AmoMondo

There will be very few of them. Never done one as most are 7 nights but I'd be amazed if they were booze cruises. MSC is very familymorientated and Italians who make up a huge percentage of their passenger base don't have that drink until you drop culture - more likely to overdose on espresso! Bit of a generalisation, but reallyItalian, Spanish etc tend to have a different attitude towards drinking.

Is there a self service laundry just to press a shirt if need be?

Thanks

No there isn't. Not on the Musica or any other MSC ship. You'd need to use the ship's laundry service.

Iced tap water is served on sailings from the US as a matter of course.

Standard in Europe is if you ask for water, they will ask if you want still or sparkling and serve bottled water at additional cost. If you persevere, you may manage to get a glass of tap water.

No you can't. A B2B cruise situation may be the exception.

They know the serial numbers in use for each cruise, so can tell if from that cruise or not.

You used to be able to years ago when you just handed them over and didn't have to sign anything.

There will be dry few Americans onboard, but oh ou probably won't be the only ones. MSC attracts a very international crowd which leads to a multi cultural vibe and multiple languages.

I would not expect a similar experience to those other cruise lines. Carnival are quite different from MSC.

Not quite sure what you mean about everything being organised? It's very Italian which means attitudes to timing aren't exactly run with military precision, but more an approximate time. But you're on holiday what does it matter if somethings is 5 minutes later than advertised?

Are the shows repeated twice a night or is it two different shows

Xiamen show repeated. You won't be able to go to the second show if you're on second sitting as it will be on when you're eating.

Just saying: I do have a flight and a transfer with MSC on a flight that they sell regularly to passengers from Europe that always comes in at 14:50. Being a european cruiseline they always have a lot of european passangers. that is why I assumed the op would be fine.

This is not the same situation at all. I e been on a fly/cruise deal with MSC and our London flight was meant to arrive around that dtime but it didn't it was several hours late due to issues at Heathrow. They held the ship up for all of us (about 40 coming off that flight). We had transfers and were rushed to the ship. The engines were running and they pulled the gangplank up as so as we boarded but we're still about 40 minutes late in leaving.

Now when you've just bought the cruise and organised your own flights, if your flight is late, they simply sail without you.

I will only every fly out the same day as departure when it is a fly/cruise deal. If I'm organising the flights, I plan on plenty wiggle room for delays, cancellations and bags going astray.

Thanks so much for all of the great info. Hopefully the ship will get in early and I will be able to walk off the ship with the luggage to get to the train on time. If not I will need to get a later train Also good to know that the ticket needs to be validated. Would that be that case even if the ticket is purchased at the station or ordered online from Trentitalia? I need to purchase one ticket at the station and have an online ticket in hand with a PNR code that I ordered online for another journey. The instruction for the online ticket was to bring it onboard and it would be scanned by the conductor.

It's the tickets you buy from self service machines or in stations you have to punch in the yellow machines before boarding the train. If it's an online ticket that will be ok.

Forgot to add, remember to validate your ticket in the yellow machines before going down to the platform. We forgot one time and nearly missed the train whilst my friend had to run back to do it.

I know what you mean by marmalade but most Europeans and Americans will think you mean jam or jelly of which there are many flavours!

 

I don't remember what flavours were available but someone else might.

 

What the OP wants to know is - Is there any orange jam or orange jelly available?

They do have it because strangely enough, every time I've seen someone order the cheese platter at lunch or dinner, it always has some marmalade on the side!

Not sure about it being available at breakfast as there toast is not good IMO and I stick to the fresh baked bread and rolls which is excellent. I vaguely there being a plate with individual jams on the table in the MDR but can't remember if marmalade is one of them or not.

I agree with Tomvet except 7am would not be the norm. Docking times in Genoa (or at least on the ones I've done) have been 8am or even 9am, so your plans may be too ambitious.

Another factor would be the port before you disembark, if itnismoutsde the Eu, you may have to wait to get your passport back on disembarkation day.

