Relaxing, interesting and a Norman in restaurant

Venice embarkation Very easy indeed. We had check-in time of 1000 and were staying on Venice Lido island. Got the number 1 vaporetti to Place Roma which took an hour. Was a sunday so not too busy but if a Saturday expect the service to be busy. Could be an issue if have lots of luggage. People Mover: Fairly easy to find if you know where! Come away from the vaporetti stops to the bus station,walk straight across and then across the road on zebra crossing. Turn left follow 100 yards and entrance is to the right. Costs €1.50 and is included on ACTV tickets. There is a lift to the platform. Go one stop , lift again to ground level. Walk straight and you come to the terminal gates, ship listed which terminal at the gate, then just follow the signs. EMBARKATION: We arrived @ 0945 and there are 3 levels of check in. First they check your boarding pass and passport. 2nd they take your luggage and it disappears to the ship. You then go to 3rd area where you are issued a group number. We are diamond so had priority. Check-in takes a few minutes, new photos done despite doing beforehand. Then through security. This takes you to holding area where you await transfer to another vaporetti. As we were priority straight onto first shuttle. We departed about 1020 and it’s about 30 minutes to the ship waiting in the docks. Once on board its explore, we had lunch in the restaurant rather than the buffet. Discovered on day 1 good idea as buffet is ok but not brilliant. Very average indeed. Main restaurants however are very good indeed and a credit to MSC. Rooms available from 1400 but what you do is go to your cabin on boarding and your sea passes are in envelope outside on the door. You need to do this for getting drinks etc so this is your first task once on board. Lifts are ok but obviously get busy and not quick. Note download the MSC App as it’s essential on board via ships internal WiFi for menus, drink choices etc. You don’t need to purchase WiFi for this but it’s not for internet usage just for the app. If you want to browse the internet you have to purchase a package or make use of your own phone services whilst in port. Each country is different for charges or no charges depending on your service provider. SUITE: We had booked Aurea level suite on floor 12. Excellent location, nothing else on deck except outside space and these cabins. Basic balcony but large room. Bathroom has bath tub with shower. Highest level of room on ship but very reasonable price. Check out the facilities included. Bed was very very comfortable and slept really well. Wash basin old and marked, needed replacing. Agus our suite guy looked after us very well indeed. Plenty of coffee tabs for our machine in the suite, and everywhere kept very clean and tidy. Twice a day makeup times. BARS / RESTAURANTS: No speciality restaurants on Opera. We had my time dining in L’Approdo on deck 6 and it was excellent. Never had to wait and we eat at various times to suit us. Just turn up. Special mention to head of sections Norman Eka Pradipta and Carlos who were a delight to have around. They made our restaurant experience special. Food was good quality. Menus changed every day but something for most. Big Note take your smart phone with you as all menus are via QR codes and you have to use your phone. This applies in bars across the ship as well. We had premium drinks package included and the drinks are very good indeed. Cocktails made to order, decent wines etc. Wait staff always friendly and genuine smiles. Various bars have live music and most are good depending on taste. Coffee throughout the ship apart from buffet/room service is excellent. The latter is sourced differently and is for masses whereas in the bars is from a good coffee machine with beans ground at the bar. Pizza next to buffet is extremely good. Buffet is buffet fairly average and obviously busy. EXCURSIONS: We had booked 3 for the cruise. Straight off the one at Zadar was cancelled due to lack of interest. The money was refunded onto cruise account the same day after visiting Shore Excursions desk to tell them our wishes. In Corfu we did a tour of the villages and view points to the north and west of the island. Excellent trip, guide was very good. Be mindful the cruise has few English speaking passengers so you will be mixed in with other nations on excursions. Bad weather diverted us to Brindisi instead of Bari. We had an excursion booked but it was very badly handled by MSC. No tickets night before, no advice it was still going till I rang them but it was too late. However after a day of discussion Customer Service rose to the occasion and I received a full refund and apology. ChrisPus on the desk kept going with the discussions with the Excursions department until it was settled. Full marks to him and he deserved a pat on the back for going above and beyond. Allow money for shuttle buses which are NOT included and on average €14 return trip per person. DISEMBARKING: We had a trip on morning of our departure which included a trip to Murano and Venice. All well organised and coincided with our trip. We then picked up our luggage and the transfer bus to the airport. Very smooth. OVERALL: The ship is smaller and if you have children from 8-17 consider if for them as apart from swimming pool areas everything else is slanted towards older adults. If you like a cruise where you make your own entertainment this is for you. There is stuff going on but not for all. We loved it and this is our 4th MSC cruise and 13th cruise overall. I have noted the other reviews some of which I don’t feel show a true reflection of MSC cruises. I do wonder if some are ever satisfied and just like to moan. My other gripe of the cruise is some of the other passengers who are rude, ignorant and selfish towards both staff and the rest of us. Maybe they should have a ship of their own, the MV Voyager of the Damned! We did meet some lovely people also from various parts of the globe and got to hear their stories. I rate this cruise as very good indeed despite excursion issues.

60t Birthday Cruise

We went for a 60th birthday and had a terrific time. The food,entertainment,bars and crew were all excellent. The ship has none of the big ship bells and whistles,but has an old style cruise vibe which was very relaxing and refreshing. The many different nationalities on board created a great holiday atmosphere. The ship was a little rocky travelling to Madeira from the Canaries,but this was to be expected as we were in the Atlantic in winter.We had an inside cabin which was more than adequate as we really only used it for sleeping in.Embarcation and disembarkation were very smooth,from being picked up at Tenerife south airport and transferring to Santa Cruz port and returning.We didn’t book any excursions as the ship docked very centrally to all the ports we visited,so we were able to do our own thing.Madeira was great as we done the cable car and the toboggan down the hill.

Second home in the Middle East

Everything was great. I’m very excited. Best place for holiday. I recommend everyone to visit there for holidays. The ship, the cabin, the staff, the food etc EVERYTHING was great. It’s really worthy to spend your money there. I was travelling with my friend for 1 week. Every night we had unforgettable parties near the pool.The pool was small but anyway very comfortable.Every evening we had dinner in restaurant La Caravella , big thanks to our unique waiter Riski, he gave us the best service ( i mean it), very nice and friendly person. The cabin was very comfortable and clean, the housekeepers were very attentive about that. All receptionists are very cute and responsible . Also the crew were very friendly, very nice, they always care about our needs and safety, that’s why i call it my second home. Thanks MSC staff for this amazing trip.