heatherb1958

1 hour ago, amurray88 said:

We did Azura in January that required a 4 and a half hour train to London, an overnight then a 4 hour flight 🤪 we're used to the no pain no gain approach... although we were able to take loads of luggage which was great.

 

This time we would be substituting a flight for a LONG drive to Southampton. We have family in Cardiff so would probably try and kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Interesting comparison you make... for me, it's going to take something very very special to beat Symphony. I don't really want it to beat Symphony, I just want to know that it'll fit our needs. 

 

Azura in January was nothing special but it was perfect for us. He was among 4 or 5 other babies onboard and that was it for under 18's. We realise during July it's going to be a different ballgame. Just saw horrific pictures of queues and I think that would kill us!

We did New year 2023 on Azura , 14 nights. The ship served a purpose as we like to go away either over Christmas or New year. I wouldn't go back on Azura though we like sister ship Ventura,  been on her 3 times and back again in December. We are not flying anymore and always do the coach down to Southampton from Bolton. No stress, someone else doing the driving,  once your cases go on the bus you don't touch them again and next see them outside your cabin door. We had a family with a baby on our New year Iona cruise. You don't have to worry about the size of your car boot snd can have 3 cases per person.

We have been on Virtuosa 3 times but we love MSC anyway and go on all their ships, last one was Euribia in March. Been on 9 ships eith MSC.

We are a lot older than yourself 😆 🤣.  Our grandson is 17 ! Will do anything for an easy life 😆. 

We have been on Symphony, Seaview , sister ship to Seaside and Virtuosa.

If travelling with a baby I would go for the cruise without flights and no limit on luggage .

No pizzeria??? MSC have the best pizza at sea and is available in the buffet from  lunchtime to the small hours . Love MSC pizza. 

Symphony has the best theatre shows though Virtuosa's are short and sweet in the main theatre,  ideal if you have a small child with a short attention span plus there are 2 shows for an extra small fee in the Carousel lounge, if you pre book in your planner it is half price. 

Virtuosa has a Galleria similar to Royal promenade but there are no free snack places on it like Cafe promenade , all speciality restaurants and bars but we love it.

We had cabin 8204 on Virtuosa , the teeniest Ocean View cabin we have ever had on any cruiseline even the bed was a small double.  Worst cabin for comfort but a great location. 👍. 

I am in the UK and just watched the video,  wow, looked just like a pack of cards bridge collapsing.  What is the next nearest port to off load cruise passengers if needed ? 

Hope the casualty figure is low 😔. 

When we have an inside cabin we always have twins , rather have more space between the 2 singles than squeeze between the bed and the wall. Same for an OV if the bed is under the window,  much easier to look out of the window sitting on a single bed with the floor space in the middle than clamber over the pillows to look out. 

For all other cabins we have a queen bed .

It is usually available to upgrade a drinks package online through your booking and cheaper to do so before the cruise .

Love the carousel lounge on Euribia. Don't miss disco night. 

On 12/13/2023 at 2:02 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

How would the wait staff know who booked where?  

I can imagine an 8 top or 10 top with various couples from all over and how would they know who got free water and who did not? 

 

I know this is a resurrected thread but will answer anyway. 

With MSC they still have traditional dining and will seat same , more or less,  nationalities together . We just got off Euribia and had booked through the same travel agent  as another couple who were put on same dining table.. As luck would have it we knew the couple from 5 years ago when we met on Meraviglia! That was a bonus .

The waiters have a manifest in the dining room of  who is entitled to complimentary bottled water/tea/coffee , we were told by our waiters this info. 

9 ships  so far..... 15 cruises .

First one Splendida 2017, last one Euribia last week with Magnifica,  Preziosa, Seaview , Meraviglia, Bellissima,  Grandiosa and Virtuosa in-between, not necessarily in that order 😆. 

We enjoyed every single one of them .

Enjoy Euribia , we disembarked on 8th March , our 15th MSC cruise ,  been on all the sister ships plus others .   Don't miss the Carousel lounge big band experience , absolutely fantastic new use of the space compared to her sisters. There is singing , dancing  and of course the big band playing different genres. Check the planner .

