Loved the Lirica

[AmoMondo]

Just returned yesterday on the Lirica's Fort Lauderdale to Dover repositioning cruise. Absolutely loved everything about it. I'll post a review soon. If anyone has any questions about MSC or this ship, I'll be more than happy to tell you all about it

[princess40]

do they have a beer and wine package?

[MMDown Under]

Mairi,

 

Delighted to hear you enjoyed your repositioning cruise from FL to Dover on Lirica, as we're doing their repositioning cruise back from Genoa to FL in November.

 

The roll call on the November trip is almost dead.

 

I'm really looking forward to reading your review of this ship.

 

How did you find sailing transatlantic on this journey - smooth/rough seas? If the latter, how did the ship handle the seas?

[Down Under]

Great to see another 'Down Under' on the board. I 'lurk' more than posting.

 

I've cruised with Regent but am considering a Med cruise on MSC. I would like any opinions on what the main differences would be and what cabin category would be the closest to Regent's Voyager's lowest. Thanks in advance.

[sea-explorer]

do they have a beer and wine package?

 

Not as such. They do sell booklets of tickets for a variety of drinks packages, beer, wine, cocktails, soft drinks, water etc. They tend to be booklets of 14 tickets for the price of 10. Also, they do not mark up the drinks prices by 15% like many other cruise lines.

 

 

Mairi,

 

 

How did you find sailing transatlantic on this journey - smooth/rough seas? If the latter, how did the ship handle the seas?

 

Don't know about the seas on the transatlantic, but in the meantime I can tell you I sailed on the Lirica in the Baltic & there was one 'rough sea' night. I felt the ship handled it really well. It was listing somewhat but wasn't rocky. I didn't see any evidence of anyone feeling seasick.

[MMDown Under]

Hi, I tried for "Down Under", but it was taken, so guess it was you. As it is an expression I use frequently with my overseas friends, I thought it was appropriate.

[MMDown Under]

Thanks. Just what I wanted to hear - "The ship handled rough seas well".

[AmoMondo]

do they have a beer and wine package?

 

Yes they have both. They also do a Martini, Cocktail, Non Alcoholic Cocktail and Liquer coffee of the day at much reduced prices. There was also a happy Hour from 5 to 9 in the Piana bar (may have been in some of the others too) so there is plenty opportunity to save money on drinks

[AmoMondo]

Mairi,

 

Delighted to hear you enjoyed your repositioning cruise from FL to Dover on Lirica, as we're doing their repositioning cruise back from Genoa to FL in November.

 

The roll call on the November trip is almost dead.

 

I'm really looking forward to reading your review of this ship.

 

How did you find sailing transatlantic on this journey - smooth/rough seas? If the latter, how did the ship handle the seas?

 

Well where I'd expected the worse seas in the English Channel and the bay of Biscay, the seas were unbelievable smooth, so much so that at times I thought we must have docked in Port!. By far the worst was the 2 days from Fort Lauderdale to San Juan. The captain had to use the stabilizers on more than one occasion. The 6 nights crossing was a mixture of choppy, rough and very rough. I was in a suite which was at the front of deck 10 so I felt the movement more than in other parts of the ship. Despite that, I was never sea sick, although getting around in high heels and a long dress on formal nights was a bit of a challenge!. On the whole, I'd say the ship handled the adverse weather well. Some of the evening entertainment that had been scheduled to take place on the pool decks had to be moved inside and on the worst night, the show was cancelled as it would have been far too dangerous fro the performers. The weather just can't be predicted. I did a genoa to Fort lauderdale on the Opera (identical to the Lirica except for cabin configuration and clour scheme) and we had 2 days of terrible storms in the med and the Atlantic was as smooth as a mill pond all 5 days and nights.

[rabelgirls]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise. I am waiting so eagerly to read your review. There really hasn't been anything very recent and we are traveling on the Lirica for Christmas. Tell us the good, bad and the ugly.

[AmoMondo]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise. I am waiting so eagerly to read your review. There really hasn't been anything very recent and we are traveling on the Lirica for Christmas. Tell us the good, bad and the ugly.

