phone and maybe an iPad., 4 people, one socket not enough. The crew were great though. Kind regards Elaine Goodson
"Recent trip to Barcelona"
Unfortunately there was a problem when I paid for the trip and the ticket had only my name on it, so at Genova I had to change the ticket. As the terminal is being renovated I found it extremely difficult to get to the ticket office. Then there was a problem when we were about to get on board because we had apparently not checked in, but we had checked in and when I went yet again to another place to sort this out they told me we were chacked in and to go away. However, they did not want to let us onboard. In the end someone came and sorted it out over the telephone and we were allowed onboard. We have never had this problem before. It seemed like one person did not know what another one was doing. Once onboard everything was ok. It is unfortunate that if people have to pay for a sleeping seat, there are still people all over the various decks sleeping on the floor. This gives a very bad impression and does not make me feel safe.
"Exceeding Expectations"
What a lovely experience it was to travel by ferry for the first time. We booked a doublebed sleeper and expected one of the small cabins in the centre of the vessel with no windows. What a lovely surprise to open the door to the cabin and find something we thought the captain of the ship would later kick us out of because it looked like it could belong to him!
"Hits and Misses"
Booking was fine. Address for directions wrong. TOOK 45 mins to find terminal. Booking must be validated in terminal. Told tolerate cabin at 06 40 thinking we docked at 09 15.Not a good experience.
"September 2022"
Terrible
"Disappointing "
I've used quite a few ferries over the years and this is probably the worst one I've used. It wasn't particularly particularly clean - the sheets had stains (and one had holes) and the shower hadn't been cleaned. Some of the dinner choices weren't available, nor were some of the soft drinks and beers.
"Very disappointed "
Dirty and dusty, people allowed to lay down/ sleep all over corridors, we had to step over them in public area, bar’ banquets, etc.
"Ship was OK, but disgusting food"
The food at the self-service was gross, meat and fish baked dry, sauces with weird off-flavours. Coffee served in plastic cups. The cabin was decent. The bars felt stuffy.
"Missed Sailing due to lack of Information from GNV"
We missed our sailing because GNV only informed us in Italian/Portuguese in an SMS which got buried in the multiple SMS`s which everyone knows. Instead of sending an email requiring a confirmation, they just sent a SMS! 5 minutes before the ship sailed they called us. We were at the harbor but couldn't fine the gate. Really aggravating. GNV needs to: -Informed customers by email and SMS requiring a confirmation from the customer. Furthermore they need to be very exact where the harbor is and what building/gate customers have to drive to.
"Oh dear!"
This does not start well! We booked and received confirmation of the time (1200) and date of sailing. Nearer to the date of sailing we were sent an update by SMS stating that the time of sailing had changed to 1700. This made life easier for us, as we could drive up the same day to Barcelona. Then we received an email stating that departure time was now back to midday. OK, hotel required for overnight stay. Check with office day before that all is good, she looks at our ticket and informs us the ferry is tomorrow. We arrive at 0900 only to be told the ferry is at 1700. We arrive at 1400, the ferry, (not the Excellent as on the itinerary and my PLF, but the Allegra) arrives late, and for more than 2 hours after our sailing time are left wondering what is going on. Eventually boarded, and again no explanation or apology. First room had no light in the toilet, the second room a bunk light does not work, the chef decided that I wanted my starter and the main at the same time, and we are not in Genoa yet!
"Jan 2020"
The crew were attentive and polite.We spent two hours queuing at the wrong terminal (Grimaldi) , where we used to join the ship together with many other passengers, because the ticket did not say to go the new Trans-Mediterranean terminal. The ship left on time and arrived on time at Tangier-Med.
"beware "
We booked last minute and it was a nightmare. Turned up early but because we hadn't been to the office which is in the shopping centre and not at the port - of course - were turned away by a very unhelpful port-side official who just said no turned us around and sent us away and when asked what to do was told "left" and that was it! Fortunately some helpful Italian people told us where to go and what to do as if they had heard this all before. Then if it hadn't been for another Brit telling us what to do whilst waiting in line to board with the paperwork to get it registered this would have been another mess-up. When on board 2 hours later than scheduled we then had to change that paperwork into meal tickets but noone told us. So we turned up at the restaurant to be told to go away again and we went to information where a very rude older woman ignored us completely as if we didn't exist and then the main guy spoke to us and gave us the right ticket withoyut a smile or welcome. He also said we could use them in the shop so we went to the shop gathered some stuff and then at the paying desk was told we couldn't use the ticket there. So we left the stuff and walked out. We then went back to the restaurant only to find that it had shut without a single notice of opening and closing times to be seen anywhere. Eventually when it reopened we had a nice meal but on all plastic single use plates etc! The only decent place on board which was helpful and human was the young guys on the snack bar who were excellent - the rest were unhelpful and rude and didn't know how to smile! The route and service is very good but the organisation is terrible and the people very unhelpful and the worst place ironically was the information desk! Avoid if you can unless you have to use it and be prepared for an experience of a lifetime!
