MSC Magnifica picture heavy fun review -- 12 days British Isles incl. DIY port trips

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

The bombshell... Oh no!

 

 

:D:cool::eek: OH YES :eek::cool::D

[oreosmile]

I am absolutely loving your history lessons - my husband and I had a big discussion about brochs the other day just because of you! (he dared question their age!)

 

Nova Scotia (New Scotland) where I live in Canada has big Scottish links as it was founded by was founded by Sir William Alexander, and King James of Scotland in the early 1600s. You just inspired me to learn a little more about whether we welcomed some of those Highlanders who emigrated, and it appears that we did!

 

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/About_Clans/HtySctNS.html

 

<<Following defeat at the Battle of Culloden, life and times became very difficult in the Highlands. The people were forbidden to speak their language (Gaelic), play the Bagpipes (considered instruments of war) or to wear their Highland dress. The economy went from bad to worse, and the atrocities committed on the Highlanders by Butcher Cumberland and his followers left tales almost too horrible to tell. The Highlanders, if they could, left.

 

The first Highlanders to come to Nova Scotia arrived on the Ship Hector at Pictou in 1773. Through the years, up to and especially during the Highland Clearances, shipload after shipload of Highland emigrants crossed the difficult seas to Nova Scotia. The main ports of entry was Pictou, followed by Sydney, Halifax and others. Pictou became rightly known as the Birthplace of New Scotland>>

 

I am working hard to convince my husband to take a similar itinerary - your posts are fueling my arguments!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

I am absolutely loving your history lessons - my husband and I had a big discussion about brochs the other day just because of you! (he dared question their age!)

 

Nova Scotia (New Scotland) where I live in Canada has big Scottish links as it was founded by was founded by Sir William Alexander, and King James of Scotland in the early 1600s. You just inspired me to learn a little more about whether we welcomed some of those Highlanders who emigrated, and it appears that we did!

 

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/About_Clans/HtySctNS.html

 

<<Following defeat at the Battle of Culloden, life and times became very difficult in the Highlands. The people were forbidden to speak their language (Gaelic), play the Bagpipes (considered instruments of war) or to wear their Highland dress. The economy went from bad to worse, and the atrocities committed on the Highlanders by Butcher Cumberland and his followers left tales almost too horrible to tell. The Highlanders, if they could, left.

 

The first Highlanders to come to Nova Scotia arrived on the Ship Hector at Pictou in 1773. Through the years, up to and especially during the Highland Clearances, shipload after shipload of Highland emigrants crossed the difficult seas to Nova Scotia. The main ports of entry was Pictou, followed by Sydney, Halifax and others. Pictou became rightly known as the Birthplace of New Scotland>>

 

I am working hard to convince my husband to take a similar itinerary - your posts are fueling my arguments!

 

 

Hi,

 

Lol -- always fun to be able to discuss a broch:D. Glad I triggered that.

 

:)Thanks for addding to the history!

 

... oh and I'll try to give you many more "fuelling" arguments to convince your husband.:p:)

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Dinner day four

 

Tonight was the “white” theme night.

 

First as always the menu:

Lol … and for all the German speakers out there …. Take a look at the following German menu … this frightful translation made us laugh hysterically for 5 minutes straight!

:eek::eek::eek:

 

 

We had many fun translation errors ... but this was the most horrible one. No -- horrible isn't the right word, we had so much fun with each blooper ... but "enjoyable" just doesn't fit for this particular one :D.

 

 

More to come!

Stef

Edited November 7, 2014 by Kreuzfahrtneuling

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Dinner day four

Salt cod puree

Table mates

Roast beef wrapped asparagus en Bellevue

Tanja: 7 points

Stracciatella alla romana

Table mates

Potato lentil soup

Tarik: 8 points

Maccheroncini all’amatriciana

Tablemates

Risotto Mare e Monti

Stef: 9 points

 

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Fillet of salmon in a fine-herb potato crust

Tarik: 10 points!

