perakcruiser

The trip was great. I do think this is the cruise with the best ports. The kids club did deliver as usual which at the end is the most important point. Food in MDR was normal MSC standard, supringly two times Lophius piscatorius was served, no idea how this excellent fish is called in english 🙂 Buffet was not as good as I am used from MSC. Pizza great as always. As it was Pentecost holiday week in Europe the ship was (as expected) completely sold out. And the extended Armonia really cannot accomodate so many people especially in the buffet. But when you stay in a cabin with four people you better not complain the others who bring their kids 😄 Dubrovnik is still amazing on a second visit, Zakynthos is sensational, the Shipwreck-Blue Caves-Xigia Beach boat tour is a must. MSC offers it for a OK price, can be done cheaper with good planning. Kotor is one of the best in Europe. The fort can be attacked from the side by walking up the serpentines instead of the stairs. To my surprise there was no entrance fee for those who did😄 In Bari I highly recommend going to Matera, it is unfortunately only possible with a MSC excursion. Alberobello is an alternative you can do by yourself by taking a bus from Bari centrale. Conclusion: You are doing this trip because of the ports, not because of the Armonia.

Yes, the terminal building itself is very easy to miss. But at this point you almost stand in front of the ship🙂

Actually it is not, it is really just that Googlemaps STILL has a totally stupid mistake. No one would walk this way if not using Googlemaps. Embarking in Bari otherwise is dead simple, we even walked last week the 1.7 km to the port entrance (only one entrance, no matter ir cruise ship or ferry) from the train station as we arrived early in the morning and had time to kill. I knew the way from another stop in Bari some years, but used Googlemaps also and thought "What is wrong with them", turned it off and just walked straight to the ocean and then turned right 🙂

Not if you want to burn OBC

I guess thousands including myself would say this sentence also, but if you want to have one of the best cabin on the ship (excluding YC) you HAVE to book Aurea, that is part of the MSC game. I hope your agents gives nice cashback, because he has obviously no idea about MSC Cruises 😄 Great stuff, congrats!

Don´t expect any staff on MSC to understand what you mean with "egg crate". I also do not, but it sounds funny 🙂

MSC is much more friendly then others and not kicks you off the boat at 9 am like Celebrity does. There is no clear rule, we always left around lunch time, so I don´t know the latest time.

Probably only on US sailings, otherwise MSC would not find butlers for the ships in other parts of the world. Which is why MSC made it impossible to remove the gratuities for (almost) all Non-US-Pax. They know exactly the risk of removal for all nationalities 😉 Last time I booked I had to pay the gratuities with the deposit already. An on my travel documents they state the Hotel Service Charge as "Cancelled Items", which sounds like I cancelled it. I know it is just that I will not get charged double, but it sounds strange 😄

All places in Europe have excellent public transport, you don´t need to think about this. Just decide by price. First decision: Western or Eastern Med? Or both with two cruises after you made the long trip to the other side of the atlantic ocean. Most important: Avoid the hot season in Europe. The week before and after Easter, the Pentecost week and the long summer holiday from mid June to beginning of September.

Depends on the route. Usually it is a Nestle brand, but it changes from time to time.

The Australians I know don´t tip, just like the Asians and Europeans do not tip. You can do whatever you want, nobody expects anything. And everybody is happy about your tip no matter how high or low. The nationalities you would insult by trying to tip them are not working on cruise ships 😄

Was not the case at our last Eastern Med cruise. I expect a lot of people boarding at the other places. We board at Bari this time.

Definitely not. The 151 includes the Doge's Palace. The entrance fee there is very expensive, that is why the difference is so high.

He cannot, only local currency for cast transactions. But in all these countries there are myriads of moneychangers who change EUR and USD to local currency with excellent rates. Only Sing Dollar is even better. British pounds are worse, but not a rate disaster. GBP are used by MSC and all Caribbean cruises that do not start in USA have EUR as currency.

Sure, that is the norm. Before one also did not know the menu of the next day, so how to know if opting for MDR or buffet? Now with the app and the menu for the whole week this has changed, so a few times I could tell the waiter. Which he appreciated.

Well, even more disappointing is the Pinot Grigio from the Easy package 😄

How crazy is this!!! Thanks for the warning if we ever go there. I will leave the wallet on the ship and tell the family I "forgot" it. Even more crazy is that a MSC ship runs out of Pinot Grigio 😄

It is also not legal in many other European countries. But it is legal outside territorial waters.

You are right. Actually there is absolutely no need to tell anyone you are not coming the next day. But one can make the life of the waiter a little bit more easy if telling him that you will not be here next evening.

The 15% are added on all cruises, no matter where the cruise starts. Technically it is illegal when the ships are in ports or sailing in some "European" territorial waters (12 sea miles zone), but so far nobody has sued the cruise lines for this 😄

More please 🙂

MSC is the obvious choice in the Med as they suit all people. Which maybe can be said about Costa also, have a look at them too. And if you speak other languages there are much more options, especially for food focused people. From your self description I guess MSC is the best product for you three. About the route,I highly recommended to consider the Eastern Med cruises from MSC.

What information do you miss? Looks like only 3 excursions available.

Washcloths disappeared from the hotels around the world for many years already. I don´t remember having them seen in any hotel in Europe, Asia or Australia for a long time.

Tips according to CC boards: 5 USD per drink Tips according to reality: 0 USD per drink 😄 With exceptions like our wonderful YC "reporter" Morpheus.