MSC Opera vs X - A 'JMO' Review

Hey Everyone!

I'm back from my b2b Opera/Millie cruises and have some very definte opinions to share (who would have thought I"D have opinions? LOL). Unfortunately, I am having trouble posting! Just read that most/all of you are also having problems. I promise I will get this on the boards, SOMEHOW, by tomorrow!

BTW, I was not able to access the boards at all on either trip because of the time involved @ 50 and 75 cents per minute!

More soon! It is good to be home!

Gail

Welocme home. There are a lot of us waiting breathlessly for your review!

Linda

Welcome Home, Gail!!!

:D

Hey Gail :D

We are all waiting to hear about your upgrade to a suite and what kind of suite amenities the Opera has. :D Butler? How big is it? Was your overall experience very positive compared to Celebrity? I know--apples to oranges, but how would you describe the differences? Martini bar? Any new Martini favorites? :p

Ok, here's a little unedited taste:

MSC Opera 2/26/05 to 3/5/05

Cabin #9220 Cat 9

Day One – Boarding the Ship

After a very uneventful flight from Jax to FLL, I was met with the longest line I had ever seen to get taxi’s. Even the Skycap commented that it was unusual. Fortunately, I had a resourceful Skycap and he managed to get me in a cab within 30 minutes of my 1:05 PM flight arrival. Ride to port was uneventful, just a little more in cab fare due to traffic, $12.00 in place of the usual $10. With all that I was still onboard by 2:15. The check in was smooth with many lines open, if you had filled out your paperwork ahead of time, you only had to give a credit card and have your picture taken (which was done right there, no other line to go to). You then showed your card to get onto the gangway and at the ship they clicked your card into the machine and you were legal.

No champagne waiting, but a uniformed, white gloved woman who escorted you to your cabin. Wayan (my cabin steward) was there quickly to welcome me and explain anything I needed to know about the room. My outside, oceanview room was the highest category without a balcony. It is a tad smaller than the X ship cabins, most of the space being lost in the hallway. One closet, approx 40” wide (Lots of large, thick, plastic hangers. You could use smaller hangers and get much more stuff in!), 6 drawers, 13”w x 17”d x 7 ½” deep, plus two shelves. The space behind the mirror has the safe and storage, there is a shallow drawer in the desk, two doors on either side of the desk approx 6” wide with shelves and two night stands with doors and a shelf. Very adequate storage space, bright, pleasant, colorful room, comfortable bed and lots of extra pillows.

The bathroom is tiny but well laid out. Yes the shower is a challenge, but I made it work so I think anyone can. Besides, it’s bright and shiny and new! That counts for a lot! It actually has a bigger feel, except when you are in the shower. The standard joke is to squirt shower gel on walls and spin! Actually, not too bad of an idea!

I ate lunch at the buffet which has a large glassed in dining area off the stern. Very pretty. I tried a little of everything: the beef ravioli was good as was the red snapper, I skipped the salad and had the cream of mushroom soup which was great. The breads were fantastic, a tomato and basil roll and a potato loaf. Both great but served room temp. (I noticed throughout the week that the Italians do not have the love of hot bread with butter as we Americans do. When I ate at the Captain’s Table with the Senior Officers, none of them even used butter!) Cups for water/iced tea are still in the 8 oz range so bring a mug with you. The iced tea was good, not from concentrate or instant, you just needed more than 6 ounces! Also a challenge was the fact that they do not use trays, they have LARGE oval platters that you use for everything in the buffet, grill, pizzeria, etc. Saw several mishaps with those at lunch! This first day there were paper napkins at the casual restaurants, but I understand that is just first day lunch and the buffet will have cloth napkins the rest of the trip.

Muster. Yes, I did it. Well sort of. That has to be a private story, sorry!

I was invited to a predinner cocktail party and when I went it turned out to be a private affair for the featured guests on this cruise, Baseball Greats! Met some really nice people, some very famous because of their sporting activities. I’m sorry to say I’m not much on baseball, but I did meet the only man to ever pitch a perfect no hitter in a world series game. Whatever you wanted to drink and nice hordehoures including caviar, both red and black. Yummy. Met Amanda, one of the American Social Hostesses (there are others for several languages).

On to dinner. I had table 234 in the LaCaravella Restaurant, late seating. It’s a nice table of 6 singles, put together by the cruise line. We have a gorgeous waiter named John. I really didn’t care too much how the food was, I just liked looking at him! Two of my tablemates had prime rib which was a huge portion, three had the fish and I had the eggplant with tomato, pesto and mozzarella. Quite tasty, but rich. The pasta course, everyone had the risotto and it was very good. I had a banana and strawberry chilled soup which was very good. Topped it all off with White Chocolate Cheesecake.

