Informative, detailed HONEST review of the Orchestra 04/04/09 sailing

[lorenzod]

AAGH! I was having challenges last night where for some reason many things were being copied. Then, when I would delete, they would copy themselves again. We are lucky it's just the veal sandwiches that came across three times, because for awhile it was the whole post that was duplicated.

 

CeleBrat

Eva

You are doing such a fantastic job. I am sorry we didn't get to meet on board. I like veal too. Pass me one of those sandwiches. You have brought so many wonderful memories of this cruise back to life. Kind of reminds me of DisneyWorld. And yes I did see Mickey in your tomatoes. I hope the drunk who wrote the bad review of the ship gets to read yours. Maybe he'll sober up and give it another chance.

Marsha

[cruise-addict]

Actually, I am hoping the opposite! I hope the heavy drinkers, constant partiers and those who cannot entertain themselves stay far, far away from MSC! Go back to Carnival, because I never will!!

[cruz.n.carebear]

This is the best review ever! I have shown it to both my children to get them excited.

[arf2005]

We have been trying to decide between MSC and Carnival for next March and after reading many reviews were leaning towards Carnival. Your review has pushed me back in the direction of MSC. Perhaps they should put you on their payroll!

[Zeno]

Lovely detailed review! I am currently looking at the possibilities for our next cruise. MSC is now on the list.

[monicajay]

Such fun, I'm waiting for more!

 

I enjoyed a few veal sandwiches too. They had the best mint jelly ever. Just wish I had discovered the Gelato earlier.

[CeleBrat]

DAY 6 Cayo Levantado

 

Today is an early start for us. We actually set the alarm so that I can find my way to the Excursion Desk and pick up tender tickets. I don’t like being a law-breaking tender rider. Despite getting to the desk at 8am, I get #34. Ouch!

 

We eat breakfast on our new, favorite, way-back outside aft deck, basking in the view of Cayo, which is off in the distance.

 

 

DH, who is not a Cruise Critic user, and thus often ill-informed, exclaims that there is “no way, no how, we are all going to that island. It is too small to accommodate all the passengers of the ship.”

 

So, we make a bet, for a dollar. The kids cheer, because they love to see Mom and Dad butting their “scholarly” heads. We walk over to the ship of the deck, and watch the tenders being loaded. DH states that he is sure the next tender will head toward the mainland, not the island.

 

He is wrong, the kids cheer, and I get a dollar. You don’t mess with a Cruise Critic Member. I have done my research.

 

We wait for our number to be called, and the island beckons to us, off in the distance.

 

 

After 30 minutes, our tender number is FINALLY called. So, we head down to deck 5, where surprisingly there isn’t a large crowd of people jamming the stairwell. MSC had made changes to the tender process since Grand Cayman, and had now even shut to doors leading to the deck 5 hallways (where people had been sneaking in before), as well as shut down the elevators that lead to that portion of the deck. Good job!

 

As we make our way to the tender, I am a little dismayed to see that they still aren’t checking for tender tickets. They don’t even know if you have them, or not.

 

 

We arrive at Cayo, and I can’t help but feel like we are on “Fantasy Island.” Remember that show? The beginning of each show featured the guests arriving on a dock, with Mr Roarke handing them a drink, and music playing.

 

That’s what Cayo was like, minus Mr Roarke. AMAZING!

 

 

 

 

Off to the left of the dock was a large grassy area dotted with the palm trees you only see in pictures. I am from Florida, where we are surrounded by palm trees. But our are shorter with squat leaves. The Cayo palm trees were long and graceful and arched ever-so-slightly.

 

[CeleBrat]

Once leaving the dock, you are funneled down a stone walkway toward the beach area. Along the way there are several tropical bands set-up, with tip boxes nearby. We pass a solo musician towards the end of the path, and decide that he is AWESOME, and worthy of receiving the dollar from this morning’s bet. He smiles.

 

Although the beach was crowded, we easily found regular chairs (not loungers) in a shady are under several palm trees. Even the kids commented that “This place is very pretty.” And the natural backdrop that was created by having our ship in the background was priceless.

 

 

The kids climbing the curved palm trees like monkeys, also priceless.

 

 

 

Soon enough, both kids were down at the seaside, immersed in building their sandcastles and looking for shells.

 

 

[CeleBrat]

I blew up our two inflatable rafts, and soon I too was lounging in paradise.

 

 

Even the sand was to-die for. It was so soft….like walking in flour.

 

And yes, I know Levantado is spelled wrong. I was trying to beat the rush of the oncoming wave to take the picture. Of course I didn't catch the typo until I was back home....too late for a retake.

 

Boy, that sun was BRUTAL though! I have never reapplied sunscreen so many times, and we’re from Florida! You could just feel the sun eating through your skin. I forced DS to wear a t-shirt in the water, since he had gotten slightly burned in Mexico.