Baked beef

Tanja: 8 points

Saltimbocca

Tablemates

Eggplant au gratin

Stef: 9 points

Mocca tart

Tarik and Tanja: 9 points

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Evening onboard -- day four

After dinner we went outside to wave Scotland goodbye --- at least for a couple of days … it felt soothing to know that we’d have one more glorious Scotland port day coming up before the end of the cruise.

We used the time to take cruisy pictures.

See how only I tried to comply with the “white” theme of the evening? Booohhh to Tanja and Tarik, but they just refused…to this day I don’t know why.

But never mind the missing white (well at least Tarik wore his white jeans) – I totally love this picture of my loved ones:

… and while we were fooling around, taking pictures…guess who came by … our tablemates! So we had a lot more fun with even more pictures.

Tadahhhh … here we are:

That was a fun little meeting. Thank you guys for making this cruise even more perfect!

But let’s get back to waving goodbye to Scotland:

Bye! Bye! Uh oh … that color of the sea is looking kinda dark, don’t you think?

Gulp… it’s getting darker and darker…

It’s completely black now

...and I guess that would be a slight announcement of what the weather had in store for us for the two upcoming nights and the seaday…

We didn’t go see a show that night…it was a long day … we crashed REAL early. Lol – and were rocked to sleep by the ever increasing waves.

Stay tuned

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:Dlol .. this time it took me 16:eek: days to finish a port stop ... gheesh! Where will this end? I might need to take off a week sometime as well to recharge. But not quite yet.

 

Any questions about the two Scotland ports so far?

 

Stef

[Irish Cath]

 

Any questions about the two Scotland ports so far?

 

Stef

 

No questions - just wanted to say that this is officially the BEST review that has ever been on CruiseCritic. Full Stop. No Argument. The End.

 

And my opinion really counts too :p:p:D

[windjamming]

No questions - just wanted to say that this is officially the BEST review that has ever been on CruiseCritic. Full Stop. No Argument. The End.

 

And my opinion really counts too :p:p:D

 

I agree with IrishCath!! I've lost count of what day of the cruise you're on, and how many more ports to go, but I'm loving every minute of it. If review writing was a Highland Game, you'd be the runaway champion!

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[pinkpanther52]

no questions - just wanted to say that this is officially the best review that has ever been on cruisecritic. Full stop. No argument. The end.

 

And my opinion really counts too :p:p:d

 

agreed 😀😀😀

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:eek::eek::eek:

 

:ostop it you guys -- you're making me blush:o

 

 

sniff, I feel extremely cherished. But this is WAY too much praise....let's continue, okay?

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Day five -- seaday

 

Dailies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Day five – drinks

Sparkling wine

…ahh, to sit around in formal dinner attire, leisurely sipping on a glass of one of those … life can be fantastic.

 

(One little rant: see the two red dots on this picture -- out in the ocean? Those are balloons that constantly went overboard that day from the hiddeous Oktoberfest spectacle, which I'll tell you about in a while....Keep the sea clean you guys...this isn't okay! Rant over)

 

 

 

one more sparkling wine formal picture:

And not to miss out Tarik (no sparkling wine, but a dirty banana shake as always in front of him) :

Doesn’t he look great?

But I’m digressing…back to the drinks:

Mai Tai

Mhhh, not our cup of tea.

Perroquet

Lol –…just in case you’re wondering why Tanja points to the drink menu -- we forgot to take my little notepad and thought we’d surely forget that name.

 

This is what it looks like once you pour the extra water into it:

It was okay…but not especially memorable.

You see, we are trying less and less new ones – that doesn’t mean we didn’t indulge in cocktails anymore --- just that we returned to our favorite ones… again and again and …lol -- you get the picture.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

The Oktoberfest (post one of two)

Sigh, why not cover it right away, so we have it out of the way? You can probably already grasp, that I wasn’t a fan… not at all. I basically hated everything about it. And I’m usually a peaceful… very much hatefree person.

That day it was VERY stormy… so stormy, that they closed off the outside… but more on that later. The inside pool of course was a place to retreat to in times like that … or so we thought.

