MSC Splendida: Same or DIFFERENT SHOWS for a different itinerary?

Hi, We are planning two 7 day cruises from Dubai, with a 1 week gap between the 2 cruises.

One cruise covers UAE & Oman, while the other covers UAE, Bahrain & Qatar.

A few questions--

1) Are there 2 GRAND SHOWS of 30 mins EVERY NIGHT?

2) What are the show timings?

3) Will the SAME SHOWS be repeated in the 2nd 7-day cruise, (with a different itinerary / ports) or would the shows be DIFFERENT, cos the itinerary is different.? (Bahrain & Qatar in place of Oman)

4) What are the early & late dinner timings?

5) Did they force you to pay the Euro 10 service charge per person per day or could you REMOVE it & tip as you please?

6) Were the evening/night shows of Broadway or Las Vegas standard (like Celebrity, RCCL, Norwegian) or much inferior?

7) Besides shows, what were the other organized ACTIVITIES, lectures, classes, games & programs?

8) How was the FOOD in the buffet & main dining room?

Thanks, drsel:)

We were on Fantasia in February for the Dubai/Bahrain/Qatar itinerary.

1) No.

2) They vary because of the differing times in port.

3) Probably.

4) They were 18.30 and 21.15 every night when we were onboard.

5) MSC does not force you to pay the €10 service charge. It is added daily to your account and, if you can demonstrate that you did not receive a decent level of service, then the receptionist at Guest Services will remove the charge from your account.

6) MSC shows are generally not inferior to shows on other lines - just different. (We've been onboard Celebrity. We thought their shows were infinitely inferior!)

7) I can post pics of the daily programs here to show the what the daily activities were on our cruise.

8) We never had any complaints, though this subject is a subjective one.

Thanks so much.

1a) How many nights had shows on a 7 day cruise?

1b) What were the activities on the nights without shows?

2) Since early dining is at 18.30, I assume that the first show would be around 19.30 and a repeat of it at 21.00 for the late diners?

3) It would be boring to do a 2nd cruise and have to watch the exact same shows again

6a) We just loved all 4 shows on Celebrity Constellation, so I understand that Splendida shows are even better?

6b) Were any shows in English ?

7) Kindly upload the daily program guides and activities bulletin

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I will upload the photos of the daily programs over the next 7 posts, 1 for each day.

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The 2 stand-out shows, going on reviews over the years on this forum, are Wonderland and Starwalker. They are not to everybody's tastes; however, I loved both, having seen them on numerous occasions on different ships.

As there are so many people from various European countries onboard MSC ships, the shows tend to be of the musical and acrobatic type, so language doesn't enter into it. Most of the songs sung by the various entertainers in the lounges are well-known English ones, so no problem there.

I've also learned a couple of Spanish hits from hearing them being sung onboard, liking them so much that I'd gotten the song title name from the singer, downloaded the song from iTunes and found the lyrics by googling them.

Fabulous, thank you so much

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You're very welcome! :)

The only night without a show was when the ship was overnighting in Dubai so it was probably assumed that a lot of people would be off the ship.

Please keep in mind that things may differ on Splendida to our experience on Fantasia. However, I would imagine that things will be more similar than different - they're sister ships and are practically identical, so, venues, though having different names, will be the same.

That is why I am wondering if I should do the 2nd cruise on the SAME Splendida ship after 1 week (to see Bahrain, Doha) or another ship Costa Mediterranea-- for different entertainment, (but same ports--Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sir Yas Bani, Muscat, Khor Al)

That's a hard one to call! So ............. you have a choice of same itineraries/different ships or different itineraries/same ship?

I would have preferred to do the Dubai/Oman itinerary as it seemed from reviews here that it was the better one. We couldn't book it at the time so went with the other one.

You'll just have to weigh up what's more important to you: ports of call or onboard entertainment. Either way is a winner - 2 weeks onboard cruise ships! First World problems, eh? :D

Onboard entertainment ia ALWAYS the winner!. The ports are secondary & usually the best place to be is on the ship!

Also, other cities can be done by land tours (much cheaper).

Only problem is Costa Mediterranea is much more expensive than Splendida, but I doubt that it is better than MSC Splendida

Costa Mediterranea 7N itinerary is Dubai (1N)--sea--Muscat (2N)--Sir Bani--Abu Dhabi--Dubai (1N)

1st cruise MSC Splendida 7N itinerary is Dubai (1N)--Abu Dhabi--Sir Bani--sea--Muscat--Khor Al--Dubai (1N)

2nd cruise MSC Splendida 7N itinerary is Dubai (1N)--Abu Dhabi--Sir Bani--sea--Bahrain--Doha--Dubai (1N)

Well, there's a huge variety of entertainment at night onboard the Fantasia class ships with live music in most of the lounges every night. Everything from duos to bands to piano players and/or guitarists. Not to mention the wonderful classical music played in the atrium often by a trio with piano and violins.

There is also an Entertainment (animation) team who dress up on most nights and put on a (silly) show, usually in the aft lounge. They also frequent some of the other lounges and get people up dancing and they also host the pool parties.

Yes, I am sure that MSC entertainment is much better than Costa.

Costa Med has poor reviews & Costa ships in general are not in the same league as the American ships (RCCL, Celeb, Carnival, Norwegian).

https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=281

But would the entertainment on the 2nd Splendida cruise be a carbon copy of the 1st cruise, being in the same region ???

I've never sailed Costa - it's not really marketed here - so I can't comment. It has never appealed to me, either. I think the prices are higher than MSC?

For me, that's the clincher. MSC's prices keep me loyal. The food may not be as good as on other lines (though we were on X and didn't think the offerings were any better - just different - and they're supposed to be 5 star with prices to match!) The way I see it, the savings made on the cost of an MSC cruise can always be used to dine either in the speciality restaurants or in port and there'd still be savings made!

Costa Med is a medium size OLD ship (year 2003) with 2100 pax & entertainment rated 3/5

MSC Splendida is a LARGE & NEW ship (year 2009) with 4000 pax & entertainment rated 5/5

Another valid point raised on that thread is that the MDR menus will repeat.

Right, but food

is no problem. The entertainment being an exact duplication is unfortunate

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So I guess I will have to try Costa

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