Taste of Brazil on MSC Orchestra

Thoroughly enjoyed our Brazil cruise. Boarding and disembarkation were a breeze. We booked cabin which was partially obstructed but the obstruction was negligible. Our balcony was larger and we were able to enjoy our breakfasts and lunches there. Our cabin steward was friendly and kept our cabin spotless and brought wash cloths promptly when I requested them. Buffet had wide selection of options for breakfast and lunch, always plenty of fresh fruit especially bananas and pawpaw (papaya). We had dinner in MDR at 7:30 which was the 1st sitting (2nd sitting 22:00) and found service was exceptional, friendly and professional. and wide selection of options. Fruit juices were only available at breakfast but coffee and water were available 24/7. Pizza was available until 2:00 am and was very good. We had a couple of minor issues which Guest Services resolved promptly eg shower curtain. Bar service was speedy considering the ship was full. Live entertainment was very good especially the piano players and the live band. We booked an excursion in Salvador and found it very informative. I would definately choose MSC again.

Wonderful cruise, definitely recommend.

I must admit that I was very apprehensive after reading reviews on here, but was very pleasantly surprised. I can only conclude that some people only look for the worst in anything, rather than just enjoying the experience. We have cruised before with P&O and told myself that I should not try to compare as MSC were a cheaper end of the market, but we had a great time. Embarking: Málaga, no problems, minimum waiting time, cabin was ready so could leave our small bags and the suitcases arrived during the afternoon. Our cabin person was superb, nothing was too much trouble, cabin cleaned twice a day. Meals: we had first sitting (1900) for our evening meal, table was allocated and we shared with some lovely people, all our table were English speaking. We tried the buffet and the restaurant for lunches and breakfast, but preferred the restaurant as the buffet was a bit frantic! The food was good, not brilliant (what do you expect for catering for so many?), but plenty of choices and well cooked. I saw complaints that the food was just warm, but living in Spain, this is the norm. Those complaints that the portions were very small must be really greedy. No, not huge portions, but 3 courses twice a day plus whatever you want for breakfast, really!!! Entertainment: Ample choice of entertainment, plenty of bars each with their own music as well as the theatre giving a different show every night. Not everything maybe your style, but plenty of variety and very professionally performed. Cleanliness: superb, plenty of hand gel dispensers around and staff to administer when you go into the buffet. All public areas continually being cleaned. Staff: lovely, friendly, chatty, helpful. No waiting to be served, plenty of waiters and bar staff. What have I forgotten? Didn't go on any excursions as preferred to do our own thing, but everyone we spoke to enjoyed them. We thought they were pricey, so chose not to, but everyone has a choice. Hard sell: yes, there was always something to promote to get you to buy, but we didn't and felt no need to buy extras. All in all we had a fabulous holiday and a well deserved rest, and would recommend to anyone and we will be going again next year.

Low Expectations Far Exceeded

OK I have read all the reviews about this ship and had very low expectations. We are an Irish couple who have cruised with Royal, NCL and mostly Princess and a few MSC. The price was good and we thought well it can’t be that bad. It was a great cruise. Food excellent good variety and quality. Tip avoid the buffet it is a bit manic. Go to the dining room for breakfast lunch and dinner and you won’t be disappointed. Avoid school holidays we forgot it was mid term in Europe. Staff were outstanding. Shows were as good as can be when trying to cater for multiple languages. Make singer was so bad it became funny but it’s easy to be an armchair critic. The gym is too small so best off peak. To be fair the time limit on machine was enforced well. There were very few announcements and no constant selling which we liked. Go enjoy and do not worry.

