Royal Diamon tries MSC Yacht Club on MSC Preziosa and loved it

[Ashling]

Happy New Year to you and your family. Still loving your review, photos and videos.:)

[Iluvcruising2]

Happy New Year to you and your family!

 

I just want to let you know how MUCH I enjoy your excellent review! The work you put in this review and all the detailed pictures and videos are very much appreciated!

 

We never took MSC Cruise but after many cruises on other lines decided to take a look at this cruise line. You review will definitely help us to decide on MSC booking.

 

Thank you again! :)

 

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. Happy New Year!

[Iluvcruising2]

Happy New Year to you and your family. Still loving your review, photos and videos.:)

 

Thank you and I am glad the review is useful for you.

[Iluvcruising2]

Good morning. It is 1st Jan 2016. This morning, after breakfast, I went for a run and it started to pour. That is Singapore for you. I decided to make a video. Yeah.

 

[YOUTUBE]ja2w9HvO7Tk[/YOUTUBE]

 

Don't worry, I am not turning this thread into a v log. Review is definitely going to continue. Give me some time to put it together. All your comments, positive or negative, help! Cheers!!

[Iluvcruising2]

PALATINE CHAPEL

We made it! Cost to enter was 15 Euros. Today we could see many things. I can't remember how much they charged for my kids but I think it was free of charge.

 

There was a group from MSC too, at least I think so. I say some of the with tour stickers from MSC, and this chap carrying an MSC bagpack.

 

I was pretty sure this group in front of us was from the MSC Preziosa, I think a ship's tour. Ah, I remember now, I was holding my tickets and as my family approached the gate, the tour guide for the MSC group looked at me and then told the gate attendant that I was not part of her group. Haha. Yeah, I just waved my tickets at her.

 

We were behind the large group from the ship, and behind us there were no more visitors. That is the good thing about travelling in winter. Not too many people. We were told that during summer, this place could get really packed. Looking behind us, there isn't that much space to stand in line either.

 

Getting in took a bit of time because they did security checks like airport. We had to put our bags through an X-ray. We got through that quite quickly, and went through some restoration exhibit before heading up the stairs towards the chapel.

 

The entrance to the Palatine Chapel is on the left.

 

This is the video I made while inside the chapel. It is quite a gorgeous chapel with a small an intimate feel. Dating from the 12th Century, this was a chapel for the Norman Kings. Quite a sight. Glad we made the trip, as this chapel is quite different from what we have seen in all our travels so far.

[YOUTUBE]O747560-iqQ[/YOUTUBE]

[plucasana]

do you remember how long it took you to get to the cathedral?

[Iluvcruising2]

do you remember how long it took you to get to the cathedral?

 

We walked. About 45 minutes.

 

If I were to do it over again, I would recommend take a Tuk-Tuk to the Cathedral. Then from the Cathedral, you can walk your way back to the ship, visiting the sites and the shopping streets along the way.

 

Alternatively, probably the Ho-Ho bus would work too. The cost isn't prohibitive, 10 Euros per adult.

[plucasana]

Thank you for replying!!! the tuktuk seems like a good idea! I will try to find prices for that option. thanks again!

[Iluvcruising2]

Thank you for replying!!! the tuktuk seems like a good idea! I will try to find prices for that option. thanks again!

 

Glad to be of assistance. :)

[SenatorsFan]

Hello again, if you ever sail on MSC, please help me tell them that you saw my review on cruise critic! (Shameless plug for myself)

 

I wanted to say that we did something really fun with the mini-bar items later in the cruise. Will post that when I come to that day of cruising. Stay tuned!

 

Will do. Nothing wrong with a shameless plug! :D I will definitely stay tuned. Happy New Year!

Heather

[Iluvcruising2]

Here are some still pictures from within the Chapel. It has an intimate yet awesome feel. You can see the MSC group here. The guide was giving them a very thorough brief of the mosiacs and the history.

 

Given that this place was build in the 12th Century, I guess there must be many stories over the years. This is a picture of the ceiling. Look at the detail! Amazing.

 

Glad that this chapel has been preserved through the centuries.

 

We didn't stay for too long. The kids were getting restless, can't blame them.

I caught this sign on the way out. Made me pause. Who was King Ruggero II? Year 1130 AD? Wow. Back home, I googled the name. From wiki, I learnt that this King was Roger II of Sicily. He lived from 1095 to 1154. He became the King of Sicily in 1130. He went on to become one of the greatest European Kings of those times. It appeared that this King was very open to learning, and capable men of diverse nationalities served under him. I am sure books have been written about this era of history. But what struck me most was Kings come, and Kings go. Here I am, in 21st Century, looking back at a chapel commissioned by a King way back in 1130. We are alive for a season, but Christ is eternal. This is not our world, this is our Father's world.

