mdxter

7 minutes ago, sgmn said:

The only contact we had in Venice was when we dropped off our car hire in the city centre and they were extremely helpful there. I do try and learn a few words of the local lingo even if just please and thank you 

We have traveled to over 23 Caribbean islands. Own a condo in St thomas since 2005. On this trip, we stayed in Rome for 2 days. Drove to Naples from Rome and stayed there for 3 days. Drove to the Amalfi Coast for a day. Took the day ferry to Isle of Capri. Took the Fast train (Italo) from Rome to Venice and spent 2 days in Venice before getting on our cruise. I'd say we had a lot of interaction with the locals. Since our first cruise in 1999, we have never taken a tour with the cruise company. We have always ventured out on our own and hung out with the locals and immerse in the culture. I can tell you the Greeks were very nice and welcoming.  

8 hours ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Italy bashing...how nice!🙄👎🤮

Not Bashing... Just calling it like we see it. We find the locals in Venice were especially rude to visitors. Maybe they were tired of tourist ruining their city but they certainly don't mind our money. Maybe where we come from (Southeast US), we are always friendly and greet folks with a smile and hugs. Again, we will have to lower our expectations when visiting Italy.  

10 hours ago, Extra Kim said:

I would say that it's not an American thing, it's just the Italian way. Guess why I never would book a vaccation in Italy 😉

By the way, I'm Swedish.

We will continue to visit Italy because of the historic sights but will lower our expectations when it comes to feeling welcomed and customer service.  Folks in Capri and Amalfi Coast were a little nicer but not that much. 

On 7/10/2019 at 10:28 PM, renza said:

We you are sailing from American ports you need to learn to  cater to Americans.  All the cruise lines do there best to want you to come back and sail with then. Not the case on Seaside. That’s the number one complaint from everyone sailing on it. Customer service is just down right rude. 

We have just sailed the Opera out of Venice (June 23-30) and totally agree with your assessment about the MSC Customer service. The on board service desk as well as the 1800 MSC USA are down right Rude. They do not like Americans and we figured it was expected since we were sailing from Venice. After 9 with Carnival and 1 with RCL, for the first time ever we could not wait to get off the ship. It was that miserable.    

I am on the MSC Opera now (June 23 - June 30) and I can attest that the MSC on board customer representatives are non existence. We have been on 9 Carnival and 1 RC  cruises and not one complaint until this cruise. MSC is as bad as people say. Where do i start? We will write a complete review and we get back. If you are contemplating an MSC cruise, don't do it. Trust me.. you will regret it. 

On 6/26/2019 at 12:02 PM, cruiser man 60 said:

MSC don't deliver luggage anywhere only the airport with prearranged transfers, they leave the luggage in arrivals hall for you to collect. You would need to get people mover or taxi to train station.

thanks for the heads up.

Hello All, 

We are currently sailing on the Opera out of Venice. On our way in from Rome the day before our cruise via fast train, we were able to store our luggages at the train station (Santa Lucia) and had them delivered the next day to the Opera. Easy peasy as we did not have to carry our luggages to our hotel in Venice. Now the question is does MSC offers the same delivery service to the train station as we have to catch the fast train back to Roma. We have already purchased our tickets departing from Santa Lucia. I have tried asking the customer service desk on the Opera but they are useless. Customer service on the Opera is non existence overall. Very disappointed so far with MSC. 

Thanks in advance for any insight. 

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

I would not count on the fact that other cruiser's may not be waiting for the cable car.  A recent thread on Viking Ocean described a two hour wait for the cable car down in the middle of the day.

 

Luckily, the poster included a picture of the donkey path down and it looks doable (she said it was). The path is paved and consists of very long steps with a low rise between each step.

 

Look at post 51 and 52 for information on Santorini. The whole thread may have information that may be useful depending on your ports of call.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2663975-viking-star-venice-to-athens-572019/

 

Just the information i was looking for. Thanks for heads up.

33 minutes ago, nealjr said:

You have to remember that docking at 8am in Santorini doesn't mean you get off at that time.  Priority goes to the people who have booked tours through the ship-first ones off.  The other people have to get tender tickets, first come first serve as far as getting off.  Leaving at 2pm means you have to be back on the ship no later then 1:30pm, you do the math, doesn't give much time.  PLUS , you need to check how many other ships will be in Santorini the same day, traffic jam taking the lift if all the ships arrive close to the same time.  We were lucky, one other ship in port the day we were they plus we arrived later which made it easy to take the lift up and back down.  We had a tour booked starting at 10am and still didn't make it in time.  So we took the lift up and  walked around and shopped, came back down and did more shopping, back on board for 1pm.  You will  have to hustle if you hope to do what you have planned.

