MSC Orchestra 2/7-2/21/09 Just Back

We had a great time on our B2B; much better than I anticipated after reading all the reviews.

The ship, as it's been widely reported, is absolutetly beautiful. Except for one incidence in the the Cantinella Wine Bar, the service we experienced was excellent.We never experienced any attitude or MSC stare from anyone. In fact, I thought that most of the staff went above and beyone to make sure we were happy.

We were in an Aft balcony cabin (#9225) and while there was definitley vibration, we slept great (although the mattress was hard IMO) and LOVED the cabin. Our cabin steward, Franck, and his assistant were fantastic. They brought our kids cookies every night and really went above and beyond to take care of us. We tipped them $20 at the beginning of each week and a little extra at the end.

Room service was the fastest I have ever encountered on any ship. It always arrived within 5 minutes. With that said, the menu was extremely limited. No hot breakfasts are available and during the later part of the day or evening, you can only get a chicken club sandwich, tuna sandwich, grilled chicken caesar (yuck! way too much dressing), fruit platter or cheese platter. If you order an iced tea, they will bring you a can and you will have to pay for it. Once we asked for a pitcher of water and they said No. When the room service attendant came, we asked her and she happily brought one.

Overall, we liked the food. Not all of it, but that's to be expected. We had late dining both weeks, although we requested early, and decided to try the late one night and then change it if need be. In the end, we preferred the 8PM dining as this allowed us time to relax after the beach/pool. We were at table 465 and had Wirawan as our waiter, Nyoman as our busboy, and Gaetano as our captain; all did an amazing job in accomodating our ever changing table. We were a large group that had different tables initially and each night (it seemed!) we would mix up the group and amount of people joining us. They never seemed to mind and always added or subtracted chairs as needed with a smile. We loved the Italian specialty dishes, especially the nightly pasta specials that were brought to our table by Gaetano. Each night, one of the captains would make a special pasta such as carbonara, penne ala vodka, pasta fagioli, etc and bring a few plates for us all to share. We also loved the desserts. The fish, on the other hand, was overcooked and dry.

We ate all but two breakfasts and all of our lunches at the buffet as that was much more convenient for us with the kids. I can't complain about the lines, as I generally ate later so I really didn't encounter any. I thought the buffet food was far better than the NCL Dawn and I loved the salad bar at lunch as well as all the fresh fruit that was available. Also, each day at the buffet there was someone making a pasta dish and the buffet always included a specialty item such as grilled fennel sausage, pesto lasagna, cannelonni stuffed with veal. Yummy!! The eggs benedict and pain au chocolate are a must try in the dining room at breakfast.

Pizza at the pizzeria (in the evening) was the best ever and free. Make sure you get it while it's hot and feel free to ask the pizza chef to make a personal pie for you. He'll be happy to do it.

We had dinner one night at Shanghai and loved it. Try the moo shu pork; I'm generally not a big fan but it was superb. We also enjoyed the chicken/pork fried rice. Dinner for 4, with a bottle of wine, cost about $135 and we had quite a bit of food. We never made it to 4 Seasons but friends went the first week and said it was fantastic. It was closed the second week because the ship was crowded it was used for the overflow from the dining room, or so I was told.

The shows were good although I'm generally not the type to go to every show. The first week, the shows were at 10PM or 10:30, which we all liked, as we went after dinner. The next week, the shows were at 7PM or 7:30PM. I think this was due to the fact that the group of the Irish Stars had use of the theatre during the first week. They were a fantastic group and we loved all of the Irish music at the pool each day as well as having the opportunity to spend time with Ronan Tynan. What an incredible person he is.

Week 2 was entirely different than week 1. The ship was VERY crowded and the pool area was overrun with kids, including my 2! We missed the music at the pool although there was an Italian band one day. The kids LOVED the kids club the first week and refused to go the second week as there was just too many kids for them. I think they did a great job Week 1; they took the kids to dinner twice and to several shows. They had a carnival parade where they handmade the costumes and also played lots of games throughout the week, giving the kids the opportunity to win prizes.

I spend alot of time at the casino the first week and didn't step foot into it the second! I love to play Texas Hold Em and they offer a 5/10 No Limit game. The house takes 5%, unlimited rake!! The dealers are nice but not very experienced. They hold a tournament each sea day at 4:30, $100 buy-in, 20% rake!!! Blackjack and traditional poker tables opened at 4:20 every day and craps and hold-em opened at 10:20 (sometimes 9:40) each night.

I'm afraid I've rambled on a bit too long so I'll stop here and say once again, that we very much enjoyed our time on the Orchestra. I was pleasantly suprised and would consider sailing on MSC again. Any questions, ask away!

I am glad to hear that you had a great time. The reviews coming in seem to be getting better and better with each week. :)

1. What time were you able to board the ship on day 1?

2. We have an 11:35AM flight from FLL on our return home. Do you think we will have enough time to make this flight?

3. How was your weather?

4. How were the seas?

5. We'll be on the Eastern intinerary next week. How were the ports of call?

Thanks for posting your review.

My questions are exactly the same. Except- how did your kids like the food?

