Jerryr11
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Posts posted by Jerryr11
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16 hours ago, Sailgal05 said:
Jerryr11-as dancers, what did you think of the Tropicana? Wish we could dance like that!
Were you the lovely couple that would dance in the lounges? If so, you were wonderful to watch.
As dancers, we really enjoyed the Tropicana Show but we also enjoyed the dancers on the Ship and actually thought they were better, as were the singers on the ship. Of course, there weren't nearly as many dancers on the ship (10 vs about 200) and their costumes weren't as over the top but they were good. This clearly wasn't our style of dancing but we do enjoy watching a good show. Yes, we did dance in the lounges whenever we could. Much of the music wasn't really our thing and we wish there was more: ballroom, swing, Country music or even a polka, but we were able to make the most of the few that fit our style and practice a few we don't get a chance to do often. We enjoyed the entertainment and had a good time.
Thanks for the comment.
Jerry and Joan
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On 1/24/2019 at 11:47 PM, Sailgal05 said:
The streets and open areas around the port where like any city. We encountered cigar smoke inside the shops that sold cigars and was also a smoking room. On the ship, deck 6 starboard, deck 11, pool aft port side and the cigar lounge deck 5 were the allowed areas for smoking. However, this was not always followed.
‘The city of Havana was the highlight of our cruise and we loved the friendly people, history and lively spirit that surrounds this island. We both agreed, we want to go back soon.
The only real issue we had was at the trop show. They give all the men a cigar along with the rum when you walk in. The table below us had 1 man light a cigar and other at the same table puffed away. My wife asked the man right below us to please blow the smoke away and it went without issue. THe trop show is outside and the smokers several seats away werent a issue. For the number of cigars they gave out I wouldn't really say it was that bad. Oh ship seemed like there were some smokers on ine side of the pool area and in a smoking area in the casino but it wasn't a issue.
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On 1/24/2019 at 7:02 PM, Cruiser933 said:
It seems like several recent reviews complain about problems getting off in ports. Does anyone know how long to expect it to take to get on shore in Grand Cayman? I have a third party tour booked and I am worried we won't make it. We are supposed to have priority tendering.
Grand Cayman was easy Quick since no Visa as were the other ports without Visa requirements. On Havanna about 13/4 to 2 hr except if you went to Trop at night and it was you first exit with Visa then it was only about a 10 or 15-minute delay since most passengers already had their VIas stamped. The 2nd exit off the Ship in Havanna also went very quickly.
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The following are our comments on MSC Armonia Cruise to Cuba 1/ 14/19 to 1/21/19.Entertainment on the ship was in general very good. The dancers and singers were among the best we have seen on previous cruise Evening Shows. The evening shows should have had more variety and in one of the show the dancers overwhelmed the singers and they didn't add anything. But, overall they did a great job. The Entertainment staff was excellent. They had more energy then any other ship we have been on and really tried very hard to get everyone involved in their nightly events. Most of the evening shows were very well done but perhaps a bit redundant. Somehow, whatever the theme it tended to have a Latin flair. The cruise dance instructors did a good job teaching their dances and we really enjoyed their demos. However, teaching more latin dances then most people have ever heard of was clearly excessive and it would have been nice to used those sessions on more popular dances. Some of their lessons were also at times that didn't fit well into the night's events (Example Country and Rock and roll (Swing ) lessons were at times that either to close to Supper or the main show of the evening. ). The latin band in the 5th-floor lounge was very good but clearly played VERY latin music and no other variety of dance. When I refer to VERY latin music I mean they didn't play much music you could dance ballroom type Cha Cha, or Rumba. The combo on the 6th lounge did play some different music and we started to that lounge, perhaps a bit too late, once we couldn't take any more Latin music that we couldn't dance to. It would have been nice to have a comedy show to provide a better mixture for those who didn't like all the dancing or wanted something different..Tours were taken on the ship from MSC. We found out on the ship