Poesia

[tkwbear]

Have any of you personally sailed the Poesia? I booked a very nice itinerary out of Copenhagen because I love the ports. It was somewhat higher than expected for a balcony, but still reasonable. During booking I was offered a 2 specialty restaurant package for $29. A great deal until I discovered there is no steakhouse. Are there any other specialty restaurants on board besides sushi?

 

Beyond the specialty restaurant issue, what did you think of the ship overall? I've only been on the Meraviglia, and I know the Poesia is much older and will be totally different. It's my first MSC European sailing so I expect the announcements will be long and in multiple languages. I enjoyed the older Holland America ships, so I am hoping this experience will be similar. 

[sealynx]

Announcements may be long, but there are only a few per day. Don't expect activities to be announced for example, only the most important things like safety, weather and changes of schedule (and in the theatre before every show, but they try to make it fun (which works the first night, but since they always do the same thing, the joke is old by the second night, and then you just have to endure it for the following nights).

 

I haven't been on Poesia and Meraviglia, but I've been on Magnifica, Seaview and Opera. In that order. I was also a bit scared that going on an older ship after having experienced the wonderful Seaview, I expected a high chance of disappointment. But that wasn't the case at all. There were bars on Opera I enjoyed better than some bars on Seaview. If you really like stake btw, you can get that in the main restaurant for a supplement (€18 on our cruise).

[RudiRatlos]

$29 for one specialty restaurant seems reasonable.

We did a 4-nighter from Warnemunde with calls in Gothenburg and Aarhus three years ago and really enjoyed the more intimate, calmer atmosphere vs. meraviglia (smaller bars, but iirc even more of them compared to the big and sometimes noisy bars on meraviglia).

There was only Kaito Sushi as a specialty restaurant which is really good (went there without pre-booking so we chose and payed the items we wanted - there may be a fixed menu when pre-booked).

 

Deluxe balcony cabins tend to be quite small (no sofa), have a close look at the deck plan and better go for a premium balcony.

Edited June 27, 2022 by RudiRatlos
typo

[tkwbear]

9 hours ago, RudiRatlos said:

$29 for one specialty restaurant seems reasonable.

We did a 4-nighter from Warnemunde with calls in Gothenburg and Aarhus three years ago and really enjoyed the more intimate, calmer atmosphere vs. meraviglia (smaller bars, but iirc even more of them compared to the big and sometimes noisy bars on meraviglia).

There was only Kaito Sushi as a specialty restaurant which is really good (went there without pre-booking so we chose and payed the items we wanted - there may be a fixed menu when pre-booked).

 

Deluxe balcony cabins tend to be quite small (no sofa), have a close look at the deck plan and better go for a premium balcony.

Thanks. I was really surprised I could only find sushi as the alternate dining. I will get my Diamond dinner plus the 2 nights I bought for $29. I enjoyed the sushi on the Meraviglia. They did have the fixed menu but it was fine.

 

I have a premium balcony.