MamaS

Hi! I am not sure if you are still looking for options, but we will be in the same situation later in October and are considering booking a transfer with Emun Taxi (taxiemunisrael.com). A 10 seat van would cost €280 for the return trip to Jerusalem. If we can find somebody to share with, that would be quite cheap considering the options. 

In Splash Academy there is flexibility from their side, meaning when there are not enough kids, they merge the Seals and Dolphins groups. According to my experience, this happens most of the time when travelling outside of school breaks. And on our last cruise (August 2022) the Splash Academy staff told us they merged the age groups and instead split them based on the kids' interest in different kind of activities, as a post pandemic thing. Not that I understand how this could possibly be related to the pandemic...

However, if NCL operates the two separate groups, there is usually no way you can talk them into letting kids be in a different group than their age indicates. 

I want to thank you immesely for your review! You took some stunning shots and providing excellent detail in your information. I have never read a report of the MSC Armonia, so it was nice to compare the ship to the Divina. My Divina cruise got me hooked to MSC, so hopefully I am able to sail the Armonia someday. I am upset you missed your sunny day in Corfu, as even as an American, I have heard about the wonders of Corfu, but Without the fear of hurricanes like we have over here, Corfu is not going anywhere :) Thank you again!

I am happy that you liked my review! And also happy to know that you find Divina a nice ship. I will have the opportunity to travel on her in January, in the Caribbean. I guess the ship is quite different from the Armonia though, due to the difference in size.

Split, Croatia

Split was another port where we docked closed to downtown. It was maybe a 10 minute walk along the water to reach the Old Town. Just as you reach the Old Town there is a big outdoor market, which was very nice. We spent a lot of time there. Coming from the port it is impossible to miss. It had different sections with clothing, fruits and vegetables, flowers, touristy things, etc. Prices were quite reasonable and at least the booths we visited accepted euro (even though the local currency is kuna).

The Old Town itself was nice, but not as impressive as the ones in Corfu and Kotor. Split is much bigger though, and there are also things to see outside the Old Town. It was also possible to stroll along the water.

We saw commercial about a shopping center called Joker which, according to the commercial, was only 10 minutes walk from the Old Town. With the help of a GPS we gave it a try. The commercial was misleading though and it took us 20 minutes to get there, and we are pretty fast walkers. The shopping center was nice, modern and seemed to be new. Once again international brands were just slightly cheaper than in Western Europe, whereas local brands were quite a bit cheaper. I am not sure I would recommend going here, since it was very similar to shopping centers you can find in most countries.

Disembarkation inVenice

We are coming towards the end of the trip, and next up is disembarkation. MSC is the first cruise line we have been on where it is not possible to walk off the ship carrying your own luggage. They claimed that customs did not allow it. Everybody had to be out of their rooms by 8, so at that time it was crammed in the breakfast restaurants and food was even running out.

We were given grey luggage slips, which meant we were to meet in the main theatre at 10.20 in order to get off the ship. Things were running late though and it was 11.10 before we finally got off the ship. Most of this time was spent in the main theatre, waiting for information and instructions.

Once outside the ship there were the usual shuttle busses to take you to the cruise terminal. We decided to walk though and it was only 5-10 minutes to the exit. From there we walked to the train station. It took about 20 minutes and included several stairs. At the station it is possible to leave your luggage (for 6 euro per bag and hour) so you don´t need to bring them with you while seeing the city.

Overall,we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. The food was great, the ship comfortable and cozy, and it seldom seemed crowded. There were some areas which MSC could improve, like providing correct information on times in port from the beginning, and the level of service for breakfast and lunch. Of course the weather could also have been more cooperative, but that of course is nothing we can blame MSC for. ;)

I believe this was everything I planned to include in the review. Please feel free to ask questions if I missed something!

Kotor, Montenegro

Kotor was our favorite port on this cruise. We got up early in the morning to be able to watch as we went through the Bay of Kotor up to the city. It looked similar to Norwegian fjords, with high mountains on both sides and small villages crammed along the water.

We were the only ship in town and got to dock right on the pier by the Old Town. The Old Town has a wall around it, with three gates. Once again it was a beautiful town to walk around and interesting, but touristy, shops to visit. What our kids remember the most is all the cats that roamed around town. It seemed to almost be a trademark ofthe city, and many souvenirs had cats on them and there was even a cat museum.