But what’s that?

A giant inflatable beer mug??

Bavarian flags all over the place???

Aaargh, I’m having a nightmare… please somebody wake me up! I thought I’m on an Italian cruiseship … not in the “Oberbayern” , a trashy German lower class beer joint on Mallorca. (Sorry, Elmartellama – I’m convinced the rest of Mallorca is absolutely beautiful --- and as a matter of fact I can’t wait to check it out myself).

But the deco wasn’t the only thing to make me toss and turn…

They played the worst ever German music… here are some examples for the connoisseurs of such:

Hoch auf dem gelben Wagen

(song fit for a 4th grade hiking trip, when the teacher forces everybody to sing along)

Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit

( okay – after a minimum of 10 highly alcoholic beverages this might be something to sing along when on a party with friends)

Muss I denn zum Städtele hinaus

( again – student hiking trip)

Wir lagen vor Madagascar … und hatten die Pest an Bord

( lol – how amusing… the literal translation of this is : we were anchored off Madagascar and had the plague onboard … ) :eek:way to go guys--- definitely a song to play on a cruise ship:rolleyes:.

And last but not least an English song (once again you wanna slap the person who chose it):

What shall we do with the drunken sailor

--- :eek:no comment… I was openmouthed, yet speechless at this point. All that was left to do was take refuge in my BBC and take notes for this bashing part of the review.

 

Could it get any worse?

Stay tuned!

Stef

Edited November 8, 2014 by Kreuzfahrtneuling

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

The Oktoberfest (last post – thank God)

Yes – it COULD.

They started silly games which I seriously have never heard of – and I AM German for crying out loud.

The people stood in line to try it , so maybe I was the only one thinking this was pathetic.

Next to these “German” games, they had “German” food set up.

Again, the lines were unbelievable… this was set up between lunch and dinner …so you would think people were still stuffed enough…but no…I guess I was mistaken here as well.

I didn’t try…maybe it tasted wonderful...but I WAS still full from lunch afterall and Bratwurst and Sauerkraut just don’t appeal to me on a British Isles cruise on an Italian cruise ship…I know – maybe I should relax and enjoy life…but I really didn’t like this whole fake German event.

Maybe it was hormonal PMS …who knows…. I HATED IT!

What could top this? Surely the Italian male passengers mocking the “March music loving Germans”

GIVE ME A BREAK – YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO BELIEVE THIS SUCKS!!!!!

as well as the Polonaise they started around and around and through the inflatable beer mug.

That’s it … stormy or not --- I needed to get out of here –

now

!

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

sorry guys,

 

breathing in .... breathing out ...repeat.

 

I really didn't mean to write in such an angry manner, but it overwhelmed me when I thought about it again. But I also think you want to get the complete picture, right? I could just tell you how wonderful everything was, but that wouldn't be the whole story...so again...please excuse my little faux pas....but I just needed to get it out of my system.

 

I'll try to behave again tomorrow!

 

Stef

[denisey]

Could it get any worse

 

Well...

 

If you had been on a US ship, they would have played 'The Happy Wanderer' (Here I go a-wandering, with a knapsack on my back, Val-deri, Val-dera) followed by 'The Beer Barrel Polka' (Roll out the barrel, and we'll have a barrel of fun)

 

They would serve hot dogs and canned saurkraut with Bud Light and Schnapps and pretzels from a bag.

 

Makes me shudder, and I'm not from Germany.

 

On another note, my group of friends sing 'What can you do with a Drunken Sailor' after much alcohol at the campfire while camping. After many years, I still don't know what to do with a drunken sailor!

 

At least it was only part of one day!

 

Denise

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Well...

 

If you had been on a US ship, they would have played 'The Happy Wanderer' (Here I go a-wandering, with a knapsack on my back, Val-deri, Val-dera) followed by 'The Beer Barrel Polka' (Roll out the barrel, and we'll have a barrel of fun)

 

They would serve hot dogs and canned saurkraut with Bud Light and Schnapps and pretzels from a bag.