Great ports on a budget

If you are looking for wonderful food, lots of English-speaking passengers, or plentiful shipboard activities, this is not the cruise for you. If you want to access less-overcrowded Mediterranean ports for less than $100/person per day and enjoy multiple doses of opera and flamenco, this might be your cruise. I promised I'd take my kids to Europe one day before they left for college. They're tweens, so we had plenty of time. However, when I saw a deal last summer for a 10 day Lisbon-Lisbon MSC cruise on the Orchestra in July 2023 for two adults and two 12 year olds for less than $2400, I jumped on it. I chose Lisbon for embarkation and debarkation because that was the cheapest airfare from the US east coast where we live. It was very difficult to find reviews of the Orchestra on Mediterranean cruises and now I know why, having been on one. I'm writing this to help those who are considering the journey. As an enthusiast of culture and history, I chose this cruise for my family as a means of getting to interesting European places. We are not shoppers and my children like the beach while my husband I tolerate it. If the Orchestra's Mediterranean cruises are anything like the one we had, expect fewer than 10 native English passengers although every crew member will speak very good English. From polls by our cruise director (fluent in 4 languages) at the shows, a majority of the passengers are multi-generational Italian families on summer vacation, combined with smatterings of Spaniards, Germans, French, and Portuguese. After reading what reviews I could find, I told my family to expect not much more than a ferry boat with mostly passable food and excellent pizza. All four of us have been spoiled by my parents with multiple cruises on late-model Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships in the Caribbean and Mexico. My husband and I have also sailed Norwegian to Alaska with my parents. My children love sports and the kids clubs on cruises and have enjoyed this type of vacation since they were 7. What I loved: -Embarkation is simple because everyone is getting on different days. The two biggest embarkation days were Lisbon and Genoa. We went right to our rooms at 2 pm (1.5 day plane delay) with our luggage. -Debarkation was simple. We were directed to a lounge by group number on our luggage and walked off at the appointed time. -The ship had its own resident soprano and tenor who performed a mini-opera (Carmen) and two different afternoon classical concerts. These were not main shows at night. They were both marvelous and the tenor even did a humorous piece where he interacted with the audience. -There was a 3 person resident flamenco troupe (2 women and a man) who also performed multiple times. These performances were such a bonus. They even did some engrossing avant garde pieces. -The entertainment caliber was high. We've seen shows on Brilliance of the Seas and Mardi Gras. I grew up less than 2 hours from Broadway and was All-State on my instrument. I mention this to be able to say I don't understand the reviews on this site calling the entertainment "samey samey." Maybe they're just used to Manchester United on the telly (talk about samey samey)? Yes, different crew members have specialties (acrobats, dancers, singers, magician, etc.) but each night has a different and cohesive show. Again, I traveled for the ports so I wasn't initially invested in the entertainment, but my kids actually asked to go each night and took more photos/videos there than in port. - Access to most ports was wonderful. We could walk off the ship and walk 15-20 minutes into town (exceptions below). -This ship still has a captain's gala night where you can get your photo taken with the captain, the food in the main dining room tastes delicious, and there is a free drink at the captain's cocktail hour What was ok: -Buffet food was plentiful, not particularly great-tasting. People had raved about the pizza- it is an Italian line, after all. The pizza was ok, except for the purple-crusted (charcoal-grilled) one, which was truly good. Maybe I just prefer NY pizza. Options on the buffet: premade salads with vegetables and sandwiches were good. I didn't try the pasta but my kids and enjoyed it. Loved their chocolate twists for breakfast. Cold cuts and rotations of ethnic cuisine were always good as were cut fruit and cheeses. They had a carving station and usually other meat in sauces as well as kid food. I didn't try the hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries, but they seemed popular. Desserts were a disappointment. Other than a Nutella phyllo dough concoction the first night, the offered desserts were dry, tasteless, or both. So many versions of colored gelatin layered with panna cotta, all beautiful, all tasted like nothing. Cakes were more like pannetone- not sweet, not moist. Again, I trhink I just prefer rich Italian-American cakes and they have to cater to their clientele, who was mostly Italian. It was good for not gaining weight. -There were a lot fewer activities in the daytime, port or sea day, compared with Norwegian, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean. It was mostly a rotating selection of trivia, bingo, dance lessons by the pool, sales in shops.Most passengers spent the days at in the pool or next to it eating, drinking, and smoking What we liked least: - Smoking was common on the ship. It's Europe. - The main dining room food was such a disappointment, we stopped going. My husband and I are public servants, so we earn low salaries and don't eat out much at home. We save up for trips. Therefore, we look forward to main dining room experiences on ships- delicious