‘Live from Orchestra’ Christmas 2017 Cruise Review

We’re heading off at 2am tomorrow morning to Dublin for our 6.15am flight to Barcelona, where we’ll board the MSC Orchestra for our 11 night Christmas cruise, taking in the Greek Islands:

This will be our 18th MSC cruise and our first time on Orchestra. We have sailed on her sister ship, Magnifica, twice before, so we’re familiar with her layout.

It will also be our first ever Christmas cruise, which we are looking forward to experiencing. We are booked in a Fantastica balcony cabin on deck 11 and have the All-Inclusive Bar & Restaurant (basic) drinks package included. We are both Black Card members of the Voyagers’ Club which will afford us (among other things) priority embarkation and 2 evening meals for 2 in Shanghai, the Oriental Speciality Restaurant onboard.

I’m hoping to post ‘Live’ as my last attempt at a review about our cruise on Magnifica in Sept/Oct last (which I left ‘til after arriving home) was rudely interrupted by a severe storm which left us without power for 4 days. I never did complete it, so this time I hope to post as I go, depending on internet access. I’ll be using the CruiseCritic app on my phone, so apologies in advance for spelling and grammatical errors - I don’t always catch the auto-corrected words; I’m also more proficient on a keyboard and find it very slow-going on the phone. I find the app a bit restrictive, too.

If anyone has any questions, I’ll try and get answers. Bear with me if I don’t respond immediately; whatever I miss, I’ll check back when we get home (when I’ll be back on my laptop) and reply, then.

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Look forward to it...enjoy Bea!

Thanks, EG! :)

Have a great cruise. Bon Voyage.

Keith

Bea ... Make sure you head into Corfu town if the weather is good, say Hi to Mark Tzia for me the Hotel Manager who should have been with us on Seaside this weekend but had to fly home due to a family issue.

Hope you both have a great cruise and a wonderful Christmas.

Thanks, Keith.

Cheers, Dave - will do on both Corfu & Mark. Bon Voyage to you and Kerry. Looking forward to hearing how you get on.

Spoke to Mark earlier says he will look for you.

Spoke to Mark earlier says he will look for you.

Great stuff, Dave!

On the subject of Corfu - I've never been. Is it easy to get into town from the port? I had a look at the POC forum but there's very little about Corfu.

Have a great cruise, Christmas, and New Year!

Have a great cruise, Christmas, and New Year!

Thank you! And many, many, happy returns! :)

Bea ... There is usually a shuttle bus or you can walk it in around 20 minutes after turning left out of the port, just follow the road around the harbour until you see a large car park on the Left, cross the road and you will see a wide opening between two buildings, go through and you are in the town.

Try and work your way around to the Liston, a long range of buildings with cafes and bars underneath and a large expanse of grass in the front where they used to play cricket.

Many years back your name had to be on the List! in order to eat or drink there hence the name the Liston, not sure how true that is but Greek friends on the island told us about it.

There are plenty of other cafes around and a M & S not far from the Liston.

The Old fortress is a short walk from there if you are interested, although the New Fortress is more interesting but requires walking uphill to get inside, you pass close by the entrance when walking to the car park.

If you are not sure ask Mark he will know some things about Corfu with being Greek.

There is usually a trio to Mavromatis where they produce Koumquat Liquer and Rum, it also visits Paleokastritsa and the Monestary as well as a small village called Lakones plus a place called Bella Vista Cafe where there are fantastic views. They usually head back via the top road and onto the Trumpeta pass from where on a good day you can see the ships and the town.

Because of the port time they may not have this trip available.

Food wise I can recommend Beef Stamna, Lamb Kleftico and sofrito, again Mark will be able to give you a few more food ideas.

Bon Voyage and following!:)

Hi Bea,

Have a wonderful christmas cruise on the beautful Orchestra. Great that you are doing a live review, really appreciated. Thanks:)

Merry Christmas and a happy new year:)

Following - we are cruising Orchestra in February, going the opposite direction from you to the Canaries and Morocco, swooping back round to Civitavecchia and Genoa etc. on a 12 day itinerary.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip, and about Orchestra herself (condition, food quality etc.) if you can manage it.

Christmas cruises are the best, I've done several on NCL at this time of year and you will have a fabulous time. :D

Looking forward to seeing your review of Orchestra. Hope you have a fabulous time and Merry Christmas Bea :*

Enjoy it.

Thanks folks!

Dave - great info and much appreciated.

Just boarded the flight to Barcelona - nearly there now. 😀

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Arrived at the port just before 10.30am to be told that embarkation wouldn't begin 'til 11.30am. The ship is docked at terminal A - our first time to board from here in umpteen Barcelona embarkations. It's a beautiful sunny day here, though it's quite cool.

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Bea ... Mark has got your number ... ;p

We sailed Orchestra from Venice to Dubai, great ship.

I cannot understand why they spend all day at Katkolon and only 6 hours at Corfu! other than Olympia there really is nothing to see at Katakolon.

Excited to follow this. Doing the same itinerary on the Orchestra in January.

So......... embarkation began @ 11.45am and we were onboard in the MDR for lunch when it opened @ 12pm. Here's today's lunch menu:

We both opted for the baked fillet of cod from the buffet

And the boneless chicken thighs from the menu (which were hot and delicious)

For dessert we had the apple pie; I had cream with mine as I don't eat icecream

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We then headed to the cabin to get our cruisecards. (We discovered the beds were separated - this is the first time we had this happen; an oversight on our part with our TA as we didn't indicate our preference at booking.)

We saw our steward in the corridor and asked him to put the beds together at a time that suited him. He said he'd look after it this evening.

We then headed down to the Ibiscus MDR to see the m'D about a table for 2. He showed us the list of requests for 2-tops from all those who had embarked 2 days ago in Genoa. He tapped away at his computer, held out his hand for my cruisecard and duly changed our table number! I couldn't believe it! Needless to say I went away a very happy cruiser!

A couple of observations so far:

1. The crew are incredibly friendly and

2. The ship looks like it's been refurbished. The sofa in our cabin looks new as does the carpet and the bathroom floor. Carpets in the corridors on the decks we've been on so far also look new.

The crew are all wearing Santa hats and there was Christmas music playing in the MDR at lunch. The ship is decorated beautifully too. I'll post some pics throughout the week. Here's one from the Savannah bar

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Today's Daily Program, plus other paperwork in the cabin on arrival:

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No sign of discounts for Voyagers Club members ........ yet! It's not the first time that the list wasn't in the cabin on the first day.

Bea ... looks like the carpet has been changed in the Savannah bar, I seem to recall the hallways had a Red carpet with a rectangle motif, looks like they have the same carpet in your cabin as the Seaside!