msc musica for christmas 2007 with teenagers

hi, my family are booked on the musica for christmas, we have a girl of 17 and a boy of 13 what are the facilities like for them. anyone else cruising then?

Also any tips on alternative shore excursions to cairo. my mother is disabled and we need to make our own arrangements.

thansk julie

Hi Juliette,

We are on that cruise. Was looking forward to visiting Libya for the first time and visiting the ruins at Leptis Magna, but that looks out now:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2266

We are going into Cairo for the day on the high speed train.

Thanks for the link re libya, we are the same, looking forward to seeing Libya, I wonder if it will be sorted by the time we get there? We went on a christmas cruise with RC and were supposed to see Jamaica but we didn't dock as it was a sunday and the line had decided it was too dangerous to hand out in Jamaica when nothing was open?!

I read a few tips, we have arrnged a private trip to cairo but the fast train to cairo sounds great. do you have kids?

We were docked in Libya on a cruise about 2 years ago & all the Americans were not allowed to go off the ship. We booked an excursion & they called our names and we had to go to the authorities...well in short all the Americans missed the planed excursion. Later we tried to go off the ship with a friend who had a EU passport, for him it was not a problem but they explicity stated that Americans are not "really their friends" & would not let us go off. Showing a diplomatic passport almost helped as one of the guys was willing to show us the town on his break, but the man in charge told him that even though we are diplomats it would be his responsability if something happened & reminded him that we were American. We ended up getting 2 pins from the guy who wanted to escort us ashore to have a memory of Libya but unfortunately could not step foot on their soil.

I believe I also just say a warning recently to this regard on one of the cruise sites.

Do you have kids?

No, that's why we can afford to go cruising ;)

I don't think there's any chance of us going to Libya now, but they could change their minds again just as quick.

I emailed MSC two weeks ago to ask what was happening and they still haven't come back to me.

We sail three weeks today!

Thanks for the link re libya, we are the same, looking forward to seeing Libya, I wonder if it will be sorted by the time we get there? We went on a christmas cruise with RC and were supposed to see Jamaica but we didn't dock as it was a sunday and the line had decided it was too dangerous to hand out in Jamaica when nothing was open?!

 

I read a few tips, we have arrnged a private trip to cairo but the fast train to cairo sounds great. do you have kids?

Hi, we are on same cruise, glad to hear there will be some uk cruisers. I have two boys aged 17 and 11 who are cruising with us. Not cruised MSC before so like you not sure what to expect. Usually do RCI but never cruised at Christmas before.:)

Don't panic!

We have been on dozens of cruises, and we returned.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with MSC.

Did you see the photos of Musica? She looks great.

What's not to like? I'll tell you - the polyglot Cruise Director and his 5-language announcements and running commentary.

Hi, We're on this voyage with two older children as well

(son 11 and daughter 22).

My son tells me that he wants the freedom

to roam around the ship by himself when he feels like it.

(He is somewhat restricted from roaming freely in our neighbourhood as we are on a posting in West Africa.)

I think it will be safe for him to hang out like this on the ship. Any opinions?

I've cruised on the Musica last year at New Years and many times with my now 12 year old daughter & truthfully she often goes off to activities or the kids programs on her own & joins us at or prior to meal time. Two years ago we even started giving her curfews on what time she had to be back in the cabin & she went off with friends that she met on the ship for a drink (using the convenient drink passes for children on the Musica & other ships) or an activity in the evening. It was a great feeling for her to feel free and a great test if she can keep her word and time to be back or to meet us. It worked wonders. I do note however that I would not let her 'free' like this at a resort or other vacation environment; the ship is confined and there are so many hidden cameras on board that I have no objections.

Oh, I do remember that the first time (for my security sake) I brought some walkie-talkies on board to be able to reach her if I felt uncomfortable or uneasy, we used them for 2 days & then I was OK with the concept.

But you never know, I now simply go with the flow, there are times that she wants to be off alone & other time that she needs "mom-time".

I'm sure your son will have a blast & it will give you some free time to enjoy your vacation.

Regards & have a great vacation on the Musica!

Barbara

Hi, thank goodness other kids!!!! I was very worried we would be entertaining our kids ourselves! Are you getting the ba flight from heathrow to nice? jule

Hi, got details about going to Tunis instead of Libya, what a shame.never mind we will all have lovely time! here's hoping. julie

Hi, thank goodness other kids!!!! I was very worried we would be entertaining our kids ourselves! Are you getting the ba flight from heathrow to nice? jule

The coach journey Nice to Genoa goes all along the coast of France & into Italy, passing many well known resorts, so keep your camera/camcorder handy. We are on the Heathrow-Milan flight, just boring Motorway, but hopefully we will beat you there to grab the best deckchairs.