Live from the Poesia, somewhere on the Atlantic

[barante]

We had a great yesterday in the Cape Verde Islands, thanks to a tour arranged by CCer Irina. For 40 euros each, the seven of us toured from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We such mountain lakes with breathtaking scenery, a mud-bubbling hot spring surrounded by a veritable jungle. We saw villages and Grande Ribera, a nice historic town across the island from Punta Delgada. We even had sunshine . . . Overall, the island reminded me of Ireland. Lots of green, hedges and old stone walls.

 

Except that this morning it became cloudy again and seas became rough. We are roling again. MSC needs to put some money into repairing those potholes at sea. Tomorrow, May Day in Lisbon. Cruisers of the wold, unite!

[barante]

We are in glorious Lisbon. This is the eleventh day of the cruise -- and the second one with any sustained sun. We just took a city tour. The ship is within walking distance of the monumental central squares.

 

I am writing this at a coffee shop across from the Poesia. I had a cup of espresso-like Portuguese coffee. And then a bottle of bubbly water. Csme to 1.60 euros. I asked to make sure the proprietor charged for both.

 

Life is good.

 

Not having to burn the ship's Internet minutes, I was able to read the various comments on this thread. I liked the anti-urinals comment, referring to awkward social encounters. I think that was the term.

 

Never had those at urinals. But our dinner table mate said he had such in the gym shower room on the Poesia.

 

Look at it this way: Your chances for a date double if you go both ways.

[barante]

When we were considering various options, we wanted a stop in Lisbon with enough time to hear live fado music. The finalists were HAL from FLL to Rome, which had an overnight, and MSC Poesia which was scheduled to arrive at 1 p.m. and depart at 1 a.m. that very night. We chose the Poesia, as you know, and could not be happier.

 

Why?

 

Because we parked in Afalma, one of the oldest parts of Lisbon, across from the Santa Apolonia railway station. Which meant that taxis were plentiful, lots of sidewalk cafes (with free wi-fi) in the neighborhood. An added bonus: A Metro station right in front of the ship.

 

So after taking a Yellow Bus city tour during the day, we came back to eat on the ship and then took a taxi to Fado In Chado (google), which has a 1-hour live fado show every night, except Sundays. The show was top-notch: a male singer, a female singer and two guitarist.

 

Not knowing Lisbon, we took a cab from the pier to the theater. When we exited, we realized that a Metro station was right outside. So we took the Metro -- two stops -- back for 1.40 euros each. An English-speaking station attendant helped with buying the tickets from the machine.

 

In a few hours we are off to La Coruna in Spain. Things are looking up.

 

Another great thing about MSC is a $25 laundry special, available any day. It entitles you to the laundering of up to 30 ites during your cruise. . .

[sthelder]

Look at it this way: Your chances for a date double if you go both ways.

 

Or maximised? ;)

 

Glad to know that the only two sunshine days thus far were both port days and the tip on Fado is useful!

[Thoie]

We had a great yesterday in the Cape Verde Islands, thanks to a tour arranged by CCer Irina. For 40 euros each, the seven of us toured from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We such mountain lakes with breathtaking scenery, a mud-bubbling hot spring surrounded by a veritable jungle. We saw villages and Grande Ribera, a nice historic town across the island from Punta Delgada. We even had sunshine . . . Overall, the island reminded me of Ireland. Lots of green, hedges and old stone walls.

 

Except that this morning it became cloudy again and seas became rough. We are roling again. MSC needs to put some money into repairing those potholes at sea. Tomorrow, May Day in Lisbon. Cruisers of the wold, unite!

 

I had the pleasure of joining Barante and the others on this trip. Sadly, I was one of the people who disembarked in Lisbon, and am now back home in Ireland - I can confirm that the island is just like home!

 

Despite being at home in my sitting room, I can still feel the ship rolling!

[barante]

Hi Fiona. Welcome back home.

 

We have had so much bad weather on this cruise that when today turned out to be sunny day, I wanted to take no chances. Wet set out for a walk as early as the Poesia parked in La Coruna’s Inner Harbor, next to a German Aida cruise ship and Spain’s Pullmantur. Except that it was far too early. This city’s retail heart apparently wakes up after 10 a.m. So during our chilly morning walk we saw closed retail outlets. It was too early even for locally operated tours. The harbor was pretty. But coming from the promised land of dollar stores and cheap apparel, we saw nothing that inspired us.

