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

[denisey]

Okay, the Secret of Kells is on my to do list!

 

I'm glad the family let you go into the museum! Hopefully when you get back to Ireland, they won't want to see the airplane the whole time you are there! :D

 

I know it was really stressful for you, and more expenses than you wanted, but for a cruise disaster, this wasn't too bad (from a distance of 2 months and several thousand kilometers away!)

 

Still loving the review!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Dinner day nine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olive all'ascolana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fusilli ala Norma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Risotto mantecato al limone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

grilled filet of MahiMahi

 

 

 

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

dinner continued...

 

chicken cacciatore

Pork chop with grilled vegetables

 

stuffed bell pepper

lol -- and three anonymous deserts:

stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Okay, the Secret of Kells is on my to do list!

 

:DYay -- persuaded someone to watch it... :)tell me what you think of it afterwards!!!

 

:p...and thank you!

 

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Tonight’s show:

 

 

 

 

 

We went for a couple of minutes…it wasn’t our cup of tea. Other ship stuff was just too tempting. After blissfull use of pool, jacuzzi and cocktails, we retreated to our cabin, enjoyed a hot shower and then slept with the knowledge of having fresh clothes and a toothbrush the next morning – priceless.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Day 10 -- seaday

 

Dailies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Seaday activities

 

 

Today we don’t have much to report. We used the sport court to play tennis in the morning, which was funny because of the miniature size and the low hanging net above. It was so bizarre to play while huge containerships passed us on either side. We had entered the “Ärmelkanal”, a sort of ship superhighway, connecting the Atlantic to the North Sea. Man, it really was busy.

 

Later on we got a glimpse of the white cliffs of Dover:

 

 

Never been there…must be pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, we were real lazy bums this day, hung around on sunbeds, reading, snoozing, hot-tubbing and drinking cocktails….fun stuff. The weather was gorgeous!

 

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

Stef

 

 

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Dinner day 10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Duetto imperiale

 

 

 

 

Feuillete d’Escargot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mediterranean salad

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

dinner continued...

Risotto allo Spumante

Grilled King Prawns

Duck a l’Orange in Bigarade Sauce

Crepe parcel filled with vegetables and cheese

And before desert, the waiters all gathered at the front of the restaurant and when the lights were dimmed, they paraded in with these lit cakes… quite the sight…but we were too stuffed for desert today, so I have no clue if it was tasty as well as pretty.

 

 

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Evening entertainment

Tonight’s show:

Sigh, this was supposed to be the best show of the cruise …and I have no clue what it was about, cause we missed it completely.

We got stuck in the l’Ametista lounge, watching an event called “MSC’s got talent”. Fun stuff... passengers were to perform and there was a jury from members of the staff.

Oh look – it’s Pumuckl!

Why is it, that opera divas never walk by themselves? Whenever we saw her, she was gallantly led by a man …. Any man who came to guide her on or off the stage … or in this case to the jury seat:rolleyes:.

The performers – besides two dancing spectacles (quite horrific – both of them) were made up of singers. Yes, there were also gruesome pieces of auditive torture among them – let’s not dwell on those. But there were two singers that stood out.

One was this guy (sorry for the blurry pic) who sang an Italian song so beautifully I almost cried

And THIS fella absolutely rocked the stage, singing opera.

Look at the dreamy face of our diva, while he sings.

He got

minutes

of standing ovations after he finished (and yes – even an appreciative nod by the “real” opera singer in the jury. It was incredible.

Oh and here's one more cocktail, which turned out to be Tanja’s all time favorite:

 

 

 

Moscow mule. I know it looks like Iced water --- but the taste is exquisite … inexplicable -- just try it!

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Dailies day 11 -- Amsterdam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

MSC tours for our day in Amsterdam

 

 

 

 

 

well, normally I'd have a map for y'all now with our plans for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This might be shocking ... but we had none ... on purpose:cool::eek::cool:.

