A Solo Fashionista review of the MSC Armonia

[AmoMondo]

Clumsiness is a sign of extreme intelligence. I know from personal experience.

 

T.

 

That's good to know!

[lara_lox]

Clumsiness is a sign of extreme intelligence. I know from personal experience.

 

T.

I'm glad to hear it. I'm also sure it is true!

[patriots00celtics]

Great reviews.... I enjoy reading them, I will be going on my very first cruise, and it will be solo.... I can't wait, your reviews and others on CC just add fuel to my fire..... Can't wait to post my first review!

Edited July 19, 2013 by patriots00celtics

[wildweston]

LOVING your review :)

[solorizor]

What is proseccos?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Skipper Tim]

What is proseccos?

 

 

Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine; generally a Dry or Extra Dry wine; normally made from Glera ("Prosecco") grapes. DOC prosecco is produced in the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy, and traditionally, mainly in the areas near Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, in the hills north of Treviso.

Prosecco is known as the main ingredient of the Bellini cocktail and more recently has become popular as a less expensive substitute for Champagne.

 

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecco

[solorizor]

Thank you it sounds very popular .

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[lara_lox]

Thank you it sounds very popular .

 

And delicious! :D

[lara_lox]

Day 8 – Kotor

Despite my late night, I was determined to get up as I really wanted to visit Kotor, and we were only there for the morning. The last day had come around so quickly and I wanted to make the most of it. I went for a quick breakfast in the buffet at about 9am, and it was quiet with very few people there. As a result I had no problem selecting my food and getting a table by the window with a great view; the scenery at this port was amazing. The food was a lot better than my last attempt at a buffet breakfast, maybe I just picked a bad day last time. I never even tried the coffee in the buffet, because I already knew I probably wouldn’t be impressed, so I had a quick pit stop at Il Girasole bar for an espresso from the real coffee machine before going ashore. The ship really was right in the middle of town!

 

 

I walked around the city walls and explored the centre of the Old Town, wandering around the little maze-like streets, lined with local shops. It was a very pretty place and there were some lovely squares to enjoy lunch or a drink. I’d obviously only just eaten so I meandered around taking pictures, miraculously not getting lost! Once I left the Old Town area, I walked in the other direction, which led to some pebbly beaches and also a shopping centre. I noticed that a lot of the crew from the ship were headed there. It was very easy to navigate around Kotor because it was quite a small place, and very easy to do by yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the ship I went for a nap on the shaded tiers at the back of the ship, then returned to my cabin to get changed for lunch. Seeing as it was my last chance to do so, I was definitely going to the restaurant. Before I did I rang the spa to book a massage, as today there was 50% off all treatments. I had been waiting all week for a deal like this, but usually the offer was 30% off whilst in port. The promotion was obviously popular because when I rang, the staff said that they could only fit me in at 2pm, rather than later in the afternoon like I had hoped. I was a bit annoyed that I hadn’t booked my massage when I first got back onboard the ship, but at that point I was tired and hadn’t worked out what time I wanted etc. Still, at least they weren’t just fully booked so I took the 2pm slot and then ran to Marco Polo for a very quick lunch. I had a spinach and feta tart, which was full of lovely fresh spinach, but could have done with some more feta, then tandoori chicken with rice and raita, which I enjoyed. I didn’t have time for anything else! The restaurant was the busiest I had seen it, probably because everyone was back onboard now and it was the last day, but I had no trouble being seated right away.

 

I had booked a 45 minute Balinese massage for E49.50. A tiny little Balinese girl was my masseuse, she was very friendly and gave me a good, strong massage. She did the usual sales attempt at the end, saying that if I bought a large tub of a body cream for E70, I would get the massage free. Essentially I would be paying E20 for the cream, which I actually didn’t think was a bad deal, but as I pointed out to her, it was a huge tub and I didn’t have space in my suitcase! I declined any other products as I already have a ridiculous amount of lotions and potions, and she didn’t push it. All relaxed, I changed into my bikini and went to check out the hot tubs on the pool deck. I’d heard about people queuing to use them earlier in the week, but I just quickly slid into a gap in one of them straight away! It was really relaxing and the water was a good temperature, not too hot. I did notice other people hanging about waiting to get it, so I must have been lucky! I enjoyed a cocktail whilst reading on the sundeck for a while before dragging myself off to pack, boooooooo! Normally packing for the way home is as simple as chucking everything back in my case, but because I staying for two nights in Venice before I went home, I had to be a bit more careful and make sure I left certain clothes at the top so I wouldn’t have to unpack everything again. Our cases didn’t have to be left outside out cabins until 2am, so I figured I would be able to come back, put my clothes in my case and put it out before I went to bed. I got ready for my final evening, wearing a strapless pink chiffon dress and my white flowered wedges.

