Flygirl25

If you're into hiking do the hike along the dragons back bone which ends at a wonderful beach on Hong Kong island. I all love going to Lamma island and spending some time there. So isolated and relaxing.

Also the Maritime Museum is particularly well done.

Seconded, one of my favourites. And you can go inside a submarine.

Hi, I'm cruising the MSC Preziosa on Sept 12 from Genova and one of the stops is Cagliari, Italy...Googled and didn't see much. I was hoping to get advice from someone who went there or knows about the island and what is recommended to do? If there's a tour group forming, I would like to know about that as well.

When we went there at the start of July, we were planning on walking and seeing some of the sights but the sight that was supposed to be a must-see was closed to be renovated. So instead, we just walked around and then took a city tour. There were lots of people heading to the beach nearby instead of checking out the city.

Hi, can anyone recommend anymust see sights in Genoa? its our first Port of Call on our first ever cruise so I'd like to make it a special day

If you want to stay in Genoa, you can go to Via Garibaldi and see the old palaces, spent some time on the port and in the back streets. You can go to the aquarium or get a panoramic view from rigghi. You could head little from the city centre and go to a place called boccadasse. If not you could go to Portofino and Camogli for the day.

We'd like to stock up on a few bits and pieces before our cruise after flying out to Genoa.

Is there a supermarket near the cruise port? It looks as if there's a large COOP near the ferry terminal. Has anyone used this & is it walkable from the ship? Is there a closer one?

There is a Basko on Piazza Sopranis Raffaele and there is an Ekom supermarket on the port near to the Museo del mare, on Molo Ponte Morosini. I've never been to that Coop but it could be quite a bit of a walk.

Hi there

 

I am trying to pre purchase train tickets for Heathrow Express & a day trip out of London, can anyone suggest a website they have found reasonably priced and reliable. I am trying to buy from Canada if that makes any difference.

 

Thanks

Whenever I buy tickets in the UK I buy them from eastmidlandstrains.co.uk. Most people recommend thetrainline.com but they charge a booking fee

Thanks for reporting back. Sounds a bit like the Costa process and a bit of a pain compared to the old way when you handed over your card at embarkation and that was it. Done in a few minutes as part of check in procedure.

It was really simple if you used a credit card but if you choose to use a debit card/cash then it was a little bit of a pain.

Thanks Flygirl. I love pasta and seafood so I'll be more that happy. Guess I'll pack some evening type dresses for gala nights. Really excited now. We are thinking of making our own way into Rome as we've visited twice previously. Guess I'd better start researching transport. The information you posted is very useful. Thanks for your help. Tracy.

There were lots of taxis waiting at the port to take people on day trips from Civitavecchia but be aware of the all aboard time as we say lots of people coming back late and having to run for the ship.

Thanks so much Flygirl. We already booked for Rome with Civita Tours. I am hoping they will be decent. I heard Palma is beautiful, so in Palma did you visit the Cathedral? Which Island impress you the most?

We loved Palermo, but we had a really good taxi driver and I can speak Italian so it was easy to negotiate and bargain down the price. Cagliari was also beautiful but I think the time in port was too long as they are trying to compensate for Tunis. The cathedral in Palma is absolutely worth it and the town is pretty but we only spent a few hours there as our parents didn't get off the boat and we wanted to get back to have dinner with them. I wish the time in Valencia was longer as there was much more to see.

Are these something new on all MSC ships? I've never seen them before. Are they like an ATM or are they just a way to pay your onboard bill?

 

They were on the Preziosa at the start of this month on our cruise. They are they to add a way to pay for your onboard account and to link other accounts to it. You have to use them within the first 24 hours of boarding to link up a credit card or debit card. They can be a pain to be fair. We got blocked out of ours one night when trying to purchase drinks on our allegrissimo so had to use it to put more credit on the account. Then you use them to pay off your remanding bill before you leave if you're using a debit card.

Hi. We are travelling with MSC on Preziosa for. The first time towards the end of August. Reading rather mixed reviews. Any information/ advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks .

 

 

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Just got back from the Preziosa at the start of this month so feel free to ask any questions at all.

