Lirica Review from 3/20/2005

This was our first experience with MSC and from all the boards we read, we weren't sure what to expect and decided to just have an open mind. We have sailed with Carnival, RCCL, and Celebrity.

The ship was beautiful, the people very friendly and helpful, the entertainment was great, especially the animation team.

We had a suite with a balcony and it was beautiful and spacious. The vanity chair was a nuisance but nothing we couldn't work with.

We were always able to find something on the menu to eat and had no complaints at all.

Eleven days went all too fast and we were sorry to have to leave. We would definitley sail MSC again.

Thanks for this. I am sailing her in May and am always pleased to see positive comments about the ship and more particularly, her crew.

I will be on the Lirica on 2 May. Have cruised :confused: many times but not sure what to expect on this cruise.

I am a Senior traveling alone. Would be interested in hearing from others on this transatlantic crossing.

Hello, My husband & I are also on this Trans Atlantic cruise. You will find about a dozen or so fellow travellers on the thread called Liric Trans Atlantic. Hopefully we can arrange to all meet up.

We were on the Opera last October and although there are some minor inconsistancies in some areas the cruise overall was very good value for money. The ship is really beautiful and very comfortable and there was virtually no feeling of movement. I am hoping that the Lirica will be similar.

Irene & Roger

Hi, Sailed on the lirica 3/20/2005 and feel the same as you. My husband and have cruised many times before, but this cruise was one of our most enjoyable cruises, including the food. We also had a great balcony Cabin, loved the animation Team and everything else. Next cruise will be msc again.

Ortrud

Ortrud, I looked for you all in the library first day out.. couldn't do 10am because of the drill... but DH and I went right after and asked around... no luck...

Here are some of my thoughts...

The jazz was great... we really got to know Michele Anastasio and Maria Muldaur. It's really too bad that they were mostly in the Lirica Lounge and attendance was very sparse..

Food was mostly good... did not like the red pasta's as they tasted like Chef Boy AR DEE to me... but the risottos were excellent and each dessert we had was FAB!

The ice cream man Salvatore (an older man) was the rudest cruise employee I have ever met.... I watched him after he was really rude to me and he was to other non-Italian women on a whole.... strange!

The bar tenders in the Beverley Hiil were great we sat at the bar and had a drink each night. We bought the wine package for dinner and it was great... each bottle was good. The drinks are about half the price as other cruise lines.

Our waiter were Angelo and his helper. Guiseppe... Guiseppe was very young and the only thing he seemed to do was to carry trays. He never remembered coffee or pepper or cheese unless we asked. The maitre'd didn't do anything nor did he ever introduce himeself. Luckily I never needed him. Angelo was good, great personality though the other women at our table thought he was arrogant... I just thought he was Italian....

The music on the ship was very good. I didn't attend any of the show as I was in the Lirica Lounge every night listening to the jazz... but everyone said they were good. The dance floors seemed to be full most of the time. I never went to the disco.

The ship is beautiful. Smoking was a problem, but it was mostly a couple of German women. There was a women sitting in the stairwell each night with an ashtray smoking when I came up to bed. Must be she didn't like the smell of smoke in her room.

It was very interesting meeting the other passengers and talking to them. It was quite a diverse group.

On a 1-10 scale, I would give this a 7.5. Lots of things I really liked and there were some items that were missing and if the attention to detail was adjusted it could easily be a 9.5! Would I do it again... yes and plan to next year when they have the jazz cruise!

Hello PQ, as you said we could'nt make the 10:00 meeting. took our lifejackets back to our cabin, Rossini deck, and then went looking for the library, took us some time and must have missed you, sorry. Just want to say we found everything great. We called room-service for breakfast several times, everything arrived in 10 minutes. Our waiter Chccio was excellent, spoke very good english, if I ordered steak medium, it was.

Our cabin steward Sudi also spoke good english and was very helpful and pleasant.

his assistant a girl Marieta brought ice every afternoon so we could have coctails on the balcony. I can't think of one person that was really rude, if you smile and kid around with the crew they respond same way.

Next year MSC for sure!!! Who knows PQ maybe some day we will meet.

we have just returned from a 7-night cruise on mcs lirica. it was our first cruise. we embarked in genua italy- surprisingly at all ports of call throughout the whole trip people disembarked and new guests appeared. my questions to all cruise buff is if this is standard procedure. our overall impression is that lirica is overpriced and that you don't get good value for your money. The italian staff members only care bout their fellow italians and get assigned the best cabins.

the service in the restaurants shows similar behaviour. we had to move to

different tables where balinese service team members immediately took notice of us. apparently there seems to be no dress code so that even in the restaurants

people were allowed to eat with still wet bathing clothes. the musty smell and the imprints on the restaurant chairs and sofas speak for themselves.

one more point of complaint is that prices vary a lot. we met people who paid

twice as many euros for a worse cabin. a lot of people got real bargains and got the trip for 699 euros. this mixed calculation is a sure sign of msc`'s efforts

to have the ship fully booked. this results in a more or less not in all respects desirable clientel..

some travel agents so i have learned recently no longer offer msc cruises because of plentiful amounts of serious complaints.

so for us it is clear: never again msc

Henceforth, I shall be known as "nitnyleonardo".

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