 

 

I went for a look around the shops and to see the photos from last night’s gala evening, then I paid some cash I had left over onto my onboard account at the accounting desk. Because I had the drinks package, all that was on my account was the E7 a day service charge, my massage and the shuttle bus. If I had paid my bill off in full, my account would have been closed, but I obviously wanted to use it for drinks that night and in the morning, so the man at the desk suggested I just pay off most of it, and leave a little to be charged to my bank card, so that I could do this. People have questioned why they couldn’t use their drinks package on the morning of disembarkation, so perhaps this is the answer?

 

I went to Café San Marco for my last prosecco, (where else of course?!) where I got talking to a lovely couple from London. The lady sat with me whilst waiting for her husband and kept eying up my glass of fizz so decided to join me with one! They were really nice and it was typical that I had only met them on the last night. I so busy chatting to them that I was nearly late for dinner, so I hurried along to La Pergola for my last supper. This consisted of a smoked salmon parcel, an unusual rice, mince and mozzarella croquette, cauliflower soup with pistachios, then salt cod with tomatoes and olives. It was all absolutely delicious and I was glad I hadn’t been let down on my final meal. I was too full for desert so I had a Gran Marnier instead! I was really tired after a big dinner, so I planned to have an early night. The mother of the two boys from my table, Anne, decided to join me for a nightcap at the Red Bar, which was nice, because I hadn’t seen her except for at dinner. This woke me up though so I decided to go for a quick drink at the disco after all, to say goodbye to everyone. This didn’t quite go as planned…I started dancing with the group of Australians from last night, and a couple of lovely girls I hadn’t seen before. They persuaded me to go and get changed, put my luggage out and come back! This led to us dancing away until the disco closed, and another late night. I wished I had met these people a bit sooner in the cruise, as I would have enjoyed hanging out with them some more.

[boopsahoy]

What exactly is a "fizz" :o

[lara_lox]

What exactly is a "fizz" :o

 

Fizz is just what me and my mum call any kind of sparkling wine, whether it be Champagne, Cava, or in this case Prosecco :)

[lara_lox]

Day 9 – Disembarkation and the Lido of Venice

 

Guests had to be out of their cabins by 8.30am this morning so that the stewards could prepare them for the next sailing, which meant that I only got about 4 hours sleep. I went for breakfast at the Marco Polo Restaurant, where I had smoked salmon and fruit. Because we didn’t arrive into dock until 10am I had a while to wait so I went to the back of the ship where I dozed and watched our approach into Venice. Then I paid a final visit to the Il Girasole bar where I had an espresso and stocked up on some bottled water to take with me. I was still able to get these as part of my drinks package, and despite the early hour I’m sure I saw some people with beer so I guess that applied to all drinks! I had been given a disembarkation time of 10.45am so I went to wait in my allocated venue of the Theatre. We were called about 20 minutes late and I left the ship at just 11am. Goodbye Armonia!

 

I collected my suitcase from where it was waiting for me and passed through security. I bought a ticket for the Alilaguna public water bus for E10 from a stand right next to the ship. I had already done my research and knew that this went from the port, to the Lido of Venice where my hotel was, then the airport. It took me about 15 minutes to walk from the ship to the Alilaguna stop (which was signposted), where the staff were very good at checking that you were getting on the right one, as there were different destinations. They helped you with your luggage and had an area to store it. It was a long, slow journey, so not a good idea if you are in a rush, but is considerably cheaper than any of the private options, and it allowed me to see the islands of Venice as we passed through. On the way I saw this boat and I had to take a picture for you all of the ‘Lady Lara’!!!

