MSC WORLD EUROPA REPO ABU Dhabi to Genoa on behalf of BEAMAFAR

[sidari]

Today's Update from Bea.

 

“We are very happy with our room steward. He has looked after our requests such as face flannels, missing robes, missing aroma room diffuser (he said they were in short supply but would seek one out for us ). He even thoughtfully got extra ice to put in the bucket for the bottle of bubbly and put the bottle back into the ice bucket (I had taken it out to dry off the bottle). He’s everything we like about a good room steward. Oh …. I had pre purchased the ‘Back home clean again’ 10 piece package, hoping that I could use it to get our clothes ironed. When I asked him if it would be possible to use it for that purpose he said he would try. And he did! The package was €22, one shirt costs €4.90 to get ironed. We got great value using the package.

 

“I love the cabin layout. The divider between the bed and couch and the lovely desk set-up on the other side of the bed Lots of storage space and the shower is fabulous.”

“There’s a make-up mirror - with a light - on an adjustable arm at the desk. The drawer contains the hair dryer - a lovely spot to work in when getting dolled up, tucked out of the way”

 

 

[sidari]

Next Instalment ... 

Something to note for those who are booked to sail WE. The shampoo is impossible to get a lather from so you might want to consider bringing your own. I never normally bother as I find it doesn’t matter, as the ship’s water deadens my hair no matter what I use.

Also, the soap dispenser at the sink is badly designed. The nozzle is directed towards you so you get splashed with it. You have to cover it with your hand when using. It should really be on the underside of the pump”.

 

“This is a little delicate: The automatic flush on the public loos is extremely sensitive and flushes while in use, so you get almost sucked in with the vacuum - and a wash at the same time. ”

“Just to add - the bodywash foams up nicely on a sponge”.

[CruisingFox27]

I'm genuinely slightly intimidated by that soap dispenser, it looks like Sidari's darlek, and they scared me as a child 😳 

 

I've always encountered the flush issue on every ship 🙈

I'll add that to my list of things to look forward to next week ☺️ 

[PompeySailor]

Enjoying your review 

we just booked World America, so very useful to get an understanding of her sister and what she has to offer.

Will you be trying any speciality dining ?

 

Enjoy your Cruise 

 

Happy Days!

[hamrag]

Following this Bea (and Sid!).

 

Personal interest for ports, as we have a deposit on Nov 2023 Virtuosa repo Barcelona to Dubai. Will be particularly interested to hear of any tours from Safaga in Egypt and Aqaba in Jordan. With only 12 hours in port on that cruise, and 3-4 hours travel each way to the important sights, not sure how effective any tour offerings would be.

 

Thanks so much for investing precious vacation time to provide your insights, and the ship sounds amazing! 

Edited March 30, 2023 by hamrag

[sidari]

Graham ... Bea said that she won't be commenting on the port stops, no idea if they have any tours booked on the Europe side, have passed on your comment.

 

Muscat/Oman.

 

Once again Bea has no external wifi so not able to comment herself.

It seems that there are changes to the cabin A/C, also it appears that the sliding window is locked for some reason. The control panel doesn’t indicate the temperature for setting. Just a dial to turn from cold to hot. The cabin doesn’t cool done much during the day at the lowest setting.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tierun]

The warm cabin has been an issue for the Edge class ships IV cabins at Celebrity. During the day with the curtain up it will warm up almost instantly and then take hours to cool down.

[sidari]

Answers to those Questions from Bea.

 

“Thanks for following along, folks. Appreciate the kind comments. G - our POCs are Muscat Jeddah, Naples and Civi. However, we’ve been to Aqaba and can’t recommend Petra highly enough (if you haven’t been). Be prepared for a 2km walk (if memory serves - which it normally doesn’t ) over very uneven, broken, rough terrain, before you finally come to the Treasury.

Pompey Sailor - we will do Butchers Cut (as usual - I’m too picky an eater to try anywhere else).

Foxy - now that you mention it (Dalek, that is . Hadn’t seen it that way till now. Thanks a bunch for image.) As for Dave - Mr B said he feels like he’s on holiday with him. Believe me, you haven’t experienced the flush on these loos.

 

I am getting emails containing the first few words of the posts on here since I managed to contribute personally lol, so, if anyone wants me check anything out, forget the niceties and just keep it to simple words.”

 

Europa Itinerary.

[sidari]

So, today, we received our Aurea Welcome bubbly and a chocolate bar with the Aurea logo on the (navy) box. This was after I went to Guest Services yesterday to enquire if we were going to get one. I’d also mentioned that we had only received one chocolate Diamond bar, despite us being entitled to one each. Well, we received 2 (black boxes). along with the Aurea Welcome items. As a result, we now have 4 choc bars. “

Take note of this photo, folks. It’ll feature in an update I’ll post later.”

 

 

 

 

[RBrowny]

3 minutes ago, sidari said:

So, today, we received our Aurea Welcome bubbly and a chocolate bar with the Aurea logo on the (navy) box. This was after I went to Guest Services yesterday to enquire if we were going to get one. I’d also mentioned that we had only received one chocolate Diamond bar, despite us being entitled to one each. Well, we received 2 (black boxes). along with the Aurea Welcome items. As a result, we now have 4 choc bars. “

Take note of this photo, folks. It’ll feature in an update I’ll post later.”

 

 

 

 

Looks bloody lovely, not sure which I'd prefer, the Prosecco or the chocolate haha! Hope you're enjoying your days.

[hamrag]

32 minutes ago, sidari said:

....G - our POCs are Muscat Jeddah, Naples and Civi. However, we’ve been to Aqaba and can’t recommend Petra highly enough (if you haven’t been).

