Most grateful for Advice re MSC Armonia

Hello need honest advice!!

We have booked above ship as only ship departing Havana in January 2018 apart from carnival, booked for itinerary

Previously cruised P&O,Princess,Disney,Celebrity & Holland America have enjoyed all some better than others,we go away to enjoy ourselves and not to find fault at every opportunity. Although read reviews re this ship I'm definitely seeing more very negative reviews than positive! So seriously thinking of cancelling the cruise and staying in hotel after 3 nights in Havana.

Please please can someone give me honest advice regards this ship?

I'm not expecting Celebrity, but we really don't want absolutely awful.

Thanks Julie Roodnat

We sailed the first cruise after it was cut in half and a centre extension was added.

It was the worst cruise ship we had ever been on period and were glad to get off. We had sailed the opera before and even though an older ship we had enjoyed it.

In my opinion the armonia is a million miles from being a celebrity class ship.

Saying that, the new ship the meraviglia does look a class act and we have booked this for later on in the year.

The armonia was meant to be the first of 4 ships to be cut in half and have a centre extension( whether they did all 4 ships I'm not sure)

Bill

Wow thank you for your comments! But anything you did like Food? Service? Cruise.co.uk tell me they are on par with P&O and I didn't mind them, like I say I'm not expecting Celebrity as we are paying a fraction! Only chosen like I say as sailing from Havana only others ships are Carnival and I'm told they are a definite no!

Thanks again

Julie

We haven't sailed P and O but sailed on Princess....we thought the food and service on there was exceptional.

On the Armonia food was ok but then it was a 6 course dinner....MSc have now cut the menu to 3 courses.... Starter ....main ....desert...

Savvy cruisers stick to the old format..starter...soup...salad...pasta....main and desert...newbies tend to have just the 3 courses as they don't know any better.

we didn't think much of the entertainment either.

Keep reading the reviews......they give you a good indication...... Some people who have a gripe against a cruise line may gave a more negative review than maybe it needed...but read between the lines on both negative and positive reviews and I'm sure you will make the right decision.....after all it seems some cruise line prices are flying up at the moment...it ain't getting any cheaper but there are bargains to be had all the same.....for us , its the newer bigger ships all the way now.

Happy cruiseing Bill

Thank you! We are just saying it's only Seven nights! Some people just love to complain! Although I do think this for us will be hitting rock bottom! Maybe never again with MSC but we have booked to stay in Havana so it cruise or find hotel! Will probably go, we did hear people comparing on Celebrity eclipse impeccable service food etc

Really apriciate you taking the time to give me your input

Regards

julie

No probs Julie

And like you say its only a week

And its not everyday you can get a chance to visit Cuba....

And with you know who ....who's in charge of the USA it may not last for ever.

Bill

Me and my DH sailed the MSC Armonia after the lengthening and refurbishment back in 2014 and absolutely loved it. The atmosphere onboard is wonderful and the decor is more classic than todays built ships. The food ranged from good to very good and the service was friendly. Note that the cabins are quite small including the balcony cabins. If you prefer a larger cabin go for the Aurea Suites. A lot of nice bars and lounges onboard and the pooldeck is large with plenty of space. If you go for the Aurea you will have access to a Aurea Sundeck. We have sailed all the class of ships in the MSC fleet and the Armonia was great. Big is not always best. Here is my video from the ship. Enjoy :)

[YOUTUBE]6FiFvS9rhUk[/YOUTUBE]

Have sailed lots of msc cruises. Armonia...... Well we sailed on her June 2017 NEVER AGAIN!!! Too crowded, compared to Lirica and opera, appalling service, main dining was a joke, booking for the shows was yet another joke, miserable staff...... We were Aurea so thank god for private sun deck - was a must! If this had been our first msc cruise we would never have sailed MSC again, as it was we put it down to experience, were thankful every day was a port day and noted never to go on the Armonia again. We are not moany people, we do take everything in our stride but there were too many issues on the ship for us to want to sail on her again, such a shame. Positive... Spa staff were really good!!

Hi Julie

Sailed on the Armonia last July for my 30th birthday. She's not the best ship in the fleet, there's no getting away from the fact her design is dated - she lacks the wow factor, but we still had a perfectly good cruise round the med on her.

As we had a suite we were given 'freedom' type dining and always had a table for two. I'd sailed on Lirica before the stretch and Armonia after; you cannot really tell where the new section has been added on the inside.

In my opinion food was perfectly fine and the usual standard we expect from MSC.

We've never had an issue with service on any of the MSC ships and find that treating the crew like equals goes a long way; in fact a great deal of the crew know us whichever ship we go on.

