Live MSC Preziosa Grand Voyage

Tonight we had some moments with classic music. It was an introduction to other presentations, which will follow during the cruise. It was nice. They call the performers Musica in Maschera. We have heard Musica in Maschera a couple of times at MSC but the interpreters were others. I was expecting those interpreters after reading the announcement of Musica in

Maschera. I wonder if that is a kind of general name and not specific to the talented interpreters including a violin player, which we have experienced before. Nevertheless the short presentation with the new artists was really good. Looking forward to more performances.

Ivi

We have left Salvador da Bahia, our last port in the American continent and we are heading towards Tenerife. We have many sea days ahead of us. Today is the first one.

Our stay in Salvador was very nice. We like the place although it can be quite intimidating for first time visitors. We were at least six times in Salvador and know our way around. If you come for the first time and are not taking an organized tour, just walk off the ship and walk in the direction of the elevator, which communicates the Baixa (port area at the low level) with the historical center at the upper level. The elevator costs 0.15 cents of Reais per person one way. Lots of people do that but it is quite safe. Just be aware of your personal belongings. On your way to the elevator you will pass through a Market (Mercado Modelo) selling handicrafts.

The historical center has a beautiful atmosphere. Many people on the street, dancing, playing drums, just hanging around. This time we have visited once again the Franciscan Church and went for dinner at our favorite restaurant in Salvador called Maria Matamouros. This restaurant was elected as one of the best restaurants in Salvador da Bahia. It serves international or regional food. To recommend are either the Bobo de Camaroes or the Moqueca de Camaroes. Those are both Bahianan specialties with shrimps, coconut milk and other ingredients with strong African influence.

After dinner we wanted to go to a folkloric ballet but it was not open. So we just walked a little more in town and came back to the ship by taxi. During the day we do not mind to return to the ship using the elevator again, but in the evening we recommend using a taxi. It costs about 20 to 25 Reais (about US 8) per car.

Overall it was a nice stay at Salvador and a good way to say goodbye to Brazil and South America. I will post some pictures later.

Ivi

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The San Francisco Church in Salvador da Bahia

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TB ... thank you so much for reviving my memories of our visit to Salvador which we also made on Preziosa in 2015.

Hope you enjoy the sea days ahead. For us (if memory serves) we visited Forteleza before then heading eastward back to Europe. Crossing the Equator was a lot of fun!

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Some impressions from Salvador da Bahia

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Many thanks to the nice review! In some ways your review is making me to continue living my own experience on another MSC ship, the Magnifica a had a month ago! You car read my full review at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2619927.

Being a smaller ship the Magnifica carried less people than your ship. I believe they have even left some cabins empty on purpose for renovations, so even less people aboard than that ship's usual... Crowds were not a problem, and I only saw them when that was expectable for example entering or exiting the theatre.

There are though a place where I have to agree with you. MSC needs to revise their check-in process... I believe they created the current one some 2 years ago with the best of the intentions... But simply it seems clear fleet wide that it is not working!... This current one is a line creator for the sake being a line creator that is really unproductive!... Am I the unique one wondering whether the line you showed in the photo is from those individuals just wanting to register their credit card by the machines near guest services? Indeed and the machines are not so easy than some might think and they are not accessible enough for those individuals whom are disabled of some sort like the visually impaired like me!

"Mainstream" services of all sorts have been sort of declining for the most part on every aspect of our life with very few exceptions on the last decades, IMHO. Cruising is not amongst those few exceptions either... No surprise you are feeling things the way you are... Curiously though I sort of feel the opposite way regarding MSC in certain ways. When I first sailed with them some 12 years ago they were clearly what I can call an Italian business for the Italians... Non Italian guests were seen as sort of 2nd class guests that were there just because they couldn't fill the cabins with proper Italians!... Now MSC is far more international and far more receptive of the diverse worldwide international nationality diversity! Certainly part of the "glamour" of the "good old days" has gone and will not return. Certainly there were some cutbacks... But IMHO generally speaking the global experience has vastly improved! Food is generally better, bar service also better, Venchi gelato is a must have and they are doing things little bit more in conformity with what by definition we can call a "Mainstream Cruise" and that is lovely. Maybe they are in the adjustment process that will require some more years... But I believe they will succeed!... The remarkable Italian flavour is there and I hope it to be for long and very long years and decades to come!...

Have a nice sailing and be welcome to my own Lisbon city!

We were originally scheduled to be on "that" cruise, in cabin 10223, which I think is similar to yours.

I put "that" in quotes because we booked it as a 4-night out of Barcelona, which was the original itinerary. When they changed it to a 20-night, they simply left us in the same balcony cabin at the same price, under $500 per person for a Grand Voyage cruise. If you're curious, it was originally scheduled to leave Barcelona on 4-11-18 and the itinerary was Corsica, Rome, La Spezia (Cinque Terre), and Genoa. So drastic itinerary change indeed.

