trfccruiser

Hi yes,same walk it dried up after a few hours.You have to pay 15 euros ,but it is so worth it. No sign of Surf and Turf restaurant.

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Day 5 Disembarkation. We docked at 8.30 but disembarkation didn’t begin util 9.30 which was the time stated for docking at 9. We decided to try to get on the 1st group and as some people got turned away for not settling their bill we managed it. We wouldn’t have made our flight otherwise. Water taxi took 30 minutes. We were told that immigration might take a while. After picking up our cases, immigration consisted of a man approaching me and saying,” Italiano”? I said “No English” He said “do you have any cigarettes in your case?”. “No”, I replied. “You are free to go” That certainly helped! However, we got to the taxi rank to see the last one waiting disappear. No more appeared for a while and the 2nd boat arrived in the meantime. 1st boatload-orderly queue. 2nd boatload everyone for themselves. I resorted to Uber. Fortunately, they came in 5 minutes and we made check in with 30 minutes to spare but when the scrum was happening I was getting a bit nervous. I’ve never had a problem with such flight times before but it might change my perspective now. which has been talked about since 2020. Overall, it was good cruise. Armonia is an old ship but the food and entertainment was really very good.There are some nice old fashioned style bar lounges and we loved the coffee lounge and I think we got our drinks package value for coffees and hot chocolates alone. Staff were good but drinks service was sometimes slow. It’s like many have commented before, MSC are fine if you don’t have any issues but if you do, you don’t always feel they are properly dealt with.

Day 4 Rijeka Buffet breakfast again had to sit outside, felt should have gone to dining room! Walked into Rijeka which seemed nicer than Split some nice old buildings, including a couple of old churches and one with a leaning bell tower the Church of the Assumption. Not Pisa style leaning but a talking point and 14th century. Also nice theatre with gardens and a market nearby. Back onto the ship and for once the buffet was quiet so took advantage had mushroom soup, spicy seafood parcels and ribs followed by cheese plate. All were excellent, particularly the ribs. Back to the cabin to pack (never nice) and discovered we had been allocated a later time for disembarkation. I had gone to guest services the previous day to request an early slot as we had a lunchtime flight. When I’d booked the cruise the arrival time was billed as 7 a.m. but it had changed to 9 a.m. MSC would not allow us on their coach transfer as your fight had to be after 2 pm. I explained an early disembarkation and taxi would give us the chance of catching our flight and I knew it was at our own risk. The person who served me took copious notes and said she would put me in the highest group possible. However, our slot was just the same one we’d have got by our deck anyway. I had to go back to guest services and explain all again who allocated me the 4th slot which was the best they said they could do at that point .Probably should have pushed some more, really. Some more pre drinks in our favourite bar and then last meal in restaurant. Had carrot soup, spinach and ricotta ravioli and cheese plate .My wife had Hake and I definitely had food envy. On to the show which was a mash up of all the performers with different songs and routines , high energy and very good, followed by last nightcap. Most of the bars had a very wide choice of all drinks including premium spirits, we had the Premium extra package.

Day 3- Kotor Buffet breakfast, had to sit outside as buffet as usual very packed. Good range of choice though and good quality, in my view. Last time we were in Kotor, there were 3 ships in and 2 were docked, one alongside and one on a pontoon . This time only 1 ship docked (Viking), no sign of pontoon , so Armonia and Aida ship had tenders. We had priority tickets as Gold members and walked straight on. They used lifeboats and local boats. Was a big queue coming back, but it moved quickly. It was cloudy at first with a bit of rain. Last time we had found a small hotel with a rooftop area for a drink with a lovely view of Kotor, but it was closed due to the weather and they mentioned the walk above Kotor which we planned to do was closed due to the stone steps being wet. We had a a wander around Kotor which is beautiful on its own. We stopped in a bar/restaurant, Bokun for a bite to eat and a drink, simple food wraps etc but very nice and reasonably priced too. By then the sun came out and after lunch we climbed the stone steps to the little chapel. It’s a challenging climb, 400 odd steps , but it’s so worth it for the views. Breathtaking. Back onto ship and got ready for dinner, I was asked to go early to the Red/Rum bar to get the drinks in as the wait can be lengthy, whilst the ladies got ready, which I was happy to do, listen to the music and read my kindle and sneak an extra drink in! Evening meal was Mediterranean night and I had Spinach and Feta parcels, Moroccan Lamb and Baklava with ice cream. All were excellent. From there we went to the show an Italian singer and trumpet player who was really talented.