 

Posted the review last night but don't know how long it will take to appear, but in summary

The Good - the ship itself (absolutely beautiful and kept spotlessly clean); my cabin (again very clean, loads of room and loved chilling out on the balcony); the crew (couldn't be friendlier or more helpful); the classical musicians; the food and drink (variety and quality); Arif's special Deck Six Martini (but you really can't drink too many if you want to make it back to your cabin unaided!); the general ambience and mix of cultures, nationalities and languages; the coffee shop and piano bar were great places to hang out in; the daily cocktails of the day (great price and some interesting combinations; the ice cream (different special every day; the pizza; the sun loungers (really liked the shade that was attached that could be set at various angles to shade your face or not if you preferred. There were almost always plenty of them and the crew "cracked down" on those who tries "booking" one for the day by leaving towels or other belongings on them for hours at a time. They said that if you were away for more than a short time, they'd remove your stuff and you could collect from reception); the peace, quiet and tranquility of sun bathing on the back decks (deck 12 usually had loads of free space); and the medical centre and Staff (but let's hope you won't need to visit them but if you do they are friendly, very professional and capable and incredibly cheap)

The Bad - getting ill onboard (not their fault - blame the sudden change in temperature); Andrea the Italian pianist (he was fine when he stuck to Italian songs but when singing in English it ranged from dire to hilarious!); passengers arriving late to the show (not just a few minutes but sometimes past half way through) and passengers who talked all the way through the show (not very many but very irrating when they did); The Lord nelson pub ( only because I'm a non smoker and this was one of the few inside areas passengers could smoke)

The Ugly - the sea at times (got pretty wild on occassion); some of the other passengers (not many and not in appearance but manners or rather complete lack of them to crew and fellow passengers); the size of my cruise card bill at the end of the trip (but that was almost wholly because of the trip to the Columbian Emerald store onboard!)

[macruise]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise. somehow I missed the Piano Bar. I didn't even see one on board. Where was it?

I would have really enjoyed that. We also enjoyed the classical shows, the Trios Paraguayos and the Strauss group.

 

Rabelgirls - I did a short review of the Lirica on my blog.

 

macruise

[oc323]

Yes they do. You can purchase them in the terminal before you leave and on the ship the first few nights.

[rabelgirls]

Thanks Macruise, I will check out your blog. It's always great to read reviews of ships that I haven't been on.

[AmoMondo]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise. somehow I missed the Piano Bar. I didn't even see one on board. Where was it?

I would have really enjoyed that. We also enjoyed the classical shows, the Trios Paraguayos and the Strauss group.

 

Rabelgirls - I did a short review of the Lirica on my blog.

 

macruise

Deck 5 towards the back of the ship just before you got to the Photo Shop. It's official name L'Atmosphere Piano Bar. Looks like we have similar taste in music and ships!

[macruise]

Thanks. I was in Atmospheres to listen to the Tres Paraquayos. We really enjoyed them and were so disappointed when their "big" show in the Lirica Lounge was sooooooooooooooo short. Too bad they didn't play during dinner.

 

I was thinking that I missed a Piano Bar like the one on Carnival where you sit around the piano.

 

macruise

[NHBob]

Pleased to see all the favorable posts on this thread - I've never sailed with MSC but am thinking of booking a cruise on Lirica. I had originally booked a Lirica transatlantic this spring, but cancelled it when Holland America finally revealed that their March TA was a big band cruise, so booked that instead. Good cruise, with the great Harry James Band, but HAL's Vista Class ships are a bit big for my taste.

 

I find it a bit puzzling to see such a wide range of opinions on the CC Member Review Pages - a little hard to understand reviews ranging from "great" to "never again" for the same cruise! However, the positive seem to outnumber the negative.

 

Happy to learn that MSC has now designated Lirica's December 10-day Caribbean sailing as a big band cruise, so I'll probably book it shortly.

[mybagsarepacked]

Pleased to see all the favorable posts on this thread - I've never sailed with MSC but am thinking of booking a cruise on Lirica. I had originally booked a Lirica transatlantic this spring, but cancelled it when Holland America finally revealed that their March TA was a big band cruise, so booked that instead. Good cruise, with the great Harry James Band, but HAL's Vista Class ships are a bit big for my taste.

 

I find it a bit puzzling to see such a wide range of opinions on the CC Member Review Pages - a little hard to understand reviews ranging from "great" to "never again" for the same cruise! However, the positive seem to outnumber the negative.

