Splendida Oct. 3rd to Oct. 10th

[PoolHorse]

Cruise Review:


If you don't consider the 45-minute canal-tour of the Copenhagen Harbour a "cruise", then this was our first time experiencing this type of travel! We booked online, printed our tickets, pre-registered and were ready to cruise!


Saturday, October 3rd


We left from Nice, France at 10 o'clock and arrived in Genoa a couple of hours later. We spent the better part of an hour searching for the Ponte Dei Mille, frustrating - especially since the gigantic MSC Splendida was visible most of the time.


But eventually we arrived next to the Splendida - quite impressive sight that was - and immediately friendly staff attacked us from all sides. I chose to park with the Autosiloport SA facility and their service was great. Their representative approached me the moment I stepped out of my car and already knew my name. He drove in front of me to the parking house and drove me back to the ship after I paid the EUR 70,00 for the week.


The check-in was quick and efficient and within 15 minutes we were attacked by a photographer who wanted to take our picture and - probably - some of our money too. We travelled in a group of four. A friend, my partner and I and our 1 1/2 year son who is going through a stage where he is very intensive, hehe!


One of what seemed to be thousands of friendly, asian staff-members helped us finding our cabin. Around 20 square meters with plenty of room for two and just enough for the four of us. As we got bored of waiting for our luggage to arrive, we headed up to the Bora Bora Cafeteria for lunch. A large buffet with too many choices! We purchased a water package - 14 liters for 20 EUR - not too bad.


We also loaded up our account cards with 250,00 EUR per adult - and I wondered if it would be enough. We used the first chunk of the cash, ordering the Etna tour from Messina at EUR 47,00 per adult. At dinner we purchased the Classic wine package with 7 bottles of wine and 7 bottles of water for EUR 119,00.


We returned tired and found the room prepared for sleeping four people, cleaned up and with an information newspaper for the next day laying on the bed.


Marseille, October 4th


We opted for the buffet breakfast which was overwhelming and decided to purchase the transfer-bus tickets to the centre of Marseille at EUR 10,00 per adult. Initially I had planned walking into the centre - but what Google Earth doesn't tell you is that this would have included jumping a number of very high fences and walking on and across highways... So much for planning ahead :-)


After having walked from the urine soaked streets of the Vieux Port to the Notre Dame de La Garde and back down, we decided to head back to the Splendida and the lunch buffet. We decided to take part in the ships bingo and see the show - a Swiss ventriloquist - which was much better than the first days screaming loud american style song (90% playback) and dance performance.


Barcelona, October 5th


We arrived in Barcelona at 7 o'clock in darkness. After a quick breakfast we rushed off the ship to spend a full four hours in a city that probably deserves more like four weeks in order to explore everything.


We decided to skip the transfer bus - which costs EUR 6,00 and drops you off 1,5 kilometers from the ship - and took a taxi to the Sagrada Familia. At 17 EUR, we had already - 3 adults - saved one Euro on the day. That's 33 cents per person!!! The Sagrada church opens at 9 o'clock and we were first in line to see this incredible structure from the inside. I don't know what Gaudi was on - but I would like to try some!


Starting with the Sagrada Familia gave us the possibility of slowly taking in the rest of the sights on the 7-8 kilometre walk back to the Splendida, where we arrived at 13.00 with half an hour to spare.


A great day, but what a shame they only stop for seven hours in Barcelona.


We were a bit worried about the Gala Night. Since we were travelling four people by car - with baby gear and so on - we didn't have much room for tuxedos and high hats. We dressed in nice shirts and trousers and found that around half of the guests had the same solution, the rest were in formal dress and looked pretty sharp. There were very few people who didn't at least try to dress up a little...


The Gala Night dinner was a notch up on the "normal" dinners, and very tasty. I enjoyed a squid quiche, a spinach sort of tortellini, perfect lamb chops and cheese for desert. Obviously we enjoyed our third wine coupon this evening.


We timed the dinner for the third night in a row, and it seems they all clocked in at around 1 hour and 25 minutes. Just around the limit for a 1 1/2 year old baby.