The Old Town is quite small, about 200 meters in diameter, so once we felt we had seen everything we walked around some of the newer parts of town as well. We ended up at a small shopping center called Kamelija. It was quite nice and modern. We had ice cream (very good and cheap), used the free bathroom facilities and did some shopping in the grocery store. We usually like visiting grocery stores when weare abroad, in order to compare products, prices and availability. Products of international brands had about the same price as in countries in Western Europe, whereas local brands were quite a bit cheaper.

Our next aim was to climb the stairs behind the city up to a church and a fortress in the mountains above. It is a quite steep climb which is supposed to give great views of the bay. The cost is 3 euro per person. By the time we reached the start of the trail, however, it started pouring down and we decided to give up and head back to the ship. We weren´t lucky with the weather on this trip...

The church in the mountains above the city. This is as close as we came...

Corfu, Greece

Our next stop was the island of Corfu in Greece. This day, the rain was pouring down, so most people never left the ship. My husband and I decided we needed some exercise and walked into the town of Corfu,which is almost 3 kilometers from the dock. Once again there were shuttle buses going between the ship and the terminal, but it was only a few hundred meters, so we decided to walk.

We followed the shore all the way into town. It was not the nicest walk– the rain was pouring down and there was no pedestrian walkway along the water, but we crossed parking lots, terminal buildings, etc. It felt quite safe though and once we got closer to town we walked along the road where there were a few stores.

The Old Town of Corfu is quite picturesque with small narrow streets and two castles up on hills hovering over the town. The shops seemed interesting, but by that time we were both soaked and we decided to take a cab back to the ship. We were expecting exaggerated prices due to the rain, but the taxi driver stuck to the official price of 10 euro.

Ports

So, now it´s time to tell a few things about the ports we visited. We had not booked any shore excursions ahead of time, neither with MSC or independent ones. Actually I need to give a warning for booking your own shore excursions when travelling with MSC, since the cruise line often changed arrival time compared to the ones stated on the ticket. It was not only that they arrived late due to unforseen circumstances. In the daily program they stated an expected arrival time up to two hours after the one that was stated on the ticket. And in reality we arrived even later than that.

I do know that the cruise lines have the right to change times, but it seemed to be changed systematically, which could be very frustrating if you have booked a private excursion with a starting time 2 hours before you actually reach port.

Civitavecchia

Our first stop was Civitavecchia, which is often called the Port of Rome. However, the drive into Rome is quite far and since we had all been there before, we decided to stay in Civitavecchia which is a fair sized town right by the water. When we got off the ship there were plenty of shuttle buses. We inquired if they were free and got the answer “Some of them are”. We decided to walk instead, which was a good choice since it was only a 5 minute walk into town.

We were there on a Sunday, so the majority of the shops was closed. A few touristy ones were still open and if you would like to attend a church service the main cathedral, Cattedrale Di San Francesco, was quite close to the port and had mass (in Italian) several times during the day.

The main shopping street is Corso Centocelle. Walking up the street, there is a small park after a while called Parco del Pincio, where there is a playground and a few Mediterranean pine trees where we picked gigantic pine cones. :p

Walking right along the shore from the cruise ship is a beach made up of small rocks. I would not recommend it for swimming, but it was a nice walk along the sea.

MSC for kids

The kids´club was open on port days from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. when there was a two hour break before they opened again for the evening. On sea days there was also a break between noon and 2 p.m. If the kids were in the club they were provided with dinner in the buffet at 8 p.m.

The kids were divided into four different groups according to age, and they all had different rooms. Sometimes the groups were merged, most likely due to the fact that there were not many kids on the ship on our sailing.

Our children went to the kids´ club a few times and it seemed to be similar to the clubs on other cruise ships. The only concrete difference I can think of is that the children were given a gift pretty much every day they went there, even if they were just there for a couple of hours. One day they came back with t-shirts they had painted, another day with an excavation kit, etc.

On the pool deck there were two big pools (that were never used during our cruise due to the cold weather), two whirlpools (which were usually crowded), as well as a big water park for kids that looked fun, but was never used during our trip, once again due to the weather. The pool deck was extensive and had room for plenty of loungers.