Did they have enough to eat? If they want just pasta and sauce - is that available?

I am SOOOO happy to read your review!! We know you, and greatly trust your review to be truthful and upfront!

Why was the ship so crowded? Did your kids get to play much in the pool- or was it just too busy?

Thanks again.......

Thanks for the review! Glad that you enjoyed your cruise! You mentioned that the pizza was free--did you get it late in the evening (I think until 11) or during the afternoon snack?

Thanks!

I am glad to hear that you had a great time. The reviews coming in seem to be getting better and better with each week. :)

 

1. What time were you able to board the ship on day 1?

2. We have an 11:35AM flight from FLL on our return home. Do you think we will have enough time to make this flight?

3. How was your weather?

4. How were the seas?

5. We'll be on the Eastern intinerary next week. How were the ports of call?

 

Thanks for posting your review.

We boarded around 12:30 or 1PM without any lines whatsoever. I believe they begin boarding around 11AM. We disembarked yesterday at 10AM (by choice) since our flight wasn't until 2PM and were through security and at the gate by 10:45AM. You should be fine, assuming there are no snafus.

The weather was glorious for 14 days. No rain at all and smooth seas for the most part. We had high winds and rough seas for one day that caused us to be late into Nassau, but other than that, it wasn't too bad. I'm not the best person to ask, since I tend not to notice!

Eastern itinerary is nice with my favorite port being St Maarten. You'll have a great time!

The kids like the food and had plenty to choose from..pasta, ice cream, hot dogs, ice cream, burgers, pizza, ice cream, french fries, salads, ice cream...you get the idea! They had a great time and spent lots and lots of time in the pool.

It was crowded on Week 2 due to President's Week break in the Northeast.

lovetexas, thanks for your comment. I know that there are some on the boards (and I won't mention names) that doubt any positive reviews and start to question the authenticity of the posters involved. I've been around the boards for a while and have cruised many times before, as you know. I am pretty confident that you will have a great time on the MSC Orchestra. It's definitely different than the mainstream lines, but different doesn't mean bad! Another thing I will mention is that if something is wrong, speak up! They will make it right. A quick story....one evening we wanted to send a bottle of wine to our friends that were dining at the Chinese restaurant. We purchased the wine package (great value and great selection!) and wanted to use one of the vouchers in the booklet. We were told that we couldn't by the front desk, when we called. My DH went up to the restaurant, handed them the voucher and told them to bring a bottle of wine to our friend's table. It worked out just fine! It seemed that you needed to be a little assertive at times in order to get thing done, but that was OK with us.

Thanks for the review! Glad that you enjoyed your cruise! You mentioned that the pizza was free--did you get it late in the evening (I think until 11) or during the afternoon snack?

 

Thanks!

Oops! Forgot to answer your question, sorry...the free pizza I am referring to is available from 5PM to 9PM most evenings. There is no pizza late in the evening, only the buffet at 11:45PM. Also, the dinner buffet is only available from 5:30PM to 7:30PM. We never made it there.

On another note, room service does not offer meals from the dining room menu but you can go to the dining room, order from the menu and ask that it be sent to your room. We did this twice, when my DH stayed behind with the kids 2 nights.

Thanks for your great review. Glad you had a good time.

<waves hi to our "neighbor".

It was great to meet you - too bad there was never an official "meet and greet"

We didn't know about the special pasta dishes - we'll remember that next year!!! I agree that Franck was great. He always had two buckets of ice in our room and was quick to get in and clean the room as soon as we left in the morning.

In answer to the disembarkation question. We were in our car and on the way home at 8:30 without asking for special times.

Thanks for the Great dare I say Fair and balanced review!:D I for one will be looking forward to my cruise on the Orchestra April 4th -11th.

Andy

BabyGirl...thank you for your review! We are going on the Orchestra March 7th, and we are looking forward to a great vacaton. This will be our 5th cruise (3rd with our kids). The kids have never gone to the kid's programs and during the at sea days will spend a lot of time at or near the pool. I am expecting it to be hectic near the pool on those days...it always has been. Your review is very, as was said previously, fair and balanced, and we appreciate your opinion. Thank you again!

Melissa

We experienced wonderful time on Orchestra also on Jan 31 cruise inspite of the neg reviews...read mine. We loved each show, service and ease of getting onto the ship and the fastest ever disembarking too. Staff was beyond friendly. And yes, I think you will be able to get the flight at 11:30. You need to be at the airport by 10:15, so just get off priority or the first few colors. We got off priority and we left the ship at &:30 and we were in the airport by 8:15, got our rental car by 8:25 and we were in Orlando by 11:40.

They will work with you to get you off first....

I think the late seating is great at 8 pm, loved that time.

We liked every aspect.... email me at Picard2117@cox.net

We are getting some great info on Poesia for Nov if anyone wants to get that too write me.

<waves hi to our "neighbor".

 

It was great to meet you - too bad there was never an official "meet and greet"

 

We didn't know about the special pasta dishes - we'll remember that next year!!! I agree that Franck was great. He always had two buckets of ice in our room and was quick to get in and clean the room as soon as we left in the morning.