 

Makes me shudder, and I'm not from Germany.

 

On another note, my group of friends sing 'What can you do with a Drunken Sailor' after much alcohol at the campfire while camping. After many years, I still don't know what to do with a drunken sailor!

 

At least it was only part of one day!

 

Denise

 

Lol -- the beer barrel sounds frightful ... as well as the bagged pretzels ... I guess there are ups and downs on every line. Thanks for this post ... it cheered me up. Now I have the picture of tipsy Americans in my head singing the drunken sailor song around a campfire ... lol ... I love it!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

The storm

We had pretty rough weather for about 36 hours …

sometimes more --- to the point where you were almost shoved sideways off the bed at night,

sometimes less – where you could sit in the l’Ametista lounge enjoying sparkling wine and outdoor wildlife.

Somehow our room attendant seemed to know the weather would get rough, because that night Tarik had an extra bar on the bed, so he wouldn’t tumble right on top of us. We were grateful for that. Still we had a hard time to remain on the mattress ourselves. It was quite the roller-coaster ride.

But you know what was really cool?

I didn’t get seasick…

not once…not a wee bit!

I was so amazed and happy about that!

Our table mates were less fortunate. Sarah and Yvonne both looked green-greyish and I even thought Sarah would faint once. We gave them our sea bands and the ginger capsules and it actually helped a little bit. At least they could finish dinner…well, sitting through it … eating was not an option. I’ve never seen such a deserted restaurant… and it was formal night. The whole ship got emptier and emptier, as many people retreated to their staterooms.

I have no idea, why I didn’t get sick … maybe it was all that aggravation from the Oktoberfest … in that case I should probably be grateful for it being so horrible… heck, if it cures me from being seasick in weather like this … bring it on!

This is a view outside from the l’Ametista lounge:

The waves were mean, because they hit the ship from the side … no stabilizers were able to level those out anymore. But it was quite an impressive natural spectacle. The best place to indulge in it was the outside of deck 13 …

I tried to catch the wind intensity with this picture … it didn’t really work out like I planned… but maybe you still get a glimpse … look at the guy’s pants. They were flapping violently and he had to constantly correct his standing position as to not fall because of the gusts.

Lol – they closed off the outside…. Look how effective that was.

You could still walk past the main pool area and up those stairs to get to the spot that guy is standing at in the picture…

They also closed off some doors on deck 7 … but not all of them, which could lead you to the awkward situation to be outside and having to dive underneath the closure-chain to get back in…I love this cruise line, but safety-wise I believe the Americans are doing a better and more thorough job.

Jacuzzi and outdoor pool were closed

… lol – too bad…today playing cork would have been a real thriller. But looking at the dark weather out there…

...I believe it was a good idea to cover it.

But once in a while you could see the sun trying to peek through.

I loved the way the light hit the water way back there.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Elmartellama]

We also had a German / Bavarian thing during our sailing, but not that serious. I don't think is that bad, as long as people behave.

 

About that place in Mallorca, we locals never go there, just the same way we never go to Magaluf where all those drunk English young people are. It's just like red districts of Amsterdam or Hamburg I guess. They are there, but it does not mean the rest of the city or region is like that.

 

I'm sorry to say that the only reason those drinking palaces exist is because many German and English people (mainly) demand that kind of services. You won't see Spanish people there.

 

To me, it is highly hypocritical the way the media in the UK and Germany reports those incidents, when those bars are owned by foreign people, run by foreign people and the customers are foreign people.

 

We locals, as taxpayers, have to pay for the collateral damage of that ridiculous business, so why do the media in foreign countries picture they young people as victims, even when they behave like pigs? Who pays for the free of charge medical assistance? street cleaning? the bad image reflected on the rest of the island? If it were for me, those places should all be closed down. The business they generate does not pay off for the problems they create.