"Poor food, lack of information, 4 hour check-in"
We were on the ""Excellent" from Genoa to Tanger via Barcelona with the car. Boarding was very inefficient. We called GNV the day before to see if we really did need to check-in 4 hours before departure. Yes we did. In retrospect most people arrived after us. You need to go into the building to get your papers, although this is not clear! First queue at GNV desk to get vouchures for your car, meals, room etc and emigration forms. Next queue is for Italian passport control, you need to have completed the emigration form and have all passports and travellers with you. Boarding started at 30mins after advertised departure time and we pulled away 2 hours later. No explanation for the delay Once on board there was another queue to get room keys. No idea why these are not handed out at the port. Dinner was advertised to start at 7:30pm, at 7:45pm we asked why it had still not started to be told it would be 8pm, again with no explanation apart from a shrug. It opened at 8:05pm. By then a massive queue had formed which moved very very slowly as the one cashier had to find the envelope with your pre purchased meal tickets and explanation of what this covered after you had selected your food from the self service line. Of course he then had to take back what was not included, or charge for it. Once again, why were the meal tickets not handed out at check in? By the way, the food was luke warm but we were starving by that time. Lots of advertised amenities were closed; the pool, ice cream store, fitness room, cinema and disco. Breakfast was actually fine, no queue and acceptable food - as long as you like bread and croissants (no fruit, meat or cheese in the self service resteraunt, cereals were extra) Passport pre-checks for Morocco were mayhem, maybe can't blame GNV for that. Security arrived after 40mins to try and instil some order. Actually they were open all afternoon and a few hours on the morning of arrival at Tangiers. Had we known this we could have relaxed and gone later. Despite departing 2 hours late from Genoa we arrived into Tangiers an hour early In summary, the ship was tired and run down, the food was poor, often luke warm, lots of advertised amenities were closed, 4 hour check-in was way too long, but for me the biggest problem was the lack of information. This could be solved very easily - Hand out at a single sheet of A4 at check-in stating meal times, Moroccan car and passport procedures and what is included in the set meals. - Also hand out the room keys and meal vouchures at the same time - Have the menu on the the way into the self-serve resteraunt so you know which main courses are vailable when choosing your starter. If they did this i would be giving 4 stars
"Ghastly"
You’d really have to have a pathological hatred of driving through the south of France to prefer the ironically named “GNV Excellent” as a means of getting yourself and your car from Barcelona to Genova. It is chaos from start to finish with staff seemingly finding check-in as bewildering as the passengers do. The theme continues aboard: the boat is run down and litter-strewn and looks like it was last cleaned about the time of its maiden voyage, which was evidently a very, very long time ago. The public areas and deck seating are unappealing and shabby. Most of the advertised facilities were shut for the whole of the journey – the few that were open for a few hours were understaffed and underwhelming.There was a small counter where if you waited long enough you might be able to get a drink but most of the other public places had shuttered counters and had in any case, like every spare inch of corridor space, been turned into makeshift sleeping accommodation. So if you doggedly persist in getting your beer, good luck finding somewhere to sit and drink it. . The lingering impression though is the smell. A stale pong of damp carpets mixed with choking diesel fumes permeates the entire ship, including the cabins. The final instalment of this nightmare ride is that for an arrival scheduled for 8:30 am, you will be hounded out of your cabin at 6am for the convenience of the cleaning staff. This is what must drive repeat travellers, if there really can be such masochists, to prefer to camp in the corridors: there is demonstrably no danger of anyone disturbing them by wanting to vacuum the carpet they are sleeping on. In short, the worst ferry and one of the worst accommodation experiences I have ever known in Europe. I simply do not understand how a company like this can stay in business. Perhaps people read the reviews, look at the high prices and conclude it can’t be that bad: believe me, it really is. Traveller’s top tip: avoid like the plague.