 

Oh well, I guess the more cynical among us would say, if you want to leave a legacy for the future generations to remember you, just built a nice chapel. Haha That is another way to look at the issue. For some reason, I took a picture of the tickets. Useful? Perhaps. A 21st Century ticket to visit a 12th Century icon. I can almost write a song. (Side note - there were 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 kids, but I got a bunch of tickets like these and I didn't know how to read Italian so I didn't know which ticket is for which attraction. So I ended up handing the whole pile at the entrances to the various exhibits within this tourist attraction.)

Edited January 2, 2016 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Alright, we didn't spend too long in the Chapel. After the chapel, we could also visit some residence/meeting rooms of the government (or was the President), I can't remember already but those rooms weren't memorable and since they didn't allow me to take photos of that place, I have long forgotten what they were all about.

 

This picture was taken just outside the tourist attraction. We are on our way back to the ship now and I spotted this cactus (?). I think it was a cactus but I paused for a moment because I hadn't expected to see a cactus here.

 

I was sorely tempted to touch the plant but was quickly reminded by my dear wife that they had thorns and unless I wanted to bleed all the way back to the ship, I should just look at the plant from afar. Ok, "see no touch". Take photos also can. (Singlish speaking)

 

As we were walking, this mini train came right past us. Pretty cool. Not sure where to board the train from though. I didn't see this at the port gates earlier. Maybe next time.

 

Back at the historic city center, just around the corner, there was this fountain structure which apparently was rather famous. Officially, this was a Renaissance fountain in the Piazza Pretoria in Palermo by Francesco Camilliani. However, this fountain is also known as the 'Fountain of Shame'. Why? Plenty of nude figures, in lewd poses, with lewd stares etc.

 

Another picture before we move on.

[Iluvcruising2]

Now we begin to walk back to the ship. By this time, we were a bit tired. Still, there was plenty of time. So we could take a leisurely walk back.

 

From here, you can see the ship in a distance. From the historic center, we took about 30-40 minutes to walk back. Weather was very nice for walking. Kudos to wife and kids for keeping up with the walk. Plenty of exercise chalked up, but that was the plan anyway.

 

Almost there. We can see the ship. MSC Preziosa.

 

The two ships in port. MSC Preziosa and the Costa Mediterranea. Both MSC and Costa are Italian cruise lines. From this angle, the Preziosa looks a lot bigger than the Mediterranea.

 

A closer view of the aft of the MSC Preziosa. You can see the aft cabin balconies.

 

Spotted some passengers embarking at this port. Check out the luggage. Not sure where the cruise terminal to embark/disembark is. Didn't go through the cruise terminal on the way out. Looked like these passengers came here via some Port Terminal bus.

[Iluvcruising2]

When I first saw these staircase up the ship, I was like... whoa... that looks rather steep doesn't it? I don't recall having to climb down such a steep staircase when we got off the ship earlier, and in fact we did not! If you check out my earlier video on walking to the Chapel, you will see the video start from when we scanned our sea pass cards to get off the ship and the most gentle ramp slope to get off the ship. So what was this all about? Turns out that these staircase was for embarking passengers! Ok. Good luck. We re-entered the ship by the way we exited earlier, a nice gentle ramp.

 

We got back on board very easily because the lines were very short, as it was still early. It was definitely before 2pm as we headed to the suite restaurant for lunch. After the lunch, we stepped outside and saw the long lines of passengers waiting to get back on board. Check out this video. The all aboard time was 4:30pm and this video was taken at around 3pm. Unfortunately, this is one feature of cruising MSC. The lines to get off and get back onboard can be very long, especially during peak times. Fact of the matter is that this ship is big and packs in many, many passengers.

[YOUTUBE]as3LfB6DBcE[/YOUTUBE]

 

A still picture. Not sure whether the lines grew even longer as 4:30pm approached.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Iluvcruising2

[lenbest]

Going on the same ship in the med in october and wondered what proportion of the guests are speaking english as there first language.Thanks

[Iluvcruising2]

Back on board, it was lunch time! This was a short video I made of the lunch experience.

[YOUTUBE]pBKUNPKCUr0[/YOUTUBE]

 

Part of the lunch menu.

 

The seafood pasta.

 

The beef, which was really good too!

 

After the lunch, in our usual style, we went to the One Pool and Top Sail lounge to check out the food there, and ended up eating some more. Gluttons, I know. Here is a video I made. We found Nasi Goreng (Indonesian style fried rice) at the One Pool. Couldn't resist!