We ate in the Le Grill. Fab meal. Disappointingly on Euribia the Sky lounge   is not adults only like her sisters so consequently there were screaming kids at night in there on our trip.... love the free chocolate in there though so that made up for it 😆. 

Look forward to the rest of your report .

We had what they call a Junior Ocean view on deck 8 on Virtuosa , same as Meraviglia more or less .  

We chose the cabin , It was one of the smallest cabins we have ever had , even the bed was small . 

Never going to book one of those again . The inside cabin we had on Meraviglia was bigger ! 

4 hours ago, sddsddean said:

Didn't know that...thanks for the tip as we are going to Tesco tomorrow to get our money for our April trip.

 

Simon

It was at the Salford branch. Walkden is our nearest one but you don't walk past the currency exchange booth at that one to exit the store . The sign was big enough so hope you have it at  yours tomorrow .

3 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Sure, imagine hundreds of people coming everyday and ask for 25 ones like suggested above…

We were told by guest services that all those 1 and 2 dollar tips that we  give  out with each drink soon come back to them when the crew change them for larger notes. 

Casino or Guest services, either one will do. 

You say you are not American , are you from the UK?  We saw  something in one of our local Tescos last week at their currency exchange booth never ever seen before . It was a sign that said " ask us about our $1 tip packs " !!

With regards the interporting , people getting on and off at each port, we think it is absolutely fantastic , every port is like a B2B day. You  don't have a full ship trying to get on and off at once when it is your embarking/disembarking day. You can stay on the ship for as long as you want on disembarking day if you have a later flight and have lunch onboard too. 

We know  when we hear Charlie Charlie that the crew are getting ready for drill for the new arrivals and so get a drink quick if we need one before the bars close for the period of the drill. 

The announcements are always done in English first so once we hear the English one we switch off to the others .

Our only bug bear with the interporting itineraries is if we are in our room  the announcements come into the cabin , solution to that problem is go and find somewhere cosy/comfortable to sit on the ship and wait until drill is over or take a shower 😆.  

There were some procedures  we thought  strange on our first MSC trip on Splendida but at the end of the 14 nights we thought everything that was strange  we wished other cruiselines did . 

13 hours ago, devonuk said:

Back from my first ever MSC Cruise (Euribia) after some 30 cruises on a variety of differing lines. My overall impression is not good and when asked I use an analogy that a Travelodge is good in that it provides a decent bed, en-suite, coffee maker etc. and if that’s all you’ve experienced you’d think it was pretty good. However, if you’ve stayed in the Hilton, Intercontinental etc. you’d probably think the Travelodge was not so great and that folks is where I will leave it. 
The ship itself is fantastic but overall for me the good was far out weighed by the very bad. 
It’s cheap for a reason and it shows 😬

 It is a pity you couldn't be more specific and compare an equal experience on MSC and one of your other cruises. A blanket statement doesn't provide enough detail.

We have cruised Celebrity 5 times and have  Elite status through Royal, we have 100 nights now  with MSC on several ships.. I know which line I prefer now , cost isn't the first factor, I have more fun with MSC.

I am always willing to give companies a second chance,  heck it was  15 years before we gave Princess one 😂. We went on Enchanted in 2022 and now are hooked .

I would say if you had your first MSC experience out of Barcelona,  which we did, I think your feedback would perhaps be more positive,  we disliked  our first UK sailing with them but knew what the problem was and ignored it. 

Enjoy your next cruise wherever it may take you, ours is on Euribia 2 weeks today and I can't wait.

Edit :-  We started cruising with P&O October 21, nothing is perfect with them either but we still have 3 cruises booked .

19 hours ago, alfiemom said:

Smoke?  It’s a hump cabin-no obstructions.  Our fav cabin.  

Cabin 8334, I repeat 8334 is definitely NOT a hump cabin , on Silhouette it is 2 in from the aft .

The equivalent cabin on Equinox is 8330... 

5 hours ago, cbfb said:

Thank you so much!! I’m sorry I didn’t make it clear, one of the smoking areas is starboard deck 5 so I wasn’t sure if that would be an issue! 

