MSC Fantasia – UAE – 24/02-04/03/2017 – Review!

After lots of advice from this lovely cruise community it is now m turn to contribute a little bit to same community with my quick review of my wonderful week in the MSC Fantasia doing the UAE, Bahrein and Qatar itinerary as part of a small chartered group with a Portuguese TA!

Basically speaking,what makes a good cruise? For me it's a mix between great prorts for your day and a good ship hotel for your evening and the usual sea days that we may have here or there.

On this review I will just give marks on a 0 (Uggly) to 20 (Above Excelent) followed by little description notes for each item when needed. I will also make some advice tips especially with the mostly American audience of those boards when necessary. I will review all the parts of ourcruise package arranged by the Portuguese TA with the ship.

Portuguese TAservices and guide – 20 – Excelent guide and general serviceorganization!

Flights:

Emirantes Lisbon /Dubai / Lisbon – 14 – Once Lisbon is not ready for the good A380 yet, we had to use the smaller B777-300. The first plane was showing some age and perharps not magnificent maintenance and cleanliness.The returning plane was from a certainly newer, little bit larger and somewhat better variant that provided a very better flight experience. Food, drinks and service aboard were excelent in both flights though.

Ports of call:

Dubai – 20 – If you can afford some 2 or 3 days prior or after your cruise you'll find that the best decidion ever. Going to the top of the “Burj alKalifa” is a must do in Dubai, as is to see the Dubai Mall and the Burj al Arab Hotel to just say a few of the wonderful places!

Abu-Dhabi – 20 –Unfortunately Mother Nature didn't cooperate with us providing heavy rain during most of the day, but we made the best of the possible in this situation. The Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque and the Palace Hotel of the Emirates are Must do in Abu-Dhabi.

Barhein – 14 –The mosque, the souk (market) and a camel reserve on the desert aremust do in Barhein. Women should be aware that they will be required to dress the traditional islamic full “burka” to enter the Mosque.

Qatar – 20 –Perharps the most surprising of all the ports. It is mostly a very modern city with its cultural center, its markets, its artificial islands and its islamic musium! A must do by itself. An explosion ofmodernity joined with tradition! A live museum by itself!

Sir Bani Yas Island– Again mother nature decided on not cooperating 100% with us, this time due to fog. I decided to just make this another sea day insteadof going to the beach.

And now to the ship:

Embarkation /Debarkation – 20 – Although I was on a private charter group with pre-determined embarkation and debarkation times that might have speed up the proccess a little bit, it felt to me that Port of Dubai is more than well equiped to handle ships even triple than Fantasia's size! The new MSC check-in procedure seems to help a little bit to speed up even more the proccess. I would say that for a regularpassenger some 15 minutes should be tbe needed time.

Note that now you have to register your Credit Card on one of the machines in the atrium. Those machines are not full accessible for people with some disabilities like me… But don't worry! Guest services personnel were more than happy to help and then it was surely easy!

Ship design,maintenance and cleanliness – 19 – If it wasn't the certainly dated 4:3 mode TV set on my cabin I wouldn't see the Fantasia as a 9 years old ship! This ship is spottlessly clean and extremely well maintained! Ship design might feel somewhat challenging… But it proved to be excellent on spreading out the passenger flow. Apart the expectable moments like at the end of the shows, the ship never felt really crowded, even on port days. To find a chair at the buffet or at the pool deck might have been challenging here or there… But some persistent searching gave their fruits shorthly!…

Cabin – 18 –Good balcony cabin for 3. Good cabin steward serving us.

Service – 18 –Certainly one of my best tourism experiences on both cruise and landfacilities alike!

Dining – 18 –Tastes are of course subjective. General quality is objective. The current MSC MDR menus are more compact and perhaps more simple than the ones they used 5 years ago, but generally speaking general quality has vastly improved since then and they provided some of the best hotel food I have ever had. Buffet food is buffet food. Nothing to write home about, but certainly good value for the price paid. Service was consistently good across the board.

For the Americans:Beware that water is paid apart on the MDR. No tap water served. As I'm aware of, Americans receive a 14 bottles of 1 liter of water. You may ask your server to have the water provided at the beginning ofthe meal.

Bars – 20 – As a non drinker I can't talk about the alcohol sold aboard, Even my father only drinks the ocasional beer that was mostly draught Heinekken, so no comments from him either… But I drink some nonalcoholic drinks from the bars, lounges, cafes and all the possible drink places aboard. I decided on the DOREMI 10 drink vouchers for non alcoholic drinks that revealed for me to be more a convenience for cost control than a good value by itself. I decided also on the coffee cudle 15 coffee drinks vouchers that revealed for me to be a must do on the ship especially if you want some of the fancy coffee delights from the coffee bar, and I happilly indulged on them once they were to die for!...

It is worth mention that MSC has finally replaced the uggly Segafredo coffee they served 5 years ago with a wonderful Lavazza coffee selection. Good choice!

For the Americans: If you want an American style coffee just ask the bartenders for an Americano and they will be more than happy to provide. Otherwise you'll receive the small cup Italian version of an espresso.

Service was consistently good and fast on this department.

Shore excursions –17 – It's worth noting that our excursions were somewhat adapted to not only our Portuguese language, but the needs of the TA with whom we contracted. Main shore excursions for general guests might have been different. Out of our 4 guides, 3 were excelent, and the other just did her job. It was generally a wonderful time!

Have a nice day!

Excellent, detailed report, thank-you!

Wonderful review, really helped me decide to book the cruise. I do have a question, you said in order to visit the mosque you have to wear full burka. Where can I get one or is it possible to rent one?

Wonderful review, really helped me decide to book the cruise. I do have a question, you said in order to visit the mosque you have to wear full burka. Where can I get one or is it possible to rent one?

I did this trip on Fantasia in January this year - had a wonderful time :)

To visit the mosques, rightfully so ladies must adhere to the expected dress code. Coverage is needed from neck to ankles basically, including arms down to the wrist. Hair must be fully covered.

Trousers - loosely fitting - and a long sleeved top would work...........but I wore an abaya and shayla I bought from eBay. I felt this was the most respectful option.

Most mosques will loan out coverings, but it adds time to entering and leaving the building.........and everything is very generic. I'm only 4' 11' and think I would have been tripping over my feet in a borrowed abaya! :o

......there's also the issue of 'communal clothing' that might be bothersome to some ladies

The mosques are stunningly beautiful, welcoming and a pleasure to visit :)

Thanks for the review. Looking forward to doing this itinerary next year. I've noticed the MCS website says Sir Bani Yas Island has an area for YC and an Aurea Spa area but a reviewer also mentioned an Aurea area. Is there then a separate Aurea sunbed area?

Thank you for your review. Even though I'm not travelling to Dubai on my cruise next year, I love getting feedback and info about Fantasia. :)