La Goulette (Tunis), October 6th


I guess Tunis-day is meant to be the day where you can sleep long with different degrees of hangovers after the Gala Night. We ate breakfast around 8.30 and there was plenty of room!


We went for a small walkabout in La Goulette - the town next to the harbour. Pretty uneventful apart from the Tunisian cab-drivers that started a fistfight in front of us when we left the harbour. This was my first time in Africa - and I must say I like Europe a lot :-)


Malta, October 7th


Only Messina and Rome left after this... My next cruise shall definately be longer than 7 days - maybe I'll go around twice with the Splendida :-)


We once again skipped the excursions and headed for the bus terminal which is around a fifteen minute walk from the dock. We had printed out a Malta bus plan from home and were very pleasantly surprised to see dozens of fantastic old buses waiting to fill up. We took the 38 to Wirg al Zurieig and The Blue Grotto. A 1/2 hour ride off the beaten track with some amazing scenery on the way. At The Blue Grotto we did the mandatory sailing trip at EUR 7,00 per head in and out of the amazing caves on the Maltese south coast. A maltese cabbie convinced us to get a cab back to Valletta, where - 20 minutes and a similar amount of Euro's - we walked around for four whole hours...


Malta is fantastic - must come back!


Messina, October 8th


We decided to do the Etna excursion a long time before getting on the ship and had a hectic morning trying to get everything done by 7.45 - which was our scheduled meeting hour in the Aft Lounge. The excursion itself took 4 hours. Our guide rambled on about Sicily in a cute Italian accent and the Etna experience was okay without being mindblowing. Free lava everywhere, but a long line to the lava-tory :-)


After arriving back and participating in the busiest lunch buffet so far - everybody was back at the same time - we could now finally check our account balances on the interactive tv. MSC only let's you do this the last two days of your trip... I wonder why! Anyway, as it turned out, EUR 250,00 per adult was just enough - but we didn't drink barrels of alcohol I must add!


We thoroughly enjoyed the last Gala dinner and the show was the best of the six shows we had attended so far.


Civitavecchia (Rome), October 9th


We booked another excursion "Rome on your own" - basically a bus transfer to Rome at EUR 44,00. And we "roamed on our own" by foot and managed to see Forum Romana, Colosseum, The Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon and The Vatican... I guess I'll read something about these places when I get home! Things got pretty rushed to get everything packed into one day of walking... A full ten kilometres on this occasion – so we could enjoy the buffet without worries :-)


Genoa, October 10th


We woke up to clouds and noticed it had rained for the first time in a week – so we felt almost sorry for the people who would be taking over our cabin later that day! The embarkation procedure took around on and a half hours – a bit long. The Italian „comedian” who was supposed to help time glide by quicker, was just embarrasingly weak. Luckily we didn't have to listen to him for long and soon we left the Splendida - and what had been one of the great weeks of my life, for sure...




Comments on a few of the things that worried us before the trip:


Alcohol: the prices on the Splendida are not horrible, they are fair when you consider the luxurious surroundings and athmosphere...


Rude Europeans: the waiters were almost all asian and all very friendly. The Italian staff was also good. In fact, only twice did someone jump in front of me in the line to snatch more omelettes or beef patties... they were Americans. I think there are a**holes all over the world and I definately felt that most people on board the Splendida didn't fall into this category :-)


Smuggling: I admit I brought a bottle of whiskey onboard – to enjoy on the balcony. Apart from that I was so pleased with MSC that I would have felt bad taking more stuff onboard...


Will I cruise again? Definately!

Will it be on MSC? Why not - to me MSC represents great value for money, and that's right up my street!

[Isa22]

Hello PoolHorse, very interesting and helpful report. We will be on Splendida from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31. We have very similar plans (except Tunis, where we will take a train to Carthage or Tunis). Can you tell something more about Etna cruise excursion. We are considering going on this excursion, but we are not sure if you can see enough in such a short time. So we still haven't decide if we will have a day off and stay on the ship or go to the excursion.

