Frode

OK - then we know 🙄

Hi from Stockholm, there are 3 (or 4) cruise terminals situated at OCEAN QUAY (in Danish: Oceankaj), a relatively short distance by coach/train/taxi from the city centre of Copenhagen.

When approaching the terminals you clearly from a long distance will see the MSC ship and which terminal you’re supposed to go to 👍

https://www.whatsinport.com/Copenhagen.htm

I believe the many reviews (on Cruise Critics etc.) speak quite clearly for themselves...

If you compare the average ratings on MSC with other shipping companies (perhaps apart from Costa Cruises) it is quite clear what people in general think of MSC's cruise product 🤔

Thank a lot for your honest and open-hearted review 🧐👍

Very sad (but not surprised) to read how the quality of the MSC cruise product has further declined! 😵

I saw it coming...and am so glad I resigned and quit MSC (within sales and marketing) 5 years ago, after 12 years of employment 

Thanks for a great review

On 7/31/2023 at 1:13 AM, jenngirl said:

Hi Everyone,

Just got off the MSC Meraviglia this morning and put this review together. 

https://thehappiesttravels.com/2023/07/30/msc-meraviglia-cruise-review/

Thanks for your great, extensive and honest review 🤗

Hello from Stockholm - my hometown 🤩 

You are absolutely right, there are two cruise harbors in Stockholm (and even a third one in the city of Nynäshamn - 60 kilometers/1 hour south of Stockholm):

The two are the 2) Stadsgården (Masthamnen) and the 1) Frihamnen. See the map.

It’ corrrect - according to the schedules of Stockholms Harbours homepage - that MSC Poesia will berth in the harbour of Frihamnen 2).

(This may have to do with the fact that the Stadsgården is more popular due to the geographical location and even the lack of capacity as there is only space for one or two cruise ships...and therefore it - probably - is more expensive for the cruise line shipping companies to berth there.

Stadgården 2) is a bit more centrally located and within a walking distance of about 30 minutes in to the Old Town and the central parts of Stockholm (the location of the harbor is even much more attractive when it comes to having a very nice view overlooking the inner parts of the city).

The Frihamnen 1) is about 60 minutes away (by feet) from the city center; it's a bit in the middle of nowhere and the closest surroundings are boring. MSC usually has transfer buses going in to the city center - however, not without a cost (I've never experienced that MSC freely will give away transfers/transports. The cost used to be USD/Euro 10 per person...nowadays I don't know).

A taxi (up to 4 passengers per ordinary car) may be an alternative. However - always check the price with the driver before you enter the taxi...regrettably there are many tourists being cheated due to many quite unserious taxi companies/-drivers (the market/-competition is free here).

You say that your plan is to go to “Djurgården” (which is a very nice recreation area with parks, entertainment facilities (such as the tivoli ”Gröna Lund", a large folklore museum (i e the ”Skansen”)...even with some animals, the ABBA museum, restaurants, etc).
My personal favorite is to discover the island by a (rented) bicycle...it's georgious to bike along the coastline of the island of Djurgården.
There is even a tramway - often run by quite old wagons - running from the city center to Djurgården.

You'll see Djurgården at the map...and the ABBA museum is located next to where it says "Gröna Lund" (which is the tivoli).

Hopefully you will have a very nice stay here in the capital of Sweden. I believe for sure you will enjoy it; especially the green areas and water sorrounding ”everything”. 

The archipelago is stunning; arriving / departing on board a cruise ship normally takes around 5 hours from the first islands at open sea in to the city centre. Enjoy! 🛳️

Happy journey and bye-bye 🙂

(FYI, I was employed for 12 years at MSC Cruises' Sweden office as a Key Account Manager (responsible for travel agencies and tour operators in Sweden) and have cruised onboard - among many other other vessels belonging to MSC as well as other cruise shipping companies - MSC Poesia).

I note that Cruise Critic quite easily has removed my entry that I wrote yesterday, about Russian passengers - as well about the fact that MSC in these times of war (Russia's attack on Ukraine) should not allow Russians citizens on board their ships (Russians are actually barred from traveling into/within the EU).
I find this to be censorship from Cruise Critic.

// Rgds a former MSC employee (for 12 years, 2006-2018)

On 5/5/2023 at 10:02 PM, perakcruiser said:

These cities earn a hell of money alone from the port fees. These locals should be very very quiet and thankful. Of cause things are different in Norway, where they are so ridiculous rich that they certainly kick out any boats or even fire cannonballs at them. 

On 5/7/2023 at 1:35 PM, perakcruiser said:

Norway is famous for behaving very ugly to the cruise companies. And now they have two national cruise companies, not just one as before. You can bet that there will never be a Norwegian cruise ship affected by this "port congestion".