 

Happy to learn that MSC has now designated Lirica's December 10-day Caribbean sailing as a big band cruise, so I'll probably book it shortly.

 

Hey Bob,

Ron and I are likely booking this as well.

 

I am trying to figure out their room categories. I think we'll end up booking the Suite with Balcony because I can't see a category of just rooms with balcony. At least when I look at the itinerary and prices page on the MSC site.

 

I have a call in to the travel agent and hopefully we'll make a decision today. I think from what I have read that the Lirica is a new ship (a replacement for the old one) ...

 

Stacy

[mybagsarepacked]

Posted the review last night but don't know how long it will take to appear, but in summary

The Good - the ship itself (absolutely beautiful and kept spotlessly clean); my cabin (again very clean, loads of room and loved chilling out on the balcony); the crew (couldn't be friendlier or more helpful); the classical musicians; the food and drink (variety and quality); Arif's special Deck Six Martini (but you really can't drink too many if you want to make it back to your cabin unaided!); the general ambience and mix of cultures, nationalities and languages; the coffee shop and piano bar were great places to hang out in; the daily cocktails of the day (great price and some interesting combinations; the ice cream (different special every day; the pizza; the sun loungers (really liked the shade that was attached that could be set at various angles to shade your face or not if you preferred. There were almost always plenty of them and the crew "cracked down" on those who tries "booking" one for the day by leaving towels or other belongings on them for hours at a time. They said that if you were away for more than a short time, they'd remove your stuff and you could collect from reception); the peace, quiet and tranquility of sun bathing on the back decks (deck 12 usually had loads of free space); and the medical centre and Staff (but let's hope you won't need to visit them but if you do they are friendly, very professional and capable and incredibly cheap)

The Bad - getting ill onboard (not their fault - blame the sudden change in temperature); Andrea the Italian pianist (he was fine when he stuck to Italian songs but when singing in English it ranged from dire to hilarious!); passengers arriving late to the show (not just a few minutes but sometimes past half way through) and passengers who talked all the way through the show (not very many but very irrating when they did); The Lord nelson pub ( only because I'm a non smoker and this was one of the few inside areas passengers could smoke)

The Ugly - the sea at times (got pretty wild on occassion); some of the other passengers (not many and not in appearance but manners or rather complete lack of them to crew and fellow passengers); the size of my cruise card bill at the end of the trip (but that was almost wholly because of the trip to the Columbian Emerald store onboard!)

 

I was wondering - did you just have a cabin with balcony or did you book a suite with a balcony? We are trying to figure it out and only see "Suite with Balcony" listed under the room category for this dec 3-13 big band cruise. It is 50% off so we'll likely end up getting the suite if that is the way to book a balcony.

 

Also, do they have room service on the ship?

Thanks!

Stacy

[AmoMondo]

I was wondering - did you just have a cabin with balcony or did you book a suite with a balcony? We are trying to figure it out and only see "Suite with Balcony" listed under the room category for this dec 3-13 big band cruise. It is 50% off so we'll likely end up getting the suite if that is the way to book a balcony.

 

Also, do they have room service on the ship?

Thanks!

Stacy

 

Yes I had a suite. It's the only type of cabin available on the Lirica that has a balcony. MSC's newer ships also have outsides with balconies as well as the suites. I got a big discount so went for the suite, mainly to have the balcony but it was also nice to have more space, more storage and a bigger bathroom with a bath rather than just a small shower. I'm sure you'll have fun, whatever you decide.

[NHBob]

Happy to learn that MSC has now designated Lirica's December 10-day Caribbean sailing as a big band cruise, so I'll probably book it shortly.

 

As I just posted on the Roll Call thread, I booked this afternoon and look forward to the new experience.

 

Question: the MSC brochure says that suit or jacket and tie are appropriate for men on formal nights. Do any men wear tux or dinner jacket, or can I forget about packing them?

 

Bob

[wemissthesmallships]

Yes I had a suite. It's the only type of cabin available on the Lirica that has a balcony. MSC's newer ships also have outsides with balconies as well as the suites. I got a big discount so went for the suite, mainly to have the balcony but it was also nice to have more space, more storage and a bigger bathroom with a bath rather than just a small shower. I'm sure you'll have fun, whatever you decide.