 

DH and I took turns on kidwatch on the beach. We would alternate between swimming, sitting in the shade, and roaming around the island. DH shopped through the craft artisans booths, and found a cool slender wall hanging for our house. NOTE—those artisans accept cash only! There is also a brick and mortar store featuring “regular” merchandise, such as t-shirts, magnets, jewelry, sundries, and more arts/crafts. The store DOES accept credit card.

 

Off to the side of the beach was a roped-off area that was designated for Princess cruise passengers. They were there as part of a ship excursion.

 

I did hear some disgruntled MSC passengers talking about the fact that food was not included in our island visit, whereas those Princess passengers got to eat. Clearly, they did not understand that the Princess guests paid LOTS-O-MONEY to come to the island, whereas our visit was a normal port stop, just like Cozumel, Key West, or Grand Cayman. I don’t recall getting a free lunch in those places either.

 

Not-to-worry, for those that needed food or drink, there was plenty to be had via the nearby vendors.

 

 

I love the way they set up their “shops” in little sheds and under trees. So tropical. Love their signage too!

 

 

[CeleBrat]

I could wander around the island for days and take photos of amazing things like....

 

shadows

 

 

and trees that are windblown

 

 

and abandoned handmade rafts

 

 

and fisherman's nets

 

 

and literal "hole in the wall" eateries

 

[CeleBrat]

For the sports-oriented, there was a free sand volleyball area. Everytime I walked past there was a full-scale match going on with lots of participants.

 

 

The MSC photographers were out in force, and took lots of great candid shots of people enjoying the beach, relaxing, swimming, etc. Those pics turned out great, and even I, the Master Photographer, couldn’t resist buying a few!

 

At around 1pm, we decided that our time in the sun was complete, and as much as we loved the island, we needed to get back to the ship. So sadly, we packed up and headed back to the tender pier via the huge grassy area.

 

But we all agreed, Cayo Levantado is our new FAVORITE PLACE ON EARTH!

 

 

 

At the tender pier, we notice a nearby traffic situation involving a mini-truck that is stuck on the pier. It seems that the truck had been brought over from the mainland on a flat boat and couldn’t quite navigate the steep incline of the pier. It was quite a funny sight!

 

 

The tender heading back to the ship was full, as many others had also decided their time in the sun was complete. DS and DD seem to be lost in thought, as if wistfully thinking about their dreamy day on Cayo.

 

[gloriaD]

Absolutely the most enjoyable and thorough review I have ever read! We are sailing on the Orchestra on Sat 4/18 & was just checking the boards in between packing & getting last minute things together. This is our lst cruise on MSC but have sailed almost exclusively on RCL (Diamond members). We have been reading the reviews (both good & bad) and have had mixed feelings about this cruise. Its just DH & myself & we are looking forward to a new experience in cruising. Thanks so much for your review & for sharing your lovely pix with us all.

[Seago2]

Surprised you didn't get any snaps of the seal at Levanatdo!

[StormingtheCastle]

OMG! Your review is amazing! I am being transported back there all over again-we went in March. Cayo is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. And view from the Buffet windows on the ship was just beautiful-- I could have sat there all day.

 

Your photos are so wonderful, you have some mad skills! I may have to "borrow" a few for my scrapbook. I always come back going "I can't believe I forget to get a photo of. . "

 

And don't worry about your phone pics. I took entirely way to many photos of toilets for my review so I probably win for the strange photo obesession.

 

Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

[andrewlaw]

Hi Celebrat...hope there is more coming.

 

This is a great review. I think I'll read the one you have posted by your signature. Maybe that will hold me over.

 

And thanks for taking the time to do this for all of us.

 

Diana

[CeleBrat]

OK--sorry for the break in the review--but I am back, and hope to finish this out for you tonight. So, here we go....

 

CAYO, continued--

Back on board, we eat lunch in the shadow of Cayo Levantado. It still calls to us in the distance and hopefully someday we’ll be back. Lunch, for us, was late that day, and we don’t finish eating until 2pm.

 

So, an executive decision was made to forgo the 5:30pm dinner in the dining room for the 2nd time this week. DH and DS simultaneously shout “YAHOO!”, since it is a formal night, and they HATE to dress up.

 

It was an uneventful afternoon, involving DD and I painting our nails on the Deck 13 way-back aft deck. Surprisingly, after 5 days on the cruise, we have just now discovered that many of the aft decks have an outdoor back area. And, the little voice inside my head spits out a thought: “Since you love the aft decks so much, you know that someday you are going to have to try actually traveling in an aft deck, don’t you?”

 

Ugh!