 

 

 

 

We intended to simply stroll through town, go with the flow and see where it would take us. We only had half a day here and with entering the Schengen area, there was a lot more port security stuff involved than on any other port day so far. You need to take your passports along ...otherwise they won't let you disembark here. And you had to do the x-ray check for your stuff both ways... takes up some time. Anyway, in the following four or five posts I have a summary of our impressions for ya. Sit back and enjoy the pictures.

 

We were lucky: our ship docked at the city center dock. From here it is a mere 15 minute walk to downtown.

 

Attention: If your ship docks at the port of Ijmuiden .... you're screwed ... it takes more than half an hour on a public bus to get to downtown from there. Especially on only half a day, this would prove difficult. But they do have a pretty beach there ... so I guess it can be a fun port as well ... just not if you're looking forward to lot's of time in Amsterdam itself.

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

stroll through Amsterdam

 

houses

 

 

typical picturesk city-house.

 

 

 

 

the oude kerk ... I thought the no-alc sign was pretty funny, especially with a group of 6 or so homeless drinking from beer cans in very close proximity.

 

 

 

 

loved this sun-clock on the nieuwe kerk.

 

 

 

 

yup, a nation with strong ties to the sea.

 

 

 

 

hooray -- a house only for cheese! By the way, young Dutch Gouda ... especially when bought fresh, right on a market in Amsterdam is simply divine! We bought a big chunk and all three of us nibbled as we walked along ... must have been quite the odd sight, but we enjoyed it to the max!

 

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

stroll through Amsterdam

 

 

 

houses on not-so-solid grounds

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, our cruise ship qualifies for this category as well. When you walk from the ship towards the city, you pass quite a few river cruise boats.... mmhhhh, something very enticing for the future as well.

 

 

 

cute little houseboat... Does anybody remember the old movie "Houseboat" with Sofia Loren? Loved it!

 

 

lol- instead of a balcony, I guess it's just as fun to go sit in a small boat tied to a big boat to enjoy your coffee:D.

 

 

 

Lol -- all you need parked right in front. A motorcycle and a saw. Both fitting comfortably onto the boat as well I'm sure.

 

 

I wonder if they take the little car onto the boat as well.

 

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

 

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

stroll through Amsterdam

 

 

 

miscellaneous

 

 

 

 

I know this isn't really a pretty picture of Amsterdam, but this episode occured in the Amsterdam cruise port and it made me so unbelievably mad, that I just Have to write about it to get it off my chest.

 

Maybe you remember that we missed our cruise ship while on a DIY excursion in Dublin...would this, now, maybe be a reason to consider a ship tour in the future? Nope, not for us .... and this shocking episode reassured us in our decision. Okay, I pricipally would hate to walk behind one of those paddles, but I at least believed the tour guides to be friendly --- heck or at least semi-respectful towards the partaking passengers ... not so here. The poor guy with the grey hair and the glasses, looking down at a leaflet, got aggressively yelled at by the guide. Why, you ask? Well, he dared to be a bit too slow ... and the lady insisted their group to walk "in front of" the paddle. You just cannot imagine her tone of voice ... I was close to yelling back at her (or indeed slapping her) to defend the poor, intimidated looking guy. But I must admit I was too chicken, gah! I'`m still mad at myself for that.

 

 

I'm sure this was an exception and I really hope that MSC has nice, friendly tour guides as well .... but if THIS should be standard behaviour on a MSC tour --- I strongly advise everybody to boycott them. Rant over!

 

 

 

 

now on to more enjoyable pics once again:

 

fun, fun, fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

cool way to transport your kids --- those bikes were everywhere. Gosh, I hope I didn't scare that kid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

road construction

 

 

 

 

 

 

lol -- you cannot believe the intensity of the smell close to the coffee shops. Don't ask me where I know the smell from --- I was young once.

 

Also, watch out if you're strolling along with kids ... we stumbled into the red light district and Tarik was a bit shocked to see a lady "on display" in a window... it didn't help, that the lady was of course only sparcely clad and was uglier than hell. Shiver!

 

 

 

but nothing could really reach Tarik on this day anyway ... It was one of those "teenager-sloth-days" See the pouty lip? All day long ... like someone stopped the time and made him move at half speed. He didn't even have the strength to lift his umbrella proberly... can you enjoy the joys of this thing being dragged loudly behind for pretty much the entire stroll ... sigh. travelling with teens sure isn't always fun!

