AnnMR

https://beyondcruise.com/guides/everything-msc-magnifica-part-5

There’s no limit to how many drinks you can order. Excluded items have * (available with deluxe package) or ** (not included in any package)

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If they’re fully booked then your cabin won’t be empty between Genoa and Barcelona, it will have someone getting off in the morning you embark.

I’m on a cruise in July starting from Southampton, but people will have got on at Le Havre the day before.

Having multi embarkations should make it less hassle with not having to empty the whole ship and reload all in one day.

I’ve heard with the Southampton start that I should be able to get on from midday even though my boarding time is late afternoon on my etickets.

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There’s an FB group where you can get answers to specific MSC Magnifica queries.

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I’ve not experienced YC, but travelled with son who’s coeliac. They only guarantee special diets in the MDR (rather than buffet), but my son had his own dedicated waiter who brought him his GF menu in the MDR each day or advised him which items from the main menu were GF with minor modifications (eg missing out a sauce).

In the buffet they won’t tell you the ingredients of anything , just referring us to MDR - probably because risk of contamination.

For obvious things like fries and fruit or plain slices of meat we risked it (son doesn’t have serious reactions to gluten)

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https://m.msccruises.co.uk/en-gb/Mobile/Manage-Your-Booking/Before-Departure.aspx

Ticket will show earliest time. Last time is 2 hours before departure.

When are you sailing?

I’m going on the 9th July with my son.

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Not spent, that should say.

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If you’re on drinks package the child’s card allows them to get soft drinks and gelato, but they couldn’t buy Lego/sweets in the shops.

If not on drinks package the child’s card lets them enter cabin, but not purchase anything.

Teen cards are like a prepaid card they can use on anything not age restricted, but you have to use it all. Anything I spent at end of cruise would be lost.

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Laundry was ironed and if I remember right (last cruised a few years ago) it came back either folded or left hanging in the wardrobe.

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Well I hope it's not so short as to be disappointing as it's the cruise I'll be on this time next week.

I think of cruising as just giving a taster of places, so don't think it'll bother me too much. I travel with my 13 year old son and those times on port are probably the limit of his interest in being touristy.

The only thing I envied yacht club for was the priority queue to get back on board quickly, but that's partly a disadvantage of doing MSC excursions. Everyone arrives back at the same time with massive queues.

But I didn't like having sections that were off limits, made Splendida look small even though it's huge overall.

I did like that about the Armonia, that you could wander around at the back on several different levels.

Think on Splendida it was cordoned off for yacht club or balconies.

I think if you preorder you get benefits in terms of the service tax not being added to the drinks packages and it will still count as 'onboard' for points as long as you don't actually pay in advance, but settle up at the end of the cruise.

Mmm infinite ice cream as my son refers to it.

Italian icecream and sorbets available in a range of flavours served in cones or tubs from the Gellateria. Can't remember when it opened but it was still available for an ice cream milkshake that my son liked to finish off the day after dinner at the early MDR sitting.

Interesting on pronunciation. I was on this ship for my first cruise and thought of it as Ah-moan-ia

She's smaller than other MSC boats (although recently stretched!) not as sparkly but we felt right at home.

Excellent preparation for my next cruise in less than a month.

Bring it on.

Glad you enjoyed your trip with no mishaps this time. Look forward to another of your great reviews while I count down the 5 weeks to my next cruise.

Some people like to arrange their own tours, but there's certainly plenty of people who book the MSC excursions.

If I'm in a port where the town isn't far I tend to wander around on my own, but I book excursions to places further afield, or where I think a guide would be useful.

I've done one of the Tunis excursions and really enjoyed it.

I've also done the Sorrento excursion, and you didn't have to stay with the tour guide once you got there, just make sure you knew how to get back to the pick up point and when. On that occasion we had table mates who organised their own jet boat trip to Sorrento, but they missed the intended boat and the next one wouldn't have given them enough time to see things, so they ended up missing out entirely.

One thing to take into account is that English speakers are in the minority on MSC ships, and they may cancel an excursion if there aren't enough English speakers to make it worthwhile. We had this happen to us when our original plan to see Vesuvius was affected. We were given the option of going on the tour with German guide and not having English translations, switching to another tour (which is when we went to Sorrento) or getting a refund.

If there really is a risk that booking Bella meant you weren't guaranteed access to the MDR then they'll have to make that obvious it's not an option for people on restricted diet (like my coeliac son needing gluten free), as it's only in the MDR that they're geared up for it.

Hoping this is just confused/misinformed MSC staff.

I booked a cruise via TA and was initially told flight details weren't available, but I pestered them and got details a day or two later. Mine are direct flights from Gatwick to Venice at slightly more antisocial times than I would have chosen if I'd been paying for them separately, but at least if there should be a flight delay they'd hold the cruise.

I've not been on MSC since they introduced Bella/Fantasia etc. but from what I've read here you definitely get to eat in the dining room for both, just with Bella you might not get to choose the sitting (early/late)

Pretty sure the beds can be made up as either 2 singles or a double and you can ask for them to be changed around if it's not the way you want - that's for the cabins that don't have the beds that pull down. I've booked a guaranteed inside cabin and when I've logged in to the msc website (using booking ref I got from TA) it showed a specific cabin, but number has changed once so far to another cabin of the same spec.

I've been on two msc cruises and loved it and looking forward to my next at Easter.

Fabulous review

I'm looking forward to being on the Magnifica during Easter.

The shows are at the same time as the MDR seatings, so you'll need to go to the early show if you have the late seating and vice versa.

When I ordered items online prior to cruise (Allegrissimo, laundry etc.) I wasn't charged for it until the end of the cruise when settling up.

It's giving me chills just thinking about this.

On my first cruise it would have been me and 11 Year old stranded with 15 on board on his own (he only agreed to holiday with us if we didn't make him go on any trips).

This is why I tend to go on the organized trips as I'm a wuss and I get stressed just making it to the boat on day 1 with several hours to spare.

Lots of people do go on the MSC excursions and they can be booked on board the day before. I travel with my son and we don't always know what we feel like doing until the day before.

I mix and match having a wander around somewhere new on my own with a few excursions. As English speaker and in the minority I have missed out on a planned excursion due to not enough other English people choosing that excursion, but we were given choice to go with another language group (without English translation) or different trip with an english group.

I once didn't get the email with tickets from my agency, but MSC just printed them out for me when we arrived at embarkation.

We don't have formal clothes to match what some people wear on gala night, but try to wear shirt rather than t-shirt and trousers rather than shorts and haven't felt uncomfortable.

Not sure exactly where it docks, but when I went last year MSC provided shuttle buses for transfer to and from Marseille. Drop off point was a short walk from the old port.