 

 

I also managed to catch the afternoon BINGO, but it should not be surprising at all to share that again, I did not win.

 

The Mini-Club afternoon activities involve a “watercolor” activity. DD is excited, since there haven’t been that many crafty activities offered via the Club, and she is a craft-fiend. At the appropriate time, we ascend upstairs to the Club, and announce, “We’re here to paint!” The counselor at the door gives us a funny look. “What do you mean?” she asks.

 

Oh no…

 

I tell her that we are here for the watercolor activity. She quickly dashes our hopes and again asks, “What painting are you talking about?”

 

I respond, “Watercolor--It’s listed in your daily activity sheet.” She seemed a little surprised, as if this was the first time she had even heard of it. She then explained that the schedule isn’t always right, and then turned to the other counselor and shouted, “ Are we painting today?” The other counselor predictably says, “No, of course not. We will do the matching game.”

 

Ugh! I was a little frustrated at that moment because it just seemed so obvious that the schedule is more like a guideline, rather than a basis for what is going to be done at the Club that day. Clearly, they didn’t have any plans to paint, nor was the activity changed out at the last minute due to extenuating circumstance. So, DD and I left.

 

Back outside, DS couldn’t help but be fascinated by the raising of the lifeboats (tenders) back onboard the ship.

 

 

 

With an unexpected lull in our schedule, we opted to play another rousing round of 5-hole mini-golf.

 

 

As we played, the island of Cayo floated away in the distance as we slowly sailed away. Being silly, we all blew it a kiss, and said, “See you next time….!”

 

Again, as we left, the ship blew its horn several times in succession, causing DS to plug his ears.

 

[CeleBrat]

Dinner at the buffet was uneventful, although DS and DH kept exclaiming, “It’s so nice to NOT have to wear stuffy clothing!” The seaside view was nice.

 

We also had the ENTIRE pool deck to ourselves, since we were the ONLY Formal Night slackers.

 

 

After dinner, we were again stymied with what to do to entertain ourselves. We were a little afraid of the title of this evening’s show, “Celtic Spirit”, and debated over whether or not we should watch it. Before making any decisions, we headed up to the Gelateria, to go “belly-up to the bar” for some gelato. As always, it was good, and messy.

 

 

We decided to take a chance, and sit down and watch it. Obviously, we were under-dressed compared to all the other finely dressed formal-wearing passengers in the audience.

 

The show was an interesting mix of Celtic dancing and magic, and ended with the Cast/Crew singing “We Are the World.” Huh? Fun to watch though.

 

Also fun to watch were the Fabulous Entertainment Team, who were dressed all in black and wearing clown noses. They worked the lower level of the theater and made many people laugh by sitting on their laps, taking their bags/purses, and walking very closely behind them as they looked for seats. It was great pre-show entertainment.

[CeleBrat]

Following the show, DD went to the Pepsi party at Mini Club, while DS, DH, and I wandered the ship and eventually retired to the cabin.

 

At 10:30, DH picked up DD, and both kids snuggled in their beds, announcing “Mom—we can’t wait for the midnight buffet tonight!” DH looked at me and rolled his eyes. Predictably, they were both snoring by 11pm.

 

So, I went to the Gala Buffet by myself. Yeah, free time for Mom. Granted, it’s in the middle of the night, but you have to take it when you can get it!

 

The buffet was amazing, and fascinating. I have been to many Gala Buffets, but never one that was presented poolside. When I arrived, the culinary team was still setting up, and that was actually more interesting than the buffet itself. The many chefs were scuttling around arranging bits of food, and tablecloths, and platters.

 

 

I loved the look of the light on this cellophane-wrapped cart.

 

 

And of course, I had to take lots of pictures of silly food art. Here is a chicken band, made out of roasted chickens and fruists/veggies. Crazy!

 

 

The fish were cool too.

 

 

This hanging pyramid of prosciutto just made me laugh. It was strips of meat clipped to a circular frame. And, when the wind blew, the meat would flutter in the breeze.

 

[CeleBrat]

MAGNIFICO GALA BUFFET

 

 

Before...with lots of prep work going on:

 

 

And after, with the beautiful food ready to eat:

 

 

After being a total silly-toursits and photographing the food, I stood in line, and grabbed 5 chocolate petit fors and two slices of choclate to take back to the room for thr kids to eat tomorrow.

 

Then, for me, it was off to bed!

[CeleBrat]

DAY 6—OH NO, the LAST DAY!!

 

We awoke in a very melancholy mood: excited about a day at sea, but sad that it was our last day on the cruise.

 

Breakfast was at the way-back aft buffet. It was hot, fresh, and good, just like always.

 

 

Plans for the morning included: Nothing, nothing, and more of nothing. DD did not want to go to the Club because again they were swimming. Some of the Club counselors were available on the pool deck for face painting. So, we traded DD in for a ….CAT!

