MSC Armonia review

This cruise was for my 30th birthday. We have been on numerous MSC cruises before, on both Fantasia Class (MSC's largest ships) and Lirica Class, to which Armonia belongs. Our previous cruise on Lirica was pre-stretch (MSC's Renaissance Program involved cutting and shutting the ships to add more cabins and public space).

Embarkation was fairly quick. MSC have changed their check-in procedure so that at the initial check-in desk you just fill in some forms and they check your passport. You're then ushered towards the ship where security staff then take your photograph. Your cruise card is waiting in your cabin. This seemed a little strange at first, but in hindsight it probably speeds up check-in as there isn't quite so much for the staff to do with each passenger.

As always with MSC we found the ship to be spotless, and although Armonia is aging, all the public areas and cabins are kept immaculate. I dare say you wouldn't realise how old she is if it weren't for the styling of things like the atrium and some of the fixtures and fittings which do look a little dated.

We had a suite, which we found absolutely lovely. There was a bathroom with glass shower screen over the bath - no annoying curtain! A large walk-in wardrobe offered plenty of storage - both hanging space and drawers. If you were to consider a long cruise with MSC on one of these ships, I'd recommend the suite! The bed was ever-so comfortable, a nice sitting area and what could be described as a sideboard with a couple of cupboards and the mini bar. If you have the premium drinks package the contents of the mini bar are free - we found this very useful for juice in the morning and a night-cap before bed! We normally only have the standard drinks package, but decided to treat ourselves to celebrate!

On this class of ship, if you have a balcony cabin or suite dining is 'my choice' in the La Pergola Restaurant which offers some excellent views from the back of the ship. We were lucky to have a table by the windows every day. The menu in this restaurant was also different to the main dining room for other passengers. We had some beautiful meals in the evening; the service was always top-notch. Th extensive wine list included with the drinks package was also an added bonus!

In many reviews of MSC people say they didn't enjoy the food. My advice here would be to go with an open-mind. MSC is an Italian line, therefore the food is Italian style. Every dinner menu has a couple of appetizers, salad, soup, risotto / pasta, main courses and desserts (sometimes cheese as well!) If you can't make a meal out of that then I do wonder what people eat at home! In comparison to other lines, there isn't steak every night but the rest of the food in my opinion is lovely.

My partner and I tend to use the Main Dining Room for breakfast and lunch. Here is where I think the expansion of Lirica Class ships has not worked. Owing to the increase in passenger numbers breakfast and lunch is a mix of buffet and a la carte. This was a slight disappointment to us as we're not fans of buffets and much prefer the high level of service we are used to. I think the waiting staff were too stretched at these key times and this had an impact on service, which was a shame.

The entertainment was up to the usual standards of MSC, with some excellent deck parties during the day and at night! We had a wonderful time! We went to some of the shows, Fantasticats and Dirty Dancing really stood out and were great fun.

We didn't take any ship organised excursions as we did some research beforehand so did our own thing. The ports of call were Majorca, Ibiza, Sardinia, Livorno and Genoa. In Livorno we got the train to Pisa - this was a bargain at just a couple of euro for the train tickets. The train station is a long way from the port in Livorno. You can take a bus. We had a taxi back to the ship from the train station which cost 20 euros, which was quite reasonable for the distance.

We really enjoyed the cruise and already have two more MSC cruises booked in.

Thanks for a wonderful (and timely for me) review. I'll be on Sinfonia soon and, as I haven't cruised on a Lirica class ship yet, it is great to see a review of one.

So good to hear about the suite. I'd originally booked a fantastica balcony cabin - one which doesn't have a sofa - for a repo in October from Venice to Durban, but I quickly changed the booking when I discovered that an Aurea suite worked out at a similar price to the balcony cabin plus adding Allegrissimo which is included in Aurea. Like you, I intend to upgrade to premium now that MSC has finally seen sense to allow it for the difference in price. I, too, love the bottles of juice in the mini-bar in the morning and, when we don't have the premium package, my DH usually has to head to the buffet for one for me when he goes out for his first cigarette of the day!

Your dining experience is very informative - the fact that the menu in the Anytime dining room is different to the MDR is something I hadn't read about before - so, good to know! Also, the fact that you found the set-up for breakfast and lunch disappointing. I'd read somewhere before that breakfast was a combination of buffet and a la carte but I wasn't aware it applied to lunch, too. Another new piece of information for me!