Hard to imagine that we cancelled it at such a low cost, but neither my girlfriend nor I could take so much time off from work for such a long cruise. Plus, the itinerary change made it impractical for us. Looked at flying into one of the European ports rather than embarking from Brazil, but the timing and flights didn't work.

Looks like a nice cruise though. I'll be interested to follow along and see how it goes for you!

TB ... thank you so much for reviving my memories of our visit to Salvador which we also made on Preziosa in 2015.

 

Hope you enjoy the sea days ahead. For us (if memory serves) we visited Forteleza before then heading eastward back to Europe. Crossing the Equator was a lot of fun!

 

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Hi Beamafar,

We had a nice quiet day yesterday. On this trip the Preziosa is going straight to Europe from Salvador.

Today there is the Neptun party on the programm. I think this is the crossing of the Equator?

Ivi

Many thanks to the nice review! In some ways your review is making me to continue living my own experience on another MSC ship, the Magnifica a had a month ago! You car read my full review at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2619927.

 

Being a smaller ship the Magnifica carried less people than your ship. I believe they have even left some cabins empty on purpose for renovations, so even less people aboard than that ship's usual... Crowds were not a problem, and I only saw them when that was expectable for example entering or exiting the theatre.

 

There are though a place where I have to agree with you. MSC needs to revise their check-in process... I believe they created the current one some 2 years ago with the best of the intentions... But simply it seems clear fleet wide that it is not working!... This current one is a line creator for the sake being a line creator that is really unproductive!... Am I the unique one wondering whether the line you showed in the photo is from those individuals just wanting to register their credit card by the machines near guest services? Indeed and the machines are not so easy than some might think and they are not accessible enough for those individuals whom are disabled of some sort like the visually impaired like me!

 

"Mainstream" services of all sorts have been sort of declining for the most part on every aspect of our life with very few exceptions on the last decades, IMHO. Cruising is not amongst those few exceptions either... No surprise you are feeling things the way you are... Curiously though I sort of feel the opposite way regarding MSC in certain ways. When I first sailed with them some 12 years ago they were clearly what I can call an Italian business for the Italians... Non Italian guests were seen as sort of 2nd class guests that were there just because they couldn't fill the cabins with proper Italians!... Now MSC is far more international and far more receptive of the diverse worldwide international nationality diversity! Certainly part of the "glamour" of the "good old days" has gone and will not return. Certainly there were some cutbacks... But IMHO generally speaking the global experience has vastly improved! Food is generally better, bar service also better, Venchi gelato is a must have and they are doing things little bit more in conformity with what by definition we can call a "Mainstream Cruise" and that is lovely. Maybe they are in the adjustment process that will require some more years... But I believe they will succeed!... The remarkable Italian flavour is there and I hope it to be for long and very long years and decades to come!...

 

Have a nice sailing and be welcome to my own Lisbon city!

Nice and detailed comment Nunagoras. Thank you for taking the time.

I remember following your thread on the Magnifica, which is a lovely ship. I will elaborate more on our impressions of this crossing later, but I can say that we are having a good time. No worries.

Lisboa is one of my favorite cities in Europe. Lovely, lovely. We have found many years ago a simple seafood restaurant in which we eat centolla (is this how you call it?). It is a restaurant managed by people from Shri Lanka. Maybe you can recommend also a restaurant Portuguese managed in the city center?

Our internet conection is not the best, it takes some patience to load the CC pages and to post photos.

Ivi

We were originally scheduled to be on "that" cruise, in cabin 10223, which I think is similar to yours.

 

I put "that" in quotes because we booked it as a 4-night out of Barcelona, which was the original itinerary. When they changed it to a 20-night, they simply left us in the same balcony cabin at the same price, under $500 per person for a Grand Voyage cruise. If you're curious, it was originally scheduled to leave Barcelona on 4-11-18 and the itinerary was Corsica, Rome, La Spezia (Cinque Terre), and Genoa. So drastic itinerary change indeed.

 

Hard to imagine that we cancelled it at such a low cost, but neither my girlfriend nor I could take so much time off from work for such a long cruise. Plus, the itinerary change made it impractical for us. Looked at flying into one of the European ports rather than embarking from Brazil, but the timing and flights didn't work.

 

Looks like a nice cruise though. I'll be interested to follow along and see how it goes for you!

Wow that would have been a fantastic price for this voyage! Such a pity you could not make it. Thanks for following this thread. I am trying to be as honest as possible. It is a good cruise in a lovely ship.

