Just back from Orchestra

[patrice1]

This was a 4 day Med cruise from Barcelona to Genoa and Marseille. It was my first MSC cruise. I was quite impressed. I currently live in Lisbon, Portugal so I am accustomed to European customs. 
So…

I thought the food was wonderful. The choices were more limited than other lines, but I could always find something I liked. Dining room food was served hot and was very good. The pizzas were also great.

The cabin, an outside, was lovely with plenty of storage. Everything worked properly. Housekeeping came twice a day. In Europe, washcloths are not provided, but she brought me some every day once I asked.

I did not use the entertainment, but the casino was limited.

The bars all had large coffee machines for espresso, cappuccino, etc. I had the premium drink package and enjoyed the coffee quite a bit as well.

The muster drill was on the third day because we took on passengers at every port. It felt odd, but not a problem in any way. 
The ports were just okay. I still enjoyed the cruise quite a bit and will probably book them again.

[RosieMac8]

Thank you @patrice1.  I will be sailing Orchestra this summer.  I am glad to hear such positive comments about the ship and her food.  Did not expect the muster drill on the third day- I assumed we would be doing this on the embarkation day.  Thank you for mentioning this.  I had posted questions earlier this week and have received a few comments.  If you are able to add to them please do.

1.  We will be embarking on a ship that does multiple port embarkation.  Does this cause any delays getting off for shore excursions?  Are there separate gang areas for shore excursion versus debarkation? 

2.  Multiple reviews have talked about either MSC being late to port or disembarking for the port excursions LATE.  One review talked about 2 hours late, others talked about 30 to 45 minutes.  Is this fairly common or rare occurrence?  How do you handle non-ship excursions with such delays?  We have some tours booked with www.SpainDayTours.com that we really hope to make but they are listed to start 30 minutes after stated ship docking times.

 

 

Thanks again!

 

 

[patrice1]

RosieMac8:

 I apologize for not paying attention to the issues in your questions. I did not notice a delayed embarkation in any port, but I confess it really didn’t matter to me as I had no planned excursions. I do believe they disembarked off boarding passengers first, then opened it up to passengers on excursions, but I’m not positive.

 

For what it’s worth, I prefer the smaller ships and she didn’t disappoint.

[skipsaur]

15 hours ago, RosieMac8 said:

 

2.  Multiple reviews have talked about either MSC being late to port or disembarking for the port excursions LATE.  One review talked about 2 hours late, others talked about 30 to 45 minutes.  Is this fairly common or rare occurrence?  How do you handle non-ship excursions with such delays?  We have some tours booked with www.SpainDayTours.com that we really hope to make but they are listed to start 30 minutes after stated ship docking times.

 

 

 

If you haven't gotten an answer on this, I'd try asking the tour company you booked with. Odds are they're familiar with if a particular ship or line is often late, and what their policies are if that happens.

[RosieMac8]

Thank you @patrice1 and @skipsaur.  Truly excited about this cruise.  I have never been to any of these ports and there is soooo much to see and do.  First MSC cruise and trying to go in with open mind.  I have messaged tour company and they have indicated they will monitor the ship's arrival time.  Thanks again. 

[Best Cat Mom]

On 6/3/2023 at 2:37 PM, RosieMac8 said:

We will be embarking on a ship that does multiple port embarkation.  Does this cause any delays getting off for shore excursions?  Are there separate gang areas for shore excursion versus debarkation?

When on a ship with people embarking and disembarking at multiple ports, the disembarking passengers don't have to leave the ship early so there won't be a big "push" by them to get in line. When we disembarked in Genoa, we stayed on the ship until after 2pm. Our hotel check in wasn't until 3pm so we had breakfast and lunch on the ship and left in the afternoon.

[RosieMac8]

thank you @Best Cat Mom.  We hate the major push off the ship on disembarkation mornings.  We like to eat our breakfast and then gather our last few items and head off.  This information is helpful.  We will be disembarking and heading out to catch a local train.  No pre-booked tickets so no urgency and the city will be less than 1 hour train ride.  Also there are multiple trains per day so no pressure to catch a specific train.  But like you our hotel probably does not allow early check in. 

[Best Cat Mom]

1 hour ago, RosieMac8 said:

We like to eat our breakfast and then gather our last few items and head off.

You will likely need to vacate the cabin in the morning and take your luggage with you. We were in YC so the concierge held all our luggage until we were ready for our butler to walk us off in the afternoon. You might want to check with your butler/room attendant for options to store your items until you're ready to disembark if you don't want to keep everything with you that morning. Enjoy the extra time on board -- it can feel like a whole extra day if you leave a few hours after lunch. 🙂

[CruisingFox27]

It's rarer for a ship to dock significantly late than it is to arrive at its scheduled time. Yes, it does happen, weather or issues in port. Thousands of ships dock everyday, a few will undoubtedly be late. Experienced excursion companies will be aware of your arrival. 

 

On our recent European sailing with multiple embarkation ports there were separate gangways for embarkation passengers.  On our final day we didn't disembark until 1pm. We needed to vacate the cabin at the assigned time in the morning and our luggage went out the night before. We just collected it from the collection point in the terminal once we'd disembarked. 

[MaisonRose]

On 6/3/2023 at 8:37 PM, RosieMac8 said:

Thank you @patrice1.  I will be sailing Orchestra this summer.  I am glad to hear such positive comments about the ship and her food.  Did not expect the muster drill on the third day- I assumed we would be doing this on the embarkation day.  Thank you for mentioning this.  I had posted questions earlier this week and have received a few comments.  If you are able to add to them please do.

1.  We will be embarking on a ship that does multiple port embarkation.  Does this cause any delays getting off for shore excursions?  Are there separate gang areas for shore excursion versus debarkation? 