 

So I scrapped whatever plans we had entertained. No bus tour of La Coruna, or even a rental scooter. No trip to nearby Santiago de Compostela. My brother is an expert on the latter. He has joined thousands of Catholics on a famous pilgrimage route that extends all the way from France. Three times he and his wife, although not Papists, have spent weeks trekking hundreds of miles. Each pilgrimage has been preceded by a rigorous training routine in their native Finland. A minimum of fifteen miles a day, with full backpacks. They claim it has been good for the souls of people in their early sixties. I decided to let them make representations on our behalf when we reach the pearly gates.

 

Instead we decided to enjoy the empty ship. The sun shone but it was really too chilly for the pool. Nevertheless we spent some time there.

 

The Poesia’s pool loungers are of a type I have never encountered before. Those who want have the option of using overhead sun visors that can be adjusted to keep the sun from one’s head and eyes. The downside is that the loungers cannot be adjusted to an upright reading position. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the quiet.

 

Another MSC oddity is that you get a pool towel only if you allow your cruise card to be swiped. I asked the attendant how much the penalty was for unreturned towels. He smirked and said there was no penalty. That the card requirement was only used to put some fear and trepidation into the hearts of patrons. Whether any of this is true, who knows.

 

Maybe a dozen people lingered around the two pools. They were being photographed by a group of visitors, probably local travel agents, who were taken around by MSC guides before a lunch onboard.

 

Around 2 p.m., returning tourists began making noise around the pool. A fat German lady actually splashed into the water, but she was the only one. We retired to our cabin where the sun was now hitting the aft-balcony.

 

We felt good. We can now face whatever the fate has in store for us tonight on the Bay of Biscayne, famous for its ferocious storms.

[jdvmd]

Hi Fiona. Welcome back home.

 

We have had so much bad weather on this cruise that when today turned out to be sunny day, I wanted to take no chances. Wet set out for a walk as early as the Poesia parked in La Coruna’s Inner Harbor, next to a German Aida cruise ship and Spain’s Pullmantur. Except that it was far too early. This city’s retail heart apparently wakes up after 10 a.m. So during our chilly morning walk we saw closed retail outlets. It was too early even for locally operated tours. The harbor was pretty. But coming from the promised land of dollar stores and cheap apparel, we saw nothing that inspired us.

 

So I scrapped whatever plans we had entertained. No bus tour of La Coruna, or even a rental scooter. No trip to nearby Santiago de Compostela. My brother is an expert on the latter. He has joined thousands of Catholics on a famous pilgrimage route that extends all the way from France. Three times he and his wife, although not Papists, have spent weeks trekking hundreds of miles. Each pilgrimage has been preceded by a rigorous training routine in their native Finland. A minimum of fifteen miles a day, with full backpacks. They claim it has been good for the souls of people in their early sixties. I decided to let them make representations on our behalf when we reach the pearly gates.

 

Instead we decided to enjoy the empty ship. The sun shone but it was really too chilly for the pool. Nevertheless we spent some time there.

 

The Poesia’s pool loungers are of a type I have never encountered before. Those who want have the option of using overhead sun visors that can be adjusted to keep the sun from one’s head and eyes. The downside is that the loungers cannot be adjusted to an upright reading position. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the quiet.

 

Another MSC oddity is that you get a pool towel only if you allow your cruise card to be swiped. I asked the attendant how much the penalty was for unreturned towels. He smirked and said there was no penalty. That the card requirement was only used to put some fear and trepidation into the hearts of patrons. Whether any of this is true, who knows.

 

Maybe a dozen people lingered around the two pools. They were being photographed by a group of visitors, probably local travel agents, who were taken around by MSC guides before a lunch onboard.

 

Around 2 p.m., returning tourists began making noise around the pool. A fat German lady actually splashed into the water, but she was the only one. We retired to our cabin where the sun was now hitting the aft-balcony.

 

We felt good. We can now face whatever the fate has in store for us tonight on the Bay of Biscayne, famous for its ferocious storms.

My daughter's ex boyfriend walked the Santiago de Compestela last summer. Amazing experience and he is a Southern Baptist.

[sidari]

Bar ante ... Did you know that Pullmantur is owned by Royal Caribbean ?

[barante]

Pullmantur is the graveyard of old U.S,-market cruise ships. Just like some other European affiliates. The old Celebrity Zenith is still sailing for one of them, not Pullman.

