Musica Review October 2023

[Beamafar]

Musica Review October 2023

 

For those here who know me, while our cruise history mainly involves MSC ships, I’m far from being an MSC cheerleader.   Last year, for the first time since 2011, we didn’t cruise on an MSC ship.   We were in the ‘never again on MSC’ mode.  Instead, we tried Azamara and gave Celebrity another try in a Sky Suite (to experience the Retreat), despite having a less than stellar experience in one on a 14 night from Singapore in 2016 - pre Retreat.  However, as we had World Europa booked for a 16 night from Abu Dhabi to Genoa, sailing last March/April, we ended up back with MSC this year. Let’s just say that it doesn’t rank in our top 20!

 

Since then, we had an expired FCC from cancelled cruises extended for a third time, so we finally decided to use it and booked Seascape for next year.   In the meantime, we came across a too good to miss offer for a 7 night Med cruise on Musica, so, here we are, sailing MSC for the umpteenth time, due to a great deal.  The itinerary was also very attractive. 
 

 

 

 

Due to the awful situation in Israel/Gaza, Haifa has now been substituted with a call to Rhodes, a replacement we’re more than satisfied with. 

 

This will be our fourth time on a Musica-class ship, but our first on this particular one.   We have been to Mykonos and Santorini many times before so we will stay onboard for those POCs.  We have excursions booked for Limassol and Kusadasi.  More on those later. 

 

We had one booked from Haifa to Jerusalem;  we’d visited before on our Sinfonia Venice-Durban cruise when we stopped at Eilat, so not as big a disappointment than had we been looking forward to a first visit.  Our thoughts are with those unfortunate people.   It’ll put any little gripes we may have on this cruise into perspective. 

[Beamafar]

We didn’t have a transfer arrangement from airport to port, but I was convinced that I’d read somewhere that there was a fixed taxi fare.  However, our taxi driver insisted that the fare was a metered one so we had no choice but to accede.  The fare was €105, which seemed very steep to us.

 

We arrived at the port at 12.55pm and were in our cabin by 1.05pm.  😁   Lunch in the MDR was between 12.30pm and 1.30pm so we hurried down to dine. Now, on MED cruises, embarkees are “encouraged” to lunch in the buffet (in other words, they’re turned away from the MDR).  For years, now, we have often politely requested access and it has always been granted and today was no exception. 

[Beamafar]

During this week, I hope to pass on information regarding this ship to those who have an interest.  I’ll try to point out the things that may be of relevance.  
 

For now, to me, one of the most important things that those of you will need to know is that there are no USB ports in the cabin.  Only American and European sockets.  (Fortunately I came prepared). 
 

[Beamafar]

There are no surface areas to put bits and pieces in the cabin, such as sunglasses, caps, clutch bags, etc; no shelving around the tv or dressing table areas.  It won’t be easy to keep the place looking neat and tidy (I like to make the steward’s job as easy as possible. Yeah - I forgot to bring my wall hanger magnets for the caps 🙄). 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Beamafar

[Beamafar]

It looks like we’re going to have to chase our steward down as there are no towelling robes or slippers in the cabin (which we should have, being at Diamond level in VC). 

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Thank you very much @Beamafarfor doing a live review from your cruise on the MSC Musica. It will be very interesting to follow along on your cruise. Have a wonderful cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

[todd-r]

@Beamafar thanks for taking the time to do this - will be following along.

Are you able to request the Take Home Laundry forms from your room steward and post the cost for 20 and 40 pieces?

It would be great toklnow the costs so I can compare with buying in advance.

[Beamafar]

I pre booked the 10 items Take Home for €28.  Here’s the packages available onboard:

 

[Beamafar]

We booked a Bella balcony cabin and took our chances.  We were assigned 10009, which we’re very satisfied with.  It’s smaller than the cabins with sofa (there’s just a chair and very small table, plus the footstool under the dressing table).  The bathroom is fine with a shower curtain in the shower. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Beamafar

[Beamafar]

We checked out the buffet after we finished lunch and Mr B decided to try the biryani, which he reported was very nice.  There is outdoor seating at the aft, so he enjoyed it there.   The buffet was not busy at all.