2.  Multiple reviews have talked about either MSC being late to port or disembarking for the port excursions LATE.  One review talked about 2 hours late, others talked about 30 to 45 minutes.  Is this fairly common or rare occurrence?  How do you handle non-ship excursions with such delays?  We have some tours booked with www.SpainDayTours.com that we really hope to make but they are listed to start 30 minutes after stated ship docking times.

 

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Here is what I learned, which only answers part of your question. My experience: Seascape in Dec, .22. Several times I walked off late, once just to the Pavillion to connect to Wi-Fi.

Returning passengers had to get in the SAME LINE as the new arrivals in order to reboard the ship.

Those passengers had carryons so the lines took quite awhile.

AnAside about visiting Bermuda….the island does not have nearly enough public buses to handle a large passenger ship. If I ever go to the Kings Wharf again I would stay on the ship.

[Nunagoras]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:46 AM, patrice1 said:

This was a 4 day Med cruise from Barcelona to Genoa and Marseille. It was my first MSC cruise. I was quite impressed. I currently live in Lisbon, Portugal so I am accustomed to European customs. 
So…

I thought the food was wonderful. The choices were more limited than other lines, but I could always find something I liked. Dining room food was served hot and was very good. The pizzas were also great.

The cabin, an outside, was lovely with plenty of storage. Everything worked properly. Housekeeping came twice a day. In Europe, washcloths are not provided, but she brought me some every day once I asked.

I did not use the entertainment, but the casino was limited.

The bars all had large coffee machines for espresso, cappuccino, etc. I had the premium drink package and enjoyed the coffee quite a bit as well.

The muster drill was on the third day because we took on passengers at every port. It felt odd, but not a problem in any way. 
The ports were just okay. I still enjoyed the cruise quite a bit and will probably book them again.

Muito obrigado e que seja muito bem-vindo a Lisboa!... (Many thanks and be very welcome to Lisbon!...)

 

Wonderful to know that those relatively old ships are doing well and that they're recommended!... Have a wonderful return to the now crazy Lisbon! Enjoy all those youth here for World Youth Day!... And enjoy your next MSC adventures!... 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

Permit me just a simple question: Did they still have the nice classical or otherwise piano music in the atrium area?

[patrice1]

On 8/4/2023 at 11:00 PM, Nunagoras said:

Muito obrigado e que seja muito bem-vindo a Lisboa!... (Many thanks and be very welcome to Lisbon!...)

 

Wonderful to know that those relatively old ships are doing well and that they're recommended!... Have a wonderful return to the now crazy Lisbon! Enjoy all those youth here for World Youth Day!... And enjoy your next MSC adventures!... 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

Permit me just a simple question: Did they still have the nice classical or otherwise piano music in the atrium area?

Muito obrigada! Sim -lovely atrium music. When my husband was alive, we preferred the older, calmer ships. Never needed all the bells and whistles. FYI, the sushi restaurant was amazing!

 

Have to admit , very happy Papa left today.

[Nunagoras]

18 hours ago, patrice1 said:

Muito obrigada! Sim -lovely atrium music. When my husband was alive, we preferred the older, calmer ships. Never needed all the bells and whistles. FYI, the sushi restaurant was amazing!

 

Have to admit , very happy Papa left today.

Off topic: Very happy as well!... Need to admit: Pope Francis is perhaps the most notable personality of this so confusing XXI century!...

 

Great to know they still have the wonderful music at the older ships!... 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

Tenha um bom dia! (Have a nice day!)

[MaisonRose]

On 6/2/2023 at 11:46 AM, patrice1 said:

 

The cabin, an outside, was lovely with plenty of storage. Everything worked Housekeeping came twice a day. In Europe, washcloths are not provided, but she brought me some every day once I asked.

The bars all had large coffee machines for espresso, cappuccino, etc. 

Some Orchestra questions tho w/ a short cruise you might not have noticed: we’re sailing Marseille to Luxor for 10 days. Is there a Library & a book exchange? I live near Marseille & could offer up lots of good English paperbacks & guide books.

Also are there games: dominoes, decks of cards,etc?

 Can you tell that I’ve sailed HAL a lot with lots of the above?

On Seascape last Nov there was a really good water boiler for tea. Did you notice that? ( it actually showed the temperature & produced a wonderful cup of tea).

Thanks to anyone who knows the Orchestra who will join in.

 

[RosieMac8]

Yes there is a library but there are few books. Very poor exchange.  No where near the quality of HAL.  Love HAL- but it has been a while.  I saw families playing cards but did not go into the area they were playing.  I cannot say about games.  There are hot water dispensers in the lido(buffet) area and in the Aurea spa.  Also some bars have coffee by the counter so probably good for tea there- but I do not actually know from experience since I do not drink coffee and only stepped to one or two bars.  I went to lido a lot for water and tea.  Have fun!

[Mawcruiser56]

Anyone recently on the Orchestra ship? I’m trying to see if they have Starlink installed for the internet access. It seems that MSC has installed it on certain ships. 
 

I’m taking a week cruise soon and I’ll need to be connected a bit for work. 

[patrice1]

17 hours ago, Mawcruiser56 said:

Anyone recently on the Orchestra ship? I’m trying to see if they have Starlink installed for the internet access. It seems that MSC has installed it on certain ships. 
 

I’m taking a week cruise soon and I’ll need to be connected a bit for work. 

I was on last May and they had good wifi access to the internet. I had the streaming package.

[Mawcruiser56]

2 minutes ago, patrice1 said:

I was on last May and they had good wifi access to the internet. I had the streaming package.

Thank you. What route was your ship?  Mine starts in Valencia Spain and does the Mediterranean route