Ivi

I am sitting in our balcony after our lunch in the main dining room. My vegetable curry was fine, while my husbands spaghetti with meatballs not. I seldom hear my husband complaining about food, but this time he emphasized that the pasta used to be better at MSC ships.

We are enjoying our crossing. Well in general, we are still missing the Italian way of cruising which MSC is so proud of. This is a Brazilian oriented ship with more than 3000 Brazilians on board. We have done this crossing before and we did have so many Brazilians on board before, but still we could recognize the Italian identity most of the time. Not this time. Not Buongiorno or Bona Sera but even the greetings are in Portuguese. After two sea days I am wondering if we are still in Brazilian waters, but in any case it looks like this pattern of being a Brazilian ship will continue until we disembark, which is not a Brazilian port, but a German port…

Now, we are still finding our Brazilian companions pleasant and polite. There are some exceptions, like the lady that used her elbows to gain additional space at the very demanded elevators, with disregard if she was hitting someone... But up to now this is rather the exception.

This morning we have spent some time on deck 16 where we found a quiet place in the Galaxy restaurant. Our cabin attendant seems to be annoyed if she finds us in our room when she wishes to do her 10 minutes cleaning. I wonder why. Anyhow we give her some free time and get out in the hope she will come while we are gone. Sometimes this works out and sometimes she just has to cope with us sitting in the balcony.

We had the first gala evening on board. It was nice with most of our fellow passengers wearing elegant clothes. There were also a couple of rebels, who demonstrated that they do not agree with the dress code and wearing shorts and tennis shoes did not hesitate to go for dinner at the main dining room. Not that MSC cares. Lots of personalities around. We have enjoyed the first gala evening with all those elegant people in the also elegant venues of the MSC Preziosa.

Last evening there was the first of 4 presentations of classic music. The performers are three singers and a piano player. What a wonderful performance. Such lovely voices! This was again something we remember and like about MSC. Standing ovation for those performers. As I have mentioned before, they announced them as Musica in Maschera. I am not sure what that means. I thought it was the name of the performing group, but since they are completely other performers than the ones we met under that name, now I am not sure anymore. Maybe you know?

Ivi

Nice and detailed comment Nunagoras. Thank you for taking the time.

I remember following your thread on the Magnifica, which is a lovely ship. I will elaborate more on our impressions of this crossing later, but I can say that we are having a good time. No worries.

Lisboa is one of my favorite cities in Europe. Lovely, lovely. We have found many years ago a simple seafood restaurant in which we eat centolla (is this how you call it?). It is a restaurant managed by people from Shri Lanka. Maybe you can recommend also a restaurant Portuguese managed in the city center?

Our internet conection is not the best, it takes some patience to load the CC pages and to post photos.

Ivi

Many thanks to the kind words!... :) Yes, Santola is the right name for that seafood plate! I'm seafood severely allergic so, unfortunately I can't give my 2 cents on it... My recommendation? Well that depends on the time you have, and where you want to go and of course price. If you want something really accessible in few time by the big malls you have "Portugália" which is a currently Heineken owned traditional chain of what can be seen as a mix from a steakhouse and a seafood place (they have full English language menus). You'll may find the "santola" plate there. If you wish something more traditional to experience the true "good old days" traditional Portuguese cuisine I can recommend you this place "http://adegatiamatilde.pt/". It's not near the port though and while it is not very expensive it is not cheap either maybe around the EUR 20-25 per person per meal without wines, I personally used to go there back in the day but not on the most recent years unfortunately... Their website is not entirely translated, but to give you an idea "Bacalhau" is the Portuguese word for cod fish. It is the most commonly consumed fish dish here! So now if you wish just something good enough to go with there are tons of nice relatively cheap places at walk distance from the port which will likely to be the new St. Apolónia cruise terminal near the central railway station...

By the way... Tons of lovely places to eat here in Lisbon! Feel at home!... Have a nice stay!... :)

This is supposed to be used before entering the buffet. Most of the people just ignore it. If you try to use it, it does not work.

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This is supposed to be used before entering the buffet. Most of the people just ignore it. If you try to use it, it does not work.

 

 

 

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When I sailed on Princess, there was a person standing at the buffet and you either sanitized your hands or you didn't enter the buffet area.

Too few use these and perhaps it does need to be better enforced in order to prevent the spread of illness.

As a benefit of the black membership, we had the chance to eat either Sushi and Co, or go for Italian food at an Italian fast food chain called Eataly. We decided to take Eataly.

There is a special menue for black members and we are not allowed at the restaurant, just at the fast food area.

We had a good meal. My husbands shrimps were very good. My beef tagliata was very hard. We have enjoyed the nice hams and cheese though.