Excuse me @perakcruiser, who are you to be such an expert on this item?
Anyway, you sounds like a typical bully, unsympathetic troublemaker and "besserwisser.

Why don't you stay away from the Norwegian fjords and the genuine nature at the west coast of Norway! And stick to the mass tourism and insane BIG cruise ships - one single may bring up to 6 000 passengers (plus 2 000 crew) at each and every visit....which hopefully will be banned in the fjords.

The prices are low due to the fact that "you get what you pay for" 😜 (ie low price = low quality)

Going onboard Pursuit next week (it's our very first Azamara cruise) from Lisbon to Stockholm (10 nights, June 7-17). Packing right now...😵😁 I gladly dress up to dinners in costume or jacket (and trousers of course) if needed.... 👍as we will stay in Lisbon for some days ahead of the cruise.

I've got the impression that the dress code onboard is VERY casual?! 
What do you experienced Azamara cruisers say? Should I (a man going with may dear wife) bring a suit / jacket? And/or leven eave the tie back home.... 👀 (We don't want to stick out by overdressing - nor sticking out the opposite way 😇).
Thanks a lot! 
 

Next week we'll board Azamara for the very first time (Pursuit from Lisbon, June 7th, 10 nights).
Can anybody for sure tell me: Will Azamara offer us the possibility to do a Covid test (PCR or Antigen) at the terminal during the check-in procedure? 🤫

We've got 4 vaccinations (two ordinary + two boosters), and have of course downloaded the EU Digital COVID Certificate downloadad at our phones.)

(Or is it necessary that we ourselves look for a place in Lisbon where we can do the test? We'll stay in Lisbon three nights ahead of the cruise. Any idea where we can do it...?) 
Thanks! Greetings from Sweden 👋

On 5/11/2022 at 9:09 AM, Frode said:

Need advice, please...  We'll go onboard Pursuit June 7th in Lisbon for our very first Azamara cruise ☺️
Three days ago I received an e-mail (incl a 13 pages enclosure, ie the "Guest Vacation Documents") from Azamara. They want me to sign in to my account at Azamara's homepage to do the online check-in.

However, when I log into my Azamara account (no problem doing that) to do our online check-in, it says that “check-in unavailable”. Somebody else familiar with this? Why is it not possible for me to do the online check-in? 🙄

Today, 20 days before our departure from Lisbon onboard Pursuit June 7th, the “check-in” link at my account at Azamara’s homepage was activated 🤗 So today we successfully did the online check-in 👍🙏

Need advice, please...  We'll go onboard Pursuit June 7th in Lisbon for our very first Azamara cruise ☺️
Three days ago I received an e-mail (incl a 13 pages enclosure, ie the "Guest Vacation Documents") from Azamara. They want me to sign in to my account at Azamara's homepage to do the online check-in.

However, when I log into my Azamara account (no problem doing that) to do our online check-in, it says that “check-in unavailable”. Somebody else familiar with this? Why is it not possible for me to do the online check-in? 🙄

13 minutes ago, blag said:

Things are very informal. I don't have a jacket, or a tie, for that matter.

Smart casual will do at dinner

Hi from Stockholm, Sweden 😃 We'll embark our very first Azamara cruise, onboard Pursuit, departure June 7th from Lisbon. Do you say that I don't have to bring a suit / a jacket / or even a tie onboard our upcoming 10-n cruise? 😏

I'm from Norway myself (though living in the neighbour country Sweden). Norway is a small country (only around 5 million inhabitants); probably there is a shortage of coaches/buses etc when those mega-big cruise vessels are entering the fjords of Norway 🙄

If you like the HAL-cruises -I can promise you will be very (!) disappointed cruises onboard MSC. The two cruise line shipping companies are so different 😨

Those are the 5 ships that will visit Nassau April 3rd, and MSC Seashore will be there between 07:00 - 14:00 hrs (ie 7 AM - 2 PM) 🤓

20 hours ago, maggiepfe said:

There are between 2800-3000 on board and the ship can hold max of 5000. 

According to official info MSC Seashore has a max capacity of 5,877 passengers (that's when even all the beds in the 3- and 4-bed cabins are booked).
And by double occupancy in all the cabins the max number of passengers is 4,540.
(I was myself employed during 12 years at MSC Cruises, within sales (as a Key Account Manager). I voluntarily quit Sept 2018 as I not any longer proudly could represent the quality and the standard of MSC's cruise product. However, by all means: We all may have different expectations and requirements when it comes to what we accept... 😉)

Curious about how many passengers there are onboard (or in % of the max capacity)? 😬

Hi from Stockholm, Sweden 👋 My dear wife (Swedish citizen) and I (Norwegian) have booked our very first Azamara cruise, onboard the Pursuit: June 7-17 (2022) from Lissabon - our home town Stockholm (10 nights). Earlier we've cruised onboard NCL, MSC, RCCL, Celebrity and HAL...and now we really are looking forward to cruise onboard a smaller ship offering good quality and high standard.