On the top deck, in the back of the ship, there was a sports court which was a great place for the kids to run around. Besides playing with balls, we have a tradition in our family to bring along baloons which are great fun to play with on the sports court. The wind and the movement of the ship make the balloons fly in all kinds of unpredictable ways, which is a lot of fun, and thanks to the net the balloons do not fly away.

My favorite spot on the ship was the back of the boat. It was not well signalled and obvious to find, which made it a very calm place to relax and watch the sea. On most floors there were chairs available and on the floor of the buffet there were also tables.

The back of the ship while passing through the Strait of Messina

One drawback of the design was that if you used the wrong set of elevators to reach the buffet or the kids´ club on the 11th floor, you needed to cross the open pool deck. This would not have been a problem, if it wasn´t for the heavy rain we encountered on several days of our cruise. The rain, combined with limited drainage from the pool decks, left the decks covered with water. Another drawback with the design of the ship was the limited size of the main theatre. There were not enough places, so there were three shows every night and even so you needed to book seats ahead of time on large computer screens that you could find around the ship.

One thing that I missed was a running or walking track. It was possible to walk on the sides of the ship on floor 6, but in the very front and back it was necessary to cut through indoors. It was also possible to walk around the middle of the ship on floor 12, above the pool deck, but in order to make it a longer loop, stairs needed to be climbed.

Walking on the 6th floor of the ship

The ship

The ship seemed to be in a good shape. Its design was modern, but subdued compared to all other cruise ships I have been on. There was nothing of the grandeur you find on many cruise ships. It was quite comfortable though, cozy, and relatively easy to maneuver.

Subdued, modern design

There were plenty of lounges and bars throughout the ship where you could hang out or have something to drink. They were seldom crowded.

Stateroom

We had a stateroom with window on the 9th floor. It was about the same size and standard as rooms of the same category on other cruise lines. There was enough storage, the beds were comfortable and the bathroom functional. The only drawbacks were that the window was leaking when it was raining, and there were times when there was no warm water in the shower.

Our steward was great, not only keeping the room in order, but also going out of his way to fold our clothing, keep our things orderly, etc. The only complaint (and this one comes from the kids) is that there were no towel animals, which was a first for the cruise lines we have been on.

Service

As usual, the staff was very international. MSC seems to have a bias towards recruiting service staff from Indonesia. We were also surprised to see that in the main dining room all staff were male.The staff was quite friendly and helpful for being a European cruise,much more so than on Costa, for example. The number of smiling faces were not quite the same as on cruises sailing on more American itineraries though. I believe this is just a cultural difference. As mentioned above the service for breakfast and lunch in the main dining room could be improved, whereas our steward, and service throughout the rest of the ship, was quite good.

Restaurants

We were quite impressed by the food on the Armonia, especially in the main restaurant. The dishes were on the small side, but this is something we appreciate, and it was always possible to order an extra dish or two.

When we boarded, however, lunch was only available in the buffet, so that is where we headed for our first meal of the cruise. Unfortunately,the food was not impressive on this occasion. Most likely the food had been cooked two hours previously (according to the daily program the buffet was to open at 11.30) but since we did not get to board until 1.30 p.m., the food was not fresh any more.

The rest of the cruise the food was perfectly fine in the buffet though, both for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Besides one station where meat was cut for you, there were no stations where the food was made on the spot.

The good thing is that there were never any lines. The drawback was that there were seldom enough seats. At one occasion we actually gave up trying to find a place to sit after circling the restaurant and its adjacent areas several times, so we took the food with us to the 6th floor where there are several bars with plenty of seats. I am not sure you are supposed to bring food down there, but we did not have much choice and it was a pretty calm and nice place to eat at. And nobody told us off. :rolleyes:

The drink selection for breakfast. There were no juices served for lunch and dinner.

The buffet was divided into the main indoor part, and an outdoor part. This is the outer one.

On most occasions we chose to eat in Marco Polo, the main restaurant. For dinner we were assigned a table for the six people of our group. For dinner, the service was generally great, and so was the food. On average, we found the food to be better in the main restaurant than in the buffet. The variety was also better, especially for deserts which tended to be a bit repetitive in the buffet (but far from as repetitive as we experienced on Costa).