 

 

After about 50 minutes we reached the Lido and I couldn’t miss my hotel, the Hotel Riviera, which was right in front of the stop and about 30 seconds walk away. This was part of the reason I chose this hotel, as I didn’t want to worry about or have to pay a fortune to get from the ship to the hotel, then the hotel to the airport. I decided to stay on the Lido instead of in Venice proper because not only was it it sooooooo much cheaper, but I also had a beach in walking distance, and the vaporetti stop for getting the water taxis into Venice proper. I found an amazing deal, paying only £101 for two nights bed and breakfast in a single room at the Riviera, which had very good reviews. My room was tiny, being a single, but very cute and traditional in style, and was all I needed really. I was again able to check in early with no problem.

 

 

I had already guessed that I would be tired today and not want to visit Venice proper, so I had planned to go to the beach and chill out. I was really hungry so I walked to find El Pecador, a converted double decker bus that serves freshly made sandwiches by the beach. There were loads of locals there and the menu was in Italian but I have eaten out at enough Italian restaurants over the years to get the gist. The staff spoke perfectly good English and they call out your name when your food is ready to collect. I had a hot chicken and tzatziki wrap with onions, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. It cost E5 and was delicious. I sat on a bench across the street to eat, and it was only from there that I realised you could go up the stairs of the bus to the top deck where there was a small seating area. I just wish I had remembered to take a picture, but I was too busy scoffing my sarnie!

 

I walked back to the beach, which was clearly split into free and private paid sections. I just went to the free area and put my towel down on an empty patch near the sea. The beach was really busy but nice and clean, with facilities such as toilets, loungers and snack bars. There were vendors walking about trying to sell sunglasses, towels, water etc, but they weren't too pushy and would leave you alone if you firmly said no. I had already bought some water and crisps from a little shop on the walk down, which was only about 10 minutes from my hotel and the water bus stop. I stayed at the beach for several hours, reading, sunbathing and taking a dip in the sea. I had a lovely relaxing afternoon, which I really enjoyed.

 

 

 

On the way back to my hotel I stopped at supermarket where I stocked up on more water, and bought a beer and some salami to keep me going until dinner. It was a lot cheaper here than at the little shops along the streets and was a large supermarket with a good selection. Again the staff spoke very good English, as they seemed to all over the Lido. I took my snacks onto the small terrace at the hotel, which was beautiful, full of plants and flowers, and overlooking to water. I unintentionally timed it perfectly so see the Armonia sailing past on the way out to her next trip.

 

 

 

[lara_lox]

Day 9 – Continued

 

I went back to my room to wash away all the sand and get ready for the evening. I wore a white flowered sundress and flat bronze sandals. I went for a drink at a café bar just up the street where I decided to try a ‘spritz’, which is a local aperitif that everyone seemed to be drinking. It was bright orange in large glasses with ice and I had no idea what it was! It turned out to be Aperol, some kind of liqueur, topped up with sparkling water. It had quite a bitter but weak taste and was only ok, I don't think I would order it again. People also had similar drinks that were bright pink, but I never did work out what those were.

 

I went for dinner at Trattoria Andri, which I found on Trip Advisor. I used their app on my phone to find my way there, and it was spot on. It was a local restaurant in a quieter part of the street, and had excellent reviews. I sat outside at a little table and there were a lot of people, both locals and tourists there. The starters were priced at around E12, the mains E16, and a small carafe of wine was E7. I had marinated sardines with onions and gnocchi in a tomato and seafood sauce, which the waiter suggested. This, along with water, wine and service charge cost E30. The food was good and clearly homemade. The wine and water were served in unusual but beautiful Murano glass jugs. They were difficult to pick up and hold to pour though, so I was extra careful not to be my usual clumsy self and drop them! I was too full for a desert so I just sat for a while, finishing my wine and people watching.

 

 

 

After dinner I went to a nearby bar called Jeraboam Due for a digestif. I finished my grappa and went to up to the bar to pay, but ended up chatting to a local guy who was sat there. Then some of his friends arrived, and one of the barmen joined us so I stayed and had a drink with them. They said I couldn’t go to bed early on a Friday night and asked me to go to a local bar with them. I checked where it was, and as it was on the same road as my hotel and I had walked past it earlier, I decided to go. It was really just a pavement café, with only locals there, but I great time standing on the street chatting to everyone. Lots of different people turned up and they all seemed to know each other so I met loads of new Italian friends.

