MSC Poesia: Promenade Deck, Smoking & Trivia!

[Queenvee]

I am an experienced solo cruiser (52 cruises, the last 20 have been on Cunard or HAL) but I’ve become frustrated with both of them lately so I'm considering MSC.  I found a 15 day Iceland/Greenland cruise on the Poesia starting August 4 which appeals to me for the destination. To get a sense of the ship, I’ve watched multiple You Tube videos and read lots of Cruise Critic reviews, all of which provided widely varying opinions about MSC.  I take other peoples’ opinions with a grain of salt and will make my own decision...but I wanted to check with the CC folks about a few things: 

 

(1) does the Poesia's promenade deck have room for deck chairs?  I've looked at deck plans and it's hard to tell from them, and the only video I found showed a wide but empty prom deck.  I love to sit on deck and read, watching & hearing the waves (even in cool weather, it's my happy place). (2) One video said that the smell of smoke was very prevalent in hallways and public areas (well beyond the specified smoking areas) so would appreciate your input on that. (3) I love playing team trivia since it's a great way to meet people - HAL & Cunard offer trivia 3 or 4 times a day on sea days; does MSC do the same? 

 

Thank you for any input!  And if you have any favorite quiet spots for reading (on deck or in a lounge) or any tips (did I hear about caramel sticky buns somewhere?), I would appreciate them.  

[Ryan82]

Can't really answer the questions but having been on 5 MSC cruises you can ignore the smell of smoke complaint. People either have the nost sensitive noses possible or are just looking for things to complain about.

[Memtn901]

Wow! Only one, not really helpful, reply! As I’m curious as well, does anyone else have input?

[Essiesmom]

Looking at pics of the promenade deck on cruisedeckplans I see a wide deck but no seating.  EM

[Heartgrove]

MSC does not have benches on the Promenade Deck on their ships for life vest storage like HAL does. Nor do they have Deck Chairs on that deck either.

[Nunagoras]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:21 PM, Queenvee said:

I am an experienced solo cruiser (52 cruises, the last 20 have been on Cunard or HAL) but I’ve become frustrated with both of them lately so I'm considering MSC.  I found a 15 day Iceland/Greenland cruise on the Poesia starting August 4 which appeals to me for the destination. To get a sense of the ship, I’ve watched multiple You Tube videos and read lots of Cruise Critic reviews, all of which provided widely varying opinions about MSC.  I take other peoples’ opinions with a grain of salt and will make my own decision...but I wanted to check with the CC folks about a few things: - Great itinerary on a older ship that will be sort of more intimate than the mega ships! Enjoy it the most!...

 

(1) does the Poesia's promenade deck have room for deck chairs?  I've looked at deck plans and it's hard to tell from them, and the only video I found showed a wide but empty prom deck.  I love to sit on deck and read, watching & hearing the waves (even in cool weather, it's my happy place). - The promenade deck below the lifeboats? In that case, no, they don't have chairs there. (2) One video said that the smell of smoke was very prevalent in hallways and public areas (well beyond the specified smoking areas) so would appreciate your input on that. - Back in the day smoking would be very prevalent round their ships. You'll likely to find those descriptions on older YT videos. Currently smoking here in Europe seems to be in the decline, and the remaining smokers are more conscious to do so on designated areas. Obviously nobody knows what your actual sailing demographics would to be, but generally that is a non issue, other than near the casino or on a designated section of the pool decks. (3) I love playing team trivia since it's a great way to meet people - HAL & Cunard offer trivia 3 or 4 times a day on sea days; does MSC do the same? - I have never seen trivia aboard MSC ships, but my last cruise with them was 2018 and that might have changed at least on sailings with a good English speaking share. Bear in mind that their clientele is usually very international with multiple languages aboard. Their entertainment trends to the music and visuals. They used to have some Bingo and other games like that, but nothing that more to write home about.

 

Thank you for any input!  And if you have any favorite quiet spots for reading (on deck or in a lounge) or any tips (did I hear about caramel sticky buns somewhere?), I would appreciate them.  - During the day you'll be able to read at any of the lounges, once they'll be mostly unused. If sad weather persists, they'll use one of the lounges for the supposedly pool deck activities, and you'll have the others for reading and socializing.

 

Bear in mind the Poesia is a relatively older ship. Bring your adapters to charge phones, watches, tablets, cameras and the likes once there are no USB ports there in the cabins, other than a possible one by the TV set if they have already the newer TV sets there.