We of course will like to eat (at least once) in both of the two speciality restaurants; the Aqualine as well as the Prime C 😋 Is it possible to make table reservations before we check in at the vessel? How? Or do we do it during our first day onboard? Any risk that those restaurants may be fully booked before we'll get to book ourselves?
Thanks a lot! 🙂
 

On 1/8/2022 at 12:59 PM, sverigecruiser said:

 

I mean that I should like if they had roundtrip cruises from Stockholm. The reason for that is that for me that means less travelling and also that we can book late without having to think about booking flights.

 

We have a cruise booked from Barcelona in July but we will cancel that, and loose the around $1500 we have paid, because MSC will not be able to promise that we won't have to wear a mask during the cruise and we don't want to pay for an experience we won't enjoy.

 

In the future we should prefer if we could book our cruises later and then Stockholm should be the best place for us to embark.   

Feel sorry for you - and all the money you will loose when cancelling your cruise in July from Barcelona 😱 

As an alternative to MSC - which do not cruise from Stockholm - I'm sure you are aware of the fact that Voyager of the Seas (RCCL) the summer of 2022 will depart a number of 7-night cruises from Stockholm (visiting  St. Petersburg - open sea - Helsinki - Tallinn - Visby before heading back to Stockholm)?! The rates are great; from SEK 5 941:- p p only (approx USD 656 / Euro 580).

In one way I would be interested in booking Voyager of the Seas myself (even though I earlier visited all those destinations onboard cruise ships - and I've promised myself not to go back to dictator Putin's Russia 🤬). However - on the other side - I believe the only right thing to do is to avoid cruises due to the Corona pandemic.
Good luck! 
 

On 1/5/2022 at 6:04 PM, sverigecruiser said:

 

I hope that in the future it can stand for

 

More Swedish Cruises.

Just wondering what you mean? Do you mean you want more departures from Stockholm (MSC has had no such departures until today) or maybe from Gothenburg…or do you mean more MSC-cruises coming visiting Swedish cities/harbours throughout their cruises?

And next question: Why should they? 🧐

MSC is more than happy to depart from Copenhagen - which is a more adequate turn-around-harbour than Stockholm (due to the international Danish airport Kastrup and the many people living in Denmark and southern Sweden...just divided by the bridge) - during the summer seasons (for cruises the one week at the Baltic Sea respectively the other weeks to the Norwegian fjords). Both for you sverigecruiser - and for me living in Stockholm, it’s easy to go the short distance down from Sweden to Denmark.

As an Italian shipping company (from Neapel....now moved to Switzerland due to tax planning), the obvious meaning is Mafioso Shipping Company 🤢

Another meaning could be Money Sucking Company 😵

I've cruised onboard many of MSC's cruise ships as well as onboard HAL (i e two of the sister ships within the Vista class: ms Oosterdam and ms Zuiderdam)....and as well onboard NCL, RCCL and Celebrity.

The vessel which will sail the MSC world cruise Jan-Mar 2023 is MSC Magnifica which has almost the same size/measures as the two HAL-sisters.
 

MSC Magnifica (introduced year 2010): Approx 95 000  GT, length 293 meters, 2 500 pax in dbl-cabins, 1 027 crew.
HAL's Oosterdam/Zuiderdam (intro year 2003 and 2002): 82 000 GT, length 290 m, 1 965 pax in dbl-cabins, 812 crew.

My clear experience is that MSC is a cruise line company with a "cheap" cruise product; honestly speaking I am finished with them and I will never book MSC again 🥶
The food (according to my personal experiences) is very blend and repetitive; the entertainment very budget and repetitive as well; the poor crew is not happy...which now and then is reflected in a boring atmosphere; the Italian officers are invisible and silent (it is very rare for the captain to be heard in the speakers - he delegats that to others).
The contrast to HAL is enormous; HAL is better in EVERY way! 😀 The HAL-vessels are containing quality and nice environments onboard, while MSC means a lot of mirrors, fake gold and bling-bling, kitschy details etc.

However, it is a fact that the average age of the passengers sailing HAL is higher than onboard MSC...but we (just turned 60) - who were looking for quality and a enjoyable cruise with other adults/a minimum of children - had really good cruises and a great, nice time having the best conditions to rest and enjoy. 
Though, even if MSC is very family friendly, of course there will not be a lot of children onboard a MSC world cruise.

I would say it would mean a very big challenge for you to switch from HAL to MSC 🧐