bluecontrolman

I wasn't sure where to put this - but I thought that it was pretty funny that only things not included on my recent cruise (with premium drinks package) were bottles of champagne and . . . . . ice cream! €14 Premium spirits cocktails - Sure. €4.50 scoop of mint choc - no chance.

Armonia had an omelet station, I never saw it in use though. Didn't notice anything else.

@sboston06 The embarkation/disembarkation processes were pretty straight-forward in the end - but my anxiety combined with a lack of information from MSC made it more stressful. We had to go to the MSC embark terminal at Venice Cruise Port. We dropped off our luggage there, went through the check in process and were then taken by boat to the ship in Marghera. We got to the terminal by taking the water taxi to P.le Roma ferry terminal and then catching the People Mover - basically a very short light-railway to the port. P.le Roma is very well served and you can get their easily by water taxi from pretty much anywhere in Venice. You should see lots of other MSC passengers once you get to the People Mover, something that I was very relieved to see as up to that point I really wasn't sure that I was even in the right area. Disembarking from the ship they took us directly back to the Cruise Port by boat again. They dropped us off at the terminal mentioned above, we picked up our bags and then made the reverse journey back to the P.le Roma area via the People Mover. You are then right next to the bus station where you can get back to the airport if needed, very easy. I believe that you can catch a water taxi from the cruise port to the airport as well but I was told by an employee that there weren't any available when we arrived. Basically, I don't think it matters too much about hotel location as the water taxis provide such a comprehensive and regular service. It's better to stay in somewhere near a taxi terminal then it is to be (say) "15 min" walk from P.le Roma as that walk is pretty bad if you have a heavy suitcase and are constantly going up and down bridges.

I just got back from cruising on the Armonia - also sailing out of Venice. I had done a 3 night 'taster' cruise on the ship back in 2017, so decided to do a 4 night one in a balcony cabin this time combined with some time in Venice. But these are literally the only two cruises i've done so I don't have anything to compare it with. I'll give a mini review though: Arrived at the ferry terminal at about 1pm and got to our rooms about 3.45pm. Room and balcony were small but perfectly fine for us. However, the bars and restaurants were closed for the emergency drill stuff (which we also obviously did), so it was well past 5pm before we sat down with our first drink and bite to eat. Overall, getting drinks was a bit hit and miss. Over 15 minute wait in some occasions. And i'd say that the ship really wasn't that full. Though the options with the premium drinks package was extremely good. I thought that the food was decent for the price - but we had a latter dinning sitting and so were usually not that hungry by that time and had been eating in the buffet place earlier. I think you can order multiple dishes, though i never tried. The Aura section is very well located and pretty much the only area you can sunbath and see where the ship is actually going. I did have the option of upgrading to it but I had already paid £625 each for 4 nights and needed to reign in the spending. It's an older ship which doesn't work with the app and doesn't let you book entertainment or anything like that. Don't expect anything particularly exciting to do on board. As a newbie cruiser I still can't quite work out if it's for me or whether I'd rather just spend that money on a really nice all-inclusive resort with less faffing about. Like, a good chunk of my trip was spent on embarking and disembarking.

I've booked a 4-night Med cruise on MSC Armonia for next month. My original cabin was just an interior, but I got the unlimited premium drinks package included and paid about £475 pp after early booking and Voyager club discount. That seemed pretty decent to me - roughly £120pp a day for board, food and drink. I received the usual upgraded bid email for a few different options and put in the lowest amount (£155pp) for a junior balcony cabin. That was accepted today, so i've now paid an additional £310. I'm just thinking whether £1,260 is a little pricey overall for a 4 day Med trip on an older ship in a room that is no bigger than an interior cabin? It feels better when you're just asked to pay an extra few hundred on top, but I wonder if I could have found a better deal if I was looking at better cabins to start with? To be clear, i'm not regretting my choices, just wondering about how to get the best deal in the future.

I tried again this morning and it worked pretty much first time. . . .