"Complains"
The trip was in time, but service and facilities on board beneath acceptable level. Crew/staff speak very poor English, are not informed, speaker can not be understood, no casino, no bar or any other facilities in the night, no communicationroom nor WiFi or other kinds of communications, bathrooms very ugly, not clean, not hygienic, carpets all over very old and dirty, trash everywhere...so this was a bad experience. I will not take this trip again. Beside that most passengers where moroccan/muslims, they take over every room for praying and in night, early morning all that muezzin music calling for doing prayors etc. Sorry but this all is beneath acceptable level..
"GNV Barcelona to Genoa"
Boat was called MS Excellent but to be honest was far from it. Loading and booking in chaotic. The ship itself must be ready for maintenance or actually under maintenance but still sailing. Main seating area was completely closed so limited seating available. A number of lifts were signed out of order. Cabin was reasonable clean and comfortable except for blankets on beds which were rough and well used. That said it's a convenient route from Spain to Italy. p.s. original booking was for Friday but that boat cancelled so we had to rebook!
"No driving "
The trip was pleasant. Good night sleep. The boat could do with a good clean and painting but overall good spur for money. We traveled with two dogs and had no problems.
"Very Disappointing "
Our Cabin No 7102 was filthy. We only used the loo because we’d no choice, we couldn’t use the shower. The shower cubical was disgusting, hairs on the floor not to mention the ground in dirt, on shower floor, around plug hole and overflow, under the sink shelf. This is long time ground in dirt. Thick dust on the chrome on the lamps on either side of the bed. Terrible experience. The staff in the pizza restaurant were very competent and friendly. Was glad to exit this ferry, I will never use it again.
"From a bygone era"
It's a rather charming thing to step back in time but to see the locked doors, blocked out areas, and empty hallowed halls, it makes for a limited experience. Charming in the moment, but difficult to go beyond on that.
"Chaotic Grand Navi"
Service nothing short of chaotic. Food in restaurant poor, slow service, bar facilities often unavailable. Breakfast ; 2 x staff serving, 27 waiting, cold scrambled egg, cold dry bacon and till not working correctly. Some staff incompetent, query badly trained. Car loading at Genoa too slow, passage - despite a calm sea, very slow arriving 90 minutes late. Message to Grand Navi CEO , not good enough, you should ashamed and do something about it. A totally disappointing experience.
"How bad can it be"
If you have every been to Barcelona ferry terminal you will know it is big. Having only a print out from direct ferry’s saying collect tickets on arrival easy I thought !!!! GVM office /terminal is hidden and when you do find it you are welcomed by a que but no one at the post office type windows No info No signs great. Queed up only to be told get paper worked stamped after parking up where ??? No answer just pointed out side bemused we wandered outside to see a small sign on the fence Embark no arrow no sign ,followed round the back of the office to be faced with pandimodum one young girl forty cars and us in a Motorhome eventually got paper work stamped and parked in what we hoped was the right lane. Back into office into a now irate and large que to fight our way to the front for our tickets eventually got tickets and returned to Motorhome Two hours later we managed to board the ferry total lack of organisation Ferry was already full as it had come from Morocco room was OK ferry was full of screaming kids and people sleeping in corridors and bars with all there possessions with them. The only time we left cabin was to go to the restaurant (only sane place and serving booze) Use this service as a means to an end it is in no way anything like the spain to England ferry service Good luck Have Patiance and stay calm
"Going home"
The trip was fine. We had no problems. It did seem difficult to understand the booking in. The fact We had booked a four berth,outside,sea view with two dogs. We were unable to contact anyone to say one of our dogs had died and no one replied to our emails. At the port no one seemed interested in the fact the we only had one dog . We wanted to know about other trip but there was nothing there and staff could not help.
"Genoa - Barcelona "
The boat journey was lovely. The food is overpriced for what you get but I think that is universal for ships. The staff were helpful, the room was clean. I would use this service again
"Never again"
2.5 hours late, no food. As in Nothing. Had to beg for a glass of milk for my 2 year old. Nothing opened, no pool, no store, no restaurants, no kids room, no movie room. Nothing. No wifi, no communication on anything. Grossly understaffed. Trash everywhere. Worst boat I have every been on, in 30 years of travel.