 

 

DD and I then participated in that morning’s session of Arts/Crafts, which involved making a very cool looking origami tree. DD took it very seriously, and our tree turned out well. I told you she was and Arts/Crafts fiend!

 

 

 

BINGO was also offered again that morning, so DD and I dutifully attended so that we could donate our $10 to the pot. We did not win, but it sure was fun trying. During the BINGO session, I ordered a smoothie for DD, who had been longingly looking at them. It arrived, she took one sip, and proclaimed. “Um….I don’t like it.” Well, maybe it was the "cat" in her that was causing the dislike. Oh well.

 

[CeleBrat]

We sadly walked to the aft buffet to eat our VERY LAST lunch buffet while on the MSC Orchestra. I must admit, although I tried the special pasta (pasta with olive oil and pepper flakes), I was getting a little tired of pasta. It was a sign that it was almost time to get off the cruise ship. Actually, don’t laugh, but I was really craving a grilled cheese sandwich.

 

The aft deck was a fabulous locale for our lunch, and in our company was not only DD/Cat, but her good friend Bunny as well.

 

 

We spent the afternoon hanging out by the poolside again. DS chilled in the hot tub with several other kids his age.

 

 

DD attended the Mini Club late in the afternoon, with the goal of making “Arts/Craft-Flowers” at 4:30pm. I picked her up at 5pm, thinking that she would have had plenty of time to complete her craft by then. Nope, not the case. Somehow all of the kids were in the disco practicing for the Talent Show. It was a cute song/dance number to “I’m a Barbie Girl.” I walked her over to the Club to sign her out, and the counselor was sitting on the floor with 3 kids, just starting the flower craft. So, even though I had already signed her out, I walked in and said, “Ohhhh-Addie, the craft!! Addie, just sit here for 5 minutes and make the craft and then we’ll go.”

 

The counselor disagreed. She insisted that if Addie wanted to do the craft that I would need to sign her back in, then leave and come back at 5:45pm to pick her up. I asked if we could take the craft things with us, since we had dinner at 5:30pm, but was also told no. They were a little to stern with the situation, I thought.

 

Ugh! Crafts were just not going to be a good thing on this cruise

 

We ate our last dinner onboard the MSC Orchestra that night, and surprisingly, service took a little longer than normal, clocking in at 90 minutes. For some strange reason, the “absent guests from the 8-top that was in our area had decided to finally show up in the dining room that night, for the first time ever during the cruise. So, our wait staff had an extra tablet to attend to, and thus service was slower. No big deal.. We decided to skip dessert anyway to leave room for a last-day celebratory gelato feast.

 

 

We headed up to the pool deck again, and were surprised to find “Fool’s Gold” playing on the big screen. Previously that week, most of the onboard movies had been shown at 10pm. Not sure why we were treated to an early 7pm showing that day. None-the-less, DH and I stood atop Deck 13 and watched simultaneously the movie, and the sun going down.

 

 

Meanwhile, DD and DS had a blast running around like crazy in the playground area.

 

 

At 8pm I dropped of DD at the Mini Club so she could attend the Flintstones disco party, then retired to the cabin to do the worst, most unfavorite activity ever: packing up the suitcases.

 

When we turned out the light in our cabin that night, we were sad, knowing that the next time the lights turned back on, we would be docked back in the United States, at the home port of Ft. Lauderdale.

[CeleBrat]

DAY 7—HOME AGAIN

 

We awoke to lots of loud banging, and muffled onboard announcements at 7am. It was too hard to sleep, so begrudgingly we got up, gathered our things, and headed up to breakfast. Goodbye cabin, goodbye Deck 12. To make matters worse, on this already depressing day, our favorite aft-deck buffet was closed. AAAGH!

 

We were surprised to find a full breakfast buffet as sometime other cruise lines offer only a limited menu or small buffet on Disembarkation Day.

 



 

Following breakfast we attempted to head down to the Savannah Lounge for our waiting point, but ended up sitting in a lounge just outside the dining rooms on Deck 6 because it was impossible to get to the Savannah Lounge. We played cards and colored until our “color” was called, quite some time later.

 

Getting off the ship was breeze. Finding our luggage was also breeze.

 



 

Once off the ship, we called our Parking Service for shuttle, which arrived a short time later.

 



 

Back at the garage, we retrieved our car where it had been safely stored the entire week (despite the dubious environment). We laughed when we spied this at the parking area.

 



 

It was as if the cruise line was calling us to come back…..

 

[CeleBrat]

And there ends my review. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

CeleBrat

[belcherwm]

Thanks Eva. Lots of fun to read and remember.

[heydn62]

Bravo Eva !!!