[barante]

Decades ago I knew a Soviet journalist and KGB-connected scoop artist named Victor Louis, who married a British admiral’s daughter and collected Bentleys and other luxury cars until someone -- perhaps the KGB just to remind him of mortality -- burned down his Moscow garage full of those cars that no one else had in the Soviet Union.

 

My Fair Lady was the rage in the West in those days, and since the Soviet Union had not signed the international copyright agreement Louis appropriated the musical and collected the royalties for himself behind the Iron Curtain. He also decided that My Fair Lady needed some improvement. So he dropped some songs and replaced them with numbers from West Side Story and the Sound of Music. He thought the musical sounded better that way, he told me in Moscow.

 

All this came back to my mind tonight when I watched the daily show in the MSC Poesia theater. The show, Extraordinaire, had an extremely thin storyline that tied it to Las Vegas, whether real or not. The highstepping dancers moved effortlessly from Cab Calloway’s Hi De Ho to Bernstein’s West Side Story to the Sound of Music to more recent show tunes. About the only thing missing was Ave Maria.

 

It was all laughable and brilliant, the best production on this Poesia cruise. Because two performances, totally unconnected to the storyline, had been spliced into the show. Both featured acrobatic gymnastics. One performer was a pretty incredible Chinese contortionist who did her stuff to the sound of Chinese tunes; the other performers were Africans -- three men and a little girl -- doing tricks on the ship’s swaying stage that were totally amazing. Their music tom-tom.

 

For this ship’s international passengers -- including 700 Germans, 200 of whom are Ossies, erstwhile easterners -- the show recreated a true feeling of Las Vegas. How so? Because Karl May, Germany’s most celebrated author of Wild West stories, wrote his most convincing tales about cowboys and Indians before ever setting his foot in the U.S. (He later got to know Buffalo Bill; I know because even the communists kept the Karl May museum open in the GDR and I visited it).

 

Like food, entertainment is a highly personal matter. The MSC shows we saw usually lasted only for 35-40 minutes; tonight’s went on for almost an hour. I was thoroughly entertained. Silly escapism at its best.

[sthelder]

Another MSC oddity is that you get a pool towel only if you allow your cruise card to be swiped. I asked the attendant how much the penalty was for unreturned towels. He smirked and said there was no penalty. That the card requirement was only used to put some fear and trepidation into the hearts of patrons. Whether any of this is true, who knows.

 

Apparently if one lost the towel, he could just claim it was taken away while he went to swim or something, TA-DA, no penalty

[barante]

Overnight we negotiated the dreaded Costa da morte -- the coast of death-- on the Bay of Biscay. We survived and woke up to a nice day. The seas are pretty calm, the weather mild and the sun keeps on peeking through some clouds now and then.

 

Aside from my 1964 freighter trip, I have done two trans-Atlantic cruises with my wife. Both times they have been from Venice to Fort Lauderdale. In the fall. And I must say that I like that arrangement better than cruising from the U.S. to Europe in the spring. There is no particular reason other than that by going west we will have done all our touring first and then have all the sea days to recover from the wear and tear of travel. Also, I like the warmer weather better.

 

One of the prior trans-Atlantics was on the Emerald Princess; the other on the HAL Nieuw Amsterdam. On the Emerald we had a balcony, on the Nieuw Amsterdam we had one of those big inside Js on the Main deck. On the Poesia we have an aft-balcony. The latter is wonderful, but in the end it makes little difference what you have on a trans-Atlantic run because it is so windy. My only wish is to get the roomiest cabin in the best location, regardless of the category. I only go for balconies if the price is compelling. As for oceanviews, I see little value in them.

 

I was tutored in this economic thinking by a Master of the Universe, hawaiidan, who pontificated on comparative values during our Nieuw Amsterdam crossing. He produced numbers and argued that it is only the cruise that benefits from anything beyond the bare minimum cabin. It may be of interest that Dan has now graduated to Oceania and other premium lines. If you combine points and consider other benefits, he thinks they offer the best value in the end.

 

When I grow up, I want to be just like Dan.

 

We are now sailing toward Dover, England. At any given time we can count half a dozen ships within a visibility range. The European Union, after rescuing Greece and Cyprus, is thinking of installing traffic lights here.