 

Thanks Bea, and appreciated.

[travelberlin]

3 hours ago, sidari said:

So, today, we received our Aurea Welcome bubbly and a chocolate bar with the Aurea logo on the (navy) box. This was after I went to Guest Services yesterday to enquire if we were going to get one. I’d also mentioned that we had only received one chocolate Diamond bar, despite us being entitled to one each. Well, we received 2 (black boxes). along with the Aurea Welcome items. As a result, we now have 4 choc bars. “

Take note of this photo, folks. It’ll feature in an update I’ll post later.”

 

 

 

 

Thanks Sidari for posting Beas impressions.

Bea, would you recommend Aurea as an alternative for Yacht Club? Unfortunately the prices for Yacht Club are very expensive in the some itineraries and the intimacy seems to be gone whit large numbers of people in Yacht Club. 
Ivi

[Beamafar]

Hi folks.  I finally managed to access the site. 
 

A huge thank you to Dave for posting for me.  We’re heading to lunch now so I’ll post later. 

[sidari]

Bea ... Now you see me, Now you don't ... 😁 Looks like Bea is still having issues getting on the boards.

Edited March 31, 2023 by sidari

[RBrowny]

I wonder why the ships wifi bans you from accessing the website, seems odd.

[Beamafar]

2 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

I wonder why the ships wifi bans you from accessing the website, seems odd.

The link in the emails wouldn’t work; the page wouldn’t load.  However, the link on the email for your post has just worked. 🙄

[Beamafar]

I went to the internet info point (which is actually the photo gallery desk) earlier today and the guy there went through some routine that I haven’t a clue about, which is how I’m now on - though it’s still a bit hit and miss.  We’ll see. 
 

So, we have Butchers Cut booked for tomorrow night.  Hopefully it’ll be up to its usual standards. 
 

Overall, we’re very happy with the food onboard.  Even in the buffet, today, the food was hot - and really tasty.  I had a Parisian-style fish, Island chicken (crispy, slightly spicy batter - delicious) fabulous baby roast potatoes and a medley of veg - sautéed peppers and onions, sprouts (too hard!) and broccoli.  
 

 

Just to give an idea of the desserts on offer, I loaded some onto a plate (then ended up eating them all, they were so good). 
 

[Beamafar]

17 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Thanks Sidari for posting Beas impressions.

Bea, would you recommend Aurea as an alternative for Yacht Club? Unfortunately the prices for Yacht Club are very expensive in the some itineraries and the intimacy seems to be gone whit large numbers of people in Yacht Club. 
Ivi

I’m not sure that Aurea is a good value product, now that they’ve watered down the benefits.  Apparently you get a discount on the drinks packages rather than Easy being included.  I asked someone today about the discount but he hadn’t a clue what I was talking about. He said the packages were already discounted if you prebook.  This is the one thing that’s most irritating about MSC - it’s almost impossible to get answers to the questions you ask.

 

Apparently there are 4050 people onboard and not many children (thankfully 😁).  I don’t get a sense of it being crowded - there are so many venues that I think it disperses the crowds well.  We’ve just been down to the promenade and it wasn’t very busy.  Lots of seating at the back on deck 8 to enjoy the wake and bar service is provided by the nearby cigar lounge. 
 

We haven’t been to the Champagne bar - Fizz - yet. Had a look in today and thought we wouldn’t fancy hanging out there too long. It seems dull and nothing like the lovely bright champagne bars on Mera/Seaside class. A little disappointing. 
 

[RBrowny]

Making me extremely hungry with the food. Really hungry, actually. Food looks great. I think the champagne bar would be great for a pre drink before your evening meal, or show you're seeing. Although I have seen different videos of the ship and not many people seem to record/spend time there.

 

Really enjoying following this up

[Captain-John]

25 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Apparently there are 4050 people onboard and not many children (thankfully 😁).  I don’t get a sense of it being crowded - there are so many venues that I think it disperses the crowds well.  We’ve just been down to the promenade and it wasn’t very busy.  Lots of seating at the back on deck 8 to enjoy the wake and bar service is provided by the nearby cigar lounge. 

 

That's good news for sure. Pleased the food continues to be good. 

 

Have you stopped by the Raj Polo tea house at all? I think it looks a very pleasant area in photographs and videos but wonder if it is well utilised and what the setup is? 

[Beamafar]

3 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

 

That's good news for sure. Pleased the food continues to be good. 

 

Have you stopped by the Raj Polo tea house at all? I think it looks a very pleasant area in photographs and videos but wonder if it is well utilised and what the setup is? 

It’s a beautiful venue.  Reminds me of Raffles in Singapore.  But I don’t think the concept works on the ship.  It’s always empty.  

[Beamafar]

 

Let’s take a look at the touch screen control panel.  There is a dial to adjust the air con but no indication as to the temperature being set. 
 

 

If you select the bed icon, the lights come on over the headboard and side lights.  When you click on the crescent moon, it switches off all the lights, save for the bedside ones.
 

When the window is locked it’ll be indicated on the panel

 

 

[Beamafar]

The bedside lights have touch buttons which will switch them on, off or dim. 
 

 

There are American power points with 2 USBs and 2 European power points at the desk near the window

 

 

There is a USB port in each of the bedside wall lights (not easy to see in the photo, but just beneath the 2 light switches 

 

 

There are 2 European power points at the desk next to the wardrobe 

 

[Beamafar]

We have Gala night tonight and another on Monday. White Night was last night (seemed a bit early in the cruise to hold it then). 

[perakcruiser]

41 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

It’s a beautiful venue.  Reminds me of Raffles in Singapore.

Oh!