Oh I see.. from 3 decks up never noticed anything and as a life time  non smoker believe me I would have ...

18 minutes ago, cbfb said:

We are looking at booking this cabin on Equinox which I think has the exact same cabins. Was it obstructed at all and any issues with smelling smoke? Thanks so much for any info. 

  No obstruction of view at all ... 

Smoke?  Not sure what type of smoke you are referring too but no obnoxious smells that I recall.

1st March Euribia , booked   Bella inside on 25th Jan got assigned Fantastica Balcony on 29th Jan. Result .

3 hours ago, the wandering two said:

Hi Heather,

Google A Taberna do mar, Portuguese/Japanese seafood, their tasting menu is outstanding. According to recent TripAdvisor reviews the current price is around €35 for ten courses. 

 

Thank you for the tip. X

15 hours ago, mycalpal said:

Royal has Anthem of Seas cruising to Norway in 2024 from Southampton starting on May 12th when we are booked.  Anthem has Fjord cruises at least into July.  Anthem started sailing in 2015 and has already had enhancements, and does have an enclosed Solarium.  Royal is sending Indy in 2025 and she is not even going to Geirangerfjord, a must see, so if you wait till 2025, you could miss out.  Good Luck!  😎

Thank you for the info ,    I am also on Anthem B2B  this year to the Fjiords but my understanding reading the OP's post fully is that they are looking at 2025 . 

On 1/24/2024 at 10:56 PM, david63 said:

I have said this before and I will say it again.

 

90% of the arrival time problems could be cured if P&O, like other cruise lines, allowed passengers on a first come basis to choose their own arrival times to suit their travel arrangements. Currently there is nothing factored in with the allotted arrival times for those travelling by coach which effectively means that some (or in some cases many) passengers have two arrival times one of which is unused and thus depriving others of that time.

This is so so true.  We had priority boarding of 11.45am for Iona for the NYE cruise because we had a mini suite , never able to use it because we were arriving by the coach that got in at  approx 2.30pm. 

At least I will give Royal and Princess a thumbs up with that regard because in their app when checking in online you select an arrival time . Seems the fairest way of doing it , check in online early get an early time slot . 

Hope you got home safely .

Found out  a cruise friend who lives in Spain joined Iona today, first time on Iona and I think for them first time with P&O . They have already posted on social media lots of photos . Hope they enjoy it as much as you did .. 

On 1/25/2024 at 9:34 PM, JamieLogical said:

I sailed Celebrity several times post COVID, but all of my most recent sailings have been on MSC. I loved Celebrity and if the price points were the same, I would probably pick Celebrity every time. But the fact of the matter is the price points are nowhere near the same. In terms of value for my dollar, MSC is a significantly better deal. There are more children on MSC, for sure, but like on Celebrity, the kid's clubs usually do a decent job of keeping kids out of the public spaces that I am trying to enjoy, so I haven't found the extra kids to be much of an issue. I think the thing I miss most from Celebrity is the live music in small venues. MSC has a bit of that, but a lot of time it's something like a person with a guitar playing along to a backtrack from their iPad and singing. I do miss the string duos or intimate trios in the bars and lounges on Celebrity. I also really hate that when MSC does have music in their lounges, they don't have the specific times listed in their app or the daily... they will just say something general like 7:00pm-10:00pm and you have no sense of when the breaks will be.

 

What I do like that both MSC and Celebrity still have that the Big Three have done away with are nightly turndown service and free continental room service breakfast.

Hi there, don't know where your MSC cruises have been sailing from but here in the Med all the lounges have live music with more than a solo artist  , especially the older ships as they have more and bigger lounges , love Preziosa and Magnifica for that. It was one of the  things we noticed on our first cruise on Splendida out of Barcelona , even the cafe had a  live group playing fab music . Granted this was all before Covid  and we have only sailed on Meraviglia class since start up and that class of ship has fewer venues for music , Pub has a guitar player/ singer,  Galleria lounge has the party band and Sky lounge as a jazz set up of some sort . 

MSC don't have pool bands , at least we have never seen one , they do have great parties though , love their White night ..