In the show lounge, we met Ketty, the cruise director who emceed the show and did all announcements in five languages! Pretty impressive. The main act was a juggling drummer. Pretty funny, but I was tired so only saw about 2/3’s of his act. I went to bed!

More to come.

Wow it really seems like things are coming right over there at MSC

That is good. Thank you for posting and welcome back.

We're looking forward to more Gail. Thanks! I want to know about the muster.:confused: ;)

Garry

Ketty was the CD on MSC Melody a few years ago when I was onboard. I have NEVER seen someone go from one language to another without missing a beat like she does! Very nice woman as well.........

Claudia

Gail, Welcome back. How was this cruise compared to going on Celebrity. We would like to give this cruise line a chance if it is good. We were planning on something before June but just got the news that our car needs a new transmission so I guess a new car will be coming into the garage. I rather be cruising but I guess i will wait until our Sept. cruise. Pat

Interesting review.

The pitcher was Don Larsen of the Yankees. His teammates included Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. This was 1956.

Amanda, the Social Hostess, used to work on Summit (and probably other X ships) until they gutted the position. Whe was very, very classy.

Amanda, the Social Hostess, used to work on Summit (and probably other X ships) until they gutted the position. She was very, very classy.

Was this Amanda the very classy British Amanda Reid? If so, she has been lamented by many X passengers who miss her -- we were on her LAST X sailing - on Constellation Baltic, June 2003 - we'd sailed with her before; she'd invited us to Captain's Table during that last cruise - said she was going off the ship on vacation. When we asked which ship she'd be coming back to, she just said she wouldn't know for a while - no complaining about X revamping the SH job, etc... Yes, class all the way. (After that, the SH was given a whole different kind of responsibilities -- and NOW there isn't such a position anymore - they've got them now as the "Captain's Club Hostess" and they're behind the front desk for several hours a day -- no more of that nice traditional floating around the ship really being a totally welcoming and gracious hostess that Amanda did so well.)

[Now, if your Amanda wasn't the same one, well, I just told another nice story about the well-known Ms. Reid!]

Must be another Amanda? At last peak, Amanda Reid was with Cunard.

Oops maybe. I figured Sasso might have hired her away.

Gail--where are you? We are left hanging in limbo waiting the 2nd installment of your review! :p Who is this mysterious Amanda? Is it really Amanda Reid or someone else who is an American Socia Hostess? When did you get your upgrade to a suite--and why? The plot thickens!

Was this Amanda the very classy British Amanda Reid? If so, she has been lamented by many X passengers who miss her -- we were on her LAST X sailing - on Constellation Baltic, June 2003 - we'd sailed with her before; she'd invited us to Captain's Table during that last cruise - said she was going off the ship on vacation. When we asked which ship she'd be coming back to, she just said she wouldn't know for a while - no complaining about X revamping the SH job, etc... Yes, class all the way. (After that, the SH was given a whole different kind of responsibilities -- and NOW there isn't such a position anymore - they've got them now as the "Captain's Club Hostess" and they're behind the front desk for several hours a day -- no more of that nice traditional floating around the ship really being a totally welcoming and gracious hostess that Amanda did so well.)

 

[Now, if your Amanda wasn't the same one, well, I just told another nice story about the well-known Ms. Reid!]

Hi Birders !

I remember Amanda Reid very well. She always did an outstanding job, and was a total Class act. I still cant figure out why Celebrity eliminated this position, and the Social Hostess is very much missed these days. I also remember another Social Hostess on Summit last year (Camilla Sullivan), who was absolutely incredible. We would have loved to see her again sometime....but thats probably not going to happen.

I would be surprised if the Amanda that Gail is talking about, is Amanda Reid, as we all thought that she was with Cunard. I would be happy to hear if Mr. Sasso was able to hire her away.... but it is probably another Amanda.

Gail, this sounds good. Can't wait for our 4/23 Opera sailing from Venice.

Well, we're gonna have to be patient and wait for "the rest of the story". Gail is out of town for a few days.

I am stuck by the phone, waiting on other people so thought I would jump in here for a little bit. Char is right, I have to go to Pompano Beach but can't go until some things are taken care of, so here I sit.

Amanda was not Amanda Reid. Very nice young lady. Have her name written down but not handy a this minute.

I see that there is another thread saying how bad MSC is, so I wanted to just give a little more detail while I had the chance.

