Any Reviews of Re-Positioning Dubai to Genoa 25/3 to 12/4 2017?

[AVACTION]

We were on this cruise and wondered if anyone was going to post a review. The only bleak spots for us was the weather in the Middle East (uncontrollable by MSC) which necessitated a change in schedule, and the farce at Heraklion with re-embarkation.

 

Would be interested in others thoughts on this cruise as we are thinking of cancelling our next trip with MSC and would like other opinions before taking this drastic action and losing our deposit (AU$700).

Edited April 16, 2017 by AVACTION
spelling

[Beamafar]

I think Tim (1fifthavenue) is planning on writing a review. He says so here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52833970&postcount=10

[Capricruiser]

I hope to post a member review in the next week or so if I can get my daily routine in order. Other than the weather I thought the cruise was very fine. Repo cruises are different from the standard one or two week itineraries and lots of people don't like the many at sea days. I don't know what happened at the Iraklion reimbarcation. We took the excursion to Knossis and our bus got us back to the ship around 19.30 and we went right on board. Didn't see anything unusual. As always the Yacht Club experience was wonderful and the butlers and restaurant staff are always enjoyable, meeting old friends and getting to know new ones. We'll be going back on the Fantasia in November for a two week cruise down the French Antilles. Looking forward to it.

[1fifthavenue]

Haven't had chance to write a review yet, had a dinner party for 12 last night and only got back on Saturday as we stayed onboard until Friday, but I will write one

 

Only downside for me was the change in itinerary and the short time in Crete, although we knew already it would only be a few hours. The port authority at Crete didn't have enough people to cope with us and Norwegian Spirit, which meant this was a slower than usual experience, again not MSC's fault

 

Can I ask why you're thinking of cancelling?

[AVACTION]

Haven't had chance to write a review yet, had a dinner party for 12 last night and only got back on Saturday as we stayed onboard until Friday, but I will write one

 

Only downside for me was the change in itinerary and the short time in Crete, although we knew already it would only be a few hours. The port authority at Crete didn't have enough people to cope with us and Norwegian Spirit, which meant this was a slower than usual experience, again not MSC's fault

 

Can I ask why you're thinking of cancelling?

 

No criticism of MSC over the lack of facilities/staff at Heraklion, the behaviour of guests or the inclement weather. The shorter time in ports was due to medical emergencies (three to my recollection) and mixed weather.

 

We are cancelling as 29 days would just be too long, after 18 days at sea we both agreed that it was just too long, although our previous cruise with MSC was the same length, this time it just seemed longer. Plus the flights to and from Australia took up the equivalent of another three days away.

 

Cancelled today and after speaking to MSC we only lost $300 of our deposit.

 

Looking for a cruise "closer to home" found a great deal on a 9 day cruise with Silversea Singapore to Hong Kong which means the equivalent of the YC experience + they threw in return business class air fares. So we have booked that instead.

[willma]

We were on this cruise and really enjoyed it. We are frequent cruisers with Celebrity so had status match. It was our first with MSC and we went with an open mind as it was the itinerary we were interested in. Disappointing not to get to Sir Bani Yas, but I understand that this is not unusual. The ship was beautiful, and kept very clean. We kept busy on the sea days with the activities available. We really enjoyed Aqaba and the trip to Petra, and the Suez Canal Transit.

The food wasn't great, but we didn't go hungry. We enjoyed the variety of bars and lounges.

Interesting to us was the lack of attention to hand hygiene, which most other lines push heavily. Also some very poor buffet practices from our fellow guests.

We would go with MSC again if the price and itinerary were right. Might be tempted to try the Yacht Club as fellow guests rated it highly for food and service.

[Beamafar]

Might be tempted to try the Yacht Club as fellow guests rated it highly for food and service.

 

If YC is within your travel budget, you really should try it. It's a terrific area and the new-builds Meraviglia, Seaside and Seaview will have the dedicated restaurant within the enclave at the front as opposed to YC on the Fantasia class ships where the restaurant is at the far end of the ships.

[AVACTION]

We were on this cruise and really enjoyed it. We are frequent cruisers with Celebrity so had status match. It was our first with MSC and we went with an open mind as it was the itinerary we were interested in. Disappointing not to get to Sir Bani Yas, but I understand that this is not unusual. The ship was beautiful, and kept very clean. We kept busy on the sea days with the activities available. We really enjoyed Aqaba and the trip to Petra, and the Suez Canal Transit.

The food wasn't great, but we didn't go hungry. We enjoyed the variety of bars and lounges.

Interesting to us was the lack of attention to hand hygiene, which most other lines push heavily. Also some very poor buffet practices from our fellow guests.

We would go with MSC again if the price and itinerary were right. Might be tempted to try the Yacht Club as fellow guests rated it highly for food and service.

 

If you enjoyed this cruise without the benefits of the Yacht Club you will be absolutely blown away if you book that experience on your next cruise.

 

We have sailed YC 3 times and it is a fantastic on board experience and so cheap!!

 

We will sail MSC YC again, but not next year, maybe 2019 in W. Europe.

[1fifthavenue]

No criticism of MSC over the lack of facilities/staff at Heraklion, the behaviour of guests or the inclement weather. The shorter time in ports was due to medical emergencies (three to my recollection) and mixed weather.