Tim

hopefully you can help me with my question, I will be on the armonia this august 2017 arriving into port on august 26th at 9;00am at genoa port, my flight is at 12;20, will I make it, does the ship arrive earlier?, and how long was custom clearance?

this is my first MSC cruise, have done Royal Carribean and usually on the return we always seem to be into port earlier? so can you tell me your experience disembarking

Me and my DH sailed the MSC Armonia after the lengthening and refurbishment back in 2014 and absolutely loved it. The atmosphere onboard is wonderful and the decor is more classic than todays built ships. The food ranged from good to very good and the service was friendly. Note that the cabins are quite small including the balcony cabins. If you prefer a larger cabin go for the Aurea Suites. A lot of nice bars and lounges onboard and the pooldeck is large with plenty of space. If you go for the Aurea you will have access to a Aurea Sundeck. We have sailed all the class of ships in the MSC fleet and the Armonia was great. Big is not always best. Here is my video from the ship. Enjoy :)

 

6FiFvS9rhUk

hopefully you can help me with my question, I will be on the armonia this august 2017 arriving into port on august 26th at 9;00am at genoa port, my flight is at 12;20, will I make it, does the ship arrive earlier?, and how long was custom clearance?

 

this is my first MSC cruise, have done Royal Carribean and usually on the return we always seem to be into port earlier? so can you tell me your experience disembarking

Usually the ship arrives earlier than stated in the itinerary. The Genova International Airport is only a 15-20 minutes drive from the Cruise Terminal so you should have no problem making a flight at 1220 as long as the ship is not delayed due to weather problems etc, which is unlikely in August. Plenty of taxies available outside the cruiseterminal. As I have only disembarked from the MSC Yacht Club on much larger MSC Ships in Genova I can't tell you about custom clearance. Sign up for early disembarkation once onboard and have a great cruise:)

good day,,,,i'v been or Carnival cruise lines and mostly on Royal Carribean, this will be my first MSC which I will be on august 19th sailing out of Genoa, I can be honest and give you my opinion upon my return,,, my email is below if your interested contact me

nickie2000_2001@yahoo.com

Hello need honest advice!!

We have booked above ship as only ship departing Havana in January 2018 apart from carnival, booked for itinerary

Previously cruised P&O,Princess,Disney,Celebrity & Holland America have enjoyed all some better than others,we go away to enjoy ourselves and not to find fault at every opportunity. Although read reviews re this ship I'm definitely seeing more very negative reviews than positive! So seriously thinking of cancelling the cruise and staying in hotel after 3 nights in Havana.

Please please can someone give me honest advice regards this ship?

I'm not expecting Celebrity, but we really don't want absolutely awful.

 

Thanks Julie Roodnat

hopefully you can help me with my question, I will be on the armonia this august 2017 arriving into port on august 26th at 9;00am at genoa port, my flight is at 12;20, will I make it, does the ship arrive earlier?, and how long was custom clearance?

 

this is my first MSC cruise, have done Royal Carribean and usually on the return we always seem to be into port earlier? so can you tell me your experience disembarking

As people embark / disembark at most ports the time scheduled for arrival is usually the arrival time. Tell guest services you want to be in the first group to get off. There will be people getting off for shore excursions and visiting Genoa too. They have a separate door and route through Genoa port for disembarking. If you are in first group your luggage will definitely be there when you are let off, otherwise they will still be offloading and sorting luggage for other colour labels. Straight out of port into a taxi flight should be absolutely fine. It's only 15 minutes from port to the airport and Genoa is great for having lines of taxis outside. Genoa airport is only very small, it is not a huge busy airport. There is a shop and a cafe airside.

Hello need honest advice!!

We have booked above ship as only ship departing Havana in January 2018 apart from carnival, booked for itinerary

Previously cruised P&O,Princess,Disney,Celebrity & Holland America have enjoyed all some better than others,we go away to enjoy ourselves and not to find fault at every opportunity. Although read reviews re this ship I'm definitely seeing more very negative reviews than positive! So seriously thinking of cancelling the cruise and staying in hotel after 3 nights in Havana.

Please please can someone give me honest advice regards this ship?

I'm not expecting Celebrity, but we really don't want absolutely awful.

 

Thanks Julie Roodnat

Hi, as we are doing same cruise in November 18 but B2B giving us 3 days in Havana on ship I'd be very interested in hearing how embark/debark goes.

Our itinerary has us arriving at 1330 the day we debark, so flights back home may be a little tricky!!

Any feedback here would be gratefully accepted...

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Forums mobile app