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michelle028

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Posts posted by michelle028

    Currently on Splendida..

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted

    On 5/16/2023 at 6:01 AM, RealNorwegianCruiser said:

    I am currently on Spendida with my 6 years old and wife. We joined from Istanbul. 

     

    This is so far my least pleasant cruise experience..

     

    Here is why (for now):

    - Embarking in Istanbul was unorganized,  and it was very few signs from MSC in the harbour. Sad, since the port area is one of the most beautiful cruise ports I been to.

    - Food. You get food. You dont leave hungry, but the quality is not very good. It lacks TASTE. The pizza is of course good, but you cant live on pizza for a whole 9 night long cruise.. The worst with this is that we are not very picky when it comes to food - believe it or not.

    - Understaffed and stressed. Crew seems tired,  waiters keep forgetting parts of our ordens in MDR. Service is slower than on any other MSC cruise we been to..

    - Sooo many russians. So many! You could almost rename the ship MSC Moscow! Last point is not only MSCs fault though. (Yeah,  I got an issue with ruzzians because of the Ukraine war..)

    - Spendida starts to look tired. Poor old lady.. 

    - Pools are very cold. Basically nobody uses them. (I am Norwegian. Im used to cold stuff...)

     

    We got a new cruise with MSC coming up from Barcelona in October, and at this point I consider to cancel it. I would lose 800 EUR in deposits, but it would maybe be okay... Small price to pay based on this experience so far.

     

    So all in all: cruising? Well.. more like a very good ferry ride..

     

    (Im diamond/black, so its not my first experience with MSC).

     

     

     

     

     

     

    When you order food off the mdr menu do they charge extra if you order say more than 1 appetizer or dessert? 

     

     

     

    I was on Royal earlier this year and they were actually encouraging us to try many different appetizers etc.

     

     

    Let me know, I'm curious!

    Quick question About MDR food

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted

    Hi everyone, 

     

    Going on a Med cruise in July. Experienced cruiser but 1st time on MSC.

     

    When you order food off the mdr menu do they charge extra if you order say more than 1 appetizer or dessert? 

     

    I was on Royal earlier this year and they were actually encouraging us to try many different appetizers etc.

     

    Let me know, I'm curious!

    Currently on Splendida..

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted · Edited by michelle028

    4 hours ago, RealNorwegianCruiser said:

    Today we are in Trieste. Nice place.

     

    My wife had to leave the cruise today due to personal reasons, but my son and I Will stay on back to Istanbul. 

     

    The disembarkion in Trieste can be summed up in one word: chaos! Since the ship arrived to the port much later than usual due to some wind, people qued up in the stairs with their luggage. Everyone tried of course to be first one off.. it seemed like the crew had no control! It worries me to be honest. I saw two dudes even start fighting. A good ol Spagetti Western... 

     

    I am also surprised over how bad English skills many of the crew members got. My English is not the best either, but these guys STRUGGLE with communication. I pray to God that nothing serious happens while Im onboard, because that Will end really bad I am afraid.

     

    Was on a show yesterday. Circus something something. It was ok for me, but boring for my 6 years old.

     

    Service in MDR was faster tonight, but unfortunately I am still not impressed with the food. Sorry.. I wish I could be positive about more.

     

    I Will finish on a positive note tonight though: Butchers Cut still great! I met a old "friend" from Meraviglia there as well: Elvis. Very friendly waiter.

     

    Tomorrow sea day, then Katakolon, Pireaus, Kusadasi, and back to Istanbul. 

     

    Btw: dont buy Fun Pass on Spendida. Only 4k cinema and two other game machines working.. 

     

    Bari: easy to do on your own. Walkable from the ship unless you got health issues.

     

    Parties: I was travelling with wife and kid, now travelling only with my kid. Im in bed around 22.. sorry. 

     

    One more positive thing: everyone is very friendly towards my (sometimes) noisy six year old..

    Thanks for taking the time to review!

     

     

    Are you booking a cruise tour for Katakolon? I was researching and saw you could do an easy train to Olympia there and back on your own.

     

    For Trieste,  what did you do there? I'm embarking from that location. But staying the night before.

     

    Currently on Splendida..

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted

    Please continue to post!! Sailing on Splendida in July. 

     

    If you can, please post menus or food pics. 

     

    Is your cruise going to Bari? Let me know if there are tours offered by locals when you get off the ship. I tried to find a cruise excursion for that port but I couldn't!

    2nd MSC cruise impressions

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted

    13 hours ago, KKB said:

    Are u sailing US or Europe—and if Europe, what part?

    The menu has been different here. More fish-forward in the Caribbean. It has a more Northern European feel here.

    I'm sailing on MSC Splendida out if Venice...going Turkey, Greece and Italy (Bari). Curious to see the menus. 

    Voyager club question

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted

    Hi everyone, 

     

    1st time on MSC. So I got matched as Silver for the Voyager club. It was good until I noticed they messed up my birth day...from 28 to 29. So obviously it wouldn't match my travel documents. 

     

    When I called msc to change it...they were able to change the birth date but then my Voyager club status disappeared!!!

     

    The rep said that only the Voyager club service rep could help me.

     

    I still have my original email with my Voyager number saying approved. Is that enough to get on-board perks?

     

    Side note: booking and fixing things with MSC for the past few months before sailing this summer has been a really miserable experience!!! I don't know if anyone can relate. Even most of the excursions are saying sold out even though it never appeared on the app to begin with!!

    Live from Splendida 18 nights

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted

    16 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

    Day 3 morning.....

     

    We departed Yanbu around 3am this morning.  We should finally have alcohol after a day and a half 😁.

     Thanks to our prior departure port being closed,the delay caused all but two excursions to be cancelled in Yanbu.  We didn't even arrive till 330pm. If you didn't have an excursion,you had a lousy day as the port is small.  

     

     Yesterday I was surprised to find not only the YC pool but the others not being heated. Will continue to check going forward. Not heated means not going in it, but I am a wimp when it comes to that.

     We did walk thru the buffet and there appeared to be plenty of choices and lines we're at a minimal.

     We had room service deliver a pizza and it took 15 minutes and was excellent.

     The show was rock of ages. Very well attended. Tonight is elements.

     The casino has just been slots during odd hours. Not well attended yet. Today all is or will be open.

     

    For those with younger kids, the club puts on a show every night in the aft lounge so far. Very entertaining and the kids are happy. All 11 of them.

     

     

     

     

    Thx for the feedback 😀  are all the shows on the app? Also in terms of excursions did you book them before you boarded the ship?

     

    I don't see many excursions listed on my app right now. But again my cruise is not til summer. 

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