food, multiple courses. The seafood dishes (fish, shrimp, octopus, mixed seafood) were great. Everything else was not very well-seasoned. We didn't have problems with it coming out cold. It just tasted like nothing. Our servers were kind and willing. As we are American, they would bring one complementary bottle of Pellegrino for the 4 of us, but that wasn't enough. We never got offered a second. The desserts tasted like nothing. For context, I joyously eat Golden Corral on a special occasion- great friend chicken, delicious cheesecake, at least 5 other foods there are one to which I look forward. This is to say I am not a food snob (although my husband is) and my kids eat anything. We gave up going because at least at the buffet, we all had more choices and could rely on our favorites. -Kids club was not fun, according to our kids. There were video game consoles and foosball and the same kids hogged them all the time. Despite posted signs saying to yield to other passengers after 15 minutes of play, this was never enforced. Same thing happened to adults at the hot tubs. They had trouble communicating with the other kids as well because they are too young to have begun learning another language in school. They missed the water slides on other ships. -Tendering was not managed well in Mahon, Menorca. A passenger waiting to board one of only 2 simultaneously running tenders back to the ship around 3 pm in the line of 18 pop-up tents (over an hour by the time it happened) fainted or had another medical emergency. Then, someone cut the line, a verbal argument ensued, the police showed up, and MSC had to capitulate and spontaneously (we hope) rent a giant two-deck glass bottom sightseeing boat to quickly get the backlog of passengers back on the ship without more incidents. Yes, it's a hot summer of climate change, but the line never should have been allowed to get to 18 tents long (with more unshielded people behind them). They do this port every 10 days; it's not a surprise. - Of all the ports, the Marseilles dock is the farthest from the center of town, but 16E/person for the MSC bus is pretty steep. Uber was 15E for 4 of us. -TV was small. The only shows for kids were in German and Italian and adult shows were financial and news-related. I secretly liked this. We were not there to watch tv! Did not do/use - Casino - Shops - Ship's excursions Suggestions -Bolt and Uber were convenient and cheap. We used them less than we should have, in retrospect. - We did all our own excursions except for a guided tour in Sintra (from Lisbon) through Tug-a-trips and a tuk-tuk tour in Malaga through Viator. We loved both tours as they were informative and skipped congestion. It is easy to book museums in Genoa, the boat to Chateau d'If and the fort itself in Marseille, and most other activities yourself and save a ton of cash even if you don't speak the language. - Our home phone plan didn't include any international minutes or data so we bought Orange traveler eSim plans with 8 GB of data and unlimited texts and calls for about 20E per phone. This plan gave us each a French phone number. It was useful when we got separated, needed to book tickets (can only book boat to Chateau d'If out of Marseille on day-of), or call an Uber. I don't watch videos but I was still shocked to see I used less than 1 GB in 14 days! I mostly used Chrome, Google Maps, and Uber. -We were allowed to bring non-alcoholic beverages on the ship which was good because the only place to get anything free other than water was the buffet (coffee, tea). My husband said the coffee was bad and drank tea instead throughout the trip instead of paying for the specialty coffee. In port, a can of soda at supermarkets was .75-.99E instead of 3.50E on the ship and we put a few at a time in the mini-fridge. So great when we'd come back to the room after a port day, sweaty and exhausted. -The phrases we used most in each of the 4 languages were please, thank you, and excuse me. -We ate gelato everywhere and it was good everywhere, even after I stopped looking for the highly rated ones. Ports -Alicante: elevator line for Santa Barbara Castle was interminable even though we got there early. Find another way up. -Mahon: Museum of Menorca was in a beautiful building and much more comprehesive than we anticipated -Olbia: Tiramisu bakery was a highlight for the kids, lots of different delicious treats and a feast for the eyes. -Genoa: Strada Nuova museums (we did all three) were amazing, but not for the kids. Big old palazzi filled with the great masters. The caruggi were fun and safe to stroll. -Marseille: Taking the boat over to the Chateau d'If and back takes almost the whole time, and that was with showing up early to the docks to book a time that wasn't too far away -Malaga: Glass and Crystal Museum was a highlight of the trip, but again, not for the kids. Picture a millionaire of a certain age with a priceless collection in a stunning home giving you a highly informative and at times humorous private tour. Loved the tapas at Las Merchanas, no English spoken. -Cadiz: the Camara Oscura at Torre Tavira is a can't miss. We went to the beach where the locals go, La Caleta, and my daughter found tiny perfectly formed whorled shells here. The Teatro Romano de Cadiz was also amazing and well-curated and free! -Lisbon: we missed most of this city's treasures due to 3 of 4of our flights being delayed or canceled. My kids loved the science museum (Pavilhão do Conhecimento- Ciência Viva), which is said to be one of the best in the world- so many hands-on exhibits and none broken. I spent a year planning this trip in great detail and I hope my review helps readers make up their minds, whichever way that is.