 

Hello.

 

We are looking at booking a suite (balcony cabin) on the Lirica. It seems that the suites are located directly under the pool area. Did you experience any noise in your suite due to the pool and activities above?

 

Thanks.

wemissthesmallships

 

HAL x 9

CELEBRITY x 8

PRINCESS x 8

RCCL x 5

COSTA x 4

SITMAR x 1

PREMIER x 1

Carnival x 3

[AmoMondo]

As I just posted on the Roll Call thread, I booked this afternoon and look forward to the new experience.

 

Question: the MSC brochure says that suit or jacket and tie are appropriate for men on formal nights. Do any men wear tux or dinner jacket, or can I forget about packing them?

 

Bob

There will definitely be some mean wearing a tux on formal night. If you want to wear your tux, pack it you won't be out of place, however if you prefer not to, then you will still fit in

[AmoMondo]

Hello.

 

We are looking at booking a suite (balcony cabin) on the Lirica. It seems that the suites are located directly under the pool area. Did you experience any noise in your suite due to the pool and activities above?

 

Thanks.

wemissthesmallships

 

HAL x 9

CELEBRITY x 8

PRINCESS x 8

RCCL x 5

COSTA x 4

SITMAR x 1

PREMIER x 1

Carnival x 3

The suites on the Lirica are on decks 12 and 10. There are not many on 12 and they are all right at the very front of the ship above the gym and spa - so no noise or disturbance (been on these on the Opera0. However being at the very top and front of the ship, if the seas are rough, you will experience more movement. Those on deck 10 start at the very front of the ship, just behind the bridge and run to three quarters back. I was in 10001, so was too far forward to be directly under the pool. However I was in 10189 on the Opera 9about midship) and we idi sometimes in the morning hear nosie from crew laying out the sun loungers for the day. Durng the day you could sometimes hear chairs being moved about, but it wasn't loud enough to really annoy us. During the evening there was no noise from the pool area except those evening where there was a party on the open pool decks and we were at the party until the end, so couldn't say how much noise was heard in the cabins below.

I love to have my own balcony especially in the Caribbean. It's also nice to have a cabin twice the size, all the extra storage space and the bigger bathroom with a bath as well as a shower. If you fancy the suite, I wouldn't let worries about nosie from the pool put you off. If you get the choice of cabin number then any on deck 12 or the lower numbers on deck 10 (10001 to about 30 or maybe even 40)

[wemissthesmallships]

The suites on the Lirica are on decks 12 and 10. There are not many on 12 and they are all right at the very front of the ship above the gym and spa - so no noise or disturbance (been on these on the Opera0. However being at the very top and front of the ship, if the seas are rough, you will experience more movement. Those on deck 10 start at the very front of the ship, just behind the bridge and run to three quarters back. I was in 10001, so was too far forward to be directly under the pool. However I was in 10189 on the Opera 9about midship) and we idi sometimes in the morning hear nosie from crew laying out the sun loungers for the day. Durng the day you could sometimes hear chairs being moved about, but it wasn't loud enough to really annoy us. During the evening there was no noise from the pool area except those evening where there was a party on the open pool decks and we were at the party until the end, so couldn't say how much noise was heard in the cabins below.

I love to have my own balcony especially in the Caribbean. It's also nice to have a cabin twice the size, all the extra storage space and the bigger bathroom with a bath as well as a shower. If you fancy the suite, I wouldn't let worries about nosie from the pool put you off. If you get the choice of cabin number then any on deck 12 or the lower numbers on deck 10 (10001 to about 30 or maybe even 40)

 

Hi AmoMondo.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. We are able to get a cabin on Deck 12, but I've read that the wind is so severe that sometimes you can't use the balcony. Balcony use is very important to us so given the choice of the 2 decks, deck 10 is probably a better choice. There shouldn't be a wind problem on deck 10. We'll do our best to book a cabin in the location you've suggested to minimize the overhead noise. Thanks again for your reply.

 

wemissthesmallships

 

HAL x 9

CELEBRITY x 8

PRINCESS x 8

RCCL x 5

COSTA x 4

SITMAR x 1

PREMIER x 1

Carnival x 3