I found several reviews complaining of slow service at the Armonia, but we did not think this was true. Usually we had dinner in about 75 minutes, which included 3-4 courses. The only time which could be perceived as slow was before the first dish was served, which generally took about half an hour. In the meanwhile we were served bread and drinks though, so we did not find this exaggerated.

For breakfast and lunch service was not quite as good. For these meals there was a small buffet in the main restaurant from which you could eat your full meal if you wanted. Drinks, however, needed to be ordered, and there was the possibility of ordering from a menu as well. For breakfast I tried the pancakes and the waffles. The pancakes were fine, whereas I can not recommend the waffles. They were dry and came with half frozen berries. For dinner we generally ordered a main course, but had starters and desert from the buffet.

To get service for breakfast and lunch was not always straight forward.There were times we needed to ask to get the table prepared for as many people as were seated and we sometimes had to ask several times before we got our drinks. For lunch you needed to ask to get a menu, and you only got one menu per table, even if many people were seated around the table.

For breakfast and lunch there were no fixed tables, but you were assigned a table as you arrived, sometimes sharing with other people. There were not many tables for two or four people.

The Marco Polo restaurant prepared for breakfast. Most tables were big, round ones.

It is always hard to judge food quality, since tastes vary. My husband thought the food on MSC was the best out of the four cruise lines wehave been on (NCL, Carnival, Costa and MSC). However, he could be biased since he is Italian, and many of the meals served on MSC are of Italian origin. I would say that the food was at least in par with the other cruise lines. Food in the main restaurants were most likely the best, whereas I found the buffet better at NCL and Carnival.

Thanks for your comments easyboy and Keith 1010. I am happy to see that I have some followers! :D

Embarkation

We drove by car to theport of Genova. Getting to the city was easy. To find the rightterminal at the port was not. The signs were not clear and it addedto the confusion that we were to go to a terminal which was quite farfrom our ship. After check-in and security check we were shuttled bybus to the ship. However, after asking several persons and sent indifferent directions, we finally managed to find the right place.

We dropped off our luggage outside and since we had children with us we were directed to the priority line.We arrived shortly after noon and check-in was very fast. There was no line whatsoever! However,after that we needed to wait for more than an hour before finally being allowed to board (among the first ones) around 1.30 p.m. The staff did not know – or at least did not tell – why boarding was so late.

The room where we were waiting was quite spacious and there were plenty of seats and a playground for the kids.

Hi all!

I just came home from a 6day re-positioning cruise with MSC Armonia from Genova to Venice,stopping in Civitavecchia, Corfu (Greece), Kotor (Montenegro) andSplit (Croatia). Since I had a hard time finding information onArmonia before the cruise, I will write down a few things that mighthelp somebody else searching for information on this ship. I havepreviously cruised with NCL, Carnival and Costa, and will make a fewcomparisons to these cruise lines.

On this trip was, besides me, also my husband and our children aged 6 and 4, as well as my parents in law.

I would also recommend going for the 11.25 or 11.35 train, in combination with talking with the guest service desk on the ship to make sure you get an early disembarkation time. I got off the MSC Armonia in Venice last Friday. We had a disembarkation time of 10.20, but ended up not getting off until 11.10 due to delays. It is at least a 20 minutes walk from the ship to the train station and it includes stairs.

You asked about the water for Americans: who booked in the USA however has a special drinking package: water USA - which can be found on the cruise card, as long as this passenger hasn’t bought another package - and this package offers just free water in the MDR.

I am happy you are finding my review useful! And thank you Stefan_Varong for clarifying about the water package for Americans!

Summary

To summarize, we had a good cruise. Food was great (although repetitive), there were no lines at all to get on or off the ship in ports which was a first for us, and Costa had a great app for being able to contact each other on board. Compared to NCL and Carnival however, I would most likely rank it last. The main areas of improvement are the attitude of the staff, the charging for things like water, and the lack of information – or misleading information. Given the right price and itinerary though, I would be quite willing to cruise with Costa again.

This was everything I can think of to include in this review. Just let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

Summary

To summarize, we had a good cruise. Food was great (although repetitive), there were no lines at all to get on or off the ship inports which was a first for us, and Costa had a great app for being able to contact each other on board. Compared to NCL and Carnival however, I would most likely rank it last. The main areas of improvement are the attitude of the staff, the charging for things like water, and the lack of information – or misleading information. Given the right price and itinerary though, I would be quite willing to cruise with Costa again.