I usually have a flight out at around 13.00ish and get there anything from 10.30 to 11.30.

I so enjoyed reading this review. I've sailed this region 4 times and your photos brought back some very pleasant memories.

I think you really can't beat the UAE for a winter destination. Not that far to fly to, very safe, lovely weather and loads to do regardless of your interests. Shame the hotels are so expensive - cruise helps with the coast of going there though as the nightly rate is so much cheaper than staying ashore!

Well it depends on what time the ship is due to arrive. Not trying to be smart here, but Barcelona is not usually the main embarkation port (but often is for Irish and American passengers) and I've been on cruises where it didn't arrive until late morning or even 13.00.. So rocking up in the morning would not do you any good, if the ship had yet to dock - so check the arrival time.

It is usual to be able to get on a few hours earlier than the official time though.

Almost every ship I've been on the slot next to the door is for your card to control the lights and AC. I haven't been on a new carnival ship so maybe they are different but MSC, NCL and I believe Celebrity it's card controlled. When your card isn't in the slot a little light above the door comes on to alert your steward the room is empty.

Personally I look thru all draws & cabinets once I'm in the room that's how I found the hair dryer, bathroom trash can and additional storage.

Staff on MSC is great unlike Carnival they don't badger you about drinks and such.

I guess they can't tell you everything that's what these forums are for and getting on the ship and checking it out.

I do the exact same. Doesn't matter whether it is a hotel or a ship, I poke around everywhere to work out where everything is.

The card slot is pretty common now in a lot of hotels too. It doesn't have to be your cruise card either, any card left in it will stop cabin stewards coming in as it is not only the power activation but also a small light outside the door so the steward can tell of

Pic the cabin is closed.

If the rummaging around and trying different switches etc doesn't solve things for me, I then check the guest services book and would only call reception after that if I was still stumped. Trying to find a bottle opener on the Opera was one such occasion. A wall mounted one in the bathroom never even crossed my mind!

With my first "tentative" MSC cruise coming up in September through Europe, this makes me fear cruising on MSC....

No need to be fearful at all. This is all tongue in cheek or at least I hope it is!

I did a crash course in Italian for 3 months leading up,to the cruise only to discover a lot of the crew were Eastern Ruropean or something else and more fluent in English than Italian. I was rather disappointed when a Romanian bwaiter said my Italian was quite good but would I mind just using Enflish - he'd shared a room for ages with a bloke from Dundee so was well used to listening to English with a Scottish accent.

Learning hello, thanks, please in a few languages is a nice thing to do and people appreciate that. Trouble with more complex sentences is you have to also know where to put them emphasis and pronounce each word and even if you get that all correct, Chances are you aren't going to have a clue what the answer is! (My flawless rendition of "please could you help us, we're lost and need to get to the train station" in Danish springs to mind - still it gave my nephew and the Danishman I accosted a good laugh!)

Hi new to the forum

Going on the 27 Feb cruise for Dubai, can anyone recommend any of the excursions?

We quite fancy the Abu Dhabi afternoon amongst the dunes but not sure about booking in advance or wether we would be better off seeing what was available in the ports.

Only done a few mini cruises on the Independce and Azura so bit unsure about the best way of going about things

Ive done this route with Costa four times, including once with the Fortuna.

The only excuse ion I'd recommend is the seaplane flight in Dubai. Not cheap but spectacular.

Then again, I'm not a tourtière of person, much prefer DIY. Taxis in the UAE are plentiful, safe, reliable, metered and incredibly cheap (no tax on fuel!) so getting around to wherever you want to go is really easy.

You've missed the most important phrase if you want to be able to get out of a lift at the floor you want to, or basically just get past a crowd anywhere.."Permesso per favore!" Oh and don't be timid about saying it. No need to shout but reasonable volume and a bit of assertion does the trick, slight forward movements also helps.

My only other bits of advice is not to even attempt to impose US (& British) queuing practices (sorry standing in line) on cultures that just don't. Herding cats comes to mind and you'll only get annoyed. Adopt the Italian philosophy and go wit la vita dolce!