Ok so how long did you have to wait to take the lift back down? the only positive is that Our departure time is so early that we will not have to battle other cruisers from other ships to get down to the tender. Thanks so much for your insight. 

1 hour ago, nealjr said:

         The ship was fine, always people cleaning, polishing,etc.  The only big thing that we disliked was the disembarking on the last day.  They herded everyone into the theatre  at different times which caused overcrowding and people standing around waiting for the "letter" to be called so that they could leave.   Most of the people standing were in the way creating traffic jams for people trying to leave with carryons, once you cleared that then you had to deal with people trying to get off for their tours.  Utter chaos!

         We had the aurea  package with anytime dining which was nice.  Seated at the same table with same servers ever night, food at night was good to very good.  You had a different menu every night so you were able to try something new everyday.  Breakfast and lunch was at another restaurant buffet style but you were seated and once you got back to your table you had service for drinks,etc.  Again food was good to very good, really no complaints.

         We only had  two arranged tours, one in Kotor and the other in Bari while the rest of the ports we did our own thing.  Of the three greek islands we enjoyed Corfu even though it was the largest of the islands in Greece that we visited.

         Elegant nights the best that I can remember were on Tuesday and Friday.

        My family enjoyed the cruise the size of the ship was fine because it didn't take long for you to learn your way around.  The ports visited was great, the only draw back was we didn't have a lot of time to visit especially in Santorni, docked at 8am and left at 2pm.  Same thing in Bari, docked at 7am but left at 1pm, seemed like MSC was cramming one too many ports into your cruise.  I would have enjoyed more if the ports had longer stays, just my opinion.

      I think you will have a great time, hopefully the weather will be great to enjoy.

You are right about not staying in port long. Would like for the itinerary to stay in Santorini for the sunset and maybe skip Bari. What did you do in Santorini? We are planning to take a boat to Oia from dock as soon as we are able to get off the ship. Do a photochute in Oia and take the bus back to Fira.  

Thanks so much for your insight.

37 minutes ago, nealjr said:

We just got off the Opera on the 26th May and there were two "elegant" nights,  of course not everyone participated.  Hopefully Venice athourities will have release the ship by the time you board.

That is good to know about the elegant nights. Which nights? How was your cruise? What did you do in each port? What did you like or did not like about the ship, food, and the ports of call? 

Thanks for the information.   

Dear all,

We will be boarding the MSC Opera on June 23rd, out of Venice. We are carnival platinum cruisers but this will be our first time sailing on MSC cruises. The wife wanted to know if there will be any elegant night on the Opera? She needs to pack appropriately. Thanks in advance.    

Yes, it is disappointing.

 

Don't let that deter you, there are a few nice TOURS thru MSC you can book.

 

If I'm feeling up to it, I still may get off the ship that night, apparently the night life is really lively there. That next day is a SEA day anyways, so we'll see.:)

 

Some of my coworkers was on NCL from Venice this past August. They paid over $1000 per person, Inside Cabin.:o So, yes the rates are a bit much. And they also complained about shortened hours in some of their Port stops.

 

We paid a little over $900 Fantastica Package, Oceanview Cabin.

 

And yes, I will come back and post a review.

 

We're in Rome right now for 2 days. Train Thursday over to Venice.

 

You can't find a lot of up to date information on the Sinfonia. So, I'll take pictures of the menus and food. I like videos, so I'll be taping a lot and share.:D

That is Great that you started your trip in Rome. We will be starting our trip by flying into Naples (Sunday). Then a day (Tuesday before cruise) driving to the Amalfi Coast and another day (Wednesday) trip to the Isle ofCapri. Then take the train to Venice (Thursday before the cruise). Spend a dayand a half in Venice before starting our cruise.

Cannot wait to read and view your reviews. .

Thanks for clearing the time in port (Mykonos). I am so disappointed to hear this. I tried searching for the similar itinerary with NCL and the cost for a family of 5 is significantly more. Looks like i am stuck with this cruise for now.

Dear Marie, yes PLEASE share with us a detailed report when you get back from your cruise. I would love to hear your experiences.

Still so bummed about the time Mykonos.

Hello all,

We are scheduled to sail the Sinfonia on June 22, 2019leaving out of Venice. I am a bit confused as how long we will be in Mykonos.The itinerary noted the following:

- Santorini on Tuesday June 25 from 7AM to 3PM.

- Mykonos on Tuesday June 25 from 8PM to –

- Mykonos on Wednesday June 26 leaving @ 3AM.