 

 

 

I suddenly decided that I had drunk enough and it was time to leave, so I said my goodbyes and walked back to my hotel. I was surprised to see that it was really late, about 3am, the night had flown by. Unbeknownst to me, it was time for another ridiculous scenario...When I reached the front doors of the hotel, they didn’t open automatically like they normally did. I pulled at them several times instead but they still wouldn’t open. I peered through the glass into reception but I couldn’t see anyone. I knocked on the door, hoping someone would appear but they didn’t. The street was deserted and I started to wonder what I should do. I was tired, tipsy and dying for the loo and I nearly started to cry! I tried to think of a solution, but I didn’t have the phone number of the hotel with me, I wasn’t connected to the internet so I couldn’t Google it, and my bank card was in my room so I couldn’t get another hotel somewhere as a last resort. I was stood in a strange country, in the middle of the night, by myself, locked out of my hotel. I began to panic and started banging at the doors in desperation. Suddenly an angry looking older gentleman appeared from a side room and came to unlock the door. I think he was about to shout at me but I was so relieved that I practically flung my arms round him as I thanked him and he seemed to find it amusing. He then told me I could have just rung the doorbell. WHAT DOORBELL?!?! He pointed to a bit of wall completely obscured by bushes and flowers. You would have thought there would have been a sign with an arrow, saying to ring for attention, or that Reception would have told you this when you checked in. But no! I also checked later and the information booklet in my room also made no mention of the front doors being locked at a certain time. Grrrrrrr :mad: It was definitely bedtime.

[CruiseDirections]

Lara, I loved your review so now I will have to read all the others. My DH and I will be on the MSC Orchestra in September and getting reved up. You didn't happen to be on the Mandalay or Fantome with us in a former life did you?

[papcx]

Lara.

 

Loved your review. I assume you'll be a MSC lover from now on. It'll be good to have another member championing MSC.

[Skipper Tim]

Day 9 – Continued

 

 

I suddenly decided that I had drunk enough and it was time to leave, so I said my goodbyes and walked back to my hotel. I was surprised to see that it was really late, about 3am, the night had flown by.

<snip>

Grrrrrrr :mad: It was definitely bedtime.

 

I loved your review.

 

T.

[AmoMondo]

Loved reading every instalment of your review. sounds like you had a great time despite a few glitches along the way.

[kek123]

Thanks for another great review! You remind me of myself about 15 years ago, minus the great hair and fashion sense!

[lara_lox]

Thanks again guys for all the positive feedback. I'm glad you're enjoying my somewhat epic story! I still have a couple more posts to do, which will probably be done by early next week then that's it, I will have finally finished!

[lara_lox]

Day 10 – Venice

 

I woke up late after a rater intoxicated sleep so I missed breakfast. I got ready really quickly as I didn’t want to waste time, as I intended to go into Venice proper today. I had a coffee from a pavement café opposite the hotel then I went to get the water bus. You could buy passes for 12/24/48 hours and so on, which would be ideal if you were staying for a few days and exploring all the islands, however because I was only going there and back to San Marco, I just bought a one way ticket for E7. Rather queue up at the kiosks, I used one of the self serve ticket machines instead. It had options for several different languages and was very easy to use. It was a quick journey to San Marco, maybe 10 minutes, and again the stops were called out as we reached them, so you knew where you were.

 

I didn’t have any real plan for exactly what to do or where to go in Venice, I wanted to just go with the flow and see what happened! But the reason I got off the vaporetto at the San Marco stop was because having never been to Venice before, I knew had to see the iconic sights of St Mark’s Square. I wandered around taking a few pictures, finally seeing the square, St Mark’s Basilica, the clock tower and Doge’s palace in person, after reading so much about them.