This was everything I can think of to include in this review. Just let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

...and from below

Decorations of the atrium

The corridors of the staterooms were somewhat boring, but also a welcome break from the visual impressions on the rest of the ship.

Salone Talia, outside the main restaurant

The casino was never crowded

The main theatre, Teatro Osiris

The "Mondo Virtuale" - The virtual world

The atrium from above...

Before rounding up this review there are a few more photos of the ship that I would like to post:

The small theatre Isolabella on deck 1

The stair cases

And elevators

There were many areas of the ship that were "wasted" where very few people were found

Another "wasted" area where you could find silence and solitude

The card room

Stockholm

Since I have lived in Stockholm for several years, we did not do any touristy things in this port. I would, however, like to give a few pieces of advice for first time visitors.

The cruise center is quite small, but has a tourist information office, bathrooms and a souvenir shop. There is free wifi, see photo below for password.

The tourist information office

Wifi is free at the port

As in all other ports, the cruise line tries to sell you pricey shuttle bus tickets. You should know that it is very easy to get into the city on your own. If you like to walk, you can even get to Östermalm (the fancy, pricier,part of town) in 30 minutes, or to the Old Town in an hour.

If you would like to go by public transportation, just follow the blue line which is drawn on the street from the cruise terminal, about 400 meters, to the bus stop. Tickets can either be bought at the Tourist Information office inside the Cruise Terminal (they only accept credit card, no cash), or from a vending machine at the bus stop(once again it only accepts credit cards and no cash). It is not possible to buy tickets on the bus. The cost is 43 SEK per adult.

Just follow the blue line to the bus stop

The ticket booth at the bus stop

Prices for public transportation

I would recommend taking bus number 1 and getting off at Hötorget. The ride takes 20 minutes and leaves every 6-10 minutes during the day, and every 15 minutes early in the morning and late in the evening. A ticket is valid for 75 minutes, so you can go on as many buses, trams, undergrounds and boats (yes, there are boats that are part of the public transportation system) as you would like within that time.

Buses leave every 6-10 minutes most of the day during weekdays and somewhat more seldom during weekends.

At Hötorget you can watch the fruit and flower market and the concert hall. From there I would recommend taking Drottninggatan (one of the main shopping streets) south to Gamla Stan, the old part of the city where also the royal castle is located. This part of the city is very touristy, but well worth seeing. If you want you can make a detour to the Town Hall, which is where the Nobel Price dinner is held every year.

If you do not feel like venturing as far away from the ship, another alternative is to go to the Kaknästornet, a high tower you can see from the ship. It should take about half an hour to walk there. From the top of the tower you get a great view of Stockholm, and there is a restaurant there from where you can enjoy the view. The elevator costs 70 SEK per adult, but it used to be free if you had booked a table at the restaurant.

In Tallinn I can particularly recommend two spots that can easily be missed:

-The Patkuli Viewpoint (off Rahukohtu Street) has the most beautiful view of the city with several old towers and churches in the foreground, and the cruise ships and the ocean in the background.

The view from Patkuli viewpoint

-The Balti Jaama Turg, a market just behind the train station, has both a food market, a covered marked with ordinary stores selling handicrafts, clothing and antiques, and there is a grocery store in the basement (with a great bakery!). The market is mainly aimed at the local population, and prices are lower here than in the old city.If you want to experience an old style Russian market, be sure to visit the building called Depoo behind the market. You are not likely to find anything here you would like to buy, but it is an interesting experience.

The Balti Jaama Turg

The market by the Depoo

Tallinn

In Tallinn we chose to once again do our own thing and we walked the two kilometers into town. It is very easy to find the way. However, if you are bringing a stroller or a wheelchair, be aware that many streets in the old part of the city have cobblestone, and are quite tough to maneuver with small wheels. It is also a hilly city, so be prepared for up and downs. With that being said, Tallinn was our favorite stop during the cruise. The city is very easy to get around and there are plenty of monuments, beautiful buildings, and small shops selling handicrafts. There is also a craft market on the pier(before the security checkpoint), with a nice selection and the prices were not much higher than in the city.

The craft market at the pier

Wooden items, as well as things made of amber and wool were frequently for sale