Notes from Preziosa No.Europe

[ejtpa]

I've found so much helpful info on these boards I thought I'd share a few thoughts from our 2 weeks we just returned from. 

I don't post much and hopefully not breaking some rules I don't know about, but since there's so little current info out there, I thought this might help someone else.

We've sailed multiple times on MSC with our family of 4, (1 teen, 1 preteen), each experience different but in the yacht club.

We sailed out of Kiel after much difficulty getting to Hamburg (flight cancelled to Hamburg, long train ride with cancellations there too), 1 night pre cruise at Renaissance hotel in city center (very nice), taxi to port. (I know there's a bus but we needed direct transport at this point, 185Euros)

Yacht club slightly different layout, restaurant in aft but otherwise similar. Cabins seemed smaller than newer ships.

Ship less than half capacity, one other American couple the first week, none the 2nd.

Ports:

Tallin-did a private tour of Soviet Estonia and then walked through Old Town

Visby Sweden (substitute for St Petersburg)-private tour where we saw some sites in town (church remains, gallows on a hilltop), visited a monastary and went to the see the Folhammar rock formations on the coast (super fun climbing for the kids) and had a great lunch outside nearby (Bruna Dorren). 

Helsinki-we did the behind the scenes tour on board and then explored on our own. Uber to city center, really enjoyed the National Museum and Senate Square.

Stockholdm-taxi from port to Vasa museum, walked to changing of the guards at 12:15 (people line up early, in direct sun, lasts about 40 minutes, worth seeing), and the Royal Armory (free). found cafe for snack and people watching and taxi back to port.

 

Last sea day was the 2nd half of behind the scenes tour on board and Captain's reception in Top Sail lounge.

We would recommend the behind the scenes tour but it is a bit pricey and involves a lot of time and walking.

We had to go to the medical center and get another Covid test that fortunately we passed, free.

Kiel again, we didn't go off the ship

 

Our Norway ports:

Nordfjordeid-TENDER required, which was a pain. walked to Sagastad Viking Center and then took a rib boat tour through non MSC company on Geirangefjord that required a 1.25 hr bus ride through the countryside to get there, ironically next to the Grandiosa. Fun time and worth the winding drive.

Bergen-walked off to the funicular, rode up and walked down to the Bryggen/docks, had lunch and walked to Kode museum (most Munch paintings currently on loan elsewhere)

Alesund-we booked a private boat tour of Hjorundfjord and had brief stop at the Union Hotel in Oye. 

Haugesund-took the MSC excursion "Magnificent Skrafjord" as it was the best option; 7 hours with 2 hours driving each way, scenic, lunch was better than expected, Langfoss waterfall viewed from the water and from the road stop, quite spectacular.

 

A few comments on entertainment: more venues with live music than we have seen in US based ships. Theatre shows were odd, some better than others, the performers certainly try hard. The activity staff worked hard with various games and things to do for the kids that weren't necessarily in the kids club. My kids went once and not again, only ones who spoke English of the kids which may have been part of it. 

 

Food-the yacht club menu doesn't change at breakfast or snacks, dinners were sometimes good, sometimes not so much, but pretty much standard MSC menus. Most importantly they had not changed the pizza at the buffet. Better wine list than the states. We don't go for the food. Butcher's Cut Diamond meal was excellent.

 

We were fairly lucky with weather, Deck 18 was open for breakfast/lunch a lot our first week, none in Norway for meals, too rainy and windy.

We found layers of fleece and waterproof jacket were sufficient with waterproof shoes. 

 

Overall service was excellent.

We actually got cash back from our on-board credit we hadn't used, I was surprised by that.

Embarkation and disembarkation were both smooth and easy. We used the same taxi driver to get to airport. MSC was offering a bus to the airport but only for flights after 2p, ours was at noon and would have cost the same for 4 of us.  Hamburg airport was busy but not out of control. 

The DB navigator app for German train system was a lifesaver to get to Hamburg and several times we needed Uber as there were no taxis nearby.

Hopefully this is helpful and thanks to all who post their hints and experiences.

 

 

 

[wcook]

Awesome report. Thanks. I’ve wondered what Yacht Club people think about the ships where the restaurant is on the other side of the ship. Is it good to force people outside the bubble now and then, or does that defeat the whole purpose. 
 

Anyway, give yourself an extra gold star for spelling out all those Norwegian place names. 

[ejtpa]

We did not mind the walk across the ship (especially after eating!) and enjoyed the different view. 

Thanks! 

[portofrome]

Thanks for your report.

[Wor1dTrave11er]

Thank you for your review, glad you enjoyed the trip!

 

You mentioned there is a bus to the ship in Kiel - I'm guessing you were docked in the furthest cargo port Ostuferhafen?

 

Was that an MSC transfer bus, and if so, where was it located if you recall? We will be arriving at the train station from Hamburg.

[RudiRatlos]

@Wor1dTrave11er There was a thread about transfer to Kiel some weeks ago.

 

@ejtpa Good to hear you enjoyed the cruise, think I remember you from seeing there. We (a german couple travelling without kids) did only the first week (baltic sea). We did the behind-the-scenes tour together (of course we were in the "german" half of the group).

Besides this tour, we explored all ports on our own: just walked to Tallinn and Visby, MSC shuttle in Helsinki (old market hall is worth a visit, had a delicious salmon soup there) and hop-on-hop-off in Stockholm (Vasa museum is impressive).

 

As for food in YC restaurant, for us it was better than MDR on other MSC ships. Mostly quite good with a few really excellent dishes and also a few "misses".

Despite of what we read in this forum, pizza was free for YC guests not only in room service, but also directly in "la locanda" - the waitress insisted that we had a try: if one likes "real" italian pizza (as we do) it was even better than the pizza from buffet.

 

[Wor1dTrave11er]

@RudiRatlos Thank you, your excellent memory is much appreciated!  I did a forum search before asking but somehow that was not in the results last week - or maybe I wasn't paying enough attention and missed it.

 

We will most likely go with MSC shuttle from the train station (provided we can find it then).  From reviews and videos, it doesn't appear to be worth it to get a taxi for a Kiel city tour as there is really not much to see.

 

@ejtpa Since you spent a night in Kiel, did you do any shopping?  I'm interested in grabbing a few cans of Kiel sprats while there for edible souvenirs for friends, if you noticed any nice food stores or even a supermarket nearby, I would appreciate the intel.

[goaussiegal]

Hi Ejtpa,

 

Thank you for making the effort and sharing this.

 

Could you please also share who you used for the private Alesund tour and what it included?

 

Also where did you get the Covid tests you needed before the first cruise.

 

Thanks!

[ejtpa]

We were on a boat with Aalesund Sea Tours

We did the Emed Bianax covid tests, not sure if you have them where you live but you order the tests  to your home. They are easy to do supervised online and they send your results by email immediately. 

We did not spend any time in Kiel, we actually stayed in Hamburg, but had very little time there due to our flight being cancelled. Sadly I had very little shopping time this trip!

I don't know the details of the MSC transfer bus from the train station but I would think if you are more than 1 person traveling a taxi would be the same price from what someone had previously posted. 

We were docked at Ostuferhafen, near nothing but cargo.