 

 

 

 

There were long queues, as I had expected, to see each of these attractions, so now I knew where I was, I decided not to visit them but to walk a bit and try to find my way to the Rialto bridge, another sight I knew I had to see. I didn’t use a map (though I had studied one before my trip, so had an idea where everything was) and instead just meandered through various side streets, looking at the shops and exploring. Some how I suddenly arrived at the Rialto vaporetti stop and the bridge was there in front of me. It was an amazing piece of architecture and I spent a while walking around and admiring it. The steps were crowded with people stopping for photo opportunities but the further you walked up, the less crowed it was and it was easy to find a spot to look out over the canal and take a few more photos myself.

 

 

 

 

I was very careful to keep a good hold of my bag and my camera because there were a lot of street people and beggars sat on the steps, as there was around Venice in general. Although I didn’t see any issues with any of them, like any city, particularly touristy ones, I think it’s important to remember to stay safe and secure as it is a thriving environment for pick pockets and bag snatchers.

 

I will have to split this post in two, as I have too many photos to post at once!

[lara_lox]

By now I was getting hungry as I still hadn’t eaten, having missed breakfast. I used my Trip Advisor app on my phone again, but as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t find the pizza place I wanted to. The street names I could see on the wall signs just didn’t add up with my map at all! There were loads of places to eat with restaurants at every turn, with some very pretty ones in particular lining the canal. However, these were obviously aimed at tourists and I find places like this are often rather expensive for only mediocre food. Whilst I walked back and forth, getting lost trying to find the restaurant I was looking for I stumbled upon a number a pretty little squares, gondola stops, little souvenir stalls and also a large food and fish market. I enjoyed exploring this way more than following a regimented plan of visiting specific destinations in turn. I also found some great looking quirky bars and restaurants that I would have enjoyed visiting in the evening, but because I was by myself, I didn't want to walking through back streets and having to catch a vaporetto back alone at night, so I had already decided to go back to the Lido for the evening.

 

 

 

 

I eventually gave up and stopped at a small trattoria called Aguila Nero, which was in a tiny, pretty, flowered courtyard. There were groups of tourists sat alongside local Italians, which I figured must be a good sign. I had a pizza, mixed salad and a coke, which came to E22.50, including a E2 cover charge. This was cheaper than the prices at a lot of places geared towards the tourists, though they offered no cover charge, so it was definitely worth looking out for the more traditional places and not being sucked in by the restaurants advertising tourist ‘deals’ next to the main attractions. The food was good but I was just too hot to enjoy it fully, and I wished I had sat inside where it was air conditioned instead.

 

I walked back along to San Marco, this time very quickly and easily, guided by the signs on the walls of the buildings. I enjoyed the shade of the little alleyways and streets, which were lined with shops, both general clothes/shoes/jewellery type stores and souvenir shops full of Murano glassware and beautiful masks.

 

 

 

Back at St Mark’s Square I decided to visit the Basilica, which being an active church, does not charge an entry fee. There was still a long queue outside, but it was much shorter than the one that was there when I arrived earlier that morning. It seemed to be moving quickly though, and it actually only took me 10 minutes to reach the front. As you can see from my pictures at the Rialto Bridge, to explore Venice I had worn a long black maxi dress with flat sandals. This was not only comfortable and cool in the hot weather, but also meant that my legs were covered. I had a little white long sleeved cardigan in my bag which I also put on, meaning I was fully and appropriately covered for entering the Basilica. People who weren’t, and had their shoulders or knees exposed, were required to buy horrible scratchy looking orange sheets for E1 each to wrap around themselves. So ladies in particular, remember to wear at least Capri length pants and pop a shawl or cardie in your bag if you plan on visiting any churches or other religious sights.

 

 

Inside the Basilica was amazing! It was absolutely beautiful, with incredible detail. There were signs everywhere reminding visitors not to take photographs and I found it really rude that so many people blatantly disregarded this and snapped away anyway. There was some kind of prayer service being held in the church whilst I was there, and the prayers then singing of the congregation were lovely to listen to. Unfortunately some people (the same ones who where taking photos!) were very disrespectful, talking loudly and almost pushing them out the way to see what was happening. Once I left the Basilica I sat in the square enjoying the sights for a short while longer, but by now I very hot and tired so I decided to get a varoretto back to the calmer (and considerably cheaper!) Lido. I bought another E7 one way ticket back from a machine and only had to wait a couple of minutes for the right water bus to arrive. The stops had very clear signs and electronic screens so you knew which bus went where, but there were still two American ladies sat behind me who were somehow oblivious to these and were headed in completely the wrong direction!

