Overall a good experience

MSC PREZIOSA Embarkation: 18thMay in Hamburg Disembarkation: 29th May in Hamburg. Visiting: Invergordon: Reykjavik: Isafjordur: Akureyri: Kirkwall: Hamburg, Germany This was our 4th Cruise since October with MCS and by far the best from embarkation to disembarkation. On arrival in Hamburg airport on the 18th May we noticed that MSC had a Customer desk at the airport and we were able to book a MSC Shuttle bus to the port at a cost of €26. This was an excellent service as a Taxi would have cost €50 approx. Arrived at the terminal and embarked on the ship without a problem. Dining room: Golden Lobster seating 18:00 Table 642 Our waiter introduced himself as Willie from Indonesia. The service and choice of food was excellent at this restaurant and the waiter was friendly and enjoyed a joke and we never an empty wine glass. Trips: Invergordon: We went on a trip to Lough Ness. We didn’t see the monster but the weather was beautiful. I found the Visitor /shopping area in the area a little expensive, but enjoyed the whole experience. Free Shuttle buses are available at Invergordon Reykjavik: Geothermal Field & Viking history. We witness boiling mud a deserted town due to volcanic activity this trip is well worth the effort. Day 2 in Reykjavik we went on the free shuttle bus into the City and had a very enjoyable day taken in the sights. The City itself as is Iceland is a very expensive place Akureyri: We got to take in a Fishing Village and an old church where we were treated to music played on an organ by a local girl. Afterwards we were given a display of how Fishermen survived in the harsh sea which surrounds Iceland. An enjoyable experience but not good value. It is possible to walk into the town of Akureyri Kirkwall: The day trip here was to take in Stone circles, Viking castle. I felt the whole trip was rushed as the ship was late docking due to high winds and we lost over a half hour. The buses had to return as afternoon trips were planned. I was disappointed with the whole experience. A Free Shuttle bus is available in to Orkney. I have to recommend this free Shuttle bus as Orkney has a lot to offer with one beautiful Cathedral free to visit. Hamburg: We took a Taxi to our hotel which cost €38 when a train tick on the C line would have cost €3.80 approx. Hamburg was a learning experience but an absolutely beautiful City to visit. We booked 2 nights but I should have booked 3 or more as this City has plenty to offer. Travellers should be aware: The Icelandic Government has introduced a Tourist Tax (2025) which I believe is excessive and over the top. We had to pay a total of €68 each before entering. A Country that depend on Tourism this is one way of keeping them out. Overall a very pleasant experience on board the MSC Preziosa and great credit due to all the staff on this ship.

FREE DRINKS GALORE

You will already know, that MSC has some mixed reviews. Largely down to people not understanding: at their cheapest fare, they are a budget cruiseline. With service and food to match. However, at their highest level. Like Yacht Club and Explorer journeys, they are difficult to beat. As a Diamond member of the msc voyager club, I thought it was very generous of msc to give us pretty much all our benefits and perks for a 2 day cruise. Embarkation was incredibly smooth. After security, there was about 100 people in front of us. When I told the staff we were Diamond, they put us in a line of our own in front of the 100 people. It must have been 15 minutes from arriving to getting on the ship. To my amazement, even though our rooms were not ready, they told us we could drop our luggage in our room anyway. We'd already left our luggage at drop off. We were then free to roam the ship and eat etc. We had 3 cases together, but they managed to mislay mine till about 5.30pm. We got one bottle of Prosecco for being Diamond and one for being Aurea. We won an upgraded bid, which was £400 cheaper than if we had booked Aurea. With upgrade biding, you only pay for the first 2 people in the room. But we had 3 people, including my 17 year old Son. We also got 2 large bottles of water. Initially my wife thought there weren't many options in the buffet. But as I went around the whole buffet, I saw more options. There was plenty of seats, despite being advertised as a full ship. Pizza was great as usual, but didn't see any meat options like pepperoni. The exclusive Aurea solarium was great. But the weather wasn't. I never expected a welcome back party with the captain on a 2 day cruise. But was pleasantly surprised - more free drinks. If we had booked a basic inside cabin, our freebies would've exceeded the cost of our cruise. All three of us enjoyed the butchers cut Speciality restaurant for free. Due to my wife and I both being Diamond members. Each Diamond member can bring 1 non Diamond member guest from the same cabin. I forgot that free water was only available at the main dining room. So i had to pay for my water at the butchers cut. I had free water for being Diamond in my cabin. I should've taken it to the butchers cut. Don't get caught out like me. It was the best steak I have tasted. My wife's medium well done, was more like medium rare. The waiter spotted it and asked my wife 4 times if she wanted to change it. She eventually did. Free birthday cake and song, was well received. Some staff, despite wearing msc uniform are actually agency sales staff for the spa company or jewellers. They didn't know anything outside their job role. Guest Services or room steward are probably the best people to ask questions. This time, everytime I went to guest services, there was no queue. Apart from the final day, when it was very short and quick. MSC still haven't figured out how to apply the 10% minibar discount for voyager club members. This happened at the end of my last cruise and wasn't really sorted. This time I was prepared. I queried It as soon as the final bill was made available. I was completely shocked when they just cancelled my whole minibar bill rather than apply the discount - more free drinks. Most people don't notice this, because they avoid the minibar like the plague. However, minibar prices are the same as bar prices on msc. So there is no harm in using it if you're going to buy drinks anyway. It in fact cheaper than the bars, with the 10% voyager club discount. The entertainment was the usual song and dance circus style acrobatics. This Is probably best when you're dealing with multipe languages and cultures. They seemed to have done away the sports court. Not sure why that is. There is plenty of other stuff to do though. Loved the mini water park and 4D cinema. Cabin was large and very spacious. Dont understand why msc have these fabulous sofa beds, that are never displayed as Sofa's. Ours was set out as a bed for the whole cruise. However, this could have been because my teen stayed in bed until after the room stewards morning shift. Thoroughly enjoyable weekend. We couldn't finish the second bottle of Prosecco.