"A mixed bag"
Check in in Genoa 1. Totally shambolic. We waited two hours only to be told as British passport holders it was unnecessary. No Euro friendly notices. It really was very,very poor. 2. Cabin on 7th deck was excellent with view over front of ship and lots of space. 3. Disembarking was again totally disorderly and shambolic. We were two of a very small number of foot passengers. Waited and waited for instructions—nothing. Everyone had gone, we asked and asked only to be told go to deck 3 (we were on deck 7) and walk off. This was unacceptable by any standards.. In addition there was a taxi strike in Barcelona so no transport into city centre. A coach (payable) should have been provided. Again poor service. 4. Food was OK but breakfast on Sunday 29th July was again very badly organised. My wife and I waited 50 minutes when all orange juice had run out etc. Shambolic 5. Conclusions. GNV are clearly not service orientated. The cabin was excellent but the rest left a lot to be desired.. Maybe the expections we had were too high but regrettably we shall never use the shipping line again.
"Not the best experience "
On. He king our cabin the mattress had blood stains on it that showed through the sheet. We pre paid fir our food, do not do this, on arriving for breakfast we did not have free choice but only a very limited selection of what was there. Everything else was extra. This was certainly not what it said on the booking sheet. Non of the on board facilities were available. Casino shut, pool empty, gym shut, most of the areas closed off lots if other stuff just closed off. People sleeping in the corridors on the floor. A nice ship being misused. When we complained about the breakfast the staff picked items up off our tray telling us they were not included such as a bread roll. We had to insist that they changed them after touching them with their hands. This included the girl on the till. It should have been made clear when we were booking that the food was very limited and that basic items such as cereal were not included. Main meals were cold and poorly prepared. Not surprised that most of the regular passengers brought their own food. The trip was mussteptesented by direct ferries.
"Quite good trip"
Timetable accurate. A bit complicated check in in Barselona port. Ship modest, clean enough. Family suite good. Crew good. Lunch and dinner in a-la cart restaurant good enough. Overall trip exceeded mjy expectations.
"Get a cabin"
Good cabins but food cold and pretty ordinary.
"Quite the worst European ferry I've travelled on in recent years"
Very disorganised checking in with no information or signage. Took 3 visits to the desk before I eventually managed to get boarding cards. Cabin was clean but spartan however good shower. Most of the facilities were closed - the main lounge, the bar and, for most of the voyage, so was the shop. On the whole the crew were charmless with a couple of exceptions. Food and beverages were expensive and in short supply. The blame was put on the fact that it was the last voyage of the Excellent before a revamp. The start of the voyage was a little rough and there was vomit on the carpet and top open deck 8 was awash with vomit. There were no sign of sick bags anywhere. The food in the restaurant was acceptable but expensive and the service, once again, was poor. It took well over an hour after we docked before we were called to disembark. All together a miserable experience.
"Not Excellent "
We were emailed to advise us that sailing time was changed to 1200hrs, but we did not sail till until 1255hrs The lounge was not made available so there was no comfortable seating available. We sat in the piano bar but this was ruined by the tv showing programmes at full volume to the extent that both myself and my wife went to our cabin with headaches due to the noise. On a long overnight crossing we like to spend the evening having a drink in comfortable surroundings but unfortunately this was not possible due to the closed lounge. We considered the self service restaurant overpriced for the quality of the meals offered.
"Never again "
12 hours late, 7 hours in they decided to turn around as there was a problem with machinery which happened just over 2 hours into the journey, everyone was told to move to the front of the boat as there was heavy fumes, we had to change ferry at 2 in the morning was not impressed, the staff were rude and unhelpful on the second ferry and the food was awful, breakfast was a crossiont coffee and juice, dinner was the same as lunch, bland and cold,
"Trip to Barcelona"
We really enjoyed our trip in a cabin outside the ship. It was quiet and comfortable. I would repeat the travel everytime possible.
"Sete to Tangier Med"
As a foot passenger was surprised at the lack of signage as to where to wait or which direction to go to gain access to the boat or any indication as to when access may be gained. Once on board the ships were spotlessly clean and all facilities were good with the exception of WiFi. It was very difficult and very expensive to gain WiFi access. €10 for 40 minutes and €20 for two hours. Staff at reception were quite curt when asking about WiFi. Passport control aboard the ship was ridiculous with one man responsible for checking the passports of all the passengers aboard. I queued for two and a half hours to get my passport stamped.
"GenoatoBarcelona"