the wandering two

Hi,

My wife & I have recently returned from Lirica's sailing & had a great time. 

This was our fifth MSC cruise, the last one being five years ago on Sinfonia, another repo, Capetown to Genoa.

Like you we picked on the strength of the itinerary. During sea days we spent most of our time on deck, we had an inside cabin. Chair hogs were rife, as you're travelling solo that may not be such an issue, as you'll be able to get one somewhere. 

If you prefer indoors there were many lounges, the Blue Club disco was predominantly used at night only & with a wraparound aft view on deck 12 it's ideal to retire to with a book.

Food, we reckoned, was much improved over our last sailing. On most sea days there was a themed lunch special set up in the semi outdoor La Pergola area as well as the buffet & MDR. We heard from some others that the service in the MDR for breakfast & lunch was a little haphazard, but we prefer the buffet for those times, so can't comment.

We had the early sitting in the evening, 6.30, as second at 9.00 was way too late. The menus were certainly more European, think pasta, fish, risotto etc. Failing that there was an always available menu containing things like grilled chicken,  fish & palliard steak,  which was certainly a hit with one of our table mates, who seemed to live on steak & chips (fries) for three weeks! 

Announcements were kept to a minimum, so the multiple languages weren't an intrusion. 

Smoking was more prevalent than other cruises we have been on especially in the Lord Nelson pub on deck 5. It was half & half smoking/non smoking which made no sense as the smoke drifted through the whole room & could be smelt out in the neighbouring areas to a lesser degree. 

Ports of call, other than Aqaba & Eilat (ships tours Petra & Dead Sea) we did our own thing. 

Overall we had a great experience & wouldn't hesitate to sail with MSC in the future. The comments from others either in conversation or overheard ranged from a couple who regularly cruise on Azamara who loved it & another who was telling every official he could find as we disembarked that it was the worst cruise he had been on! 

I don't want to ramble on or turn this into a blow by blow review, but feel free to ask any questions. 

Regards

Mark & Heather

Great itinerary on a lovely ship, but that price!

Look outside the box folks, other cruise lines do similar trips, notably MSC. They have repos to Dubai & Durban, we booked Lirica next March ,20 nights,fantastica inside with drinks for about half the price.

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Hi Bea

Thanks for the reply. When I login to Voyager's my points expire 19th July '18, supposedly. A totally random date given our last sailing date.

Typical cruise line IT strikes again.

I'll keep an eye on our VC points, we are moving up a tier with Royal in November, I'll try status match then.

Regards

M&H

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I'm glad someone asked this question. We are existing Voyager's club members (silver) but we would have higher equivalent status on other lines.

Can we still ask for a status match & how long does it stay live for?

We have an existing booking for March '19.

As an aside we last sailed with MSC March '14 our accounts are still live. On reading the small print I thought that you had to sail within three years to keep them?

As many of you (way more loyal than us) have said the points aren't worth much after the change to the current scheme, but we'll take what we can get!

Regards

Mark & Heather

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Hi Nikki,

Great thread. Re New York sailings, have you priced MSC USA?

8th Oct Sailing working out at $1928, two people inside Fantastica with 24hrs Internet credit, mealtime drinks & $25 obc plus the 12 drink vouchers that Fantastica cabins receive anyway. That's with 5% voyagers club applied, taxes & fees.

Eagerly anticipating Lirica Dubai to Venice, March '19 hence our renewed interest in all things MSC.

Regards

Mark & Heather

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Thought as much. We have been assigned early, we'll just stick with that, 9.30 way too late.

M

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Hi Davy,

Any chance you would remember the early & late dining times?

We are on Lirica next March from Dubai.

Cheers

Mark

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In a similar vein, miso soup every lunchtime in buffet, on Epic at least.

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Thanks, know what you mean about Blue Moon, haven't tried any lagunitas, so will look out for it.

M

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Hi Soggy,

So glad you enjoyed Epic, bit of a love or hate for most.

So looking foreward to our 5th trip on her this Nov transatlantic.

You mentioned that there were a few craft beers, any further details? Other than Guinness or Newcastle Brown I thought it was mostly generic lagers.

Cheers

Mark

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Gosling's black seal also now back under $15 limit.

Wonder if any corresponding cocktails have been included, ie dark and stormy?

Hope they don't change before our Epic TA in Nov!

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Thanks Casofilia & Birdtravels,

good to know we can give them our platinum vouchers. We are on Epic's TA, booked that long ago that we have the six meal perk, so plenty left for ourselves.

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Anyone tried to gift platinum vouchers to someone else? We are sailing with M&F in law, who don't have any dining credits & we have both. Would plan to dine together if that helps.

Any thoughts?

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There were two within the classic limit, Tawny & LBV, you need to look at a wine list for cellar masters to find them.

Doesn't help the original posters question though!