[hat776]

I'm glad you enjoyed Malta. Most people are surprised that such a small island had so much to see and do.
If you go to www.visitmalta.com there is a webcam that shows the Grand Harbour. There are various views. You can see the Splendida sailing in and out and berthed near the bastions.
I enjoyed your review - we are going on the last cruise before it repositions to Genoa.

[AmoMondo]

I really enjoyed reading your review and your style of humour

The Sagrada church opens at 9 o'clock and we were first in line to see this incredible structure from the inside. I don't know what Gaudi was on - but I would like to try some!

I know what you mean - it is something else and so is his Parc Guell if you ever make it back to barcelona. As for what he was on - that may explain how he ended his days run over by a tram!

[buggins0402]

What a fun review to read - you can tell you enjoyed yourself. Found myself smiling the whole time I read it - wonderfully lighthearted! Thanks for sharing.

[hat776]

Regarding Gaudi - on our last visit to Barcelona our guide said that Gaudi used up all his money on the Sagrada and ended life as a pauper.
During his life he was considered 'strange', now there is a Gaudi association promoting and striving to finish his work !
Many firms have schemes whereby a small amount is taken from salaries towards this association.

[PoolHorse]

Well, I am glad you weren't bored by the review - I sure did enjoy writing it on the balcony of the Splendida every evening... I have to get back there :-)

Isa22:

I was thinking about the bus or train to Carthage in Tunesia as well, but when we arrived we decided to keep the day's activities to a quick walk in La Goulette. And that place is probably not one of Tunesia's gems :-)

As a matter of fact I remember a cab-driver offered to take us to Carthage for EUR 10,00 - that might be a more comfortable alternative than buses and trains!

As far as the Etna-excursion goes, it went like this:

We met in the Aft Lounge at 08.15 and drove off to Mount Etna - around 80 kilometres. During the ride, our guide talked in English and Spanish about Sicily and Etna. Most of it was even interesting!

We had one hour to ourselves on Etna. Enough to see most of the nearby Silvestre Craters and do a bit of souvenir shopping. Alternatively the lava is free :-)

We arrived back at the Splendida at 12.45 and could have walked around Messina for half an hour, had we wanted to.

Not the most action-packed excursion, I guess. But I thought the amazing views of the Volcano and the lava etc. was well worth the EUR 47,00!

PS! If you do go, don't sit in the back of the bus! Our little boy got motion-sickness and threw up all over the seats - there might still be a strange smell in the back of the bus

Regards,

Michael


PPS! We talked to some of the Swedish passengers on board who did the city-tour of Messina. Basically the bus drove around Messina for 45 minutes and stopped next to the cathedral which is pretty much situated in the shadow of the Splendida... Obviously they decided to abandon the "excursion" and walk the 50 metres back to the ship :-)

[HARRIST3C1]

Originally Posted by PoolHorse

Cruise Review:



The check-in was quick and efficient and within 15 minutes we were attacked by a photographer who wanted to take our picture and - probably - some of our money too. We travelled in a group of four. A friend, my partner and I and our 1 1/2 year son who is going through a stage where he is very intensive, hehe!


One of what seemed to be thousands of friendly, asian staff-members helped us finding our cabin. Around 20 square meters with plenty of room for two and just enough for the four of us. As we got bored of waiting for our luggage to arrive, we headed up to the Bora Bora Cafeteria for lunch. A large buffet with too many choices! We purchased a water package - 14 liters for 20 EUR - not too bad.



Will it be on MSC? Why not - to me MSC represents great value for money, and that's right up my street!

Hello, I also have 4 in my party and I was wondering what was the sleeping arrangement like. There will be me myself, my hubby and 2 boys (8&9)

[PoolHorse]

You'll be fine. The double bed is very nice - i think 180 cm's wide. The fold-out sofabed is probably 160 cm's wide and will sleep your 2 boys easily!

[HARRIST3C1]

Originally Posted by PoolHorse

You'll be fine. The double bed is very nice - i think 180 cm's wide. The fold-out sofabed is probably 160 cm's wide and will sleep your 2 boys easily!

Thank you for the response.