 

In answer to the disembarkation question. We were in our car and on the way home at 8:30 without asking for special times.

Hi there!

It was nice to get a chance to meet you even if it was only for a few moments. I loved the Aft balcony cabin and hoped you did too! As for the special pasta dishes, it was a funny thing, some tables got it and some didn't. Not sure how that worked!

Anyway, we enjoyed your group and would consider sailing with you all in the future.

Regards,

WOW! So many great reviews from last weeks cruise! How exciting to see and read! Thank you, Babygirl for you fair and honest reporting of your cruise. Glad that you had such a wonderful time on the Orchestra!

We actually did not embark until the port of St. Maarten because of mechanical delays with our plane the Friday before and the lack of seats for three going to Miami or FLL. Had a great stay on Monday in St. Maarten though.

So the four nights we were on the ship were fun, however! So sorry we never got to see anyone from our Roll call group as we missed the Meet and Greet. I can't understand all the negative reviews from before unless this ship has made a drastic improvement. The staff were friendly and efficient and I can't say enough good things for the cabin and dining room personnel. I liked the food, especially the rack of lamb and freshly made pastas -- also great fruits and salads. I did not expect fresly grilled seafood or anything since this is a mass market line. The food is markedly better than NCL. I was disaapointed that the ice cream served in the dining room for dessert is not the same as the ice cream sold for 1.50 by the pool (which we enjoyed a few times). Shanghai Restaurant is tops and worth the extra money!

The entertainment was quite classy -- there was opera, Irish dance, Broadway numbers, etc. No comedian though. (unless I missed it the first three nights). Gorgeous theatre with imaginative lighting.

The time in ports was a bit short I thought. Because we had done so much in St. Maarten before embarking we actually had the pool area to ourselves! In Antigua we took a cab to Dickenson's Bay for three a person and rented two chairs for ten dollars and a canopy for 5. It is a lovely spot. Did not shop. Because we didn't get into Nassau till 3 and had to be back on board by 6:30 I nixed the plans to do Wyndham day passes at Cable Beach. Instead we went to the Straw Market and went to to town Junkanoo Beach for a few minutes (dirty beach -- avoid).

The kids activities were BAD for my children. They group the 7--12 year olds together and nothing was of interest for my tween (my 14 year old declined to go to the disco for teen stuff since we joined the ship three days in and young people had made connections at that point). I do think the mini club for the tots of 3-6 is okay though.

I would recommend MSC to fellow cruisers and we enjoyed ourselves.

So sorry about the flight issues... but my point will be: even though you had problems- you still sound like you had a great vacation!! HHMMM.... is a vacation what you make of it? Some Monday AM pondering!!

Babygirl- I love the idea that you (and your DH) figured out ways around the standard rules to get what you needed! It just takes a positive attitude and a little thinkin....LOL:cool:

Oh... of course! We had to make the best of things. What I told my 14 and 11 year old that afternoon of the missed flight is that in life we have to distinguish between disappointment and tragedy. Missing the ship is a disappointment, but not the end othe world -- that is why that very night we invited another family out to celebrate the start of our February vacation and to enjoy the gift of friendship.

And my older daughter is now enamoured of St. Maarten since we had more time there than usual.

I would love it if MSC ever did a run out of Boston or New York. Hmmm... Bermuda would be appealing.

Oh... of course! We had to make the best of things. What I told my 14 and 11 year old that afternoon of the missed flight is that in life we have to distinguish between disappointment and tragedy. Missing the ship is a disappointment, but not the end othe world -- that is why that very night we invited another family out to celebrate the start of our February vacation and to enjoy the gift of friendship.

And my older daughter is now enamoured of St. Maarten since we had more time there than usual.

I would love it if MSC ever did a run out of Boston or New York. Hmmm... Bermuda would be appealing.

Mic-Mac,

So sorry to hear about your flight snafus. You and cruiserwilly certainly had a heck of a start to your vacation. I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise and I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet! I'm with you - a cruise out of NYC would be fantastic!

Baby girl, So glad to hear you had a good time as we have had on our past 4 cruises, the Orchestra is being replaced next yr with the Poesia. AS for your problem with sending a bottle of wine purchased with coupons to a specialy restaurant, they do specify that they must be consumed in the dining room. It was nice they fulfilled your request.

Baby girl, So glad to hear you had a good time as we have had on our past 4 cruises, the Orchestra is being replaced next yr with the Poesia. AS for your problem with sending a bottle of wine purchased with coupons to a specialy restaurant, they do specify that they must be consumed in the dining room. It was nice they fulfilled your request.

Yes, it was. And I must say, the staff, in general, were amazing and for the most part, always tried to go above and beyond.

Welcome home! I was specifically waiting for your review but I must have missed it.

Thanks for sharing..... I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed the Orchestra! I just may end up on her this summer after all.

Cheryl :)

Welcome home! I was specifically waiting for your review but I must have missed it.

 

Thanks for sharing..... I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed the Orchestra! I just may end up on her this summer after all.

 

Cheryl :)

Thanks, Cheryl. You should giver her a try!