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So if you are really on a budget & just pay as you go can you get a $6 glass of house wine, as per standard package limit? Just back from Constellation and didn't see any wine priced that low on any list?

Mark

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I buy the JWB on the cruise ship to take home. Great prices for us and to use some OBC. One of the bars or Michael's Club had JWB.

 

This was asked in Michael's Club.

"I did get a "no" when I asked for Johnnie Walker Blue. The World Class Bar had it but would charge $20 over what the premium package included. Their bartender did comp me a shot of it once. Personally, I like the Johnnie Walker Black better."

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51861451&postcount=4

Ouch, only tried blue once, January '16 on NCL Spirit, $4 up charge plus 18% gratuity.

Super premium brands were $19, fifteen of which was covered by package.

Mark

On our recent transatlantic on Brilliance there wasn't any on display in the buffet. Other previous cruise staples like sweet cure herring, eggs benedict & grapefruit were conspicuous by their absence also. This did disappoint us as it was our first cruise on Royal in six years so just assumed it was the new norm, didn't think to ask for any, as others have suggested, but shouldn't have too.

As an aside, shrimp cocktail wasn't on the MDR evening menu but we noticed others being served it. As it's my MIL fav we asked, no problem, she then had one most nights, yet again shouldn't have to ask.

And people think NCL nickel & Dimes!

Regards

Mark & Heather

I find it most hilarious though when people say it must be boring, same old crap food day in day out etc, and then they go on about the fantastic holiday they have booked at an all-inclusive resort that basically serves up the same crap every day!!!!!

You stick to your holiday, and I'll go enjoy mine. I am not sure I'd want you to come along anyway!

I'm with you on this one. Sister in law swears she will never book a cruise, she & hubby spent a week on a Greek island & other than going into the local village for a meal one evening, never left the hotel, "but you would be trapped on a cruise ship! "

Mark

Got off Brilliance's transatlantic a couple of weeks back.

We were on deck 4, 4539, great location close enough to the centrum/R bar yet no noticeable noise from any music if we copped out early. What was a pain was the thumping from the shops above around 4am most days, it didn't last long, but be aware of what could be above your cabin.

In laws were in 8515, didn't report any problems, be it noise or movement despite its forward position.

Hope that helps.

Mark & Heather

Hello Campolady,

Just wanted to say a big thank you for all your advise on this forum.

We had a great time on our recent port stop in Malaga. Walked from the ship into town, a few drinks in Antigua Casa de Guardia & onto the nearby market on Atarazanas for lunch, walked about 7 miles altogether just taking in the city.

Already planning our day there on next year's transatlantic.

Regards

Mark & Heather

Just off Brilliance transatlantic, our first Royal cruise since 2010 and noticed a few changes,

mostly in the buffet. No smoked salmon, herrings, eggs benedict or grapefruit at breakfast & very repetitive lunch choice. I expect repeat items especially on a two week cruise but the same two choices of pizza (cheese or pepperoni) as an example got a bit weary.

Thankfully the MDR was excellent, although we noticed Royal doing the exact same that NCL get flamed for, ie no lobster(couldn't care less anyway) & upcharge items on the MDR menu from Chops.

All in still a great cruise mainly because we booked 18 months ago at a great price, but would let my wallet make the final decision on any future bookings.

Mark & Heather

ps as a consolation they did offer a "giant prawn"!

Hi,

Can't recall the company name but we used the bag service that was just outside the port building, around €10 per bag, (in 2014 anyway).

Without baggage it's an easy hop on the blue port bus that drops off at the Columbus monument at the bottom of Las Ramblas.

Barcelona is a great walking city also the beach area Barceloneta, is quite close although with a four yr old in tow a tour/transfer combo or at least the hop on/off city tour maybe easier.

regards

Mark

Hi all,

When the packages changed I asked Royal to clarify how much the upgrade would cost & weather it could be done part way through a sailing.

I got two replies from two different people on the same day, the first confirming the $10 plus grats no mention of duration. The second also confirmed $10 etc but added that beverage packages could only be bought or upgraded either prior to the cruise or on the first day only.

I thought that Royal's faqs state that you can upgrade within four days of the cruise end.

Any thoughts?

Regards

Mark & Heather

Brilliance TA 17Oct 2016

Hi David,

We are on this sailing also, like you we are hoping to clear immigration in San Juan.

Our recent experience has been on NCL Epic crossings were we cleared onboard in St Thomas.

On any of our previous crossings on Royal, (admittedly six years ago, so policy may have changed) I don't recall clearing anywhere other than mainland US, even when SJ was a port of call.

regards

Mark & Heather

Thanks for the correction. More reason not to want the beverage package.

I applaud your self control, I assume you would then pay al a carte for drinks and spend less per day than the $14.22 gratuity would cost.

Happy cruising!