 

We’ve been assigned late dining, which is 9pm (early is 6.30pm).   We decided not to dine in the MDR as the buffet offerings were more or less the same, with the added Ethnic station (disappointing) and roast veal on the carvery.  The place was almost empty;  as a result, food was cold as it was lying out. 
 

On the subject of the buffet, I had read somewhere that a section becomes a Speciality steak and fish restaurant at night and would not be covered by the Diamond perk.  However, this is not true - the only SR onboard is Kaito. 

[perakcruiser]

17 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Now, on MED cruises, embarkees are “encouraged” to lunch in the buffet (in other words, they’re turned away from the MDR).  For years, now, we have often politely requested access and it has always been granted and today was no exception. 

Love to hear that. I was thinking already about it as we will board very early. Was the Sunday lunch menu in the MDR good, did it have something I should not miss? 😉
 

Not surprised to hear that the taxi scam in Athens is still as used to. 

[Beamafar]

Lunch menu

 

[Beamafar]

I’ll post the other menus throughout the week if you like.  There isn’t a whole lot of interest in this as this is one of the last sailings of this itinerary. 

[perakcruiser]

Thank you, so the answer for me is yes. Starting the cruise with a nice steak is preferred, even I am not a fan of MSCs lasagna and canneloni. 

[perakcruiser]

2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I’ll post the other menus throughout the week if you like.

No need from my side, the only other thing I am interested about food is you visit to Kaito as it will be my first cruise as Diamond finally 😄

[Beamafar]

Last night’s dinner menu

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Beamafar

[perakcruiser]

Oh a new pasta dish! With Gragnano pasta! Excitement is building up 😄

[CruisingFox27]

Looking forward to reading your review. Thank you for taking the time.  Wishing you both a wonderful time. 

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Looking forward to reading your review. Thank you for taking the time.  Wishing you both a wonderful time. 

Thanks Foxy.  
 

It’s taking a little time to re-adjust to the old MSC vibe which isn’t the same on the newer ships. Very few English speaking onboard.  Lounges were practically empty by 10pm last night and it wasn’t due to some at late dining while others are in the theatre as there was only one show on and that was at 10.30pm. Nor was it because of people disembarking today as it’s not an embarkation port. 
 

Speaking of the show, it was ‘Back to the Musicals’ and was very enjoyable. 

[Captain-John]

Thanks for your review Bea and look forward to following along. Sorry about the taxi!

 

I have to say those MDR menus look better than the current Celebrity menus (a line I've been following closely as we are booked on Millenium in Japan next May). A real surprise for me as I have always embarked on an MSC cruise 'despite' the food and always held Celebrity to a higher standard but things have slipped there lately.

 

Like you we are not MSC loyal. We were on NCL Joy in Haven earlier this year and we are booked on World Europa YC in November (I hope to post a review also). I'm looking forward to contrasting the two experiences given their similarities (ship-within-a-ship etc.).

 

We have fond memories of Musica's sister Orchestra and (even although it was many years ago now) I remember reflecting on how well maintened the ship was despite her age at the time. Is this the case for Musica these days?

[Beamafar]

I have discovered that the menus for the week are available on the app.  However, the app is not very navigateable (I know it’s not a word, but you get the drift). 
 

[CruisingFox27]

@Captain-John we were on Lirica in April,  and although the decor is more traditional and less glitzy than the new ships, there were absolutely no issues with how she was maintained.

 

Oh that's useful to know regarding the menus Bea. I'll test that next week. I'm loving reading yours, I've been living on salad for 2 months in preparation for our repo 😂

[Beamafar]

Hi Cap’n.  Musica is in fantastic condition.  Crew are wonderful - very friendly and chatty. 
 

I will be very interested in reading about your Europa experience. 
 

Personally, the X menus suit me better.  The buffet (well, certainly on The Edge last year) is far superior to MSC’s one.  We were very disappointed in the one on Europa, considering the size of the ship.   Hopefully you’ll enjoy it more. 

[Beamafar]

Today’s lunch menu

 

[Beamafar]

You can also scan the menu at the table. It will give you the offerings for that day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Beamafar