[YOUTUBE]lGl-_9SHSo0[/YOUTUBE]

 

Watching the Costa ship as we sailed out of port on the MSC Preziosa.

 

This video shows the Preziosa sailing out from Palermo, and we stand outside on our balcony, watching the Costa ship. Earlier this morning, we watched the Costa ship come into port. This evening, we are leaving first. Goodbye Palermo!

[YOUTUBE]1MmRU-OTCWw[/YOUTUBE]

Edited January 3, 2016 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Going on the same ship in the med in october and wondered what proportion of the guests are speaking english as there first language.Thanks

 

Good question. Based on our one experience, maybe 20%. Small percentage. Very international crowd.

[Iluvcruising2]

Soon, it was time for dinner. Yeah, eat again. I know. Hence the long walk this morning. Even with all the additional walking, I would still gain weight after this cruise. Here is a video I made of the Gala Dinner experience.

[YOUTUBE]5ebsTYuJ4SA[/YOUTUBE]

 

The white wine for this evening.

 

It was Gala Night tonight. We would have two gala nights this cruise. This was the menu.

 

The house red for this evening.

 

Cheers!! By now, our waiter (we had the same waiter every night) knew my preference. I would always want to both House white and red.

 

The escargots, snails!

 

I had the beef, which was really good.

[Iluvcruising2]

Dessert, some crepe suzette.

 

After dinner, a walk around the ship is always good. The Centrum was very lively, as you can see in this video.

[YOUTUBE]sNL6tzLXIrY[/YOUTUBE]

 

Also live music at the Cafetteria Italia.

 

A picture of the violinist and pianist in the Centrum.

 

Life Boats. Walking at Deck 7, I was looking at the lifeboats and decided to make a video about them.

[YOUTUBE]EraDdLyGn84[/YOUTUBE]

 

I explored Eataly, the speciality restaurant. We didn't eat in any speciality restaurant for this cruise.

 

Since this was Gala Night in the suite restaurant, it would also be Gala night in the Main Dining Room. Realising this, I walked to the MDR to take this photo. Sorry, it isn't standing up correctly, but you should be able to make out the menu for Gala Night. For the mains, the had a choice of fish, leg of lamb, fillet of beef of a vegetarian option.

 

I have come to the end of Day 3, Palermo, Italy. I hope you have enjoyed the review so far. Tomorrow, the ship will be in Malta and we will have a wonderful day.

[Iluvcruising2]

Alright folks, it is now past 9pm on the 3rd of Jan, 2016, in Singapore. I'm going to wind down and prepare to sleep. Tomorrow, 4th Jan, Monday, we are all back to work and the kids are headed back to school. It is the first day of school in Singapore, and a new academic year for Primary, Secondary and Junior Colleges.

 

I hope you have enjoyed the review (both pictures and videos) so far. Plenty to chew on. Brought back plenty of memories for me, just by putting this together. I still have some way to go, and I will plod on, but updates may take a longer while, so please be patient.

 

Meanwhile, I continue to make adhoc videos at home and I made two today! I would like to share them with you before I sign off for now.

 

The first is this video, which is my V-log (video log) for 3rd Jan 2016. I'm experiment with 2 minute V-logs on specific days in my life, to record some of the things I saw, ate, or did. I figured that years down the road, when I look at these V-logs of my day-to-day life, it would bring back many memories.

 

In this V-log, I have breakfast, go to church, have lunch and more. 1 min 40 sec clip.

[YOUTUBE]bKmAsI2WV5g[/YOUTUBE]

 

And this second video is special. A special person in my life was practising on her violin (the famous tune - O Danny Boy) and we decided to do some jammin together. I couldn't resist to record this moment. Enjoy, take care and have a blessed week ahead.

[YOUTUBE]TxO_fJkC4vo[/YOUTUBE]

[Ashling]

Danny Boy is one of my all time favourites, I really enjoyed it. Thank You. You must be very proud

[floridianny]

Thank you for all of your hard work . I am really enjoying this review!

Your daughter plays very well:) My younger son plays viola. It's so wonderful when children play an instrument.

Happy New Year to you and your wonderful family!

[cruiselife4me]

It's great so far! The Yacht Club restaurant looks so yummy. Happy New Year!

God bless, Mary

[Iluvcruising2]

Danny Boy is one of my all time favourites, I really enjoyed it. Thank You. You must be very proud

 

Thank you for your feedback. :):)

[Iluvcruising2]

Thank you for all of your hard work . I am really enjoying this review!

Your daughter plays very well:) My younger son plays viola. It's so wonderful when children play an instrument.

Happy New Year to you and your wonderful family!

 

Indeed, a joy to watch. A lot of discipline to practise. Kudos to my wife for her patience.