 

We are cancelling as 29 days would just be too long, after 18 days at sea we both agreed that it was just too long, although our previous cruise with MSC was the same length, this time it just seemed longer. Plus the flights to and from Australia took up the equivalent of another three days away.

 

Cancelled today and after speaking to MSC we only lost $300 of our deposit.

 

Looking for a cruise "closer to home" found a great deal on a 9 day cruise with Silversea Singapore to Hong Kong which means the equivalent of the YC experience + they threw in return business class air fares. So we have booked that instead.

 

Hi Ross - that's good - and can understand you cancelling on those grounds, it has made us think twice over whether we'd do another of these repositioning cruises, although we tacked another three nights on to the end of the 16 nighter, we were definitely ready to go home by the end of it, which meant saying goodbye didn't seem so difficult

[rojojacko]

Slightly off track but can I ask Willma how the Petra excursion went? We are on the October Sinfonia cruise from Venice to Durban and very much want to visit Petra from our call at Aqaba, however the MSC excursions just don't show up online, even after calling them twice. I am looking at doing the tour independently but some of the prices seem very high, over $200 US pp which seems high for a day trip of 1.5 hours each way! How was the ships excursion and can you remember the cost? Many thanks.

 

Rob

[1fifthavenue]

Sorry to butt in... we went on a private excursion, with a company we have used in Egypt, they are usually very good, the guide this time wasn't so good.

 

I heard some very good reports of the ship's excursion, there were still places onboard, even though the cruise planer said it was sold out

[Capricruiser]

The MSC Petra with lunch excursion cost €165 if I recall. The bus trip from Aqaba takes about two hours with one stop enroute. The walk down is about 2 and a half kilometers on a rocky path with no shade until you enter the Siq and even then it was very hot. From the Treasury down to the Roman area and back takes another couple hours and again, under the sun. The route back up to the site entrance is the hardest of all due to being uphill combined with high temps (almost 40 degrees celcius) and in full sunshine. Lunch as at the tourist hotel just outside the site entrance. Buffet with a decent variety of foods. Two hours back on the bus while most people slept. Okay, this time it was the 5th of April but if you go in October the weather should be much cooler. I visited Petra some ten years ago in December and it was rather pleasant. In any case figure on seven to eight kilometers of walking.

[Beamafar]

We were on the Sinfonia Venice to Durban repo last October. We paid €145 pp for the ship's excursion. It was a wonderful day and we walked in shade for most of the day. Lunch was served in the outdoor dining area of the hotel at the entrance - we queued to collect a bottle of water and a box which contained sandwiches and fruit.

 

Apologies to the OP for being off-topic.

[willma]

Hi we paid £119 eachfor the trip, which was billed as Petra with a Packed lunch. Details as stated by Capricruiser above. We had a good guide, but you really only see part of what Petra has to offer due to time constraints. It is one of of the drawbacks of cruising. It was also hot and very crowded, and you need to be quite fit and wear good shoes as the walk is on quite difficult terrain and uphill all the way back. In hindsight I should have read up on the site a bit more to get more out of what we were seeing. The coach trip was interesting. Beautiful landscapes and many Berber camps. We would definitely return.

[AVACTION]

Slightly off track but can I ask Willma how the Petra excursion went? We are on the October Sinfonia cruise from Venice to Durban and very much want to visit Petra from our call at Aqaba, however the MSC excursions just don't show up online, even after calling them twice. I am looking at doing the tour independently but some of the prices seem very high, over $200 US pp which seems high for a day trip of 1.5 hours each way! How was the ships excursion and can you remember the cost? Many thanks.

 

Rob

 

The Petra Tour was one of the highlights of our cruise. Well worth the money. We did the ship's tour with a "sit down" lunch at a local hotel. I say lunch but we ate at 3.30pm.

[Capricruiser]

The Petra Tour was one of the highlights of our cruise. Well worth the money. We did the ship's tour with a "sit down" lunch at a local hotel. I say lunch but we ate at 3.30pm.

Ross I'm sorry we didn't get to know each other on the cruise as we were both in Yacht Club. I did look for a Jack Nicholson look-alike but didn't see one.

[AVACTION]

I wore my kilt on one formal night.

DILLIGAF.

Edited April 20, 2017 by AVACTION

[AVACTION]

I think I will have to write my own review on this cruise, although with the amount of alcohol I consumed my memories may not be completely accurate :evilsmile:

[willma]

Hi Ross sorry to divert the thread again, but are you the Ross from the Visual Qiizzes?

[1fifthavenue]

I think I will have to write my own review on this cruise, although with the amount of alcohol I consumed my memories may not be completely accurate :evilsmile:

I wrote a blog for another site, just need to condense it in to a meaningful review

[AVACTION]

Hi Ross sorry to divert the thread again, but are you the Ross from the Visual Qiizzes?

No. Not me.

[rojojacko]

Thanks everyone for your replies. It seems as though the MSC Petra excursion was well received so we will probably go with that. I'll book it as soon as I can but, as I say, there are no excursions at all shown online for this cruise, very frustrating.

 

Rob