that MSC was only repeating US guidelines for departing Cuba on tours and MSC really didn't enforce them and you had the option to book a tour with MSC or a 3rd party company. We booked only the Cuba Tours since this is all we were interested in and had been to the other Caribbean ports often. The tours we booked were Architecture of Havana and it was very good. Tour was about 2 hrs of walking around old Havana and that was enough for us followed by about 2 hrs of bus touring. Since the ship got in a little late and it took us almost 2 hrs to get through customs with the tour returned about 7:15, it was cut a little short so we could have time to make the Trop tour at 8:15 departure. The guide was excellent. The Tropicana show was really very good and all tables received a glass of champagne and 2 bottles of rum for 10 people. The rum was good and so was the show, we didn't get back until after midnight. The vintage car tour wasn't that good since it rained for the first hour and we were in a caravan of about 10 cars with only a driver that didn't really speak much English. I think you would be a lot better off doing this off the ship. Tours did sell out so if you wanted a Cuba tour its good to do it as early as possible off or on the Ship. The ship did provide VISAs for $75 and that was easy and convenient. If you didn't get off the ship in Cuba the ship would refund your Visa fee as long as you didn't fill it out. This was all very well explained in the Cruise directors talk on Cuba.It would have been nice if he took questions after his talk.Food was a different story. I'll break it down in some detail. Breakfast,(Dining Room) in general, was very good and we enjoyed it. The procedure to get seated at a table was a mystery since no one greeted you as you walked into the dining room and showed you to a table. Each time we went in we had to look for one of the staff we taught would seat us. The fact that people are always walking thru the dining room probably has something to do with the seating service. Lunch (Dining Room) wasn't bad, but due to other events, we didn't use it often so I can't offer many comments on it. Dinner was another story and it didn't have a happy ending. This is probably how many people judge cruises and the dinners left a lot to be desired. The salad and french onion soup were very good but most of the other food needed help. Coffee cups were always only 1/2 filled and waiters never came back for a refill (Or fill ). As my wife mentioned there was not one dinner meal we could really say was good or one we enjoyed a lot. Most to our table agreed with that. I would hope MSC management realize that the Bulletin boards (Cruise Critic for example) have been very hard on this aspect of MSC and leave many past passengers saying they would never do another MSC cruise again.Upstairs on 11th Foor, the pizza was really very good and the ice cream Gelato was great. The buffet lunch was ok, I didn't have any issues with it. Ladies would be happy if they were served first.I didn't notice any lesson on how to play 3 card poker or ultimate texas holdem, other ships do this and have slot machine tournaments.I didn't notice any water events (water volleyball for example) planned.The talk on Cuba was done very well and informative but he should have allowed time at the end for at least a few questions.Leaving the ship was awful and completely unorganized. It sure didn't help that the ship arrived a couple of hrs late.The room was fine and the staff was good. It would have been nice if they introduced themselves to us.One sentence summary is: If the supper meal improved and entertainment shows had more variety it would go a long way to improving MSCs cruise image. Many of our cruise friends tell us we can't compare a MSC US cruise with one in Europe or Asia since the non-US cruises are going to have much worst meals and staff. I sure hope that prevalent negative comments we hear on those cruises aren't t true since we are looking forward to our planned 28-day cruise from Dubai to Toyko the end of March 2019. We sure hope the above-detailed comments on this cruise are improved on that cruise or it's going to be a long long cruise.
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Looking at Celebrity Century last cruise before being sold to another company in April. Has anyone taken a last cruise from any line and have any comments on their experience. I would expect the ship needing some fix ups and perhaps loss of some staff but not really sure how bad it might be if at all?
Comments please from those who have been on such a cruise ( or nearing a last cruise being sold or into dry dock even) or heard from friends.
Self Laundry on Ship?
in MSC Cruises
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Hate to bring up a sore subject BUT does anyone know if there is a laundry room on the ship?