- Dubrovnik on Thursday June 27 from 1PM to 8PM.

So am I to believe that we will be in Mykonos from 8PM Tuesdaynight leaving on Wednesday @ 3AM (7 hours at night?) or departing on Thursday @3AM? Please clarify as calling into MSC cruises is taking more than an hourwait.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Makes sense, I would reach out to him if I were you to see what his rate would be. I mean essentially he did us for $140, only 4 people, but it may not be much more as that van could accommodate 8, especially with kids. Even if he charged $240, I think the $100 extra split among 8 people is a worthy convenience. Just my opinion.

 

He chose Valley Church and it was a good choice. It is more commercialized and had all the facilities and amenities you could want. Nice beach. Limited shade though but plenty of chair/umbrella vendors. Met some good people there. Did not eat or drink, Could not get out of water lol

 

If you are looking for a quieter beach, this may not be for you.

Just an update from our visit to Antigua.

I rented a van and tried to do your same itinerary. We absolutely loved, loved VCB and on our drive through Antigua, there were so many other beaches we could have gone to as well. We stayed far away from the resorts at VCB. We did the Nelson Dock yard but ran out of time as we wanted to do the Devil's as well. Antigua was a pleasant surprise port for sure.

I must have the wrong ship's deck plan. Thanks for your insight.

I have recently booked a cruise on the Bellisima leaving out of Naples on June 17, 2019. What got me confused is that I booked cabins 14166 & 14101. Both are supposed to be inside cabins but as I look at the Ship's layout, cabin 14166 is a balcony cabin. Can someone verify? Besides that, we are very excited and anxious to take our 3 little girls to their first Mediterranean cruise. Thanks in advance for your insight.

Thanks so much for your insight. We initially want to do the tour with Kitson but we now have other family members who wanted to join us (8 in total). His rate was very favorable and heard good things about Kitson. I figured i could rent a van for 140.00 and save a little money for our parents. I am hoping to have a GPS that will prevent me from getting too lost.

Why did you pick Valley church? did you like it?

Hi Kdawg954,

We will be visiting Antigua via the Fascination next week. if you don't mind me asking, what time did you start out your tour and what time did you get back to port? I am assuming that your ship arrived and departed from Antigua from 7 - 3 PM. I am planning to drive myself and would like to do your same itinerary but I am worrying about the time restraint. Any insight would help as this would be the only island i have yet to venture on. Thanks,

Hello

We will be sailing JOS in 12 days with the same itinerary. One of the reasons we choose this ship is Curaçao and st. Kitts. We would be very disappointed if they change up any of the scheduled stops. Thanks for your review.

I do not believe that The Pavilion offers any day passes. It is not generally open to the public. You can visit Sandy Bank Bay beach but you have to walk in from the parking area near the road.

Thanks for the information. do you know how far of a walk from the parking area? thanks

Hi guys,

I was wondering if the above title resort offers a day pass to use their facility. Has anyone gone here? I would love to visit the Sand Bank Bay beach for a beach day.

Thanks in advance.

I wonder which ship will relocate to NOLA??... sorry i posted this thread in the wrong forum.

Yes you may want to look at hiring a taxi driver to work with you on this itinerary, only because of the taxi costs each way for 8pp. Taxi fare from Havensight where you are docked to Sapphire, back to MT, and then to town will be about $28pp total. So if you can get a better deal by working with a driver and still get a few hours in at Sapphire go for it.

 

Mountaintop is more commercial-looking than the version that burned down but the view of Magens is beautiful. The banana daiquiris just didn't seem the same to us but I'm sure it was just because we missed the old place.

 

Another option is Paradise Point with the view of the harbor and crusie ships. Great spot to enjoy a Bailey's Bushwacker and the amazing view. The taxi can drop you at the top and there's an aerial tram there and if you take that down you can walk back to the ship. Probably about the same price or a little more to get dropped at PP and take the tram or taxi down than going to MT. So you have choices.

 

Sapphire is still a gorgeous beach and food and drinls are available, just no chairs or restrooms. But if you can be happy on a towel in the sand and using the sapphire-colored water to relieve yourself in a pinch :eek: you will be very happy! :D

 

I would avoid an organized tour for your day since you have an itinerary you like and don't need to be tied to a larger group.

hey Blue water...not too many people (tourists) can remember the mountain top before it burned down. there were a lot of little shops inside and more authentic caribbean feel. On my first visit to the mountain top, i was hung over from the night before and i spent most of the time up there in the bathroom. good times. Now it is way to modern and all steel!!! I was sadden when i heard the day it caught on fire!