Day 2- Split Decided to go to restaurant to avoid the buffet scrum. However, lots of people had the same idea! Good choice on menu, I had full breakfast which was well cooked and delicious (apart from the sausage). We were walking into Split but decided to do the open top bus tour. However, what we didn’t appreciate was that it wasn’t hop on hop off and you just had to do the full tour all at once. Most of the “points of interest” were modern parts of Split, which to be honest I wasn’t that impressed with .We did see the Roman ruins but the stalls were no longer in the Catacombs they were on a side street nearby. The commentary mentioned the nearest beach was their Copacabana, so we walked to it, but I think he was being ironic! I don’t think we saw the nicest parts and in hindsight I wish we hadn’t done the bus tour but we left feeling a bit disappointed in Split. So, we went back onboard and had a late lunch in the restaurant which was good and then we went to the Caffee San Marco which is Armonia’s coffee lounge near the theatre. A really nice space, never too busy (except on Disembarkation morning!) and served excellent coffee with free cakes and pastries available at certain times. Also took advantage of our gold loyalty perk this afternoon, an hour in the Aurea Spa. I do like this perk and they never seem bothered about you overstaying, but we’ve never overstayed too long (honestly!).As you might expect the arear is quite small on Armonia, but it was a nice space with 2 sauna rooms a steam room and a couple of nice relaxing areas. Had a nice meal in the restaurant although service was quite slow tonight, waiter does have a lot of tables. Went to the show a 30’s music show but a lot of the songs had a modern twist added, also acrobats featured who were very good and the ship was rocking a bit! Picture is Caffee San Marco

Day 1 of cruise Cruising with my wife and her friend who had a single cabin nearby. Caught a Vaparetto from Rialto to the Piazzale Romana and from there the people mover to the entrance to the Venice cruise terminal, had to walk a few hundred yards to terminal building which wasn’t that well signposted. Our embarkation slot was 12-1, we arrived at 11.50. Long queue to check in only a few check-in desks. Passport and ticket checked, then sent to luggage placement. Then sent upstairs for further check of passport and ticket and to take a photo which we had already done online, queues were terrible. We were supposed to go by water taxi to Maghera but though most people did, we were put on a coach and the journey took 15 minutes, water taxi took double that time. We passed the Finacantieri shipyard at high speed, getting a brief glimpse of Queen Anne and Norwegian Aqua. However, we then sat quayside for 20 minutes on the coach, no explanation. Finally onboard a THIRD check of passport and ticket .All told this process took 3 hours. We went straight to the cabin, cruise cards in an envelope on door handle. We had an inside cabin quite small but good storage space, did have the dreaded stick to you shower curtain. Obligatory lifeboat drill, just watch a video and swipe your card at muster station. Went on deck for sail away ,lively atmosphere .Had some of dancing troupe performing. Had our first drink on deck we had paid extra for the premium extra package. Drink service was quite slow at times. We’d opted for 2nd sitting but when we found 1st sitting was 7 and 2nd 9.30, we changed to 1st, and we were actually seated in the Aurea part of the dining room. Enjoyed the first evening meal, tomato soup with pesto, lamb and cheese plate. No crackers for cheese but they are happy to bring breadbasket back. Msc breads are really good in my view. We had wine by the glass on the package but most nights the waiter left the bottle on the table for us to fill up ourselves and was also happy to fetch more! We then went to the Rum bar ( which is a small bar with live entertainment, the duo who played there regularly were pretty good, the other guy on his own, not so good. Off to the show, which was a rock show, you were allowed to take drinks in but there was no drinks service. Old fashioned theatre with the annoying swivel seats that can block you sat on a sofa behind, so we mainly opted to sit on the front row. Singers and dancers were good, I do rate MSC’s shows for quality and energy levels. Picture is of Rum Bar

Sorry to hear that if they have cancelled the cruise they should help you with the flights I wouldn't give up on that one.Good luck!

A regular dry Dock was scheduled I believe it's been extended due to engine problems

I see Seaview is due a drydock at the end of this month. Does anyone know what is being done?Just a routine drydock or any changes being made? Thanks.