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

stroll through Amsterdam

 

weather caprioles

 

 

Uhoh -- those clouds don't look too good. Let's hurry back to the ship!

 

 

 

 

 

Lol -- we made it as far as the river cruise boats .... and then the worst downpour imaginable struck us. We had umbrellas ... but they only proved useful to keep our torsos and heads semi-dry.... the rest of us, well, see for yourselves:

 

 

it felt like having jumped in a swimming pool up to half hight of our thighs fully dressed. Our shoes where sloshing and we were dripping away ... and (at least Tanja and I) had a great laugh. Tarik hated every bit of it ... and I know I'm being a mean mom --- but instant karma payback comes to mind. I think the little cool off did him well.

 

 

 

deck 12 was flooded

 

I liked the riffles on the water puddle

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and what better way to warm up after an ice cold natural shower? We were wet already anyway .... so:

 

 

 

whoohoo -- good life!

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Leaving Amsterdam

 

The cool thing about having your cruise ship sail all the way to downtown Amsterdam is that you get to sail inland quite a bit. It feels like a river cruise! Very cool and unique. Here are some impressions of our departure after Amsterdam:

 

 

 

 

 

oops, guess we're holding up the traffic... look at that long line of cars!

 

as soon as we left they finally zipped over the river:

 

 

 

this was cool -- we got to watch as our ship was slowly raised up to sealevel again! To the right AND to the left (yes, we actually checked both sides!) was only a couple of inches --- gulp!

 

 

 

 

ahh, finally back on open sea ...

sadly, this would be our last pretty sunset onboard as tomorrow morning ... we'd have to disembark and end our vacation :-(

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[littlekid58]

thank you so much the report and pics are awesomw

[spinnaker2]

It can't be the end!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

thank you so much the report and pics are awesomw

 

:pthank you -- you're welcome!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

It can't be the end!

 

...not quite ... but very close. Only one more evening and then disembarkation ... hey -- it took me more than 4 months so far... it has to be done one of these days ... plus I really need the time for the fine-tuning - planning of the cruise in just 39 more days :D:eek::D!!!

 

and don't worry, I'll be back:rolleyes:;):cool:

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Dinner day 11

Fish croquettes

 

Veal roast

 

Cream of cauliflower soup

 

Cannelloni alla Toscana

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Dinner continued…

Risotto alla Pescatore

Grilled Squid

Wiener Schnitzel

Grilled vegetable tortillas

And two deserts incognito:

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

well, this was our last dinner onboard. We enjoyed every single evening - especially because of our great tablemates and the wonderful waiters ... especially Paul of course. The food was mainly okay ... some highs, some no goes...but over all much better than we expected. We'll be on our second MSC cruise in 39 days from now and I can't wait to find out if they pretty much serve the same stuff...Of course there will be photos again to compare:):cool:.

 

We close the dining room section with this group picture:

 

 

thanks Ingo ,Yvonne and Sarah, we had a blast! Paul, you're a most charming man ... thanks for the wonderful service!

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

evening "pre-show" entertainment

 

before tonight's farewell show, they had announced, that prizes (sorry, I really forgot what for) where to be drawn... they really had made a big deal of this... we were expecting multiple winners with different cool MSC logo prizes each...maybe even more? A future cruise? a voucher for a specialty restaurant? Oh goodie. Let's see some happy people with their won prizes ... who knows, maybe we'll win something ourselves...we entered some piece of paper thingy in a glass box for this earlier ... I vaguely remember.

 

Sigh, anyway... here's Claudia one more time:

 

announcing the big drawing.

 

and then they drew ...

 

ONE cabin number.... one prize ... (a couple of minor MSC things in this MSC bag) ... and THAT WAS IT!

 

All the fuss for THIS???? Gimme a break! I'm not at all dissapointed we didn't win, but after all this prelude I really was expecting something else.

 

Rant over.

 

Let's talk about the show (which really WAS wonderful)

 

 

stay tuned!

 

Stef