We are considering the Divina to the Caribbean for our next cruise. My son is allergic to shellfish, tree nuts, and peanuts. I am wondering how MSC handles food allergies...what the procedure is, how attentive they are, how seriously they take life threatening allergies, etc. We just got off the Norwegian Breakaway two days ago, and we were very disappointed and stressed with how they handled food allergies. I spoke to Guest Services onboard and also emailed NCL about it. In the last our experience on NCL regarding food allergies was excellent, but this was complete opposite, including a chef telling us certain desserts were safe and then he found out 15 minutes later that they were made with almond flour. Could have been a horror for us if we were already up to desser but thank goodness we weren't.

 

Anyway, if anyone has food allergy experience on MSC I would appreciate some information!

My dad has a gluten allergy and on our recent cruise with MSC he had his own menu to choose from that catered to his specific requirements inc. fresh baked gluten-free bread and he even had his own waiter that catered to people with food allergies.

We are seriously considering booking the Divina for July 2016 (Caribbean). We've sailed NCL, CCL and Princess. I feel dumb in asking some of these questions, but.... if we don't purchase any drink packages what drinks are included in the dining room and/or buffet? I did read that the buffet is open 20 hours per day.

 

Does anyone have a picture of the menus in the main dining room? Is the dining room included? Or is it ala carte? Or can you recall what menu offerings were? Were there any comedy shows? Are the kids programs pretty good?

 

What all is or is not included?

 

Thanks!

I have pictures of the menus from our recent cruise around the mediterranean but I don't know if they change it for the American market. On our cruise free drinks like tea, coffee, juice, water were only available in the buffet and not in the main dining room.

Hi Flygirl 25. We are on Preziosa August 22 and have read some bad reviews about the food. How did you find it? Also do people really dress for gala nights? It it tux for guys or w old a dark suit do? Thanks. TJ

We found the food really nice and very varied. My sister is very picky but she found something to eat every night in the main dining room. If not there was the buffet with freshly made Italian pizza coming out often. I think it depends as the cuisine is very Italian based (ie. a pasta course should you wish) and lots of seafood. Most people really did dress up for the gala nights, not so far as tuxedos but definitely suits.

Thanks so much Flygirl. I am 3 weeks away from our Europe trip and super excited about our MSC cruise. Any tips on excursions that you took.

We only did one of the MSC excursions and that was for Rome as it is far from the port and my dad can't walk well. In Palermo we hired a taxi to take us to the sights for 3 hours. In Cagliari we walked around but one of the main sights to see is shut for refurbishment so just took a HOHO. In Palma, MSC organised a bus to take you from the dock area to the city centre and then we just walked around. If you just want to do the HOHO in Palma then I wouldn't take the transfer as the bus stops where the ship docks. In Valencia, they did the same and we just did the same as we did in Palma. In Marseille we took a taxi from the port to the centre and then took the tourist train up to the church on the hill and along the coast.

One thing that was quite annoying was sorting out paying your onboard account but you need to look into that more onboard.

We are sailing the preziosa in September from Marseille, and would like to know which night are the gala nights?

Do i need to pack our gala clothing in our handluggage our leave it in our luggage and hope it will be on time for dinner will it be the gala evening?

We have just got off the ship last week and the Gala nights were Civitavecchia and Valencia. The dress code leaving Marseille is informal.

Hi Flygirl, I would love to hear about your cruise since I am going right after you. Thanks.

We just got back from it and we enjoyed it so much. My parents had previously cruised on smaller ships so they thought it was a bit big for them but my sister and I really enjoyed its size as there was plenty to do for us. I have to agree with one of the posters up above, the entertainment team, the animation team, the waiters and waitresses. If you interact with them and can have a laugh with them they are absolutely great.

We went to the theatre most nights but our favourite shows were Wonderland and Pandora. There were 3 theme nights on board; 60s, 70s and 80s (which most people didn't join in on), white night (a lot of people joined in with this one) and Italian night (which almost everyone joined in with) and two gala nights.

If you've got any questions that I can answer for you, then please let me know.

We will take Emerald Princess and arrive at Genoa in July 9th.

