MSC Splendida Dubai cruise. Brief review

[dleafy]

Well, we’rejust back from a week on the Splendida out of Dubai.

Having previouslysailed on the Ruby Princess and twice on Royal Caribbean’s Independence of theSeas, we were keen to see what the MSC experience would be like after reading loadsof differing reports.

We love thelayout of RC’s ships with the central promenade and knew Splendida would bedifferent, more like the Ruby.

The shipitself was far better than we expected. It was absolutely beautiful andspotlessly clean. It certainly didn’t look 9 years old!

One of thegood things about not having a central promenade is that all of the separate loungeshave their own identity, and we found this to be the case. We loved the layoutand décor of them all.

We chosethis cruise and 3-night stay in Dubai (We upgraded to Atlantis……highlyrecommend) mainly for the destination and of course price. This was in myopinion, extremely good value for money.

The drinkspackage cost was waaaaaaay less than both Princess and RC. We certainly madegreat use of it and never felt we missed out by not going for the premiumpackage. The cocktails tasted fantastic and you could still get Smirnoff vodka,jonnie walker whiskey, Jameson’s Irish whiskey etc.

The twowhite and two red wines available on our package were fine (didn’t try therose) and the prosecco was really good.

 

Our balconycabins were excellent. To be honest, they were no better or worse than others.Let’s be honest, there’s only so much you can do with them. No complaintsthough!

 

Anotherthing that really pleased and surprised me was the low cost and excellentconnectivity of the internet package. We haven’t cruised for 4 years so maybesome of my comments on here aren’t valid, but the surfer package I got foraround €34 for 800mb……….. we added another 500mb for only €9 later in thecruise, was superb. It allowed me to keep in touch with back home via email,whatsapp, facebook and twitter. I would usually login, then quickly flickthrough facebook, twitter and my emails, then log out and go back and read whatI’d downloaded at my leisure. This worked well for me.

 

The singlebiggest worry I had about cruising with MSC was the entertainment. On all ofour previous cruises, the only language was English. This meant that we didn’thave to listen to the same announcements in 5 different languages.Unfortunately, with MSC we did have to suffer this. It also meant that therewere no comedians on board and most of the shows were just generic dance shows.Each lounge tended to have the same singer/duo’s/groups which catered fordifferent musical tastes and geographical areas (if that makes sense).

We spent alot of time listening to Daniel in the Dim sum and Tea bar…..and also in the sandwichand cake place. The Piazzaria or something!....can’t remember!

 

We talked toquite a few people who thought the choice of food in the buffet was extremelylimited…..which it was if you’re only prepared to look around the one area!

Once we toldthem to do the full walk around all three sections, they found the rest of thefood!

You can’tcook everything in a pizza oven. Naturally they have to spread things out.

We thoughtthe food was excellent in both the buffet and main restaurant.

 

My mate wasn’thappy to find that there was no ironing room onboard, which meant he had to pay€20 to get 3 shirts washed and ironed.

It’s true,there were quite a few creased people walking around!

Three timesI had to ring about the TV in our cabin not staying on longer than 10 seconds,but it was eventually fixed.

Wish I’dnever bothered to be honest, BBC world news is the dullest programme on planetearth!

 

Although wegot off in Abu Dhabi to go to Ferrari World, we weren’t really bothered aboutthe shore trips. We did get the tender off at Sir Bani Yas Island, but therewasn’t much to see so we quickly got back on.

Neverbothered getting off in Bahrain or Doha, although I would like a look aroundDoha next time.

 

I have tosay that we found all of the staff to be really friendly and helpful.

Whilst I don’twish to debate it and have heard all about ‘the staff behind the scenes’, forthe first time ever, we had our pre-paid tips removed and requested envelopesto reward those who gave us excellent service. All were really grateful.

 

Generallyspeaking, our fellow passengers were a pretty decent bunch. Yes we had the oddnumpty who took no notice of queues or rules and obviously thought they werethe only ones on board, but most were fine.

 

We bookedthis package through Igloo and I cannot fault them. What started as a £900PPcruise & stay, evolved into a £1820PP one with all of our upgrades, but Iwas more than happy with what we got for our money.

 

Would Icruise again with MSC????....absolutely. If we could get as good a deal as we’vejust had, then I certainly would.

 

Cheers

Davy !!!

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

Keith

[MAGSMFC]

Davy thanks for your review. Would it be possible to have your email address as we are doing the exact same cruise and staying at the Atlantis and would like to ask you a few questions about both.

 

Many thanks

Margaret

[Beamafar]

Thanks for the review.

 

About a couple of things you mentioned: Why did your mate have his shirts washed if he only needed them ironed? DH gets his ironed and we've paid less to get more shirts done than your mate did to have his washed & ironed, which, bytheway, should have cost €15.54 (maybe you meant to say "almost" €20). Had he just got them ironed, it would have cost €10.02. I say all this to let others know that they don't have to pay for items to be laundered just to get them ironed and to give a more accurate price of both.

 

I'm curious as to why, without the need to debate it, you did remove the daily service charge- especially as you state "for the first time ever"? Especially as you "found all of the staff to be really friendly and helpful".

 

 

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[portofrome]

Thanks for your review,

[dleafy]

I'm not sure he was aware that he could just get them ironed. They were only polo shirts and he told me the cost was €20.