I had some reservations about trying a Lirica class ship as most of my previous cruises have been on Fantasia class and I like the big ships. However, after reading your review I've a good sense of what to expect. So glad you enjoyed your cruise. :)

Hi Bea, thanks for your lovely comments!

Re breakfast, hot items like sausages, bacon etc, fruit and breads / pastries are on the buffet. Items like smoked salmon and eggs benedict are a la carte. Coffee / tea / juices are still waiter service.

At lunch time the buffet choices are different to the a la carte choices, and the waiters tend to ask if you want the buffet or from the menu - have a quick look at the buffet on the way to your table ;)

Also you will be able to have a continental breakfast delivered for free - I found this really useful for coffee and a wake up call!

Tim

Sounds like it's going to be a bit different to what I've experienced before. Nice to have a change to what I'm used to.

We sometimes order room service breakfast - I, too, treat it as my early morning wake-up call. But DH isn't too fond of it. He doesn't like the coffee provided and prefers to get it in the buffet when going for his smoke. I don't drink coffee so the minibar is handy for juice drinks to have with the rolls and croissants delivered. :)

You mentioned that you managed to get a table by the window in the MDR in the evenings. Can you tell me what time you dined at? Also, can you say how the menu differed from the MDR one? Sounds interesting that you found the offerings better - that would make up for the absence of a specialty restaurant onboard. I hope we get the same service on Sinfonia that you received on Armonia.

Thanks for the review.

Sounds like it's going to be a bit different to what I've experienced before. Nice to have a change to what I'm used to.

 

We sometimes order room service breakfast - I, too, treat it as my early morning wake-up call. But DH isn't too fond of it. He doesn't like the coffee provided and prefers to get it in the buffet when going for his smoke. I don't drink coffee so the minibar is handy for juice drinks to have with the rolls and croissants delivered. :)

 

You mentioned that you managed to get a table by the window in the MDR in the evenings. Can you tell me what time you dined at? Also, can you say how the menu differed from the MDR one? Sounds interesting that you found the offerings better - that would make up for the absence of a specialty restaurant onboard. I hope we get the same service on Sinfonia that you received on Armonia.

Hi Bea, we usually dined at 8pm.... the food was quite a similar style but I'd hazard a guess used more expensive ingredients, particularly in gala nights - the menu was similar to the Christmas Eve menu which was beautiful!

Thanks, Tim - I appreciate it! You've given me something else to look forward to ;)

Like you, I intend to upgrade to premium now that MSC has finally seen sense to allow it for the difference in price.

Hi all. We are new to MSC, so I'm sorry if my question is a dumb one. I know that on Celebrity, which we have usually cruised, we were able to pay the difference between the classic drink package included in our booking and the premium drink package once we were onboard. This made great sense to us and we were surprised when we read on these boards that you cannot do this with MSC.

From the above post, it seems that MSC has revised that policy. I'm wondering if that is across the entire fleet or only in certain markets. We are sailing Divina in the spring in an Aurea balcony and would love to be able to upgrade. If the change is not fleet-wide yet, I'm hoping it will be by next spring (fingers crossed!).

............. it seems that MSC has revised that policy. I'm wondering if that is across the entire fleet or only in certain markets. We are sailing Divina in the spring in an Aurea balcony and would love to be able to upgrade. If the change is not fleet-wide yet, I'm hoping it will be by next spring (fingers crossed!).

This is from the price list of beverage packages which are placed on the tables in the lounges at the beginning of the cruise. It's from a Med cruise sailing and I have no idea if it's available in other regions:

WANT TO UPGRADE YOUR PREPAID BEVERAGE PACKAGE?

from CHEERS! to ALLEGRISSIMO

ADULT at € 9.5

CHILD at € 3 (per day)

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

from CHEERS! to ALLEGRISSIMO PREMIUM

ADULT at € 27.5 (per day)

CHILD at € 12 (per day)

from ALLEGRISSIMO to ALLEGRISSIMO PREMIUM

ADULT at € 18 (per day)

CHILD at € 9 (per day)

Wow Bea! you're incredibly quick off the mark haha!

I'm glad MSC revised this policy and allow you to upgrade now, I wouldn't do it all the time unless the drinks were free initially or it was a special occasion as the standard Allegrissimo includes a very good selection that's seen us through numerous cruises :)

Tim

x

Wow Bea! you're incredibly quick off the mark haha!