Return to a Heritage Homeland

This was a cruise that we have looked forward to for over a year. We had booked two connecting Fantastica Experience staterooms with included WiFi and the Easy Plus package. DSIL was coming along for her first trip to Europe so that made it special. We flew into Hamburg via Copenhagen with an open-jaw for our return flight so that we could include a visit to Copenhagen. We chose the Hotel Furst Bismark hotel directly across from the Hauptbahnhof to make travel simple from the airport. The Hauptbahnhof also had the cab rank which was handy for our embarkation day. The area also had a number of restaurants so it was a great location. The Hotel Association had a promotion which provided a two-day pass for public transportation. In our travels around Hamburg using the passes we boarded the Linie 62 ferry one day and saw the MSC Fantasia docked at Steinwerder Terminal before it's cruise that week. Embarkation day was nice and sunny. Our check-in time at Steinwerder Cruise Terminal was 1:00 pm so we left the hotel at 11:00 am. After a 25-minute cab ride, we checked our bags and proceded to wait for our time. Around 12:45, they started to allow us to check-in. It was very smooth and we were aboard in less than 1/2 hour. We dropped our carry-ons in our staterooms (which were still being prepared) and proceded to the Buffet for some lunch. This was our second time on a Fantasia-class MSC ship. Last year we were aboard the MSC Splendida in Yacht Club for a cruise in the Mediterranean, Our MDR was for First Seating (6:00 pm) in the L'Arabesque Dining Room. We had a table for three which was convenient as we are only English spealking. Food on a whole was very good with the deserts being excellent. Portions were the correct size for me but sometimes I did order a second appetizer. We had dinner there 9 of 10 nights only going to the buffet for dinner the evening we sailed away from Ringaskiddy. Breakfast was available in The Golden Lobster Dining Room which we did twice. Our other breakfasts were in the buffet along with lunch on our At Sea days. I needed to have my pizza fix when I could! Very good pizza! It was a full ship with the comments of between 3400 to 4000 passengers. Yet it never felt crammed at all! The shows were entertaining and lasted about 45 minutes. They were very well attended and rousing at times with the music! The emcee was very good with her command of the various languages with the need to make the announcements in six languages. The repetition never bothered us at all. For the six port calls we had booked the MSC excursions which we think are a very good value. Highlights were Kirkwall and Stornoway with a low for Dublin and Greenock. Weather was wet for Scotland but sunny for Ireland and sea days. We did have extended wait time for tendering, especially Stornoway, as the anchorages were some distance away. All of the MSC excursions were given priority before passengers that were on their own and private excursions. Very fair considering the circumstances. Disembarkation on our return went extremely quick. There were plentiful cabs in the cab rank so no waiting. Our train to Copenhagen wasn't until 12:53 pm so we sat in one of the lounges until approximately 9:00 am. When we left we were in a cab heading for the Hauptbahnhof in less than ten minutes. A word about the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, there aren't many places to sit to wait for your train. Overall I would recommend the MSC Preziosa as we had a very good time. It was very reasonable priced and fully met our expectations. Our enjoyment was confirmed as we booked two more cruises for Fall 2024 while onboard!

good organisation, divine scones, lovely cruise employees

After many negative reviews I was so surprised, that MSC has devinitly levelled up! The Organisation of the cruise and the excursions was perfectly made, all passengers received a compensation of 50 euro after landing late in one of the harbours. The Opera Singers and the short version of "La Traviata" was excellent! I had expected high level parties, but received a wunderful journey with a lot of variety. The pizzas and the pasts were soooo good and the afternoon tea scones made in heaven. All employees were extremley friendly, tried to recognize names and cabin numbers. Only the space in the dining restaurant was too narrow and sitting together with other people of my country was disappointing, but negligable. The food there was good, but not outstanding. Me and my husband preferred to eat in the Maya Restaurant, which is open from 6am to 2 am, with wonderful views. On sea days with bad wheather I was glad to have a balcony cabin, wich was quite spacy. It would have been hard to find a place with nice views.