 

Back at my hotel I had a brief rest and refreshed myself, before going to a very nice deli/café/bar nearby on the main strip of the Lido. I had a coffee and an apple tart from the patisserie section, which I enjoyed as I read and watched the world go by. As I did this I thought again how much I like the Lido, I was pleased I had stayed there and would return again. I whiled away the rest of the afternoon here, then began to think about what I wanted to do for dinner. As I was tired and had eaten at a restaurant at lunch time, I didn’t feel like doing this again. Instead I returned to the supermarket where I bough all kinds of salads, cold meats, cheese and bread which I took with some drinks for a picnic on the hotel terrace. This was what just what I fancied, and I had a lovely, relaxed meal, reading by myself. Afterwards it was still fairly early so I got showered and changed into the turquoise maxi dress I had worn briefly on my first night in Marcon and went for a night cap. It had started to rain and there was a huge storm with thunder and lightening! I still sat outside, under the awnings of the bars and watched the still busy streets, with lots of local families who were out together enjoying Saturday night drinks and gelatos. Once the rain had eased off a bit I walked back to my hotel, where I had some fruit and water I’d bought from the shop earlier, before getting to bed at a much more reasonable time than last night.

[Best pressie]

Well done! Nice pictures, we are sailing on sept 20, doing he same ports!

[lara_lox]

Day 11 – Home Time

 

So the end of my latest adventure was finally here :( I got up at 8.30am, and started packing before I went down for breakfast. I decided that I would nip over to the Alilaguna stop and check the times to the airport before I ate. I was glad I did because they were every thirty minutes, with one that would get me to the airport a bit earlier than I intended, or a bit later. As I knew the journey would be around an hour and I didn’t want to be rushing or running late if anything held me up, I decided to hurry up so I could make the earlier one. Breakfast at the hotel was really good, (bar the coffee and ‘juice’!) with very fresh fruit, cheeses and cold meats, then also scrambled eggs and bacon. All were delicious, and I really enjoyed my breakfast. It was far superior to the one I had at the Anthony Palace (which was a higher star rating) at the start of my trip. There were also lots of delicious cakes and pastries, though I don’t like sweet foods in the morning. Well done Hotel Riviera, I was impressed! I finished packing then checked out. The city tax was imposed now that I was officially in the boundaries of Venice, and this came to E4.80. I was already aware of this tax, so had my money ready, which the Receptionist seemed surprised at, they must have a lot of people who aren’t expecting this little extra charge, and argue about it. I bought my alilaguna ticket from the kiosk at the stop for E15 and the water bus arrived minutes after, right on time. As expected the journey did take about an hour as we stopped at other islands such as Murano along the way, but once again it meant I got to see a little bit more of Venice before I left. It was about a 10-15 minute walk from where the bus docked to the airport check-in area, but there were luggage trolleys waiting for those who needed them, and a clearly signposted, covered walkway. My timings were right in the end, as my check-in opened about 10 minutes after I arrived.

 

I had a look around the airport, which had a lot of high end shops and expensive souvenir displays but surprisingly few places to eat. I sat at a modern style wine bar, which had glass counters displaying a range of cichetti. I had a final glass of delicious prosecco and sampled some of the foods whilst I waited for my flight. A lot of people didn’t seem to understand the concept that the cichetti were like Spanish tapas, where you pick several of the little snacks to nibble on with your drink, and I overheard several comments about how small the sandwiches were! As I was there a group of Brits sat alongside me, and I instantly recognised one lady from my old gym back home! We got chatting and it turned out that both she and her friends live in the same tiny little village as me. We laughed about the coincidence and I suddenly heard them calling our flight so we rushed to make sure we made it. The gate closed earlier than usual as we had to catch a shuttle bus across to the runway, so I was glad I heard the announcement. A short flight later and I was back home to a shockingly warm and sunny Manchester.