;)

I'm glad MSC revised this policy and allow you to upgrade now

Same here :)

I wouldn't do it all the time unless the drinks were free initially or it was a special occasion as the standard Allegrissimo includes a very good selection that's seen us through numerous cruises :)

When I booked my upcoming Oct Sinfonia cruise last year Allegrissimo was included. I asked my TA to contact MSC to find out if I could upgrade for the price difference. The reply was a resounding No! I commented on here about it and stated that if MSC weren't interested in an extra €864 income that was their loss. There was no way I was going to pay €2112 for a premium package when the classic, as you say, includes a very good selection!

Tim, I have a(nother) question for you. Did you see desserts at the coffee bar and, if so, were they included in the premium package? I read somewhere that they were available on Sinfonia and am wondering if it's a similar offering to the Gelataria on the Fantasia class ships.

There were some desserts in the coffee bar, but they were all free miniature desserts like small pots of mousse, biscuits, macarons, dainty cakes or 'fancies' as we might call them over here and the occasional large slice of cake. They use the cabinet that has mini croissants etc in at breakfast time.

The coffee bar on this class of ship is different to that on Fantasia class where there is the piazza style area with a chiller cabinet filled with lots of goodies that are extra and priced per item - these are included with premium

Hope that makes sense Bea?

Tim

Another golden nugget of info, Tim. ;) It sounds a little like Cafè al Bacio on X.

I love the Piazzetta area on the Fantasia ships .........I've been on all four and have partaken of the wonderful offerings there to accompany my hot chocolate & baileys for elevenses :cool:

I was on Magnifica recently - it didn't have anything similar so it's nice to know that the Lirica class offer somewhere to have a nice treat without having to resort to the buffet.

Are the 'fancies' as exceedingly good as Mr K.'s French ones, by any chance? :rolleyes: :D:D:D

Thank you for the review from the lovely MSC Armonia. She's a very nice ship and I'm glad you had a great cruise on here. We sailed here last winter on a Canary Islands cruise and loved it! Like you we enjoyed the La Pergola Restaurant very much, both the food and service. We sailed in one of the new balcony cabins and it was the smallest balcony cabin I've ever sailed in but very cozy and comfy. Here is a movie I made from the cabin:

[YOUTUBE]jV7vLkUAcMo[/YOUTUBE]

Bea, I'm sure you gonna love the Lirica Class :) Have a great cruise.

Thanks NC .............. and thanks for the video, too. I'm now getting really excited and looking forward to the Lirica class experience thanks to you and Tim. ;)

I've 2 cruises booked on Sinfonia. The TA to Durban where I was going to book one of those balcony cabins you had (I had a similar one on Preziosa) when I discovered that I could get an Aurea Suite for the price of a balcony + Allegrissimo! It was a no-brainer when you consider the extras included in the Aurea, let alone the extra space!

Another booking was, again, a balcony, but, for the first time in all my cruises, it was a 'guarantee'. As I was getting 30% + 5% discount plus €250 OBC I took the risk - it paid off! I've been upgraded to a suite and, while I won't get the 'extras' as it's a Fantastica experience booking, again, it's extra space which I'm very happy about! :)

I just found this review. I don't know how I missed it since I am on this MSC board everyday. Thanks again. Looking forward to your Splendida review next month also :)

I was wondering if Splendia has the "my choice" dining also?

Also what did you do in Genoa? We are planning the HOHO and eating at a restaurant famous for their walnut pesto.

Timm

I was wondering if Splendia has the "my choice" dining also?

 

Also what did you do in Genoa? We are planning the HOHO and eating at a restaurant famous for their walnut pesto.

 

Timm

Splendida has My Choice dining for Aurea guests only (or YC in the dedicated restaurant there).

I did the HOHO in Genoa once and enjoyed it. There's also the famous Aquarium which is a bit of a walk to (though the HOHO will take you there) and the Black Pearl ship to view on the way. I like the promenade in Genoa - you just have to dodge the North Africans selling the fake leather goods and handbags along the way!

The Aquarium was 25Euro each and there were queues just to queue so we didn't bother as we've been to the Sea Life centre here in Birmingham which is very good, but fish is fish ;)

We just fancied quite a lazy day so we had a walk around the city, looking at the palaces and inside a couple of churches and had a drink by the medieval city walls. It's a nice city to look round. To be honest I'd had too much sun at Livorno so I wanted to be careful.

There's some decent guide books and plenty of info out there. The HoHo and pesto experience sounds good

Very much appreciate the review.