Oh, I looked into it and the ship in sailing on isn't a 'smart ship', so can't use the app for anything.

Thanks, I guess I will have to call them. I downloaded the MSC app but it tells me my cruise can't be managed on the app and I have to go to the website.

It keeps telling me to take my hat off when i'm not wearing one (i'm bald). EIther that or it says that my face is obstructed (I have a beard). Any tips on how to get through this without ringing them up?

I'm a little confused. It says on my booking that gratuities are fully included in my upfront price? I'm not expecting to spend anything onboard.

Hi My only cruise so far was an MSC one sailing out of Genoa. I have to say that boarding was the worst part of the entire experience - we must have waited something like 3 hours+ and had very little of the day left after the safety drill. I've got a cruise booked from Venice. Are you saying that if we just turn up at say 11 there's a chance that we could get on earlier? Does the fact that we'll be getting transferred to the ship by ferry change that? Thanks

Someone replied to my post asking this saying that they'd had got a free cruise after betting $30k (not losing, betting in total).

It's obviously about expectations. I grew up in a lower income working class family and all of our holidays were some form of cheap resort and self catering accommodation. My parents made packed lunches for our day trips and cooked dinner most evenings as they couldn't afford to pay to eat out for all us kids. We spent most of the holiday on the beach and occasional trips to small local theme parks and tourist attractions. I've only been on one short cruise before (going again in April) and I found the experience better than I was expecting. The food was nice, the entertainment was great, it was really busy, but nothing too bad. We were able to get drinks. We don't have thousands to spend on holidays so we don't expect that kind of service.

Those two things are the same thing for me 😉 Never win. I've heard that cruise ship slot machines are unregulated and have very low return rates?

How much do you have to spend at the casino roughly to get these benefits?

Hijacking this thread for a moment. I've booked the cheapest cabin available for a 4 day med cruise I have in April (interior). I received the upgrade bid thing and put in the lowest possible amount for all of the options apart from the Aura Balcony (which I skipped). I'm really not fussed if I don't get any of them as I could do with not spending the additional money - but I thought I might as well try the lowest bid to see if any of them are accepted. My assumption is that they won't be.

I didn't think to look at other airports. I ended up just rearranging for the day before and booking an extra night in the hotel. Sorry, I was pretty wound up when I wrote the above. It seems to happen so often though and it's frustrating when you're paying in advance for some many other things that it seems like airlines have almost no care of duty to passengers who have arranged flights with them months in advance.

Wow, booking flights in advance just seems like an exercise in futility these days. I book my original flight into Venice for my cruise all the way back in July, only for Easyjet to cancel the flight a few months later. I then rebooked with Wizzair, who have today today me that they are also cancelling their flight. So, now there isn't a single flight going from Gatwick to Venice at a sensible time that day.

April!

As someone who is pretty new to all this - what are the issues with dinner times? I've been on one cruise before (also MSC) and they just offered us 1st or 2nd sitting (either starting at 6 or 8).

I rang up and they just sent me another link to pay. All done. Strangely though, the window the link sent me to said that my payment was due on 2 December 2024 . . . .

I felt a bit like this with the first MSC cruise I went on. It was just a three night med cruise in April, sea-view cabin with no frills or packages, but it only cost £162 per person! Just an unbelievable price for accommodation and all your meals, let alone a cruise ship to explore and new places to visit every day. The one i've booked for April this year is 4 nights and premium all-inclusive drinks and was £475 each. Only an interior cabin this time, but I wasn't fussed about a tiny porthole. But $1800 is even cheaper than that per day/person! If they accept my upgrade offer for a junior balcony we'll be paying £1300 for a 4 night cruise in a worse cabin!

Cheers. I will do. Just odd that there isn't a way to do it on the website - most places are trying to cut down on customer service staff. I paid my deposit via a link, so I just assumed that was their process.

Thanks for your replies. Sorry, yes i'm from the UK.

Quick one. We're sailing in April and I believe the final balance is due next month. I can't find an option to pay this on the website - I assume they just send an email with a payment link? Thanks