 

Also, in general, alcoholism is not such a serious problem in Spain, as it is in other countries. Yes, we do have our share of teenagers who drink and get drunk, but it's not as bad, as what you see with wild tourists behaving like animals.

 

As for adults, the typical Spanish person don't drink that much. To my partner and I, even the Allegrissimo package is not worth it!

 

Sorry about the off-topic, but that is the way I see it. You may not like that kind of Oktoberfest, but let's face it, a great part of your fellow Germans do. I don't think Oktoberfest itself is bad, people can drink, have a great time and a few laughs. The problem is when they cross lines.

[Elmartellama]

By the way, keeping up with the review, and longing to visit Scotland one day! :)

[suekay]

Elmartellama

 

Please dont think that the UK media regard tge drunken English louts as victims. I've yet to see a tv programme or newspaper article which supports them. Rather they, like the majority of Brits, are ashamed and embarrassed at their behaviour and the image they portray.

 

BTW I'm loving the review, Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

 

About that place in Mallorca, we locals never go there, just the same way we never go to Magaluf where all those drunk English young people are. It's just like red districts of Amsterdam or Hamburg I guess. They are there, but it does not mean the rest of the city or region is like that.

 

I'm sorry to say that the only reason those drinking palaces exist is because many German and English people (mainly) demand that kind of services. You won't see Spanish people there.

 

To me, it is highly hypocritical the way the media in the UK and Germany reports those incidents, when those bars are owned by foreign people, run by foreign people and the customers are foreign people.

 

We locals, as taxpayers, have to pay for the collateral damage of that ridiculous business, so why do the media in foreign countries picture they young people as victims, even when they behave like pigs? Who pays for the free of charge medical assistance? street cleaning? the bad image reflected on the rest of the island? If it were for me, those places should all be closed down. The business they generate does not pay off for the problems they create.

 

Also, in general, alcoholism is not such a serious problem in Spain, as it is in other countries. Yes, we do have our share of teenagers who drink and get drunk, but it's not as bad, as what you see with wild tourists behaving like animals.

 

As for adults, the typical Spanish person don't drink that much. To my partner and I, even the Allegrissimo package is not worth it!

 

Sorry about the off-topic, but that is the way I see it. You may not like that kind of Oktoberfest, but let's face it, a great part of your fellow Germans do. I don't think Oktoberfest itself is bad, people can drink, have a great time and a few laughs. The problem is when they cross lines.

 

 

No worries about the off-topic ... I believe it's right on target. I agree with Suekay ... Here in Germany, whenever you see "serious" documentaries about "that place" ( I LOVE how you titled that --- since it really shouldn't be upgraded by being called by its name) and the German tourist crowd that visits it ... it is done so with an air of "Fremdschämen", which basically means to be ashamed of somebody elses behaviour, in this case the horde of tourists. Also there are reports on the problems this embarrasing group of people cause for the local population ... so be assured ... most of my fellow citizens feel sympathetic with you locals ... definitely NOT with the raging, brainless, drunk beyond believe trash-tourists. Sigh, of course we have those too ... or otherwise we wouldn't be writing this right now.

 

I do like to drink ... red wine, sparkling wine, cocktails, beer --- I draw the line before Schnaps and other hard liquors. The Allegrissimo pays off nicely for me. But that doesn't (hopefully) put me in the same league as the hordes we're talking about here. I like to enjoy a drink while I'm having fun... I don't drink it to have fun. It's a tough topic ... I believe it's easy to cross the line that turns it from enjoyment to a problem. So I really don't want to proclaim heavy use of it here.

 

Oh God, have I done that by posting the cocktails each day already?

 

Is anybody feeling offended?

 

If so ... please tell me and I'll immediately stop!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hey everybody,

 

... I intended to treat you all with one more "pretty pictures taken on a seaday" post today ... but now I started researching a bit about something seen on one of them ... :)so believe it or not, you'll have another history post coming up tomorrow or the day after that ...

 

:confused:Say what you say? Yes -- on a seaday:eek:! I know. I'm obsessed:rolleyes:.

 

Stef