 

As for removing the tips, I've seen too many arguments break out both here and on other forums because someone has a differing view on tipping procedures.

For me it's more a change in thinking. I no longer care about "when in Rome"......"it's the done thing"......"they work for a pittance"....."it's what we do in this country, if you don't like it don't come here". I've heard em all.

I no longer consider it my duty to subsidise cruise companies, hotels or restaurants who fail to pay their staff a living wage. I paid the price they wanted for their cruise and enjoyed it tremendously. On top of that, I gave out an extra €100 of my own money to reward staff who I felt went above and beyond.

Did those below decks and out of sight go above and beyond?....I neither know nor care.

 

BTW, I don't know how to private message my email address on here. Never needed to do it. Would appreciate advice.

 

Cheers

Davy !!!

[CruisingFox27]

Thanks for the review. Very much looking forward to our upcoming sailling on Splendida.

Delighted to hear positive comments about the food and drinks, were the areas very busy, was it easy to get seats around the bars in the evening? Did the ship feel busy in general? How would you describe the general demographic of passengers? I've seen conflicting reports and we've had very different experiences ourselves depending on sailing area.

[dleafy]

We had no problem getting seats in any of the bars. With two dinner sittings, 'My time Dining' and people using the buffets, there were always people coming and going. You got the odd group who liked a particular band and would stay all night, but generally you could always find a seat.

I didn't think that the ship was full.....until sea day....We had had a late night the day before and couldn't get a lounger in the sun. At first we just sat in the pool, hot tub and around the pool but eventually sat on our balcony. I was able to open the door to our friends next door and we just got some bottles of Heineken and a few glasses of wine from the bar and sat there for a few hours drinking and watching the dolphins.

The first language spoken on all announcements was English, followed by Italian and German. Majority of passengers were British and Italian I'd say.

It was quite a good mix and 99% of people seemed to be having a great time. as you can imagine, the people watching was fantastic.

 

Cheers

Davy !!!

[the wandering two]

Hi Davy,

Any chance you would remember the early & late dining times?

We are on Lirica next March from Dubai.

 

Cheers

 

Mark

 

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[dleafy]

Early was 6.30, which we were on and I thought was ideal. Late was 9.30, which I thought was a little late.

 

Cheers

Davy !!!

 

 

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[the wandering two]

Thought as much. We have been assigned early, we'll just stick with that, 9.30 way too late.

 

M

 

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[MAGSMFC]

Davy not sure how you can let me have your email address privately.

 

How many formal nights was there on your cruise and did men wear their tuxedos and women in evening dress.

 

I note you didn't get off the ship in Doha but think that will be the place where we will get off.

 

Did you like the Atlantis and where did you eat in the hotel. We are staying there for 2 nights before the cruise. Do the have free wifi.

 

Margaret

[dleafy]

Hi Margaret,

There were two formal nights. The first saw just about everyone dress up. Women had their posh frocks on. There were quite a few tuxedos on show, but mainly just suits. The second formal (Gala) night saw a few less getting dressed up. I'm putting that down to the lack of an ironing room....lol.

Doha looked really good and I wished we'd got off.

The reason we didn't plan to get off is that we had Dirhams, Euros and $US and I didn't want to get anymore different currencies, however, those who got off said they accepted any currency you had in the souks. Several bought some nice looking 'fake' watches for £18.

Atlantis was out of this world. Don't ask me how as I've no idea, but they upgraded us to the Presidential suite. It was absolutely sensational. It had 5 bathrooms, an office, kitchen, dining room, walk in wardrobes and a huge living quarters. Usual cost is £3600 per day!

We went to the waterpark as its included in the price.

We upgraded to the half board package and ate at Kaleidoscope and Saffron buffets. You can eat at others and pay a supplement.

We always do a Friday Brunch when in Dubai and the one at Saffron at Atlantis was the best by a mile. It's expensive at around £115 PP but well worth it. They have every drink you could imagine and most food dishes too. As it was January and only 26 degrees outside we booked a table outside. It was a wise choice.

Atlantis are really fair at staggering their happy hours.....so only £6 per pint most of the time.....cheap as chips...lol.

***Be very careful about staying 2 nights***

We had to book a third as our flight arrived at 12.30am. They actually thought we would sit around until 3.00pm to check in. Your flight may have a different time to ours, but you have been warned!

 

Cheers

Davy !!!

[MAGSMFC]

Davy thank you very much for info on formal nights etc. Will take my posh frocks. We will definitely get off in Doha. We are in the Yacht Club so looking forward to that experience.

 

That must have been a wonderful surprise to get upgraded to the Presidential Suite. Do you think it was something to do with the time you arrived ended up booking another night. We arrive at 8.00 am and have asked for early check in but they can't promise. Thanks for letting me know about the restaurants. I think it would be great if you did a review on Trip Adviser.

 

Thanks for being so helpful. I will post again if I need to know anything else.

 

Margaret

[dleafy]

There was a large party from DHL at the time of our arrival which may have played a part in our upgrade, but I had added the extra night months before.

We got chocolate covered strawberries in our cabin on Splendida one day too. No idea why?

We didn't complain!

 

Cheers

Davy !!!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Clarea]

Thank-you for your report.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your report.

Keith

[dleafy]

Thanks,

We had a great time.

 

Cheers

 

Davy !!!