 

Much of our ship will disembark in Dover. We won’t. We’ll go and see the white cliffs. I can already hear Ray Eberle singing about them with the Glenn Miller backing. (More trivia: Ray’s brother, Bob, was the vocalist with the Bob Crosby band. And after Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey had their final fight, Jimmy took the Dorsey band and walked away. Tommy then bought the Bob Crosby outfit which became the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. He hired a middling crooner, a guy named Frank, to sing with the Pied Pipers. I hope I have the timeline halfway right).

 

We’ll end our journey in Kiel. We’ll then transit to Hamburg and stay three nights in a hotel in St. Pauli. That’s the old red-light district. Except that it is in the throes of gentrification into one of the most expensive residential areas in that famous seaport. We’ll then continue on the MSC Magnifica on an eleven-day Baltic cruise.

 

Bucket list stuff. Half full, or half empty?

[sidari]

Barante ... Zenith is still sailing for Pullmantur along with Empress, Monarch and Sovereign all ex RCI ships as you say.

[Tatka]

I love this review. Interesting to say the least. Soviets... KGB. :D

 

OTOH I love that Zenith and other ships are still sailing even under Pullman tour.. Great ships.

[joybaby]

Enjoyed this review. I have followed it daily. Just got off the Poesia April 6-13 sailing the Carib. Have also been on the Opera and really love this line.

Thanks for the insightful amusing review.:)

 

Joyce

[barante]

An aft-balcony grows on you when things go well. Here we are in Dover, our last port on this 17-day trans-Atlantic, and we see the white cliffs from our room. It’s sunny but chilly. On the beach, we encountered a bunch of British senior citizens taking their regular weekend swim. Year around, they come on Saturdays and Sundays. Most dip in the weather in bare swimisuits; a few sport wet suits.

 

We took a double-decker to the castle ($7 pp roundtrip, or $5 only to the city center). From the upper deck, we got a close look of the cliffs. High up, someone had constructed caves with glass windows. They may have once been part of the WWII honeycombs of tunnels. We thought about finding out. But the line for tickets to the castle was long and slow, and the tickets cost 17 pounds pp., IIRC. My wife was not interested, so we didn’t go.

 

The castle is operated by the National Trust, Britain’s preservation agency. Since admission is free to members, those who are thinking of extensive museum visits will find it smart to join. The trust also has developed walking trails that lead from the city center to the castle and beyond. Those walks must be spectacular, with France glistening somewhere in the distance; at least the idea of France. In weaving toward the castle, our double-decker passed meadows with lambs, hundreds of them. The road sign pointed to Ramshead.

 

We returned to the city center, which consists of old brick rowhouses. Some are gabled and look vaguely Dutch. We walked to the beach but it was chilly. So I just bought a copy of The Observer.

 

I realized how out of touch I am. While I have been ignoring what’s going on. a new political force has emerged in Britain. Stories refer to it as Ukip but never state how that acronym had been formed. I suspect it means UK Independent Party.

 

I also learned from reading The Observer that a book was published on May Day. It’s titled Brick City and tells you how to construct landmarks from Legos. You can do Taj Mahal, the Kremlin, even Chicago’s Tribune Tower.

 

Today is Easter in the Orthodox world. We watched some of the festivities on Russian television last night. The crowning moment of surprise and awe comes with a declaration: Khristos voskres. Into which worshippers respond: Istinna voskres. He has truly risen.

[Tatka]

Today is Easter in the Orthodox world. We watched some of the festivities on Russian television last night. The crowning moment of surprise and awe comes with a declaration: Khristos voskres. Into which worshippers respond: Istinna voskres. He has truly risen.

 

I was ready to translate when I noticed that you already have an answer. Great job! :) I am not a Christian, but being from that part of the world familiar with traditions. There are also Easter Eggs. I am not sure about decorations now, but they used to boil eggs with onion peel to make them brown, and then some other coloring veggies. I do not remember any egg hunts though.

 

I enjoy reading your review. Loved exploring British Castles after our cruise from Southampton last year. They are so monumental and beautiful!

[sidari]

barante ... You were close with UKIP ... Independance Party, finally we have a party that is so far commited to taking the UK out of the EU! despite claims that jobs will be lost the majority of UK trade is elsewhere in the world inclusing the USA.