The scheduled dock time is 7am, is it possible for us to take the train leave at 7:47?

 

The next direct train from Genoa to Monterosso is 9:47 which is a little bit too late for us. We plan take return train at 15:19 in Monterosso, by the way.

It is possible as long as you get off the ship on time. The nearest station is Genova Piazza Principe and can be walked in less than 10 minutes as there is a very convenient side entrance. Changing shouldn't be too difficult if you have to do it.

Thanks for your quick reply. Does this mean we would be able to use the hotel's VPN and not have to set up our own?

You should definitely get your own VPN. Most hotels won't have a VPN and without it you can't access it. Some top hotels will have one (I know the Four Seasons do) but it is most definitely not all!

Hello All

 

I've been doing a bit of further research on possible shore excursions from La Spezia and have just realised that Portofino is much closer than I thought - so wondered if this were feasible and if so the best way to get there? If anyone has done this and has details either independently or with a tour company it would be great to hear from you :)

You can do it on your own without much hassle. Just take the train from La Spezia Centrale to Santa Margherite Ligure station. It takes about 1h20 on a regional train and about 1h on an intercity train. From there you have multiple options for getting to Portofino; bus, ferry or hike.

I am travelling with 7 people (5 kids) how easy is it to navigate the train station and to make it to pisa by train

Very easy. There are direct trains that connect the two.

First ever cruise, arriving to the Genoa Principe by train from Milan.

 

I have seen mixed things, from walking distance to several km and need to take a cab. So what's the real answer?

 

 

Also, if we arrive at the train station at 10:40 AM, and ship leaves at 5 PM (it says check in is at 1 PM) should we try to store our luggage at the train station and grab lunch in Genoa, or just go straight for the ship?

 

Thanks for any assistance!

It is very easy to walk, even with luggage. Taxis are not very common in Genoa so they usually will be picky about which fares they will take/overcharge. It is not necessary to take a taxi even with luggage. The only thing is there are about 20 steps down but even that can be avoided by just following the road around. There are some restaurants near the train station if you wanted to grab lunch before heading to the ship. If you wanted to know where just let me know.

I'm attaching a map. 1 = Cruise ship terminal, 2 = steps mentioned above, 3= = side entrance to Principe station, 4 = main entrance to Principe station.

I don't know if I'm posting in the right thread, but, we're doing an Italy cruise next April and I was looking at airfare and schedules. The one flight on the way home would have a layover in Austria and it gave me the idea that we should spend a couple of days there. My dh family, although no one we know, is from there and he always wanted to see it. This would be a great chance to do so as I don't think we'd ever get to do a river cruise with how expensive they are.

 

We usually stay at Sheraton properties, as we have points there. I see that there is a few listed.

 

Any suggestions of what would be the "must see" things in a short amount of time. I'm thinking 2 nights. Is the airport far from the center of things?

 

I haven't started looking into it yet and don't want to make the reservations unless it's worth it.

 

Thank you for any info you could give me to start me in the right direction!

The airport is very accessible to the centre of Vienna on either the airport train (more expensive) or the S7 train (cheapest way). There are lots of things to do in Vienna: Schonbrunn Palace, St Stephens Cathedral, Opera, Prater, The Vienna wheel, Spanish riding school, Imperial Palace, Belvedere etc. Vienna is a really beautiful city and if you get an opportunity, you really should go.

Hi all, Getting excited time to cruise next month on Fantasia & Musica! Can anyone provide me info on the MSC transfers via bus from Genoa to Venice to catch the 2nd part of the Grand Med cruise. Do they take you direct & how long we might be on the bus & if they make stops along the way? Also when we land back into Venice we are staying overnight just near Piazzale Roma any idea on how we can get there from the boat with our luggage? Thanks in advance!

If they are transferring via bus, it will take a very long time to do that distance. If you've not booked it yet I would suggest taking the train from Genoa - Venice changing at Milan. It is much quicker and probably more comfortable.

Are taxis readily available in Genoa, either roaming or taxi stands?

What would you need a taxi for? They are not so readily available and tend to only congregate in areas surrounding the main train stations for example.