Day 2 I was up bright and early, back to the wonderful upstairs cafe with the great glassed in aft view. They had musili which is what I like in the am, plus lots of breads (very good), fruits, potatoes, lox, etc. Same thing as most ships. They just do an excellent job on the breads so that is the part worth noting. And the view is spectaculor!

Down to the pool with LOTS of lounge chairs, no pads, but they are comfortable and have a sun visor that can be used to shield your face if you want. No announcements so pool area is very quiet until about 2pm when the Animation Team comes out. They use the area in front of the pool bar so if you want quiet, go to the other pool near the grill and pizza area and you will not be disturbed. I liked the AT. They did lots of fun stuff like scavenger hunts and sing offs. Never did they do anything to insult or diminish anyone. It was all in good fun. After the games they always had music and a quite involved dance lesson. All this lasted 2 to 3 hours and was a good deal of fun. The AT was very well trained to get people up and involved. I saw people participate who would have never done so without the AT people (me being one of them!).

Food by pool. I was so impressed to have real iced tea there. No instant, no 'concentrate', just real tea from tea bags. That and the coffee were available 24 hours. Probably was juice or lemonade, but I was so thankful to have iced tea I drank it all day! LOL! The pizza was excellent, hand tossed. They can make 8 pizzas at a time and the first hour they are open you always have to stand in line. Worth it! The burgers, hot dogs, fries and one meat, veggie and salad were served on the other side of the ship and were pretty good. I don't think I did the buffet at all for lunch. It looked ok, but I'm just not a buffet person. I went to the restaurant almost everyday for lunch. The pasta and fish were magnificent! Red Snapper, Sea Bass, some interesting stuff.

The pool bar had a two glass bottle of Souve that was $4.25 including the gratuity. (this was a 'secret' told to me by a departing couple who had been on a b2b) Wine was about $3.25 per glass other bars. (Also loved the fact that you could get house wine (red or white) by the pitcher at either inside dining room, lunch and dinner. $7.50 for a small (1/2 liter or so) pitcher. Didn't price the larger one. Overall drinks were cheap! Martini Limon' was $4.95 for a single, Cosmos were on special all cruise for $4. I thought they were very good prices. They state that 10% is added but the $4.95, etc, included that. Nice change. They really do not nickle and dime you. (When I wanted to buy a cd of an entertainer, I had to really search, they don't 'hawk' things.)

That first formal night I sat at the Captains Table. It was very different from other cruise lines. First, there were no flowers on the table. And no two foot place settings. They serve as the Europeans do. When seated you have a knife and fork. As you eat courses, additional silveware is supplied. Made for a much less crowded table. With Italians, it's all about the food! We had most of the senior officers seated with us with a passenger, an officer, passenger all around the table. Made for very interesting conversation. Also you know a lot of the officers and they are always stopping to chat when they see you around the ship. Dinner had a very friendly feel and I enjoyed it much more than the usual Captain's Table I'm used to. Nothing extra or different was served from the regular restaurant food, just the ambiance and tablemates were different. I loved it!! All the seating, gathering the group, etc, was done by the Head Matre'd, Mario.

There are two restaurants for dinner and I had a table in the La Caravella first, but was moved by the third night to meet up with my CC pals. Both were good. Very much a matter of opinion which you would want to eat in. La C was brighter, larger and more energetic. The second dining room was more laid back and I liked it very much. However we had a table in the back area which is large, the entrance and exit have longish halls with one set of tables on each side of an aisle. If I was seated there, I'm not sure I would have like it as much. They have booths on one side and tables with baquettes on the other.

Maybe this will hold ya'll for another day! LOL! I really did love it! I had a marvelous time and would go again, anytime! Also will be glad to answer specific questions while I'm drippin' and drabbin' this out!!

My bad. Assumed it was Amanda Reid. Amanda is not a common name - oh wait, have a niece called Amanda ;).

To all of the Amanda's in the world I apologize. But Sasso screwed up in not getting her for MSC.

Gail, Gail, Gail :D You are really gonna make us wait to hear about your suite!!:p OK, I'll be patient until you get back.

Gail, thanks for the post! I'm waiting to hear more. It sounds like you had a wonderful experience. :D

Garry

I'm having flashbacks to my MSC cruise. The similarity here is striking. We really enjoyed it too. :D

Hi Gail, thanks for the first episodes of your review, can't wait till you tell us the rest and of course I'm very curious about your final analysis of both lines !:D

Gail, so glad to hear about your "virgin" voyage.:p You make MSC sound divine. Waiting breathlessly for the rest of the scoop.