 

We were on the Greek island of Corfu last week and sadly had to return home on Saturday which meant we had to miss most of the Easter celebrations there which were somewhat late this year as they are normally in April a few weeks behind the UK, we were returning from San Stephanos one of the resorts on the North West side to Kassiopi on the East coast and decided to avoid a village called Avliotes due to the late evening church going. We came down through the village of Makredes which has winding roads set on a hillside, only to come to a standstill having met head on the whole village coming uphill towards us bearing candles!

 

Reading your posts has been great and i hope you coninue to have a great journey.

[barante]

Overall, our Poesia cruise has exceeded our expectations. This certainly is the cleanest ship we have ever been on. It’s like a reliable brand hotel: Everything is iworks and is kept in good order. A bit impersonal.

 

Our aft-balcony cabin was a classed as a premium cabin. One of the nicest we have had. Big and light. Beds were excellent. We slept well.

 

We never got to know our cabin attendant, from Madagascar. She never introduced herself or never was seen. But she and her male helper -- on this ship the cabin attendants seem to work in teams at least in mornings -- kept everything tidy. A couple of times we even were delighted with towel animals, not that it matters much.

 

I cannot see how anyone could complain about the food. I thought the buffet, which we usually used for breakfasts and the few lunches we had, offered plenty of variety. The daily ethnic corner was a personal favorite.

 

The only thing I didn’t particularly get was the paucity of free drink stations in the buffet area. But that probably was a business decision -- to encourage sales of drinks.

 

The entertainment was what it was but, hey, it broke up the monotony. Our table mates thought the lounge entertainment at night in Rendez-Vous was a hoot.

 

Our dinner waiter was generally competent after a month a half of working on a cruise line, but too busy to be personable. He took some time to do magic tricks, though.

 

Would we patronized MSC again? With pleasure. Of course we really don’t have a choice because we will begin an 11-day Baltic cruise in four days. But that will be another story, duly chronicled in time.

[earn]

Barante,

 

many thanks for your witty and very enjoyable review. We sailed on Poesia in an aft cabin (deck 8) with our two sons over easter and really enjoyed the experience. We would also sail MSC again without hesitation, and we are usually loyal to Royal! What deck were you on? We really enjoyed our aft balcony, but the noise was deafening. As we walked up the side staircase each deck higher seemed to make a huge difference to the noise level. WE would havean aft balcony again in a minute and also found the cabin to be large and well appointed, but would try for deck 10 or above next time. We did secure the last 4 berth balcony on the ship, so didn't have much choice!

[Tatka]

O, we also had madagascarian girl as a room attendant. She did not introduce herself, but was very polite and pleasant every time we met her, and did a good job cleaning our room.

 

Have a wonderful next cruise!

[barante]

Heinbloed is the resident expert and tells how to buy railroad tickets http://heinbloed-cruiseguides.blogspot.de/2009/05/kiel-germany-transfers-from-cruise.html

 

Here is my experience today at the conclusion of the Poesia cruise.

 

It turned out that MSC was operating a free shuttle between the ship and Hauptbahnhof. That's what the sign on the buses said, no mention of train station in English.

 

We took the shuttle and then beelined to the Deutsche Bundesbahn travel office where the platforms are. You are offered two choices there. You either take a number and wait to be served by a clerk at a window. Or you go to one of the ticket machines.

 

I first took the number but then realized I would miss the next express train. By that time, the mob of cruisers had disappeared from the machine. So I went there and tried to buy a ticket. Since there was an English-speaking DB official there, I recruited him to help me.

 

He found the cheapest second class ticket for two, a total of 30 euros. You must pay cash and will get any change in coins. Feels like a slot machine.

 

We then went to platform 6 and boarded the train. There were four real seats nearest the door plus two folding seats which converted into space for luggage. An Englsh-speaking couple returning from some ship rearranged their stuff to create space for ours. Thank you if you read this.

 

The trip from Kiel to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof took 80 minutes. Saw lots of Holstein cattle and some nice countryside, interspersed with some buildings with graffiti. No tickets were checked, so a daring soul might have sneaked into a first-class compartment. . .

 

In Hamburg, one takes an escalator from the platform level upstairs. Make a left turn and there will be taxis. Everything should be this painless.

[barante]

IThere are also Easter Eggs. I am not sure about decorations now, but they used to boil eggs with onion peel to make them brown, and then some other coloring veggies. !

 

If you see XB painted on Russian and Ukrainian easter eggs, that's short for Khristos Voskres, Christ is risen.

[sidari]

barante ... glad they did not have the letter U on them before the XB ... :eek:

[barante]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1842634