The local

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When I sailed on Princess, there was a person standing at the buffet and you either sanitized your hands or you didn't enter the buffet area.

 

Too few use these and perhaps it does need to be better enforced in order to prevent the spread of illness.

Yes, this is also our experience from the US American cruise lines that belong to the Royal Caribbean family (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Azamara).

Unfortunately here at the MSC Preziosa, this is not monitored. The first day there was a lady waiter at the buffet restaurant who did a good job and tried to enforce the use of the hand sanitizer. One person alone is not enough however.

Additionally, the hygiene and sanitation measures at the main restaurant for lunch are also not the best. For example, immediately after people leave the table, they will set it again without even changing the unused (but touched) glasses or spoons. Is this how is being done on all ships at MSC now? Our memories from the cruise line go back to an MSC, which although much relaxed than the North American concurrence, had still acceptable sanitation measures in place.

I read reports about how wonderful things run at the Yacht Club and how happy people are with that experience, and how happy people are that the Yacht Club users are happy. I am sorry if I do not always bring good news. Do we have to book the Yacht Club to receive acceptable hygiene standards? This is a Transatlantic with many sea days and thousands of people. This is not a 7 day cruise from Santos to Santos. I think it is about time, somebody from management have a look at the practices and take accordingly corrective action.

A nice present as part of the benefits of the black membership.

A chocolate ship. By the way there is also a great chocolate store onboard. Hard to resist.

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Thanks Nunagoras for the restaurant's recommendations. As soon as I have a better internet connection I will have a look.

We enjoy our dinners at the MSC Preziosa. Our two waiters from Indonesia are a very good team and work in a friendly and efficient manner.

Last evening there was the second gala night on board and again many people wearing nice clothes. But not as many as on the first night. The food offerings on the gala dinners are a little bit better than on the other nights but no lobster or something similar. We have enjoyed last evening a good monk fish.

The black members party was held last evening. Difficult to estimate how many people were there. I guess more than 300. Not sure if those black members got their membership due to the very successful marketing strategy of status match or to having sailed many times with MSC. It does not make a difference when getting the benefits onboard. We are very satisfied with the MSC black members program on board.

Today is our fifth sea day. Seas have been calm all these days, but of course this is a big ship, which handles big waves very well. I have read that the Azamara Quest has changed its plan and instead of going to Ponta Delgada is going to Funchal because of the weather in the Azores. Hopefully by the time we are supposed to arrive to Ponta Delgada, the weather will be good. I am not able with my slow internet connection to have a look at the weather forecasts.

Have a good week and bye for now

Ivi

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Hi TB ... God to hear the weather is behaving for you guys, did you get a ship each or just the one ? just that your photos shows just one.

Trip sounds amazing so far. Have your internet issues been whilst crossing the Atlantic? We're booked on Preziosa for a TA in November, curious how the internet will be whilst crossing the Atlantic.

Hi TB ... God to hear the weather is behaving for you guys, did you get a ship each or just the one ? just that your photos shows just one.

Hi Sidari, we have just got one ship.

Ivi

Trip sounds amazing so far. Have your internet issues been whilst crossing the Atlantic? We're booked on Preziosa for a TA in November, curious how the internet will be whilst crossing the Atlantic.

Hi, we have bought the premium internet package, which is supposed to allow for faster communication and even video streaming. It is extremely slowly. No chance to watch any videos.

Very difficult to even post pictures. Tomorrow we arrive to Tenerife and we hope that it will improve.

Ivi

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Hi, we have bought the premium internet package, which is supposed to allow for faster communication and even video streaming. It is extremely slowly. No chance to watch any videos.

Very difficult to even post pictures. Tomorrow we arrive to Tenerife and we hope that it will improve.

Ivi

 

 

 

 

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Many thanks. It was very poor on our last TA but i know they've upgraded the system. We were debating between the two because i think we'll have 5 sea days we can't use it and therefore won't get anywhere near the extra allowance we'd be paying for with the premium package.

Will be following the rest of your trip with interest. Enjoy!

We had a wonderful day in Tenerife. Lovely weather and after 5 sea days a very welcome island.

Here some pictures of a visit to Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz. We have enjoyed a nice coffee called Barranquito and a good Rioja wine.

Phoenix Canariensis are those beautiful palm trees

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Many thanks. It was very poor on our last TA but i know they've upgraded the system. We were debating between the two because i think we'll have 5 sea days we can't use it and therefore won't get anywhere near the extra allowance we'd be paying for with the premium package.

Will be following the rest of your trip with interest. Enjoy!

Now in Tenerife, we are getting a good connection. This is the alert MSC posted in relation to the internet. If I were to pick up a package again I would choose probably just the standard one. Thanks for your good wishes.

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