The ship certainly exist, sailed on her a few times myself.

Suspect you're not going to have much with roll calls, as they tend to be quiet to non existent on non US sailings. With this being a really long cruise, probably even less chance of getting people on here.

I do envy you, sounds a great itinerary but not one I could do until after I retire. Anything over 3 weeks is difficult to persuade my boss to let me have the time off. 4 weeks almost impossible!

If you have any MSC or Lirica questions, I'd be happy to help. My repo on her was a bit shorter at 17 nights!

Oh boy- Msc certainly is interesting! Sounds like the tail might need to meet the dog. :)

Well the Dog is in Napoli, and the tails are all over the place!

There are big differences sometime times even between the UK and Ireland sites

Someone from the US could purchase from the Europe Site; however I would recommend against it. The US laws are much more consumer friendly than those in Europe. Example, price reductions are not applicable in Europe. In the US, if you book and the price drops we are often given compensation. It is my understanding that this doesn't happen with overseas bookings.

 

But for me that wouldn't be the sticking point. I'd be extra cautious Insuring a trip purchased through Europe. And if you are not insuring from a 3rd party, in the very least I would want to make sure that your health insurance will cover you. The laws just aren't the same. I'm not suggesting US laws are better, or visa versa. I'm just saying they are much different. And while it is allowed to purchase from a different region, I would be very hesitant to do so unless I did more than my due diligence in research first.

 

When I checked my recent Divina purchase against UK pricing, they were compatible in everything except the Aurea experience. FOr some reason, Aurea in the USA is triple what it is in the UK. Since I wasn't getting Aurea, the financial benefit to purchase B3 through US vs UK simply wasn't worth the risk in my opinion. Other mileage may vary.

 

Enjoy your trip where-ever you may decide :)

....and deposits are non refundable, so maybe you're being charged more for more consumer protection and them factoring in the right to,price reductions and deposit refunds of a certain percentage of pax - who knows with MSC?

I had a similar experience to Pete, I fancied getting on a t a different port to Genoa for a change. Price was over £2000, getting on at Genoa was well under £1000, so I got on at Genoa as per usual.

Sometimes the UK has better prices, so,etimes the US sometimes Australia. Some of it is discounting to market share building or targeting certain cruises at a certain country.

Great advice amomondo. If you prepay for Internet,can u only use their pcs or can u log in on your own tablet or phone.

I just use my IPad or IPhone. On the newer ships, wifi works pretty much everywhere but not necessarily the fastest. On some of the older Lirica class it tended to be just public areas you could use them but they've probably fixed that as part of their updating and stretching programme.

Well that's the rule for sure but their enforcing of it is never that diligent.

I've brought booze onboard 3 times, twice unbelievably obvious - in a carrier bag with the name of the alcohol slapped all over it and they just handed it back to me without a word after it had been through the X-ray. 2 of the 3 occasions, it wasn't for drinking onboard but bringing home, so I would not have been bothered if they'd kept it to the end of the cruise.

You can get curry on the ethnic corner in the buffet. It is usually only on one day, normally the main boarding day (unless they've switched menus around). It used to be a lamb one, might have been rogan josh. Not that hot though to cater for the majority. I thought it was pretty good. I usually make a beeline for it on embarkation day.

I don't think that Irishman meant cocktail dress versus formal long gown, but rather some completely scruffy!

I remember one guy in a baseball cal, wife beater, shorts and flipflops (and there may well have Benin sand sticking to him) eye me up and down in my gown and bling and then ask if I'd been invited to a party. I said no it was a gala dinner....I'm fairly sure despite their lack attitude, he would have been turned away being quite that casual, but who kniws

So it's ok to use Euros?

I am taking Euros as well but didn't want to have to take a 3rd currency.

Well the taxis at the port (who were ridiculously expensive) and a tour operator in Khasab were willing to take euros. Taxis back were definitely in OMR. I don't think euros are accepted everywhere and neither would dirhams. It really depends on what you intend doing though.