 

The End

 

Overall I had another great trip. I was very pleased with MSC and would definitely sail with them again. The Armonia really was beautiful and really well maintained, I honestly don’t know how other people have been able to say how dirty and poorly kept she was. My slight concerns about sailing on an older, smaller ship than I was used to were completely unfounded. Yes of course there were less facilities, but as I have commented on in my previous reviews, there are times I have felt almost guilty on other ships because I was unable to try everything or fit it all in! There was still everything I needed and if I wanted more bars/restaurants/activities, I could have paid more to go on a larger ship which had them.

 

There were also more English speaking passengers than I was expecting, perhaps because I had prepared myself for there being barely any. I didn’t meet a specific group of friends to hang around with this trip, as I have done in the past, but I still found people to chat to and socialise with. The staff were good, and although not so pushy and openly effusive as I have found on the American cruise lines, they were still very friendly, always remembering my name and my preferences. I thought they had the perfect balance for me. There was the odd one or two who were a little more perfunctory, but they weren’t rude or unpleasant, they just weren’t as personable. I won’t go into the food any more that to say I was happy with it, as I think I have talked about that topic constantly and thoroughly throughout this tale!

 

The ports seemed to contrast between being must-see stops like Dubrovnik and Kotor, to take-it or leave-it ones such as Cefalonia and Argastoli. I know I can’t offer much of an opinion on those ports where I stayed onboard, so I could be completely wrong, but there didn’t seem to be much to do there, though they looked little pretty little towns to walk around. I don’t mean that as a complaint however, as this was an unusual itinerary in that we stopped everyday. As you will have gathered, I like to enjoy the ship and relax, as well as explore new places, and I wouldn’t want to have had really long, tiring days where I was running around constantly trying to fit everything in. I liked that the towns were close to the ports as well, as it meant it was much easier to do your own thing rather having to book excursions and do long coach journeys just to get to the man attractions, as is the case on a lot of the Western Med stops.

 

Before I went I wanted this trip to be about relaxing, doing my own thing without any pressure from other people, and visiting some new destinations. Mission completed! That brings me to the end of another of my long ramblings, thank you to you all for sticking with me and reading my story, I hope it’s been helpful as well as entertaining! Feel free to ask any questions, I will try my best to answer them. So it’s goodbye for now everyone, until next time…. X

[rool]

Lara, thanks ever so much for all of that, I am departing 16/8 on the exact same cruise and the information you have posted is invaluable to a new MSC customer.

 

Can I pick your brains on a couple of things?

 

I intend on taking a dinner suit for the formals. You mention you saw a few but I just want to know if it looked over the top compared to the rest of the diners?

 

For the White and Green/White/Red nights. Were these events held after dinner in the disco and was there a big participation in these. We want to take part as much as possible to get in the mood of it all :D

 

Thank you

[lara_lox]

Answers below... I hope you have a great time :)

 

 

Lara, thanks ever so much for all of that, I am departing 16/8 on the exact same cruise and the information you have posted is invaluable to a new MSC customer.

 

Can I pick your brains on a couple of things?

 

Of course!

 

I intend on taking a dinner suit for the formals. You mention you saw a few but I just want to know if it looked over the top compared to the rest of the diners?

 

I didn't think it did at all, no, a lot of people did dress up, particularly on the first gala night. But then I am a fan of dressing up as you will have gathered! I didn't see anyone who looked out of place because they were 'too' dressed up though so I say take and wear your dinner suit with pride :)

 

For the White and Green/White/Red nights. Were these events held after dinner in the disco and was there a big participation in these. We want to take part as much as possible to get in the mood of it all :D

 

The green/white/red night I presume must have been the Italian night. Passengers weren't dressed up any particular way, but the dinner and entertainment was Italian themed and the staff wore costumes. The entertainment for this seemed to be in Bar del Duomo, as it was stuffed full with Italian families, very popular.

 

For the White party, loads of people wore white and the party was on the pool deck outside and very well attended. It started late on in evening, after the second dinner sitting, around 1030-11ish I think. It was fun despite me falling over!

 

I didn't see any parties or entertainment held in the Starlight Disco at all, it was stupidly wasted as the teen club venue! Just check the Daily newsletter left in your cabin for the exact times and locations of each event.

 

Thank you